Moving on to the next Psion subclass in the revised UA, we have the Psykinetic. When it comes to psionic character, there are basically two guaranteed, necessary styles of Psion - one that focuses on Telepathy, and another that focuses on Telekinesis. The latter, I'd argue, is easier to make a monster-fighting hero with, and could be argued as the default subclass for such a class (notably, Draw Steel's Talent has both a Telekinesis and a Telepathy subclass).
Looking at my review of it back in May, my general impressions for the previous UA version of this were that I liked it conceptually, but wanted them to do a bit more with it. Let's see how we feel about the revision.
Psykinetic Spells:
1st: Shield, Thunderwave
2nd: Cloud of Dagger, Levitate
3rd: Slow, Telekinetic Crush (a new spell)
4th: Otiluke's Resilient Sphere, Stone Shape
5th: Telekinesis (naturally,) Wall of Force
Notably, now that Shield is a universal spell option for Psions, this is a little less exciting, but it at least frees up one of your spell options. I imagine practically every Psion will take Shield, so this just gives you that default. The spells here are mostly pretty thematic, though I suppose Stone Shape and maybe Cloud of Daggers are a little more of a stretch (though I think flavoring Cloud of Daggers like you're going all Carrie could work.
Level 3:
Stronger Telekinesis:
Your Mage Hand (which all Psions get automatically) has its range increased by 30 feet (to 60) and it can now carry up to 20 pounds.
This is fine, but I imagine it's rare that the distinction here will really come up much.
Telekinetic Techniques:
When you use Telekinetic Propel, you can roll 1d4 and use the number rolled instead of expending a PED.
Additionally, when the target fails its save against Telekinetic Propel, you can impose one of the following on them:
Boost: The target's speed increases by 10 feet until the start of your next turn (obviously this would be used when you target an ally and they voluntarily fail the save).
Disorient: The target can't make opportunity attacks until the start of its next turn.
Telekinetic Bolt: The target takes Force damage equal to the number rolled on the PED.
Interesting question: can your free 1d4 roll deal the damage with the bolt? If so, that's kind of a free bonus action cantrip (admittedly one that does very little damage). The main benefit of this feature, I think, is the ability to do more substantial knockbacks for free. Situationally, these other benefits could be useful (and damage is damage,) but it's nothing major.
Level 6:
Destructive Trance:
At the start of your turn, you can expend one PED to enter a destructive state for 10 minutes. During this time, you have a Fly speed of 20 feet and can hover, and when you cast a Psion spell with a spell slot, you can roll your PED and add the number rolled to one damage roll of that spell - this does not expend the PED.
The speed here could probably be higher, but the general idea of this seems solid. On AoE spells, the extra die would be a bit like upcasting the spell, for a relatively low investment.
Rebounding Field:
When you cast Shield, and the triggering attack misses, you can expend one PED. The attacker makes a Dex save, taking Force damage equal to the amount rolled on the PED plus your Intelligence modifier. On a success, they take half damage. In either case, you gain temp HP equal to the damage dealt.
So, this is a bit weird: it's a punishing move but also shores up your defense, and you get more THP if they fail their save. But they also have to miss the attack, and but it can only be the attack that triggers the spell. Personally, I think it would be cooler if this instead pushed targets that attacked you back while your shield was up. Maybe damaging them as well.
Level 10:
Enhanced Telekinetic Crush:
First, for reference:
Telekinetic Crush is a 3rd level transmutation spell that takes an action to cast and has a range of 120 feet. You create a field of crushing energy in a 30-foot cube within range. Each creature inside makes a Strength save. On a failure, the target takes 5d6 Force damage and has the prone condition. On a success, they take half damage only. Upcasting adds a d6 for each level above 3.
So, this feature says that when you cast Telekinetic Crush, you can expend one PED to modify the spell so that affected creatures, regardless of whether they succeed or fail on the saving throw, have their speed halved until the start of your next turn. You can also roll the PED and add the number rolled to one damage roll of the spell.
I get that it's standardized language, but this is a spell with only one damage roll, so... oh well. The speed-halving on top of potentially knocking the targets prone is interesting: it really makes it hard for them to move from their spot (a big creature with a 40-foot movement speed will only have 10 left to move after standing up). I guess I'm not really inspired here.
Level 14:
Heightened Telekinesis:
You can cast Telekinesis without expending a spell slot by expending 4 PEDs. When you cast it this way, you can modify it so that it doesn't require concentration, but the duration is now 1 minute. However, while casting it this way, you can target Gargantuan creatures and objects.
4 PEDs is not a tiny number, but if it means a concentration-free 5th level spell and saving the spell slot, that's probably worth it. Telekinesis can be very strong, and it's obviously the most thematic spell for the subclass.
Overall Thoughts:
Nothing here is bad per se, but I definitely don't find it as exciting a subclass as, say, the Metamorph, which seems to really be doing something new. I think there's probably too much conservatism in the design: a psionic telekinetic feels like they should get a free hovering fly speed or something by level 10. I'd also love to have the ability to throw massive objects at foes. Really, it just feels a bit uninspired, and also overcautious in power.
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