Brainstorm for Psionic Tricks, Tactics, and Combos Handbook

[Psyren]

The Dream of Metal destroys a millennium on the Prime Material by rewinding time, and the person responsible becomes a lich with 108 horcruxes that he can scatter as he pleases through the multiverse.

Technically there is only one horcrux - the Traveler aka the true Phylactery. He just happens to be located physically inside the shared dream of the others.

One option, though highly dangerous, is to enter their shared dream (there are a few ways to do this), locate the true Traveler (Metafaculty etc.) and destroy him without ending the Dream.

[Fax Celestis]

Yes, but doing that, like you said, is intrinsically dangerous. Plus you have to find him inside a giant pocket dreamworld dimension completely under its parent lich's control. It's sort of like assaulting a god in his own demesne: it is theoretically doable, but it is generally not a good idea.

[Psyren]

So you can Metapower (Empower-Energy Missile), expending your own focus, and Metapower (Maximize - Energy Missile), expending the focus from your psicrystal, to get yourself a Maximized, Empowered Energy Missile, at -4 pp from its usual augmentation cost, but after that, you don't have any more foci to expend to metapsionic it any further. You're done.

I know about all that - I wasn't implying that you could metapower past -4. What I was pointing out is that you can, say, Quicken Reality Revision (aka Wish) pre-epic. (17+6-4=19)

Yes, but doing that, like you said, is intrinsically dangerous. Plus you have to find him inside a giant pocket dreamworld dimension completely under its parent lich's control. It's sort of like assaulting a god in his own demesne: it is theoretically doable, but it is generally not a good idea.

Whether it's "under his control" is debatable - they may worship him, but that in itself doesn't give them the power to shape the dreamscape any more than any other sleeping mind would have.

In fact, if the dream becomes a nightmare things could actually end up badly for him - the object of their affection being subject to horrors which would affect him if he chases the party inside.

[Fax Celestis]

His oneiromantic stuff gives him intrinsic control over dreamspace, I thought.

[Godskook]

Stegyre: Thanks for helping me refine the recharge mechanic. I think I still need Psycarnum Infusion, however, as that lets you get around the 1/day limit of Midnight Augmentation. Though, upon rereading Midnight Augmentation, it doesn't seem to have a 1/day limit. Am I just reading it wrong? I'll fix the MoI recharge trick once I figure this out.

The 1/day limit is on investing into midnight augmentation. There's no limit on how often you can use it.

As for dirty tricks go, there's the psicrystal/leadership loop, too.

Requires: A DM willing to let you chose your "sidekicks" abilities,

Start with a Psion. Starting level is dependent on flaws and race(Human with 2 flaws can get it done at level 2). Psicrystal affinity + Improved Psicrystal as many times as needed. The goal is to get a 6 HD psicrystal, which qualifies for leadership. The psicrystal attracts a level 4 human psion with at least a 7HD psicrystal, who takes leadership, who attracts a level 5 psion capable of gabbing a 8HD psicrystal with 12 charisma. This continues ad nauseum, until you have an enjoyable number of level 17 psion chohorts with psicrystals who've taken leadership for another level 17 psion.

[Stegyre]

The 1/day limit is on investing into midnight augmentation. There's no limit on how often you can use it.

I would disagree with that, but I've already had that debate here, and I've nothing new to add to it.

I'll just revert to my base position: if it gives you infinite power points, it's broken, whether or not it's RAW. (In this particular case, unlike the Bestow Power tricks, I don't think it is RAW, but reasonable minds may differ.)
EDIT: Upon a much belated re-read, I recognize GK was talking about Midnight Augmentation, while I was thinking (in my response) about Azure Talent. I agree with GK's application of MA: invest once, and the benefit applies to any augmented use of the power throughout the day. (It's much better than the arcane equivalent.)

[Kalaska'Agathas]

The 1/day limit is on investing into midnight augmentation. There's no limit on how often you can use it.

As for dirty tricks go, there's the psicrystal/leadership loop, too.

