Tim Kask touched on this over on Dragonsfoot recently and I started a thread over there (http://www.dragonsfoot.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=38025) . But I wanted to get the insight of all you Grogs. Do you guys use them? Do you guys like them? I know Gary regretted them, but based on the way they have been described to me (I've never used them) they seem like a pretty good system and require very little tweaking to make work well. So tell me what you think!
I have never used them myself but have always wanted to. I just never learned about the mechanics until yesterday... But not using them seems to leave out a bunch of cool monsters. Although some have suggested replacing their psi-powers with magic, that just doesn't have the same feel to me. I mean, seriously, what instantaneous spell would you give a Mind Flayer to replace psionic blast?
I don't think 'X% chance of any given character having lots of psionic power on top of their class' is a good idea. I do think the Dragon psionicist class works well with a little tweaking. I think a little random or DM-chosen 'wild talent' for a regular character can be interesting. I wouldn't do it in every campaign, but in one, to make it different, sure. Psionics on monsters is fine, although the psionic combat tables could use a little work. (I haven't read up on 2E/Dark Sun psionics at all)
So you allow psionics with your monsters but not your PC's? I guess that is easier than resolving mental combat - and I totally understand why people would do that. But I think, from this day forward, I will allow psionics and let the chips fall where they may.
Pretty much. Mind flayers and su-monsters, as I recall, were pretty much it. Psionics were unbalancing, to most of us anyway.
Totally. Makes 'em scarier that way. None of that new-fangled, "if monsters can has, playerz can haz, 2!!!" crap at my table. My players flinch whenever they see anything "Mind Flayer Mauve" colored.
Personally, I never liked mixing Psionics with my fantasy gaming. I had some friends that ran a Psionic character once or twice "back in the day" but it didn't go over very well because they seemed much more powerful than other party members. When PC's came up against a psionic monster, I tended to wing combat instead of trying use the psionic rules.
I totally get that as well and that is how I run it now. But I don't know how a Mind Flayer or Su-monster or some other Psionics-only creature can be anything like the threat they are supposed to be without them. That is why I have pledged to include psionics in all future games (whether or not any of the PC's have this ability).
Ayup. By keeping it away from the players, reserving it for monsters only, helps to maintain the eerie <kirk> Get. OUT. OFMYMINDDD!!!!</kirk> effect. Give it to the players and they start reading about disciplines and science and stuff, and the fantasy goes <poof!> in a puff of logic.
I never used psionics in any of my D&D games. Only monsters had that ability and it was definitely frightening! Psionics are OK in other genres, but not fantasy IMO.
In practice, there are two big problems with psionics as written: 1) A lot of "save or die/insanity/feeblemind/whatever" that can knock out characters instantly, especially if psionic characters start attacking non-psionic characters. 2) Psionic characters can make 10 attacks per round. (PHB p. 117) A psionic character on a roll can knock an entire party of NPCs and upstage the other PCs before anybody else makes an attack. As you can imagine, a sucessful psionic PC usually isn't very popular with DMs or players of non-psionic characters.
Hmmm... I must have missed the 10 attacks/round part! Yikes! That is incredibly unbalancing... Perhaps some tweaking is in order...
Well, technically true, but IIRC you'd have to have a hell of a psionic strength to pull that off - and you'd be spent and recharging for quite some time afterwards.
