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Psion - A Mystical Character ClassClick to magnify
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Psion - A Mystical Character Class

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Psionic power returns to 5th Edition! Built from scratch based on the original Dark Sun psionic devotions. Full class and robust new subclasses with 9 features each: Egoist, Seer, and Telepath. No messy new spell system. No 28-page Unearthed Arcana Mystic tome. Simple rules, dynamic powers, cohesive themes.

Psions rely on their mental prowess to manipulate their surroundings, including the individuals they encounter. Beyond the standard psychic and telekinetic abilities, Psions study different disciplines known as mystical devotions. These devotions grant their practitioners psionic skills. Egoists harness the power of psychometabolism; Seers use clairsentience; and Telepaths use telepathy.

Egoist. The dwarf's fresh wounds mend before the eyes of his foes, instilling terror as he charges directly through the center of the horde. As he is swarmed, he grasps onto his attackers, who unleash screams and writhe in agony while the dwarf siphons their life force into his being.

Seer. Her elven eyes go white, drawing on the sensations of her surrounding environment, attuning to the movement and location of even the smallest life forms in her surroundings. She can perceive the events that have transpired at this location, and what her intervention has foretold.

Telepath. Feeling the thoughts around him, the human successfully navigates their party through the catacombs under the city into the restricted noble district. When they are discovered cracking the lord's safe, the human invades the minds of the patrol, twisting their memories to forget the interaction.

Egoists harness raw mental power to exert their will over their metabolism, even affecting the nervous systems of those they touch. Seers tap into their heightened perception of their surroundings to sense events in distant places and times. Telepaths leverage sheer force of personality to read and influence the minds of those they encounter.

Version 4.0 Released 12.20.2018

  • Streamlined basic psychic attacks. Made the psychic wave cone attack the standard at level 1 with gradual scaling. Psychic Strike and Psychic Blast removed.
  • Reworked Telepath’s Psychic Infiltration to account for removal of Psychic Strike and Psychic Blast.
  • Created new Telepath Level 17 ability Inevitable Intuition (bypassing immunity to charm effects) to account for Psychic Infiltration void and patch subclass weakness.
  • Removed Level 6 Nomad Psychoportation to it’s own subclass (under development).
  • Moved Explosive Earth component of Psychoplanar Confluence into Nomad subclass.
  • Standard class feature use limits all now key off psionic ability score. This was partially due to the removal of Psychoportation had uses tied to Wisdom, which was balanced against Stasis tied to Charisma and Psionic Barrier to Intelligence.
  • Reworked the Seer’s Psychoretaliation to incorporate how Psychic Strike used to work on its own.
  • Since the Nomad is now its own subclass, the Tuning Fork can be used as a focus by any Psion.
  • Gave Egoist’s Metabolic Manipulation 17th-level bump its own feature called Anabolic.
  • Updated language of Disincorporate to match 2018 Disintegration errata.
  • Added Psion Mystic Devotion (sub)class feature progression table.

Version 3.0 Released 5.25.2018

  • Rewrote psionic powers section to redefine "powers" as class features tied to action economy.
  • New Class Tables! Added Appendix B with fleshed-out class tables for each subclass.
  • Psychic attacks were separated into three separate class features; all referencing class features (and table) were addressed accordingly.
  • Added "as an action" language to Shape Elements, Stasis, Disincorporate.
  • Egoist's Enlarge and Ethereal Form are now limited to 1/long rest.
  • Seer is more frontloaded: Clarivoyant ability now comes online at Level 3. This allowed the Seer to distinguish herself thematically in low-level playtesting.

Version 2.0 Released 3.20.2018

  • Updated class table styling, psionics section, focus crystals, psionic skills, and certain features for clarity.
  • Psionic powers now work against any target you can see or telepathically communicate with. Psionic powers no longer ignore disadvantage for unseen targets, which is now the exclusive province of the Telepath.
  • Psionic Barrier was simplified. Save now triggers on the psion's next turn when barrier takes any damage (previously 100). Removes unnecessary calculation and provides a small but appropriate nerf.
  • Stasis maximum duration is now 1 minute.
  • Egoist’s Enervate now only works on a small or larger creature to eliminate the “bag of rats” problem.
  • Seer’s Leaf on the Wind now causes the attacker to reroll.
  • Telepath’s Psychic Infiltration now checks for condition immunities.
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Reviews (0)
Discussions (6)
Customer avatar
Ryan S May 16, 2023 11:17 pm UTC
PURCHASER
While I get the want to have many features so that mystics can do a lot, I feel as though it's rather feature heavy, which could be countered by having a choice system more similar to boons. There's also a few places where you could be much more specific, the "Energize" ability for example doesn't specify how often you can use it nor when it's regained. One could misconstrue it as being usable every single time the player wants to use a bonus action. Also, what happened to the Nomad subclass?
Customer avatar
Michael O February 12, 2019 9:30 am UTC
PURCHASER
Where is the Planefade ability described? It is mentioned at the end and is included in the Psion Class Feature List but it not described anywhere. Also Psychic Wave is mislabeled in the table; where it is called Psionic Wave instead.
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Customer avatar
Michael O February 12, 2019 10:00 am UTC
PURCHASER
Also under Egoist; Ethereal Form is mislabeled Spectral Form in the subclass table.
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Customer avatar
Michael O February 13, 2019 12:50 am UTC
CREATOR
Hi Jake!