Requires: A DM willing to let you chose your "sidekicks" abilities,

Start with a Psion. Starting level is dependent on flaws and race(Human with 2 flaws can get it done at level 2). Psicrystal affinity + Improved Psicrystal as many times as needed. The goal is to get a 6 HD psicrystal, which qualifies for leadership. The psicrystal attracts a level 4 human psion with at least a 7HD psicrystal, who takes leadership, who attracts a level 5 psion capable of gabbing a 8HD psicrystal with 12 charisma. This continues ad nauseum, until you have an enjoyable number of level 17 psion chohorts with psicrystals who've taken leadership for another level 17 psion.

Alright, I'll have to write that up. Any ideas on what to call it?

...The Dream of Metal...

I'm not quite sure how this works, from a mechanical perspective. I'll see if I can figure it out and write it up, if not, I'll link to it.

I would disagree with that, but I've already had that debate here, and I've nothing new to add to it.

I'll just revert to my base position: if it gives you infinite power points, it's broken, whether or not it's RAW. (In this particular case, unlike the Bestow Power tricks, I don't think it is RAW, but reasonable minds may differ.)

If it doesn't work more than once per day, I'll just add Psycarnum Infusion to the mix, which should get around that limit.

[Fax Celestis]

I'm not quite sure how this works, from a mechanical perspective. I'll see if I can figure it out and write it up, if not, I'll link to it.

Forced dream reverses time to the beginning of your last turn. Quintessence freezes you in time. If someone pushes you into a vat of quintessence while you're manifesting forced dream, you freeze in time, mid-turn, and the world continues on around you. The Dream of Metal uses a water clock to control the rate of quintessence: it runs out of quintessence a millennium after the initial manifestation, and forced dream resolves, reverting history and time to the beginning of your last turn. Since your turn began a millennium ago, time reverts to that point, destroying a millennium of history. Since spells and powers do not cross planar boundaries unless they explicitly say they do (or have Transdimensional Spell/Power applied to them), only the Prime Material is temporally reversed, and the outer planes suffer the resultant loss: anyone who was on the Prime Material at the point of reversal is irrevocably destroyed. Deities have risen in that time frame will find themselves without worshipers (and depending on your setting, a god without worshipers dies). Civilization will be reverted back a thousand years of progress. Prime Material based creatures who are off-plane will return home and find things vastly different.

[FMArthur]

I'm not quite sure how this works, from a mechanical perspective. I'll see if I can figure it out and write it up, if not, I'll link to it.

It's actually simpler than the "Save Game" trick, and significantly less useful. Remember Forced Dream? That rewound time back to when it was first cast? Well, there's a substance called Quintessence that freezes a person in time. The target on which Forced Dream is cast falls into a large amount of this mid-turn with a readied action to reset everything as soon as he comes out of stasis. This is all put into a water clock for an arbitrary amount of time (1000 years is the scenario given) so that eventually it runs out and the guy resets time as soon as that happens. Then some spells are used to go into dreams and place a phylactery somewhere safe; this is actually very unrelated so it's a bit confusing.

[Psyren]

His oneiromantic stuff gives him intrinsic control over dreamspace, I thought.

Nope, just bonuses to enchantment/illusion spells cast while dreaming. Improved adds spells to his list related to sleep/dreaming. None of them give him any special ability to manipulate dreamstuff - and more importantly, not his followers (it is their dream after all.)

To even gain the benefits of his oneiromancy he has to follow the PCs into the dreamworld, so he's already saved them the trouble of tracking him down by them going on the offensive.

[Kalaska'Agathas]

Added ACMA and ACME.

[Kalaska'Agathas]

Added The Carmen San Diego Trick.

[Radar]

As much as Affinity Field is all around the place, there was no mention (I think - I might have failed my Spot check again) of using two of those at the same time... overlaping each other. Effects can be interesting:
1. A single manifesting of Bestow Power will trigger an infinite cascade of extra power points.
2. It's the basic building block of the Perpetual Damage Machine (AFAIK).
3. Just don't prick your finger unprepared - not funny.

[Jack_Simth]

As much as Affinity Field is all around the place, there was no mention (I think - I might have failed my Spot check again) of using two of those at the same time... overlaping each other. Effects can be interesting:
1. A single manifesting of Bestow Power will trigger an infinite cascade of extra power points.
2. It's the basic building block of the Perpetual Damage Machine (AFAIK).
3. Just don't prick your finger unprepared - not funny.

