Chimerasame's Revision of Psionics

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The system presented in the Complete Psionics Handbook for Psionic characters, while a good system, lacked in certain areas. For instance, a high-level psionicist using a particular power was no more proficient than a low-level psionicist using the same power. True, high-level psionicists had more powers to choose from, and more psionic strength points (PSPs) to work with, but for an initial attack (which was often very important) a low-level psionicist could be equally deadly.
Conversely, the Psionics system detailed in Player's Option: Skills and Powers, although it did fix the problem by giving Psionicists MTHAC0 scores instead of power scores for their abilities, created a whole new set of problems with several aspects of psionic characters. For instance, the Psionic Attack and Defense modes were constructed so that Psionicists that did use them were worse off than if they hadn't. What I have written here provides a good "fix" for most of the rules-discrepancy problems associated with Psionics. There will still be other problems... namely, many DMs and players refuse to incorporate Psionics into their campaigns, claiming that it's too unbalancing. I disagree, and intend to use the system presented here to give ordinary characters a chance against Psionicists, as well as giving Psionicists abilities that make them more balanced... that is, less powerful at lower levels and more powerful at higher levels, as well as "cleaning up" those abilities that provided more harm than good when used.

The Psionicist Class

Naturally, the most accomplished user of Psionics is the Psionicist. He is a master of his own mind, and can delve into parts of his psyche that the rest of us can only begin to understand, and draw forth powers that balk even mighty sorcerers. He can do this without help from material components, spellbooks, holy symbols, or physical wealth of any kind. Psionicists are formidable because when one appears to be doing nothing, he could easily be watching secret proceedings in rooms across town, preparing to psychically explode a nearby object (or person!), or even reading and probing your own thoughts. Very accomplished masters of The Way might even be doing it all at once!
Psionicists are covered in much more detail in the Complete Psionics Handbook, Player's Option: Skills and Powers, and the Dark Sun accesory called The Will and The Way. If you wish to use Psionic characters, you should have access to one or more of these books. The Handbook is especially useful, as it has the primary powers of Psionic characters.

Psionicist Requirements
The Psionicist must meet or exceed the following ability score requirements: Con 11, Int 12, Wis 15. The Prime Requisites are Wisdom and Constitution. Any races are allowed to be Psionicists, although some have more difficulty advancing than others. Humans have unlimited advancement as always. Half-elves, half-orcs, half-ogres, Aasimar, Tieflings, Genasi, and other half-human characters enjoy a level limit of 13. Githzerai can achieve 16th level without hindrance, and they may be chaotic without hindrance, unlike other races of Psionicists, who may not be. Githyanki can theoretically reach this level, but their lich-queen hinders their advancement, destroying any that surpass a certain level of power. They can also be chaotic Psionicists without hindrance. Elves, while many do not have the mental discipline to learn The Way, have quite a bit of patience (due to their long lives) to study the art of Psionics, and have a level limit of 11. Halflings can achieve 10th level, while Dwarves and Gnomes can only achieve 8th. DMs may decide to give Psionic abilities to other powerful, very intelligent creatures such as Yugoloths, but they will be psionic monsters and won't actually have the Psionicist class.

Mental Attack Rolls
Psionicists utilize mental attack rolls instead of Power Scores to successfully initiate their Psionic powers. They have an MTHAC0 score (which may have bonuses or penalties deending on the situation and the Psionicist's condition), and the psionic power being used has an MAC score. The Psionicist rolls a 1d20, and if the result is equal to or more than the MTHAC0 score minus the MAC score, it succeeds. (This is the same as THAC0 and AC.) In the case of psionic attack modes, it is the target that has an MAC score, not the attack. Psionic defense modes do not require a mental attack mode and initiate automatically, generally improving the user's MAC vs. certain psionic attack modes.

