Psionics Handbook (Dungeons & Dragons Supplement)

Rating:
Summary: Psionics Made Easy
Review: The Psionics Handbook is excellent. It introduces two new classes: the Psion and Psychic Warrior, which are well thought out and mesh with the rest of the Dungeons and Dragons d20 system. The Psionics Handbooks also includes new feats, new skills, psionic monster and a whole host of psionic powers. Third edition psionics seamlessly mesh with the core rules. Also, psionicists are now balanced with the other classes, so a character with psionic abilities will no longer lord it over the rest of the party. I know this will be a disappointment to power gamers everywhere, but Wizards has really worked hard to ensure that the d20 system is a zero sum game. It is nearly impossible to unbalance, unless your DM lets you! In 3rd Ed., psionics is similar to the magic system, so you do not have to learn a whole new sub-system of rules to get psionics up and running in your campaign.

The artwork in the book is great, but sparse, and the graphic design is second to none in the role-playing industry. There are a few typographical errors in the book. Also, WoTC did away with the underlines on each page. I thought this feature made the books look more like ancient tomes, but I think WoTC must have recieved some strong feedback against the underlines. Aside from a few niggling details that I did not like, I think the Psionics Handbook is a welcome addition to any D&D gamer's library.

Rating:
Summary: The Best Psionics D&D has ever had
Review: Though, frankly, the last few systems have been, well, crap. "Why do I have to roll to activate my powers when wizards and clerics don't?" How on Earth did they come up with a "Mental THAC0"?

This book takes the approach that psionics is another form of magic, and so you can use spell resistance to save yourself. This is a rather nice treatment, and fairly balanced.

There are several sections. There are the base character classes, the psion and the psychic warrior; the psion concentrates on psionic abilities, while the psychic warrior is a fighter who has some small abilities. We get rules for using psionics (every attribute is important), a nifty power list that looks amazingly like a spell list (because it is...pretty much), psionic items (Green Destiny, from Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, would be a psionic weapon), new prestige classes (like illithid-hunters), and creepy-crawlies to kill. The githyanki and githzerai make it into D&D3, though, sadly, the thought eater is no longer a platypus. Pity.

What's good? Almost everything. Unlike a lot of people, I like the presentation of the 3rd ed. books, and this is no exception. It's a very good treatment of psionics, there are neat abilities, and it's just such a good gestalt it's not funny. I absolutely love the psychic warrior class.

Bad things? Well, for one thing, it really should be only... For another, well, some of the higher-level psion abilities I'm told are overpowered, but I'm not that convinced of it. The psychic warrior's abilities tend to be, um, oddly placed; most tend to be strength-based, but I'd like a greater blend of wisdom-, dex-, and con-based powers, for that Jedi feel.

All in all, this is a great book. Try and get it someplace you have a discount, though.

Rating:
Summary: Psionics are IN
Review: Well, before reading this book I had decided to run my campaign without psionics. I didn't bother to buy this book because of many of the reviews but now I've finally got it..And I'm surprised by how well done it is. A few parts of the classes are confusing, along with some of the psionic abilities named the same as their wizardly counterpart -.- But other then this it is extremely well done, with a few very interesting monsters, 4 interesting prestige classes, and ideas of Illithid being presented with Psion as their favored class (from now on I will make 1 out of 3 Illithid with at least 1 Psion level) The point system is nice, but looks like it could be a little confusing.
And something else I was worried about was the manifestations of the powers. They are now accompanied by some sort of sign.. They are all well done, and make it so you can easily tell this isn't some Wizard spell with flashy lights. Some of the 'signs' are a loud, screeching noise, eyes glowing and my least favorite, a bunch of ectoplasmic goo covering everyone (lol).
All in all, a good book that could have been presented a little better, but the Psionic system is A+.

Rating:
Summary: Well revised rules system
Review: Upon first hearing that WOTC was redoing the Psionics system for 3rd edition - before near anything else - I was extremely disappointed. Many players fooled around with Psionics in 2nd edition and it was just a headache.

Not this time. The book is very straightforward and easy to read. Psionic powers use "PSPs" - psionic points - to work and a character gets x many points per day. Powers, of course, have a point cost and are organized by level (just like spells). The addition of psionics is painless to any campaign, and doesn't cause a power shift as it oft did in 2nd.

The books not too big, but all the information is useful. It's not like "The Complete X Handbook" where a player only really cares about a quarter of the information. Everything here is a useful addition. It includes the psionics rules, prestiege classes, a magical item section, and a "monstrous manual" section as well. A good purchase if you want to add yet another type of magic to your campaign.

Rating:
Summary: Finally, something resembling a balanced psionics system.
Review: In first edition, Psionics were practically not there. Nobody I know played them. In second edition, a somewhat workable Psionics Handbook came out, but the Characters were either too weak or too powerful, depending on how they were made. Very few seemed to be balanced. Then Skill and Powers came out, with a new Psionics system, and most people just scratched their heads and continued playing with the original 2ed Psionics Book. Now we have a Psionics book that seems to be able to create characters that are on par with any other character and a system that works within the confines of the existing system.

That said, if you play with the "default" rules, you end up with "just" another type of magic using class. By default, Psionics and Magic work on each other now (Dispel Magic will work on Psionic, Negate Psionics will also work on Magic). This balances the game a little better. Psionic combat is simplified, that's a good thing. All this just makes the impression on me that Wizards of the Coast has just implemented the third magic using variation. You have the traditional Memorize Spells (Wizard), the often used No Memorization Required (Sorcerer), and now the most frequent alternative to memorizing, Spell Points (Psion).