Not necessarily.

See, the phrasing is 'as you do'.

So you manifest Affinity Field, and get bitten by a mouse for 1 point of damage. The other guy standing in the Affinity Field takes damage as you do - one point.

The other guy, upset at the mouse bite, casts affinity field himself, and gets himself bitten by a mouse (he's a Wilder, who dumped both Int and Wis, say) and takes 1 point of damage. You take damage as he does (one mouse bite).

The infinite damage thing (or the infinite PP thing, or the infinite actions bit using the same route) requires it bounce back and affect the original target twice.

Thing is, though, he's damaged as you are, and he was already damaged as you were by that event. It's not too much of a stretch in such a scenario to simply say he's already damaged "as you are" and so the Affinity field trigger is already satisfied, and has no additional effect.

[Psyren]

Honestly, it's a 9th-level power. Either your campaign is already broken and it doesn't matter, or you're actively protecting it from breaking, in which case AF should be banned/houseruled along with Wish, Gate and everything else degenerate at that level.

[Kalaska'Agathas]

Indeed, Affinity Field is pretty borked already. No need to 'put an Affinity Field in your Affinity Field' as the saying goes. Of course, there's nothing preventing you from doing that (at least with some readings of the rules) apart from a sense of gentlemanly behavior.

[Psyren]

Psionic Last Breath (aka dirt-cheap Raise Dead through psionics)

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You need:

Psionic Revivify
Quintessence/Time Hop
A Bag of Holding (optional but helpful)

This trick lets you raise a party member for the paltry cost of 200 xp (+ a little more if you're a slowpoke), with no level loss or pricey diamonds.

When a party member snuffs it, simply get their body covered in Quintessence. Alternatively: Time Hop the body (corpses are objects; you may have to remove any heavy gear.)

Time Hop is better at protecting the body, but makes you unable to move it - you will thus need the Revivifier to be present at the place and time of the corpse's return.

Quintessence lets you move the body to safety, but must cover the corpse completely, which can take additional time; this is where the Bag of Holding comes in, submerge them like it's Tapioca and hoof it.

You can even combine the two - Time Hop your friend's corpse until the battle is over, then grab it and toss it in your bag of Quint.

Benefit
Either method will "stop the clock" on Psionic Revivify from the deceased's perspective, as well as protect the corpse from further damage. You still have to pay 200 XP (give or take a few hundred) but XP is a river so I'll take that over 5000 gp of diamonds.

[Kalaska'Agathas]

Alright Psyren, I've added the Psionic Last Breath Trick, and attributed it to you.

I've been working on another trick myself, but I could use some help in figuring out how much it costs (both in GP and XP) and how to reduce those costs. The trick is to use Metaconcert and Psychic Chirurgery to give a manifester more powers known (including Psywar/Ardent only powers, without counting against their powers known limit) while reducing the XP cost of Psychic Chirurgery to reasonable levels. The trick is to get up to ten manifesters (including one who knows Psychic Chirurgery), manifest Metaconcert, and have the Metaconcert-thing manifest Psychic Chirurgery on you, teaching you a new power. This should (if you have ten people) reduce the XP cost you pay to a tenth of normal (everyone pays a tenth of the XP cost, as per Metapower). This can be used to teach PsyWar powers to Psions, and vice versa, and to teach Discipline powers to Psions of other disciplines (and Erudites) without using EK.

Now, for the work yet to be done - I need to find a way to describe this trick that is more clear (the above strikes me as a bit confusing to read), I need to figure out how much it would cost to get 9 other manifesters (including one of at least 17th level) to come together and do a metaconcert, and I need to figure out how to reduce Psychic Chirurgery's effective level to 3rd, so it would be shareable via Affinity Field (That way everyone in the Metaconcert (save those who already know the power) could learn a 9th level power for 900XP if my math is right).