Optional Rule: Chaotic Psionicists
Under the old rules, being Chaotic caused Psionic characters to lose their powers, something which made a bit of sense in that it takes discipline to be a Psionicist, but considering the number of chaotic monsters with Psionic abilities, isn't really justified. Under these rules, Psionicists may be chaotic without as much of a problem. Such characters (except Gith-related creatures) must still spend two hours a day meditating and focusing their mind. If they miss a day, they get -2 to all psionic attack rolls and rolls made against them get +2. Every additional day they miss increases the penalties by one until all their abilities become virtually useless. After a week without meditating, they cease to gain experience in the Psionicist class. If the character spends a total of six hours in deep meditation (which requires complete isolation) for each day he loses, he may slowly recover his ability as a Psionicist. Characters that are unconscious for an entire day are not required to meditate.

Psionic Strength Points
Psionicists use their powers by expending psionic strength points (PSPs). At first level, a Psionicist has a base of 15+2d4 PSPs, plus any bonuses he recieves for high Wisdom, Intelligence, or Constitution scores (see table P1 below.) On every level from second to ninth (inclusive) the psionicist gains 4d4 PSPs, plus the bonuses for high ability scores. On levels 10 and up, the psionicist only gains 3d4 PSPs per level, and only gains Intelligence and Constitution bonuses every other level. (Every even level, he may gain bonuses from Constitution, and every odd level he may gain bonuses from Intelligence.) He gains bonuses from high Wisdom every level.

Contact and other NWPs
The Psionicist also gains a free nonweapon proficiency "Contact," as detailed in PO:S&P, and has access to the Psionicist nonweapon proficiency group. Under the new rules, Contact does not have to be learned as a telepathic devotion, and it does not cost any PSPs to use. (There are other requirements for contact, however, which are detailed below.) The Psionicist proficiency group now also includes Endurance and Blind-Fighting. If a Psionicist has Blind-Fighting, he automatically succeeds in using Psionic abilities on things he knows the location of, but cannot see. He must still, of course, succeed in his MTHAC0 roll. (Most Psionic abilities still cannot go through thick solids like wood or stone... this rule applies to things in the dark or behind curtains.) Psionic characters without Blind-Fighting must pass a Wisdom check with a -4 penalty to do this. The Mental Armor proficiency has changed as well, see the section below on tangent thresholds.

Psionicist Equipment
A Psionicist is limited in his selection of weapons and armor. He may use padded, leather, studded leather, or hide without penalty, and may carry a small shield or buckler. Brigandine, scale, ring, or splint mail armor give him a penalty of +1 to MTHAC0. (There is no penalty to MAC... the armor interferes with his mind, which would give him a penalty, but the armor also provides a solid barrier against attackers, which cancels out any penalty there would have been.) Chain or Banded mail increases this penalty to +2. Plate is +3, Field Plate is +5, and Full Plate is +7. This, of course assumes that the Psionicist has trained to wear the armor. He does not know how to wear armor other than the four weaker armor types listed above (the ones which give him no penalty) and must spend proficiency slots to learn to properly wear any other armor. His weapon selection includes the following: sling, hand crossbow, dagger, dirk, knife, club, hand/throwing axe, horseman's mace, horseman's pick, scourge, sickle, short sword. These are all small, one-handed weapons that are light and easy to use.

Psionics and Proficiency slots
Psionicists gain two weapon proficiency slots at first level and one more at every fifth level. (5,10,15,20, etc.) The penalty for using weapons they aren't proficient with is -4. They start with 3 nonweapon proficiencies and gain one every three levels. If you are using character points, they start with 6 character points for nonweapon proficiencies, and 6 for weapon proficiencies; weapon proficiency slots cost 3 cps.

Additional Psionicist Benefitis
Psionicists get a +2 bonus to all saving throws vs. mind-affecting spells like Fear, Emotion, and Charm, and also to any other enchantment/charm spells. This is in addition to bonuses for his high Wisdom score. When he reaches 9th level, he becomes a "contemplative master" and gains followers, almost all of which will be first or second-level psionicists. They arrive each month to study with the master. If he has a sanctuary, an amount of followers equal to the average of Charisma score and his level will come. (Thus, more followers may come as he rises in level.) If he does not build a sanctuary, only half of this amount will arrive. They want to learn, and will serve in any capacity necessary if he tutors them at least 10 hours a week.

