Poll Question: Who uses psionics from Eldritch Wizardry?
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Total Votes: 21 Total Voters: 20
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Topic: Psionics (Read 1,040 times)
Finarvyn Administrator Dungeon Master member is offline
Joined: Jun 2007 Gender: Male Posts: 4,673 Location: Near Chicago Karma: 178
Psionics « Thread Started on Jul 8, 2007, 12:46am »
Just curious as to what everyone thinks about psionics.
In general I don't like them becasue they don't have the "feel" that I like in my western European or Tolkien-style campaigns. Also, I think personally that the rules as written are kind of confusing to read through.
However, I have used them occasionally in certain campaigns over the years (such as my OD&D Barsoom game) and I know that settings such as Dark Sun (2E AD&D) are built with psionics as a heavy emphasis.
Do you love 'em, hate 'em, or re-write 'em to work better? If you did some sort of house rule re-write, how did you make them work?
Marv / Finarvyn DCC playtester (2011) C&C playtester (2003) I'm partly responsible for the S&W WhiteBox Builder of the TrollBridge Master of Mutants; MA since 1976 OD&D Player since 1975
"Don't ask me what you need to hit. Just roll the die and I will let you know!" - Dave Arneson
meepo Guest
Re: Psionics « Reply #1 on Jul 8, 2007, 7:34am »
Pass! They're not for this guy. I just don't care for the feel of them, never have, namely for all the reasons you mentioned.
Dieter the Deathless, anger-fueled fighting machine.
serendipity Level 4 Theurgist Member #00-00-02 member is offline
Bunny Master
Joined: Jun 2007 Gender: Female Posts: 140 Karma: 9
Re: Psionics « Reply #4 on Jul 20, 2007, 6:53am »
Quote:
For every 6 hit points of damage they heal, they drop 5 lbs of body weight at first level and this decreases to 1 lb of body weight at 5th level, then it decreases in 1/4 lb increments to 1/4 lb of body weight for each 6 hit points at 8th level and then starts increasing 1 hit point healed per 1/4 lb of body weight up to 12th level.
This is an interesting effect. It reminds me of a book series I read where the wizards converted chemical energy of the body into magical energy. (Dancing Gods series? Sorry, I forget.) I always felt that was a clever way of explaining magic without violating laws of thermodynamics.
So how do you deal with the requisite weight gain afterwards? Do the healers have to eat multiple rations? And is there a lower weight limit for the healers where they're unable to continue to heal and/or function normally?
Kyrel Level 6 Magician Defender vs Spam member is offline
Joined: Jun 2007 Gender: Male Posts: 488 Location: Florida Suncoast Karma: 13
Re: Psionics « Reply #6 on Jul 20, 2007, 4:36pm »
No, I'm not a big fan. I have to admit, I've never had an opportunity to read Eldritch Wizardry, but if the rules from that supplement resemble any of the psionic rules from later incarnations of the game, I just find them too, well...difficult (very clunky). They just don't fit into my own personal concept of D & D.
Very interesting thread. Some folks don't think psionics are part of or in their concept of D&D. And yet here they are in the original books/supplements!
Heh, I was sure surprised to see them.
Anywho, I think I need to read up and review a bit more, as I hardly know anything about their utilization in D&D.
But, as mentioned in other threads, if I were to start an OD&D game, I think initially I would like to stick to the 3 core booklets for a couple of levels to see how it goes.
"Enjoy a 'world' where the fantastic is fact and magic really works!" ~ Gary Gygax 1 November 1973 Men & Magic
"By the pricking of my thumbs, Something wicked this way comes:" Second Witch ~ Act IV Scene I Macbeth
Finarvyn Administrator Dungeon Master member is offline
Joined: Jun 2007 Gender: Male Posts: 4,673 Location: Near Chicago Karma: 178
Re: Psionics « Reply #8 on Aug 9, 2007, 7:16am »
Quote:
I always hated psionics in D&D. It always seemed like a powergamer thing to add to the game.
Certainly, psionics can be high-powered, but I wonder if some of their dislike comes about becasue of where the rules can be found. I mean, Eldritch Wizardry is a book full of nasty demon monsters, fantastic artifact items and ... psionics. The rest of the book seems to be about ramped-up powergaming, so psionics gets lumped in there as well.
It would be interesting to create a setting (such as found in Robert Adams' Horseclans books) where standard magic didn't exist but psionics did. Is it still possible to have a campaign with that "fantasy feel" but using psionics?
