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2011-09-27, 02:44 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Jul 2011
- Location
- Albuquerque
- Gender
A world with no magic, only psionics (crunch version)
There's an idea I've been kicking around in my head for awhile, an all psionics world. A world where magic no longer exists and has been displaced by psionics. I polled a few friends who have been playing regularly just to think about the idea of a psionics only world and give me some feedback. Instead of feedback I got "THAT WOULD BE AWESOME YOU SHOULD RUN THAT" pretty much immediately. I haven't played regularly in five years, but I've been wanting to get back into it for a while now, so I figure now is as good a time as any.
I'm going to split this into two separate threads, one for mechanics and crunch for the homebrew forum, and one for fluff and flavor for the world building forum.
Crunch version:
I'm gonna be running this in 3.5, and all I have as far as mechanics so far are ideas for base classes.
SpoilerBarbarian - I see no reason at all to change a completely non-magical class for a psionics only world
Bard - I really like a lot of the fluff and crunch of Dark Sun, and the 3.5 version from athas.org has a bard with no spellcasting, so I'll be using that
Cleric - With no magic, the cleric is now a worthless class. It's out
Druid - Axed like cleric, but also see ranger
Fighter - See barbarian
Monk - I think I'm going to leave them unchanged. Some of their abilities function similarly to magic, but I don't think they require magic to function at all
Paladin - With no magic and no link to the upper planes, there's no way in this world for the paladin to exist mechanically. Would there be a specific non-magical class that would fit ideologically and somewhat mechanically also? I originally planned for LG or LN crusaders would replace them in the world, but decided ToB just doesn't fit the world. I might reconsider down the line, but for now it's out
Ranger - I want two rangers. I want to have one that loses spellcasting in favor of getting favored terrain also, as well as maybe some sneak attack perhaps. It would basically be a combination of the regular and urban ranger. I also want a wildshape variant ranger. What does the most popular wild shape variant lose? Is spellcasting enough of a tradeoff, or would they need to sacrifice some other class abilities? I might import the natural weapons combat style from Pathfinder
Rogue - Basically unchanged aside from trading out the now-defunct UMD for UPD instead
Sorceror and Wizard - See cleric
Psionic classes - I'm obviously including these, but in light of how awful they made the 3.5 soulknife, I'll probably reintroduce an updated version of the 3.0 soulknife PrC
What I'm currently struggling with is reintroducing some psionic variants of some of the more popular monsters. Mind flayers and both the races of Gith will feature prominently, but they can't be the only monsters. What monsters translate well to psionics?
Any other cool crunchy ideas?
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2011-09-27, 04:38 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Jan 2011
- Location
- R'lyeh
- Gender
Re: A world with no magic, only psionics (crunch version)
I suggest this mundane paladin as a replacement.
I also want a wildshape variant ranger. What does the most popular wild shape variant lose? Is spellcasting enough of a tradeoff, or would they need to sacrifice some other class abilities? I might import the natural weapons combat style from Pathfinder
For the Soulknife, try using this to replace itIllud quod aeternitatem iacere potest non mortuus est, ac dis peregrinis etiam mors moriatur.
D&D 3.5≠Pathfinder
Typhon by Kaptainkrutch. Thanks to TylerB7 for the latin
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2011-09-27, 04:44 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Mar 2010
- Gender
Re: A world with no magic, only psionics (crunch version)
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2011-09-27, 06:01 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Jan 2011
- Location
- R'lyeh
- Gender
Re: A world with no magic, only psionics (crunch version)
Also, check out the Minds Eye stuff for some psionic monsters, such as the ectoplasmic dragon.
Illud quod aeternitatem iacere potest non mortuus est, ac dis peregrinis etiam mors moriatur.
D&D 3.5≠Pathfinder
Typhon by Kaptainkrutch. Thanks to TylerB7 for the latin
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2011-09-27, 06:35 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Jun 2008
Re: A world with no magic, only psionics (crunch version)
Pathfinder Soulknife in generally considered quite good, at least when talking about non-manifesting melee classes. Mind's Eye Theatre also has the Psychic Rogue, for another option between Lurks and mundane Rogues.
Dragons should be able to operate just fine with Psion/Wilder (or Ardent) manifesting rather than Sorcerer/Cleric spellcasting. A lot of stuff, from ogres to shadows to hydras, don't have spellcasting and would work just fine. The main concern would be no celestial/infernal creatures, specifically no angels or demons, because of no outer planes.
Psionic Monsters, for your pleasure.SpoilerThank you to zimmerwald1915 for the Gustave avatar.
The full set is here.
Air Raccoon avatar provided by Ceika
from the Request an OotS Style Avatar thread
A big thanks to PrinceAquilaDei for the gryphon avatar!
original image
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2011-09-28, 11:35 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Sep 2009
Re: A world with no magic, only psionics (crunch version)
And ranger combat styles (not counting Pathfinder or homebrew) are totally silly. If you want a martial character Fighter gives far more boosts than ranger, and if you want a hit-and-hide character or sniper you're almost never going to be taking a full attack and will rarely shoot into melee or have to make do with a less-than-perfect shot, so the combat styles are pretty useless.
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2011-10-19, 08:18 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Oct 2010
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2011-10-19, 11:29 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Aug 2007
- Location
- Orlando, FL
Re: A world with no magic, only psionics (crunch version)
As far as bards, you could also try looking at the Thoughtsinger.
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2011-10-19, 05:51 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Nov 2010
Re: A world with no magic, only psionics (crunch version)
If you decide you want psionic versions of the Paladin and Ranger, the Mindknight and Psychic Tracker may work for you. Or, if you want Divine Minds as the Paladin alternative/replacement, here's a revamped alternative.
Mentalists may replace Adepts as themagicalpsionic NPC class of choice. I've seen a couple other psionic NPC classes around, too.
Here's a whole mess of psionic stuff for your viewing pleasure.A Guide to Free D&D - A resource of free, official D&D resources on the web.
Handbooks Index
My Homebrew Compendium
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2011-10-19, 06:00 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Nov 2008
- Location
- Ireland
- Gender
Re: A world with no magic, only psionics (crunch version)
Dreamscarred Press are your friends. The stuff on that site is a bit older than what they did for PF though, so you might want to use the latter where there's overlap.
Last edited by Prime32; 2011-10-19 at 06:06 PM.