Table P1: Bonuses for Ability Scores

Ability Score	Base MAC	MAC/MTHAC0 Adj.	PSP Adj.	This table is used for multiple aspects of a Psionic character. The Base MAC is affected by the character's Wisdom score. The MAC adjustment is based on Intelligence and Constitution (reference each on the table and make the adjustments to the character's MAC.) The MTHAC0 adjustment is based on whatever ability score the psionic power in question is based on, except in the case of Psionic attack modes, for which the modifier is applied for both Wisdom and Intelligence. The MAC/MTHAC0 adjustment is a bonus at high scores and a penalty at low scores, and should affect the character accordingly. Psionic characters reference the far right column, PSP adjustment, for each ability score that applies. Which ones apply is detailed in the description of that class.
3	14	+4	-4
4	13	+3	-3
5	12	+3	-2
6	11	+2	-2
7	11	+2	-1
8	10	+1	-1
9	10	0	0
10	10	0	0
11	10	0	0
12	10	0	0
13	10	0	0
14	10	0	0
15	10	0	+1
16	9	-1	+2
17	8	-2	+3
18	7	-2	+4
19	6	-3	+5
20	5	-3	+6
21	4	-4	+7
22	3	-4	+8
23	2	-5	+9
24	1	-5	+10
25	0	-6	+11

The Jedi Class

         I've had a mixed reaction to the idea for this character class. Several people have already made something similar. Well, this is the one that gets used in my campaigns; if you want to build a character in one of my campaigns with different Jedi rules, try to adapt it to these rules. I'm generally lenient about what kinds of abilities you can have, but I'd prefer you use these rules with slight modifications instead of bringing in rules I'm unfamiliar with.
         The Jedi is a subclass of the Psionicist class group in the way that a Paladin or Ranger is a subclass of the Warrior, and the Bard is a subclass of the Rogue group. The Jedi is deeply in touch with his own mind and emotions, as well as those of others. He is a valuable asset to an adventuring party, as he can defend himself physically while he is using Psionics.
         This is, of course, the foremost ability of the Jedi... the ability to use both a physical attack and initiate psionic abilities in the same round. He suffers penalties to both when doing this, however, and doesn't often do it unless necessary. Damage done by physical attacks made in this manner is reduced to 2/3 (round mathematically), and the attack roll suffers a -2 penalty. Psionic abilities initiated in the same round as physical attacks cost 50% more PSPs (round up) to use and the Jedi suffers a -2 penalty to his mental attack roll. This PSP adjustment only applies on the first round, so if he continues the ability it works normally later. A psionic defense mode can always be used at the same time as other actions and can be initiated with a physical attack without causing penalties to either, or can be initiated while the Jedi is using his ability to make a physical attack and use another psionic ability simultaneously.

Jedi Requirements
The Jedi must have at least 9 Strength, 9 Dexterity, 9 Constitution, 14 Intelligence, and 15 Wisdom. Prime Requisites are Wisdom, Intelligence, and Strength. Jedi can start their adventuring career with any nonchaotic alignment, but by 5th level must either be LG, NG, LE, or NE. (Githzerai and Githyanki may be chaotic without penalty, but still must choose Good or Evil by 5th level. Chaotic Jedi of other races are not permitted, even if they meditate as described above under the Psionicist class rules.) Humans have unlimited advancement as Jedi. Aasimar, Genasi, Githzerai and Githyanki may rise to level 14. All other races may rise only to level 10 without hindrance. Any race can train to be a Jedi; after all, Yoda looked a lot like a goblin, didn't he?

Jedi Equipment
A Jedi has the same selection of armor as a Psionicist, and the same penalties for using heavy armor. Unlike a Psionicist, however, a Jedi knows how to use the heavy armor, and if he wishes to accept the penalty to MTHAC0, he may use the armor without special training. A Jedi may use any weapon they have spent a proficiency slot on. They start play with 3 weapon proficiency slots and get another one every three levels. Their nonweapon proficiency slots are the same as a Psionicists' (start with 3 and gain one every 3 levels), but unlike a Psionicist, they must use one of these slots to take the Contact proficiency. (It is required, not a bonus.) If character points are being used for proficiencies, they start with 6 for weapon proficiencies, but a slot only costs 2 character points. They also start with 6 for NWPs.

