Has anyone used The Psychic's Handbook?

[Pyoor]

I just bought Green Ronin's The Psychic's Handbook. I really like the idea of a magic system based on skills and feats. From what I read so far, it looks like a fun class to play and the mechanics of the system doesn't appear that it will detract from game play.

It will be a number of weeks before I'll be able to play a Psychic in a campaign, so I'd like to know what you thought about the book.

Have you played a Psychic and what did you think of the skill/feat based magic system?

Thanks!

 

[el-remmen]

I am using this book as "psionics" in my game - but have not gotten a chance to use it in game play yet.

I have made some changes based on flavor and to include some powers adapted from 2E psionics (which it is similar to in some ways - which is why I chose this route), and I did not like the subdual damage part of using the powers so I am using the "power points" variant.

 

[Psion]

I have the Psychic's Handbook but only use it for T20 (Traveller d20 -- you true20 fans back off, we had it first ) and d20 modern. I don't feel it really fits the power curve of D&D well unless you strip out the D&D spellcasting classes.

 

[Pyoor]

I have made some changes based on flavor and to include some powers adapted from 2E psionics (which it is similar to in some ways - which is why I chose this route), and I did not like the subdual damage part of using the powers so I am using the "power points" variant.

I thought the subdual damage was an interesting aspect, but I didn't know how well it would work in play. I imagine at low levels the Psychic will be unconscious a lot.

How is the power point variant you're using?

 

[Pyoor]

I have the Psychic's Handbook but only use it for T20 (Traveller d20 -- you true20 fans back off, we had it first ) and d20 modern. I don't feel it really fits the power curve of D&D well unless you strip out the D&D spellcasting classes.

In what way do you feel the Psychic is out of balance compared to the other spellcasting classes? Too weak or too strong?

 

[Psion]

In what way do you feel the Psychic is out of balance compared to the other spellcasting classes? Too weak or too strong?

It seems to me that you start out stronger at low levels, but by high levels you are falling behind compared to the more multi-talented D&D spellcasters.

 

[Pyoor]

It seems to me that you start out stronger at low levels, but by high levels you are falling behind compared to the more multi-talented D&D spellcasters.

That's an interesting assessment and probably accurate given that there are only about 45 skills (spells). Even though many skills have several uses, there are definitely fewer "spells" to select from over the long run compared to traditional spellcasters.

Besides spell selection, the damage that offensive skills (spells) deal seem to top out around those of a 5-7th level wizard. I understand that psychics probably aren't going to be offense spellcasters and have other abilities to offer, but offense spells are easiest to compare on a side by side basis.

Psion, thanks for your opinion. I think you hit the nail on the head about starting out strong and falling behind. I'll keep it in mind when I run my psychic.

 

[el-remmen]

I thought the subdual damage was an interesting aspect, but I didn't know how well it would work in play. I imagine at low levels the Psychic will be unconscious a lot.

How is the power point variant you're using?

The following is an extrapolation on the variant presented in the book (which is very brief):

Psionic Strength Points: Psionicists begin play with 6 psionic strength points (PSPs) modified by their Charisma score. This increases by 1d6 each level (modified by charisma), or a player may choose to take the average (rounded down) each level (3 psps), modified by Charisma, but the choice must be made before rolling.

The strain of psionic skills is subtracted from your PSPs. At any time that your PSPs reach 0, you must make a Wisdom-based Fortitude save (DC 16) or become fatigued. Every time you reach 0 PSPs in a 24 hour period the DC is increased by 4. If you fail the save by 10 or more you are exhausted rather than fatigued.

Psionic strength points are recovered at the rate of 1 point per level per hour of light activity. You cannot recover PSPs while fatigued or exhausted.

Spells and effects that temporarily increase Charisma do affect your total PSP score, however, these extra points are lost when the spell expires. Psionicists brought below 0 PSPs in this way suffer 1 point of non-lethal damage per point below 0, and may not regain PSPs until that non-lethal damage is recovered from

 

[TroyXavier]

How well does Psychic Handbook match up with Iron Heroes?