Alternate Psionic Augmentation

The psionic augmentation system has come under a lot of fire from many sources as being too abuse-able at higher levels.  If you hang on to your at-will powers from 1st level, you can essentially spam low level at-wills with your many power points.

I tried to address this issue while building my Soulknife.  It's hard to balance something like a minor action attack.  1-3 of these off action encounter powers are fine, but a psionic class could theoretically do it for several rounds.  I addressed this issue by trying to make the higher pp expenditures valuable, but it definitely limited what I could do with the augments and I'm sure that in the right hands the Soulknife could be played abusively.

Thinking about the power point system, I tried to come up with an alternative progression and I came up with the idea below:

Alternative Psionic Augmentation Progression

Power Point Progression

Use this alternate progression described below:

Level     Additional Power Points      Total Power Points

1                             2                                         2

3                             2                                         4

7                             2                                         6

13                           1                                         7

17                           1                                         8

23                           2                                         10

27                           1                                         11

Powers

Heroic Tier Powers: Function as written.

Paragon Tier Powers: Reduce all augment 4s in paragon tier powers to augment 3.

Epic Tier Powers: Reduce all augment 6s in epic tier powers to augment 4.

 

Paragon Paths

Reduce the power points given by the Paragon Power Points feature down to 1.  Reduce the Augment cost for the paragon path encounter power down to 1.

 

Bonus Power Points

Bonus power points from feats, themes, or other sources become more powerful in this system.  I'd reevaluate them on a case-by-case basis but in general try to limit the bonus power points unless they are meant to simulate an extra encounter power or a significant boost. 

General rules:

1 bonus power point -> 1 bonus power point but evaluate carefully

2 bonus power points -> 2 bonus power points but evaluate carefully

3-5 bonus power points -> 3 bonus power points

6 bonus power points -> 4 bonus power points

 

Rationale

Combined with the reduced Augment costs above, this system allows for something more comparable to normal encounter power usage.  Compare below 

Level 11:

Encounter Powers: 3 heroic tier powers          

Original Psionic Structure: 3 heroic augment; ...; or 6 minor augments

Modified Psionic Structure: 3 heroic augment; ...; or 6 minor augments

 

Level 13:

Encounter Powers: 1 paragon, 2 heroic powers          

Original Psionic Structure: 1 paragon , 1 heroic and 1 minor augments; 3 heroic and 1 minor augments; ...; or 7 minor augments.

Modified Psionic Structure: 2 paragon and 1 minor augments; 1 paragon, 2 heroic augments; 3 heroic and 1 minor augments; ...; or 7 minor augments.

 

As you can see, the structure is pretty even through 11th level.  At 13th level, the original psionic structure falls slightly behind, while the modified structure can either keep up with the encounter powers or downgrade one of its heroic tier encounters to upgrade into a second paragon, which seems fair to me at this level.

 

Level 17:

Encounter Powers: 2 paragon, 1 heroic powers        

Original Psionic Structure: 2 paragon and 1 minor augments; 1 paragon, 2 heroic and 1 minor augments; 4 heroic and 1 minor augments; 3 heroic and 3 minor augments; ...; or 9 minor augments.

Modified Psionic Structure: 2 paragon and 1 heroic augments; 1 paragon, 2 heroic, and 1 minor augments; 4 heroic augments; 3 heroic and 2 minor augments; ...; or 8 minor augments.

 

As you can see, the original psionic stays behind in paragon powers but can access 4 heroic and 1 minor augments.  It's clear in the original psionic's case that it's more beneficial to use lots of heroic tier powers than use the paragon augments.  The modified version can keep up with the encounter powers and gives a bit more of a real choice. I can see it being used either way depending on how much nova-ing is desired.

 

Level 21:

Encounter Powers: 2 paragon, 1 heroic powers        

Original Psionic Structure: 2 paragon, 1 heroic, and 1 minor augments; 1 paragon, 4 heroic and 1 minor augments; 5 heroic and 1 minor augments; ...; or 9 minor augments.

Modified Psionic Structure: 2 paragon and 1 heroic augments; 1 paragon, 2 heroic, and 1 minor augments; 4 heroic augments; ...; or 8 minor augments.

 

This is a weird level because the original psionic progression gets both the power point it missed out on at 13th level and the power point to help it keep up more in epic while the others get nothing.  The original power point structure clearly has an unfair advantage over both other systems at this point.

 

Level 23:

Encounter Powers: 1 epic, 2 paragon powers      

Original Psionic Structure: 2 epic, 1 minor augments; 1 epic, 2 paragon augments; 1 epic, 1 paragon, and 2 heroic augments; 3 paragon and 1 minor augment; 2 paragon, 2 heroic, and 1 minor augments; 1 paragon, 4 heroic and 1 minor augments; 6 heroic, 1 minor augments; ...; or 13 minor augments.

Modified Psionic Structure: 2 epic, 1 heroic augment; 1 epic, 2 paragon augments; 3 paragon, 1 minor augments; 2 paragon, 2 heroic augments; 1 paragon, 3 heroic, and 1 minor augments; 5 heroic augments; 4 heroic and 2 minor augments; ...; or 10 minor augments.

At this point, both psionic systems are capable of keeping up with the encounter powers.  However, the original psionic system starts to gain a lot of efficiency by using many lesser powers.  The new system discourages that somewhat by reducing the efficiency of spamming heroic powers slightly.  It's also much more attractive to trade a paragon for a heroic for the chance at two epics in the modified system.

Level 27:

Encounter Powers: 2 epic, 1 paragon powers      

Original Psionic Structure: 2 epic, 1 heroic, and 1 minor augments; 1 epic, 2 paragon, 1 minor augments; 3 paragon, 1 heroic, and 1 minor augments; 2 paragon, 3 heroic and 1 minor augment; 1 paragon, 5 heroic, and 1 minor augments; 7 heroic and 1 minor augments; ...; or 15 minor augments.

Modified Psionic Structure: 2 epic, 1 paragon augment; 1 epic, 2 paragon augments, 1 minor augments; 3 paragon, 1 heroic augments; 2 paragon, 2 heroic augments, 1 minor augments; 1 paragon, 4 heroic augments; 5 heroic, 1 minor augments;  ...; or 11 minor augments.

 

The capstone level.  The original psionic structure couldn't keep up with encounter powers at the higher end, but could spam low level powers extremely well.  My modified system can keep up at the higher end and makes spamming heroic tier powers a bit less efficient at the lower end.

The rationale for reducing the paragon path's power points is to take it down from granting a potential bonus encounter power to merely being able to upgrade a power by one level, which is still a pretty useful bonus.

I think this system seems like it would be more balanced on the whole, but it would also take a lot of work judging how individual powers and features function.  Feel free to let me know your thoughts!