OSSR: AD&D 2e Complete Psionics Handbook

[tussock]

Convergence is for teams of Gith, Illithid, or Fiends. A few powers only really make sense for monster groups.

Regarding level requirements: Disintegrate, and most other useful things, are limited by the huge PSP outlays. 40 for disintegrate does let it be used once if taken immediately at 3rd level, but the earliest I saw it taken was 7th and even there it's a 2/adventure save-or-die trick which the Cleric and Wizard both had earlier.

The player I had with it only used it to assassinate NPCs in his downtime, when dumping everything didn't hurt. Ectoplasmic Form was a better balls-to-the-wall option in regular combat (like when another player decided he was leaving and would murder all the other PCs on his way out, which was well put together in character and stuff).

But then, we never got near 11th level where Empower+Receptacle makes your PSPs explode. 2nd edition XP tables are brutal, effectively removing 80% of 1st edition XP by taking away XP for gp and other stuff. Basically made it impossible to get beyond 9th BTB.

I think that's why the current (and previous) head game designers think 7th-9th level is the whole game: you spend forever hitting 10th or 11th in 2nd edition, and you've got to be pretty old now to have played as much 1st edition as 2nd, let alone 3rd with it's broken casters. /random.

[Prak]

As shitty/potentially OP as Animal Affinity was in 2e, it was shitty and bland in 3.X. I would much rather have the more flavourful and versatile 2e version, even if I was stuck with rat.

[PoliteNewb]

Regarding level requirements: Disintegrate, and most other useful things, are limited by the huge PSP outlays. 40 for disintegrate does let it be used once if taken immediately at 3rd level, but the earliest I saw it taken was 7th and even there it's a 2/adventure save-or-die trick which the Cleric and Wizard both had earlier.

While I agree with most of what you said (especially the leveling up part), what the fuck is this?

In 2E, wizards don't get disintegrate until 12th; clerics never get it. Getting it at 7th was fucking awesome, even if it did cost a boatload of PSPs. And you mentioned Receptacle shenanigans which greatly decreased the impact of the high cost...Receptacle has no prerequisites, you can take it at 2nd level. The only psionicist anyone ever played hoarded diamonds.
Even without receptacle, don't forget psions aren't on a "per day" schedule...3 hours meditating (using Rejuvenation), and you've got 36 PSPs back, almost enough for another disintegrate.

[OgreBattle]

If you were gonna give psychic powers a power schedule other than powerpoints what would it be

[Whatever]

Probably a drain-type schedule. If your psychic has their back to the wall, and has been worn down to almost nothing, they really should be able to use their strongest power and pass out.

[Username17]

If you were gonna give psychic powers a power schedule other than powerpoints what would it be

You could do absolutely anything?

• Cool Down
  Each psionic power draws on a different facet of the character's psyche, and when used it cannot be used again for a period of time while that part of the brain recovers. Other powers may be used (and individually exhausted) in the interim, just as the character can still dream when their conscious mind is exhausted.
  
  Warm Up
  Putting yourself into the meditative state required to manifest a psionic power is sometimes time consuming, and in any case highly specific. A character who has focused their mind to perform an act of telekinesis cannot decide instead to contact another mind. When a character achieves psionic focus, it is for a single power, and that power can be manifested until that psionic focus is lost. Many powers are so disorienting to deactivate that the character automatically loses psionic focus when they stop concentrating on the power.
  
  WoF
  Psionicists draw on the latent power of the mind, and as such they have to maintain a delicate balance between conscious and unconscious control. Just as a normal man's unconscious is constantly bombarding the conscious mind with associations, memories, and suggestions that the ego must hone into a working whole, so too does the psionicist deal constantly with a maelstrom of possibilities provided by the untapped power of their id. Each turn, the id provides a number of possible powers that it craves to unleash, and the character may choose to allow one or more of them to manifest.
  
  Drain
  For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. And while the psionicist can perform great feats with the leverage of their mind, the other side of that lever still pressures their all-too-mortal brain. Even the smallest exercise of power is a painful experience for the psionicist, and more powerful manifestations can lead to unconsciousness or even death. It is not uncommon for a psionicist to leak blood from their ears or cry with sanguine tears when manifesting a powerful discipline.

