1:Introduction and basic overview of Psionics and Psion Disciplines
What's this? This is a guide for psion afficionados with in-depth strategic and tactical discussions of some of the most powerful and versatile options available to psion players. It also discusses powergaming in so far as it relates to psionics and psions. The purpose of this guide is to serve as a resource for those interested in playing Psions. An effort to give suggestions to aid in the creation and Play has been given so that all who choose to play as a Psion will enjoy the experience.
Anyone wishing to explore psionic powers to their fullest extent possible should consider a psion. The psion is the psychic equivalent of the Sorceror. The class boasts a tremendous range of mental powers, placing psions among the most potent and versatile characters in the game.
This guide also will try to keep examples of Psion Builds to illustrate different points and aid in choosing PrCs,feats,equipment,etc.
Considered Sources Since this is a practical guide that takes into consideration what most DMs would actually allow, it primarily builds on what's available in the SRD. Where it would be of interest to discuss outside alternatives these will be noted in passing, in case they would be allowed at your gaming table. For more details, check out Index: 3.5 Psionics Sources Outside the XPH.
A Word on Powergaming If you believe that making the most of your character's power, versatility and game mechanics is a threat to role playing, consider the Stormwind Fallacy. If you think psionics are too powerful as compared to other aspects of the game, read Myth: The XPH is overpowered
Having said that, this guide does not attempt to abuse rules or exploit the RAW at all costs. Infact, it considers that even the RAI may be vetoed at certain gaming tables, and adopts a common sense approach.
Powergaming means expending your resources (actions, PP, items, gold etc.) to amass value (XP, gold, information etc.) in an as efficient manner as possible, by carefully optimizing your choices (attributes, skills, feats, powers, race, class, purchases etc.). This means that you're engaging your DM in a battle of wits where you solve problems in an increasingly clever and efficient manner, forcing your DM to come up with increasingly challenging problems. This should not be a problem for your DM, but it may be a problem for your party if they are not up for the increase in challenge. A wise DM will try to balance such differences between players, but the game experience is also partly your responsibility.
Thus, ensure that you're in a like-minded group, or tread carefully. The in-combat strategies in this guide take this fact into account. You have the possibility to go all out offense and "just win" before most other party members will have done anything significant, or you can play a more behind the scenes support role - all depending on how much you can, should or want to stand out.
Players Guide to Faerun, page 172][indent]Psionics and the Weave[/indent] Unlike Spells, which derive thier power from Faeruns Weave(or the Shadow Weave), Psionic ability taps only the Inner resevoirs of the manifester. In a sense, each psionic creature is its own [COLOR=Blue]Weave[/COLOR], using the magic of its own Lifeforce and Mind to create Psionic effects. Mystra and Shar have no ability to deny Psionic creatures access to powers, and they do not control the promulgation of Psionic Lore and ability throughout the populace of Faerun.
While Psionic does not require the Weave to function, Psionic Power are magical in nature. Spells such as Detect Magic can also detect Psionic abilities at work, and spells such as Dispel Magic or Antimagic Shell can Negate, suppress, or completely cancel Psionic Manifestations.
Psionics and the Weave[/indent] Unlike Spells, which derive thier power from Faeruns Weave(or the Shadow Weave), Psionic ability taps only the Inner resevoirs of the manifester. In a sense, each psionic creature is its own [COLOR=Blue]Weave[/COLOR], using the magic of its own Lifeforce and Mind to create Psionic effects. Mystra and Shar have no ability to deny Psionic creatures access to powers, and they do not control the promulgation of Psionic Lore and ability throughout the populace of Faerun.
While Psionic does not require the Weave to function, Psionic Power are magical in nature. Spells such as Detect Magic can also detect Psionic abilities at work, and spells such as Dispel Magic or Antimagic Shell can Negate, suppress, or completely cancel Psionic Manifestations.[/quote]
Tempest Stormwind]The psionics rules for D&D 3.5 are remarkably easy to learn, if you have a handle on how magic works.
The psion, fundamentally, works like a spontaneous spellcaster (sorceror, bard, etc) that does not suffer from arcane spell failure, nor has any need for components. They recover their power points (which are similar to spells per day) after 8 hours of rest, just like an arcane spellcaster, although it only takes a single full-round action to recover them all instead of an hour's concentration (like a sorceror or a bard).
Manifesting a power is fundamentally like casting a spell for a spontaneous caster, in that it functions under exactly the same rules (spend power points/spell slot, provokes attack of opportunity, may require concentration, etc), except where metapsionic feats are used (see below for details). If you are comfortable running sorcerors, then you shouldn't have any problem with this aspect of psionics.
The differences, however, are the two key rules to the Expanded Psionics Handbook, and without them, the system seems terribly broken.
1 -- AUGMENTATION Psionic powers can often 'augment' -- manifest themselves at a stronger power level by expending more power points. This is similar to spell scaling (i.e. Fireball: 1d6 per caster level) except that, unlike magic, it is not free. Psionic manifesters must spend power points to accomplish this feat, and they are subject to a special limit. This limit is the SINGLE MOST IMPORTANT RULE IN THE EXPANDED PSIONICS HANDBOOK: You may not spend more power points than your manifester level on a single manifestation. That is, a 4th level psion can only spend 4 power points on any given psionic manifestation. He could spend fewer, if he wishes, but not more than 4 -- augmentation and metapsionic feats included. (The Overchannel feat and the Wild Surge class feature can allow a manifester to temporarily treat his manifester level as higher than normal for a single manifestation, at the cost of damage or a risk of dazing and loss of a LOT of PP. He still has to pay for the extra boost if he uses Overchannel, though.) This brings us nicely into the second key rule:
2 -- PSIONIC FOCUS Psionic Focus is, essentially, a state that you can be in that serves as a balancing factor. It's described under the Concentration skill in the XPH, although any book that uses psionic material includes its rules in a sidebar. Basically, you can take a full-round action (provoking attacks of opportunity) to make a DC20 Concentration check to become 'psionically focused' -- a state that indicates you are ready to use certain feats. Psionic focus has NOTHING to do with manifesting powers, nor does it do anything by itself. In fact, without special class features or psionic/metapsionic feats, you can only use it on one thing -- you can expend it (lose your 'focused' state) to 'take 15' on a single Concentration check. Things get more interesting, however, when you have psionic feats. Many psionic feats (i.e. 90%+) relate to focus in some way or another. Some require you to be psionically focused -- for instance, Speed of Thought adds a +10 Insight bonus to your speed when you are psionically focused. If you lose your focus in any way (expending it or being forced to lose it), you also lose this speed bonus, although it returns when you restore your focus. Other feats require you to expend your focus, essentially trading your 'focused' state for a special, powerful, one-time effect that's like a minor spell or power -- for instance, Psionic Weapon adds +2d6 damage to a melee attack, but requires you to expend your psionic focus to trigger it. Most notable of the 'expend-focus' feats are every last Metapsionic feat. That's right, in order to use any metapsionic feat, you must expend your psionic focus. This prevents, normally, the use of more than one metapsi feat on any one manifestation. Since it takes a full-round to recover, it's similar to (but inferior to) the Sorceror's use of metamagic, although you can use that prep round in advance. Unlike sorcerors, though, use of metapsionics does not alter the time to manifest the power itself, so Quicken Power can be used. Psionic Focus is a powerful balance tool, and many metapsi feats cost slightly less than their metamagic equivalents. You automatically lose your psionic focus if you fall unconcious or hit zero power points. You can be forced to lose it via the Psionic Hole feat or a creature like a gray glutton. The feats Psicrystal Affinity and Psicrystal Containment allow your psicrystal to become psionically focused, which is similar to your own focus (although being unfocused, with a focused psicrystal, is not enough to count as 'being psionically focused' for things like your feats), and you can even expend both to power two expend feats at once (like Greater Psionic Weapon and Deep Impact). Finally, the feat Psionic Meditation can speed up the focus process, to a move action. Considering how focus is used to power other feats, relying of focus stunts like this can be very, very feat-intensive.
Psions and their Disciplnes : LEARNING POWERS AS A PSION Discipline: A psion must choose a particular area of psychic study. The psion class includes six disciplines -- clairsentience (information gathering powers), metacreativity (powers that shape items or creatures from ectoplasm), psychokinesis (powers that transform matter and energy), psychometabolism (powers that alter creatures' mental or biological states), psychoportation (powers that move items or creatures in space or time), and telepathy (powers that allow mental contact between creatures or provide mental control over others).
Choosing a discipline gives the psion access to a short list of exclusive powers (and a few class skills other psions don't have). The psion cannot choose powers from other discipline's lists, but this still leaves a broad array of powers available.The next task is to decide on which discipline to pick. If your DM allows all the above power acquisition alternatives, the choice is not a very defining one for your psionic career. You will likely use powers from all disciplines, but generally an Egoist will save you the most research XP. The most significant class skills are obtained as a Seer (Listen and Spot), Telepath (Diplomacy) and Egoist/Kineticist (Autohypnosis). wrote:
The psionics rules for D&D 3.5 are remarkably easy to learn, if you have a handle on how magic works.
The psion, fundamentally, works like a spontaneous spellcaster (sorceror, bard, etc) that does not suffer from arcane spell failure, nor has any need for components. They recover their power points (which are similar to spells per day) after 8 hours of rest, just like an arcane spellcaster, although it only takes a single full-round action to recover them all instead of an hour's concentration (like a sorceror or a bard).
Manifesting a power is fundamentally like casting a spell for a spontaneous caster, in that it functions under exactly the same rules (spend power points/spell slot, provokes attack of opportunity, may require concentration, etc), except where metapsionic feats are used (see below for details). If you are comfortable running sorcerors, then you shouldn't have any problem with this aspect of psionics.
The differences, however, are the two key rules to the Expanded Psionics Handbook, and without them, the system seems terribly broken.
1 -- AUGMENTATION Psionic powers can often 'augment' -- manifest themselves at a stronger power level by expending more power points. This is similar to spell scaling (i.e. Fireball: 1d6 per caster level) except that, unlike magic, it is not free. Psionic manifesters must spend power points to accomplish this feat, and they are subject to a special limit. This limit is the SINGLE MOST IMPORTANT RULE IN THE EXPANDED PSIONICS HANDBOOK: You may not spend more power points than your manifester level on a single manifestation. That is, a 4th level psion can only spend 4 power points on any given psionic manifestation. He could spend fewer, if he wishes, but not more than 4 -- augmentation and metapsionic feats included. (The Overchannel feat and the Wild Surge class feature can allow a manifester to temporarily treat his manifester level as higher than normal for a single manifestation, at the cost of damage or a risk of dazing and loss of a LOT of PP. He still has to pay for the extra boost if he uses Overchannel, though.) This brings us nicely into the second key rule:
2 -- PSIONIC FOCUS Psionic Focus is, essentially, a state that you can be in that serves as a balancing factor. It's described under the Concentration skill in the XPH, although any book that uses psionic material includes its rules in a sidebar. Basically, you can take a full-round action (provoking attacks of opportunity) to make a DC20 Concentration check to become 'psionically focused' -- a state that indicates you are ready to use certain feats. Psionic focus has NOTHING to do with manifesting powers, nor does it do anything by itself. In fact, without special class features or psionic/metapsionic feats, you can only use it on one thing -- you can expend it (lose your 'focused' state) to 'take 15' on a single Concentration check. Things get more interesting, however, when you have psionic feats. Many psionic feats (i.e. 90%+) relate to focus in some way or another. Some require you to be psionically focused -- for instance, Speed of Thought adds a +10 Insight bonus to your speed when you are psionically focused. If you lose your focus in any way (expending it or being forced to lose it), you also lose this speed bonus, although it returns when you restore your focus. Other feats require you to expend your focus, essentially trading your 'focused' state for a special, powerful, one-time effect that's like a minor spell or power -- for instance, Psionic Weapon adds +2d6 damage to a melee attack, but requires you to expend your psionic focus to trigger it. Most notable of the 'expend-focus' feats are every last Metapsionic feat. That's right, in order to use any metapsionic feat, you must expend your psionic focus. This prevents, normally, the use of more than one metapsi feat on any one manifestation. Since it takes a full-round to recover, it's similar to (but inferior to) the Sorceror's use of metamagic, although you can use that prep round in advance. Unlike sorcerors, though, use of metapsionics does not alter the time to manifest the power itself, so Quicken Power can be used. Psionic Focus is a powerful balance tool, and many metapsi feats cost slightly less than their metamagic equivalents. You automatically lose your psionic focus if you fall unconcious or hit zero power points. You can be forced to lose it via the Psionic Hole feat or a creature like a gray glutton. The feats Psicrystal Affinity and Psicrystal Containment allow your psicrystal to become psionically focused, which is similar to your own focus (although being unfocused, with a focused psicrystal, is not enough to count as 'being psionically focused' for things like your feats), and you can even expend both to power two expend feats at once (like Greater Psionic Weapon and Deep Impact). Finally, the feat Psionic Meditation can speed up the focus process, to a move action. Considering how focus is used to power other feats, relying of focus stunts like this can be very, very feat-intensive.[/quote]
Psions and their Disciplnes : LEARNING POWERS AS A PSION Discipline: A psion must choose a particular area of psychic study. The psion class includes six disciplines -- clairsentience (information gathering powers), metacreativity (powers that shape items or creatures from ectoplasm), psychokinesis (powers that transform matter and energy), psychometabolism (powers that alter creatures' mental or biological states), psychoportation (powers that move items or creatures in space or time), and telepathy (powers that allow mental contact between creatures or provide mental control over others).
Choosing a discipline gives the psion access to a short list of exclusive powers (and a few class skills other psions don't have). The psion cannot choose powers from other discipline's lists, but this still leaves a broad array of powers available.The next task is to decide on which discipline to pick. If your DM allows all the above power acquisition alternatives, the choice is not a very defining one for your psionic career. You will likely use powers from all disciplines, but generally an Egoist will save you the most research XP. The most significant class skills are obtained as a Seer (Listen and Spot), Telepath (Diplomacy) and Egoist/Kineticist (Autohypnosis).
A discipline also can serve as an underlying theme for the character's approach to life, adventuring, and psionic study. DisciplineShow
Tempest Stormwind]Quote: A fair bit of confusion has arisen here, mostly due to the overuse of the word "discipline." "Discipline" is the rough equivalent of "school of magic." It is also the subtype of psion (Egoist, nomad, kineticist, shaper, seer, telepath), and the special list of powers only available to those characters (the 'discipline powers' -- a special addition similar to, but not quite like, a domain. If you are familiar with the Arcane Disciple feat, it is somewhat like that.). So, in an effort to dispel confusion, I'll try to clarify what, exactly, a psion's discipline (subtype) means for your power selection.
* Egoists can take any power off the Psion/Wilder list, plus any power off of the Egoist (Psychometabolism) list. * Nomads can take any power off the Psion/Wilder list, plus any power off of the Nomad (Psychoportation) list. * Kineticists can take any power off the Psion/Wilder list, plus any power off of the Kineticist (Psychokinesis) list. * Shapers can take any power off the Psion/Wilder list, plus any power off of the Shaper (Metacreativity) list. * Seers can take any power off the Psion/Wilder list, plus any power off of the Seer (Clairsentience) list. * Telepaths can take any power off the Psion/Wilder list, plus any power off of the Telepath (Telepathy) list.
They do not automatically learn their discipline powers, nor can they learn any power that is not on the lists mentioned above (without the use of the Expanded Knowledge feat).
Quote: A fair bit of confusion has arisen here, mostly due to the overuse of the word "discipline." "Discipline" is the rough equivalent of "school of magic." It is also the subtype of psion (Egoist, nomad, kineticist, shaper, seer, telepath), and the special list of powers only available to those characters (the 'discipline powers' -- a special addition similar to, but not quite like, a domain. If you are familiar with the Arcane Disciple feat, it is somewhat like that.). So, in an effort to dispel confusion, I'll try to clarify what, exactly, a psion's discipline (subtype) means for your power selection.
* Egoists can take any power off the Psion/Wilder list, plus any power off of the Egoist (Psychometabolism) list. * Nomads can take any power off the Psion/Wilder list, plus any power off of the Nomad (Psychoportation) list. * Kineticists can take any power off the Psion/Wilder list, plus any power off of the Kineticist (Psychokinesis) list. * Shapers can take any power off the Psion/Wilder list, plus any power off of the Shaper (Metacreativity) list. * Seers can take any power off the Psion/Wilder list, plus any power off of the Seer (Clairsentience) list. * Telepaths can take any power off the Psion/Wilder list, plus any power off of the Telepath (Telepathy) list.
They do not automatically learn their discipline powers, nor can they learn any power that is not on the lists mentioned above (without the use of the Expanded Knowledge feat).[/quote]
FabulousRex]Since you are forced to choose a Disciplne as a Psion, the choice you make -must- match the charecter you want to play. A sneaky, devious type is better used as a Telepath or Seer than a Kineticist. So I've made some basic guidlines on all the Disciplnes concerning their flavor, play style, and suggested Optimization routes.
Since you are forced to choose a Disciplne as a Psion, the choice you make -must- match the charecter you want to play. A sneaky, devious type is better used as a Telepath or Seer than a Kineticist. So I've made some basic guidlines on all the Disciplnes concerning their flavor, play style, and suggested Optimization routes.[/quote] SEERShow
[color=Blue]Seer-
FabulousRex]Seer- With Powers and Skills focused on information, a Seer is a great choice for a 'know it all' type of PC (for good or ill). Information can mean alot of different things, though. Out of combat, knowing your enemies, allies, and partners is invaluable. Inside combat, precognitive powers let you cheat the odds, influence your saves, and give you insight bonuses on combat checks. Suggested Optimization- Psycrystal Affinity is immensely useful to gather information, in addition to it's other benefits. Psion Uncarnate could make you into the ultimate spy, if you wish to lose your connection to the Material Plane.
Skills: Gather Information (Cha) Listen (Wis) Spot (Wis).
SEER (CLAIRSENTIENCE) DISCIPLINE POWERS 1 Destiny Dissonance: Your dissonant touch sickens a foe. Precognition: Gain +2 insight bonus to one roll.
2 Clairvoyant Sense: See and hear a distant location. Object Reading: Learn details about an object’ wrote:
Seer- With Powers and Skills focused on information, a Seer is a great choice for a 'know it all' type of PC (for good or ill). Information can mean alot of different things, though. Out of combat, knowing your enemies, allies, and partners is invaluable. Inside combat, precognitive powers let you cheat the odds, influence your saves, and give you insight bonuses on combat checks. Suggested Optimization- Psycrystal Affinity is immensely useful to gather information, in addition to it's other benefits. Psion Uncarnate could make you into the ultimate spy, if you wish to lose your connection to the Material Plane.[/quote] Skills: Gather Information (Cha) Listen (Wis) Spot (Wis).
SEER (CLAIRSENTIENCE) DISCIPLINE POWERS 1 Destiny Dissonance: Your dissonant touch sickens a foe. Precognition: Gain +2 insight bonus to one roll.
2 Clairvoyant Sense: See and hear a distant location. Object Reading: Learn details about an object’s previous owner. Sensitivity to Psychic Impressions: You can find out about an area’s past.
3 Escape Detection: You become difficult to detect with clairsentience powers. Fate Link: You link the fates of two targets.
4 Anchored Navigation: Establish a mishap-free teleport beacon. Remote Viewing: See, hear, and potentially interact with subjects at a distance.
5 Clairtangent Hand: Emulate far hand at a distance. Second Chance: Gain a reroll.
6 Precognition, Greater: Gain +4 insight bonus to one roll.
7 Fate of One: Reroll any roll you just failed.
8 Hypercognition: You can deduce almost anything.
9 Metafaculty: You learn details about any one creature.
FabulousRex]Shaper- The Shaper's Skills are almost Rogue-Like, and ideally suited to modifying their signature Power, Astral Construct. They also have a few nifty creation and modification powers (as well as some good save-or-dies), and make ideal Psionic Crafters. If you want a well-rounded Psion with alot of gear, the Shaper is for you. In and out of combat, it's likely you will solve most problems with expendable ectoplasmic Constructs that you create on the spot. Suggested Optimization- Boost Construct was literally -made- for Shapers, don't pass it up! The online Constructer PrC is also Ideal to maximize your use of the Astral Construct power.
Skills: Bluff (Cha) Disguise (Cha) Use Psionic Device* (Cha).
SHAPER (METACREATIVITY) DISCIPLINE POWERS 1 Astral Construct: Creates astral construct to fight for you. Minor Creation, Psionic: Creates one cloth or wood object.
2 Psionic Repair Damage: Repairs construct of 3d8 hit points +1 hp/level.
3 Concealing Amorpha, Greater: Quasi-real membrane grants you total concealment. Ectoplasmic Cocoon: You encapsulate a foe so it can’ wrote:
Shaper- The Shaper's Skills are almost Rogue-Like, and ideally suited to modifying their signature Power, Astral Construct. They also have a few nifty creation and modification powers (as well as some good save-or-dies), and make ideal Psionic Crafters. If you want a well-rounded Psion with alot of gear, the Shaper is for you. In and out of combat, it's likely you will solve most problems with expendable ectoplasmic Constructs that you create on the spot. Suggested Optimization- Boost Construct was literally -made- for Shapers, don't pass it up! The online Constructer PrC is also Ideal to maximize your use of the Astral Construct power.[/quote] Skills: Bluff (Cha) Disguise (Cha) Use Psionic Device* (Cha).
SHAPER (METACREATIVITY) DISCIPLINE POWERS 1 Astral Construct: Creates astral construct to fight for you. Minor Creation, Psionic: Creates one cloth or wood object.
2 Psionic Repair Damage: Repairs construct of 3d8 hit points +1 hp/level.
3 Concealing Amorpha, Greater: Quasi-real membrane grants you total concealment. Ectoplasmic Cocoon: You encapsulate a foe so it can’t move.
4 Fabricate, Psionic: Transforms raw goods to finished items. Quintessence: You collapse a bit of time into a physical substance.
5 Hail of Crystals: A crystal explodes in an area, dealing 9d4 slashing damage.
6 Crystallize: Turn subject permanently to crystal. Fabricate, Greater Psionic: Transforms a lot of raw goods to finished items.
7 Ectoplasmic Cocoon, Mass: You encapsulate all foes in a 20-ft. radius.
8 Astral Seed: You plant the seed of your rebirth from the Astral Plane.
9 Genesis: You instigate a new demiplane on the Astral Plane. True Creation: As psionic major creation, except items are completely real.
FabulousRex]Kineticist- Kineticists are notorius 'blasters', with some of the best Energy powers on their Disciplne list. They are, however, matter manipulators. Their other skills and powers focus on the mind over the enviroment around them. If that means siezing control of an enemy's body, shifting and manipulating matter, or forming terrific blasts of energy is up to the individual Kineticist! Suggested Optimization- Meta-Psionic feats to boost your energy-power output are a good idea, along with Psionic Mediation and Psycrystal Containment to truly use those MetaPsi feats to their fullest.
KINETICIST (PSYCHOKINESIS) DISCIPLINE POWERS 1 Control Object: Telekinetically animate a small object.
2 Control Air: You have control over wind speed and direction. Energy Missile: Deal 3d6 energy damage to up to five subjects.
3 Energy Cone: Deal 5d6 energy damage in 60-ft. cone.
4 Control Body: Take rudimentary control of your foe’ wrote:
Kineticist- Kineticists are notorius 'blasters', with some of the best Energy powers on their Disciplne list. They are, however, matter manipulators. Their other skills and powers focus on the mind over the enviroment around them. If that means siezing control of an enemy's body, shifting and manipulating matter, or forming terrific blasts of energy is up to the individual Kineticist! Suggested Optimization- Meta-Psionic feats to boost your energy-power output are a good idea, along with Psionic Mediation and Psycrystal Containment to truly use those MetaPsi feats to their fullest.[/quote] Skills: Autohypnosis* (Wis) Disable Device (Dex) Intimidate (Cha).
KINETICIST (PSYCHOKINESIS) DISCIPLINE POWERS 1 Control Object: Telekinetically animate a small object.
2 Control Air: You have control over wind speed and direction. Energy Missile: Deal 3d6 energy damage to up to five subjects.
3 Energy Cone: Deal 5d6 energy damage in 60-ft. cone.
4 Control Body: Take rudimentary control of your foe’s limbs. Energy Ball: Deal 7d6 energy damage in 20-ft. radius. Inertial Barrier: Gain DR 5/–.
5 Energy Current: Deal 9d6 damage to one foe and half to another foe as long as you concentrate. Fiery Discorporation: Cheat death by discorporating into nearby fire for one day.
6 Dispelling Buffer: Subject is buffered from one dispel psionics effect. Null Psionics Field: Create a field where psionic power does not function.
7 Reddopsi: Powers targeting you rebound on manifester.
8 Telekinetic Sphere, Psionic: Mobile force globe encapsulates creature and moves it.
9 Tornado Blast: Vortex of air subjects your foes to 17d6 damage and moves them.
FabulousRex]Egoist- Egoists focus on the changes and manipulation of their own bodies, both with their Skills and Powers. Famous for shape-shifting via Metamorphasis, Egoists also pack some impressive self-buff and self-heal powers, making them the most likely to enter melee combat and survive (if not thrive!). Suggested Optimization- Metamorphic Transfer is fantastic with the Metamorphasis power, allowing you to use some of the target creature's unusual abilites a few times a day. The online Sangehirn is fantastic for applying your powers to your party (especially healing), and the Slayer makes you a formidable melee combatant.
EGOIST (PSYCHOMETABOLISM) DISCIPLINE POWERS 1 Thicken Skin: Gain +1 enhancement bonus to your AC for 10 min./level.
