Customer Reviews

The Complete Psionics Handbook: Player's Handbook Rules Supplement, Dungeons & Dragons (2nd Edition)

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This book is valuable merely for the list of psionic powers it contains. It's a fairly complete list; combined with the revised Dark Sun package and the Player's Option books, it presents a list of powers that needs no further expansion. Use the mechanic from "The Will and the Way" (in the Dark Sun box, or available for free online from TSR) or the Skills & Powers book, though. It makes a lot more sense.

Psionics don't unbalance a game if your DM addresses the issue appropriately. I've played psi characters and found it to be incredibly challenging; I've DMed for psi characters and have had no problem with game balance. The key is that the DM needs to be aware of what psionicists can and cannot do and then plan accordingly. Besides, once your psionicist is out of PSPs for the day, he's not much more effective than a mage who has cast all of his spells for the day.

The PHBR (Player's Handbook Reference) series is one of the most highly-regarded, and yet much-maligned, series of supplements ever created. Each sourcebook takes one of the races or classes of the AD&D game, and adds to it huge amounts of new detail - new equipment, spells, kits (sub-classes), lore, new rules, etc. The problem is that the players love these so much that the DM often feels compelled to buy into the rest of the series - an expensive proposition! Fortunately, these works were "reprinted" in the excellent AD&D Core Rules CD-ROM. This one introduces the powerful and alien class of the Psionicist - if you are not running a Spelljammer or Dark Sun campaign, you will want to think VERY carefully before allowing this class to players! The power and versatility of these characters is amazing. Details of this book include: the Psionicist class and restrictions, a full explanation of psionic powers, disciplines, and advancement, special abilities, the powerful Wild Talents, psionic combat (a great system), the great powers (Clairsentience, Psychokinesis, Psychometabolism, Psychoportation, Telepathy, and Metapsionics), running a psionics campaign, and great monsters! It's a wonderful book - and used carefully, it will add a whole new dimension to your games.

First off, I will say that this book is not necessary for a campaign; psionics is something you can take or leave. The book introduces the Psionicist as a character class and offers up psionic powers for use in the D&D game. The powers are organized well and are diverse, interesting and useful. Better yet, you are allowed to choose the powers you want, allowing you to custom tailor your psionicist. This allows you to create an interesting character more versatile than even a mage. The big problem with this book is that while psionics are fascinating abilities, the text of the powers are, for the most part, vague and confusingly written. My D&D group spent too much time trying to puzzle over how certain powers work in certain situations(example: what can hurt a character in ectoplasmic form?). This can really bog down game time as we spent too much time trying to come up with house rules and then later struggled to remember them. The whole issue of telepathic tangets and telepathic attack/defense modes got really confusing and overly complex, too. While it is better than the poor "revision" for psionics in Player's Option: Skills & Powers, vague and insufficient wording is a major flaw of the Complete Psionics Handbook.

The Complete Psionics Handbook is, in and of itself, one of the most important, useful, and helpful supplements ever to be released on the market. In its pages, it not only outlines the system for Psionics use in AD&D, but contains more powers and uses a better system than that outlined in the Player's Option: Skills and Powers supplement. In addition, the Complete Psionics Handbook presents this information in an easy-to-understand format. It also includes a small collection of psionic-savvy creatures, which, as a DM, I found highly interesting. Included also is a section devoted to tips on introducing psionics into various campaign settings, a section which I found most helpful. I close in saying that this handbook is an interesting addition to any AD&D library and is an invaluable tool, to both DMs and players alike.

Psionics: The system TSR can't get right. The First Edition's psionics system was cryptic and confusing. The CPH version isn't a whole lot better, the power descriptions being on the whole vague and the systems being unnecessarily complex. There's also the problem of power.

You see, the CPH makes a big deal about psionics not being magic. That's fine until you realize that most AD&D monsters with high magic resistance are completely vulnerable to psionics. Your nonpsionicist has only one defense against psionic attack -- stopping everything he's doing and concentrating. This makes high magic resistance, anti-magic shells, and the like a joke.

Anyway, the CPH is like an early alpha release of an operating system -- it doesn't work very well. Maybe TSR can finally fix psionics in the Third Edition.

Maybe not. What am I, a mind reader?

well, where do I start, I think the Psionics class is a very interesting thing when givin to a player that would know how to handle a being with such obvious powers and abillities, but they should only be played by experianced players for it could quickly get out of hand. I do not mind if Psionics are included in my campaign, you know hell half your enemies have then, there might as well be at least one character or a good aligned NPC with the abillity to fight back on even terms. I think every DM should allow the class to be available , just in case a player would like to try one on for size, besides you gives you the DM a chance to learn how to deal with them in your worlds. And back to my summary line, how can you compaire a Psionics endowed character with a Wizard, or Mage, they may have a few similarities but they are drastically different in more ways than they are similar, well I guess that's enough out of me for now.