[Stegyre]

The trick is to get up to ten manifesters (including one who knows Psychic Chirurgery), manifest Metaconcert, and have the Metaconcert-thing manifest Psychic Chirurgery on you, teaching you a new power. This should (if you have ten people) reduce the XP cost you pay to a tenth of normal (everyone pays a tenth of the XP cost, as per Metapower). This can be used to teach PsyWar powers to Psions, and vice versa, and to teach Discipline powers to Psions of other disciplines (and Erudites) without using EK.

You haven't reduced the XP cost; you've just distributed it.

Ofc, there's some benefit to doing that: you have a larger XP pool to draw upon and you can more readily refill that pool.

(This is probably the place for a Memory Bottle trick.)

[Kalaska'Agathas]

I've reduced the XP cost to me, which is all my (self-centered) characters care about. What's the memory bottle trick?

[Radar]

I've reduced the XP cost to me, which is all my (self-centered) characters care about. What's the memory bottle trick?

Thought Bottle is an item, that lets you store all your memories for a flat cost of 500 XP. The point is, if you use the Bottle to restore your memories, your XP counter goes back to the ammount you had, when you stored your memories minus those 500 XP. So:
1. Store your memories and XP.
2. Go nuts spending your XP on crafting or expensive powers/spells/whatever.
3. Use the Bottle to restore all the lost XP sans the flat 500 XP cost of using the Bottle.

[Jack_Simth]

Thought Bottle is an item, that lets you store all your memories for a flat cost of 500 XP. The point is, if you use the Bottle to restore your memories, your XP counter goes back to the ammount you had, when you stored your memories minus those 500 XP. So:
1. Store your memories and XP.
2. Go nuts spending your XP on crafting or expensive powers/spells/whatever.
3. Use the Bottle to restore all the lost XP sans the flat 500 XP cost of using the Bottle.

You can actually do it without a thought bottle (although this method always truncates your XP, putting you at the minimum for the level you started the cycle in).

The XP yo-yo (alternate title: Do the Wight thing):

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Minimum level: 12th (although a Ring of Spell Storing, under Transparency, can bring this down to 11th)
You need: Psionic Restoration, and a critter under your control that can apply one negative level (such as a Wight, but anything that can apply one negative level at a time, with a type of negative level that will convert to real level loss, will do).

Method:
Step 0: If using the Ring of Spell Storing method, store Psionic Restoration in the Ring.
Step 1: Have the critter hit you for one negative level.
Step 2: Wait until the time rolls around for the Fort save on that negative level, and voluntarily fail it, converting it to real level loss, setting your XP to halfway between the level you were and the level before (e.g., if you were level 12, and got drained to 11th, you're halfway between 11th and 12th - 60,500 xp, which is 5,500 xp in excess of 11th).
Step 3: Spend your newly-unlocked XP however you like (5,500 xp, for the character who starts this as a 12th level Egoist) - but watch the time limit!
Step 4: Before the time limit expires (1 day per manifester level), use Psionic Restoration to wipe away the level loss, which brings you "up to the minimum number of experience points necessary to advance it to the next higher level".

Congrats - By RAW, you just spent XP without having to actually pay for it.

Note: This can also be done by a Cleric at a lower level with the regular version of Restoration, but that costs 100 gp per iteration in material components by default. The higher-level Greater Restoration trades it for an XP component, which the method itself can pay for. Plus an evil cleric has a better chance of having the wight kind of minion to pull it off, too.

Now, if we can just figure out how to truly give away XP....

[Kalaska'Agathas]

Added Do the Wight Thing.

I'm a little fuzzy on this, but I seem to remember a feat called Damp Power, which reduced the effective level of a Power, but I can't seem to find it. Anyone want to point me in the right direction?

[AnswersQuestion]

Added Do the Wight Thing.

I'm a little fuzzy on this, but I seem to remember a feat called Damp Power, which reduced the effective level of a Power, but I can't seem to find it. Anyone want to point me in the right direction?

Complete Psi. Variable numeric effects are reduced against you. All dice roll "1"s, kinda like an inverted maximize.

[classy one]

Read this on BG forums by the guy who wrote the Ardent handbook (don't remember his name since BG is down) but it's a simple one.