If you continue the analogy, you gain in level flexibility (You can use a lot of low level, or a few high level powers or a mix), but lose overall number of powers (Less than a wizard AND sorcerer) and lose number oftimes a day you can use your powers ( Less than Sorcerer), except if you are relatively high level, you can just become the "Concusion Machine Gun". What this means is that unlike Spells, Powers generally don't have a level variable for damage. A Power may do 5d6 of Damage where as an equivalent Spell may do 1d6 per level up to a certain number of dice. That was a good call on the designer's part I think.

I have two problems with the book. Bonus power points from ability scores aren't really explained well, and the sample NPCs (a la the DMG) don't seem to have their Power Points calculated the same way across the 6 sub classes of Psion (one subclass for each ability score). According to what I can tell, all of the subclasses should have 3 Power Points at 1st level. My second problem is that its HARDCOVER. HARDCOVER is bad when you are a DM who already has too many books to carry around. And to be honest, WotC bindings dont seem to be any better on hardcover books than softcover. My Psionics Handbook weighs more than the 3d edition Shadowrun book that I own, but is only about 1/2 the length. These are both minor quiblings tho.

Overall, if you want to have extraordinary abilites, but don't want to be a Wizard or Sorcerer, Psionics is now a good alternative. And if you don't want to be a Fighter/Wizard, Psychic Warrior is a good balance between physical prowess and special powers. This system should integrate into any campaign without disrupting it on a pure mechanics basis.

Rating:
Summary: The Best Psionics D&D has ever had
Review: Though, frankly, the last few systems have been, well, crap. "Why do I have to roll to activate my powers when wizards and clerics don't?" How on Earth did they come up with a "Mental THAC0"?

This book takes the approach that psionics is another form of magic, and so you can use spell resistance to save yourself. This is a rather nice treatment, and fairly balanced.

There are several sections. There are the base character classes, the psion and the psychic warrior; the psion concentrates on psionic abilities, while the psychic warrior is a fighter who has some small abilities. We get rules for using psionics (every attribute is important), a nifty power list that looks amazingly like a spell list (because it is...pretty much), psionic items (Green Destiny, from Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, would be a psionic weapon), new prestige classes (like illithid-hunters), and creepy-crawlies to kill. The githyanki and githzerai make it into D&D3, though, sadly, the thought eater is no longer a platypus. Pity.

What's good? Almost everything. Unlike a lot of people, I like the presentation of the 3rd ed. books, and this is no exception. It's a very good treatment of psionics, there are neat abilities, and it's just such a good gestalt it's not funny. I absolutely love the psychic warrior class.

Bad things? Well, for one thing, it really should be only... For another, well, some of the higher-level psion abilities I'm told are overpowered, but I'm not that convinced of it. The psychic warrior's abilities tend to be, um, oddly placed; most tend to be strength-based, but I'd like a greater blend of wisdom-, dex-, and con-based powers, for that Jedi feel.

All in all, this is a great book. Try and get it someplace you have a discount, though.

Rating:
Summary: The epitomy of crappity crap
Review: For One, Psionics has no place in fantasy

For Two, d20 did a horrible job of trying to craft it

For Three, why didn't they just make Mind Flayers have spell like abilities? What the hell is wrong with that?

I wouldn't pay $20 for this book, and I damn sure wouldn't pay $30.

Rating:
Summary: Buy with caution
Review: The psionics system is okay, except for the extremely lousy prestige classes and the fact that psychic warriors don't get bonus power points. For prestige classes for the spellcasters, most add to the caster level of the base class giving you more power, but these don't making them virually useless.
For example, the Meta-mind prestige class is supposed to be all about "power points to burn" actually ends up with fewer power points and less power than sticking with the psion base class. The psychic warrior is probably the only base class with spells/powers that does not get extra slots (or power points) for having a high attribute; no explanation is given for this wacked-out exception to the rule. Finally, do NOT buy this if you just want the supposed "free 3.5 upgrade on PDF" like I did; the upgrade has to do with other books like the Fiend Folio and the Manual of the Planes, not Psionics; I don't know why it's even mentioned in connection with this book. When the real 3.5 version comes out in April 2004, hopefully they will fix the egregious errors mentioned above as well as the stupid typos. They should also allow for trading powers out like the sorcerer and bard.
Anyway, this was good first effort on a more balanced system for psionics; it is absolutely nothing like the 2nd edition version where powers will randomly fail on you but they aren't quite as powerful although mind blast may strike you as being too cheap and too powerful (blame it on the mind flayer).

Rating:
Summary: A sick joke
Review: I was a big fan of 2nd Edition psionics. My favorite class to play was psionicist. But with 3rd Edition, psionicists have become nothing more than wimpy mages.

Now, I like the idea of a psychic warrior. That is the one thing the book did right.

However, WotC foolishly claims that psionics is magic, when it is inherently not. They then give the "psion" all the weakness of a sorceror, but with none of the raw power. Psionics is now nothing special. They claim it was for balance, but I think the problem lies on those who do not wish for psionics to have a chance on stepping on wizards' toes.

Instead, if you want psionics, I must recommend using "Forbidden Kingdoms" instead. Their psionics systems use the skill d20 mechanic instead of the magic mehcanic, and works much better and truer to psionics than this...book.

Rating:
Summary: An excellent accessory for players who want more variety...
Review: One of my players has been trying to integrate psionics for a long time, but the only availible resource I could use to referece was the 2nd edition version, which was completely useless to the 3e/d20 rules. Finally, he bought this book, and showed it to me. Instantly everything made since on the first read, it was clearer than the players handbook and DM guide were. Although the psionics were brought to the same rules as sorcerers, that allowed for better integration. The rules on how to settle conflicts between magicians and psychics were clear. The rules are so close fit that I actually recommend psychics be added into most games, since this class does not upset the balance in the game.