Jedi Abilities
         A Jedi's MTHAC0 and his THAC0 both advance at the same rate as a priest's THAC0, and he uses a d8 for hit points. At first level, a Jedi has a base of 12+2d4 PSPs, plus any bonuses he recieves for high Wisdom, Intelligence, or Constitution scores (see table P1 above.) On every level from second to ninth (inclusive) the Jedi gains 3d4 PSPs, plus the bonuses for high ability scores. On levels 10 and up, the Jedi only gains 2d4 PSPs per level, and only gains Intelligence and Constitution bonuses every fourth level. (Every even level that is not a multiple of four, such as 10, 14, 18, etc., he may gain bonuses from Constitution, and every level that is a multiple of four, he may gain bonuses from Intelligence.) He gains bonuses from high Wisdom every odd level.
         Jedi may gain hit point bonuses of greater than +2 per die if their constitution score is high enough to warrant this, but they do not inherently have the capacity for exceptional strength scores. They have access to the Psionicist and Warrior nonweapon proficiency groups without paying extra character points or slots.
         Jedi are more limited in their Psionic progression than true Psionicists. Their first, primary discipline must be Telepathy. Their second and third must be Psychometabolism and Psychokinesis, not necessarily in that order. They may choose the order of the rest.

Apprentices, Masters, and the Council
During the early part of his career a Jedi is the apprentice of another Jedi. The teacher may instruct the student to do a number of things, and while the student might question the Master, he is expected to go along with the Master's wishes. The Council frowns upon Masters who constantly make unreasonable requests, but they encourage Masters to challenege their pupils. A Jedi becomes a Master sometime between reaching 8th and 15th level. The Council of Jedi Masters which decides exactly when the character is worthy. Masters almost always have one apprentice, and never have more. The apprentice will most likely be a first level Jedi who will stay with the Master until reaching an appropriate level of experience. Then, the student becomes a master and is given a student of his own, and the former master may take a second student. Jedi Masters on the council do not have apprentices. The council and those Masters affiliated with it consists entirely of good-aligned Jedi.
Some evil Jedi operating apart from the council are known as Sith Lords. They operate with a similar apprentice/master structure, but little is known about any further organization of these evil Jedi. There are Jedi both evil and good that affiliate themselves neither with a Council or with the Sith Lords. Such Jedi can gain experience and powers independantly, but they have a 40% penalty to their experience. (They only add 60% of the experience they earn to their total.)

Table P2: Progression of Abilities for Psionicists(Jedi)

Exp. Level	Exp. Points	Hit Dice, d6(d8)	Disciplines	Sciences	Devotions	Psi. Att/Def
1	2,200 (2,400)	1	1 (1)	1 (1)	3 (2)	1/1 (1/1)
2	4,400 (4,800)	2	2 (1)	1 (1)	5 (4)	1/1 (1/1)
3	8,800 (9,600)	3	2 (2)	2 (1)	7 (5)	2/2 (1/1)
4	16,500 (18,000)	4	2 (2)	2 (2)	9 (7)	2/2 (1/2)
5	30,000 (32,500)	5	2 (2)	3 (2)	10 (8)	3/3 (2/2)
6	55,000 (60,000)	6	3 (2)	3 (2)	11 (9)	3/3 (2/2)
7	100,000 (110,000)	7	3 (2)	4 (3)	12 (10)	4/4 (2/3)
8	200,000 (220,000)	8	3 (3)	4 (3)	13 (11)	4/4 (2/3)
9	400,000 (440,000)	9	3 (3)	5 (3)	14 (12)	5/5 (3/3)
10	600,000 (660,000)	9+2	4 (3)	5 (4)	15 (12)	5/5 (3/4)
11	800,000 (880,000)	9+4	4 (3)	6 (4)	16 (13)	5/5 (3/4)
12	1,000,000 (1,100,000)	9+6	4 (3)	6 (4)	17 (14)	5/5 (3/4)
13	1,200,000 (1,320,000)	9+8	4 (4)	7 (5)	18 (14)	5/5 (4/5)
14	1,500,000 (1,650,000)	9+10	5 (4)	7 (5)	19 (15)	5/5 (4/5)
15	1,800,000 (1,980,000)	9+12	5 (4)	8 (5)	20 (16)	5/5 (4/5)
16	2,100,000 (2,310,000)	9+14	5 (4)	8 (6)	21 (16)	5/5 (4/5)
17	2,400,000 (2,640,000)	9+16	5 (4)	9 (6)	22 (17)	5/5 (5/5)
18	2,700,000 (2,970,000)	9+18	6 (5)	9 (6)	23 (18)	5/5 (5/5)
19	3,000,000 (3,300,000)	9+20	6 (5)	10 (7)	24 (18)	5/5 (5/5)
20	3,300,000 (3,630,000)	9+22	6 (5)	10 (7)	25 (19)	5/5 (5/5)