2 Animal Affinity: Gain +4 enhancement to one ability. Chameleon: Gain +10 enhancement bonus on Hide checks. Empathic Transfer: Transfer another’ wrote:
Egoist- Egoists focus on the changes and manipulation of their own bodies, both with their Skills and Powers. Famous for shape-shifting via Metamorphasis, Egoists also pack some impressive self-buff and self-heal powers, making them the most likely to enter melee combat and survive (if not thrive!). Suggested Optimization- Metamorphic Transfer is fantastic with the Metamorphasis power, allowing you to use some of the target creature's unusual abilites a few times a day. The online Sangehirn is fantastic for applying your powers to your party (especially healing), and the Slayer makes you a formidable melee combatant.[/quote] Skills: Autohypnosis* (Wis) Balance (Dex) Heal (Wis).
EGOIST (PSYCHOMETABOLISM) DISCIPLINE POWERS 1 Thicken Skin: Gain +1 enhancement bonus to your AC for 10 min./level.
2 Animal Affinity: Gain +4 enhancement to one ability. Chameleon: Gain +10 enhancement bonus on Hide checks. Empathic Transfer: Transfer another’s wounds to yourself.
3 Ectoplasmic Form: You gain benefits of being insubstantial and can fly slowly. Hustle: Instantly gain a move action.
4 Metamorphosis: Assume shape of creature or object. Psychic Vampire: Touch attack drains 2 power points/level from foe.
5 Psionic Revivify. Return the dead to life before the psyche leaves the corpse. Psychofeedback: Boost Strength, Dexterity, or Constitution at the expense of one or more other scores. Restore Extremity: Return a lost digit, limb, or other appendage to subject.
6 Restoration, Psionic: Restores level and ability score drains.
7 Fission: You briefly duplicate yourself.
8 Fusion: You combine your abilities and form with another.
9 Metamorphosis, Greater: Assume shape of any nonunique creature or object each round.
FabulousRex]Nomad- The Nomad is not thought of as the most powerful Disciplne, but it has it's place, and can be especially good at battlefield control, time manipulation, and transportation. It's skills make it a very self-sufficient Disciplne, ideal for low-PC games and outdoors campaigns, while it's powers make the Nomad the king of battlefield mobility. Suggested Optimization- The Elocator is a fantastic PrC for Nomads, both in flavor and usage. Really crank up that mobility and time control!
NOMAD (PSYCHOPORTATION) DISCIPLINE POWERS 1 Burst: Gain +10 ft. to speed this round. Detect Teleportation: Know when teleportation powers are used in close range.
2 Dimension Swap: You and ally or two allies switch positions. Levitate, Psionic: Subject moves up and down, forward and back, at your direction.
3 Astral Caravan: You lead astral traveler-enabled group to a planar destination. 4 Dimensional Anchor, Psionic: Bars extra dimensional movement. Dismissal, Psionic: Forces a creature to return to its native plane. Fly, Psionic: You fly at a speed of 60 ft.
5 Baleful Teleport: Destructive teleport deals 9d6 damage. Teleport, Psionic: Instantly transports you as far as 100 miles/level. Teleport Trigger: Predetermined event triggers teleport.
Nomad- The Nomad is not thought of as the most powerful Disciplne, but it has it's place, and can be especially good at battlefield control, time manipulation, and transportation. It's skills make it a very self-sufficient Disciplne, ideal for low-PC games and outdoors campaigns, while it's powers make the Nomad the king of battlefield mobility. Suggested Optimization- The Elocator is a fantastic PrC for Nomads, both in flavor and usage. Really crank up that mobility and time control![/quote] Skills: Climb (Str) Jump (Str) Ride (Dex) Survival (Wis) Swim (Str).
NOMAD (PSYCHOPORTATION) DISCIPLINE POWERS 1 Burst: Gain +10 ft. to speed this round. Detect Teleportation: Know when teleportation powers are used in close range.
2 Dimension Swap: You and ally or two allies switch positions. Levitate, Psionic: Subject moves up and down, forward and back, at your direction.
3 Astral Caravan: You lead astral traveler-enabled group to a planar destination. 4 Dimensional Anchor, Psionic: Bars extra dimensional movement. Dismissal, Psionic: Forces a creature to return to its native plane. Fly, Psionic: You fly at a speed of 60 ft.
5 Baleful Teleport: Destructive teleport deals 9d6 damage. Teleport, Psionic: Instantly transports you as far as 100 miles/level. Teleport Trigger: Predetermined event triggers teleport.
FabulousRex]Telepath- Perhaps the most popular Disciplne, the Telepath focuses on what Psionics has a special affinity for, mind manipulation. Wether it's charming your way through social encounters, or forcing your enemy to kill itself, the Telepath views the human mind a clay to be molded however they see fit. This of course means that mind-effecting-immune creatures like Undead can cause a Telepath fits if he's unprepared! Suggested Optimization- Psionic Endowment can really kick up the DC's to beguile their foes' minds, while the Thrallherd PrC simply attracts followers to you without you having to lift a finger!
Skills: Bluff (Cha) Diplomacy (Cha) Gather Information (Cha) Sense Motive (Wis)
TELEPATH (TELEPATHY) DISCIPLINE POWERS 1 Charm, Psionic: Makes one person your friend. Mindlink: You forge a limited mental bond with another creature.
2 Aversion: Subject has aversion you specify. Brain Lock: Subject cannot move or take any mental actions. Read Thoughts: Detect surface thoughts of creatures in range. Suggestion, Psionic: Compels subject to follow stated course of action.
3 Crisis of Breath: Disrupt subject’ wrote:
Telepath- Perhaps the most popular Disciplne, the Telepath focuses on what Psionics has a special affinity for, mind manipulation. Wether it's charming your way through social encounters, or forcing your enemy to kill itself, the Telepath views the human mind a clay to be molded however they see fit. This of course means that mind-effecting-immune creatures like Undead can cause a Telepath fits if he's unprepared! Suggested Optimization- Psionic Endowment can really kick up the DC's to beguile their foes' minds, while the Thrallherd PrC simply attracts followers to you without you having to lift a finger![/quote] Skills: Bluff (Cha) Diplomacy (Cha) Gather Information (Cha) Sense Motive (Wis)
TELEPATH (TELEPATHY) DISCIPLINE POWERS 1 Charm, Psionic: Makes one person your friend. Mindlink: You forge a limited mental bond with another creature.
2 Aversion: Subject has aversion you specify. Brain Lock: Subject cannot move or take any mental actions. Read Thoughts: Detect surface thoughts of creatures in range. Suggestion, Psionic: Compels subject to follow stated course of action.
3 Crisis of Breath: Disrupt subject’s breathing. Empathic Transfer, Hostile: Your touch transfers your hurt to another. False Sensory Input: Subject sees what isn’t there.
4 Dominate, Psionic: Control target telepathically. Mindlink, Thieving: Borrow knowledge of a subject’s power. Modify Memory, Psionic: Changes 5 minutes of subject’s memories. Schism: Your partitioned mind can manifest lower level powers.
5 Metaconcert: Mental concert of two or more increases the total power of the participants. Mind Probe: You discover the subject’s secret thoughts.
6 Mind Switch: You switch minds with another.
7 Crisis of Life: Stop subject’s heart.
8 Mind Seed: Subject slowly becomes you.
9 Mind Switch, True: A permanent brain swap. Psychic Chirurgery: You repair psychic damage or impart knowledge of new powers.
Weakness: 1: Poor Attack Bonus: A psion's base attack bonus is +1 per two psion levels, which is as bad as any in the game. Psions can dish out lots of damage with their powers, but they don't do well with weapons.
2: Poor Reflex and Fortitude Saves: Psions have the worst progression for Reflex and Will saves (see Table 3-1 in the Player's Handbook). Psions aren't good at avoiding attacks on their bodies.
3:Low Hit Points: The psion gains only 4-sided hit dice which inevitably leads to a low hit point total.
4:Limited Power selection/powers known: The psion has a fixed number of Powers known, but can increase this thru Class abilities(from PrCs), Feats(Expanded Knowledge), Psychic Chirgury,.
5:Poor Armor Class: The psion has no proficiency with any kind of armor or shield. As a consequence, the character has a low Armor Class. The combination of low hit points and low Armor Class leaves most psions vulnerable in physical combat, especially melee. Many psionic powers, especially those from the psychometabolism discipline, can improve a psion's defenses. Employing such powers, however, expends time and psionic potential that the psion could use for other things.
6:Poor Weapon Selection: The psion has proficiency with the club, dagger, heavy crossbow, light crossbow, quarterstaff, and shortspear -- not a world-beating collection of weaponry.
Strengths: 1:Good Will Saves: A psion uses the best progression for Will saves (see Table 3-1 in the Player's Handbook). This helps the psion resist most effects that attack or fool her mind or assault her spirit, such as charms, compulsions, illusions, fear, and even inflict wounds spells.
2:5 Bonus Feats: A psion gains bonus feats at 1st, 5th, 10th, 15th, and 20th level. These feats must be psionic feats, metapsionic feats, or psionic item creation feats. A psion's selection of bonus feats can greatly expand her power.
3:Flexible Manifesting: Manifest an Unknown Power from Another’s Powers Known A psionic character can attempt to manifest a power from a source other than his own knowledge (usually a power stone or another willing psionic character). To do so, the character must first make contact (a process similar to addressing a power stone, requiring a Psicraft check against a DC of 15+ the highest level power in the power stone or repertorie). A psionic character can make contact with only a willing psionic character or creature (unconscious creatures are considered willing, but not psionic characters under the effects of other immobilizing conditions). Characters who can’t use power stones for any reason are also banned from attempting to manifest powers from the knowledge of other psionic characters. Mental contact requires 1 full round of physical contact, which can provoke attacks of opportunity. Once contact is achieved, the character becomes aware of all the powers stored in the power stone or all the powers the other character knows up to the highest level of power the contactor knows himself. Next, the psionic character must choose one of the powers and make a second Psicraft check (DC 15 + the power’s level) to see if he understands it. If the power is not on his class list, he automatically fails this check. Upon successfully making contact with another willing psionic character or creature and learning what he can of one power in particular, the character can immediately attempt to manifest that power even if he doesn’t know it (and assuming he has power points left for the day). He can attempt to manifest the power normally on his next turn, and he succeeds if he makes one additional Psicraft check (DC 15 + the power’s level). He retains the ability to manifest the selected power for only 1 round. If he doesn’t manifest the power, fails the Psicraft check, or manifests a different power, he loses his chance to manifest that power for the day.
4:Manifesting from other sources: see above
5:Armor does not interfere with Manifesting powers
6:Self Sufficient:No need for anything outside himself
7:Good Power Selection: The psion power list is unmatched for flexibility and sheer size. With the right power, you can damage or slay foes, whisk yourself (and your friends) to safety, discern hidden truths, throw up impassible barriers, create useful things out of thin air, or work profound transformations on yourself or the creatures and objects around you.
8:High Skill Points: Psions receive a mere two skill points per level, but don't let that fool you. Psions have high Intelligence scores (because Intelligence governs their psychic abilities), and a high Intelligence score boosts the number of skill points they have available.
3: Role in a Party
Think for the Long Term
Among the most critical decisions you'll make as a psion is choosing your personal repertoire of psionic powers. Once you choose a power, you cannot unlearn it and choose a new one, so choose powers that you think you'll want to keep using throughout your career (the psychic reformation power allows you to change known powers if you give up some experience points). Choose powers that will help you deal with as many different situations as possible. It's hard to go wrong with powers that deal damage, but choose powers that deal different kinds of damage or that use different kinds of energy. Don't forget the power list for your discipline -- these lists are short, but they contain powers that other characters usually can't learn. If you choose the Expanded Knowledge feat, you can learn just about any power you like, subject to the limits noted in the feat description.
No matter what your discipline is, it pays to include in your personal repertoire a few powers for travel, defense, and miscellaneous tasks. Always consider powers that you can use in several different ways. The far hand power, for example, is good for performing all sorts of tasks at a distance.
Powers aren't the only tool you have at your disposal. A few weapons, alchemical items, and other equipment can greatly expand your options.
Remember that you are one of your party's most vulnerable members. Make sure you have a proper place in the marching order -- preferably in the middle with at least one ally between you and your foes.
Manifest Early, Manifest Often, but stay in Budget
Your chief asset is your ability to manifest any power you know, provided you have the power points to do so. Unspent power points at the end of the day represent wasted potential. Of course, you should not waste your power points on frivolous or ineffective power manifestations, and it pays to keep a reserve of points available just in case you get in a bind where only a certain power will do (or if you have an encounter after you and your group have retired for the night). As a rule of thumb, keep enough power points on hand to manifest your highest level power once or twice. If you know or strongly suspect trouble ahead, keep more power in reserve. Otherwise, put your powers into play as often as you can.
Another useful Rule-of-thumb... divide your total PP per day by 4, then use 1/4 to do your daily Buffing if any, and you will have 1/4 per encounter for the rest of the day. This assumes an average of 3 encounters per day, you may have to adjust this if you find you are running out of PP too quickly.
Remember Your Friends
The sheer power you command as a psion can make you cocky. Don't forget that physical attacks can defeat you pretty quickly. You need the rest of your party for protection.
In addition, you must be careful not to become your party's worst enemy.
The Party's Front Line: The rogue, ranger, bard, or monk in your group often serve as a scout for the rest of the party and often will locate your foes for you. These characters, along with the party's more heavily armored types (particularly fighters and paladins) form a fighting line that keeps enemies away from you. Be ready to support those characters with your powers in case they get into trouble. When manifesting your powers, be careful to aim them so your friends aren't caught in their destructive effects. Nothing wears out your welcome faster than poorly aimed powers that hurt friend as well as -- or more than -- foes.
Spellcasters and Other Manifesters: You probably aren't the only character in your party who wields psychic powers or spells, so don't act as though you are. Arcane spellcasters can produce many effects that are similar to what you can produce.
Divine spellcasters have potent spells, too. Other psionic classes, such as psychic warriors, have power lists that are slightly more limited but probably more focused than yours.
Learn what spells and psionic powers are available in your group, and be ready to fill in the gaps in each character's capabilities. When your capabilities overlap another character's, try to divide tasks between you in some equitable manner. For example, if you are a kineticist (psychokinesis discipline) with a roster of attack powers good for blasting foes, ask the spellcasters and other manifesters in your group to handle tasks such as transportation, information gathering, and defense. Blasting foes can be fun, however, so don't hog all the action. You might divide up the battlefield into sections that different characters can cover, or develop a sequence of attacks that can really hurt a foe. For example, perhaps you might use energy push to knock a foe back and an allied wizard or sorcerer can hit the same foe with a magic missile spell.
to show the ability for a Psion to fill these roles: [indent] 1: Melee Damage 2: Direct Damage 3: Battlefield control 4: Save or Die 5: Information Gathering 6: Transportation 7: Healing 8: Buffing 9: NPC interaction(FACE)[/indent]
Races with Bonus Feats: [indent] Strongheart Halflings are great, Strongheart Halflings are a forgotten realms specific sub-race of halflings found in the Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting. With Strongheart Halflings, you get +1 AC, +1 to hit, nice stealth bonuses, but most importantly, you get an extra feat.
Humans are nice, too, although I don’t know what you’ll do with that extra skill point. The feat rocks. [/indent] Races with a Bonus to Intelligence: [indent] Gray Elf: -2 Str +2 Dex -2 Con +2 Int, medium, 30 ft., wizard, humanoid (elf), monster manual pg.104
Sun Elf: +2 Int -2 Con, medium, 30 ft., wizard, humanoid (elf), forgotten realms pg.15
Silvanesti: +2 Dex +2 Int -2 Con -2 Cha, medium, 30 ft., humanoid (elf), dragonlance campaign setting pg.20
Fire Elf: +2 Dex +2 Int -2 Con -2 Cha, medium, 30 ft., wizard, humanoid (elf), unearthed arcana pg.17
Deep Imaskari: +2 Int -2 Dex, medium, 30 ft., spell clutch (su), wizard, humanoid (human), underdark pg.9
Vanara: -2 Str +2 Int +2 Wis, medium, 30 ft. climb 20 ft., spirit shaman, humanoid (vanara), oriental adventures pg.15 – Note: in a 3.5 oriental adventures update found in Dragon magazine, vanara were updated to no longer have any ability score adjustments.
Venerable Dragonwrought Kobold: -4 Str +2 Dex -2 Con +3 Int +3 Wis +3 Cha, small, 30 ft., sorcerer, dragon (kobold, reptilian, dragonblood), monter manual pg.161 and races of the dragon pg. 39 [/indent]
Other Nice choices: [indent]Illumians make great Psions mainly because of two reasons. 1) By taking Sigil Focus (krau), you can gain early access to some prestiege classes.
Whisper Gnomes also make good Psions. Bonuses to dex and con, penalties to only str and cha, smalls size, 30 move speed, and a ton of other goodies make this LA +0 race worth it. [/indent]
Race There are three interesting core choices: human, grey elf and elan. [indent] • Human: You have no weaknesses, an extra feat, and extra skill points. As we will be taking Psionic Body at level 1, that extra feat will also grant you 2 more hp, and Psychic Reformation will help insure that you get the most out of the extra slot throughout your career. All builds below are based on a human, as it’s a good alround choice for a long term psionic career. It’s also a choice of race that any DM will allow. • Grey Elf: You get +2 to Int but suffer a -2 Con penalty (and get +2 Dex, -2 Str as well, which helps a bit early on). The Int bonus isn’t very significant at low levels, but translates to 10 more pp at level 20. As neither of the below builds depend on int-based saving throws to produce an adequate offense, the boost to save DCs is nice but not decisive. This is probably your strongest option if you’re starting at or post level 7. At that point, your frail health is less of an issue as you have more hp and access to metamorphosis, you can use all day buffs (extended), and the extra boost to Int begins to matter more and more. The elven “alertness” traits are also quite nice. • Elan: This is probably the best choice if you know that you will be playing a shorter campaign, starting at level 1. The extra 2 pp is huge in the early levels, and elan resistance/resilience will save you before you get more adequate defenses in your power repertoire. Being an abberation rather than a “person” can also be significant at low-mid level, and the repletion ability solves the problem of lugging around provisions, that can be troubesome for a low level adventurer. All in all, a powerful and versatile choice for the early levels, but a human will prove the better choice in the long run. [/indent] Eberron players should also consider the Kalashtar and the early level cheese that is the Warforged Shaper. You can have neigh unbeatable AC at level 1 at the cost of one feat, and you can heal yourself better than a Cleric starting level 3 with Psionic Repair Damage. An interesting OGL alternative is the +0 LA Aasimar*. You get a freebee +2 Cha, some minor special abilities and most importantly the Outsider type. This means even more flexibility for you at level 7, as outsiders have access to healing and transportation abilities that the other core creatures lack.
List of races and thier suitablity to making a playable Psion Human(PHB) .....excellent choice,the extra feat give Humans great flexability and a jump start for selecting other feats or PrC(especially Feat intensive ones). The extra skill points also help offset the low skill points that psion gives. Elf(PHB)+2 Dex,-2 Con Gray Elf(SRD)+2 Int, -2 Str......these make great Psions, because Str is a Dump Stat......basically: No downside Star Elf(Races of Faerun)+2 Cha,-2 Con Sun Elf(Forgotten Realms Campaign)+2 Int,-2 Con Snow Elf(Frostburn)+2 Dex,-2 Cha
Dwarf(PHB) Gnome(PHB) Halfling(PHB) 1/2 Elf(PHB) 1/2 Orc(PHB) Dromites(+1 LA) (XPH) Duergar(+1 LA)(XPH) Elans(XPH) Half-giants(+1 LA)(XPH) Maenads(XPH) Xeph(XPH) Changeling(Eberron) Kalashtar(Eberron)...This is one of the best Races for a Psion. It has few drawbacks and many bonuses, including the ability to choose some powerful Race Specific feats, and use Race Specific Psionic items. The Icing on the top would be the Bonus Power points Per Character level.
Shifter(Eberron)
Warforged(average)(Eberron)......this is a good race (+2Con,-2 Wis,-2 Cha),Living Construct Type,many immunities. Warforged(Scout)(Eberron).........This is also good(+2 Dex,-2 Str,-2 Wis,-2 Cha),as Warforged above, and Small size,Fav Class: Rogue.
quick note: All Warforged are refered to as Psiforged if you take the Psiforged Body feat
Phrenic Template from SRD:“Phrenic” is an inherited template that can be added to any nonmindless creature that does not already have the psionic subtype (referred to hereafter as the “base creature”. A phrenic creature uses all the base creature’s statistics and special abilities except as noted here. Size and Type: The creature’s type does not change, unless it is an animal (in which case it becomes a magical beast [augmented animal]). It gains the psionic subtype. Psi-Like Abilities (Sp): A phrenic creature possesses the psi-like abilities indicated below, depending on its Hit Dice. The abilities are cumulative. Unless otherwise noted, an ability is usable once per day. Manifester level is equal to the creature’s HD. The save DCs for a phrenic creature’s psi-like abilities are Charisma-based. HD Abilities [indent]1–2 3/day—defensive precognition; 1/day—force screen 3–4 3/day—empty mind, mind thrust 5–6 1/day—body adjustment, brain lock 7–8 1/day—aversion, blast 9–10 3/day—intellect fortress; 1/day—psychic crush 11–12 1/day—psionic dominate 13–14 1/day—energy current, tower of iron will 15–16 3/day—psionic teleport 17–18 1/day—fission 19–20 1/day—ultrablast[/indent] Special Qualities: A phrenic creature has all the special qualities of the base creature, plus the following special qualities. Naturally Psionic: A phrenic creature gains 1 bonus power point. Power Resistance (Ex): A phrenic creature has power resistance equal to its Hit Dice +10. Abilities: Increase from the base creature as follows: Int +2 (if Int is 3 or greater), Wis +2, Cha +4. Feats: A phrenic creature can take psionic feats, if it meets the prerequisites for such feats. Challenge Rating: Up to 5 HD, same as base creature +1; 6–10 HD, same as base creature +2; 11+ HD, same as base creature +3. Level Adjustment: Same as base creature +2.
Half-fey are the spawn of powerful fey creatures and the mortals they find so intriguing. Often confused by the ignorant with half-fiends, some half-fey grow up tormented by their peers, but a few use their gifts to win over others and become quite popular.
"Half-fey" is usually an inherited template, but it could be acquired through other means as well. Certain mortals who are obsessed with the fey study fey magic and dwell in sylvan places in hopes of gaining power, and a few actually do manage to acquire the half-fey template.
Attribute bonuses Dex +2, Con -2, Wis +2, Cha +4
Fey Type: She becomes vulnerable to spells and effects that work on creatures of the fey type but is immune to effects that target her original type. For example, a half-fey/half-human would be subject to the extra damage from a fey bane sword, but she is immune to hold person because that spell affects only humanoids.
Low-Light Vision (Ex): the half-fey gains low-light vision.
Saving Throw Bonuses (Ex): a half-fey gains a +4 racial bonus on saving throws against spells and effects from the Enchantment school.
Spell-Like Abilities: Starting at 1st level, a half-fey with an Intelligence or Wisdom score of 8 or better gains spell-like abilities. The exact abilities gained depend on the half-fey's character level and level in the template class, according to the following table. In each case, the caster level equals the half-fey's character level. Save DCs, where applicable, are Charisma-based (10 + spell level + half-fey's Cha modifier).
[indent]Level Spell-Like Abilities Gained 1st Charm person at will, hypnotism 1/day 1st Faerie fire or glitterdust 1/day 3rd Detect law 3/day 3rd Enthrall or sleep 1/day 5th Protection from law 3/day 7th Confusion or emotion 1/day 9th Eyebite or lesser geas 1/day 11th Dominate person or hold monster 1/day 13th Mass invisibility 1/day 15th Geas/quest or mass suggestion 1/day 17th Insanity or mass charm 1/day 19th Otto's irresistible dance 1/day[/indent]
The character gains each spell-like ability as soon as she meets both qualifications for it. Spell-like abilities are cumulative, so a half-fey whose character level is 3rd has charm person at will, detect law 3/day, enthrall or sleep 1/day, faerie fire or glitterdust 1/day, hypnotism 1/day.
Immunity to Enchantments (Ex): a half-fey becomes immune to all spells and effects from the Enchantment school. This ability replaces the saving throw bonus against these effects included in the half-fey's base racial features.
Wings (Ex): a half-fey grows insectlike wings (usually similar to those of a butterfly) and may use them to fly at up to twice her base land speed with good maneuverability.
under construction
Master Player Race List Version 2.0 Master Player Race List Version 2.0Show
AZNsupermarket]Master Player Race List Version 2.0 ALL RACES Originally composed by Wolfen Fenrison Updated by AZNsupermarket This is a master list of races available to player for first level characters as described in Chapter 2 in the Players Handbook. As such all the races presented here have a level adjustment of +0 and hit die based on character level.
The races will be presented by Name, Ability score adjustments, size, base land speed, and notes on what extraordinary, supernatural, or spell-like abilities they may have, favored class(es), type and subtype if any, and lastly book and page number for reference. This was made to make referencing character races easier and now includes races that were omitted from the earlier editions. Enjoy!
