1. - Top - End - #6
    Spamalot in the Playground
     
    Psyren's Avatar

    Join Date
    Oct 2010
    Gender
    Male

    Default Re: [PF] Mental Medicine: Psionic Healing through the Vitalist

    Powers

    (As with the class features section, there are discrepancies between this list as presented on the SRD and the final print version in Psionics Expanded. Psionics Expanded once again takes precedence, as the SRD information comes from the Mind Over Body serialized release rather than the final sourcebook. My information will therefore be taken from the sourcebook.)


    The Vitalist list, though limited, does contain a number of useful powers. Rating the Vitalist list is slightly different from rating the psion/wilder list - as you'll recall from above, any Vitalist can really access any of these powers if/when needed; he just needs downtime to swap in any that he doesn't have in his active set. This also means that, during downtime on adventures, he can swap in some more situational powers, use them to craft items (e.g. stones and dorjes), then swap back to a more standard loadout for adventuring purposes and thus have access to both.

    Vitalist powers will be briefly discussed in the first subsection. In addition, a number of non-Vitalist powers - and even spells! - can also be manifested/cast through the Vitalist’s collective, despite not having the [Network] descriptor. These will be discussed in the second and third subsections, respectively.

    As a reminder, the requirements for a power to be a manifest over the Collective are as follows:
    - Has the [Network] descriptor;
    - Has the (Healing) subschool/descriptor (automatically gains [Network] descriptor from Spirit of Many);
    - Is one of the specific Medic Powers (see “Medic Powers” in the Class Features section);
    - Harmless Vitalist power, or Vitalist power with willing targets, with range greater than personal;
    - Harmless non-Vitalist power, or non-Vitalist power with willing targets, range greater than Touch.

    Powers that meet at least one of these criteria can be manifest over the range of the collective or their stated range (Vitalist’s choice.) These will be marked with (C).
    The first three bullets are also eligible for the Spirit of Many ability, which grants additional benefits (see “Spirit of Many” in the Class Features section.) These will get (S).
    Finally, brand new powers (other than Knacks) will be marked with (N).

    A Brief Note on Knacks (Talents)

    Psionics Expanded reintroduced Talents (i.e. 0th-level powers, similar to cantrips/orisons), which were dropped from the D&D psionics system during the transition from 3.0 to 3.5. Special rules apply to Talents: these are summarized below.

    Spoiler
    Show

    - Talents are usable at-will (so long as you maintain psionic focus.) They otherwise cost no PP to activate.

    - You must maintain psionic focus to manifest Talents. If you expend or otherwise lose your focus, you must regain it before you can manifest talents again.

    - If a talent has a duration other than instantaneous, you can only have one active at a time. Using a second talent while another is active will cause the first to immediately end.

    - Talents cannot normally be augmented. However, by spending 1 power point (in addition to any the augmentation would require) this restriction can be lifted for that particular manifestation and the power can be augmented normally.



    Vitalist List Powers

    0th level (Knacks)

    Spoiler
    Show

    Dazzle: As the name suggests, dazzle foes with a ranged touch attack for 1 round. Even for a Talent this is horrible; go with Hinder instead for the same effect, only longer duration and with more utility.
    Detect Psionics: (Newly added) The most useful talent in the game, Vitalists finally got this in the latest release. Useful at all levels. Spending PP on it lets you augment it into Identify.
    Disruptive Touch: Stagger an enemy with your touch for 3 rounds, fort negates. Stagger is a great debuff and this lasts long enough to make it relevant, but the need to be in melee really hurts this one.
    Fatigue: (Soulthief only) Fatigue someone at range. Fatigue shuts down charging and running (also handy for keeping unwilling victims in your collective) but pretty much everything that would charge you also has a good fort save, sharply limiting the usefulness of this talent. If you could stack this to exhausted it would be worth spamming, but as-is it's mediocre.
    Fortify, Lesser: (C) (Guardian only) Basically the resistance cantrip. Weak of course, but hey, 0th-level. Before you get a cloak of resistance, consider spamming it out of combat.
    Halt Death: (N) (Mender only) Psionic Stabilize. This is much better though because you can use it at range thanks to your collective, giving you plenty of time to triage dying teammates. Consider quickening this later as well.
    Hinder: Succeed on a ranged touch attack and your target’s next save, attack, or skill check (your choice) takes a -1 penalty, no save. Wears off after a minute or is discharged. If you have nothing better to do in a fight, feel free to spam this.
    Induce Pain: 1d3 damage with a successful ranged touch attack. This isn’t great for anyone, but at least it bypasses DR and is a RTA, so it might actually be handy in a situation where the crossbow wouldn't. Soulthieves should skip it since Siphon is strictly better.
    Sense Poison: You're the royal food taster! Depending on the campaign, this could come in pretty handy. Note that the Wis check is merely to identify the specific poison, not the know if there's poison there at all. If your DM doesn't use poison/intrigue, feel free to skip.
    Sicken Body: Sicken a target at range for one round unless they fail a will save. Sicken is a great debuff early on (effectively, -2 to everything) and being a will save makes it useful against the kind of enemies you wouldn’t want near you anyway. If it lasted longer than a round I'd be more charitable towad it.
    Siphon: (Soulthief only) As Induce Pain, except you or someone in your collective gains a temporary hit point for 10 rounds. Still underwhelming, but free hp is free...
    Toughen: (Guardian only) +1 to NA for 10 rounds. Great early on, falls off in usefulness as better buffs emerge.
    Vim: Basically Virtue, and every bit as pointless.


