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-Possibly easier to read but automatically converted HTML version (if you're into that): http://AndrewDM.me/DND/PsionicSchools.html

-

-=== Schools of Psionics ===

-

-From what I've seen, the most recent few 5e Unearthed Arcana dealing

-with "Psionics and the Mystic" have been getting somewhat mixed

-reviews.  I don't think this is because of the mechanics--or rather

-not COMPLETELY because of the mechanics.  Mechanics for psionics have

-always been weird, and the 5e style is good for D&D, so maintaining

-that is good and won't get any gripes from me.

-

-But I think that no matter what purely mechanical tweaks the UA team

-has planned for the Mystic, the general lukewarm reception isn't going

-to change unless we get something else squared away first.  Something

-a little deeper--something that helps us grasp Psionics in the same

-way we grasp Magic: with a complete and intuitive system.

-

-With Weave-based magic there are schools which somewhat delineate

-magical effects (conjuration, divination, etc), but that's not exactly

-what I mean.  Not to bash the magical schools (any system will have

-inconsistencies--mine notwithstanding), few people really understand

-what it means to be a wizard by what school of magic they specialize

-in.  An enchantment wizard isn't fundamentally different from an

-evocation one.  But a wizard is different than a bard or a warlock.

-These "Schools of Psionics" are as much about the state of mind of the

-manifester and the method for manifestation as they are about the

-outcome of the manifestation (there are several of my Psionic

-"schools" that may each manifest effects in the transmutation school

-of magic for instance, but each according to its own particular

-rules).

-

-What I mean is this:

-

-|           | Introvertion (a) | Extroversion (b) |

-|-----------+------------------+------------------|

-| Mind (1)  | Cogitation       | Domination       |

-| Body (2)  | Sympathy         | Manifestation    |

-| Time (3)  | Prescience       | Anticipation     |

-| Space (4) | Metapsionics     | Apportation      |

-

-There are eight categories split into two primary focuses and four

-topical domains, and each of the eight describes HOW a power is

-manifested.  It tells us what our character is DOING to get the

-blasted power to work.  As a D&D culture, we know how wizards do it,

-careful study and recitation, memorization, etc.  We know how Bards do

-it, they hear the music of creation and wrap their words in it.  All

-these effects are propagated through Mystra's Weave and are bound by

-it's limitations.  But nobody has a clue how Psionics works.  Or

-rather, we all have half-baked ideas that don't jive.

-

-In order for this to work, we need to know in canon, what it means to

-BE A PSIONIST and manifest powers.  I'm probably no different than

-anybody else in my half-baked understanding, but as a Physicist and an

-editor I feel it is my duty to try to make sense of this mess.

-

-First off, since we don't have a Weave, but all magic needs a medium,

-lets make one.  Lets call it the Psionic Field.  Created spontaneously

-from the first thinking being (or Source), the Psionic Field exists on

-any plane containing thought.  Some sources of psionic power are

-stronger than others, but all thinking things produce some connection

-to the field (some might wonder if magic and the Weave itself is

-naught but an echo of Mystra's or Auppenser's mind--and in that light

-perhaps the Psionic Field is not so foreign after all).

-

-With that medium in place, the world of Psionics slowly falls into

-place as well.  Detailed descriptions of the eight schools follow:

-

-1a) Cogitation - Clarity of thought, memory, action, and connection to

-the Psionic Field.

-

-Cogitation is often one's first exposure to Psionics.  It's a

-clear-mindedness that opens up your own mind to see itself for the

-first time, and beyond that, to sense the edges of the minds of

-others.  It includes the stereotypical bloody-nosed mind reading,

-mimicry, and perfect recall.

-

-Examples of Cogitation include "Detect Thoughts" and "Mind Meld" and

-the ability to learn or borrow skills and proficiencies directly from

-the minds of others.

-

-1b) Domination - Exert dominating willpower over other minds.

-

-Once you've encountered sources outside yourself it is only natural to

-try to influence or even dominate them.  Exerting your will into the

-minds of others isn't the same as reading their thoughts, you might

-not know what your target is thinking, only that it will succumb.

-

-Examples of Domination include "Command", "Suggestion", and "Dominate

-Person".

-

-2a) Sympathy - Exerting influence upon sympathetic objects.

-

-The Psionic Field is produced by thinking creatures, but it can leave

-an imprint on even mundane objects and materials.  Objects may be

-imbued with Psionic energy to produce a variety of effects, and may

-soak up ambient energy by just sitting within the Psionic Field which

-can be later be discerned by a Psionist to know about an object's

-history.  This is done by expanding your sense of self outward from

-your mind and body and into the object.

-

-Examples of Sympathy include "Psychometry", "Animate Objects", and

-"Guards and Wards".

-

-2b) Manifestion - Creating both illusory and physically manipulable

-constructs of pure thought.

-

-By focusing and condensing ideas down to their most concrete forms,

-Psionists can manifest the essence of a thing as either an illusion or

-as a real physical object made of Astral matter (ectoplasm).  Astral

-matter is most commonly associated with the Astral plane (or plane of

-thought) where it occurs naturally, but can exist anywhere with a

-sufficient psionic field for a Psionist to conjure it.