Infinite range

Needs: Ardent level 10 with dominant mantle and enlarge power feat.
The trick: apply expand power to a power repeatedly to make all powers in the dominant mantle have infinite range. Dominant mantle prevents you losing your focus, and expand power doesn't cost any extra PP (or say you can't stack it). Now all your powers with range greater than personal or touch are infinite.

[Psyren]

This is an older trick (i.e. not mine - Lycanthromancer maybe?) but a simple one. This works best for Psywars/Ardents.

Feat Battery

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You will need:

A psicrystal with Wild/Hidden Talent, or psionic cohort
Feat Leech
Psychic Reformation (optional but highly useful)

Benefit:
The feat leech power should be self-explanatory - you can borrow a number of psionic or metapsionic feats equal to your Wis mod. Though the power is assumed to be offensive, you can just as easily manifest it on your psicrystal (as they gain feats) or a cohort, asking them to voluntarily fail the will save.

Good suggestions for leechable feats:
Power Penetration + GPP: Why waste your own feats getting these when you can use your psicrystal? +8 to your ML check will give even an Illithid pause. Humorously, neither of these feats actually requires a manifester level.
Ghost Attack: Less reliable than a Ghost Touch weapon, but it's free. You can get this pretty early on depending on your own BAB (far earlier than it would take to craft a Ghost Touch weapon yourself - level 4-6 at the latest.)
Aligned Attack: This could potentially come in handy.
Psionic Talent (n): This deserves its own section; I'll revisit the true shenanigans in a later post.

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If you want a ton of extra PP, this is the way to go. Every time your psicrystal takes Psionic Talent, it (and therefore you) will gain n+1 PP, where n was the PP it gained from the last time it took Psionic Talent. At level 12, you will gain:
2 + 2 + 3 + 4 + 5 = 18 PP, minus 3 = 15 PP net, or an 8th-level slot - provided you have 20 Wis.
At level 18, you will gain:
2 + 2 + 3 + 4 + 5 + 6 + 7 = 31 PP minus 3 = 28 PP net, provided you have 24 Wis.2 + 2 + 3 + 4 + 5

Delay Power: What I like most about this feat - nobody ever expects you to have it. Get creative!
Greater Psionic Shot: This feat chain is expensive, so why not have your psicrystal do all the work and just borrow it when you want extra punch? Pity you don't get iteratives.
Inquisitor: Very campaign-dependent. Most of the time though, by the time you leech this it's too late to be useful.
Overchannel/Talented: On the off-chance you didn't take these, your Psicrystal can do so for you.
Transdimensional Power/Burrowing Power: These are the kind of feats that you wish you had when you need them, and wish you didn't when you don't. In other words, perfect for Leech.

This trick gets truly ridiculous in epic levels (Epic Psionic Feats are still Psionic Feats, plus your Psicrystal becomes a manifester and can take things like Expanded Knowledge.) But then, what doesn't?

[Godskook]

Alright, I'll have to write that up. Any ideas on what to call it?

Call it: "Shards of Leadership."

And to extend the combo, you can eventually have enough WBL to afford at least a +6 cloak of charisma and tome of leadership and influence(+5). Give that gear to one of the psicrystals that qualifies for epic feats, and he should now be able to take epic leadership. This is *the* doozy, so we need to go for broke. The master of our Epic-Leadership Psicrystal(ELPC for short) needs to be a level 17 human psion with no multiclassing and *ALL* improved psicrystal feats. Assuming he's flawless, that gives our ELPC HD equal to the Psion's level + 9, or 26 HD. With all level up points in charisma and both of the above items, our psicrystal has 27 charisma, for a +8 bonus. This gives a leadership score of 34. That's a level 22 cohort. Eclesiarch gives us an added umph of +2 leadership, though, which is a level 23 cohort. Maximizing this cohort as the last, gives us level +13, or a 36 HD ELPC this time around, which has a charisma of 30(another set of the same items), leading a new leadership score of 46, granting a level 28 cohort.