    1st level

    Spoiler
    Show
    Biofeedback (C,S): Gain smallish DR/-. Like Psywars, you get this at first level (when it could actually be useful) and you can share it with the party to boot. This makes BF far more useful for Vitalists than for other manifesters.
    Collapse (N): Target makes a fort save or is knocked prone. Can be augmented for a longer-lasting debuff (fatigued, sickened or staggered, or augmented again for nauseated.) Stagger is probably the best with this because they use up a full-round action just getting up from prone, and provoke AoO doing it to boot.
    Detect Compulsion (N): You can automatically tell when people are being compelled. You’re a Wis-based caster with Sense Motive in-class, so chances are you won’t need this at all, but just in case your DM is being really cagey with the rolls or an NPC is acting very strangely this is a sure-fire (i.e. no save, no PR) option to be sure.
    Detect Psionics: Very useful, but someone else in the party may already have it and you don’t have much room to prepare it. Try to fill in gaps the others aren’t covering. This does pull double-duty as Identify if nobody else has that either, though.
    Elfsight: There are much more useful powers you could be using even at this level, and it can’t even be shared. Skip.
    Missive: Has its uses early on, but once you get Telepathy and have the whole party in your collective this will likely gather dust. (Unless you’re in the habit of one-way e-mailing NPCs anyway.)
    Natural Healing (C,S): This is the self-only healing power introduced with PsU (though Vitalists can heal others with it.) 3HP for 1PP isn’t great, but it beats Touch of Fail from CPsi at least.
    Sense Link (C,S): Now you can split the party! (Sort of.) This is a nice way to keep tabs on your collective beyond the information Health Sense provides. Check with your DM to see if your collective’s interplanar clause overrides the “not across planes” clause in this power, but since that won’t even be a factor until very late in the game it shouldn’t matter anyway.
    Suppress Compulsion (N): The poor cousin of Protection from Evil. You can turn off compulsions… for one round (albeit more with augmentation.) You must also succeed at a ML check vs. the compulsion's originator. On the plus side: it's a swift, and you can still potentially have the "silver bullet effect" of a 1st-level spell/power defeating one that is much higher (e.g. Hold Monster or Dominate Person.) It's extremely situational though, so your best bet is rely on items for this (or better yet, just dispel) unless your DM enjoys such effects. Even then, this will likely gather dust once you get Aura Alteration.
    Synesthete: For a first-level power, you get a lot of immunities out of this. Blindness, deafness, gaze attacks, and you can even share it with your party members via Sense Link if you're nearby (augmented to let them use your senses.) You probably won't need to prepare it every day, but for the days when you do need it you'll be glad you have it.
    Thicken Skin: As written it appears to stack with your existing natural armor if you have any (compare the wording on this to e.g. Barkskin.) For that reason, it is very nice at all levels and can stay in your repertoire. The only downside is that it can’t be shared with the collective.
    Vigor (C,S): As in 3.5, a fantastic power - and it's even better for Vitalists, who can spread it to the entire party for cheap. Prepare this daily!


