Brainstorm for Psionic Tricks, Tactics, and Combos Handbook

[Rubik]

The Wand Chamber Fandango
In Dungeonscape you have wand chambers, which can fit into any weapon with a handle or other solid part that's 6 inches long or greater, and that let you hold and wield a wand without having to drop what's in your hand or draw the wand.

In CPsi you have a feat that lets you use a dorje (or wand, since they're equivalent) as a stabbing weapon.

Wands and dorjes are about a foot long each, are the same shape, and are activated the same way, for the same type of purpose.

This means you can have a whole bunch of dorjes and wands that have wand chambers, which means you can wield a dorje inside a dorje inside a dorje inside a dorje inside a dorje inside a dorje etc etc etc.

[Xenovore]

Here's the variant I used to recharge my psion in the end:

Feats:
Earth power
As long as you are psionically focused and standing on stone or unworked earth (including normal soil), you can pull psychic energy from the earth when you manifest a power. When you manifest a power in this way, you pay 1 less power point than you normally would. The use of this feat cannot reduce a power's cost below 1 power point. You cannot use this ability when you expend your psionic focus to enhance the same power in a different manner. For example, if you have the Maximize Power feat, you cannot expend your focus to maximize a power and also reduce the cost of that same power.

Midnight Augmentation(Bestow Power)
Once per day, you can invest essentia into this feat and choose a particular psionic power that you know. If you expend your psionic focus when manifesting that power, the power point cost to augment that power is reduced by a value equal to the invested essentia. This can't reduce the augmentation cost to less than 1. You can't invest more essentia in this feat than the chosen power's level, even if the maximum essentia capacity of this feat would normally be higher than that value. Once the amount of essentia invested is chosen, it cannot be altered and remains invested for 24 hours. You gain 1 point of essentia.

Power:
- Bestow power

Normal:
Bestow power gives 2 power points and costs 3

With Earth Power
Bestow power gives 2 power points and costs 2

With Midnight Augmentation (2 essentia) and Earth Power augmented once
Bestow power gives 4 power points and costs 3 power points.

- Base costs becomes 2 due to Earth Power
- Augmenting adds the power costs 2 less due to Midnight Augmentation giving 2 extra power points for 1 power point augmentation cost.

This makes 2 base + 1 augmentation = 3 giving 4.

The GM and I agreed that we would not allow the infinite recharge trick during combat and only use this to recharge between combats.

[Cieyrin]

Here's the variant I used to recharge my psion in the end:

Feats:
Earth power
As long as you are psionically focused and standing on stone or unworked earth (including normal soil), you can pull psychic energy from the earth when you manifest a power. When you manifest a power in this way, you pay 1 less power point than you normally would. The use of this feat cannot reduce a power's cost below 1 power point. You cannot use this ability when you expend your psionic focus to enhance the same power in a different manner. For example, if you have the Maximize Power feat, you cannot expend your focus to maximize a power and also reduce the cost of that same power.

Midnight Augmentation(Bestow Power)
Once per day, you can invest essentia into this feat and choose a particular psionic power that you know. If you expend your psionic focus when manifesting that power, the power point cost to augment that power is reduced by a value equal to the invested essentia. This can't reduce the augmentation cost to less than 1. You can't invest more essentia in this feat than the chosen power's level, even if the maximum essentia capacity of this feat would normally be higher than that value. Once the amount of essentia invested is chosen, it cannot be altered and remains invested for 24 hours. You gain 1 point of essentia.

Power:
- Bestow power

Normal:
Bestow power gives 2 power points and costs 3

With Earth Power
Bestow power gives 2 power points and costs 2

With Midnight Augmentation (2 essentia) and Earth Power augmented once
Bestow power gives 4 power points and costs 3 power points.

- Base costs becomes 2 due to Earth Power
- Augmenting adds the power costs 2 less due to Midnight Augmentation giving 2 extra power points for 1 power point augmentation cost.

This makes 2 base + 1 augmentation = 3 giving 4.