NOTE: Races in Red, most suitable for Psions
Anthropomorphic Animals Anthropomorphic Bat: -4 Str +6 Wis -2 Cha, small, 5 ft. (fly 20 ft. average), blindsense (ex), druid, monstrous humanoid, savage species pg.215 Anthropomorphic Lizard: -4 Str +2 Dex +4 Wis -4 Cha, small, 20 ft., druid, monstrous humanoid, savage species pg.215 Anthropomorphic Monkey: -4 Str +2 Dex +4Wis -2 Cha, small, 30 ft., druid, monstrous humanoid, savage species pg.215 Anthropomorphic Rat: -4 Str +2 Dex +4 Wis -4 Cha, small, 15 ft., rogue, monstrous humanoid, savage species pg.215 Anthropomorphic Raven: -6 Str +2 Dex +4 Wis -4 Cha, small, 10 ft. (fly 30ft. poor), rogue, monstrous humanoid, savage species pg.215 Anthropomorphic Toad: -4 Str -2 Dex +6 Wis -2 Cha, small, 5 ft., cleric, monstrous humanoid, savage species pg.215 Anthropomorphic Weasel: -4 Str +2 Dex +4 Wis -4 Cha, small, 20 ft., attach (ex), druid, monstrous humanoid, savage species pg.215
Master Player Race List Version 2.0 ALL RACES Originally composed by Wolfen Fenrison Updated by AZNsupermarket This is a master list of races available to player for first level characters as described in Chapter 2 in the Players Handbook. As such all the races presented here have a level adjustment of +0 and hit die based on character level.
The races will be presented by Name, Ability score adjustments, size, base land speed, and notes on what extraordinary, supernatural, or spell-like abilities they may have, favored class(es), type and subtype if any, and lastly book and page number for reference. This was made to make referencing character races easier and now includes races that were omitted from the earlier editions. Enjoy!
NOTE: Races in Red, most suitable for Psions
Anthropomorphic Animals Anthropomorphic Bat: -4 Str +6 Wis -2 Cha, small, 5 ft. (fly 20 ft. average), blindsense (ex), druid, monstrous humanoid, savage species pg.215 Anthropomorphic Lizard: -4 Str +2 Dex +4 Wis -4 Cha, small, 20 ft., druid, monstrous humanoid, savage species pg.215 Anthropomorphic Monkey: -4 Str +2 Dex +4Wis -2 Cha, small, 30 ft., druid, monstrous humanoid, savage species pg.215 Anthropomorphic Rat: -4 Str +2 Dex +4 Wis -4 Cha, small, 15 ft., rogue, monstrous humanoid, savage species pg.215 Anthropomorphic Raven: -6 Str +2 Dex +4 Wis -4 Cha, small, 10 ft. (fly 30ft. poor), rogue, monstrous humanoid, savage species pg.215 Anthropomorphic Toad: -4 Str -2 Dex +6 Wis -2 Cha, small, 5 ft., cleric, monstrous humanoid, savage species pg.215 Anthropomorphic Weasel: -4 Str +2 Dex +4 Wis -4 Cha, small, 20 ft., attach (ex), druid, monstrous humanoid, savage species pg.215
Dragonborn: +2 Con -2 Dex, same as base creature, same as base creature, fighter and the base creatures, same as base creature (dragonblood, same as base creature), races of the dragon pg.5
Duskling: +2 Con -2 Int, medium, 30 ft., totemist, fey (incarnum), magic of incarnum pg.10
5: Important Points and Feats important points: 1)Attribute Distribution and Impact on Character playablity Intelligence,Intelligence,Intelligence...........
There are two more or less fixed requirements to playing a psion adequately: you need a starting intelligence of 15 to be able to increase it to 19 in time for you to be able to manifest 9th level powers, and you need a wisdom of 13 to qualify for Metamorphic Transfer and Psionic Meditation. Let’s look at the attributes in more detail and consider the elite array, 25-point buy and 32-point buy.
• Strength: The least important attribute. You will probably never be making melee attacks without being metamorphed, unless you somehow get a freebee attack of opportunity in your early career. • Dexterity: This attribute also changes when changing shape. It’s significant for initiative, armor class and ranged attacks – all of which are important to you – but it’s still quite far down on the list since the Pixie form is available at level 7. • Constitution: With the recent Polymorph rulings, many DMs may very well rule that your hp does not change even if your Con does when metamorphing. Even if it does, you still need to get there alive, and a solid Con helps a lot in the early levels. • Intelligence: The most important attribute naturally, as it governs saves and power points, and grants you an impressive amount of skill points to boot. Should be as high as you can afford (within reason), and the primary choice for your level up ability increases and item enhancers. • Wisdom: Needed for feat requirements, but not particularly important otherwise. The extra boost to the will save is nice though. • Charisma: Your supernatural attacks from the Metamorphic Transfer feat are Cha based, which means that this attribute is far from unimportant. Especially significant for your class skills if you play a Telepath.
Elite Array: Str 8, Dex 10, Con 14, Int 15, Wis 13, Cha 12. (Con 12, Cha 14)* 25-point buy: Str 8, Dex 8, Con 14, Int 16, Wis 14, Cha 11. (Con 12, Cha 13)* 32-point buy: Str 8, Dex 8, Con 14, Int 18, Wis 14, Cha 12. (Con 12, Cha 14)* *Numbers in paranthesis should be used if your DM allows hp to change upon metamorphosis.
2)MANIFESTER LEVEL "Thou shall not lose Manifester levels", and Why. Manifester levels effect on Powers [indent]MANIFESTER LEVEL The variables of a power’s effect often depend on its manifester level, which is equal to your psionic class level. A power that can be augmented for additional effect is also limited by your manifester level (you can’t spend more power points on a power than your manifester level). See Augment under Descriptive Text, below. You can manifest a power at a lower manifester level than normal, but the manifester level must be high enough for you to manifest the power in question, and all level-dependent features must be based on the same manifester level. In the event that a class feature or other special ability provides an adjustment to your manifester level, this adjustment applies not only to all effects based on manifester level (such as range, duration, and augmentation potential) but also to your manifester level check to overcome your target’s power resistance and to the manifester level used in dispel checks (both the dispel check and the DC of the check). [/indent] Manifester Level on Power Points Manifester Level on Powers Known
3)Power points and Bugeting your spending of them Economic use of Power Points to get you thru the day. [indent]In general..a good rule of thumb, is to divide the total Daily number of power points you have by 4, use 1/4 for long term buffs , and limit the number of PP you expend for each encounter to around 1/4 also. This assumes an average of 3 encounters per day, you may have only 1 or maybe up to 6+;but as an average you will have 3 encounters per day. Note, each encounter does not mean Combat, some will be Social. With combat encounters try to determine the most effective way to eliminate an opponent while conserving PPs. Sometimes its best to simply use Battlefield Control powers and funnel the combat to your fighters and allow them to be effective. Other times it may be better to avoid haveing the enemy reach your fighters and destroy them at range, especially if they have special attacks that severly weaken your party members. A special caution should be considered...... if combats come in waves with reiforcements comming in a few rounds with more on the way...plan to use some long term buffs to power up with and long term Battlefield control and avoid a lot of direct damage(Direct damage is great vs single opponents) as it can use up your PP quickly. A final note.....ALWAYS keep enough PP to escape Quickly(Teleport or Planeshift)...you will not be able to defeat all opponents the first time, so its better to run away and return with a better plan and Prepared to face the enemy.[/indent]
"PP Generation Tactics
[indent]Power points are always an issue with any psionic build. Psionic characters always have to ration power points in one point or another. For Psychic warriors, this is even more of a problem with their reduced power point pools. However turning to sources such as magic of incarnum it is possible to circumvent and amplify the power point pools of any psionic character. This is accomplished through the use of Azure Talent {Incarnum, Psionic}, Azure talent allows you to invest in the feat essentia once per day, the bonus pp is equal to the total amount of invested essentia times two. Further more the feat itself has a built in limit on the number of points invested based on character level. The second part of the set is the feat Psycarnum Infusion {Psionic}. Thus feat allows you to expend your psionic focus which allows one of the characters essentia receptacles to be treated as if it had been invested with the maximum possible essentia If you use this tactic its wise to keep Cognizence Crystals on hand, using that you can boost your pp reserve by filling up the crystals with the pp before they expire, another use is to recharge psionic tatoos using the temp pp while preserving your main pool ...quote by Lokiyn "[/indent]
4)Focus What it is and how it affects you.
5)Skill choices Concentration,Knowledge(psionics),Psicraft....first,then get as much Synergy as you can. Concentration is a skill that generally Psions need to max out and this is because many effects linked to Powers require concentration checks. Should you fail to concentrate on your Power, you are most likely going to lose it, and the PP. The player's handbook provides detailed information on page 170 on concentration checks, that will cover almost all cases. Most notably:
Injury while Manifesting a Power: In case of continuous damage, you should be able to succeed. The problem here is if damaged by attacks or, even worse, enemy spells/Powers. Since opponents can ready an action to "when the enemy starts Manifesting a Power", they will be able to affect even those Powers that require a standard or move action to Manifest. Miss chance, invisibility and damage reduction can help lessen the inflicted damage, thus making your concentration check easier.
Distraction by spell: Mundane attacks only get 1/2 of the inflicted damage dealt to the concentration check's DC. Note that this is not the case with spells that deal damage. They actually add all the inflicted damage to the check. Thus, even a lowly magic missile[SUP]PHB[/SUP] spell (which if of 9th and higher caster level has a damage of 10-25, resulting in an average damage of 17,5) will boost your concentration check to 27,5 + level of the Power you are Manifesting, nothing to scoff at.
This graph shows how the damage of a spell, which deals 1d6 points of damage per caster level, scales compared to your concentration check with no modifiers.
6)Powers Known and getting more powers known Making yourself versatile and effective in any situation discussion on ResearchShow
hovnarr wrote:
I usually never bother with the research option for gaining access to powers of other disciplines, going Expanded Knowledge instead. It seems that Expanded Knowledge is widely accepted and used on the boards, but since research just seems so much stronger, I was wondering why there's so little talk about it. I'm generally thinking that EK > research at lower levels, while the opposite is true at higher levels. The reasons:
The most attractive low level powers to get are Astral Construct and Energy Missiles. However, AC is not very good at level 1, but is very playable at level 3 when you can EK it. Energy Missile is good from the start (lvl 3) but you can put it off for 2 levels without problem considering other available options (the astral construct for one!). At low levels, the fact that you get both an increase in quality AND quantity from the feat is also quite significant, since you know so few powers. The XP penalty from researching also hurts more at lower levels.
At higher levels, power slots aren't as scarce, and the XP cost is pretty insignificant. Getting "free" feats for a few hundred XP is huge, especially when you consider things like qualifying for PrCs. Most importantly, you can get them 2-3 levels earlier than you could with the EK feat, which could allow you to regain your XP investment pretty quickly if it's a powerful addition to your arsenal.
The missing link between the two options seems to be Psychic Reformation, making level 7 the ideal level to withdraw for a few months of solitude after an adventure that left you with a fair bit of extra XP to spend before you reach 8th. Out goes outdated powers good for low level characters (Matter Agitation, Mind Thrust and friends), out goes the EK feats, in goes the very same powers researched, some qualifying feats to set you up for your PrC of choice, some metapsionics perhaps and anything else that strikes your fancy. With a couple of thousand XP less, you now have a perfect level 7 psion, capable of manifesting any power of your choice (why not a researched Evade Burst as a 3rd level power?) with the most powerful combination of feats imaginable to go with it (go full monty on double foci, meditation, overchannel/talented, metapsionics, metamorphic transfer etc.).
Is this a good idea? I'm worried that it robs the disciplines of their uniqueness. Looking at it this way, choice of discipline seems to come down to what class skills you prefer, as well as how to save the most XP by choosing the one with most combined quantity+quality of powers. :P
7) Manifesting Powers "Power Manifesting Time Reduction [indent]Obviously getting powers manifested as fast as possible is important, however certain powers have an inconveniently log manifestation time. For example Psionic Minor Creation has a manifesting Time of One Minute. As well as Call to Mind, Powers like Major creation have manifestation time in things like 10 min, with some powers needing a full week to manifest. For most cases this isn’t an issue, however, we can speed up manifesting of long powers with the following process. Linked Power {metapsionic} Allows the manifester to manifest one power and link a second power to it as an additional metapsionic cost. The process is simple. Choose a starting power, In this case the power call item {minds Eye}. Then select a second power, in this case minor creation. One of the conditions of linked power is that the second power shares the same target as the primary power, in the event that the first power does not have a target or area (as is the case in call item) the second powers area or target is chosen by the manifester. The next round the second power goes off without any additional cost in actions or power points. Depending on your reading of the Linked power feat the second power does not cost the manifester anything other than the pp cost, which proves interesting when powers that cost exp are involved" quote by Lokiyn[/indent] 7)Feats: listing of useful feats New Feats & Powers........WotC Website Chance Favors the Prepared Mind........WotC Website
I will try to focus only on feats that are Directly useful to Psions.
NoN-Psionic Feats:
Alertness................you can get this for free if you have a Psycrystal Combat Expertise.....for Psi-Gish type builds Combat Reflexes.....for Psi-Gish type builds Improved Initiative.....good for many types Leadership Power Attack.....for Psi-Gish type builds Rapid Shot.....for Psi-Gish type builds Skill Focus(Concentration).............very useful for any Psionic character Track........................................neccessary to gain entry into the Slayer PrC Weapon Focus..............Weapon focus(ray) is very nice to have Shielded Manifesting(Races of Stone) Steady Concentration(Races of Stone)
Psionic Feats:
Boost Construct...........giving and extra Menu selection is always good Burrowing Power..........a very useful power especially at high levels Chain Power..............can be strong...but limited to Single target energy powers Delay Power..............absolutely necessary if you use Temporal Acceleration and Direct Damage powers Empower Power.........great boost to all Direct Damage Powers Enlarge Power............nice Expanded Knowledge.....a Must for learning extra Powers(unles your DM allows other means:Research,Psychic Chirgury) Extend Power..............a must for all Psions Greater Power Penetration Greater Power Specialization Greater Psionic Endowment Improved Psicrystal Maximize Power Metamorphic Transfer Narrow Mind Opportunity Power Overchannel Power Penetration Power Specialization Psicrystal Affinity Psicrystal Containment Psionic Body Psionic Endowment Psionic Meditation Psionic Talent Quicken Power Split Psionic Ray Talented Twin Power Unconditional Power Widen Power
Deep Vision(Races of Stone)........................darkvision increases while focused.....
Deflective Armor(Races of Stone and CPsi).....Armor bonus vs Touch attks, while focused
Earth Power(Races of Stone).......................-1 PP to cost of manifesting any power when you are on stone or earth,....requires you to Expend focus....this is a very nice power to have, for all day buffs
Focused Shield(Races of Stone)...................+1AC when focused
Invest Armor(Races of Stone)......................+3 Armor bonus when expend focus
Energize Armor(Races of Stone)....................expend focus(immediate action)...gain energy resist 10 vs next energy attack
Ectopic Form............................................. Practiced Manifester(Complete Psionics).........+4 to effective ML when manifesting powers.....will not raise ML above HD, or give extra PP
Elan Resiliance(Complete Psionics).................. Instictive Consumator(Complete Psionics)........ Mental Juggernaut(Complete Psionics)............ Psybiot(Complete Psionics).......................... Stygian Archon(Complete Psionics)............... Dorje Mastery(Complete Psionics)................. Psionic Mastery(Complete Psionics).............. Knockdown Power(Complete Psionics)........... Linked Power(Complete Psionics)................. Metapsionic Power(Complete Psionics).......... Transdimentional Power(Complete Psionics).... Skin of the ConstructSkin of the ConstructShow
"Skin of the construct" is actually a rather mediocre choice...for this reason...the 1d8 Temporary hit points last 1 hour...the rest of the benifits are gone when the Astral ConstructDuration is over(1 round/ML), but it does give you access to this:
AntiDjinn]skin of the Construct isn't all that bad wrote:
skin of the Construct isn't all that bad; it is a feat with no other requisite feats anyway. It only costs you 1 power point and 1 round to activate (manifesting Astral Construct, there is never any reason to throw a construct power higher than AC1, because the benefit is capped at 1 A pick). So look at what you can have temporary access to:
Buff: Same as spending 1 point on Vigor, except they are not treated as temporary hit points.
Celerity: Superior to Burst at second level or higher because for 1 point the movement boost lasts 1 round/level instead of just one round.
Cleave: It gives you the Cleave feat, without needing Str 13 or Power Attack.
Deflection: +1 deflection bonus to AC, superior to Dodge or Psionic Dodge because you don't have to designate an opponent against whom it applies.
Fly: How many other first level characters are flying? Some DM disallow this one, or require you spend enough points to create a construct with enough Str to carry you and your gear as a light load.
Improved Bull Rush: As the feat, normally has the same prereqs as Cleave.
Improved Slam Attack: Gives you Improved Natural Attack, a feat not normally available to PCs.
Mobility: As the feat, you don't need Dex 13 or Dodge.
Power Attack: As the feat.
Resistance: Half the effect of Energy Adaptation, Specified, at 1/3 the cost.
Swim: Superior to Float, except you can't use it on others.
Trip: Free trip attempt for hitting with a hand to hand attack.
It does not amount to powered combat armor (see Ectoskeleton and others for that). Instead it is a feat that lets you spend 1 point and a round to morph it into one of a set of other feats.
Spiritual Force(Complete Psionics)...............expend focus.....add Cha bonus to damage w/ mindblade for all attacks..this round
Illithid Heritage(Complete Psionics).............Intimidate is class skill, bonus to saves vs(spells,spell-like,power,psi-like) = # illithid feats / 2 (min +1)
Find the minimum, most efficient and reliable set of powers for a mid level psion to handle anything a DM can throw at the party within their challenge level!
The purpose of the challenge is to free up slots for defense and utility, and good practice in keeping power redundancy to a minimum. Consider all the possible threats you and your party could be facing around levels 7-15 and try to find as efficient multi-purpose answers as possible. Here's what I have so far:
Astral Construct Works against almost everything but has trouble against: *Very high AC/damage reduction *Swarm and incorporeal type *Caster anti-measures (anti-magic/psionics, dispel, globe of invulnerability)
Metamorphosis + Metamorphic Transfer Forms like Annis Hag and Roper are tanks unto themselves, but (Su) blast on a hydra solves the Astral Construct problems of high AC, damage reduction, swarm, incorporeal (unsure if (Su) bypasses the 50% no effect chance) and globe of invulnerability (since hydra blast doesn't have a spell/power level).
Crystal Shard I have found no other ways around anti magic/psionics than an instantaneous creation effect. Nothing to sulk about though, as this can deal tremendous amounts of damage with Split Psionic Ray + Overchannel.
I'm down to three powers, none of which allows save (except hydra blasting) or power/spell resistance. Things I've considered but don't consider necessary at this point include:
Energy Conversion + Energy Wall: Very PP efficient but allows SR/PR and consumes 2 power slots for little added benefit. Would also bypass Globe of Invulnerability.
Telekinetic Maneuver: Unsure if this is useful against incorporeal creatures - it is a [force] effect, but the type discription specifically states incorporeal creatures can't be grappled... Wouldn't (Su) hydra blast work too?
Ego Whip: Having an alternative strategy to HP beating is both good and bad. It's sometimes more efficient for you, but it's often less efficient for the party if you're splitting up efforts on HP and Cha on the same target. Also [mind-affecting], allows PR/SR and a save (though only partial, which still makes it somewhat interesting).
Psionic Dominate: Perhaps the best offensive effect in the game (converting enemies to allies), but difficult to use at higher levels since it's a save-or-die that allows SR/PR and is [mind-affecting].
Ectoplasmic Cocoon, Mass: No SR/PR "save-or-die" that can be bypassed using purely mental actions. Sometimes very useful as a battlefield control effect, but isn't actually a save-or-die since you still have the problem of killing them, and (contrary to hold monster, for instance), you have to cut through the cocoon first and can expect opposition while doing so.
Fortitude save-or-dies: Crystallize or Decerebrate. I think dealing massive amounts of damage against big brutes go better with the party strategy, and saves + PR/SR is always a problem at higher levels when they are available. Useful as mage killers, but so is a simple Crystal Shard or hydra blast.
Ok, the challenge is on. Good look with coming up with powerful and synergistic packages! All suggestion welcome.
hovnarr wrote:
Re: Entangling Ectoplasm. A debuff, as like Bacris notes. Making room to add potent and PP efficient effects like that (man, there are so many good level 1 powers) is part of the reason I offer this challenge. It's not an effect that can allow you to win a battle in itself, but it can turn the tides in battle much like an ectoplasmic wall etc. As such, it wouldn't be part of such a "minimalist set" that I'm looking for, but still an excellent pick for the slots you save from having a minimum of efficient damaging powers.
Re: Telekinetic Thrust. Hm, this could be used similarly to Astral Construct (though less powerful/versatile). If we assume that "instantaneous" means that it's not a sustained thrust, this could also be an alternative to Crystal Shard against null/anti psionics. Theoretically, we could cut both Astral Construct and Crystal Shard and replace them with Telekinetic Thrust, but I feel we'd loose a lot of power in doing so (though we save a slot). There's also the practical problem: how do we present the projectiles in a timely fashion to manifest the power?
Re: Incorporeal subtype. I read it exactly like munin actually. The argument that it should only apply to damage (and also (Su) damage) is definetely not in line with the SRD. Is the MM3 like official errata for previous monstrous info? If so, can someone provide the updated text for the incorporeal subtype as of MM3?
Grease is also a wonderful Battlefield control power
Chained Energy Retort is great fun vs large groups......especially if manifested several times(you may not even have to attack them.........they might kill themselves by attacking you,or at least injure themselves severely)
Ectoplasmic Shambler(or even several:overlaping themselves) .....and Wall of Ectoplasm........battlefield control and continuous damage.......Shambler is controled as a free action, has No save, No SR/PR and is Long ranged, large area(10 cubes 10'x10'x10'), realitvely long duration.......and to damage the Wall they must get thru the Shambler(s)
Minor creation: Set up burn spots with flammable, sticky, and plant based oils (take your pick, there are a number of them, especially if you are lax on just what plant based entails). Make poisons and coat your weapons with it. Create stop gaps, dangerous areas to walk through, useful items, and whatever else you happen to think of. It takes time and careful planning, but it is cheap, easy, and lasting.
Claws of the beast: Pop this on yourself and your psicrystal (if allowed that is). Sure, it isnt a huge amount of damage, but your psicrystals claws are easily coated in poison and you can save more poison for later. It also gives you 4 claw attacks each round. You will also want overchannel and possibly talented. This works even better if you can arrange for yourself to be immune to poison as well.
Time hop: This can help you move obsticles, enemies, and the occasional ally out of or into harms way. Mid levels the save isnt that great however but it still has so many incredible uses anyway it is just plain a great plan. Undead typically have low will saves and are immune to poison so this works great for popping them out and then either getting away or making something with minor creation to take care of them.
Edit: As an aside I was in a party once where we were ambushed by an air elemental that was way beyond our power to normally deal with. I popped off a time hop, just in case, and it somehow failed its save. Over the course of the next several rounds the party buffed and summoned creatures like crazy. When it came back in the fight was over after its next action. The dm was a bit frustrated and nearly banned time hop from the game right then and there..lol
6: Full Manifesting The most powerful Manifester....full 20 manifester levels and how you can be effective.
1) Psion 20 level by level breakdown of a 20 level Psion Telepath BuildSpoiler:Show
for the sake of this Example, we are using a 25 point buy:
"General Purpose Build" Since this is a general purpose build, the feats and power selection will be such that this character can survive and contribute in a meaningful way to any party he is with.
Tactics:At this level....his main tactic is Diplomacy.....followed by running away as fast as he can. He can help his party with Entangling ecto...then use missile fire(crossbow). Not very much to do but try to survive.
total Diplomacy = 5 ranks + 2 Cha + 4 Synergy = +11 minimum + 1d20 + Psionic Bonuses
Equipment= Ave 900 GP as first level...but add the following: 200gp..2x War Ponies(trained)...one to be riden, one for carrying supplies...both are combat ready and can fight 150gp...6x Guard Dogs(trained).....trained for various things 100gp .10x Acid Flasks 200gp..10x Alchemists Fire 100gp...4x Holy Water
Remainder for misc. items and supplies.
Tactics:Now he can use his powers a little more....but his Skills have jumped, due to the Synergy bonuses for Diplomacy. His actions are mostly the same(Diplomacy focus)....but he is able to help a little more for combat(due mainly to his animals).
Equipment=Ave 2700 GP As 2nd level....add more mundane Alchemical items
Tactics: Here he gets a big boost to powers Known and he can make even more use of his Skills(Psi Charm....makes a NPC Friendly....much easier to work with using Diplomacy)....also he can be much less afraid of combat(Share pain+Vigor+ Share Powers with Psicrystal). His combat options now are to Throw a lot of Splash weapons(easy to use, very effective).
Equipment=Ave 5400 GP same as 3rd lvl but add 2000gp.......Handy Haversack....very useful for his entire career
Tactics: Much the same as 3rd lvl.......Psi Suggestion has many uses. Also Concussion Blast can target multiple targets & incorporeal targets...handy power to have. At this level he adds +1 point to Int, so Int = 17.
Equipment=Ave 9000 GP same as 4th lvl..but add: 4000gp .......+2 Headband of Intellect
Tactics:much the same as 4th.....but has an added detection ability(touchsight) usefull to keep from being suprised. Also has a major Offensive/Defensive power..Hostile Empathic Transfer...heals him and hurt them.Also he adds 1 point to intelligence ...combined with the headband (total Int 19)...he gets a major jump in PP and the DC of his powers goes up.
