Psionic Class - Wilder

The psion draws his psionic ability from strict mental discipline and intellectual development. Not so the wilder - for her, raw emotion is the source of psionic power.

Emotion-triggered psionic ability is not a science, but a passion. The zeal with which the wilder pursues the use of her psionic ability is so extreme that she can occasionally trigger a surge of power far beyond her normal capabilities. But with this ability comes a price: By exceeding her limits, the wilder may injure herself with psychic feedback.

Adventures: Wilders see dangerous quests as further opportunities to use their emotion-triggered psionic abilities. Eager to show what they can do, wilders use their psionic abilities against whatever obstacles confront them. Wilders are concerned first of all with the manifestation of their powers, but do not shy away from wealth or items that can further upgrade their abilities.

Characteristics: Wilders are passionate about their powers, often pushing themselves to their utter limits with their wild surges. However, they are not blind to the risks of the wild surge and the limited number of powers they can call upon. Thus, they develop their skills and fighting ability as best they can, honing themselves to be useful in all situations.

Alignment: Wilders are capable of adopting any of the alignment viewpoints, none of which are at odds with personal psionic development.

Religion: A wilder is too self-centered to desire or seek after the philosophy of deities.

Background: A wilder is typically self-taught. Most wilders were left too long on their own as children, sometimes forced by cruel circumstance to live alone in the wild. Life in the wild doesn't usually forge many bonds, so when most wilders are eventually found, they return to civilization. By that point, however, their mental development is set. When they take up residence in larger cities, wilders try to make up for their years of solitude by impressing others with their abilities.

Wilders recognize each other as fellow voyagers on the journey of personal discovery. They may feel kinship with others of their kind, but they are just as likely to throw down a challenge.

Races: Wilders are more likely to spring up among maenads than in any other race. Humans are a close second. Dromites, elves, halflings, gnomes, and xephs are usually incapable of putting themselves in the emotional moment required to trigger psionic ability - they prefer the more disciplined approaches of other classes. The wilder tradition is more akin to half-giant culture, and some few wilders are thus half-giants. Surprisingly enough, a small number of dwarves, rebelling against their society, find the abilities of the wilder quite appealing and fall into the class by accident.

Other creatures with psionic ability are somewhat more likely to become wilders than to take up any other psionic class.

Other Classes: While wilders are, on the one hand, turbulent individuals, on the other hand they enjoy dealing with others because they are happy to showcase their own prowess - through action or just through talk.

Role: A wilder is sometimes a front-line combatant, using her powers to boost her raw fighting ability. Other wilders prefer second-line positions, relying wholly on powers to contribute to a group's offensive capabilities.

Game Rule Information

Wilders have the following game statistics.

Abilities: Charisma determines how powerful a powers wilder can manifest and how hard those powers are to resist. Dexterity provides a wilder with a better defense and with bonuses on some class skills. Strength helps a wilder's combat ability.

Alignment: Any.

Class Skills

The wilder's class skills are Autohypnosis, Balance, Bluff, Climb, Concentration, Craft, Escape Artist, Intimidate, Jump, Knowledge (psionics), Listen, Profession, Psicraft, Sense Motive, Spot, Swim, and Tumble.

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

Skill Points at each additional level: 4 + Int modifier.

Class Features

All the following are class features of the wilder.

Weapon and Armor Proficiency: Wilders are proficient with all simple weapons, with light armor, and with shields (except tower shields).

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

Powers Known: A wilder begins play knowing one wilder power of your choice. At every even-numbered class level after 1st, she unlocks the knowledge of new powers.

Choose the powers known from the wilder power list. (Exception: The feats Expanded Knowledge, and Epic Expanded Knowledge, do allow a wilder to learn powers from the lists of other classes.) A wilder can manifest any power that has a power point cost equal to or lower than her manifester level.

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

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

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

Maximum Power Level Known: A wilder begins play with the ability to learn 1st-level powers. As she attains higher levels, she may gain the ability to master more complex powers - for example, a 4th-level wilder can learn powers of 2nd level or lower, a 6th-level wilder can learn powers of 3rd level or lower, and so on.

To learn or manifest a power, a wilder must have a Charisma score of at least 10 + the power's level. For example, a wilder with a 16 Charisma can manifest powers of 6th level or lower.

Wild Surge (Su): A wilder can let her passion and emotion rise to the surface in a wild surge when she manifests a power. During a wild surge, a wilder gains phenomenal psionic strength, but may harm herself by the reckless use of her power (see Psychic Enervation, below).

A wilder can choose to invoke a wild surge whenever she manifests a power. When she does so, she gains +1 to her manifester level with that manifestation of the power. The manifester level boost gives her the ability to augment her powers to a higher degree than she otherwise could; however, she pays no extra power point for this wild surge. Instead, the additional 1 power point that would normally be required to augment the power is effectively supplied by the wild surge.

Level-dependent power effects are also improved, depending on the power a wilder manifests with her wild surge. This improvement in manifester level does not grant her any other benefits (psicrystal abilities do not advance, she does not gain higher-level class abilities, and so on). She cannot use the Overchannel psionic feat and invoke her wild surge at the same time.

For example, Leila is a 3rd-level wilder who knows the power mind thrust. She can normally spend a maximum of 3 power points to deal 3d10 points of damage with this power. If she invokes her wild surge when she manifests the power, she spends 3 power points to deal 4d10 points of damage (as if she were a 4th-level manifester, and thus able to spend up to 4 points on manifesting the power).