The Planefade ability was excised to pare down the class complexity. I'm reworking that ability into a full Nomad subclass which will be released at a future date. Thanks for catching that artifact in the class table. I've removed it and uploaded a new PDF.

I don't see what you mentioned regarding Psychic Wave being labeled Psionic Wave. I did a Ctrl+F and there's no instances of Psionic Wave. The class table says Psychic Wave.

Thanks for the comments! Please let me know more after you have a chance to play the class.
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Customer avatar
Michael O February 13, 2019 3:26 am UTC
PURCHASER
I see, thank you for telling me. Also, It was on the Psion Mystic Devotion Table, not the Psion Table, Top Left, 1st Level. Also as I look over the new version, for some reason, that table is now gone..
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Customer avatar
Michael O February 13, 2019 3:29 am UTC
CREATOR
Hi Jake! That's because I accidentally uploaded an old version. Stand by and I should have the fixed one up shortly (EDIT: It's up!). Thanks again!
Customer avatar
Julien G September 17, 2018 2:07 pm UTC
PURCHASER
I was looking for a streamlined and user-friendly version of the Psion class, and I have found it. That's a dollar well spent as far as I am concerned. Thank you for your work !
Customer avatar
Andrew H May 26, 2018 8:51 pm UTC
PURCHASER
It's so close to being a great class, but it's just too feature heavy. Take out the 5th level feature since the Disciplines get one then. Move the second part of telekinetics from 8th to 6th and either take out the teleportation or the other feature. Remove shape elements and put Psychic Barrier there and nerf the damage and allow it to scale up again at it's original level. Remove Explosive earth or put it into a Wu Jen-styled archetype, because right now it's incredibly out of place. This makes the class a lot simpler, a lot more thematic, clears up the identity some, and helps make it a little more balanced.
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Customer avatar
Michael O May 26, 2018 9:09 pm UTC
CREATOR
Thanks for commenting, Andrew! I'll playtest your suggestions and implement any changes that make the class better. It's so hard to pare down psionic abilities, while maintaining the (Dark Sun) identity of the class. On one hand, I don't want players to just play a spellcaster because they feel the psion is missing options. On the other, I don't want to scare players off because there's too much to do. I tried to alleviate this with the detailed class tables in Appendix B.

Shape Elements and Explosive Earth could thematically be moved into the Elementalist Psion subclass, which I've outlined for a future edition. That's a good suggestion.

The Planefade is intentionally made optional, since I know it's a lot to process. That's why I put it behind an item barrier (Tuning Fork), granting the DM discretion to allow it. Once a player feels that they have a hang of the psion, they can ask their DM for a quest to get it. That's the next thing in the works.
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Customer avatar
Andrew H May 27, 2018 5:58 pm UTC
PURCHASER
I think on the idea of paring down psionic powers, I think it might be worth it to have an archetype that focuses mainly on fucking people's day up with psionic stuff. This would allow you to put the pared down powers into it, and people who want a Dark Sun-style psion could lean closer towards that instead of a Seer or Telepath.
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Customer avatar
Michael O December 21, 2018 4:59 am UTC
CREATOR
Hi Andrew! It's been some time, but I've incorporated several of your suggestions after some playtesting. I consolidated the core psionic blast into a scaling cone. I also pulled the teleportation and explosive earth features out of the base class. I'm going to make the Nomad its own subclass built around those. I think these changes really streamlined the feel and made it feel a bit less feature-heavy. I hope you like the new update!
Customer avatar
Richard M March 16, 2018 7:54 pm UTC
PURCHASER
This seems very feature heavy.

And some of the wording leads to confusion. Is the Focus Crystal just a normal item? how does it gain the item features on the last page? are those just for magical focus crystals?
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Customer avatar
Michael O March 19, 2018 1:15 am UTC
CREATOR
Hi Richard!

Thanks for your input. The Psion 2.0 will be out soon.

FEATURES
I acknowledge that the class is feature-heavy. The Psion is not supposed to be a simple class. It has to be diverse in terms of abilities to make up for the fact that I eschewed the creation of an entirely new magic system. With that being said, the class and subclasses are more focused than the 28-pages of options presented in the Unearthed Arcana Mystic 3.0. When I see what I trimmed from my notes, I feel like I left out an entire book full of psionic powers.

To even out the feature availability, there are balance checks on the base class features based on ability score investment. That allows each subclass to play differently with respect to the base class options, while expressing its own identity through scaled features available at the subclass level.

FOCUS CRYSTAL
The focus must be equipped to channel psychic power. I've already completed language clarifying the use...See more
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This title was added to our catalog on March 01, 2018.