Equipment= Ave 19000 GP same as 6th, but add: 4000gp ......+2 Cloak of Charisma
Tactics: With the boost to Diplomacy from additional Synergy and Cha boost, now his Diplomacy Score = 10 ranks + 6 synergy + 3 Cha = +19 + 1d20!!!! Although its not a world record, it is still very nice at this time. Also he can do a lot more in a tight situation, schism will give him more actions(but drain PP quickly). Psi Divination is very useful.....Knowledge=Power...this can give just the edge he and his party needs.
Tactics:Here he gets a useful communication power and a helpful power to use in case of a mistake or to provide some player controled memories in some NPC(make them remember you just saving thier lives or something).
Ave 36000 GP,Equipment= same as 8th lvl ...but add
Tactics:Here he gets a Major Boost in Powers known: Mind Probe:incredible tool for gathering info. Plane Shiftery useful transport.....even for healing in an emergency(ie.Positive Material Plane) Dispel Psionic:a power that usually should be taken earlier....but should always be taken. Psi Dominate:now he can really control his enemies.
Equipment=Ave 49000 GP total equipment now: 16000gp...+4 Headband of Intellect 4000gp....+2 Cloak of Charisma 8000gp....Third eye Penetrate: While worn, a third eye penetrate grants the wearer a +2 bonus on manifester level checks to overcome a creature’s power resistance. 2500gp....Ring of Sustenance 2500gp....Boots of the Winterlands 2000gp...Handy Haversack....very useful for his entire career 900gp ...Hand of the Mage..gives Mage Hand At Will 10gp...5x daggers 35gp..light crossbow 2gp...20 bolts 3000gp Skin of Ectoplasmic Armor(Complete Psionics) ...+8 Armor,+2 Max dex,-6 Armor chk,25% ASF, no speed penalty 2007gp +1 Heartning Darkwood Medium Shield 200gp......2x War Ponies(trained)...one to be riden, one for carrying supplies...both are combat ready and can fight 150gp......6x Guard Dogs(trained).....trained for various things 800gp Acid flasks(80) 800gp Alchemists fire(40) 150gp Antitoxin(3) 110gp Everburning torch 200gp Holywater(8) 100gp Smoke sticks(5) 600gp Thunderstones(20) 250gp Tanglefoot Bags(5)
Remainder for misc. items and supplies.
Tactics:here is another milestone in his power growth. In addition to 3 new Powers, he has upgraded his headband to +4 and gets additional boost to PP and DC of his powers. He has great flexiblity in the use of his powers and can freely use many skills. He has little to be afraid of in combat...due to his Metamorphosis power and the ability to share this with his Psicrystal. Here he is easily the equal of any other character and the Superior of many.
Tactics:Here he get a MAJOR boost to offense with the addition of Disintegrate......it is also a versatile non-combat tool. Retrieve also can be very powerful....if you use your imagination as to how to use it.
Psion 12......Power points = (126 + 24 Bonus)= , New Powers Known:Temporal Acceleration Feats:Metamorphic transfer Skills: Tactics:
Note: The builds below assume assume that you're an Egoist, to save as much research XP as possible throughout your career. Choice of other disciplines may require slight modifications, but are very feasible, especially if you have ample opportunity to research powers. It's also assumed that you progress from level 1, which means that a higher level build (up to and including level 6) is not necessarily optimal for starting at that level (since you don't need to account for actually getting there). Beyond level 7, this is not an issue since you have access to Psychic Reformation then, meaning any level is (theoretically) your optimal level for that build. In practice though, you won’t be reforming at every level if the advantage for doing so is small.
At level 1, you have 10 hp and 4 pp, + con mod and half your int mod, respectively. Comparing with other classes, you have the hp of a fighter, can cast more, and more varied, spells than a sorceror, and you have the ac of a typical druid. That should almost guarantee surviving to level 2. Instead of fighting with weapons, you use Matter Agitation, which deals about as much as most weapons, but does so consistently every round instead of only when you hit. As an area effect, it's also effective against swarms, and out of combat it can burn down structures/objects, cook food or boil water etc.
Begin more challenging fights with a 5 hp Vigor buff. Use Attraction to lure away guards, negotiate or to avoid fighting all together. The crossbow is useful against weaker enemies when you want to save pp. Use the craft skill to make cheaper items so you can buy better armor and afford more alchemical items sooner. Take advantage of your high int mod by "unlocking" trained only skills with single skill points (a cross class rank in decipher script is not a bad idea), and max out useful class skills depending on discipline (spot, listen, diplomacy, autohypnosis etc.).
Be sure to make use of your psicrystal. It is really three feats in one since you get Alertness, SF: Concentration (single-minded trait), and a construct companion – all in one feat. It's very useful for reconaissance since it's small, climbs very well, has good stealth and perception and communicates telepathically with you. Always share Vigor with it whenever possible, just in case. If you’re wondering about psicrystal gaining feats, this guide will not address the issue. By the RAW, they do get them as their hit dice increase, but the author of the XPH (Bruce Cordell) has clarified that this was not the intention. Either way, you can learn more about maxing your psicrystal’s potential in the Psicrystal FAQ and Building Guide.
Level 2 New Powers: Grease, [any]. Skills: This is the level of skill synergies! Max out what matters. Equipment: Masterwork chain shirt, large darkwood shield, riding dog (combat trained, light barding), +2 masterwork concentration item for 50 gp (subject to DM approval), everburning item for 110 gp (continual light effect enchanted on a copper piece, for instance), alchemical items.
Grease is an excellent tactical power (disarm, field control, escape grapple), and prefered over Entangling Ectoplasm at this level since your ranged attack is so poor. It is already good for disarming or to get out of a grapple, and its battlefield control use will continue to grow as the duration increases.
For your last level 1 slot, you can pretty much take what suits you best. There are many useful utility powers here such as Synesthete, Control Light, or Missive. Pick what you think will be most useful to you and your party up to level 7 (at which point you will be reforming anyway).
With your new equipment, you now have ac 16 + dex mod, with only -1 ACP. Add 10 hp vigors, riding dog (compares to a level 1 construct, and it can be ridden/controled by your psicrystal) and grease, and you have recipe that will take you to level 3 in one piece. You can craft most of your equipment yourself for 1/3 the cost. Pick up an eternal light source (that can be attached to your psicrystal, for instance) and make/comission a masterwork concentration item as per the PHB. Also consider that your psicrystal can use the aid another action to help you concentrate (it must pass a DC 10 check, but it has the same ranks as you do). Since it's also single-minded, you can potentially have a +12 concentration modifier by level 2 (not counting constitution modifier or the possibility to take skill focus etc.) Also remember that you can expend your focus to take 15 on a concentration check (you have no other uses for focus at this point), which means you can pass DCs nearing the 30 range.
Level 3 New Powers: Levitate, Ego Whip. New Feat: EK: Minor Creation. New Equipment: See below.
Minor Creation will solve many, many low level problems and can be used with your craft skills to create poison or alchemical items, food, prepare an ambush (traps, soaking in oil, wooden obstacles), get utility items (such as a ladder, wall or bridge), make incendiary bombs (wooden spheres with oil, great with matter agitation) etc. For a much more in-depth view on this power, see Minor Creation and You, a Small Guide.
Ego Whip is a potent new weapon that incapacitates rather than kills (which means it also has a utility use). Consider a typical CR 3 foe such as an Ogre. It has 29 hp and 7 cha (will save +1). Blasting it continously with Ego Whip will consume much more pp than concentrating with matter agitation, but you can disable it in only 2-4 rounds, single-handedly! Best of all, it can't act during those rounds if it fails the save. And even on a save, the power still deals cha damage.
Levitate means avoiding all ground-based enemies. Just manifest and move 20' into the air - problem solved. From this position, you can use ego whip or matter agitation as you please. If you can't use this defense to any effect, buff with vigor instead. Levitate also allows you to get to hard to reach places, get an overview of the landscape, recover from pit traps, long falls etc.
The level 7 build has a more definitive item list based on available gold at that point, but until then you can pick and choose from the list above whenever you have gold to spend.For a better idea of Cheap useful items...see Bunko's Bargain Basement: Magic Items That Are a Steal!
Level 4-6 By level 3, you have covered most of your fundamental bases. You have varied forms of attack (matter agitation, ego whip, grease, animal minions, alchemical and/or psionically created items, crossbow), strong defense (vigor, levitate, good ac and hp), and lots of utility (minor creation, attraction, psicrystal, grease). This leaves a lot of flexibility before attaining level 7, allowing you to tailor your build to your specific needs and opportunities. A few of the powers and feat slots are fixed, while recommendations are provided for others.
Level 4: Don’t miss out on Empathic Transfer at this level, since it’s probably the most efficient means of healing (using Vigor to buffer the damage) available to the party until Heal is available. The last level 2 slot can be anything depending on needs and sources allowed. Share Pain is a good core alternative if you often find that you have more than one round to buff before important fights (combine with shared Vigor on your psicrystal). Mass Missive is a very good alternative for the tactically savvy. Crystal Storm and Psychoportive Shelter are wonderful if you can take them.
Level 5: There are no alternatives here, take Time Hop and Dispel Psionics. Time hop solves so many problems it’s scary. Bypass any object without a trace, use it like a Maze spell on an enemy, remove a dying ally from combat and deal with it later (no time will have passed for the ally) etc. Dispel Psionics is fantastic on a manifester since you can use it spontaneously and without components. Being able to take purely mental actions is all you need to get out of binds with this, and you can cast it repeatedly if it didn’t work the first time. A good feat choice here is EK: Energy Missile to really round out your offensive repertoire at this point. You’ll reform it out later, but it will make getting to level 7 easy peasy.
Level 6: It’s recommended that you use this level for some item creation, since you will soon reform to a more powerful build anyway. Take Craft Dorje for your feat and select two powers (levels 1-3) for your level 6 slots that you’d like to put in your dorjes. For example, Identify is a good power to put in a dorje. LEVEL 7 Congratulations, you’ve made it to level 7! Now we turn to the true meaning of power and versatility, and create our character from scratch using Psychic Reformation. Level 7 is probably the most significant level in a Psion’s career, since you can basically recreate your character at this level for the first time, and you get access to Metamorphosis , which is in itself offense, defense and utility in a single power. Metamorphosis has an even more profound impact on mid level game play than minor creation had in the lower levels. Before we examine the powers and feats in the reformed level 7 build, let’s take a closer look at what Metamorphosis and the feat Metamorphic Transfer offer at this level.
Metamorphosis Let’s make Overchannel our second feat pick after Metamorphic Transfer to get access to up to 8 HD forms at this level. There are many useful combat forms and a few (Ex) utility abilities that come in handy too. Here’s a selection of some of the best forms for a core human.
Ground combat: Annis Hag. This form comes with 25 strength, +10 to natural armor and the full attack routine claw/claw (1d6+7) bite (1d6+3). Even more impressive are the (Ex) attacks improved grab, rake and rend. This form beats face while offering adequate melee protection. Aerial combat: Wyvern. You don’t get the flyby attack feat, which means you loose out on 2 of the attacks. You still get 4 solid attacks on a decent body, but the most important feature is the (Ex) poison attack that deals 2d6 con damage (DC 17, fort). Aquatic combat: Aboleth. 4 tentacle attacks and 26 strength! Also good combat abilities overall and great swim capabilities. Multi-purpose: Cloaker. This is fantastic. High str, dex, con and natural armor, flying 40’ (average), decent attacks (10’ threat range, and engulf to boot) and a very inconspicious appearance. Stupor is what really makes this shine though. As an extraordinary ability (bypassing an anti magic field, for instance), you can launch a hold monster-type attack with a DC 15 fort save, lasting 5 rounds, with a range of 30’. Infinite freebee (Ex) hold monster at range, that are sonic rather than mind-affecting! This will be your default method of attack, so let’s take Ability Focus (Stupor) as our third feat, making that a DC 17 fort save.
Metamorphic Transfer This feat is a toolbox in itself when you consider all the supernatural abilities that are available to you. You can make no more than three transfers per day, which often means once per encounter. This allows you to cherry pick the most useful ability from your repertoire of available monsters. If the transferred ability is use activated, you may only use it up to three times (even if it was at will for the real monster). That should still be quite enough for the encounter though. Here are some of the most useful abilities available to you at ML 8.
Body Thief (Intellect Devourer): This is almost like mind switch, only more disgusting. Can be used to animate a powerful fallen enemy to continue the fight, or to gain basic information from foes that die in combat before you can get any answers from them. Destructive Harmonics (Destrachan): The material version of this is particularly interesting for various uses (blast down a door, destroy weapons, or create a hole in the ground where an enemy is standing). Detect Thoughts (Doppelganger): Reconnaisance and information gathering. Dimension Door (Blink Dog): You can do this as a free action and act afterwards, which offers superb mobility in combat. Move and manifest as you please, and get out of any bind. Also offers blink (though there are better defensive options) and the track feat. Enslave (Aboleth): The aboleth comes with a (Su) dominate person effect up to three times per transfer. While useful, dominating someone as a huge, fishlike amphibian has its social issues. Ethereal Jaunt (Phase Spider): This should probably be treated as a use activated ability for play balance. Still very useful for defense and reconnaisance. Freedom of Movement (Spider Eater): Not the most useful form normally, but if you really need freedom of movement, you can get it here. Greater Invisibility (Pixie): This is very good defensive option. Small size, dex 18, flying 60’ (good), and complete stealth. Manifest powers and move about in three dimensions as you see fit, while avoiding most spells and physical attacks. Very good with ranged touch attacks. Jet (Pyrohydra, Cryohydra): Why bother with energy damage powers when you can do 8x3d6=24d6 supernatural (no SR/PR) fire or cold damage every 1d4 rounds up to three times per transfer? As if that wasn’t enough, you have a 10’ reach and can take 8 attacks of opportunity per round. Between jets, you can also attack with all 8 heads, even if you move or charge. A good form for aquatic combat to boot. Magic Circle Against Evil (Lammasu): Useful when you need to hedge out evil outsiders or stop mental control. Quickness (Choker): It’s probably best to treat quickness as a use activated ability for play balance. You can manifest an extra power every round which is fantastic, though the form is quite fragile in itself. Silent Image (Cloaker): This goes a long way with a little imagination, and makes up for the lack of illusions in psionics. Yet another reason to morph into a cloaker!
Melee Damage: We have powerful fighting forms for all environments. Direct Damage: Hydra jet for 24d6 fire or cold damage should be enough. Battlefield control: Few abilities are relevant here, unfortunately. Save or Die: We have (Su) dominate person and infinite (Ex) hold monster. Sufficient. Information Gathering: Excellent reconnaisance forms (cloaker, pixie and phase spider - or simply morph into an object such as a coin), body thief, detect thoughts, dominate etc. Transportation: A much improved dimension door effect (blink dog), but self only. Healing: Unfortunately, no (Su) healing is available to humans in core. If you play an outsider or have access to other monsters, it's a different story. Buffing:Metamorphosis is a prime example of a buff, but also self only. NPC interaction: Even though you have powers like detect thoughts and dominate, they are inconvenient to use in a non-offensive environment (since you need to turn into a doppelganger or aboleth!). Using Metamorphosis to assume a disguise can be very useful though. But to be honest, this area also needs work.
So it seems we have yet to cover battlefield control and healing, and should also consider improving buffing, transportation and NPC interactions some more. We also want an alternative offensive strategy for when metamorphosis will not work very well. Overall, we’re looking for powers that work well with our primary metamorphosis concept.
Alternative Offensive Strategy Undead are perhaps the biggest threat to a Metamorphosis strategy. You may want to avoid melee combat due to nasty drain or other close range effects, and your hold monster and dominate options will not work here. Against spell casters, you may also prefer a defensive form such as an invisible pixie, and must be able to produce a relevant threat in that position. Astral Construct answers both these needs as it is immune to most problem undead attacks, and is an expendable threat that can be produced on demand. This also settles our fourth feat pick to Boost Construct.
Yet another back-up alternative is Crystal Shard. Wonderful with the Pixie form and bypasses antimagic field even when the target is immune to your (Ex) hold monster. With Metamorphosis, Metamorphic Transfer, astral construct and crystal shard, you have an offensive repertoire that will last and be fully sufficient up to the epic levels.
Battlefield Control We have two excellent options here: Entangling Ectoplasm and Time Hop. For only 1 pp, you have a guaranteed 5 round entangle as a ranged touch attack (great with your high dex forms!) that will stop a charger, lower ac and attacks, and force casters to make concentration checks. For a 5 pp time hop, you can displace a friend, foe or object up to 8 rounds - much like a low level maze spell. Also has many utility uses (getting past obstacles without a trace, setting up ambushes etc).
Healing As mentioned previously Vigor and Empathic Transfer is one of the most efficient means of healing in the mid levels. Vigor is also a very good power in itself, though you may not want to use it too liberally. With all the defensive options available to you, it is unlikely that you will suffer much damage yourself. Check with your DM if he or she would allow you to heal yourself with this combo too, or simply rely on the cleric or potions for that. Body Adjustment is hardly worth picking up, but you’ll get an excellent healing power in True Metabolism later on.
Buffing Vigor has already been mentioned, but it’s important to understand why it’s suboptimal to use a buff like Vigor liberally with a Metamorphosis concept. Metamorphosis already takes a standard action, and considering the immense versatility available to you, that should really be enough to handle most problems. If you fear a large amount of direct damage headed towards you, morph to an invisible pixie and move away – or use an immediate action response (see below). You don’t want to waste more actions on defense when you could be doing something useful to help your party instead. Vigor is really mostly for healing allies, or buffing up for the BBEG if you have time to prepare.
Primarily, we’re looking for buffs that do not interfere with the Metamorphosis concept and buffs that do something useful for the entire party. Inertial Armor can be cast ahead of time since it lasts so long, and has great synergy with your various morphs since most of them couldn’t otherwise wear armor. To make use of our immediate actions, let’s pick up Mental Barrier and Intellect Fortress as powerful defenses against physical and magical attacks. Both can be augmented to last longer and intellect fortress protects your entire party! While on the topic of buffs, let’s also add Dispel Psionics in this category. Removing debuffs can be viewed as buffing even though you’re merely bringing the target back to his original effectiveness. It has many other uses too of course, such as stripping caster defenses. Speaking of which, Touchsight is also a very important buff to offset invisibility, concealment, blindness, darkness etc. This gives us a powerful buff package that can help ourselves as well as our allies.
Transportation At the present level, there’s only one power worth the bother: Dimension Swap. The kind of tricks you can pull with this considering your other abilities are truly amazing though. Let’s say the party is scattered and many are in great need of healing. Rather than simply walking up to each one and healing them (which would take too long), you engage in a round-robin heal fest! Assume the form of a choker and transfer quickness, manifest a big vigor and move to the nearest ally. On your next turn, you heal him with empathic transfer and swap him for the most seriously wounded party member, which you heal and swap on your next turn!
The synergy with astral construct is also wonderful. If some fool tries to grapple you, they may soon find that they are grappling with an astral construct instead. Get the party fighter out of melee with some nasty undead energy draining monster and replace him with an immune astral construct. Or use it with metamorphosis and replace a more frail party member with yourself in a combat form. In fact, you can go completely defensive and accomplish a lot behind the scenes with this and your other powers: Go invisible pixie and get to a good vantage point. Start bringing the enemy down to size for your melee characters with entangling ectoplasm and summon an astral construct mid combat. Maneuver allies into favorable positions with dimension swap for the win!
There are also utility uses. Say a specific party member needs to get to a hard to reach location (for instance, the mechanism to disarm a trap may be placed on a narrow ledge 20 feet up, and the walls are too smoothe for the rogue to climb). Then you assume the form of a blink dog, dimension door up there and swap positions with the rogue. A very versatile power that will last your entire career, very much worth the 400 xp investment to acquire (if you’re not a Nomad).
NPC Interactions Our first pick here is Tongues to enhance our metamorphosis disguise concept. You can now assume any form and speak any language, which makes you a master of impromptu impersonation. For our last slot, we’ll pick Attraction, which served you well in the low levels. It augments and affects everything that’s not immune to [mind-affecting], so it’s still very useful.
There it is. Six level 1 powers, two level 2 powers, four level 3 powers and two level 4 powers. You’ve covered all your bases very well, and have built in pp economy in your powers and feats. Assuming an Egoist, it will cost you 950 xp to acquire these powers at level 7 (including manifesting psychic reformation down to level 1). It will take 3 weeks of secluded research all in all, during which time other party members could tend to their personal matters (perhaps there are also other casters in the party that also want to do some research, craft items etc.). The xp and time can be spread out over levels 4-6 however, to fit the needs of the campaign.
Feats You have already picked four out of six feats to make the most of your powers. Our fifth pick will be Psicrystal Affinity. At this point, you don’t really need the bonus to concentration anymore, so pick the nimble personality trait for a very useful +2 initiative improvement. Besides the various uses of a psicrystal at your ML, the share powers ability is incredible with metamorphosis and your other buffs. Consider an Annis Hag psicrystal wrapped in you as a Cloaker. You’re also both buffed with Inertial Armor and can use Mental Barrier against challenging opponents. You Hold Monster anything nearby??????? and the hag tears it to pieces. You can heal or do various combat tricks meanwhile, and get AoO in a 10’ threat range. You could also use your psicrystal as a flying mount, or to create an additional individual for a disguise (playing the part of your butler or fiancé, for instance).
Finally, Psionic Body is really too good to pass up when you have 5 psionic feats already. Twelve extra hp at level 7? Sure! That’s 6 extra hp for your psicrystal too.
Summary of Level 7 Here are the feats and powers compiled, along with skill advice and 19000 gp worth of suitable equipment.
Skills: You can change these with Psychic Reformation too, so drop skills that were useful at lower levels (craft skills, healing etc.) for something more useful. Knowledge skills can be very important depending on house rules for shape changing abilities like Metamorphosis (check with your DM). Maxing Psicraft is a good idea, since you’ll be picking up Burrowing Power later on and need it for the epic levels. If you still have points to spend, put them in Listen and Spot.
LEVEL 8-20 The mid-high levels reinforce the strong foundation from the level 7 build. You gain access to a few more useful Metamorphosis forms as your manifester rises, and add new tricks to your psionic repertoire as you acquire more advanced powers.
New Metamorphosis Forms · Roper: A new fantastic form, especially for your psicrystal, this 10 hd darling becomes available at level 8 with overchannel. Six ranged touch attacks (50’ range) per round that deal 2d8 strength damage each on a failed fort save (DC 18), and a +14 natural armor bonus. · Behir: This form is good for straight combat against opponents immune to paralysis (Cloaker) or ability damage (Roper). 26 str, constrict, improved grab, rake and swallow whole! It slices, it dices... · Will-o’-wisp: Remember this form for the future with Greater Metamorphosis and Fusion. Using only Fusion (and normal Metamorphosis), this can slap a +9 dex and +9 deflection bonus on any other (preferably low dex) form. With Greater Metamorphosis, you also get spell immunity and (Ex) invisibility here. · Dragon Turtle: This form is available at level 10 and allows you to capsize ships. +17 natural armor bonus!
Power and Feat Progression
Level 8: You can now emulate ML 10 with overchannel, and get access to the roper, behir and will-o’-wisp forms. Wall of Ectoplasm adds a useful ability to your repertoire here, and can trap a foe in a hemisphere for quite some time, or divide the battlefield in more managable portions. Psionic Divination also brings something new and useful to the table. Having the DM give you clues on how to best proceed is a sure way to increase your success. Use it liberally.
Level 9: At this level you get Psionic Revivify, which is perhaps the best revive effect in the game, and Plane Shift to round out your transportation portfolio. Revivify also has nice synergy with Time Hop, as you can hop a fallen ally forward in time, clean up the mess, and revive him when he hops back – for no extra xp cost. Plane shifting also offers emergency healing for the entire party if you pay a visit to the positive energy plane. For your feat, take Extend Power here (see level 10).
Level 10: Level 10 means ML12 with Overchannel, which in turn means full day duration for your 1 hour/level powers! For your bonus feat here, take Psionic Meditation, since Extend Power also has a combat use in Entangling Ectoplasm. You will also gather quite a few metapsionic powers in the levels to come, so it will come in handy. At this level you pick up Power Resistance, which is a decent catch all defense power before you get better options at higher levels. There are few good level 5 powers to take at this point (Adapt Body has uses if you plane travel extensively), so it’s recommended that you take Energy Wall in your last slot. Energy Wall has many utility uses, and protects your Wall of Ectoplasm from damage too. Its usefulness will continue to grow as you progress in levels.
Level 11: You only get one power at this level, but what a power it is: Temporal Acceleration. It changes everything. Overchannel and extend it so it lasts 2 rounds immediately when you get it, and handle all your buffing in a swift action! You can now use multiple buffs and go nova if the situation so requires. Choker quickness is a boon here, especially when you can increase the duration further. This also applies to Fission.
Level 12: Yet another multi-purpose power lies in Psionic Disintegrate, especially when combined with Split Psionic Ray (your feat at this level). Disintegrate is good for offense, for battlefield control (walls, ceilings, floors), and as an answer to specific effects (such as Wall of Force). Split Ray also enables you to deal 24d6 damage (no save) with an overchanneled crystal shard at this level. For your final level 6 power, take Psionic Contingency. This is a very cheap life insurance, and can store Temporal Acceleration, Plane Shift or Psionic Revivify, for instance. See the epic build below for more inspiration.
Level 13: Here you simply get a new all day buff: Personal Mindblank. It would be a shame if you were dominated, since you’re so powerful. Use Dispel Psionics if someone else would suffer this fate, and don’t waste a level 8 slot on psionic mindblank.