At 3rd level, a wilder can choose to boost her manifester level by two instead of one. At 7th level, she can boost her manifester level by up to three; at 11th level, by up to four; at 15th level, by up to five; and at 19th level, by up to six.

In all cases, the wild surge effectively pays the extra power point cost that is normally required to augment the power; only the unaugmented power point cost is subtracted from the wilder's power point reserve.

Psychic Enervation (Ex): Pushing oneself by invoking a wild surge is dangerous. Immediately following each wild surge, a wilder may be overcome by the strain of her effort. The chance of suffering psychic enervation is equal to 5% per manifester level added with the wild surge. For example, if, at 11th level, Leila uses wild surge to boost her manifester level by four, she has a 20% chance of suffering psychic enervation as a result.

A wilder who is overcome by psychic enervation is dazed until the end of her next turn and loses a number of power points equal to her wilder level.

Elude Touch (Ex): Starting at 2nd level, a wilder's intuition supersedes her intellect, alerting her to danger from touch attacks (including rays). She gains a bonus to Armor Class against all touch attacks equal to her Charisma bonus; however, her touch AC can never exceed her Armor Class against normal attacks.

Surging Euphoria (Ex): Starting at 4th level, when a wilder uses her wild surge ability, she gains a +1 morale bonus on attack rolls, damage rolls, and saving throws for a number of rounds equal to the intensity of her wild surge. For example, if Leila uses wild surge to boost her manifester level by two, her morale bonus would last for 2 rounds. (Even if she had the wild surge +4 ability, the fact that she boosted her manifester level by only two restricts the duration to 2 rounds.),

If a wilder is overcome by psychic enervation following her wild surge, she does not gain the morale bonus for this use of her wild surge ability.

At 12th level, the morale bonus on a wilder's attack rolls, damage rolls, and saving throws increases to +2. At 20th level, the bonus increases to +3.

Volatile Mind (Ex): A wilder's temperamental mind is hard to encompass with the discipline of telepathy. When any telepathy power is manifested on a wilder of 5th level or higher, the manifester of the power must pay 1 power point more than he otherwise would have spent.

The extra cost is not a natural part of that power's cost. It does not augment the power; it is simply a wasted power point. The wilder's volatile mind can force the manifester of the telepathy power to exceed the normal power point limit of 1 point per manifester level. If the extra cost raises the telepathy power's cost to more points than the manifester has remaining in his reserve, the power simply fails, and the manifester exhausts the rest of his power points.

At 9th level, the penalty assessed against telepathy powers manifested on a wilder is increased to 2 power points. At 13th level, the penalty increases to 3 power points, and at 17th level it increases to 4 power points.

As a standard action, a wilder can choose to lower this effect for 1 round (in the event, for instance, that a friend attempts to manifest a beneficial telepathy power on her).

WilderHit Die: d6
CLBABFortRefWillSpecialPower Points/DayPowers knownMax Pwr Lvl known
1st+0+0+0+0Wild surge +1, psychic enervation211st
2nd+1+0+0+0Elude touch621st
3rd+2+1+1+1Wild surge +21121st
4th+3+1+1+1Surging euphoria +11732nd
5th+3+1+1+1Volatile mind (1 power point)2532nd
6th+4+2+2+2-3543rd
7th+5+2+2+2Wild surge +34643rd
8th+6/+1+2+2+2-5854th
9th+6/+1+3+3+3Volatile mind (2 power points)7254th
10th+7/+2+3+3+3-8865th
11th+8/+3+3+3+3Wild surge +410665th
12th+9/+4+4+4+4Surging euphoria +212676th
13th+9/+4+4+4+4Volatile mind (3 power points)14776th
14th+10/+5+4+4+4-17087th
15th+11/+6/+1+5+5+5Wild surge +519587th
16th+12/+7/+2+5+5+5-22197th
17th+12/+7/+2+5+5+5Volatile mind (4 power points)25098th
18th+13/+8/+3+6+6+6-280109th
19th+14/+9/+4+6+6+6Wild surge +6311109th
20th+15/+10/+5+6+6+6Surging euphoria +3343119th

Epic Wilder

The epic wilder's powers become even more volatile and unpredictable.

Hit Die: d6.

Skill Points at Each Additional Level: 4 + Int modifier.

Powers: The epic wilder's manifester level is equal to her class level. The wilder's power points and powers known do not increase after 20th level (except through the use of epic feats).

Wild Surge: The epic wilder's wild surge continues to increase after 20th level. At 23rd level and every four levels higher than 23rd, the wild surge continues to gain an additional +1 boost to manifester level when used (+7 at 23rd, +8 at 27th, and so on).

Surging Euphoria: The wilder's surging euphoria progression continues past 20th level. At 28th level and every eight levels higher than 28th, the morale bonus on her attack rolls, damage rolls, and saving throws increases by 1 (+4 at 28th, +5 at 36th, and so on).

Volatile Mind: The epic wilder's volatile mind ability continues to increase. At 21st level and every four levels higher than 21st, the penalty assessed against telepathy powers manifested on the wilder is increased by 1 power point (5 points at 21st, 6 points at 25th, and so on).

Source: Expanded Psionics Handbook

Psionic Classes
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