Here in our third of four subclass options for the new Psion class, we have the Psykinetic. While perhaps a little overlapped with the Psi Warper thematically, though while the Psi Warper seems more about "moving things" by shifting space itself, the Psykinetic is a little more focused on molding psionic force to create barriers and augment strikes. Let's look at the mechanics.
Psykinetic Spells:
1st level: Shield, Thunderwave
2nd level: Cloud of Daggers, Levitate
3rd level: Slow, Telekinetic Crush (see first article in this UA Psion series)
4th level: Otiluke's Resilient Sphere, Stone Shape
5th level: Telekinesis, Wall of Force
Big one right there is Shield. Frankly, I think Shield probably ought to be on the base class list, both because as an unarmored d6 class it probably needs it, and also because it feels thematically right. There are some other good spells here, but nothing mind-blowing.
Level 3:
Telekinetic Techniques lets you enhance your Telekinetic Propel in one of the following ways:
Boost lets you increase the target's speed by 10 feet until the start of your next turn.
Obviously this is for when you target an ally, and will basically let you launch them toward your foes, or away from them.
Disorient prevents the target from making Opportunity Attacks until the start of your next turn.
Notably, because these don't require the target to fail the saving throw, this can kind of give you bad-luck protection if they succeed. However, I think you still need to choose first, meaning you'd only really need this if you expect to fail - normally shoving someone away from you should make it easy for you to avoid opportunity attacks.
Telekinetic Bolt does require the target to fail the save, but if they do, they take Force damage equal to the number rolled on the PED (Psionic Energy Die).
It's not a ton of damage, but it's a bit extra on top of whatever you're doing with your action.
This is the only 3rd level feature, and while getting the Shield spell is pretty huge, I've got to say I'm a tad underwhelmed. Clearly, they intend Psions to use Telekinetic Propel a lot, so maybe I'm undervaluing this feature. But it feels maybe not the most exciting.
Level 6:
Empowered Attack Mode will enhanced, weirdly enough, your Attack Mode, giving you a Fly Speed of 60 feet that allows hovering, and when you cast a Psion spell, you can add your Intelligence modifier to one damage roll of that spell.
Now, this is freaking good. Concentration-free flight for free twice a day, and by next level, being able to spend just one PED to get it back (though only at the start of combat) is really great. The extra damage is also nice, but the flight's really what makes this awesome.
Rebounding Field, also at level 6, enhances the Shield spell. When the spell causes an attack to miss, you can expend a PED to force the attacker to make a Dex save, and on a failure, they take two rolls of your PED worth of Force damage, and you get Temp HP equal to the same total. On a success, the attacker only takes half damage, and you get no temp HP.
In an ideal situation, any d6 character is going to avoid getting attacked whenever possible. This is going to make you a bit more resilient when you are attacked, but while this feels a bit like a psionic version of a Monk's deflect attacks, unlike a Monk, we're hopefully not mixing it up in melee (unless we're some kind of multiclass build). So this is a feature we hope to use infrequently.
Level 10:
Enhanced Telekinetic Crush... enhances our Telekinetic Crush spell (which is on the subclass list). The spell can normally deal damage and knock targets prone, but now it will also halve the speed of anyone caught in it, regardless of whether they succeed or fail on the saving throw.
Naturally, we are likely to be casting this spell a lot, as it's our best equivalent to Fireball (though we might favor Synaptic Static by this level). And both halving a creature's movement and knocking it prone can do a lot to lock a creature down in a place (leaving the typical creature only 7.5 feet of movement after standing up). This feels a bit thin for your entire 10th level feature, though.
Level 14:
Heightened Telekinesis improves the Telekinesis spell. You can expend 4 PEDs to modify the spell to no longer require Concentration. If you do, the spell's duration becomes 1 minute for that casting, and you can target Gargantuan creatures and objects.
First, a reality check - Gargantuan creatures pretty much all have enormous Strength saving throw bonuses. It's not unthinkable, but you're probably not going to be able to grab one very frequently. That said, Telekinesis is a powerful spell, with great utility and and outside of combat. In the latter case, being unable to drop concentration is nice.
Overall:
While I like the concept of this subclass (it feels in some ways like the most "quintessential" Psion) I think that the features here are a little bit thin. While the spells that it enhances are likely to see a lot of use, some of these enhancements don't really feel big enough for a full subclass feature. I'd like to get some weirder and more unique stuff.
Sadly, though, this is currently my least favorite of the subclasses. Let's get mental with the final one in the next post and check in with the Telepath.
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