Level 14: Now you can make even more out of your energy walls with a split Energy Conversion, which is perhaps the most efficient damage dealer in the XPH. Even interpreted as strictly as possible, the pp-for-damage ratio of energy conversion charged with energy wall is unmatched, and you get elemental protection to boot. There’s nothing in the rules that prevent you from charging ahead of time, but you can also set the combo up in the comfort of a temporal acceleration. This level also offers Fission, which is the key to go nova like you have never gone nova before. Manifest temporal acceleration, and metamorph to a choker transferring quickness. For the extra action, manifest fission, and have your fissioned self turn into a choker too, transferring quickness, and using the extra action to do something useful (such as buffing with vigor to prevent overchannel damage). You now have 4 actions each round the TA lasts to play with.
Level 15: Finally, you get Greater Teleport and can travel to any place that’s been described to you, and the entire party can come along for the ride. As you now have, access to level 8 spells, invest in your first power granted through Psychic Chirurgery: Telekinetic Sphere. This is a catch-all defense for the entire party (see the epic section), and you can amazingly continue to be effective within it by taking Burrowing Power as one of your two feats here (Fusion and Choker quickness makes the kill even quicker). For you other feat, take Psicrystal Containment, in case you want to add more metapsionics to your burrowing powers. It also allows extended, split Energy Conversion for even more pp economy, letting you blast for a very long time.
Levels 16-20: You have all the power and versatility you need, so use these levels to prepare for the epic levels. Read through the epic section and adopt the strategies that best suit the needs of your campaign. You’ll probably want to use Psychic Reformation once you reach epic anyway, or you can split it up and do part of the reformation now and the rest later. Powers that you’ll probably want to pick up here include Fusion, Bend Reality, Assimilate (+4 unnamed bonus to all ability scores!) and Greater Metamorphosis. The possibilities with Greater Metamorphosis (and as a result, Fusion) are too vast for this guide, but do visit this thread for a full review of its use. (Complete List of Supernatural Abilities:)
1 Psionic Body, PsiCrystal 3 Power Penetration 5 E Knowledge (Energy Missile or Ego Whip) 6 Psychic Meditation 9 Practiced Manifester 10 PsiCrystal Containment 12 Twin Power 15 E. Knowledge (Reddopsi), Power Pen: Greater 18 Overchannel 20 Talented
"Power Ring": Base Ring of Counterspells
5 Det. Magic at Will 6 Feather Fall at Will 7 Lesser Extend Power, 3/day 8 Lesser Split Ray, 3/day 9 Comp. Languages at Will 10 Lesser Enlarge, 3/day 11 Lesser Empower, 3/day 12 Extend, 3/day 13 Split Ray, 3/day 15 Lesser Maximize, 3/day 16 [Free Slot] 17 Empower, 3/day 18 Lesser Quicken, 3/day 20 Maximize, 3/day
Why is this a good combo?
The cost for a 15 level Psionic Item of Legacy is -2 ML Penalty (does NOT affect PP or Powers Known, just effect of power and ML checks), 18 PP, 56,000 GP and 3,300 XP.
Here is how you offset the costs: -Practiced Manifester erases the ML penalty. -The 30 uses each day of FREE Meta-Psionic augmentation, which do NOT count towards your ML Cap for manifesting or augmenting a power, which equal 78 free power points. -The GP and XP penalties are offset by the items you don't have to buy.
Excellent use of an Item of legacy...the build is also very nice wit wrote:
Green Lantern:
Elan Telepath 20
1 Psionic Body, PsiCrystal 3 Power Penetration 5 E Knowledge (Energy Missile or Ego Whip) 6 Psychic Meditation 9 Practiced Manifester 10 PsiCrystal Containment 12 Twin Power 15 E. Knowledge (Reddopsi), Power Pen: Greater 18 Overchannel 20 Talented
"Power Ring": Base Ring of Counterspells
5 Det. Magic at Will 6 Feather Fall at Will 7 Lesser Extend Power, 3/day 8 Lesser Split Ray, 3/day 9 Comp. Languages at Will 10 Lesser Enlarge, 3/day 11 Lesser Empower, 3/day 12 Extend, 3/day 13 Split Ray, 3/day 15 Lesser Maximize, 3/day 16 [Free Slot] 17 Empower, 3/day 18 Lesser Quicken, 3/day 20 Maximize, 3/day
Why is this a good combo?
The cost for a 15 level Psionic Item of Legacy is -2 ML Penalty (does NOT affect PP or Powers Known, just effect of power and ML checks), 18 PP, 56,000 GP and 3,300 XP.
Here is how you offset the costs: -Practiced Manifester erases the ML penalty. -The 30 uses each day of FREE Meta-Psionic augmentation, which do NOT count towards your ML Cap for manifesting or augmenting a power, which equal 78 free power points. -The GP and XP penalties are offset by the items you don't have to buy.[/quote] Excellent use of an Item of legacy...the build is also very nice without it
Cerebremancer Elocater Psionic Fist Slayer Metamind Psion Uncarnate Pyrokineticist Thrallherd War Mind
Shadow Mind(CAdv)3/4 BAB,d6 HD,7/10 Manifesting,Good Will and Ref,Poor Fort saves Cognition Thief(PGtF) Iron Mind(RoS)3/4 BAB,d10 HD,8/10 Manifesting, Good Will/Poor Ref,Fort saves,Skills 2+ Int lvl Quori Nightmare(RoE) Quori Mindhunter(MoE) Sanctified Mind(LoM)
Legacy Champion......(Weapons of Legacy)3/4 BAB,d8 HD, Good Will, Poor Fort and Ref saves,4 + Int Skills per lvl....interesting abilities
An interesting note....this is an incredible PrC...at each levels (except 1st and 7th) it gives an effective level of any class of your choice that you previously had with ALL the abilities and specials that it had. Thus it can give you effective levels of psion or PrC.
The things that are not included: HD....you get the d8 that it provides Attack progression.....you get the 3/4 BAB Skill points.....you get 4+ int bonus, but the class skills are: Concentration,Decipher Script,Gather Info,Knowledge(History),UMD, and ALL Existing skills from any class you already have!!!
Mind Mage Mind Mage Requirements Feats: Any two psi-spell feats Spells: Ability to cast 3rd level or higher arcane spells. Powers: Ability to manifest 2nd level or higher powers. Special: Must have received training in the art of mind magic, or acquired comprehensive texts from which to learn its secrets.
Mind Mage Class Information HD: d4
Skills: 2 + Int modifier per level; Autohypnosis, Concentration, Craft, Knowledge (all, taken individually), Psicraft, Spellcraft, Any two skills not noted above from the class skill list for a psionic class in which he has taken levels.
PSI-SPELL FEATS - REQ
All of these in some way enhance the performance of energy spells. Twin Wells Same Source will enhance the DCs (mostly double the Int modifier is Psion/Wizard, for example).
Agitated Causticity - any two spells with the acid descriptor, the matter agitation power. Astral Fire - any two spells with fire descriptor, any two powers with fire descriptor Bioelectrical Surge - any two spells with electricity descriptor, control body power Bull Blast - Harden Energy Concussive Blast - Harden Energy Dual Plane Summons - any summon monster spell, astral construct power Energy Flare - Agitated Causticity, Astral Fire, Bioelectrical Surge, or Solid Freeze Harden Energy - ability to manifest any force power, cast any spell with energy descriptor Solid Freeze - any two spells with the cold descriptor, the control flames power
Saves: Will Good, Fort & Refl poor.
BAB: As Wizard
Arcane progression: 8/10 progression, missing at 2nd/4th levels. Manifester progression: 8/10 progression, missing at 1st/3rd levels.
Psionic Components (lvl 1): may substitute pps for V, S, and 1gp or less M components. 2pp per spell level.
Compensation (lvl 2): May reduce cost of metamagic feat; for each 3 pp spent, may offset spell level increase by one. May reduce cost of metapsionic feat; for every spell level spent, may reduce the additional pp cost by 2pps. May not be used in conjunction with psi-spell feats. May not reduce below normal cost of spell or power.
Psionic Reinforcement (lvl 3): As long as MM has pp reserve of 5 or greater, +1 on Spell DCs. At 9th level this increases to +2 if the reserve is 10 pps or higher.
Force Touch (lvl 4): May deliver any spell that requires a touch attack with the following powers: concussion, detonation, greater concussion, lesser concussion, mass concussion, true concussion. The force power has its normal effect in addition to delivering the spell. The Force power will affect only a single target, and must have line of sight. SR applies individually to the power and the spell.
Twin Wells (lvl 5): 1/day, as a full round action that provokes AoO, he may add his MM levels to either his psionic or arcane class to determine spellcasting or manifesting levels. This lasts for 24 hours. Does not affect number of spells per day or power points.
Magical Reinforcement (lvl 6): 1/day per MM level he may increase the effective level of one of his powers by one level, as the Heighten Power feat, at no cost. Choose to use this at the time the power is activated.
Focus of Disciline (lvl 7): May reduce to lower the effective spell level by spending 8 power points per level of reduction. May reduce pp cost of a power by 2 per level of spell spent. Arcane spellcasters who prepare spells must make this decision when preparing spells. The reduced level of the spell or power affects the DC, identification for counterspelling, and ease of dispelling, and acts in all ways as a spell or power of the new, lower level.
Painful Premonition (lvl 8) The MM may chose to augment a damaging spell or power a number of times per day equal to the ability modifier that controls his manifester class. The target must make a Will save against a 6th level telepathic power. Success negates all effects of the premonition. Failur impses a -2 penalty on the target's saving throw (if any) against the incoming effect and deals nonlethal damage equal to the damage of the incoming spell or power. If the target somehow reduces or escapes the incoming effect, then an equivalent portion of the nonlethal damage is averted. Mindless creatures, creatures immune to mind-affecting effects, and thos with no discernable anatomy are immune to painful premonition.
Twin Wells Same Source (lvl 10) This ability replaces Twin Wells, but functions in a similar manner. Instead, the MM may increase both his spellcasting levels and manifester levels by an amount equal to this MM levels. Further, when using any psi-spell ability (ie. with psi-spell feats), he adds both the key ability modifier for his psionic powers and arcane spells togetehr for all effects based off the key ability modifier (such as Save DC, etc.).
8: Primary Manifester:85% and above(17th lvl+manifesting) builds with 17+ manifester levels, Must be able to manifest 9th level powers.....strengths and weaknesses
Manifester Level 19
Usually builds with 19 manifester levels have a Single Dip into another class or PrC , full levels in a PrC that only lose 1 Manifester level, or have a Race or Template that has +1 Level Adjustment. There are other situations that also may arise, but those will be covered individually.
Here are some examples:
carnivore]Monk 1/ Psion 19
Manifester level 19 This build has better saves than Psion 20. Intelligence bonus to AC with the feat "Carmondine Monk" from "Heros of Valor"[/quote wrote:
Monk 1/ Psion 19
Manifester level 19 This build has better saves than Psion 20. Intelligence bonus to AC with the feat "Carmondine Monk" from "Heros of Valor"
carnivore]Rogue 1/ Psion 19
Gives lots of skill points and with the feat "Able Learner", you can make the most of a High Intelligence. Also this allows your Psion to be the Trapfinder/Semi-Skillmonkey for your Party.[/quote wrote:
Rogue 1/ Psion 19
Gives lots of skill points and with the feat "Able Learner", you can make the most of a High Intelligence. Also this allows your Psion to be the Trapfinder/Semi-Skillmonkey for your Party.
carnivore]Psion 10/ Slayer 10
Gives a +15 BAB and good Hit points,also great skill selection.[/quote wrote:
Psion 10/ Slayer 10
Gives a +15 BAB and good Hit points,also great skill selection.
carnivore]Psion 10/ Meditant 10 Very Powerful choice...+12 BAB, and good bonuses to many abilities[/quote wrote:
Psion 10/ Meditant 10 Very Powerful choice...+12 BAB, and good bonuses to many abilities
carnivore]+1 LA Template or Race/ Psion 19 not bad depending on the Benifits the race provides.
Manifester Level 18 Usually builds with 18 manifester levels have Dips into another class or PrC , full levels in a PrC that only lose 2 Manifester levels, or have a Race or Template that has +2 Level Adjustment.There are other situations that also may arise, but those will be covered individually.
+1 LA Template or Race/ Psion 19 not bad depending on the Benifits the race provides.[/quote] Manifester Level 18 Usually builds with 18 manifester levels have Dips into another class or PrC , full levels in a PrC that only lose 2 Manifester levels, or have a Race or Template that has +2 Level Adjustment.There are other situations that also may arise, but those will be covered individually.
Istarion]Psion (Seer) Build 1
This build starts playing as a "Information manager", with the help of your powers, and your psicrystal as a scout. Then, he takes a level of ranger, and from then on, the build becomes more of a gish, but with the help of the anarchic initiate and his low requirements/medium BAB/full manifesting, you can get 16 BAB and powers known as a 18th level psion, with 20th manifester level.
Total BAB: 2+1+3+10=16 Manifester level= 20 Learns up to 3 9th level powers. (powers known=33+EK)
Race: Human Skills: Prioritise Listen and Spot for your scouting crystal, knowledge (psi and dungeoneering) and concentration.
Feats: Hu: Psicrystal Affinity 1:Overchannel Psi1:Talented 3: EK(astral construct) (if you are using the nerf, take able learner at first level, and get your psicrystal now) Psi5: Psionic Meditation 6: Practised Manifester 9: Linked Power 12: EK(metamorphosis) 15: ?? 18: ??
Powers known: On construction
Nice build that shows the importance of Skills......another way to go might be to take Ranger first(for the Skill boost)....and take a feat that will help later, but that is Non-Psionic(Imp Initiative,Able Learner,Earth Sense(later taking Earth Power,etc..)
Other Builds wrote:
Psion (Seer) Build 1
This build starts playing as a "Information manager", with the help of your powers, and your psicrystal as a scout. Then, he takes a level of ranger, and from then on, the build becomes more of a gish, but with the help of the anarchic initiate and his low requirements/medium BAB/full manifesting, you can get 16 BAB and powers known as a 18th level psion, with 20th manifester level.
Total BAB: 2+1+3+10=16 Manifester level= 20 Learns up to 3 9th level powers. (powers known=33+EK)
Race: Human Skills: Prioritise Listen and Spot for your scouting crystal, knowledge (psi and dungeoneering) and concentration.
Feats: Hu: Psicrystal Affinity 1:Overchannel Psi1:Talented 3: EK(astral construct) (if you are using the nerf, take able learner at first level, and get your psicrystal now) Psi5: Psionic Meditation 6: Practised Manifester 9: Linked Power 12: EK(metamorphosis) 15: ?? 18: ??
Powers known: On construction[/quote] Nice build that shows the importance of Skills......another way to go might be to take Ranger first(for the Skill boost)....and take a feat that will help later, but that is Non-Psionic(Imp Initiative,Able Learner,Earth Sense(later taking Earth Power,etc..)
Other Builds:
carnivore]Psion 6/ Quori nightmare 4/ Slayer 10
great for touch attack specialist.....+16 BAB[/quote wrote:
Psion 6/ Quori nightmare 4/ Slayer 10
great for touch attack specialist.....+16 BAB
Istarion wrote:
Incarnum Build: Psion Build 2: Mind and Soul
Human Psion(discipline of your choice, but telepath works wonders)8/Incarnate 2/Soul Manifester 10
Powers known (I'll mark the essential ones): 1: Vigor, Crystal Shard 2: Damp Power 3: Bestow Power, Share Pain 4: Open Chakra 5: 6: 7: 8: 9:
Essential Equipment: Torc of Power Preservation
Combos for this build:
Torc of power preservation+Midnight augmentation+Bestow power: If you invest 2 essentia to MA, then you have that when manifesting Bestow Power, you can spend 6-2-1: 3 pp to gain 4pp-->Unlimited PP.
the Share Pain , Psicrystal, Vigor combo.
Recommended Soulmelds:
If telepath: Charming Veil: to heighten your compulsion and charm DC's is extra useful. Astral Vambraces
carnivore]Incarnum Build:
Human
Psion(shaper) 9/ Incarnate 1/ Soul Manifester 10 (...... not in this order)
feats:
Azure talent Shape Soulmeld then your choice for the rest
powers: Open Chakra(Psion 4)...allows you to bind a Soulmeld to a Chakra....which will qualify for Soul Manifester(you need to be able to shape 3 soulmelds and bind one.......Incarnate 1 gives you the ability to shape 2,and the feat gives you the third....the power allows you to bind it)
look to your Incarnum based powers for most of your LONG term Buffs.....the Psion side should give the rest[/quote wrote:
Incarnum Build:
Human
Psion(shaper) 9/ Incarnate 1/ Soul Manifester 10 (...... not in this order)
feats:
Azure talent Shape Soulmeld then your choice for the rest
powers: Open Chakra(Psion 4)...allows you to bind a Soulmeld to a Chakra....which will qualify for Soul Manifester(you need to be able to shape 3 soulmelds and bind one.......Incarnate 1 gives you the ability to shape 2,and the feat gives you the third....the power allows you to bind it)
look to your Incarnum based powers for most of your LONG term Buffs.....the Psion side should give the rest
jameswilliamogle,08-25-05, 01:16 AM]here's a Gish-like build: assumptions: you can research cross-disciplinarian powers, you can afford a +5 book at level 17, dragon is allowed, and monk abilities and regular damage stacks when you use Control Body on yourself (fuzzy RAW). Everything here is XPH + BoED + 1 dragon feat (wanted to maximize abilities/minimize books, thus no flaws since they don't add enough).
start as: Venerable Sun Elf, start w/ 23 INT, the rest (who cares? make the wis and con good, the rest crap)
1. Monk-IUS, SF, Kung Fu Genius (dragon 319, p68) 2. Psion (until 9th) Psicrystal Affinity 3. Psicrystal Containment 6. Quicken Power, Psionic Meditation 9. Track 10. Slayer (until 19th) 12. Sacred Vow 15. free feat (might need exp. knowledge: schism, but Insightful Reflexes...) 18. VoP, bonus exalted feat: Touch of Golden Ice 20. Psion, exalted feat: sanctify ki strike
Powers (not all worked out): scism, control body, metamorphosis, fission
So, the whole build revolves around using Control Body on yourself to get Int to damage, Int to AC (twice), and Int + BAB to hit. To this end, Quicken Schism and Quicken Control Body are both doable, even multiple times per day.
Use metamorphosis, sharing it w/ your psicrystal, and fission, sharing it w/ your psicrystal, for 4 beings to control.
At level 16, the character buys a dorje for True Mind Switch to switch into a normal (or insanely powerful) body, then at 17 sells everything he owns to get a book +5 Int.
In the end, this gets a 23 + 5 book + 5 levels + 8 VoP = 41 Int, or +15 to most combat stats, on top of having +14 BAB already + 5 exalted, for +34 to hit when under the influence of control body. Your stunning fist DC is a measly 25. I haven't my BoED w/ me, but the AC bonus from VoP is around 10 + 3 deflection + 2 Natural = +15, I think, for 40 AC under Control Body pre-monk, and AC = 55 b/c Monk AC stacks w/ Control Body.
IF you can flurry while under control body, you really start to see insanity (4 attacks at 32/32/27/22).
You also have Int + exalted damage = +20 damage, with no str modifier.
Plus you can't be affected by mind-affecting abilities (if you're focused), and are proficient with all weapons and armor, have all sorts of damage and energy reduction, true seeing, and +3 to all saves.
There's 2 epic feats which allow you to use reflex saves instead of the others... combine with Insightful Reflexes and you get +14 to each save. saves: F 11 R 11 W 18 before stats wrote:
here's a Gish-like build: assumptions: you can research cross-disciplinarian powers, you can afford a +5 book at level 17, dragon is allowed, and monk abilities and regular damage stacks when you use Control Body on yourself (fuzzy RAW). Everything here is XPH + BoED + 1 dragon feat (wanted to maximize abilities/minimize books, thus no flaws since they don't add enough).
start as: Venerable Sun Elf, start w/ 23 INT, the rest (who cares? make the wis and con good, the rest crap)
1. Monk-IUS, SF, Kung Fu Genius (dragon 319, p68) 2. Psion (until 9th) Psicrystal Affinity 3. Psicrystal Containment 6. Quicken Power, Psionic Meditation 9. Track 10. Slayer (until 19th) 12. Sacred Vow 15. free feat (might need exp. knowledge: schism, but Insightful Reflexes...) 18. VoP, bonus exalted feat: Touch of Golden Ice 20. Psion, exalted feat: sanctify ki strike
Powers (not all worked out): scism, control body, metamorphosis, fission
So, the whole build revolves around using Control Body on yourself to get Int to damage, Int to AC (twice), and Int + BAB to hit. To this end, Quicken Schism and Quicken Control Body are both doable, even multiple times per day.
Use metamorphosis, sharing it w/ your psicrystal, and fission, sharing it w/ your psicrystal, for 4 beings to control.
At level 16, the character buys a dorje for True Mind Switch to switch into a normal (or insanely powerful) body, then at 17 sells everything he owns to get a book +5 Int.
In the end, this gets a 23 + 5 book + 5 levels + 8 VoP = 41 Int, or +15 to most combat stats, on top of having +14 BAB already + 5 exalted, for +34 to hit when under the influence of control body. Your stunning fist DC is a measly 25. I haven't my BoED w/ me, but the AC bonus from VoP is around 10 + 3 deflection + 2 Natural = +15, I think, for 40 AC under Control Body pre-monk, and AC = 55 b/c Monk AC stacks w/ Control Body.
IF you can flurry while under control body, you really start to see insanity (4 attacks at 32/32/27/22).
You also have Int + exalted damage = +20 damage, with no str modifier.
Plus you can't be affected by mind-affecting abilities (if you're focused), and are proficient with all weapons and armor, have all sorts of damage and energy reduction, true seeing, and +3 to all saves.
There's 2 epic feats which allow you to use reflex saves instead of the others... combine with Insightful Reflexes and you get +14 to each save. saves: F 11 R 11 W 18 before stats; w/ insightful reflexes R = 23.
18 manifester levels, which nets 33 powers, including 9th level, and 415 pp's per day. pretty good, i guess... you can pick up all the neat powers like greater teleport, synchronicity, telekinetic maneuver and stuff (plus, if you have 440000 gp pre-book, that leaves 302500 left, or ~ 50 levels of psychic chirurgery gained powers if you pay someone to give them to you). i still think a straight psion that can just research cross-discipline powers is more interesting and you have less role-playing restrictions, and is more fun, but whatever, this is the next build to beat for a VoP psionic character.
carnivore]Phrenic Human
Psion(Telepath) 18
benifits from Phrenic template wrote:
Phrenic Human
Psion(Telepath) 18
benifits from Phrenic template:
SRD]PHRENIC CREATURE
CREATING A PHRENIC CREATURE “ wrote:
PHRENIC CREATURE
CREATING A PHRENIC CREATURE “Phrenic” is an inherited template that can be added to any nonmindless creature that does not already have the psionic subtype (referred to hereafter as the “base creature”. A phrenic creature uses all the base creature’s statistics and special abilities except as noted here. Size and Type: The creature’s type does not change, unless it is an animal (in which case it becomes a Magical Beast [augmented animal]). It gains the psionic subtype.
Psi-Like Abilities (Sp): A phrenic creature possesses the psi-like abilities indicated below, depending on its Hit Dice. The abilities are cumulative. Unless otherwise noted, an ability is usable once per day. Manifester level is equal to the creature’s HD. The save DCs for a phrenic creature’s psi-like abilities are Charisma-based.
HD Abilities 1-2 3/day - defensive precognition; 1/day - force screen 3-4 3/day - empty mind, mind thrust 5-6 1/day - body adjustment, brain lock 7-8 1/day - aversion, blast 9-10 3/day - intellect fortress; 1/day - psychic crush 11-12 1/day - psionic dominate 13-14 1/day - energy current, tower of iron will 15-16 3/day - psionic teleport 17-18 1/day - fission
Special Qualities: A phrenic creature has all the special qualities of the base creature, plus the following special qualities.
Naturally Psionic: A phrenic creature gains 1 bonus power point.
Power Resistance (Ex): A phrenic creature has power resistance equal to its Hit Dice +10.
Abilities: Increase from the base creature as follows: Int +2 (if Int is 3 or greater), Wis +2, Cha +4.
Feats: A phrenic creature can take psionic feats, if it meets the prerequisites for such feats.
Challenge Rating: Up to 5 HD, same as base creature +1; 6-10 HD, same as base creature +2; 11+ HD, same as base creature +3.
Level Adjustment: Same as base creature +2.
basically you get a Major Boost to Social abilities...and since Telepath has some of the best Cha based Skills...there is a lot of synergy there
Manifester Level 17 Usually builds with 17 manifester levels have Dips into another class or PrC , full levels in a PrC that only lose 3 Manifester levels,or have a Race or Template that has +3 Level Adjustment,(or some combination of these).There are other situations that also may arise, but those will be covered individually.
carnivore]heres an interesting idea: The False Nomad
Human Psion(Egoist or Telepath) 5/ Quori Mindhunter 8/ Elocator 7
+13 BAB 17th lvl manifester
bonus free powers: Teleport as 3rd lvl power Planeshift as 3rd lvl power Dimensional Anchor Psi Dissmissal Psi Etherial Jaunt
many of the Nomad special abilities and powers without being a Nomad[/quote wrote:
heres an interesting idea: The False Nomad
Human Psion(Egoist or Telepath) 5/ Quori Mindhunter 8/ Elocator 7
+13 BAB 17th lvl manifester
bonus free powers: Teleport as 3rd lvl power Planeshift as 3rd lvl power Dimensional Anchor Psi Dissmissal Psi Etherial Jaunt
many of the Nomad special abilities and powers without being a Nomad
carnivore wrote:
heres a fun Build:
Fire Starter
Human
Psion(Kineticist) 17/ Pyrokineticist 3
BAB +11 ML 17th(20th with Practiced Manifester) 9th lvl powers
Pyrokineticist gives the following: Fire Lash (Ps): A pyrokineticist gains the ability to fashion a 15-foot-long whip of fire from unstable ectoplasm as a move-equivalent action. She takes no damage from a fire lash she creates, and if she releases her hold, it immediately dissipates. The lash deals 1d8 points of fire damage to a target within 15 feet on a successful ranged touch attack. A pyro can take Weapon Focus and Weapon Specialization (if she otherwise meets the prerequisites) in conjunction with the fire lash, as well as any feats that apply to the use of a standard whip. The whip remains in existence as long as the pyrokineticist holds it.