Ok ill jump straight to it. Psionics using second edition rules (which is the correct way since third edition makes them nothing more then weak sorcerers) are not unbalbalancing in any way because of one very important aspect. All psionics have to be LAWFUL. That simple. They are not going to read random peoples thoughts, teleport into random rooms to steal, dominate or mind control anyone "just because". They need a good reason to do what they are doing, if they dont have a good reason then they are becoming chaotic and will loose access to their abilitys. A chaotic person doesnt have the discipline to do what a psion does.

In Greyhawk, Forgotten Realms, Ebberron, amd most campagins, magic is a invicable force that affects all things in a invisable weave (kinda like the Force in Star Wars) in Dragonlance they come from the moons, and in Dark Sun they come from living plants and animals, that is how mages get there power. A psionic gets his power soley from his mind, he can do just fine in a magic dead zone.

Finally psionics are not overpowered because i gurante they will not make all there power score checks when they need to, and they better have some allies there to help them. Also psionics in 2nd edition rules only have one power that can affect a group of enemys (called death field pshcyometabolics) and that comes with a great cost to the psion. All other powers are individual only, so really a 3rd level psionic has a better chance of beating a ogre then three goblins.

If you have looked at second edition youll see that the powers listed are unique in the way they work, with maitnance cost and power scores needed. Third edition psionics are just a different (wearker) type of sorcerer. Power may come from the mind but it does the exact same stuff. I run 3.5 edition campaign but use 2nd edition psionics. basically you use the chart giving in the 3.5 psionic handbook for skill points, feats, save throw, etc. but for the powers you use the 2nd edition handbook. To calculate a saving throw for a target I use this formula. 1d20 + penalty to power check + main stat modifier = will power save DC.

For example John the telepath is going to use psionic blast on a ogre. John has a wisdom of 18. Psionic blast is Wis -6. First he uses contact, since this power cant hurt the ogre i dont allow a saving throw (you may if you like but thats up to you) then the next round he rolls a d20. (wis of 18 - 6 = 12) he needs a 12 or lower to even activate the power. If he rolls higher then a 12 then the power doesnt even attempt to work, if he rolls lower then the power works. Assuming it works lets see if it hurts the ogre, he gets a Will save to ignore it. Save DC is 1d20 + 6 (the penalty to the power score) + 4 (wis mod). If you wanted you could just say that the d20 roll is allways a 10 (like magic works) but i find that using a random roll on every save makes psioncs feel different to.

I have more to add but I think ive written way to much, if youd like to comment good or bad, go nuts

Psionics can serve to expand a campaign tremendously; they provide just one more big twist that players can use to their advantage, and that a clever DM can turn back around on them. Being non-magical, they provide an effective counter-attack on magicians and priests alike, but PC's are obviously not the only ones with access to Psionics, and as always, any fight that a player wants to pick, the DM can win. Dueregar, Illithid, Tanar'ri, assorted Powers, just about everything on Athas, and innumerable other monsters everywhere, use psionic powers at the DM's discretion. So, if I'm such a big fan of psionics, why did I only rate the CPH three stars? The game mechanics offered in the CPH are awkward and antiquainted. Dark Sun started off with these rules, and later went on to use what are now refferred to as "Players' Options" rules, changing it from an odd sort of proficiency system to a more streamlined and sensible combat system with mental THAC0's and Mental Armor Class. Unfortunately, anyone wanting to use these improved rules who is unfamiliar with the brutal Dark Sun campaign is forced to buy the otherwise excrutiatingly useless Skills & Powers book, or look everything up on the CR2 CD-Rom. What is really needed is a Revised Complete Psionicist Handbook with a comprehensive list of powers and a handful of well thought-out kits. Great Concept, Poor Execution.

Every fantasy RPG out there and half of the modern ones have magic in them, foks it's grown cliche. Psionics is a more believable system with better written and more down to earth powers. I won't play in a game that doesn't have psionics in it, nor will I run without it. This handbook is a great place to start if you haven't used psionics in your game yet, or if you're a player wanting to make your first psionic character. It's also worth noting that this is the only in print publication (that I know of) that has a concentration of psionic powers. A must have for anyone who wants to use psionics.

The Complete Psionics adds to the game the Psionic class. That's about it, but what a step! It gives all necessary rules for playing a psionicist (which is just as fun a class as any), and allows for expansion, customization, and playability. The only problem: there are no kits. A very, very small price to pay for a vast enrichment in the game. As a GM and player, I've found psionics put a certain something into the game that I've felt has been missing. To not have it would be like playing without another basic class usually available like fighter, thief, cleric/priest, or mage. If you're wondering which Complete Handbook to buy, this is the one. If ever they put out a v3.0 Players, this has got to be a part of it.