In order for the loop to become efficient without the need for purchasing items, we need a 60 HD psicrystal, who'll have a natural charisma high enough to take epic leadership without any tome or cloak. With a 67 leadership, he'll attract level 38 cohort. As a human psion, he'll have 25 feats, giving him a psicrystal of 62 HD, and we've now reached a WBL-free loop.

Since the first paragraph's cohorts were moving at the rate of +5 levels per iteration, I suspect that our purchases will only require 4 tomes and 4 cloaks of charisma, less with a more liberal use of Eclesiarch or other leadership feats.

[classy one]

Another abuse of Ardent's dominant mantle ACF and proving why psionic focus is there for a reason.

Psionic metamagic:
Needed:
Ardent 10 with dominant mantle
Power greater with duration longer than instantaneous in said mantle
Extend Power feat
Metapower

How it works:
Using metamorphosis as an example:
1)connect extend power and metamorphosis with metapower.
2)Select natural world as Dominant mantle.
3)Now when you apply extend power to metamorphosis it is free
4)repeat step 3 infinitly.

Of course you can use a different power like temporal acceleration for lots of free time instead. Still can be stopped by a dispel or null psionic/magic field but clerics are not the only ones with DMM-persist anymore.

Optional: subsitute powers to get whatever power you want into your desired mantle.

[Stegyre]

3)Now when you apply extend power to metamorphosis it is free
4)repeat step 3 infinitly.

I'm sorry, but this really just doesn't work.

First, you cannot apply the same metamagic/metapsionic effect to the same casting/manifestation of a spell/power: they do not stack, and that includes psionics.

Second, it is debatable whether the Dominant Ideal benefit is -2 per metapsionic feat (as needed for this idea to work), rather than -2 for all augmentations collectively.

The text is, "the power point cost of augmenting or applying metapsionic feats to these idealized powers is reduced by 2." While you might argue this means -2 for each application, even on the same manifestation, that leads to some rather absurd results.

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"Okay, I'm augmenting the Energy Missile with +2 pp, reduced to 0, and now I'm augmenting it with another +2 pp, reduced to 0, and now . . . ."

I would argue that the much better interpretation is that you subtract 2 pp from the entire augmentation cost, so a maximized (+4) empowered (+2) burrowing (+2) chained (+6) enlarged (+0) transdimensional (+0) widened (+4) power has a cost of 16 (18-2), not 8.

Again, there are borked ideas that work, by RAW: Bestow Power, XP tricks (the Wight Thing, etc.). This ain't one of 'em. Neither is the "adding infinite enlarge powers."

[Urpriest]

Call it: "Shards of Leadership."

And to extend the combo, you can eventually have enough WBL to afford at least a +6 cloak of charisma and tome of leadership and influence(+5). Give that gear to one of the psicrystals that qualifies for epic feats, and he should now be able to take epic leadership. This is *the* doozy, so we need to go for broke. The master of our Epic-Leadership Psicrystal(ELPC for short) needs to be a level 17 human psion with no multiclassing and *ALL* improved psicrystal feats. Assuming he's flawless, that gives our ELPC HD equal to the Psion's level + 9, or 26 HD. With all level up points in charisma and both of the above items, our psicrystal has 27 charisma, for a +8 bonus. This gives a leadership score of 34. That's a level 22 cohort. Eclesiarch gives us an added umph of +2 leadership, though, which is a level 23 cohort. Maximizing this cohort as the last, gives us level +13, or a 36 HD ELPC this time around, which has a charisma of 30(another set of the same items), leading a new leadership score of 46, granting a level 28 cohort.

In order for the loop to become efficient without the need for purchasing items, we need a 60 HD psicrystal, who'll have a natural charisma high enough to take epic leadership without any tome or cloak. With a 67 leadership, he'll attract level 38 cohort. As a human psion, he'll have 25 feats, giving him a psicrystal of 62 HD, and we've now reached a WBL-free loop.

Since the first paragraph's cohorts were moving at the rate of +5 levels per iteration, I suspect that our purchases will only require 4 tomes and 4 cloaks of charisma, less with a more liberal use of Eclesiarch or other leadership feats.

Isn't leadership capped by ECL, though? So a psicrystal can have a cohort up to ECL-2, but since psicrystals are LA - this means no cohort allowed?