Fire Adaptation (Ex): At 2nd level, a pyrokineticist becomes resistant to fire, gaining a +4 bonus on all saving throws against fire and heat spells and effects. In addition, she gains resistance to fire 10.
Hand Afire (Ps): A pyrokineticist of 2nd level or higher can activate this ability as a move-equivalent action. Flames engulf one of the pyrokineticist’s hands (but do her no harm). Her unarmed attacks with that hand are treated as armed. Such attacks deal an extra 2d6 points of fire damage.
Bolt of Fire (Ps): Starting at 3rd level, as a standard action, a pyrokineticist can launch a bolt of psionically manifested fire at any target in line of sight within 60 feet. This effect is treated as a ranged touch attack and deals 1d6 points of fire damage for each class level the pyro has.
Feats: Practiced Manifester
Powers of Note:
1st lvl: Control Fire......for 1 PP he can animate a Fire the size of an INN that does 7d6 damage/round for 17 minutes he can also put out fires 3rd lvl Energy Retort 4th 5th lvl Fiery Discorporation....fun power ...works with the Fire Theme...keeps him from being killed 7th lvl Energy Claw...fun way to keep casters busy Rage of the Remorahaze....damages any who want to melee 9th lvl Tornado Blast
Skills: Skill trick: Swift Concentration.....Maintain Concentration on power as a swift action
Benifits: Always have combat power without PP cost(Hand Afire,Fire Bolt), resistance to fire constant effect. Better BAB than Psion 20. Not limited to Fire only...has a variety of options for combat and non-combat situtations.
:D
carnivore]Mr. Face
Kalashtar
1/2 Fey Marshal 1/ Psion(telepath) 17
Attributes: assume 25 point buy 8 Str 13 Dex 10 Con 16 Int 12 Wis 18 Cha
1/2 Fey gives this wrote:
Mr. Face
Kalashtar
1/2 Fey Marshal 1/ Psion(telepath) 17
Attributes: assume 25 point buy 8 Str 13 Dex 10 Con 16 Int 12 Wis 18 Cha
1/2 Fey gives this:
The Half-Fey
Half-fey are the spawn of powerful fey creatures and the mortals they find so intriguing. Often confused by the ignorant with half-fiends, some half-fey grow up tormented by their peers, but a few use their gifts to win over others and become quite popular.
"Half-fey" is usually an inherited template, but it could be acquired through other means as well. Certain mortals who are obsessed with the fey study fey magic and dwell in sylvan places in hopes of gaining power, and a few actually do manage to acquire the half-fey template.
Attribute bonuses Dex +2, Con -2, Wis +2, Cha +4
Fey Type: She becomes vulnerable to spells and effects that work on creatures of the fey type but is immune to effects that target her original type. For example, a half-fey/half-human would be subject to the extra damage from a fey bane sword, but she is immune to hold person because that spell affects only humanoids.
Low-Light Vision (Ex): the half-fey gains low-light vision.
Saving Throw Bonuses (Ex): a half-fey gains a +4 racial bonus on saving throws against spells and effects from the Enchantment school.
Spell-Like Abilities: Starting at 1st level, a half-fey with an Intelligence or Wisdom score of 8 or better gains spell-like abilities. The exact abilities gained depend on the half-fey's character level and level in the template class, according to the following table. In each case, the caster level equals the half-fey's character level. Save DCs, where applicable, are Charisma-based (10 + spell level + half-fey's Cha modifier).
Level Spell-Like Abilities Gained 1st Charm person at will, hypnotism 1/day 1st Faerie fire or glitterdust 1/day 3rd Detect law 3/day 3rd Enthrall or sleep 1/day 5th Protection from law 3/day 7th Confusion or emotion 1/day 9th Eyebite or lesser geas 1/day 11th Dominate person or hold monster 1/day 13th Mass invisibility 1/day 15th Geas/quest or mass suggestion 1/day 17th Insanity or mass charm 1/day 19th Otto's irresistible dance 1/day
The character gains each spell-like ability as soon as she meets both qualifications for it. Spell-like abilities are cumulative, so a half-fey whose character level is 3rd has charm person at will, detect law 3/day, enthrall or sleep 1/day, faerie fire or glitterdust 1/day, hypnotism 1/day.
Immunity to Enchantments (Ex): a half-fey becomes immune to all spells and effects from the Enchantment school. This ability replaces the saving throw bonus against these effects included in the half-fey's base racial features.
Wings (Ex): a half-fey grows insectlike wings (usually similar to those of a butterfly) and may use them to fly at up to twice her base land speed with good maneuverability.
Marshal gives this:
Hit Die: d8.
Class Skills
The marshal's class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Bluff (Cha), Diplomacy (Cha), Handle Animal (Cha), Intimidate (Cha), Knowledge (Int), Listen (Wis), Perform (Cha), Ride (Dex), Sense Motive (Wis), Speak Language (n/a), Spot (Wis), Survival (Wis), and Swim (Str).
Skill Points at 1st Level: (4 + Int modifier)x4.
Skill Points at Each Additional Level: 4 + Int modifier.
Class Features
All of the following are class features of the marshal.
Weapon and Armor Proficiency: Marshals are proficient with all simple and martial weapons, with all types of armor (heavy, medium, and light), and with shields (except tower shields).
Skill Focus (Diplomacy): Because a marshal has a way with people, he gains this feat as a bonus feat. If the marshal already has the feat, he can choose a different one.
Minor Aura: A minor aura lets allies add the marshal's Charisma bonus (if any) to certain rolls.
* Motivate Charisma: Bonus on Charisma checks and Charisma-based skill checks.
feats of note:
Psicrystal Affinity(Friendly +3 bonus on Diplomacy checks) Inquisitor Prtacticed Manifester Negotiator Extend Power Psionic Meditation Psicrystal Containment
Powers of note:
1st Telempathic Projection Empathy Conceal Thoughts ............. long term buff 2nd Suggestion Detect Hostile Intent ................ long term buff 3rd 4th Dominate Modify Memory 5th Mind Probe
Skills of note
Telepath (Telepathy): Bluff (Cha), Diplomacy (Cha), Gather Information (Cha), and Sense Motive (Wis). all class skills maxed out
Skill trick: Swift Concentration.....Maintain Concentration on power as a swift action
Benefit: at 3rd lvl(ECL 5) he has a constant Diplomacy roll of:
+3 Skill focus +3 Psicrystal +2 Negotiator +2 Racial +8 Cha(includes Marshal Aura) 5 ranks Diplomacy +6 Synergy(Bluff, Sense Motive, Knowledge(Nobility & royalty) all 6 ranks ..... total 29 +1d20.......and he has an at Will spell-like ability: Charm...and he can boost this far higher with some Psionics.......this Skill(Diplomacy) does not allow saves or SR/PR
not only this...but he can serve as awalking Lie Detector....with Free Sense motive checks each round(Detect Hostile Intent) and +20 bonus(Conceal Thoughts and Inquisitor)
9: Secondary Manifester:65% and above(13th-16th lvl manifesting) builds with 13-16 manifester levels.....strengths and weaknesses
tacoronte]Psi/arcane Mind trickster by tacoronte
Beguiler 4/Telepath 3/Cerebremancer 10/Mindbender 1/Wild Mage 2[/b] CL 17 (14+1d6): 8th level spells, spell slots: 6/6/6/6/6/6/6/6/4 ML 13: 7th level powers, 25 powers, 147pp (+ Int bonus) 9 BAB Key Abilities: Huge mind-affecting repertoire of powers/spells, telepathy, trapfinding, No ASF in light armor. Detailed build:
Race: Any HitPoints: 4d6+16d4 (54 avg) Base Saves: F:7 R:8 W:16
Levels Class Feats Class Abilities 1-4 Beguiler 1-4 Magical Apt. No ASF in Light Armor, Trapfinding, Surprise Casting, 1 open +1 DC vs no Dex target, 1 extra spell 5-7 Telepath 1-3 2 open 8 Cerebremancer 1 9 Mindbender 1 1 metamagic Telepathy 10-11 Wild Mage 1-2 CL=(CL-3)+1d6, Random Deflector 12-20 Cereb. 2-10
[/quote wrote:
Psi/arcane Mind trickster by tacoronte
Beguiler 4/Telepath 3/Cerebremancer 10/Mindbender 1/Wild Mage 2[/b] CL 17 (14+1d6): 8th level spells, spell slots: 6/6/6/6/6/6/6/6/4 ML 13: 7th level powers, 25 powers, 147pp (+ Int bonus) 9 BAB Key Abilities: Huge mind-affecting repertoire of powers/spells, telepathy, trapfinding, No ASF in light armor. Detailed build:
Race: Any HitPoints: 4d6+16d4 (54 avg) Base Saves: F:7 R:8 W:16
Levels Class Feats Class Abilities 1-4 Beguiler 1-4 Magical Apt. No ASF in Light Armor, Trapfinding, Surprise Casting, 1 open +1 DC vs no Dex target, 1 extra spell 5-7 Telepath 1-3 2 open 8 Cerebremancer 1 9 Mindbender 1 1 metamagic Telepathy 10-11 Wild Mage 1-2 CL=(CL-3)+1d6, Random Deflector 12-20 Cereb. 2-10
carnivore]BoB the Trap Master Extrordinaire
Dragon Born Gray Elf( +2 Int,-2 Str ...... the other attribute bonuses cancel each other out) Dragonborn templateShow
DragonBorn Template +2 Con,-2 Dex +2 Dodge vs Dragon type Immune to Frightful Presence Draconic Aspect: 1)Mind:....Immune to Paralysis, Magic Sleep Effects Darkvision 30' Low light vision +2 Racial to Spot, Search, Listen
@6HD ...Darkvision 60' @9HD ...Darkvision 90', 3x human Lowlight vision @12HD ...Darkvision 120', 4x human Lowlight vision @15HD ...Darkvision 120', 4x human Lowlight vision,blindsense 30'
200000gp +6 Belt of Magnificense 40000gp Paralyzing Arm (Undead Graft) xxxxxxxxxgp 13 Wishes cast by 17th lvl Wizard(inherent Bonuses) 21000gp Crystal Mask of Insightful Detection( +9 Insight to Search and Spot) 55000gp Dragons Eye amulet( +10 enhancement to Search and Spot, and 30' Blindsight) 3500gp Lense of Detection(+5 Search)
this should be playable at ALL Levels
under const wrote:
BoB the Trap Master Extrordinaire
Dragon Born Gray Elf( +2 Int,-2 Str ...... the other attribute bonuses cancel each other out) Dragonborn templateShow
DragonBorn Template +2 Con,-2 Dex +2 Dodge vs Dragon type Immune to Frightful Presence Draconic Aspect: 1)Mind:....Immune to Paralysis, Magic Sleep Effects Darkvision 30' Low light vision +2 Racial to Spot, Search, Listen
@6HD ...Darkvision 60' @9HD ...Darkvision 90', 3x human Lowlight vision @12HD ...Darkvision 120', 4x human Lowlight vision @15HD ...Darkvision 120', 4x human Lowlight vision,blindsense 30'
200000gp +6 Belt of Magnificense 40000gp Paralyzing Arm (Undead Graft) xxxxxxxxxgp 13 Wishes cast by 17th lvl Wizard(inherent Bonuses) 21000gp Crystal Mask of Insightful Detection( +9 Insight to Search and Spot) 55000gp Dragons Eye amulet( +10 enhancement to Search and Spot, and 30' Blindsight) 3500gp Lense of Detection(+5 Search)
this should be playable at ALL Levels[/quote] under construction
Generally these will focus on Combat, stressing keeping the BAB at +16 or better. Thus even without Power points, they make reliable Combatants with Melee or ranged weapons.
These types of builds can generally be built around a theme orfocus(exa:Melee(attack and damage),Melee(battlefield control),ranged,stealth,etc....).
Generally you will try to get to a Full BAB PrC as soon as Possible.....but 3/4 BAB also works.
Bacris]The Default Psionic Gish Ranger 2 / Psion 8 / Slayer 10 ML 17 BAB 16
Excellent starting location, very simple, only one required Feat(Track) and can be played by any 0 LA race.
The Default Psionic Gish Ranger 2 / Psion 8 / Slayer 10 ML 17 BAB 16[/quote] Excellent starting location, very simple, only one required Feat(Track) and can be played by any 0 LA race.
SKB]Ranger 1/Psion 6[Egoist]/Slayer 9/Sanctified Mind 4
BAB:17 ML:17 ST:11/8/16
Feats: 1. Track, Power Attack, Iron Will 2. PsiCrystal Affinity 3. Imp. Bullrush 6. Leap Attack 9. Shock Trooper 12. Dodge 15. Mobility 18. Elusive Target
Good use of a second Full BAB PrC that has 4/5 Manifesting.....Good example of a Tactical Manifester and Battlefield control (charging and PA focus).
Ranger 1/Psion 6[Egoist]/Slayer 9/Sanctified Mind 4
BAB:17 ML:17 ST:11/8/16
Feats: 1. Track, Power Attack, Iron Will 2. PsiCrystal Affinity 3. Imp. Bullrush 6. Leap Attack 9. Shock Trooper 12. Dodge 15. Mobility 18. Elusive Target[/quote] Good use of a second Full BAB PrC that has 4/5 Manifesting.....Good example of a Tactical Manifester and Battlefield control (charging and PA focus).
Use Metamorphosis to get into a large or larger size creature with hands (such as a girallon - 7HD, Large size) - 20' reach. Use Expansion to get Huge or Gargantuan - 30'-40' reach.
7 attacks with 30' reach. In Huge form, +12 to trip attacks, plus your STR bonus. Kind of MAD-dependent, as you'll need high Wis for the feats, high Int for powers, and high Dex for TWF'ing feats + combat reflexes. STR and CON aren't as important once you hit 9th level (metamorphosis).
Use Metamorphosis to get into a large or larger size creature with hands (such as a girallon - 7HD, Large size) - 20' reach. Use Expansion to get Huge or Gargantuan - 30'-40' reach.
7 attacks with 30' reach. In Huge form, +12 to trip attacks, plus your STR bonus. Kind of MAD-dependent, as you'll need high Wis for the feats, high Int for powers, and high Dex for TWF'ing feats + combat reflexes. STR and CON aren't as important once you hit 9th level (metamorphosis).[/quote] excellent Battlefield control Psi-Gish....
this build has many special features: uses melee touch attacks as a focus for combat
Psi/arcane Gish By tacoronte
Duskblade 5/Egoist 1/Slayer 9/Cerebremancer 5 16 BAB ML 14: 7th level powers, 27 powers, 170pp (+ Int bonus) CL 10: 2nd level spells, spell slots: 6/6/5 , 13 spells known (+ Int bonus) Key Abilities: Weapon-channeled touch spells, Immune to mind effects, Melee hits lower Power Resistance, No ASF in medium armor. Detailed build:Spoiler:Show
Race: Any HitPoints: 14d8+6d4 (78 avg) Base Saves: F:8 R:5 W:16
Levels Class Feats Class Abilities 1-5 Duskblade 1-5 2 open No ASF in Medium Armor, SLAs, Quicken 1/day CombatCasting* Arcane Chanelling (touch spells thru weapon) 6 Egoist 1 Track, 1 open 7-8 Slayer 1-2 FavEnemy+2,Enemy Sense,Brain Nausea 9 Cerebremancer 1 open 10-20 Slayer 3-9 2 open FavEnemy+6, Cerebral Blind, Breach Power resistance &Cereb. 2-5
From 10 on, you can alternate Slayer & Cerebremancer levels
great use of Cerebremancer in a Gish build
Builds with Soulknife:[/SIZE wrote:
Kalashtar
Psion 6/ Quori Nightmare 4/ Slayer 10
BAB +16 Manifester level 18
this build has many special features: uses melee touch attacks as a focus for combat[/quote] [SIZE=3]Psi/arcane Gish By tacoronte
Duskblade 5/Egoist 1/Slayer 9/Cerebremancer 5 16 BAB ML 14: 7th level powers, 27 powers, 170pp (+ Int bonus) CL 10: 2nd level spells, spell slots: 6/6/5 , 13 spells known (+ Int bonus) Key Abilities: Weapon-channeled touch spells, Immune to mind effects, Melee hits lower Power Resistance, No ASF in medium armor. Detailed build:Spoiler:Show
Race: Any HitPoints: 14d8+6d4 (78 avg) Base Saves: F:8 R:5 W:16
Levels Class Feats Class Abilities 1-5 Duskblade 1-5 2 open No ASF in Medium Armor, SLAs, Quicken 1/day CombatCasting* Arcane Chanelling (touch spells thru weapon) 6 Egoist 1 Track, 1 open 7-8 Slayer 1-2 FavEnemy+2,Enemy Sense,Brain Nausea 9 Cerebremancer 1 open 10-20 Slayer 3-9 2 open FavEnemy+6, Cerebral Blind, Breach Power resistance &Cereb. 2-5
From 10 on, you can alternate Slayer & Cerebremancer levels
great use of Cerebremancer in a Gish build
Builds with Soulknife:
carnivore]Soulknife 8/ Psion 1/ Slayer 5/ Sanctified mind 6 or Soulknife 8/ Psion 2/ Elocator 4/ Sanctified mind 6
BAB +17(+16 with elocator) 5th lvl powers Manifester lvl 10th(14th with practiced manifester)[/quote wrote:
Soulknife 8/ Psion 1/ Slayer 5/ Sanctified mind 6 or Soulknife 8/ Psion 2/ Elocator 4/ Sanctified mind 6
BAB +17(+16 with elocator) 5th lvl powers Manifester lvl 10th(14th with practiced manifester)
BAB +16 6th lvl Powers 11th lvl Manifester(15th with practiced Manifester) if the race is Kalashatar..... take the feat that adds 2 lvls to your soulknife enhancement , from Races of eberron.[/quote wrote:
Soulknife 8/ Psion 1/ Elocator 1/ Slayer 10
BAB +16 6th lvl Powers 11th lvl Manifester(15th with practiced Manifester) if the race is Kalashatar..... take the feat that adds 2 lvls to your soulknife enhancement , from Races of eberron.
carnivore]if you plan to combine soulknife and Pyrokineticist try this:
Soulknife 5/ Pyrokineticist 4/ Psion 1/ Slayer 10
BAB +16 5th lvl powers 10th lvl manifester(14th with Practiced Manifester) 4d6 at will ranged touch attack(fire) 2d6 Weapon Afire
Psion/Pyrokineticist builds[/b wrote:
if you plan to combine soulknife and [b]Pyrokineticist try this:
Soulknife 5/ Pyrokineticist 4/ Psion 1/ Slayer 10
BAB +16 5th lvl powers 10th lvl manifester(14th with Practiced Manifester) 4d6 at will ranged touch attack(fire) 2d6 Weapon Afire[/quote] Psion/Pyrokineticist builds
Monastic Training(Slayer) Monk bonus feat Combat Reflexes Monk Bonus Feat Tashalatora(slayer) psion bonus Feat Track Robilars Gambit.... @15th or 18th lvl Imp natural Attack Superior Unarmed Strike sacred Vow Carmondine Monk...can also boost AC,Unarmed Damage or Speed by 2 monk lvls...but must choose which each day VOP ........... preferably @ 18th lvl......spend all your money on Inherent Bonuses(Tomes and Wishes, to boost ability scores) feat...if human
now you have the Monk abilities @ 15th lvl Monk Unarmed Damage 12th lvl Monk Flurry:...Greater Flurry 12th lvl monk AC
13th lvl Psionic powers(7th lvl Powers)
and everything is Based on Int...... and you get some nice Pyro powers also[/quote wrote:
Human or Kalashtar Monk 2/ Psion(kineticist) 4/ Pyrokineticist 4/ Slayer 10
Monastic Training(Slayer) Monk bonus feat Combat Reflexes Monk Bonus Feat Tashalatora(slayer) psion bonus Feat Track Robilars Gambit.... @15th or 18th lvl Imp natural Attack Superior Unarmed Strike sacred Vow Carmondine Monk...can also boost AC,Unarmed Damage or Speed by 2 monk lvls...but must choose which each day VOP ........... preferably @ 18th lvl......spend all your money on Inherent Bonuses(Tomes and Wishes, to boost ability scores) feat...if human
now you have the Monk abilities @ 15th lvl Monk Unarmed Damage 12th lvl Monk Flurry:...Greater Flurry 12th lvl monk AC
13th lvl Psionic powers(7th lvl Powers)
and everything is Based on Int...... and you get some nice Pyro powers also
PhaedrusXY]Re: Core Melee Build
Here is a "psychic rogue gish" build that I just made that I would love to play. Since there are already a couple of psionicists in your group, and you seem to be lacking a rogue, you might consider something like this. It uses material only from the core 3 books + XPH. I think it should be quite fun and reasonably strong.
Edit: Oops. I included Practiced Manifester, which is actually from Complete Psionics. I think that's the only one I missed, though. If you replace that with Overchannel and take Talented instead of something else, you'll still be pretty close to the original. I have a mix of some ranged and some melee things in there, so the build could actually be a bit more focused if you'd rather.
"The Hunter" Elan Rogue2/Ranger1/Ftr1/Psion(Egoist)2/Elocater7/Slayer7
Manifester Level 13 (17 w/PrM) BAB +16 Base Saves: Fort +8, Reflex +12, Will +13 (can also add: +2 Fort. psicrystal, +4 Elan Resistance)
(Feats in parenthesis are to be picked up later using Psychic Reformation.) [Class abilities are in brackets]
Powers: 1st: Crystal Shard, Entangling Ectoplasm, Vigor, Energy Ray, Body Adjustment 2nd: Share Pain, Animal Affinity, Ego Whip, Energy Adaptation: Specified 3rd: Dispel Psionics, Touchsight, Time Hop, Body Adjustment, Plane Shift, Teleport 4th: Metamorphosis, Correspond, Divination, Wall of Ectoplasm (Psychic Reformation originally), Trace Teleport (or Intellect Fortress) 5th: Psionic Revivify, Power Resistance, Psychofeedback, (took 4th) 6th: Disintegrate, Temporal Acceleration, Contingency 7th: Fission
Items: Gloves of Object Reading, Third Eye of Remote Viewing
Tactics: The psicrystal is there to use Share Pain on, to use Aid Another, and to make separate skill checks. If you start at low levels you're better off taking Psionic Shot instead, and then Psychic Reforming it away at 7th level, if you think you can get access to the power.
In the low levels, you're basically just the party "trapmonkey"/scout. You won't be doing alot of damage, and you'll be kind of vulnerable. With Psionic Shot + Sneak Attack on a Crystal Shard, you'll at least be able to do a bit of damage.
At level 7, you get access to 2nd level powers. If you can get your hands on it, use Psychic Reformation to exchange Point Blank Shot and Psionic Shot for Psicrystal Affinity and something else (Mage Slayer?). Use Share Pain on your Psicrystal, and you will become much more durable, and can start risking melee. Conveniently, you just got two feats to help you there, proficiency with all Martial Weapons, and the ability to "fly".
At level 12+, turn into a Hydra and use Capricious Step to move up, bite with all your heads, and move back again. Do this while hovering over your enemies head, and use your reach to stay out of theirs, if possible. You should be able to dish out quite alot of damage.
You can also share Metamorphosis with your Psicrystal, if you want. You'll be able to dish out even more damage, but will be more vulnerable defensively because your Psicrystal could easily die (and not be sharing your pain anymore).
At level 13, get Psychic Reformation and use it as discussed earlier, if you haven't already. Make yourself a Power Stone of it, then get rid of the feat and the power. Your feats should look like the ones in parenthesis at this point. This option is really only here for campaigns in which you couldn't do this at level 7.
At level 15+, you'll have alot more tools thanks to Metamorphic Transfer.
At level 20, you can use Fission to double all of this, if you want.
under const wrote:
Re: Core Melee Build
Here is a "psychic rogue gish" build that I just made that I would love to play. Since there are already a couple of psionicists in your group, and you seem to be lacking a rogue, you might consider something like this. It uses material only from the core 3 books + XPH. I think it should be quite fun and reasonably strong.
Edit: Oops. I included Practiced Manifester, which is actually from Complete Psionics. I think that's the only one I missed, though. If you replace that with Overchannel and take Talented instead of something else, you'll still be pretty close to the original. I have a mix of some ranged and some melee things in there, so the build could actually be a bit more focused if you'd rather.
