TOPIC: New for 2015 -- Psychic Powers!

SageSTL wrote:

jedibcg wrote: From the way I read it you would need a token to use the Psychic Points (like the ISAO) to get to the special event.

EDIT:

The way I read this AT THIS POINT is:

The teeth are useless without the ISAO but the ISAO is useable with the teeth.

So--you have to get one specific ultra-rare (the Ioun Stone), 1/4 of your $1K UR selections, to even be able to use the tooth which is being offered as an incentive? That is... frustrating.

The powers are okay--but most of them are replicated with rare potions (or other tokens at that level) anyway. I was not looking for more power--just something different from what we've seen before. The ability to further customize one's character's abilities/powers is appealing.

I understand your frustrations, and I feel them as well when designing new parts of TD. I originally had a much more complicated system with more Psychic stats (more like 1e AD&D Psionics), but in the end it was clear that adding in ANOTHER thing for DMs/Coaches to deal with would not be the best way to go. We just added in the Rod of 7 Parts characters...so I think it best to keep it simple.

Perhaps in 7 years we can have some more fun options (for those with a complete set of Teeth) that will allow more new cool customizing. That would be a good goal to keep in mind so we keep new additions to a minimum until then.

Pstyle wrote:

Jeff Martin wrote: What type of action is it to use these Psychic Powers?

It depends on the Power. Most will require a standard action, but some like the damage negation are a free action. Maybe we should add that to the chart.

If most are going to be a standard action I am further underwhelmed :/ Sorry to be so negative I want to like it really, but slots needed and standard action powers is not doing it for me. Even though I probably won't ever have it I hope the 4 piece eldritch set is good.

No worries. Thanks for your feedback. Perhaps making them Free actions would be best -- and in keeping with the spirit of 1e AD&D.

A new version of the rules has been uploaded to this link:

www.truedungeon.com/newsletter/Psychic_Powers.pdf


We changed it to Planar Vision and Coaches no longer get tokens equipped to them.

Thanks for all the very good feedback. It is appreciated and very useful.

Hi Jeff,

Seems interesting. I would like to suggest one small change. People have been saying that the item feels underwhelming. Could the healing be changed to 4 + 2 for every full 10 PP? That way even if you don't use one of the other special powers, you could still have access to an accelerating special form of healing.

Ok so I'll admit here I havnt had time to read through all of the comments yet BUT...

Why the point system? Why not simply # of Psychic tokens for powers and for your "Astral Travel" require a transmted item? Perhaps the complete Teeth of Cavadar set?

The reason I say this is that the coaches are going to go mad adding up points for Psychic items on top of everything else they have to do. Imagine the problem with HoP x5. This year will be fine having only two but as it grows it will only get worse.

Heck - have the items give access to level based psychic powers for that matter... if you have a level one power once/game then here is your list of powers. That also allows you to change the powers. You could even give the players a handout (think sticky note) that you could tack onto the bottom of the player card that allows them to turn it into the DM for an effect. It gets trashed and effect goes off.

Just a thought. I do like the powers overall =)

Proposed idea:
Psychic Points
Power
Description (1/game)
0–9 (level 0)
Cell Repair
Heal 4 HP
10–19 (Level 1)
Adjust Mass
Walk on water as if it were solid ground
20–29 (level 1)
Control Mass
Gain the feather fall ability
30–39 (level 2)
ESP
Monster cannot surprise you
40–49 (level 2)
Planar Vision
Ignore the 50% miss chance when attacking incorporeal targets
50–59 (level 3)
Mind Shield
Negates the effect of a failed Will saving throw
60–69 (level 3)
Energy Adjustment
Negate 5 points of Cold, Fire, Shock, or Sonic damage
70–79 (level 4)
Energy Control
Negate 10 points of Cold, Fire, Shock, or Sonic damage
80+ (Transmute Items into a GT-esc Item)
Astral Projection
Gain access to special event*
*Details to be announced at a later date. This will be a very cool one-time event held in 2021.

Items:

Ioun Stone Amethyst Ovid: Allows up to level 1 psychic abilities once/game (or level 0)
1st Tooth of Cavadar: amplifies Psychic ability by 1 level (+1) and adds 1 power. (up to 2/game now with IS:AO)

Re: powers - it's a fine line between allowing a power like water walking or flying to "break" a room versus making a difference. If they don't make a difference, then what's the point? Like the force field across the chasm, or the nixies or whatever that dragged you underwater if you tried to walk across it. It would be a shame if everyone ended up just using their new powers for regaining HP for fear of being told that they burned it on water walking, for instance, and it doesn't do anything useful because "game balance."

Fizzikx wrote: Ok so I'll admit here I havnt had time to read through all of the comments yet BUT...

Why the point system? Why not simply # of Psychic tokens for powers and for your "Astral Travel" require a transmted item? Perhaps the complete Teeth of Cavadar set?

The reason I say this is that the coaches are going to go mad adding up points for Psychic items on top of everything else they have to do. Imagine the problem with HoP x5. This year will be fine having only two but as it grows it will only get worse.

Heck - have the items give access to level based psychic powers for that matter... if you have a level one power once/game then here is your list of powers. That also allows you to change the powers. You could even give the players a handout (think sticky note) that you could tack onto the bottom of the player card that allows them to turn it into the DM for an effect. It gets trashed and effect goes off.

Just a thought. I do like the powers overall =)

Players track their own points. Having tokens have points means that there can be different level of tokens (besides the teeth) that provide points (to lesser numbers).

I think those who are underwhelmed need to consider that the completed teeth of the cavadar are part of the eldritch set and will provide some sort of additional set bonus.

Thanks for the additional feedback. We have re-done the sheet again, and tried to make it easier to grasp. We did go with making the activation of the power a FREE action, so that should help with making it feel more like 1e AD&D.

The variable healing idea is interesting. What does everyone think about it healing 4 + 2/tooth?

Please see the link now to download the latest version. We go rid of the point system and just made it "per tooth". They will be the only means of gaining points so it works best that way.

www.truedungeon.com/newsletter/Psychic_Powers.pdf

Though I plan on getting teeth so this doesn't affect me, I am disappointed that those that don't get teeth won't be able to use Psychic Powers (beyond a simple heal at the cost of 1 UR). That may have been your intent all along however.

Jeff -

The document isn't updating, I've tried a couple of ways of viewing/downloading it.

*Edit*

Never mind, it's working now. Thank you!

-Joshua