D&D: Mind Over Mearls – Psionics Coming To D&D?
Mental marvels from Mike Mearls–come take a look at a possible parsing for Psionics in 5th Edition today on the Mike Mearls Happy Fun Hour.
It’s not every day you wake up and figure out a potential solution for making Psionics work in D&D–but apparently that day was Saturday, according to a Tweet from Mike Mearls.
I’ve always found physical work is a great way to relax the mind while pondering a problem. Think I found the last piece for psionics while working on the backyard. Tuesday is going to be fun.
— Mike Mearls (@mikemearls) May 27, 2018
Now Psionics have always occupied an interesting place in the D&D lexicon. Because they are just shy of being like magic. Think about a psionic class in the game, and even if you’re looking at a spellcaster type, it still should feel different from playing a Sorcerer or a Wizard. Because otherwise why have psionics when you could just play a sorcerer.
But in the drive to create this distinction between psionics and magic, a ton of complexity has evolved. Look at 3rd and 3.5 edition psionics. Arguably they were both some of the best rules out there and some of the hardest to make function. You had psionic disciplines, talents, and a pool of power points that let you do amazing things–but it felt like a separate game from Dungeons and Dragons. Unless your whole party was playing psions, you basically had to use two or three different rulesets, sometimes with very conflicting interactions.
Which is a lot for anyone to keep track of. The same can be seen in the earlier Unearthed Arcana draft of the psionics rules and the Mystic which accompanied them. I think it’s incredibly cool that you can basically take a whole party of Mystics and have them each feel differently depending on what subclass/disciplines they chose, but it’s also like trying to wedge them in over the existing system.
Which is why most of the psionic creatures either have a special ability, or just use spells that are ‘psionic’ in nature–things like Charm Person or Hold Person or what have you. But Mearls has a different solution that might thread the needle…
It’s a spell list that you gain access to only if you choose a psionic class. Non-casters pick up and use the cantrips. This class-less spell list can also be used by the mystic. It’s going to be fun diving in on Tuesday. (2/2)
Advertisement— Mike Mearls (@mikemearls) May 27, 2018
Essentially there would be a list of spells that are psionic, or as Mearls puts it, like having a new school of magic.
Maybe this is clearer – imagine there’s a new school of magic called psionics. As a default, none of those spells appear on any class’s list. You have to choose a psionic subclass, and it tells you that you can now choose spells from that list.
— Mike Mearls (@mikemearls) May 27, 2018
Now obviously there are some more nuances than that. Psionics are currently in an interesting place with 5th Edition when last Psionics were in the air:
We're experimenting with a version that is unaffected by dispel magic & counterspell.
— Jeremy Crawford (@JeremyECrawford) March 15, 2017
So, we’ll have to see how this “new school” philosophy works. But I love the idea–especially if it means new spells that aren’t already extant. There are some obvious choices, Charm and Hold Person, see above–but I’d love to see some new abilities that you don’t immediately get access too. And as a shared resource with an existing system already in place, it’s easy to whip up a psionic subclass. Especially one that works well as either a hybrid caster (like the Eldritch Knight but with a much different focus) or even a monk subclass, like the way of the Four Elements but with psionics instead could be very good.
So be sure and tune in for the Mike Mearls Happy Fun Hour, which you can find today at 1pm Pacific Time at D&D’s Twitch Stream.
In the meantime, be sure and remember that matter never minds.