The GM and I agreed that we would not allow the infinite recharge trick during combat and only use this to recharge between combats.

Issue: Earth Power requires you maintain focus and has a clause against using the feat if you expend focus to enhance a power in a different way, like Midnight Augmentation, which requires you to expend your focus. If it wasn't for the clause, you could get away with using your psicrystal's focus but that's not the case.

[Cor1]

Issue: Earth Power requires you maintain focus and has a clause against using the feat if you expend focus to enhance a power in a different way, like Midnight Augmentation, which requires you to expend your focus. If it wasn't for the clause, you could get away with using your psicrystal's focus but that's not the case.

Replace Midnight Augmentation with a Torc of Power Preservation (the good one). Voilà, legal. And you don't need Incarnum.

[Rubik]

The 3.5 torc of power preservation and the 3.0 torc of psionic might are two different named items with different prices that both do the same thing.

And they stack.

Also, a three level dip in illithid savant can get you font of power without having to wade through ten levels of metamind.

[Jack_Simth]

The 3.5 torc of power preservation and the 3.0 torc of psionic might are two different named items with different prices that both do the same thing.

And they stack.

In order to get them to stack, however, you'll either have to merge them (custom magic item - requires DM approval), de-slot one (custom magic item - requires DM approval), or be Epic enough to pick up an additional magic item space...

Also, a three level dip in illithid savant can get you font of power without having to wade through ten levels of metamind.

Of course, to do that, you need to find (and eat) a Metamind with Font of Power.

...

And qualify for Illithid Savant, of course.

[Rubik]

In order to get them to stack, however, you'll either have to merge them (custom magic item - requires DM approval), de-slot one (custom magic item - requires DM approval), or be Epic enough to pick up an additional magic item space...

50% markup as per the MIC and you can do it. Easy enough.

Of course, to do that, you need to find (and eat) a Metamind with Font of Power.

Metaminds are awful. They're weaker than a full psion and get fewer power points (when the point was to get more). Anyone with 10 levels in metamind is 5 manifester levels behind with just a couple of feats, a few hp, and a few skill points to show for it. Shouldn't be too horribly difficult.

And qualify for Illithid Savant, of course.

Metamorphosis changes your type and subtype, and gives you the tentacles and the ability to eat brains. 's not that hard.

[lord_khaine]

Metaminds are awful. They're weaker than a full psion and get fewer power points (when the point was to get more). Anyone with 10 levels in metamind is 5 manifester levels behind with just a couple of feats, a few hp, and a few skill points to show for it. Shouldn't be too horribly difficult.

And you are now arguing for how hard it is going to be to find one at the right level

[Rubik]

And you are now arguing for how hard it is going to be to find one at the right level

One level in thrallherd. Or possibly Leadership. There's also all sorts of divination out there that can let you find various people in a specific class.

Alternately, use Ice Assassin.

[lord_khaine]

One level in thrallherd. Or possibly Leadership.

Wont work, there is nothing in either of those 2 who says you actualy get to chose who you actualy get as a thrall/cohort.

There's also all sorts of divination out there that can let you find various people in a specific class.

Please tell me what sort of divination you are going to use to find someone with 10 levels of metamind.
Especaly since by your own argument its higly unlikely to actualy find one who has survived long enough to reach level 14

Alternately, use Ice Assassin.

To do what, melt in the sun?

[Emperor Tippy]

To do what, melt in the sun?

No, to eat the brain of.

Step 1: Become an Illithid Savant.
Step 2: Gate in a Solar and Wish up a Scroll of Ice Assassin of a Revered Elder Phaerimm with Ice Assassin as one of it's chosen spells (perfectly RAW legal).
Step 3: Use the above scroll.
Step 4: Eat the Ice Assassins brain for it's spell casting abilities.
Step 5: Use your SLA Ice Assassin ability to create Ice Assassins of who or whatever you want.
Step 6: Eat those Ice Assassins brains.

Congratulations, you've won D&D. You now have every ability in the game, even those of Epic creatures like Time Dragons.