Marv / Finarvyn DCC playtester (2011) C&C playtester (2003) I'm partly responsible for the S&W WhiteBox Builder of the TrollBridge Master of Mutants; MA since 1976 OD&D Player since 1975
"Don't ask me what you need to hit. Just roll the die and I will let you know!" - Dave Arneson
Joined: Jun 2007 Gender: Male Posts: 505 Karma: 15
Re: Psionics « Reply #9 on Aug 9, 2007, 2:24pm »
For me, the dislike came because psionics were an extra. Have good stats and make a low probability roll and gain a whole set of additional powers and no significant downside.
I know we experimented with them, but I don't recall if we found they were overpowering. In the end, we gave up on them though.
The homebrew that a friend created, that I ran a lot in college, in a sense had a psionic magic system. Spell casting required concentration but no verbal, somatic, or material components. It used a mana point system with some non-trivial math behind it that made it feel a bit like a technology. The systematicness of spells also contributed to that feel.
Re: Psionics « Reply #10 on Aug 9, 2007, 10:30pm »
Quote:
Quote:
I always hated psionics in D&D. It always seemed like a powergamer thing to add to the game.
Certainly, psionics can be high-powered, but I wonder if some of their dislike comes about becasue of where the rules can be found. I mean, Eldritch Wizardry is a book full of nasty demon monsters, fantastic artifact items and ... psionics. The rest of the book seems to be about ramped-up powergaming, so psionics gets lumped in there as well.
It would be interesting to create a setting (such as found in Robert Adams' Horseclans books) where standard magic didn't exist but psionics did. Is it still possible to have a campaign with that "fantasy feel" but using psionics?
I think I could really get into a game based on the Horseclans books. And to me using psionics in lieu of magic would make a lot of sense. I found those books to be a very fun read.
Re: Psionics « Reply #11 on Aug 11, 2007, 7:46pm »
I enjoyed the Horseclans books, too (also his Castaways in Time series). There was a GURPS Horseclans book, but I never picked it up. I'm kicking myself for that, because those GURPS sourcebooks are pretty good for using with other systems, too. I have the GURPS "New Sun" book and would *LOVE* to run an OD&D game with that, at some point. I think it would be a very good fit.
Re: Psionics « Reply #12 on Aug 12, 2007, 1:56am »
Quote:
For me, the dislike came because psionics were an extra. Have good stats and make a low probability roll and gain a whole set of additional powers and no significant downside.
I don't have my books handy, and am being held firmly in place by a cat in any case, but I thought that OD&D psionics did have downsides. I seem to recall loss of spell ability for clerics and magic users, and something else for fighters.
Can anyone less feline infested confirm this? It was at the start of Greyhawk, I think.
Finarvyn Administrator Dungeon Master member is offline
Joined: Jun 2007 Gender: Male Posts: 4,673 Location: Near Chicago Karma: 178
Re: Psionics « Reply #13 on Aug 12, 2007, 9:17am »
Quote:
Quote:
For me, the dislike came because psionics were an extra. Have good stats and make a low probability roll and gain a whole set of additional powers and no significant downside.
I don't have my books handy, and am being held firmly in place by a cat in any case, but I thought that OD&D psionics did have downsides. I seem to recall loss of spell ability for clerics and magic users, and something else for fighters.
Can anyone less feline infested confirm this? It was at the start of Greyhawk, I think.
Well, it was in Eldritch Wizardry, but otherwise you are essentially correct.
Page 1 of EW states that:
...with each psionic ability gained the magic-user will lose the ability to memorize a spell. That is, with the gaining of the first ability the magic-user will be able to use one less 1st level spell, when the second ability is gained he will lose two additional spell levels (i.e. two 1st level spells or one 2nd level spell), and so on. At no time can the magic-user remember more high level spells than low level ones, and if he is able to use 6th level spells, for example, and he selects one, he must also be able to remember at least one spell of each of the other five levels.
Hope the cat eventually got up. I've been held a feline-hostage many a time myself.
Marv / Finarvyn DCC playtester (2011) C&C playtester (2003) I'm partly responsible for the S&W WhiteBox Builder of the TrollBridge Master of Mutants; MA since 1976 OD&D Player since 1975
"Don't ask me what you need to hit. Just roll the die and I will let you know!" - Dave Arneson
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