And so on. You can really just write in absolutely any resource management system you want and call it "psionic power". There is seriously no limitation at all. The question is 100% about what fits into your game and 0% about what "fits" with psychic powers. Because literally anything can be written to fit something as vaguely defined as "psionic power".

-Username17

[tussock]

Regarding level requirements: Disintegrate, and most other useful things, are limited by the huge PSP outlays. 40 for disintegrate does let it be used once if taken immediately at 3rd level, but the earliest I saw it taken was 7th and even there it's a 2/adventure save-or-die trick which the Cleric and Wizard both had earlier.

While I agree with most of what you said (especially the leveling up part), what the fuck is this?

In 2E, wizards don't get disintegrate until 12th; clerics never get it. Getting it at 7th was fucking awesome, even if it did cost a boatload of PSPs.

Save-or-die in general. Hold Person. Phantasmal Force. That sort of deal.

And you mentioned Receptacle shenanigans which greatly decreased the impact of the high cost...Receptacle has no prerequisites, you can take it at 2nd level. The only psionicist anyone ever played hoarded diamonds.

My own anecdote is the Psionicists preferred spending their loot on henchmen, seeing as how they needed loyal protection. A lot of PvP stuff in those days in my area though.

Even without receptacle, don't forget psions aren't on a "per day" schedule...3 hours meditating (using Rejuvenation), and you've got 36 PSPs back, almost enough for another disintegrate.

Convincing the other 5-9 players to pause for three hours of wandering monster checks mid-dungeon so you could get one more attack in the next room was one of those things that never actually happened.

[PoliteNewb]

In 2E, wizards don't get disintegrate until 12th; clerics never get it. Getting it at 7th was fucking awesome, even if it did cost a boatload of PSPs.

Save-or-die in general. Hold Person. Phantasmal Force. That sort of deal.

Okay, point. But I would reply that Disintegrate has a lot more utility than any of the lower level SoDs. For starters, you can't Hold Person a dragon (or even a tiger). And if Phantasmal Force was an SoD in your campaigns...never mind, you're just reminding me how AD&D illusion rules were a hot mess of horrible fucktardedness.

And you mentioned Receptacle shenanigans which greatly decreased the impact of the high cost...Receptacle has no prerequisites, you can take it at 2nd level. The only psionicist anyone ever played hoarded diamonds.

My own anecdote is the Psionicists preferred spending their loot on henchmen, seeing as how they needed loyal protection. A lot of PvP stuff in those days in my area though.

Yeah, that would make a huge difference. My players were generally pretty cooperative.

Even without receptacle, don't forget psions aren't on a "per day" schedule...3 hours meditating (using Rejuvenation), and you've got 36 PSPs back, almost enough for another disintegrate.

Convincing the other 5-9 players to pause for three hours of wandering monster checks mid-dungeon so you could get one more attack in the next room was one of those things that never actually happened.

*shrug* Different strokes for different campaigns. It wasn't like we said "let's sit around so Bob can disintegrate more shit", but it definitely wasn't "you shot your wad, you're done until tomorrow". It's not like every adventure is a dungeon crawl, in a cave full of monsters on the prod for you.

[fbmf]

And if Phantasmal Force was an SoD in your campaigns...never mind, you're just reminding me how AD&D illusion rules were a hot mess of horrible fucktardedness.

My guess is that tussock meant Phantasmal Killer, but, yes, 2E illusion rules simultaneously sucked and blew...like every other edition's illusion rules.

Game On,
fbmf

[hogarth]

My guess is that tussock meant Phantasmal Killer, but, yes, 2E illusion rules simultaneously sucked and blew...like every other edition's illusion rules.

I assumed the idea was that you would make a Phantasmal Force of a medusa or basilisk or something similar.

[tussock]

Rocks fall, everyone dies. 2e PHB 130, Intrinsically deadly illusions. Basically, the DM can apply saves with possible bonuses if the illusion is lacking in content and such, but if they fail or if they don't apply the targets must make system shock checks or die.

The other rules for illusions on 82-84 are different, in that you faint if you fail a save against deadly effects and must then make a system shock check or die (one may interpret it that damage illusions make you faint but instant-death ones don't). But either way, dragons can die. With odds that aren't much worse than a Psionicist trying to throw disintegrate off a power score of 13 that also gives a save.