[Cor1]

The 3.5 torc of power preservation and the 3.0 torc of psionic might are two different named items with different prices that both do the same thing.

And they stack.

Also, a three level dip in illithid savant can get you font of power without having to wade through ten levels of metamind.

The hell are you talking about? The Torc of Power Preservation I'm talking about is on page 177 in the Expanded Psionics Handbook, which is the 3.5 book of psionics, costs 36,000gp and is even OGL.
The wrong version is the one in the Magic Item Compendium page 143, that costs 4,000 gp, and is usable 5/day (effectively +1 ML and +1pp for five powers per day).

For stacking them, they need to be modified. Won't fly with many GMs since it's exactly the same item : both require the same spell or power, but not the same caster level, and the minimum necessary CL is one where no-one has Bend Reality or Limited Wish. That is one badly-written and wrongly-edited nerf!

But for the price, 5/day to at-will with a price multiplied by nine, yeah, I guesstimate it's near the actual rule for crafting uses/day items.

As for the Illithid Savant, that's not even a Psionic Trick, that's a cheat code.

[Rubik]

Wont work, there is nothing in either of those 2 who says you actualy get to chose who you actualy get as a thrall/cohort.

Leadership says:

A character can try to attract a cohort of a particular race, class, and alignment."

That means you can actually make a go for a metamind if you want. If you don't want one, let it come to you randomly.

Please tell me what sort of divination you are going to use to find someone with 10 levels of metamind.

Legend Lore? It's above 11th level, and so the potential is there.

Especaly since by your own argument its higly unlikely to actualy find one who has survived long enough to reach level 14

It's still a tier 2 character; it's just the equivalent of a character 5 levels lower. It's quite possible for characters in the first two tiers to destroy lower-tier opponents several levels higher. Just look at all of those wizard-vs-fighter threads all over the place.

To do what, melt in the sun?

It uses ice and snow to create the creature, but it's not made of ice and snow once you're done casting; it doesn't even have the [cold] subtype.

(Also, online spell-checkers exist. Feel free to use one.)

The hell are you talking about? The Torc of Power Preservation I'm talking about is on page 177 in the Expanded Psionics Handbook, which is the 3.5 book of psionics, costs 36,000gp and is even OGL.
The wrong version is the one in the Magic Item Compendium page 143, that costs 4,000 gp, and is usable 5/day (effectively +1 ML and +1pp for five powers per day).

Check what I said again. There's a 3.0 item (which was never updated) called the torc of psionic might. It lowers your power cost by 1 pp (to a minimum of 1). This isn't the same as the torc of power preservation -- it even has a different cost.

For stacking them, they need to be modified. Won't fly with many GMs since it's exactly the same item : both require the same spell or power, but not the same caster level, and the minimum necessary CL is one where no-one has Bend Reality or Limited Wish. That is one badly-written and wrongly-edited nerf!

Again, it's a different item. Just add the second on at 1.5x cost, as can be done according to the item creation rules.

But for the price, 5/day to at-will with a price multiplied by nine, yeah, I guesstimate it's near the actual rule for crafting uses/day items.

Again, recheck what I actually said.

As for the Illithid Savant, that's not even a Psionic Trick, that's a cheat code.

Indeed. But getting font of power 7 levels early is definitely a psionic trick. And it even involves an illithid prestige class, and illithids are definitely psionic.

[Cor1]

Oh. Okay. I didn't have the 3.0 Psionics book, else I'd have addressed that. (I searched for it. Not very hard, I admit. Found it, by now.)

IF the DM accepts the Torc of Psionic Might, then maybe they'll accept to have it modified as per the rules for modifying magic items so as to stack it with a Torc of power Preservation. The ToPM requires Emulate Power, how is that not the pre-update version of Bend Reality? They're both their edition's Psionic Limited Wish.

Point is, a GM who doesn't want to allow it can find very good reasons not to.

It's still very useful. The Torc Of Mighty Psionic Power Preservation alone makes Bestow Power a recharge method without any feat expenditure...

