Wednesday, May 28, 2025

UA Psion Subclasses: Psi Warper

 In our look at the second Psion subclass, we'll be exploring the Psi Warper, which is the subclass built around the manipulation of space, teleporting themselves, allies, and foes.

Psi Warper Spells:

1st level: Expeditious Retreat, Feather Fall

2nd level: Misty Step, Shatter

3rd level: Blink, Haste

4th level: Banishment, Dimension Door

5th level: Steel Wind Strike, Teleportation Circle

    So, while a decent number of these are already available to the class, the theme here is pretty clear: you're going to have a lot of teleportation and mobility options. Misty Step is one of my favorite spells (and a great one for a squishy d6 class). Steel Wind Strike is also a really fun show-stopper.

Level 3:

Teleportation, your first feature, allows you to cast Misty Step without expending a spell slot once per long rest, or if you expend a PED (Psionic Energy Die) to restore a use of it.

    One thing I might need to figure out is how "cheap" our PEDs are. On my 5th level Soulknife Rogue, I don't think I've ever run out of them, but this class is built around using them, so they might be spent more frequently. Still, Misty Step is something you won't need all the time, but making sure you do have it when you need it is very good.

Warp Propel, your other 3rd level feature, lets you alter your Telekinetic Propel (it's a new class, so I won't assume we remember how that works and will explain it below,) you can choose to teleport the target to an unoccupied space within 30 feet of you that is horizontal to you (they still get a saving throw). Normally, you'd be pushing a large or smaller creature within 30 feet of you, expending a PED and rolling it, sending them 5 feet times the amount rolled directly away from you on a failed Strength save.

    Now, we might need some clarification on "horizontal to you." I assume this means we can't toss them up in the air so they take 3d6 falling damage. However, neither the base version of this nor this version requires you to put them on safe, solid ground, so very much do use this on cliffs and over lava.

    Another note here is that it's a flat 30 feet. The base version, when you first get it, is 5x1d6, meaning we're talking about an average of 17.5 (15 or 20 on either side of it). Only by tier 4, when we get d12 PEDs, does this actually fall below our average roll, and only just slightly.

Level 6:

Warp Space alters your Shatter (which is a subclass spell, so you're guaranteed to have it). You can expend a PED to make the radius of Shatter 20 feet (doubling the radius, which means quadrupling its area on a flat map). Additionally, creatures that fail the saving throw are pulled to the unoccupied space closest to the center of the sphere.

    Shatter is a poor man's Fireball - very good in tier 1, but doesn't scale up enough to keep up with the big AoE spells. However, this makes the damage kind of incidental and the concentration of foes the real benefit - which of course also means the larger radius is going to get more targets swept into it. Still, it is a Con save, which many things will have decent saves for (though inorganic creatures, I think, like most Constructs, will have disadvantage on the save).

Teleporter Combat is another 6th level feature that empowers Misty Step. It allows you to cast a Psion cantrip with a casting time of an action as part of the same Bonus Action you use to cast Misty Step.

    This makes our Teleporter feature even better - even if we don't need to teleport, being able to toss out a second True Strike on a turn can mean pretty significant damage. (Also, if we use Teleporter to cast Misty Step, we can still use our action for leveled spell).

Level 10:

Duplicitous Target allows us to take a reaction when we see a creature make an attack roll against us, and spend a PED, choosing a willing creature within 30 feet of us that is not Incapacitated. We and the willing creature teleport, swapping places and the willing creature becomes the target of this attack.

    Now, the range on this is going to be a little restrictive, but if you have a heavily-armored ally, or just one that can stand to take a hit when you really don't want to, this could be clutch. Again, if the ally's AC is higher, this could even turn a potential hit into a miss. It does require favorable battlefield arrangement, but could be clutch.

Level 14:

Mass Teleportation, your final subclass feature, allows you to expend 4 PEDs and choose Huge or smaller creatures within 30 feet of yourself, up to a number equal to your Intelligence modifier (minimum 1) and teleport each of them to an unoccupied space within 150 feet of you. An unwilling creature can make a Wisdom saving throw to avoid being teleported.

    Big thing to note: there ain't nothing there that says that the space needs to be on the ground. While there's plenty of utility in potentially Dimension Dooring the entire party 150 feet, you can also potentially use this to toss several bad guys way up into the air and have them take 15d6 damage form falling immediately. It's expensive - even if I've generally thoughts of PEDs as cheap, four of them is still going to be a full third of your total even at level 20. But this could be worth it, and does feel like a reasonable capstone for the ultimate spatial warper.

Overall Thoughts:

    You know, in my initial readthrough of this UA, I found myself thinking "this is cool thematically, but I don't know that I'd be that excited to play it." However, after doing these deep dives on the first two subclasses, I'm feeling a bit more excited about it (I have so many D&D characters I want to play, though!)

This subclass, of course, really leans into utility, but battlefield teleportation is a pretty solid kind of utility. So, like the Metamorph, my instinct is that this is also a pretty good and maybe very good subclass.

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