Psionic Class - Psion

The striking fist or flashing sword pales beside a psion's focused stare. Psionic powers arise from a regimen of strict mental discipline developed over months and years of self-scrutiny and subconscious discovery. Those who overcome their personal demons, fears, and other pitfalls of intense self-reflection learn to call upon an internal reservoir of psionic power.

Psions depend on a continual study of their own minds to discover an ever wider range of mental powers. They meditate on memories and the nature of memory itself, debate with their own fragment personalities, and delve into the dark recesses of their minds' convoluted corridors. "Know thyself" is not just a saying for a psion - it's the road to power.

Adventures: A psion adventures to stimulate his mind. New experiences translate to new avenues of thought, and eventually to the discovery of previous-ly latent abilities. A psion's powers are innate but not effortlessly attained.

Good psions seek what is best in the world and attempt to preserve those elements with their mastery of mental powers. Evil psions seek to mold others to their own desires, whether using their powers openly or in secret.

Characteristics: The psion draws real power from his mind. His power is a logical expression of lore attained through ongoing self-study. His aggressive powers do not freely scale as do the spells of arcane and divine casters, but he enjoys supreme flexibility in accessing those powers. A psion must choose one discipline in which to focus, at the cost of losing access to the signature powers found in other disciplines -so in a sense the psion character class is six classes rather than one. A shaper (a psion who has selected meta creativity as her discipline) is a very different character from a telepath (a psion whose discipline is telepathy).

Alignment: For a psion, psionics is a personal art. Psions look always inward, so they tend slightly toward neutrality over both chaos and law, but being neutral is not a requirement. Psions can be either good or evil.

Religion: Psions are not particularly drawn to any deity, due to their exceptional focus on their own personal potential. Psions who do revere a deity do not conform to any general choice.

Background: Those destined to be psions show signs of mental powers from the time they are just a few years old, but manifestations become especially noticeable at puberty. Unexplained noises and lights, crockery flying through the air of its own accord, and the appearance of small items out of thin air are common occurrences. Many who have the gift grow out of it, turning away from their potential. However, a few embrace their newfound special powers. Psions are often on their own, misunderstood and feared by friends and family. Sometimes, psions find others with similar abilities and form informal networks, small societies, or even tiny communes populated with individuals who all possess some psionic ability.

Races: The inborn gift for psionics is unpredictable, and it can show up in any of the common races. Of the races with a penchant for psionic ability (those described in Chapter 1 of XPH), elans are most likely to take up the psion mantle.

Mind flayers are especially likely to become psions, since their abilities are actually components of a deeper psionic nature - they possess awesome psionic might even without taking levels in the psion class.

Other Classes: Psions enjoy the company of monks and psychic warriors, sharing those characters' dedication to self-mastery. Psions sometimes get off on the wrong foot with members of spellcasting classes such as sorcerers and wizards, because some psions feel that magic is a crutch for the mind. They are very suspicious of wilders, since the uncontained raw emotion of the wilder is anathema to the psion's disciplined path.

Role: A psion's powers make him a good addition to any party. Psions take on differing roles within a party, based on the discipline each one selects. For example, seers (specialists in clairsentience) serve to guide parties in difficult spots, while shapers (psions who have chosen metacreativity as their discipline) vastly upgrade the party's options in a fight.

Game Rule Information

Psions have the following game statistics.

Abilities: Intelligence determines how powerful a power a psion can manifest, how many powers he can manifest, and how hard those powers are to resist. See Class Features, below.

Alignment: Any.

Class Skills

The psion's class skills are Concentration, Craft, Knowledge (all skills taken individually), Profession, and Psicraft.

Skill Points at 1st Level: (2 + Int modifier) x 4.

Skill Points at each additional level: 2 + Int modifier.

In addition, a psion gains access to additional class skills based on his discipline:

Seer (Clairsentience): Gather Information, Listen, and Spot. Shaper (Metacreativity): Bluff, Disguise, and Use Psionic Device. Kineticist (Psychokinesis): Autohypnosis, Disable Device, and Intimidate. Egoist (Psychometabolism): Autohypnosis, Balance, and Heal. Nomad (Psychoportation): Climb, Jump, Ride, Survival, and Swim. Telepath (Telepathy): Bluff, Diplomacy, Gather Information, and Sense Motive.

Class Features

All the following are class features of the psion.

Weapon and Armor Proficiency: Psions are proficient with the club, dagger, heavy crossbow, light crossbow, quarterstaff, and shortspear. They are not proficient with any type of armor or shield. Armor does not, however, interfere with the manifestation of powers.

Power Points/Day: A psion's ability to manifest powers is limited by the power points he has available. His base daily allotment of power points is given on The Psion table (below). In addition, he receives bonus power points per day if he has a high Intelligence score (see Table 2-1: Ability Modifiers and Bonus Power Points). His race may also provide bonus power points per day, as may certain feats and items.

Discipline: Every psion must decide at 1st level which psionic discipline he will specialize in. Choosing a discipline provides a psion with access to the class skills associated with that discipline (see above), as well as the powers restricted to that discipline. However, choosing a discipline also means that the psion cannot learn powers that are restricted to other disciplines. He can't even use such powers by employing psionic items. (See Psionic Disciplines, below, for a brief description of each discipline. Chapter 5 of this book (XPH) contains a list of powers available to all psions and lists of powers restricted to certain disciplines.)

Powers Known: A psion begins play knowing three psion powers of your choice. Each time he achieves a new level, he unlocks the knowledge of new powers.

