Recommended Feats for a Psychic Warrior?

[Shin Okada]

Our play group has never introduced Pionic rules because having aversion for introducing sci-fi taste in sword and sorcery (and bad memories of unbalancing rules in AD&D). But recently, we have realized that 3.5e pionic rules are not that unbalancing and we can regard those "powers" more like unique inborn magical abilities which some characters in fantasy world (or comic) have.

Anyway, now one of our players try to create a Psionic PC in our campaign. His choice is half-giant psychic warrior. Either Psychic Warrior 8 or Fighter 1/Psychic Warrior 7.

Stats (before modified by magic items) are Str 20, Dex 12. Con 16, Int 12, Wis 14, Cha 8.

His choice of feats are,

Deep Impact
Improved Toughness
Power Attack
Psionic Meditation
Psionic Weapon
Weapon Focus (something)
+other 2 if Fighter 1/Psychic Warrior 7

Are there any suggestions for his character build and feat selections? We are using core rules, complete books, psionics handbook and races books. Other WotC books are possible, but no Faerun, no Eberron, no BoVD/BoED, no Unearthed Arcana.

I recommended him Cleave as it will become very efficient when increased in size by Expansion power. But I don't know what other feats are good for PW.

Thanks in advance.

 

[boolean]

I recommend ditching Psionic Meditation. It makes focusing a move action, but it still provokes an AoO. It's useful for a Psion or Wilder who sits at the back and uses his focus to power metapsionic feats, but not so good for a melee character.

I recommend Psicrystal Affinity, and Psicrystal Containment. This allows the character to start combat with two psionic foci, with a similar benefit.

 

[irdeggman]

Speed of Thought is good. +10 ft to move, as an insight bonus, when psionically focused and not wearing heavy armor.

Ghost Attack is a decent psionic feat for a warrior type character. It also doesn’t expend your focus which is a key thing to look for since regaining focus takes time and generates an AoO when you don’t really don’t want to waste actions. Only useful if you encounter a lot of incorporeal creatures though.

Imprint Stone can be handy. Basically a psionic scribe scrolls thing.

Psicrystal Affinity is an interesting one. Basically a manifester gets the equivalent of a familiar. So if you want things like Alertness feat, etc.

I tend to shy away from feats that expend the psionic focus, especially when they almost always apply to a single attack so you end up putting all of your eggs into one basket.

Power Attack is great standard feat for a character with as high a Strength as yours does since it greatly increases the 1 shot kill capability and also applies to all attacks made until your next turn (including AoO).

Also for a warrior type I’d go more with a soulknife instead of a psi warrior. More combat style things and no powers to manifest. A pretty good way to introduce psionics without introducing them if that makes any sense. Even though the Exp Psi half-giant has favored class Psi warrior.

As a side note, I really don’t like the Exp Psi version of the half-giant. The Exp Psi version really doesn’t capture the Athasian (i.e., Dark Sun) one very well at all, and that is where the race came from in the first place. I’d use the Dark Sun rules from Athas.org instead. Here is the link and selected text for the race itself.

http://athas.org/releases/ds3/


Half-Giant Traits
• +8 Strength, +4 Constitution, -2 Dexterity, -4 Intelligence, -4 Wisdom, -4 Charisma: Half-giants are renowned
for their great strength and dull wits.
• Large: As Large creatures, half-giants receive a -1 size penalty to Armor Class, a -1 size penalty on attack rolls,
and a -4 size penalty on Hide checks. They must use much larger weapons than humans would, and their
lifting and carrying limits are double those of a Medium character. In addition, half-giants have an increased
reach of 10 feet in melee combat as described on page 132 of the Player’s Handbook.
• Giant type: Half-giants are not subject to spells or effects that affect humanoids only, such as charm person
or dominate person.
• Half-giants have darkvision to a range of 60 feet.
• Half-giant base land speed is 40 feet.
• Natural Armor: Half-giants gain a +2 natural armor bonus to AC.
• Axis Alignment: One aspect of the half-giant’s alignment must be fixed, and chosen during character
creation. The other half must be chosen when they awake each morning. They are only bound to that
alignment until they sleep again. For example, a half-giant may have a fixed lawful alignment. Every morning,
he must choose to be lawful good, lawful neutral or lawful evil. This alignment change is not mandatory.
• Racial Hit Dice: Half-giants begin play with 2 Hit Dice, giving them 2d8 hit points, a +1 Base Attack Bonus,
base saves Fort +3, Ref +0, Will +0, and one starting feat of choice.
• Racial Skills: A half-giant’s giant-type levels give him skill points equal to 5x(2 + Int modifier). His class skills
are Climb, Jump, Listen and Spot. Note that the half-giant does not receive the x4 multiplier starting skill
points when he takes his first class level.
• Racial Proficiencies: A half-giant is proficient with all simple and martial weapons.
• Favored Class: Barbarian.
• Automatic Languages: Common. Bonus Languages: Dwarven, Gith, Giant, Tarek. Half-giant will often pick up
a race’s tongue if imitating them for long enough.
• Level Adjustment +1: Half-giants are more powerful than the other races of the Tablelands and gain levels
accordingly. A half-giant is a two Hit Die monster and may be played without class levels as the equivalent of
a third level character.

 

[griff_goodbeard]

I'd recoment switching out Imp toughness for Psionc Body, switching Psionc meditation for Leap Attack, and taking Psy crystal aff. + containment. That'll let you charge and make a touch att (Deep Imp) that gives you a 4:1 ratio on power att(if you use a 2h weapon), which you should be able to dump you full BA into since it is a touch att. Blow your second focus to add psionc weapon damage to that. If you want to get really abusive, manifest Expansion, and Psionc Lions Charge to really maxamize this.

 

[MatthewJHanson]

I recommend ditching Psionic Meditation. It makes focusing a move action, but it still provokes an AoO. It's useful for a Psion or Wilder who sits at the back and uses his focus to power metapsionic feats, but not so good for a melee character.

I recommend Psicrystal Affinity, and Psicrystal Containment. This allows the character to start combat with two psionic foci, with a similar benefit.

Psionic Meditation doesn't prevent an AoO, but an often missed clause in the Concentration skill does.

You can use Concentration to cast a spell, use a spell-like ability, or use a skill defensively, so as to avoid attacks of opportunity altogether.

You have to make two Concentration checks a round, but if you can make the DC20, you can probably make the DC 15 (to be defensive)