"The Hunter" Elan Rogue2/Ranger1/Ftr1/Psion(Egoist)2/Elocater7/Slayer7
Manifester Level 13 (17 w/PrM) BAB +16 Base Saves: Fort +8, Reflex +12, Will +13 (can also add: +2 Fort. psicrystal, +4 Elan Resistance)
(Feats in parenthesis are to be picked up later using Psychic Reformation.) [Class abilities are in brackets]
Powers: 1st: Crystal Shard, Entangling Ectoplasm, Vigor, Energy Ray, Body Adjustment 2nd: Share Pain, Animal Affinity, Ego Whip, Energy Adaptation: Specified 3rd: Dispel Psionics, Touchsight, Time Hop, Body Adjustment, Plane Shift, Teleport 4th: Metamorphosis, Correspond, Divination, Wall of Ectoplasm (Psychic Reformation originally), Trace Teleport (or Intellect Fortress) 5th: Psionic Revivify, Power Resistance, Psychofeedback, (took 4th) 6th: Disintegrate, Temporal Acceleration, Contingency 7th: Fission
Items: Gloves of Object Reading, Third Eye of Remote Viewing
Tactics: The psicrystal is there to use Share Pain on, to use Aid Another, and to make separate skill checks. If you start at low levels you're better off taking Psionic Shot instead, and then Psychic Reforming it away at 7th level, if you think you can get access to the power.
In the low levels, you're basically just the party "trapmonkey"/scout. You won't be doing alot of damage, and you'll be kind of vulnerable. With Psionic Shot + Sneak Attack on a Crystal Shard, you'll at least be able to do a bit of damage.
At level 7, you get access to 2nd level powers. If you can get your hands on it, use Psychic Reformation to exchange Point Blank Shot and Psionic Shot for Psicrystal Affinity and something else (Mage Slayer?). Use Share Pain on your Psicrystal, and you will become much more durable, and can start risking melee. Conveniently, you just got two feats to help you there, proficiency with all Martial Weapons, and the ability to "fly".
At level 12+, turn into a Hydra and use Capricious Step to move up, bite with all your heads, and move back again. Do this while hovering over your enemies head, and use your reach to stay out of theirs, if possible. You should be able to dish out quite alot of damage.
You can also share Metamorphosis with your Psicrystal, if you want. You'll be able to dish out even more damage, but will be more vulnerable defensively because your Psicrystal could easily die (and not be sharing your pain anymore).
At level 13, get Psychic Reformation and use it as discussed earlier, if you haven't already. Make yourself a Power Stone of it, then get rid of the feat and the power. Your feats should look like the ones in parenthesis at this point. This option is really only here for campaigns in which you couldn't do this at level 7.
At level 15+, you'll have alot more tools thanks to Metamorphic Transfer.
At level 20, you can use Fission to double all of this, if you want.[/quote] under construction
11: Equipment equipment selection...goals and recomendations
try to always fill all available body slots
many small cheap items can do more than a few big expensive ones.
combat is only a small part of the game(unless you are playing an Arena fight type game)...weapons and armor are not the most important things....
Some Key Equipment
Your powers are more important to you than your gear, but a few pieces of the right gear can make your career longer and happier:
Melee Weapon: You're not much good in combat, but you never know when you'll need to resort to hand-to-hand combat. The club, quarterstaff, and the shortspear have the best damage potential of the few melee weapons available to you. Among the three, the shortspear is arguably the most flexible, because you can throw it a fair distance if you need to, ready it against a charge, or use it as a probe.
Ranged Weapon: A light crossbow can prove as effective as a low-level attack power against some opponents. Use it when necessary to conserve your power points, such as when the opposition isn't threatening enough to merit power use. A heavy crossbow deals more damage with a single hit but has a slower rate of fire than a light crossbow. In many cases, you will find using a power to be more useful than taking multiple shots.
Backup Powers: You never know when you'll run out of power points, and you never know when you'll need a particular power and need it very badly. It's hard to beat a cognizance crystal for keeping a few power points in reserve.
A dorje is useful for manifesting powers that you use often, such as energy ray, body adjustment, or detect hostile intent. Best of all, you can use a dorje to manifest any power on the psion class list or your discipline's list, even if you don't know the power. from the SRD:
Helm of telepathy.......... Substitute power for spell Pearl of power.............. Treat in all ways as a cognizance crystal with power point capacity appropriate to the equivalent power level Crystal ball .................Substitute power for spell Ioun stones ........
Vibrant purple................... Stores three levels of psionic powers
Pale lavender ...................Absorbs powers up to 4th level (burns out as normal)
Rainbow....................... Provides 5 power points per day (regenerates) New item: Treat as a cognizance crystal in ioun stone form, except that it regenerates its stored power points each day; Price 16,000 gp
Dull gray..................... Provides 1 power point to a psionic character, then disintegrates. Dull gray stones are useless for magic but still harbor just enough resonance that a psionic character can eke out 1 power point before the stone is gone forever.
3000gp Skin of Ectoplasmic Armor(Complete Psionics) ...+8 Armor,+2 Max dex,-6 Armor chk,25% ASF, no speed penalty
This section isn't dedicated only on listing the best Powers out there for Psions, but also to present information that will make you able to identify if a certain power is good or bad.
Save-Based Powers: Unless you are a fairly experienced player you will probably have a problem selecting the right Powers at each level. There are Powers that deal with specific creature types, but what if someone wants to be prepared no matter what? What Powers should he Know for the day when he reaches a certain level? Even worse what saving throws should his Powers allow? A way to cover this problem is to consult the graph below:
This actually presents the creatures' (of a certain challenge rating) average scores (in saves and SR). Data come from CubeKnight's creature filter and as you can see there are records from lots of different source books.
Fortitude saves are almost always the best saving throws. Even though after mid levels they sometimes are equal to will saves, they never fall below that limit. On the other hand, will saves are the worst saves at early levels, but they get significantly boosted at mid and late levels. Reflex saves are probably the worst saves there are. At low levels they are better than fortitude saves, but at mid and higher levels will saves are superior. Reflex saves are significantly lesser at high levels, not the difference between fortitude (23 on average) and reflex (16 on average).
So to wrap it up:
Low to Mid Levels (1-10 CR):
Fortitude > Will
Fortitude >= Reflex
Reflex >= Will
Mid to High Levels (11-20 CR):
Fortitude >= Will
Fortitude >> Reflex
Reflex <= Will
So now selecting your Powers should be relatively easier. If you study the graph, from low to mid levels your will-based Powers are less likely to be resisted. The same goes for reflex-based powers and high levels. Mind you, i am not suggesting that fortitude-based Powers are bad, just that they are less likely to be effective (that is actually correct, since most save or die Powers fall into this category).
Difficulty Class: Simply put, for your Power to be effective you want your opponent to score on his d20 saving throw check a number less than your DC minus his save bonus:
After studying the results, we come to the following conclusions:
If the result of DC - Save is less than or equal to 0, you always fail to affect your target, except for a critical miss. Results in 5% chance of success.
If the result of DC - Save is higher than or equal to 20, you can only lose to a natural 20. That gives you a 95% chance of success.
If the result is 0 < DC - Save < 20, then your chance of success is calculated by dividing the result by 20 and multiplying by 100 %. For example i have a result of 10. That divided by 20 results in 0,5. We now multiply it by 100% and get: 50% chance of success.
Of course, all Psions should try to maximize their DCs to their full potential. That means the biggest chance of success, 95%. Every point of penalty you apply to your opponents' saves results in a 5% raise in your chance of success, but it is capped at 95%. Every point of bonus DC you get, again, is a 5% raise to your chance, with the same limitation.
Spell/Power Resistance: Enter Spell/Power resistance. Many creatures possess this ability and can prove quite the nuisance, since a creature will be protected even more by your Powers. The main formula is:
1d20 >= His SR or PR - Your CL
As you can see now you are making the check, so the higher you score, the better. You calculate your chance of success by: Calculate: 21 + your CL - his SR. Divide the result by 20 and multiply it by 100%, and you have your chance of success.
e.g. A Psion with Manifester level 10 targets a SR/PR 19 opponent. 21 - 10 + 19 = 12. 12/20 * 100% = 60%. So the Psion's chance of success will be 60%. Which actually means that if you score anything greater than or equal to a 9, you succeed.
A tricky part worth noting is: what if a Power requires both SR/PR and saving throw check? What are my chances of success then? Well simply multiply the success chances between them and you'll have the new one.
e.g. A Psion with ML 10 and intelligence 18 targets an SR/PR 19 and 1 saving throw bonus opponent. What is his chance of 1st level Power that requires both checks to succeed?
Saving throw part chances: 15 - 1 = 14. That is the equivalent of a 70% chance of success.
Spell/Power Resistance part chances: 21 - 19 + 10 = 12. That's 60% chance of success.
Final calculation: (60/100)*(70/100) = (4200/10000) = (42/100) = 42% chance of success.
Even though the numbers will vary, this is an example of high chance rolls. When you have to make both checks however, as you can see, the chances to succeed are a lot less.
Touch Attacks: There are Powers that require ranged or melee touch attacks to hit their targets. Failure to do so means your PP is lost. Let's study the touch attacks by challenge rating chart:
As you can see, touch ACs are high in low challenge ratings and they gradually fall even more. This is not the case with normal AC ratings, which are constantly rising. We assume a Psion with no other bonuses to his attack roll than his BAB. Psions have bad BAB progression, but since touch AC scores get worse as you will be gaining levels, it will be easier for you to get touch spells through. So at first level they get a 45% chance of success, while at twentieth level you get a 95% chance.
To calculate the chances of your success, use the following formula:
1d20 >= His Touch AC - Your Attack Bonus
Calculate 21- (AC - attack bonus) and divide that by 20. Multiply by 100% and then you get your chances.
Again, as with spell/Power resistance, there are Powers that require both a touch attack and a spell/Power resistance check. There are even those who require all three of these rolls. To calculate your overall success, multiply all your separate chances together.
For example, you have a 50% chance of beating SR/PR and a 60% of beating touch AC. Your opponent has a 40% chance of saving against your Power. That means that you get: (50/100)*(60/100)*(40/100) = (50*40*60/1000000) = 12% barely.
A special note, even if you got 95% separate chances of success (which is the higher chance you will ever get) for each roll, you get: (95/100)*(95/100)*(95/100) ~= 85,7%. That said, Powers that require many rolls to succeed are naturally inferior to those that require just one. So to maximize your chances of success you don't only need high DCs for Powers, but Powers with a small number of required rolls, too.
Learning Powers A psion will eventually learn 36 powers throughout his career. Many powers have such broad applicability that 36 slots is more than enough to handle most high level challenges. It's not necessary to be able to handle everything in the low levels however, but it is important to select powers based on problems that may come up at your specific level.
The easiest way to learn powers is simply to pick them as you level up. This applies to all powers on the psion/wilder list and your discipline list. You can also learn powers in the following ways: • Expanded Knowledge: Taking this feat increases the number of powers you know, and let's you choose any power on any list, as long as it is one level lower than the highest level power you can manifest. Very useful at low levels when both power quality and quantity is an issue. • Research: You can research any power and learn it instead of picking a power already available to you. The price you pay is one week of study per level of the power, and 200 XP per week of study. A good option for powers not on your list that are useful throughout the remainder of your adventuring career. • Psychic Surgery: You can pay for having any power implanted in your mind for a substantial amount of gold, if your DM allows you to pay for psionic services. Another party member could also impart the knowledge, for an XP cost that may be split between you. • Prestige Class: Some prestige classes automatically teaches your character powers, for example the Elocater and Thrallherd.
The important thing to remember is that you can learn more or different powers than normal by spending feats, XP, gold or taking PrC levels. The builds in this guide make heavy use of the research option. If your DM or campaign makes this alternative unavailable to you, it is recommended that you play an Egoist to make the most of this guide, and that you use expanded knowledge to cover your bases (details are given below).
Power Selection Skeleton: This is designed to assist in choosing powers for your Psion. The following is a collection of powers that all General Purpose Psions should have:
1st level powers: Vigor :....this can be helpful to most any psion, for the entire length of his career.
the next 2 powers are very useful....depending on how much combat you prefer to be involved in:
Pick One: Precognition(Offensive) or Precognition(Defensive) Spoiler:Show
Precognition(Offensive) :.......this is very good to have as it affects ALL of your attacks, and it stacks with most other attack bonus boosting sources. If you plan on attacking something...MAKE SURE you can HIT it!!!!
Precognition(Defensive) :........this is very helpful as it affects AC and Saves at the same time......very nice for a defense oriented character.(personally i would rather live by the saying "the best defense is a good offense" and take Precog(off))
Dispel Psionics :.....absolute must for ALL Psions
4th level powers:
Divination,Psi:
5th level powers:
Plane Shift :
6th level powers:
Disintegrate,Psi : Temporal Acceleration :
7th level powers:
Energy Conversion :
8th level powers:
Teleport,Greater : True Metabolism :
9th level powers:
Assimilate :
When choosing powers , remember to consider how you can contribute to the Party in the following aresa:
1: Melee Damage 2: Direct Damage 3: Battlefield control 4: Save or Die powers 5: Information Gathering 6: Transportation 7: Healing 8: Buffing 9: NPC interaction(FACE)
Lycanthromancer]General Psion/Wilder Powers:
General Psion/Wilder Powers:
1st level]Create Sound: Good for distracting foes when you don't want to be caught, and numerous other things. Crystal Shard: Good for bypassing SR, as well as bypassing Antipsionic and Antimagic Fields. Deja Vu: Excellent 'save-or-die' for making your foe waste his actions, take damage for things that he had to do last round over again, repeating an ineffective tactic, perform actions that were intelligent last round, but stupid on this round, etcetera. Detect Psionics: Especially useful if you have full magic/psionics transparency, this power can save your bacon when you can find magical traps, or determine various information regarding puzzles, and such. More versatile than you might think. Deja Vu: Excellent 'save-or-die' for making your foe waste his actions, take damage for things that he had to do last round over again, repeating an ineffective tactic, perform actions that were intelligent last round, but stupid on this round, etcetera. Energy Ray: Yes, I know you have Eldritch Blast as a warlock, but given that this power can be used for taking advantage of energy vulnerabilities on the fly, you can cause huge amounts of damage in a single round, if it's fully augmented (and used with either Chain Power or Split Psionic Ray). Also good for sundering enemy weapons, armor, etc. Entangling Ectoplasm: This is a good power for slowing enemies down. Most flying enemies must fly at a minimum of 1/2 their maximum fly speed or crash-land. Entangling them can be a good tactic for preventing fast foes from reaching you. Far Hand: Limited telekinesis that is an excellent way for pickpocketing and reaching otherwise unreachable objects, when necessary. Know Direction and Location: This one's good for preventing getting lost. Who needs the Survival skill when you can automatically know where you are at any given time? Missive: This could possibly disrupt an enemy caster if you shout loud enough. It's also good for passing on messages silently. Sense Link: Good for numerous things, including watching your psicrystal while it scouts for you. Skate: While it doesn't seem that great for a character that can fly at will, remember that it can also be used on objects. If you find a 2,000 lb adamantine door, blast it off its hinges, manifest Skate on it, then tow it back to sell at the largest city you can reach. Synesthete: Great for when you're blinded or deafened, and for avoiding any and all gaze-based attacks. Vigor: Share a fully-augmented Vigor with your psicrystal, then manifest Share Pain on it. Great for avoiding damage in combat, as well as for avoiding damage taken from Overchannel.[/quote wrote:
Create Sound: Good for distracting foes when you don't want to be caught, and numerous other things. Crystal Shard: Good for bypassing SR, as well as bypassing Antipsionic and Antimagic Fields. Deja Vu: Excellent 'save-or-die' for making your foe waste his actions, take damage for things that he had to do last round over again, repeating an ineffective tactic, perform actions that were intelligent last round, but stupid on this round, etcetera. Detect Psionics: Especially useful if you have full magic/psionics transparency, this power can save your bacon when you can find magical traps, or determine various information regarding puzzles, and such. More versatile than you might think. Deja Vu: Excellent 'save-or-die' for making your foe waste his actions, take damage for things that he had to do last round over again, repeating an ineffective tactic, perform actions that were intelligent last round, but stupid on this round, etcetera. Energy Ray: Yes, I know you have Eldritch Blast as a warlock, but given that this power can be used for taking advantage of energy vulnerabilities on the fly, you can cause huge amounts of damage in a single round, if it's fully augmented (and used with either Chain Power or Split Psionic Ray). Also good for sundering enemy weapons, armor, etc. Entangling Ectoplasm: This is a good power for slowing enemies down. Most flying enemies must fly at a minimum of 1/2 their maximum fly speed or crash-land. Entangling them can be a good tactic for preventing fast foes from reaching you. Far Hand: Limited telekinesis that is an excellent way for pickpocketing and reaching otherwise unreachable objects, when necessary. Know Direction and Location: This one's good for preventing getting lost. Who needs the Survival skill when you can automatically know where you are at any given time? Missive: This could possibly disrupt an enemy caster if you shout loud enough. It's also good for passing on messages silently. Sense Link: Good for numerous things, including watching your psicrystal while it scouts for you. Skate: While it doesn't seem that great for a character that can fly at will, remember that it can also be used on objects. If you find a 2,000 lb adamantine door, blast it off its hinges, manifest Skate on it, then tow it back to sell at the largest city you can reach. Synesthete: Great for when you're blinded or deafened, and for avoiding any and all gaze-based attacks. Vigor: Share a fully-augmented Vigor with your psicrystal, then manifest Share Pain on it. Great for avoiding damage in combat, as well as for avoiding damage taken from Overchannel.
2nd level]Concealing Amorpha: While not nearly as useful in most situations as Invisibility (as enemies can see where you are), it's not subject to True Seeing at all. Control Sound: The uses for this power are nigh-endless. Disrupt enemy spellcasting by garbling verbal components, alter an inspiring speech into an incriminating and/or demoralizing one, use it as a Shatter effect, publicly humiliate a foe...Very useful. Detect Hostile Intent: It's difficult to get the drop on someone if they know you're there, and that you want to hurt them. In a way, it's more useful than Detect Evil, since not everyone who wishes you harm will be evil. It is not useful versus mindless creatures, or creatures that cannot be manipulated via mind-affecting effects. Ego Whip: While you have the ability to take something down via hit point damage and your various invocations, this is a great way to take down that raging frenzied berzerker with Deathless Frenzy and a Charisma of 6. It's also a nice way to blast the Tarrasque, or take down an enemy manifester for learning all of his powers known. That the power is augmentable and its Will save is for half-damage makes this an even better power. Energy Adaptation, Specified: While the higher-powered Energy Adaptation and Energy Conversion powers are more versatile, it's still a good idea to have this handy. Why waste power points when all you need is protection vs fire? It's doubtful that a fire-salamander will utilize ice or electricity spells, so just manifest this low-cost power, and you're good to go. Energy Push and Energy Stun: These powers are a good way to augment your Eldritch Blast abilities, by doing something that you won't have to spend an invocation on. That, coupled with switching energy types on the fly, makes these two very valuable powers indeed. Feat Leech: Why bother with learning a feat the hard way when you can take Leadership and have a cohort you can borrow from? This is a good power to suck the feats out of foes with, too. Given that you're an erudite, absorbing someone's Expanded Knowledge feat can get you a new power pretty easily. Identify, Psionic: Do I even need to explain this one? Missive, Mass: See the first level Missive power for details on this one. It's good for doing those things to whole groups of creatures. Share Pain: See the first-level Vigor power for usage of this. It's also good for when you can Dominate (or Charming and convincing) a foe, and forcing him to consent to taking half-damage when you do. Sustenance: This will keep you from starving to death. Not quite as useful as the elan ability, but it'll do. Thought Shield: This is a good alternative for Mind Blank at lower levels. Tongues, Psionic: This is good for understanding your allies as well as your foes. A good investment all around.[/quote wrote:
Concealing Amorpha: While not nearly as useful in most situations as Invisibility (as enemies can see where you are), it's not subject to True Seeing at all. Control Sound: The uses for this power are nigh-endless. Disrupt enemy spellcasting by garbling verbal components, alter an inspiring speech into an incriminating and/or demoralizing one, use it as a Shatter effect, publicly humiliate a foe...Very useful. Detect Hostile Intent: It's difficult to get the drop on someone if they know you're there, and that you want to hurt them. In a way, it's more useful than Detect Evil, since not everyone who wishes you harm will be evil. It is not useful versus mindless creatures, or creatures that cannot be manipulated via mind-affecting effects. Ego Whip: While you have the ability to take something down via hit point damage and your various invocations, this is a great way to take down that raging frenzied berzerker with Deathless Frenzy and a Charisma of 6. It's also a nice way to blast the Tarrasque, or take down an enemy manifester for learning all of his powers known. That the power is augmentable and its Will save is for half-damage makes this an even better power. Energy Adaptation, Specified: While the higher-powered Energy Adaptation and Energy Conversion powers are more versatile, it's still a good idea to have this handy. Why waste power points when all you need is protection vs fire? It's doubtful that a fire-salamander will utilize ice or electricity spells, so just manifest this low-cost power, and you're good to go. Energy Push and Energy Stun: These powers are a good way to augment your Eldritch Blast abilities, by doing something that you won't have to spend an invocation on. That, coupled with switching energy types on the fly, makes these two very valuable powers indeed. Feat Leech: Why bother with learning a feat the hard way when you can take Leadership and have a cohort you can borrow from? This is a good power to suck the feats out of foes with, too. Given that you're an erudite, absorbing someone's Expanded Knowledge feat can get you a new power pretty easily. Identify, Psionic: Do I even need to explain this one? Missive, Mass: See the first level Missive power for details on this one. It's good for doing those things to whole groups of creatures. Share Pain: See the first-level Vigor power for usage of this. It's also good for when you can Dominate (or Charming and convincing) a foe, and forcing him to consent to taking half-damage when you do. Sustenance: This will keep you from starving to death. Not quite as useful as the elan ability, but it'll do. Thought Shield: This is a good alternative for Mind Blank at lower levels. Tongues, Psionic: This is good for understanding your allies as well as your foes. A good investment all around.
3rd level]Body Adjustment/Purification: These powers will allow you to be self-sufficient. Never worry about going to a cleric for healing again. Darkvision, Psionic: I believe that warlocks gain darkvision, though it's been awhile since I've looked at the class. Otherwise, this is invaluable for any race that doesn't have darkvision either naturally or other means. Even so, you can use Enlarge Power to increase its range to 120'. Dispel Psionics: Unless you can get it as an invocation, this is an awesome power. You can't counterspell, but it's darned useful nonetheless. Energy Wall: A must-have. Just look at the description. Within a matter of a few rounds, you can cause entire buildings to collapse, using the sonic type. It's also good as either an offensive or defensive power. Great for taking out low-level grunts and from shielding yourself from attack. Any objects that aren't immune or highly resistant to this power will likely disintegrate on contact. Who needs Protection from Arrows when this will work just as well or better? Also, if you plan on taking Energy Conversion, grab this ASAP. Eradicate Invisibility: Nabbing True Sight will invalidate this, but it's still useful prior to that. Share Pain, Forced: Manifest this on the Bandit King, and his minions won't dare to attack you. Solicit Psicrystal: Any Concentration-based power can be handed off to your psicrystal buddy so you can do more important things. Telekinetic Force/Thrust: The possibilities for this are extraordinary. If you're up against an elan that's warding off your single-shot, huge-damage potshots, grab a bundle of arrows or a handful of stones to send careening into his skull. Also useful for hurling enemies off cliffs, or raining death from above with a small field of boulders. Time Hop: Quite possibly the most useful power in the XPHB, along with Quintessence. Use it on allies (or yourself) for when danger is unavoidable or if someone is bleeding to death and is about to be coup de graced, or if the healer won't be available for a few rounds. Use it to make obstacles in your way disappear wrote:
Body Adjustment/Purification: These powers will allow you to be self-sufficient. Never worry about going to a cleric for healing again. Darkvision, Psionic: I believe that warlocks gain darkvision, though it's been awhile since I've looked at the class. Otherwise, this is invaluable for any race that doesn't have darkvision either naturally or other means. Even so, you can use Enlarge Power to increase its range to 120'. Dispel Psionics: Unless you can get it as an invocation, this is an awesome power. You can't counterspell, but it's darned useful nonetheless. Energy Wall: A must-have. Just look at the description. Within a matter of a few rounds, you can cause entire buildings to collapse, using the sonic type. It's also good as either an offensive or defensive power. Great for taking out low-level grunts and from shielding yourself from attack. Any objects that aren't immune or highly resistant to this power will likely disintegrate on contact. Who needs Protection from Arrows when this will work just as well or better? Also, if you plan on taking Energy Conversion, grab this ASAP. Eradicate Invisibility: Nabbing True Sight will invalidate this, but it's still useful prior to that. Share Pain, Forced: Manifest this on the Bandit King, and his minions won't dare to attack you. Solicit Psicrystal: Any Concentration-based power can be handed off to your psicrystal buddy so you can do more important things. Telekinetic Force/Thrust: The possibilities for this are extraordinary. If you're up against an elan that's warding off your single-shot, huge-damage potshots, grab a bundle of arrows or a handful of stones to send careening into his skull. Also useful for hurling enemies off cliffs, or raining death from above with a small field of boulders. Time Hop: Quite possibly the most useful power in the XPHB, along with Quintessence. Use it on allies (or yourself) for when danger is unavoidable or if someone is bleeding to death and is about to be coup de graced, or if the healer won't be available for a few rounds. Use it to make obstacles in your way disappear; traps, doors, locked chests, walls, enemies, magical and mundane items, mounts(!), and more!... Intelligent use of this power can have far-reaching consequences for your survivability-rate. When used offensively, it's much better to target something that can't make a save, and allow that to do the damage. Dropping a chandelier on your enemies by Time Hopping the chain holding it up is much better than using it on a foe that could easily shrug its direct effects off. Touchsight/Ubiquitous Vision: These are great powers for various purposes, especially when conjoined with Synesthete and the Transdimensional Power feat (from Complete Psionic). They can do things that even True Seeing can't do.
