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D&D Older Editions
So what do you guys think of 2nd edition psionics?
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<blockquote data-quote="Celebrim" data-source="post: 6538721" data-attributes="member: 4937"><p>In general, no edition after 1e has ever had any need for psionics at all. As such, my thoughts regarding 2e psionics was simply, "They really don't get it, do they?"</p><p></p><p>First of all, a mini-rant here but psionic is a complete misnomer. Psionic doesn't actually mean 'psychic powers', though that is how D&D uses the term. Psionic is related to the term 'bionic'. A psionic character taken literally has a lot in common with 'The Six Million Dollar Man'. Psionics are computers or machines which are embedded in a persons mind to enhance their mental powers or to approximate psychic powers through technical means - for example a radio embedded in a person's mind giving them the ability to 'telepathically' communicate with other persons that are so modified. The Telepathy Corp in David Gerrold's 'War Against the Chtorr' series are actual psionics. The psionics in D&D are actually psychics, and as such are just sorcerers of some sort. </p><p></p><p>Psionics in 1e allowed for a way to give creatures magical power that wasn't tied to level or class. It was inherently unbalanced, and kept in check by inherently unbalanced and unfair rules that basically ensured that any psionic PC would die horribly if confronted by a psionic monster. It had lots of flavor though, representing a person born with inherent psychic or magical abilities that weren't owed to their study of the arcane as a 'magic-user'. </p><p></p><p>It's not clear why D&D would need two magical systems, except if one was tied to level and one wasn't. GURPS for example has both 'magic' and 'psionics', but differentiates the two on the basis of balance. GURPS 'magic' is meant to be balanced with the ability to swing a sword. GURPS 'psionics' are meant to be balanced with guns and high tech weaponry. This is in keeping with the typical labeling of magic in science fiction as something other than magic - 'the force', 'psychics', etc. - even when it's pretty blatantly just regular old magic with a different name. D&D doesn't need to support both a fantasy game and a science fiction game with a single system, so the after Psionics are divorced from its roots and made into just another class based power, I never saw the point.</p><p></p><p>So once you do that, you basically get into the problem that its not easy to balance to completely separate and distinct magic systems with different mythic expectations against each other. You also get into problems of, "There is more than one way to do something", as each system for example handles the exact same thing - telepathy, ESP, telekinesis, etc. - in two completely different ways. At the very least that's rules bloat. But it also tends to be balance wreaking, particularly if you don't assume psionics are just magic (and so are effected by dispel magic or spell resistance). </p><p></p><p>Second edition has all of that in spades.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Celebrim, post: 6538721, member: 4937"] In general, no edition after 1e has ever had any need for psionics at all. As such, my thoughts regarding 2e psionics was simply, "They really don't get it, do they?" First of all, a mini-rant here but psionic is a complete misnomer. Psionic doesn't actually mean 'psychic powers', though that is how D&D uses the term. Psionic is related to the term 'bionic'. A psionic character taken literally has a lot in common with 'The Six Million Dollar Man'. Psionics are computers or machines which are embedded in a persons mind to enhance their mental powers or to approximate psychic powers through technical means - for example a radio embedded in a person's mind giving them the ability to 'telepathically' communicate with other persons that are so modified. The Telepathy Corp in David Gerrold's 'War Against the Chtorr' series are actual psionics. The psionics in D&D are actually psychics, and as such are just sorcerers of some sort. Psionics in 1e allowed for a way to give creatures magical power that wasn't tied to level or class. It was inherently unbalanced, and kept in check by inherently unbalanced and unfair rules that basically ensured that any psionic PC would die horribly if confronted by a psionic monster. It had lots of flavor though, representing a person born with inherent psychic or magical abilities that weren't owed to their study of the arcane as a 'magic-user'. It's not clear why D&D would need two magical systems, except if one was tied to level and one wasn't. GURPS for example has both 'magic' and 'psionics', but differentiates the two on the basis of balance. GURPS 'magic' is meant to be balanced with the ability to swing a sword. GURPS 'psionics' are meant to be balanced with guns and high tech weaponry. This is in keeping with the typical labeling of magic in science fiction as something other than magic - 'the force', 'psychics', etc. - even when it's pretty blatantly just regular old magic with a different name. D&D doesn't need to support both a fantasy game and a science fiction game with a single system, so the after Psionics are divorced from its roots and made into just another class based power, I never saw the point. So once you do that, you basically get into the problem that its not easy to balance to completely separate and distinct magic systems with different mythic expectations against each other. You also get into problems of, "There is more than one way to do something", as each system for example handles the exact same thing - telepathy, ESP, telekinesis, etc. - in two completely different ways. At the very least that's rules bloat. But it also tends to be balance wreaking, particularly if you don't assume psionics are just magic (and so are effected by dispel magic or spell resistance). Second edition has all of that in spades. [/QUOTE]
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So what do you guys think of 2nd edition psionics?
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