How much does it cost actually? 36,000 + ( 10,000 * 1,5 ) = 51,000gp, available with the first second-level power known if you ignore WBL (otherwise, you should hit that between 10th and 11th lvl). A good point to reformat Earth Sense and Earth Power, maybe.

Yeah, it's a good trick. But it involves modifying a magic item to include a magic item from 3.0, so quite subject to DM fiat.


Illithid Savant has its place in the tricks, I'm agreeing with that. But it really should have a warning to the effect of "this trick will catapult you into Tier 0".

[Cor1]

I'm really sorry to doublepost so often, but as I'm playing an optimized Psion currently, I'm finding new tricks all the time, and editing my last post wouldn't bump this to attention for commenting.

So, this character is skirting Epic levels. But, it's such a shame that it won't get anything really new from lvl 17 to 21... Why not get Epic powers already?

You'll need :

• 17 levels of Psion (preferably Egoist)
• Items
  
  • Torc of Power Preservation and/or
  • Ioun Stone, Orange (at least one CL +1 booster to add to Overchannel, you want to be able to add 4 to your class ML)
• Feats
  
  • Overchannel
  • Linked Power
  • Psicrystal Affinity
    Psicrystal feats:
    
    • Hidden Talent (so it can explicitly take the next one)
    • Practiced Manifester
• Powers
  
  • Fusion or Feat Leech
  • Metamorphosis, Greater
  • Psychic Reformation

The trick:

1. Manifest Greater Metamorphosis, augmented four levels beyond your normal limit, at least at ML 21, to turn into a form that has at least 21 HD.
2. Get Practiced Manifester while you're at it. I use to Fusion with the psicrystal to do that, but you can just Feat Leech its Practiced Manifester feat; if your DM ignores that it can lower its immunity to Telepathy, you can share Metamorphosis with it so it turns into an other type.
3. Metamorph into a form with 4 HD more than your current level, like a 21 HD Illithid or something. Psionic Couatl? (Those also can manifest at HD=ML, so maybe you don't even need Practiced Manifester. Ask your DM about that.)

As you gain HD, so you gain feats. If your DM doesn't let you choose them, PsyRef them. (PsyRef also allows you to manipulate your skill ranks, so as to qualify for the feats.)
Problem : PsyRef takes 10 minutes to manifest.
Solution : Have it take effect before it finishes being manifested.
Method : Manifest anything (on yourself), Link it to PsyRef. Per Linked Power, the second power takes effect on the next round. PsyRef the newly-gained feats into Epic Manifesting, or anything else you might want, like Epic Expanded Knowledge, Improved Metapsionics and Improved Overchannel.

Otherwise, since your ML is at least 17, with an effective +2 from both items, you can also simply manifest PsyRef in the normal 10 minutes, since Greater Metamorphosis will last at least 22 minutes anyway. You want 22 HD to qualify for Improved Overchannel, since you need 25 Ranks in Psicraft; you can allocate those with the aforementioned PsyRef.

[TheG]

Sorry guys any review of this, found on page 4?

MoI Recharge Trick #2

Spoiler

Show

Requires: Azure Talent Feat (Magic of Incarnum 34), Psycarnum Infusion Feat (Magic of Incarnum 40), 13 CON, Concentration 4 ranks

Method: Use Psycarnum Infusion to spend your psionic focus and fake using Azure Talent. Gain 2 PP*. Regain your psionic focus. Repeat as desired.
You NEED at least 1PP to have psionic focus; thus, you need at least 1PP when you begin recharging.

*Technically, you gain PP equal to twice the invested essentia, and two more if you can bind a soulmend to your crown chakra. I assume you're investing as little as practical into this setup.

NOTE: Azure Talent has no mention of what action it requires to use. I assume a free action.

Minimum Level: 1

works? it's legal?

[sreservoir]

the details there seem to be a bit off; you can treat azure talent as if it had been filled to maximum essentia capacity, which will actually scale with level (hd, actually), so it does improve. not sure why concentration is being counted as a prerequisite?

azure talent's action is fairly irrelevant, in this case.

there ... isn't a consensus on it, I don't think, though.

