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don't know and i hate it.
just change it if you don't like it
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Darn new age hippie psions. I think it is a little weird also I can understand it for psicrystals and the psi wand things but I don't see a reason for the weapons. there are a couple of prestige classes devoted to those weapons though. http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/psm/20040827d
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Because, deep in thier heart of hearts, the people who designed the psionics system wanted it to be cooler than the magic system. Not to knock psionics, but I'd be willing to bet that they almost wet themselves with joy when they realized they could 1-up the wizard artwork. "Haha!" they said, "Let the wizards have their cheesy combos and smoldering staves, we have sparkly crystal swords! In fact, we have razor-sharp spiny crystal everything! Swords, wands, alternate personalities, mirrors, furniture, clothing, toilet paper..."
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Last edited by Jade_Tarem : 02-08-2007 at 04:28 PM.
Because, deep in thier heart of hearts, the people who designed the psionics system wanted it to be cooler than the magic system. Not to knock psionics, but I'd be willing to bet that they almost wet themselves with joy when they realized they could 1-up the wizard artwork. "Haha!" they said, "Let the wizards have their cheesy combos and smoldering staves, we have sparkly crystal swords! In fact, we have razor-sharp spiny crystal everything! Swords, wands, alternate personalities, mirrors, furniture, clothing, toilet paper..."
Suddenly Ialdabode had an epiphany, "OH GODS WHY DIDN'T WE STOP WITH THE WEAPONS? CRYSTAL TOILET PAPER IS A HORRIBLE IDEA!"
The fluff reason is that crystals are psionically resonant so they can channel stuff and act like batteries, etc. The real reason is because even the reality shattering powers of magic are worthless compared to Shiny Things.
Edit: CURSE YOU KHANTALAS!!!
Last edited by BCOVertigo : 02-08-2007 at 04:43 PM.
Yea, I was aware of the horrible fluffiness, the only cool looking crystal swinger is the warforged on the intro page of sharn.
But are there any powers that actually need a crystal weapons or object?
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Yea, I was aware of the horrible fluffiness, the only cool looking crystal swinger is the warforged on the intro page of sharn.
But are there any powers that need a crystal weapons or object?
Crystals give psionics some stylistic flair. Without them psionic characters are just normal people standing around that occasionally decide to blow things up, tear apart someone's mind, create new planes, etc. Which is kinda cool but crystals are pretty and shiny. Which makes them more cool I guess.
There's a prestige class that was on WotCs site that was pretty much a combined Kensai, Weapon Master, and still gave progression on psychic warrior and full BAB. It's pretty sick, but the requirements are steep and include having a crystal masterwork weapon to 'imbue'.
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The profusion of typeless "crystal" (Or the more bad-aasimar version, "deep" crystal) is one of the things that annoys me about the various fluff decisions.
As a general metaphysicist, I have minor cognitive dissonance with psionics in general, Incarnum's use of chakras, and a few other terms. Most of the time I don't let it interfere with my enjoyment of an interesting system, since they let you do cool things (Even if straight-from-the-box incarnum makes you look like you were dumpster diving at Goodwill), and it was either use something that vaguely corresponds or come up with a new term.
Yeah, dude, it's 'cause the crystals, y'see, are all like... Yeah, so when you focus on your inner... y'know, well, and colors, so... yeah, dude.
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Also consider, gems, most notably diamonds, are extreamly important to magic. Many powerful spells (especially those dealing with a soul) use gems as material components and most magic items incorporate a gem of some sort in their design, perhaps as a sort of magical battery.
Psionics (using the standard magic transparency rules) or more or less just a different way of manipulating magical power. Stylisticly, or perhaps out of efficiency psionic crystals tend to be bigger and more "jagged" shapped then the clean cut smallish gems that mages use, perhaps to show how psionics rather then being a fairly exact and regimented system (like magic), is a little more feral and unpredicatable.
Or perhaps someone just thought that psionic characters needed to look different then normal characters and crystals just look cool.
EDIT: Wizards have beards because most wizards are old and long white beards are a sign of age and wisdom. Unless your a PC, who is always in the 16-20 range, most wizards who are any good have studied for decades and thus are old farts.
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Oh the Psychic Weapon Master is so good. Its Full BAB, 5/10, Full Kensai Weapon Upgrade, Adds +2 to a weapon threat range if you have improved crit (else you get improved crit), and you can increase the weapon multipler 5xs a day.
Oh the Psychic Weapon Master is so good. Its Full BAB, 5/10, Full Kensai Weapon Upgrade, Adds +2 to a weapon threat range if you have improved crit (else you get improved crit), and you can increase the weapon multipler 5xs a day.
How do you like my 17-20 x5 Crystal Scythe?
Not as much as I like my 12-20/x7 3.0 weaponmaster Scythe.
Not as much as I like my 12-20/x7 3.0 weaponmaster Scythe.
Personally, I liked my 3.0 Disciple of Dispater/Weapons master wielding two 3-20/x2 Bladed Gauntlets with vorpal. But I'm thinking there are reasons why that kind if thing is not permitted any longer.
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The crystals really kind of annoyed me at first, but there is an actual logical explanation for it. Crystals are already beiing used to store energy and memory in computers. Crystals, if aligned right and this and that done to them could possibly have an neural-like matrix. Crystals tend to follow a fractal pattern, and alot of information can be stored in this way. If tuned to certain frequencies or conditions they are also capable of realigning themselves, which in this case is merely thoughts waves.
Thus one could almost say a psicrystal is a sort of no-tech computer accessible by the psion's mind. Main problem with this though is that it feeds into the whole 'Psionics is only for sci-fi! Waaaaaah!' mentality.
I think of these crystals as more alike to be silicon-based creatures, which are just as likely to exist as carbon-based.
Last edited by The Vorpal Tribble : 02-10-2007 at 11:55 AM.
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Frankly, I can't remember the last time I saw psionics in a sci-fi story.
Foundation series, by Isaac Asimov.
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Its all crystal clear?
I think it is a little weird also I can understand it for psicrystals and the psi wand things but I don't see a reason for the weapons. there are a couple of prestige classes devoted to those weapons though. 