Numbers in parentheses, of course, refer to the Jedi class, while the other numbers refer to true Psionicists.

Psionic Attack and Defense modes

If you've used Skills&Powers Psionic rules, you may have noticed something fishy about the psionic attack/defense system. The book eliminated tangents, and introduced "open and closed minds," defined by whether or not the target has any PSPs left. With no PSPs, his mind is forced open. This is an interesting idea, but with the way PO:S&P set it up, participating in Psionic combat almost assuredly caused you to lose more PSPs than the opponent. Your best bet was to take the "Mental Armor" proficiency a couple times to improve your MAC, and hope that the guy you're combatting wears his own PSP total down faster than yours. Note that this strategy does not include activating Psionic Defense modes... these generally do more harm than good to your MAC... and they also take PSPs from you, possibly more than the attack!!
Something has to be done. The most obvious solution would be to forget this system and bring Tangents back, but I have a different idea.

Tangents and Thresholds
         Psionicists can use telepathic powers on someone by achieving a certain number of tangents or by forcing open their mind (by reducing their PSP total to zero.) Each time a psionic attack succeeds against a target, it creates one tangent and does psychic damage (reduces the target's PSP total). Non-telepathic powers, such as Molecular Agitation, can be used against opposing Psionicists without having to establish contact, and willing recipients of benign powers such as Mindlink can be contacted without attacking them psionically.
         Of course, some characters are more difficult to contact than others. This system introduces a concept called the "tangent threshold." Contact no longer requires precisely three tangents; instead it requires a number of tangents equal to the threshold of the character to be contacted. Psionicists and Jedi have a base threshold of four. Every six levels a Psionicist build up his mental defenses enough to raise his threshold by one. (At levels 1-6 it is four, at levels 7-12, five, at levels 13-18, six, etc.) With Jedi, this is a bit slower, and it takes ten levels. (At levels 1-10 the threshold is four, 11-20, five, etc.) Wild talents are more proficient in Psionics than the average man, but they don't really train in its use. A Wild Talent has a threshold of two, and gaining levels does increase this value. A regular person with no Psionic ability has a threshold of one (therefore a single successful attack means contact.)
         Tangents apply only to the one character that has gained them. If you're being attacked by three psionic githyanki and one achieves contact by making enough tangents to your mind, the others must still make psionic attacks until they've contacted you. (Unless the one uses a power such as Domination on you that forces you to do his bidding, and instructs you to open your mind.) By reducing an opponent's PSP total to zero, however, anyone can access his forced-open mind.

Mental Armor Proficiency
Mental Armor is a nonweapon proficiency that any character class can take to boost their resistance against psionics. One proficiency slot of Mental Armor is equivalent to 3 cps. A Psionicist or Jedi who takes this proficiency gets a -2 bonus to their MAC for each slot they spend on it. Wild talents and nonpsionics get only a -1 bonus per slot, but if one of these characters spends at least two slots on Mental Armor, their tangent threshold is increased by one. (This threshold bonus can only be gained once per character, and furthermore Psionicists and Jedi cannot gain it... they are assumed to already be proficient in that aspect of the proficiency.)

Metapsionics
Skills & Powers eliminated the Metapsionics discipline. I feel that it should remain a distinct, sixth discipline... many of the powers included in Metapsionics are truly above and beyond what the other disciplines should be able to include. Things like Empower, Receptacle, and Split Personality are special and should require a seperate discipline to use.