[Kalaska'Agathas]

I've been meaning to get back to this - checking to ensure each trick works, better explanations, and all that. So hopefully I can get on that soon enough. Speaking to the trick in question, yes I do believe it works, though I would (as I said then) assume the action to be a standard, not a free. The Concentration requirement is because Concentration 4 is a prereq for Psycarnum Infusion (according to my copy of Magic of Incarnum).

[Jack_Simth]

If this is still open....

Singularity

Spoiler

Show

The right psion build with the right cohort can level up indefinitely in isolation.

You need:
1) A bard-9 or better under your command.
2) Restoration
3) Astral Seed
4) Some way to lose levels in a controlled manner (a wight under your control, the Fission Power, or others)

How it works:
1) You have the bard Inspire Greatness on you.
2) While at +2 hit dice, you manifest Astral Seed.
3) You kill yourself.
4) You make your new body... you lose one hit die from when you manifested Astral Seed, leaving you at 1 hit die over normal.
5) You lose the extra hit die via level loss (take a single hit from the wight, and wait 24 hours; manifest Fission, kill your clone, and wait 24 hours, et cetera).
6) You manifest Restoration to regain the lost level from step 5... only this time, you pick any class you like, rather than the blank hit die granted by Inspire Greatness.
7) You're now one level higher than you were when you started.

Note that nothing (beyond the DM being sane....) stops you from doing this indefinately. Oh yes, and between steps 5 and 6, you've got a hefty amount of loose XP that you can burn without RAW consequence (like, say, for Reality Revision to increase the value of one of your items).

So you can level up every 12 days this way (ten days to build a body, one to lose a level, a little more time for the various powers that need to be manifested between them - call it a day), using nothing but your own actions and those of your cohort; no need to fight any challenges (although you must be prepared to defend your Astral Seed).

[TheG]

Requires: Azure Talent Feat (Magic of Incarnum 34), Psycarnum Infusion Feat (Magic of Incarnum 40), 13 CON, Concentration 4 ranks

Method: Use Psycarnum Infusion to spend your psionic focus and fake using Azure Talent. Gain 2 PP*. Regain your psionic focus. Repeat as desired.
You NEED at least 1PP to have psionic focus; thus, you need at least 1PP when you begin recharging.

*Technically, you gain PP equal to twice the invested essentia, and two more if you can bind a soulmend to your crown chakra. I assume you're investing as little as practical into this setup.

NOTE: Azure Talent has no mention of what action it requires to use. I assume a free action.

Minimum Level: 1

the details there seem to be a bit off; you can treat azure talent as if it had been filled to maximum essentia capacity, which will actually scale with level (hd, actually), so it does improve. not sure why concentration is being counted as a prerequisite?

azure talent's action is fairly irrelevant, in this case.

there ... isn't a consensus on it, I don't think, though.

I've been meaning to get back to this - checking to ensure each trick works, better explanations, and all that. So hopefully I can get on that soon enough. Speaking to the trick in question, yes I do believe it works, though I would (as I said then) assume the action to be a standard, not a free. The Concentration requirement is because Concentration 4 is a prereq for Psycarnum Infusion (according to my copy of Magic of Incarnum).

I've just copied the trick from page 4. However i was guessing if this trick gives temporary Power Points due to the "Until the start of your next turn" clause from Psycarnum Infusion.

[sreservoir]

ah, that would explain it. what I get for expecting the links to be reliable and not actually checking books, I guess.

[Renen]

Love the singularity trick.
Very well explained too...
Just wondering, the bard doesnt NEED to be a cohort right? Can be another player that is willing to sit and do this with you.

[Jack_Simth]

Love the singularity trick.
Very well explained too...
Just wondering, the bard doesnt NEED to be a cohort right? Can be another player that is willing to sit and do this with you.

Correct - the Bard just has to be under your control in some manner.