    2nd level

    Spoiler
    Show
    Animal Affinity (C,S): 6 spells in one power - and you can share them all with the party, at range no less. Beat that! The only downside is the low duration, but this one is a keeper nonetheless.
    Body Adjustment (C,S): The Vitalist's bonuses are not enough to make this power good. An investment of 17PP (the equivalent of a 9th-level spell: 3 base +14 augment) gets you 8d12, or 8-96 hp of healing (avg. 52). That's right, you have the potential to heal 8hp with a 9th-level power. Yuck! Compare to Heal, which gets you a flat 110 as a 6th-level spell, or even its psionic equivalent Heal Injuries (further below), and it's easy to see why you shouldn't bother with this. If you want low-level healing that isn't Vigor, either stick with Natural Healing (same average, 1 level lower), or rely on your class abilities.
    Body Equilibrium: You can walk on liquid surfaces like water, quicksand, or even semisolids like webs. This is very situational but could potentially be useful in, say, an aquatic campaign, if you have no items. (Note that unlike Water Walk, this does not take you up to the surface when manifested.)
    Delay Poison (?): [Not found in MoB/PsU]
    Empathic Condition Relief (C,S): You shorten the duration of conditions like dazed, stunned, nauseated, confused or shaken by 1d2+1 rounds. Alternatively, you can create a window of clarity in such conditions that will let the subject act freely. The key to this power is the "and" - meaning that you can relieve all of these conditions at once. This makes it fantastic with Contingency (Trigger Power) so that you can keep doing your job if a monster or savvy spellcaster knocks you out of commission - and because you can share it with the whole network, you can set up a trigger to unstun the entire party at once. This is one is great.
    Empathic Transfer (C,S): A very versatile power - not only can you heal others with it, you can also transfer poison, disease and even ability damage. The downside of course is that now you have to deal with these effects, including subsequent secondary saves from the poison and disease. But if someone’s Con has taken a beating from one of these and you don’t have time to tend to them properly, taking it onto yourself can be a good idea (particularly since your own Con is likely to be high.) If you have the time to spare on a Heal check though, that’s almost always the better option.
    Specified Energy Adaptation: Grants you auto-scaling energy resistance (up to 30) for a single type. Perhaps the largest downside is that it matches your active energy type, which means it takes a move action to change (full-round if you didn’t grab the PM feat). Another issue is that enemies that deal a particular element of damage tend to also resist or be immune to it, so matching your active energy type to theirs can cut down of your offensive options. (e.g. going up against fire elementals, this power would want your active type to be Fire, but the various blasting powers like Energy Ray would want it to be Cold.) You may be better off holding out for the more all-purpose Energy Adaptation one power level up.
    Psychic Bodyguard (C,S,N): You make one will save for your ally (augmentable to more). A successful save discharges it, though a second augment prevents that too. Will is a strong save for you and you’re Wis-based, so your will saves stand a good chance of being the best in the group. In addition, this one lasts a long time, so it’s great to manifest on the weak-willed members of your party in the morning (e.g. the barbarian and rogue.) Note that Spirit of Many removes the Mind-Affecting tag, letting your protect the saves of even immune party members.
    Resist Toxin (C,S,N): Delay Poison, Remove Disease and Neutralize Poison all in one power; and you can share it all with the collective. Excellent! The one downside is that it requires a ML check to work.
    Secure Life (?): [Not found in MoB/PsU]
    Share Pain (C): Split damage you receive with someone else. This still combos very well with Vigor, and Vitalists can manifest it at a distance thanks to their collective, giving you much more freedom ovver who shares damage during an unpredictable fight. Like Vigor, keep this one available.
    Sustenance (C,S): You don’t have to eat/drink each day that you manifest this. Sharing it with the party means no rations and no hunting; great for long trips through hostile locales. Perhaps make a dorje of it that you can use every morning, and let the party literally make their own breakfast while you move.


    3rd level

    Spoiler
    Show
    Battlesense (N): This is pretty cool - you emit an aura which gives every ally withi a HUD that helps them fight more effectively. Imagine having the party members know, in-character, how much HP they have left or how many squares they are from each other.

    Humorous fluff aside, the crunch benefits are quite solid. First off, you gain your choice of one of the following:
    - +1 circumstance bonus to attack rolls
    - +1 circumstance bonus to AC
    - +2 circumstance bonus to damage
    - +5 circumstance bonus to speed

    But the kicker that makes this power great - all allies within range gain the ability to Aid Another as an immediate action. This means that the whole party (if within range) can all aid one member out of turn without using up their standard action, and the bonuses stack.