-

-Examples of Manifestation include "Mage Hand", "Conjure Astral

-Construct", and "Programmed Illusion"

-

-3a) Prescience - See and feel other places and times.

-

-Because the actions of thinking things (sources of psionics) are not

-stagnant, their movements create ripples in the Psionic Field.

-Births, deaths, and exchanges of knowledge leave their marks.  By

-studying these echos and patterns, Psionists can discern events that

-occurred in distant parts of the world or even in the past or future.

-

-Examples of Prescience include "Detect Poison and Disease", "Scrying",

-and "Foresight".

-

-3b) Anticipation - Solidify expectation and possibility into reality.

-

-In many ways the Universe itself is just composed of the interactions

-of groups of sources of psionism and the objects being pulled in their

-wake (albeit a rather large number of each).  With an awareness of the

-way ripples propagate in the Psionic Field and by using the techniques

-of Sympathy but directing them outwards, a Psionist can begin to

-subtly manipulate expectation and the laws of Physics themselves.

-

-Examples of Anticipation include "Heat Metal", "Telekinesis", "Reverse

-Gravity", and "Time Stop".

-

-4a) Metapsionics - Manipulating sources of Psionism and their direct

-effects.

-

-The way that thinking creatures interact with the Psionic Field is

-complicated and diverse, just as the creatures which produce it are

-themselves.  By studying how the minds of Psionically-attuned

-creatures create Psionic and even Magical Weave-based effects, a

-Psionist can learn to imitate or manipulate psionic effects as they

-see them (and sometimes use what they've learned to imbue limited

-psionic potential into others).

-

-Examples of Metapsionics include "Detect Magic", "Counterspell", and

-"Awaken"

-

-4b) Apportation - Pulling and pushing on planar boundaries with the

-Psionic Field.

-

-Since the material plane is not the only one with thinking creatures,

-some far-minded Psionists can detect the Psionic Field existing on

-other planes of existence and pull on these remote fields of power.

-Doing so can banish alien creatures, abjure harmful elemental effects,

-or even tear open portals to distant planes and places.

-

-Examples of Apportation include "Dimension Door", "Banishment", and

-"Whitefire Portal"

-

-== Post Script ==

-

-Q: Specifics (where do these fit in?) - A: Answer

-

-What about Soul Knives??? - A soul knife is just an adept who uses a

-combination of Manifestation and Sympathy to conjure a blade and imbue

-it with different Sympathetic effects.  In a similar way, you can use

-these eight to extend specific domains on to different classes.

-Psionic warrior?  Uses Sympathy to strengthen his body and Prescience

-to predict the strikes of his enemy.  Psionic rogue? Apportation to

-teleport around or Cogitation to read minds to cheat at cards (or

-memorize the deck).  Once the system is in place, the variations build

-themselves because you know what's possible and what isn't.

-Restriction breeds Creativity. You gotta know the rules to use them.

-

-What's all this about "Psionist?" Isn't it "Psion" - In my

-understanding a "Psion" is a mystic who uses metapsionics to

-manipulate her own mind into casting spells with the Weave.  It is

-also a term that gets some use for a general practitioner of psionics.

-It is also one of those 4e tattoo addicts...  just a really overloaded

-term really.  Psionist sounds the best to me as a general term like

-"mage."

-

-What's the difference between Sympathy and Anticipation when

-moving/lifting things? - In Sympathy, you convince the object to move

-by extending your sense of self into it and lifting it yourself, in

-Anticipation, it moves because you trick the Universe into thinking

-the object should already be moving and so the Universe does it for

-you. Expanding self is all monk-like vs. essentially casting Luck

-Bending spells.

-

-Apportation includes an allusion to "Whitefire Portal". What's that? -

-Oh, just this cool thing I made:

-

-*Whitefire Portal*: You burn a temporary hole through the Astral Plane

-and into another plane of your choice. Once per long rest, centered on

-a point within 300 ft of you, you summon raw Astral ectoplasm which

-burns with hellish, white-hot fury. Any creature standing within 20

-feet of the whitefire must make a Dexterity saving throw or take 12d10

-fire damage or half on a successful save. Inanimate objects in the

-area also take the damage and flammable objects may catch on fire. A

-portal then opens to the chosen plane as with a Gate spell and remains

-open for 1 minute as the planes slowly knit themselves back

-together. Alternatively, instead of a specific location on a plane of

-your choice, you may choose to have your portal open into a generally

-inhospitable location in one of the elemental planes or the planes of

-positive or negative energy. If you do so, creatures who enter or

-begin their turns within 20 feet of the portal take 6d10 damage of the

-appropriate elemental or energy type.

-

-I'm actually working on an entire Psionist class for eventual

-publication on the Dungeon Master's Guild (or as part of my

-"MagnumOpis-MagicOfTheMultiverse" which covers EVERYTHING magical as I

-understand it).  Of course if somebody #wotcstaff wants to buy it

-and/or hire me, I'd be totally up for #theorycrafting for a living.

-

---

-

-Thanks for Reading!

-Andrew Murrell

-ImFromNASA@gmail.com