There are refinements to it - for example: the right Bard build can make things go a little faster by way of having an improved version of Inspire Greatness; combine with Greater Restoration, and you get back more levels at once... so you can safely lose them faster ... which speeds things up.

But the listed Singularity will do just fine for most purposes.

[Rubik]

"The Erudite Shuffle"
1.) Take any full manifesting class that isn't erudite.
2.) Take a few levels in illithid savant, using Metamorphosis to qualify.
3.) Eat an erudite's brain.
4.) Learn the erudite's ability to learn new powers. (The UPPD are a separate "ability." Don't take that.)
5.) Get infinite powers known.

A few more levels in illithid savant means you can eat another erudite's brain for the Convert-Spell-to-Power ability

Note that you can do something similar with the font of power ability from the metamind, and you lose fewer manifester levels to get it. Should this be a separate trick? Maybe I'll call it "Metamind Over Matter -- You Don't Metamind, So It Doesn't Matter." Or something.

"Practice(d Manifester) Makes Perfect"
1.) Take several class levels that aren't manifester levels.
2.) Take levels in a manifesting class -- say, psion.
3.) Take Practiced Manifester.
4.) Take a level of a prestige class that grants at least 1 level of manifesting for your manifesting class.
5.) Take Practiced Manifester for your prestige class.
6.) Enjoy up to 8 extra manifester levels. More, if you want to use more feats and take more PrCs.

[classy one]

You can pick a PrC for practised manifester? That trick is so simple and elagent, I love it.

[Rubik]

You can pick a PrC for practised manifester? That trick is so simple and elegant; I love it.

The feat just specifies a psionic class, and psionic PrCs qualify.

[classy one]

Is KA stil active? Noticed there are a few newer tricks that are not on the OP. maybe we could repost it in a new thread? Would we need permission for that?

[Rubik]

The Psicrystal Shuffle:
Want two or more psicrystals? This is doable in two different-but-similar ways.

#1.)
a.) Take the Psicrystal Affinity and Linked Power feats and the Fission and Astral Seed powers
b.) Manifest Fission on your psicrystal, followed by Astral Seed (Linked to a low-manifesting time power so it goes off the following round)
c.) Kill your psicrystals
d.) When your psicrystals reform, there should be two of them attached to you

#2.)
a.) Take the Psicrystal Affinity and Linked Power feats and the Fusion and Astral Seed powers
b.) Manifest Fusion with another psionic character with a psicrystal, followed by Astral Seed (Linked to a low-manifesting time power so it goes off the following round). Do not Fusion the psicrystals
c.) Kill yourself before Fusion ends
d.) When you reform, there should be two psicrystals attached to you (along with all the other benefits of having a Fusion-gestalted character

Practiced Manyfester:
a.) Take at least one level in two manifester classes, such as psychic warrior and ardent
b.) Take two levels in a manifesting PrC that grant boosts to manifester level, and apply one of each to your two classes
c.) Take Practiced Manifester for your PrC
d.) Gain up to 4 MLs to both classes that your PrC is applied to

This works for every class your PrC applies to, including other PrCs!

[Kalaska'Agathas]

So, I keep meaning to come back to this one, add the tricks which have been added in the discussion, and generally pretty it up some. Unfortunately, I've been trying to do it all in one fell swoop, and life has a way of keeping us from our grand projects. But I am working on it, and I'll be adding to the list when I can during the next few weeks. I'll let you know when I think I'm current on all the tricks posted in the thread (and in the MinMax thread), and if I've missed one after that point, let me know so I can get on it (but do wait until I'm ready, please!).

Also, I've added a new trick - well, a corollary to a couple of the other tricks - "Siege Mode (A Corollary to the Psionic Dreadnaught)"

-KA

[Pippin]

True Ressurection on this thread.

Whoa, the OP is absolutely fantastic. I learnt a lot of things that made me completely change my mind on Psions. Especially the "Diamonds are Forever" trick. Anybody know if one should keep bloodline benefits after changing bodies?

It's just a shame Psions don't have Persistent Power (it's 3.0 material that never got updated) and things like Incantatrices.