4th level]Aura Sight: This is the Detect Alignment spell on steroids. Quite handy. Correspond: Like Missive, but it's both two-way communique, AND it can be done at any distance. Death Urge: It's a decent save-or-die power, and can be used with various other effects (such as Deja Vu) to make a foe perform a dangerous action that was not deadly last round due to sheer luck. Dimension Door, Psionic: Depending on your invocations, this might be a waste of time. Otherwise, it's an incredibly useful power in a number of situations. Divination, Psionic: Excellent for gathering information about...well...just about anything. Empathic Feedback: Similar to the Share Pain powers, but with unique enhancements of its own. Energy Adaptation: A useful generic buff, great for shrugging off numerous different energy types. Freedom of Movement, Psionic: Again, depending on whether you can get the effect elsewhere, this might not be the best choice. It is, however, incredibly useful against a number of monsters and other effects. Grapplers beware. Personality Parasite: Useful against spellcasters and manifesters. Let them blow themselves up, rather than doing it for them. Power Leech: Good for restoring your own supply of power points at the expense of your enemies. If the DM will let you, it might even work against spellcasters and creatures with spell-like and psi-like abilities. Definitely a boon against soulknives, as once their power points are drained, they can no longer use any of their class abilities. Psychic Reformation: An absolute must-have. With this power, you're ready for literally anything, given 15 minutes' notice. If you want item creation feats, you've got 'em. If you want more powers, Reform them in after creating a few power stones. Need help on a skill check? Reform ranks in. Be careful with this one, though wrote:
Aura Sight: This is the Detect Alignment spell on steroids. Quite handy. Correspond: Like Missive, but it's both two-way communique, AND it can be done at any distance. Death Urge: It's a decent save-or-die power, and can be used with various other effects (such as Deja Vu) to make a foe perform a dangerous action that was not deadly last round due to sheer luck. Dimension Door, Psionic: Depending on your invocations, this might be a waste of time. Otherwise, it's an incredibly useful power in a number of situations. Divination, Psionic: Excellent for gathering information about...well...just about anything. Empathic Feedback: Similar to the Share Pain powers, but with unique enhancements of its own. Energy Adaptation: A useful generic buff, great for shrugging off numerous different energy types. Freedom of Movement, Psionic: Again, depending on whether you can get the effect elsewhere, this might not be the best choice. It is, however, incredibly useful against a number of monsters and other effects. Grapplers beware. Personality Parasite: Useful against spellcasters and manifesters. Let them blow themselves up, rather than doing it for them. Power Leech: Good for restoring your own supply of power points at the expense of your enemies. If the DM will let you, it might even work against spellcasters and creatures with spell-like and psi-like abilities. Definitely a boon against soulknives, as once their power points are drained, they can no longer use any of their class abilities. Psychic Reformation: An absolute must-have. With this power, you're ready for literally anything, given 15 minutes' notice. If you want item creation feats, you've got 'em. If you want more powers, Reform them in after creating a few power stones. Need help on a skill check? Reform ranks in. Be careful with this one, though; you'll need to remember exactly what you took at each level, else you'll just get yourself confused. Also great for making money! Telekinetic Maneuver: This power is AWESOME, especially with Solicit Psicrystal. Have your crystalline buddy grapple a baddy, then proceed to thwack it while it's near-defenseless. Great against creatures with high Dex or evasion, but low grapple-check modifiers. Wall of Ectoplasm: While not as overpowering as a Wall of Stone, Wall of Force, or Prismatic Wall/Sphere, it's still very useful as a form of battlefield control. It's also good at cordoning enemies off while you deal with their companions a handful at a time, or as a defensive measure.
5th level]Adapt Body: Useful any time you're plane-hopping, or in the volcanic lair of Volgaxx the Archlich, this can save you a lot of trouble when you're someplace where the very environment itself could kill you. Catapsi: If it's a high-psionics campaign, such as Dark Sun, this is a must-have. Otherwise, don't bother. Ectoplasmic Shambler: This isn't that great of a power until you realize that it will force Concentration checks against any casters and manifesters within its reach, create problems with targeting, and so on. Using this power can certainly give you the edge against casters and manifesters of any flavor. Incarnate: This can give you full-time abilities that that you might otherwise have to spend an invocation on. Very nice. Major Creation, Psionic: Very good for a multi-purpose power, though I'd rather have Minor Creation, myself, for most things. Plane Shift, Psionic: Useful for numerous things, including escaping from battle when you've been incapacitated, via Contingency. Power Resistance: A useful defensive measure against spellcasters, manifesters, and monsters of all flavors. True Seeing, Psionic: Sure, you could use an invocation for this, but why, when you could be doing so much more with it?[/quote wrote:
Adapt Body: Useful any time you're plane-hopping, or in the volcanic lair of Volgaxx the Archlich, this can save you a lot of trouble when you're someplace where the very environment itself could kill you. Catapsi: If it's a high-psionics campaign, such as Dark Sun, this is a must-have. Otherwise, don't bother. Ectoplasmic Shambler: This isn't that great of a power until you realize that it will force Concentration checks against any casters and manifesters within its reach, create problems with targeting, and so on. Using this power can certainly give you the edge against casters and manifesters of any flavor. Incarnate: This can give you full-time abilities that that you might otherwise have to spend an invocation on. Very nice. Major Creation, Psionic: Very good for a multi-purpose power, though I'd rather have Minor Creation, myself, for most things. Plane Shift, Psionic: Useful for numerous things, including escaping from battle when you've been incapacitated, via Contingency. Power Resistance: A useful defensive measure against spellcasters, manifesters, and monsters of all flavors. True Seeing, Psionic: Sure, you could use an invocation for this, but why, when you could be doing so much more with it?
6th level]Aura Alteration: This can be useful for appearing to be Chaotic-Evil to a group of fiends, or Lawful-Good to a party of celestials. It would be even MORE useful if it could be used on objects, but that's another story. It's good for when you're Metamorphosis'd, and want to fit the part even more closely. Contingency, Psionic: Another must-have. Excellent for setting up a buff before a really difficult battle as a non-action, or escaping from battle when you're overmatched. It's also quite useful for learning powers for your erudite, as you can just toss in a manifestation of Second Chance without the possibility of ruining it. Co-opt Concentration: While not normally that useful, it can be used by your Schism'd mind, or to co-opt a foe's power (or spell!) and use it against him, or dismiss it. Retrieve: This is an awesome power, as you can teleport objects to your person instantaneously. Are you in a race with an NPC to see who can get to the middle of the room and grab an artifact? Don't worry about running wrote:
Aura Alteration: This can be useful for appearing to be Chaotic-Evil to a group of fiends, or Lawful-Good to a party of celestials. It would be even MORE useful if it could be used on objects, but that's another story. It's good for when you're Metamorphosis'd, and want to fit the part even more closely. Contingency, Psionic: Another must-have. Excellent for setting up a buff before a really difficult battle as a non-action, or escaping from battle when you're overmatched. It's also quite useful for learning powers for your erudite, as you can just toss in a manifestation of Second Chance without the possibility of ruining it. Co-opt Concentration: While not normally that useful, it can be used by your Schism'd mind, or to co-opt a foe's power (or spell!) and use it against him, or dismiss it. Retrieve: This is an awesome power, as you can teleport objects to your person instantaneously. Are you in a race with an NPC to see who can get to the middle of the room and grab an artifact? Don't worry about running; simply teleport it to you, instead. It can also be used similarly to Time-Hop, though it brings it to you, rather than making it disappear. Temporal Acceleration: The hallmark of almost any nova, this can be used for a number of different things, from offense to defense. Very, very, very useful.
7th level]Divert Teleport: Very useful for any situation where you're afraid a bad-guy might escape. Many BBEGs, especially, prefer to skip out of town as opposed to being slaughtered, robbing you of all the lovely treasure on their persons, as well as the satisfaction of watching them fry. You can either have them teleport elsewhere in the room, or teleport them to that nice little vacation-spot near that explosive volcano you recently visited (though *in* the volcano, rather than just near it). Energy Conversion: This is a good power to share with your psicrystal. Take half an hour each morning to set this up with Energy Wall, and you could be pumping out a few thousand points of sonic damage, along with your psicrystal. Toss in a Schism'd mind for extra blasting, the Chain Power and Split Psionic Ray feats, as well as Greater Psionic Shot, and you have some serious damage potential, in addition to your Eldritch Blasts. Evade Burst: Though it might seem a waste of power points, using this power is like getting the Evasion class ability for free. Don't underestimate it. Mind Blank, Personal: Completely invalidates any form of mind-reading, scrying, or mind control. TAKE. THIS. POWER. Oak Body: This one is great to have, as you gain numerous immunities for a decent duration.[/quote wrote:
Divert Teleport: Very useful for any situation where you're afraid a bad-guy might escape. Many BBEGs, especially, prefer to skip out of town as opposed to being slaughtered, robbing you of all the lovely treasure on their persons, as well as the satisfaction of watching them fry. You can either have them teleport elsewhere in the room, or teleport them to that nice little vacation-spot near that explosive volcano you recently visited (though *in* the volcano, rather than just near it). Energy Conversion: This is a good power to share with your psicrystal. Take half an hour each morning to set this up with Energy Wall, and you could be pumping out a few thousand points of sonic damage, along with your psicrystal. Toss in a Schism'd mind for extra blasting, the Chain Power and Split Psionic Ray feats, as well as Greater Psionic Shot, and you have some serious damage potential, in addition to your Eldritch Blasts. Evade Burst: Though it might seem a waste of power points, using this power is like getting the Evasion class ability for free. Don't underestimate it. Mind Blank, Personal: Completely invalidates any form of mind-reading, scrying, or mind control. TAKE. THIS. POWER. Oak Body: This one is great to have, as you gain numerous immunities for a decent duration.
8th level]Bend Reality: Yes, it costs XP, but it increases your versatility tenfold. Use it in an emergency, or for things that you otherwise couldn't do. Iron Body, Psionic: Like Oak Body, but even better, for some things. Matter Manipulation: Protect your psicrystal from harm, improve your Astral Seed, or improve your body-armor and weapons. This one is a single-use power, but if you use your imagination, it has very powerful effects. Mind Blank, Psionic: Even better than Personal Mind Blank, as you can use it on others. Don't bother with it, though, if you don't have any allies worthy of note. Shadow Body: More immunities! Yay! Teleport, Psionic Greater: It's accurate teleportation. This one has lots of uses, from travel to emergency escape plans. True Metabolism: Essentially the Regeneration spell. Useful if you lose body parts, or want to heal during battle without expending lots of actions to do so.[/quote wrote:
Bend Reality: Yes, it costs XP, but it increases your versatility tenfold. Use it in an emergency, or for things that you otherwise couldn't do. Iron Body, Psionic: Like Oak Body, but even better, for some things. Matter Manipulation: Protect your psicrystal from harm, improve your Astral Seed, or improve your body-armor and weapons. This one is a single-use power, but if you use your imagination, it has very powerful effects. Mind Blank, Psionic: Even better than Personal Mind Blank, as you can use it on others. Don't bother with it, though, if you don't have any allies worthy of note. Shadow Body: More immunities! Yay! Teleport, Psionic Greater: It's accurate teleportation. This one has lots of uses, from travel to emergency escape plans. True Metabolism: Essentially the Regeneration spell. Useful if you lose body parts, or want to heal during battle without expending lots of actions to do so.
9th level]Affinity Field: Considered nigh-broken if misused, it's an extremely useful power. Anything in the field is subject to your status changes, whether it be hp-gain, damage, energy drain, powers used, etcetera. Good for both an offensive and defensive power, especially if you're buffed up with Vigor and Share Pain beforehand. Apopsi: Knock out a foe, learn all of his psionic powers, then delete the ones remaining in his mind, making him useless. Very nasty. Assimilate: Resistance is futile. Etherealness, Psionic: Good for defense as well as for scouting, in addition to other imaginative purposes. Microcosm: Turn your foes into mental vegetables until they die. A great save-or-die power. Reality Revision: Expensive to do, but this power is great for making yourself much more versatile and powerful in the long run. Timeless Body: Mostly used as a last-resort, this will keep you alive until you can get the heck out of Dodge.
The discipline powers are all useful in their own ways. The ESPECIALLY useful powers are as follows:
Egoist discipline powers are good for buffing yourself up. Everything from direct combat to improving your save DCs, it's a great all-around discipline for making yourself hard to kill. Egoist wrote:
Affinity Field: Considered nigh-broken if misused, it's an extremely useful power. Anything in the field is subject to your status changes, whether it be hp-gain, damage, energy drain, powers used, etcetera. Good for both an offensive and defensive power, especially if you're buffed up with Vigor and Share Pain beforehand. Apopsi: Knock out a foe, learn all of his psionic powers, then delete the ones remaining in his mind, making him useless. Very nasty. Assimilate: Resistance is futile. Etherealness, Psionic: Good for defense as well as for scouting, in addition to other imaginative purposes. Microcosm: Turn your foes into mental vegetables until they die. A great save-or-die power. Reality Revision: Expensive to do, but this power is great for making yourself much more versatile and powerful in the long run. Timeless Body: Mostly used as a last-resort, this will keep you alive until you can get the heck out of Dodge.[/quote] The discipline powers are all useful in their own ways. The ESPECIALLY useful powers are as follows:
Egoist discipline powers are good for buffing yourself up. Everything from direct combat to improving your save DCs, it's a great all-around discipline for making yourself hard to kill. Egoist powers
2.) Animal Affinity: This is great for increasing save DCs, improving your ranged accuracy, improving your skill checks, and so on. 2.) Empathic Transfer: Only useful if you feel like doing some healing at earlier levels. 3.) Ectoplasmic Form: A poor-man's Etherealness, but very useful near the beginning. 3.) Hustle: Oh yeah, baby. Extra Move Actions are teh pwnzors. 4.) Metamorphosis: This has got to be one of the best discipline powers. *And* you can share it with your psicrystal! Mix with the Metamorphic Transfer feat for extra fun! 4.) Psychic Vampire: Don't take this one unless you're either in a very high-psionics campaign, or it can be used against spellcasters. If so, TAKE THIS POWER! 5.) Psionic Revivify: Contingency this. 6.) Restoration, Psionic: Even more reason to never need a cleric. 7.) Fission, Psionic: You are your own best friend. Share with your psicrystal, then Metamorphosis! 8.) Fusion: While expensive, fusing with a thrall ('scuse me, cohort) can lead to some very interesting and useful combinations.
The kineticist discipline is a split between direct-damage effects, and secondary energy effects. A decent discipline, but ignore most of the direct-damage powers, since you won't need them. Kineticist Powers
2.) Energy Missile: This is an extraordinary power. It's like a focused energy ball with no collateral damage! The DC also scales better than any other power. 4.) Control Body: While this doesn't seem that great, with a little thought, it becomes excellent. Control Body on yourself, then Solicit Psicrystal. Look at the bonuses it suddenly gives to you! Sure, it ties up your psicrystal a bit, but you can manifest at full strength while hurling Eldritch Blasts. 5.) Fiery Discorporation: This is a good power to use when there's a good possibility of dying. Manifesting it with any source of fire nearby can be a real lifesaver. 6.) Dispelling Buffer: Great for when you're buffed and don't want to be dispelled. Overcoming this power can be a real headache for enemy spellcasters. 7.) Reddopsi: This power is basically Psionic Spell-Turning. A definite mage-killer. 8.) Telekinetic Sphere, Psionic: This is both a good offensive and defensive power. Divide and conquer! 9.) Tornado Blast: Not available until epic, unless you can research it, it's one of the best damage-based powers in the game.
The psychoportation discipline has a few real treasures in there. If you think strategically, this discipline can make you untouchable through normal methods, and can disrupt the abilities of others to move around. Nomad Powers
2.) Dimension Swap: This is useful if allies are about. That includes your psicrystal. 3.) Astral Caravan: A cheap version of Plane Shift. Time-consuming, but cheap. 4.) Dimensional Anchor: Prevent enemies from teleporting or going ethereal. This can knock the foe's maneuverability down to almost nothing, if used correctly. 4.) Dismissal, Psionic: No summons for j00! 5.) Teleport, Psionic: A great travelling power. 5.) Teleport Trigger: Good for a contingency, without using Contingency! 6.) Banishment, Psionic: Even better than Dismissal. 7.) Dream Travel: Less time-consuming than Astral Caravan, and depending on the cosmology, you may be able to enter places unreachable by any other means. 7.) Ethereal Jaunt, Psionic: Cheaper than the 9th-level psion/wilder power, it has similar results (though for a shorter timespan). 8.) Time Hop, Mass: All the goodness of Time Hop, with a higher DC, and much more widespread effects! 9.) Time Regression: Though expensive, it's a definite must-have, in case something goes wrong (though imaginative use of other powers can often make it unnecessary). Only available at epic, or through research.
The clairsentience discipline is all about gathering information and preventing others from getting it. Bonuses to various die-rolls through limited omniscience, gathering detailed info via scrying-type effects, this is all about gaining power through knowledge! Seer Powers
5.) Second Chance: This power is definitely worth it when you fail a Spellcraft check upon learning a power (Contingency!). You can also use it during other times you need a reroll. 7.) Fate of One: Unfortunately, you can't Contingency this, but it's quite useful when you need to gain a reroll otherwise.
I consider the shaper discipline to be matched only by the egoist discipline for sheer awesomeness, and even then, metacreativity comes out ahead. Take a look at the powers you can get!
Shaper Powers
1.) Astral Construct: You obviously already know the benefits of this power. Gain a meat-shield, trap-springer, grappler, vehicle for transportation, secondary power-user, door-basher, distraction, etc, etc, etc; the possibilities are limited only by your imagination. 1.) Minor Creation, Psionic: Definitely worth getting. Never worry about mundane equipment again! Also, you can create plant-based poisons, (temporary) beer, (temporary) food, and so on and so forth. Get ranks in Craft (Alchemy), Craft (Weaving), and Craft (Sculpting), and you can make just about anything! 2.) Psionic Repair Damage: Definitely get this one, if only to repair your psicrystal. 3.) Concealing Amorpha, Greater: Get this one in lieu of the regular Concealing Amorpha, if you want. It's better all-around. 3.) Ectoplasmic Cocoon: Oh, this is a nice power, here. Especially against smaller creatures. Boost the DC, then take enemies out at your leisure. No SR, no DR, no Strength-check or Escape Artist check to get loose. It's even good as a defensive power, as you can still fly (as a SU ability) and manifest while you're in it, yet virtually immune to all damage. 4.) Fabricate, Psionic: A great moneymaker, as well as utility power. Build a bridge in mere minutes, instead of waiting months for the architects to do so. Reap the rewards (and the appreciation) of the townsfolk when you've just saved them time, money, AND effort! And all for a mere 11 pp and a few minutes of your time. 4.) Quintessence: The rules on this are a bit fuzzy, but with a bit of ingenuity, this is widely considered one of the most useful powers out there. It's an instantaneous creation effect, so you don't have to worry about it being dispelled. It doesn't damage you on contact, so you can handle it safely. If you can create enough of it, you can use it for hundreds, if not thousands, of useful things. Check out the other threads floating around for more information. 5.) Hail of Crystals: It's like Crystal Shard, but better. 6.) Crystallize: It's quite useful as a save-or-die, as it has a decent DC, AND is one of the few psionic save-or-suffer effects that utilizes a Fort save instead of a Will save. AND it's not mind-affecting! 6.) Fabricate, Greater Psionic: Even better than the original Fabricate. Go nuts! 7.) Ectoplasmic Cocoon, Mass: Oh, yeah, baby. It's useful against groups of enemies, and can show those Colossal critters who's boss! Get it ASAP! 8.) Astral Seed: Manifesting this, along with a Contingencied Plane Shift can really save your arse, if you die. Plus, you won't have to worry about losing all your gear! 9.) Genesis: Yes, it's a 9th-level discipline power. But...you get your own mini-universe! How is that not awesome?! 9.) True Creation: Also a 9th-level discipline power, but you can play god by creating...and creating...and creating! Goes great with Genesis!
The telepathy discipline is extremely powerful in its own way; it's great for save-or-dies, and it focuses on mental control, but every single one is mind-affecting, so they're easily blocked. Use them discreetly for best results. (Also just a hint: almost all of them have best results when Psionic Charm is manifested first, as you can pump the DC on that up to horrific levels - which means that the lower DCs on the other save-or-suffer effects won't matter one whit.)
1.) Charm, Psionic: This is a great power for making friends. Use it for negotiations, or to keep from getting killed by enemies that dislike you. Friendly creatures won't attack you until you attack them, so befriend them, then destroy them, according to your preferred tactics. 1.) Mindlink: AKA, telepathy! Useful regardless of distance or differences in language (or lack thereof), its only downfall is that it's mind-affecting. 2.) Aversion: Golly, this is a useful power, especially with Attraction. There's no better way to get the enemy to stop bothering you than by making them WANT to stop bothering you. Once again, it's mind-affecting. 2.) Brain Lock: Make your opponents useless by manifesting this on them. Everything from spellcasters to lowly fighters will become painfully weak when they can't do squat. It is, of course, mind-affecting, and it's better against foes that have weak will-saves. 2.) Read Thoughts: It's much like a mobile Mindlink, but it's one-way communication. Good for spying on what others are thinking, which allows you to solve crimes, gather information, and generally see what others are up to. Once more: mind-affecting. 2.) Suggestion, Psionic: This power has its own uses, mostly to keep the creature occupied while you're taking care of its comrades, or getting it to do something useful for you. 3.) Empathic Tranfer, Hostile: Good for transferring your wounds to another, thereby getting two benefits for the price of one, assuming your target fails its save. 3.) False Sensory Input: This can be good for keeping yourself entertained, for distracting the guard on your cell, or possibly making yourself some money: open a brothel where all of your 'employees' have this power, and then charge a good fee for their 'services'. If you're good, nobody will be the wiser, and you'll have plenty of leeway to prevent their mistreatment. 4.) Dominate, Psionic: This is an awesome power, like Charm on steroids. Take it ASAP, then you can get your victims to do virtually anything. 4.) Mindlink, Thieving: An excellent choice for an erudite, as you can steal someone's powers known, while barring its use to them. Plus, you can see what they have to offer even before you incapacitate them, and depending on the level of the power, you could even use Imprint Stone to create a power stone before this power wears off. 4.) Modify Memory, Psionic: If you're evil or an anarchist, you can easily cover up your crimes by making them NOT HAPPEN. Muahahahahaha... If you're good, you might be able to help someone by softening or deleting particularly horrifying memories that the person can't deal with on their own. 4.) Schism: This power can up your available firepower excessively. You can use it to take over your Concentration (via Co-opt Concentration), make Eldritch Blasts while you manifest, fire rays via Energy Conversion, or even make another Eldritch Blast per round, assuming your DM allows it. It's also a decent defensive power, as it helps you with Will saves and would also be able to take Listen, Spot, and Search checks in addition to your own. 5.) Metaconcert: This one's a bit confusing on the details, but imagine how easy it would be to learn someone else's powers while directly connected to their minds? 6.) Mind Switch: Since all of your abilities are mental in nature, why not find a better body to run around in? There are ways to make this permanent, which means that you're definitely better off than if you manifested True Mind Switch. You can also Ectoplasmic Cocoon yourself, then manifest this on one of your foes to take him out without a fuss. 7.) Mind Seed: Mua...Muahaha...MUAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
Claws of darkness - Light and Darkness mantle 2 - nice...similar to Claws of the beast...but can grapple....very short duration
Cranial Deluge - Psion 5 - very good....short range..Fort Negates.....save or take 18d6...and head can explode...augment: +2PP=+1 DC
Crystal Storm - Psion 2- excellent direct damage power....short range...no save for slashing, Fort save negates Con damage......PR:No....does 2d4 slashing +1d4 Con damage(on failed Fort save)...great augments..1)+1PP=+1d4 slashing damage.....2)+2PP = +1 point Con Damage
Damp Power - Psion 2- very nice especially at high levels even EPIC levels...reduces damage to a minimum
Empower Weapon - Psiwarrior 5- permanent until discharged, store ANY power = Manifester lvl -4 in any weapon(limit to 1 Empowered weapon at a time.
Evade Attack - PW?....Excellent...Augment: allows you to evade completely 1 attack
Eyes of the Basilisk - Psion 7 - 30' range.....1 rnd/ML..gaze attack...1 creature/rnd...save or turned to stone..PERMANENTLY
Inconstant Location - Psion 6 - Duration 1 minute, great for tactical movement and frees up your move actions so you can refocus(Psi Meditation) and still move.....give you a swift action teleport
Light Burst - Light & Darkness (Mantle) 8 - like sunburst...but augmentable(Knockdown Power :evillaugh )
Mend Wounds - Life (mantle) 6 - heals 55 points of damage,touch or damage undead for same.....augments for extra damage healed or for 20' radius effect
Perfect Riposte - PW 5 -......nice....1rnd/ML...gives you 1 AoO/rnd vs anyone attacking you and Missing
Planar Embrace - Psion 8 - gain 1/2 Celestial template for a short time
Psychometry - Psion 6 - great info gathering power...see the recent past
Psychoportive Shelter - Psion 2 -like Rope trick......but augmentable to accomodate additional extra creatures of ANY SIZE
See invisibility - Lurk 2 - great augment: for 2 pp each, you can share this power with an additional creature
Spirit of War - Conflict (mantle) 8 - 40' radius....you and allies gain: 1: +4 competence to ATT and Damage 2:+10 insight to one saving throw(during the duration) 3: Auto confirm a single crit during duration
. A phrenic creature uses all the base creature’s statistics and special abilities except as noted here.
ery useful transport.....even for healing in an emergency(ie.Positive Material Plane)