    Finally, the power can be augmented cheaply to either let you pick multiple choices from the list, or stack an existing choice (to a total of 5x.) The only downside I see to this is the small range, but the buffs stay on the party even if they move out of it.

    Body Purification (C,S): You can cure ability damage (but not drain.) It’s weaker than lesser restoration while simultaneously costing more, but the upside is that you can share/AoE it.
    Danger Sense: Traps? As the healer, you shouldn’t be walking in front anyway, and there are better ways (e.g. Vigor+Share Pain) to protect yourself from rogues and their burst damage until the other party members can protect you. You also can’t share it. Skip.
    Empathic Adaptation (?): [Not found in MoB/PsU]
    Hostile Empathic Transfer: Your second attack power!
    Soulthieves get a sizeable buff to this (see “Soulthief Method”) making it quite useful for them, but the [Mind-Affecting] tag and the touch range make it less attractive to other Vitalists.
    Endorphin Surge (N, C, S): You or others rage like a barbarian. Manifesting this on yourself is usually a bad idea (you can’t manifest any powers while raging, which means no healing!) but this is a Medic Power, meaning you can grant rage to the real martialists - without even fatiguing therm afterwards. Sweet buff.
    Guarded Sleep (?): [Not found in MoB/PsU]
    Hustle: Useful for every manifester, if only for regaining your focus as a swift action, and you don’t even have to spend a feat on it. Learn it, love it, live it.
    Mend Body (?): [Not found in MoB/PsU]
    Forced Share Pain: FSP is similar to HET but has several advantages, such as lack of mind-affecting and being a passive buff rather than an active attack. Fort negates, so save it for lightweights like archers and casters (all HP damage is transferred, including from spells.)


    4th level

    Spoiler
    Show


    Empathic Feedback: You damage creatures that attack you (this seems to be a running theme.) The advantage this has over FSP/HET is that it applies to anyone who attacks you (in melee) rather than a specific creature. It’s also a will save, so you can put some serious hurt on an unwary bruiser.
    Guardians are especially handy with this one, as noted in Guardian’s Expertise. Note also that the will save is applied per attack, and the attacker succeeding at it will not end the power, merely protect them from the damage.
    Energy Adaptation: You absorb energy attacks. As this power avoids the problem of sacrificing attack for defense via your Active Energy Type, this is useful in a wider variety of situations. In addition. this is more useful against enemies that deal multiple energy types.
    Evade Burst: Gain evasion (augmentable to Imp. Evasion) vs. bursts. Extend this to lines and cones and we’ll talk, but reflex is still your weakest save. Vigor+SP will likely prevent as much damage while being more useful overall.
    Immovability: You become nearly unmoveable and gain DR 15/-. This is quite handy for Vitalists since they rarely need to move around to heal people anyway. The glaring downside is the need to concentrate, so pass this off to your psicrystal if you want to cast other things.
    Incite Passion: This is a pretty hefty debuff. Your target takes a penalty on Int-based skill checks, prevents them from both taking 10, taking 20 , and fighting defensively, and also gives them a penalty to attack rolls and armor class. Mind-Affecting and Will Negates; in all honesty, if you can land a MA power at this level then there are probably more potent mental attacks you or someone else can use instead.
    Inertial Barrier: Gain DR 5/– which can’t be augmented. Biofeedback is better, especially for Vitalists, so skip this.
    Physical Acceleration (C,S,N): Psionic Haste, basically. It’s a level late but you can quicken it too, and sharing it with the party is always welcome. Keep this one on tap.
    Psychic Drain: Mana burn, fort negates. You can drain quite a few points with this but are generally better off ending the fight some other way.
    Psychic Reformation: Retrain yourself and your party. This power is solid gold for every manifester, and you don’t even need to burn a feat. Prepare it only when you need it.
    Wither (N): Decent Str damage, fort half. This would be great if it weren’t for the touch range restriction, but is still good vs. certain enemies, especially since it still does something on a save.
    Last edited by Psyren; 2012-09-20 at 09:58 AM.
    Quote Originally Posted by The Giant View Post
    But really, the important lesson here is this: Rather than making assumptions that don't fit with the text and then complaining about the text being wrong, why not just choose different assumptions that DO fit with the text?
    Plague Doctor by Crimmy
    Ext. Sig (Handbooks/Creations)