Choose the powers known from the psion power list, or from the list of powers of your chosen discipline. You cannot choose powers from disciplines other than your chosen discipline. (Exception: The feats Expanded Knowledge, and Epic Expanded Knowledge, do allow a psion to learn powers from the lists of other disciplines or even other classes.) A psion can manifest any power that has a power point cost equal to or lower than his manifester level.

The number of times a psion can manifest powers in a day is limited only by his daily power points. For example, a 9th-level psion (with a total of 72 power points) could manifest a power costing 1 power point seventy-two times in one day, a power costing 9 power points eight times in one day, or any other combination of manifestations that does not exceed 72 power points in total.

A psion simply knows his powers; they are ingrained in his mind. He does not need to prepare them (in the way that some spellcasters prepare their spells), though he must get a good night's sleep each day to regain all his spent power points.

The Difficulty Class for saving throws against psion powers is 10 + the power's level + the psion's Intelligence modifier. For example, the saving throw against a 6th-level power has a DC of 16 + Int modifier.

Maximum Power Level Known: A psion begins play with the ability to learn 1st-level powers. As he attains higher levels, a psion may gain the ability to master more complex powers - for example, a 3rd-level psion can learn powers of 2nd level or lower, a 5th-level psion can learn powers of 3rd level or lower, and so on.

To learn or manifest a power, a psion must have an Intelligence score of at least 10 + the power's level. For example, a psion within an Intelligence score of 15 can manifest powers of 5th level or lower.

Bonus Feats: A psion gains a bonus feat at 1st level, 5th level, 10th level, 15th level, and 20th level. This feat must be a psionic feat, a metapsionic feat, or a psionic item creation feat.

These bonus feats are in addition to the feats that a character of any class gains every three levels (as given on Experience and Level-Dependent Benefits). A psion is not limited to psionic feats, metapsionic feats, and psionic item creation feats when choosing these other feats.

Psionic Disciplines

A discipline is one of six groupings of powers, each defined by a common theme. The six disciplines are clairsentience, metacreativity, psychokinesis, psychometabolism, psychoportation, and telepathy.

Clairsentience: A psion who chooses clairsentience is known as a seer. Seers can learn precognitive powers to aid their comrades in combat, as well as powers that permit them to gather information in many different ways.

Metacreativity: A psion specializing in metacreativity is known as a shaper. This discipline includes powers that draw ectoplasm or matter from the Astral Plane, creating semisolid and solid items such as armor, weapons, or animated constructs to do battle at the shaper's command.

Psychokinesis: Psions who specialize in psychokinesis are known as kineticists. They are the masters of powers that manipulate and transform matter and energy. Kineticists can attack with devastating blasts of energy.

Psychometabolism: A psion who specializes in psychometabolism is known as an egoist. This discipline consists of powers that alter the psion's psychobiology, or that of creatures near him. An egoist can both heal and transform himself into a fearsome fighter.

Psychoportation: A psion who relies on psychoportation powers is known as a nomad. Nomads can wield powers that propel or displace objects in space or time.

Telepathy: A psion who chooses the discipline of telepathy is known as a telepath. He is the master of powers that allow mental contact and control of other sentient creatures. A telepath can deceive or destroy the minds of his enemies with ease.

Psion							Hit Dice: d4
CL	BAB	Fort	Ref	Will	Special	Power Points/Day	Powers known	Max Pwr Lvl known
1st	+0	+0	+0	+2	Bonus Feat, discipline	2	3	1st
2nd	+1	+0	+0	+3	-	6	5	1st
3rd	+1	+1	+1	+3		11	5	2nd
4th	+2	+1	+1	+4	-	17	9	2nd
5th	+2	+1	+1	+4	Bonus Feat	25	11	3rd
6th	+3	+2	+2	+5	-	35	13	3rd
7th	+3	+2	+2	+5	-	46	15	4th
8th	+4	+2	+2	+6	-	58	17	4th
9th	+4	+3	+3	+6	-	72	19	5th
10th	+5	+3	+3	+7	Bonus Feat	88	21	5th
11th	+5	+3	+3	+7	-	106	22	6th
12th	+6/+1	+4	+4	+8	-	126	24	6th
13th	+6/+1	+4	+4	+8	-	147	25	7th
14th	+7/+2	+4	+4	+9	-	170	27	7th
15th	+7/+2	+5	+5	+9	Bonus Feat	195	28	8th
16th	+8/+3	+5	+5	+10	-	221	30	8th
17th	+8/+3	+5	+5	+10	-	250	31	9th
18th	+9/+4	+6	+6	+11	-	280	33	9th
19th	+9/+4	+6	+6	+11	-	311	34	9th
20th	+10/+5	+6	+6	+12	Bonus Feat	343	36	9th

Psicrystal

Epic Psion

To the epic psion, inner knowledge is literally power, and the quest for the expansion of hidden psionic abilities is never-ending. Ever more potent psionic power and even the creation of psionic artifacts are hallmarks of the epic psion.

Hit Die: d4.

Skill Points at Each Additional Level: 2 + Int modifier.

Powers: The psion's manifester level is equal to his class level. The psion's base power points do not increase after 20th level. Each time the psion attains a new level, he learns two new powers of any level or levels that he can manifest.

Psicrystal: The epic psion's psicrystal, if he has one, continues to increase in power. At every odd-numbered level higher than 20th (21st, 23rd, and so on) the psicrystal's natural armor bonus and Intelligence each increase by 1. The psicrystal's power resistance is equal to the master's level + 5. At 21st level and again every ten levels higher than 21st, the psicrystal gains the benefit of the Psicrystal Power epic feat for a power of its master's choice.

Bonus Feats: The epic psion gains a bonus feat every three levels higher than 20th (23rd, 26th, and so on).

Source: Expanded Psionics Handbook

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