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Title: Expanded Psionics Handbook (Dungeons & Dragons Supplement) by Bruce R. Cordell ISBN: 0-7869-3301-1 Publisher: Wizards of the Coast Pub. Date: 09 April, 2004 Format: Hardcover Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $34.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 3.5 (8 reviews)
Rating: 3
Summary: A bit off-balanced with augmentations
Comment: If you don't like the standard D&D arcane magic system, this should give you a good start on a good alternative. That's how I'm using it. I don't think that this is really a finished product, nor is it power-compatible with existing campaigns -- there are several clear mistakes (see the Soul Knife's "Knife to the Soul" ability and the Elocater's minimum base attack bonus compared to the "Spring Attack" feat prerequisite) and the power scale (for the Kineticist, especially) is grossly out of proportion to a conventional artillery sorceror.
Consider: at 8th level, a well-crafted talented overchannelling with Psionic Meditation and such Kineticist using Energy Missile can drop 10d6 or more points of cold, fire, electric or sonic -- psion's choice at manifesting time -- damage each on up to 5 foes in a 15' spread at 200' with a minimum reflex -- or fortitude if using frost -- save of probably at least 24, more if using electricity on armored folks -- but it takes a full round and requires rolling a concentration check of 2... oh bummer. A comparable sorceror would have to spend all of their feats just getting to the point where they could choose the type of energy to use -- with no special benefits -- and they'd still have both lower DC and damage.
With the exception of the base Psion class, most of the new races and new base classes are kind of boring -- the Wilder, for example, which should be a nifty counterpoint to the Psion, only gets 1/3rd the powers known of the Psion's already limited learnings making the poor Wilder a real one-trick pony. The "Psionics is or isn't magic and does or doesn't behave the same way" is gone over to an annoying degree -- and is counterpointed by the Cerebremancer prestige class that combines Arcane casting and Psionics -- feh. Fortunately, the other Prestige classes are generally more interesting (excepting the Flayer Slayer which should've only been 5 levels). Psionic items are nothing too special. I haven't had much call to look at the creatures yet, but they look passable in a high-psionics game.
So if you're a player looking to build a roving psionic death machine, this is a good book (and the Psion Kineticist is a great class). If you're a DM looking to replace some of your casting classes because you've never liked how they worked in the first place, this is a good book. Myself, I'm looking to replace arcane casting with a slightly toned down set of psionics so that roving level 8 kineticist death-machines don't slaughter all of my PCs.
Rating: 1
Summary: Why would you bother?
Comment: A bland bit of homogenising tat, dumbed down so as to avoid confusing people with things like variety.
The writers clearly have given up on trying to conceptualise Psions, and instead have decided Psions are just like Wizards. I would list the similarities, but they are too numerous to mention and pretty obvious on reading.
The new rules are not an expansion, by the way, but a complete rewrite of the system and deeply incompatible with 3.0. Basically you will have to gut your characters and write them from scratch if your DM will allow you. But beware...in order to gain user acceptance for this process, Wizards have introduced a range of new options for characters (new powers, more power points, augmentation and over channeling) that are nothing more than buggy bribes for the players. In many cases players will find their DMs refusing to let 3.5 psions in the game on the grounds they are seriously unbalanced.
Additionally the book a filled, and I mean filled with typos, inconsistant rules and errors that make you wonder whether Wizards of The Coast actually bothered to proof read or test play these rules whatsoever.
So, frankly, dont waste your money. Wizard of the Coast will undoubtedly change it all in DnD v.4 and you might as well wait until then.
Rating: 4
Summary: Some Cool Developments Here
Comment: The text, like the other WotC hardcovers, is handsome, with decent-to-good art all the way through; the cover's graphic design has the added virtue of some brain matter being visible through the "holes" in the simulated leather cover--a nice touch.
In terms of content, the text follows the standard format for D&D rulebooks--lists of rules variants, new feats, prestige classes, items, beasties, and so on (2 new gods, to boot).
Much of the preliminary text is devoted to rehearsing the debate of whether psionics is different than magic. The standard rule is that magic and psionics overlap--SR applies to psionics & psionic resistance applies to magic, "dispel psionics" works on magic & "dispel magic" works on psionics, and on down the list of potential intersections between the two systems. The variant rule is actually both more interesting and more labor-intensive, as it treats each as mutually exclusive--"dispel psionics" does explicitrly what it says and doesn't affect magic--and vice versa (i.e., as it should be).
But after the preliminary sections, this debate is lost, and the rest develops the new 3.5E psionics system with much skill and precision--about 1/3 of the entire text is devoted to descriptions of powers alone. A careful reading of the powers will demonstrate that there are indeed a few things that psionics can do that standard magic can't (barring clever usage of "wish," of course). One reviewer suggests that the old 2E attack and defense modes aren't in the text; au contrare, they have indeed made it into the new system; however, they aren't considered separate psionic powers any longer. Instead, they are standard powers, with point costs--one will find, say, "ego whip" alphabetized with the other powers.
On the downside, it is correct to say that much of the psionics flavor from 2E is now gone (isn't this the case with the entire revised game, though?). Old notions like the target power score (which required some die rolling to activate powers, with a chance of botching the roll and producing a humorous and/or deadly backfire) and the maintenance cost for powers that last longer than one round are now gone, sadly.
There are other areas worthy of complaint--some specific powers might be badly done ("animal affinity" is now watered down and kind of silly, e.g.) and some creatures are annoyingly rendered (what in the hells did they do to the half-giant?).
That said, it is still a very useful text, if one has the energy to add it in--really, shouldn't this system simply be a standard part of the core rulebooks? The updated creatures, for instance, are very good--githyanki/-zerai, illithid, and so on now have their proper psionic repertoire rather than silly spell-like abilities. Generally, the text and its rules are well done & for the most part competent, but with nothing that is standout awesome, as is the case with other books.
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Title: Unearthed Arcana (Dungeons & Dragons) by Andy Collins, Jesse Decker, David Noonan, Rich Redman ISBN: 0786931310 Publisher: Wizards of the Coast Pub. Date: 25 February, 2004 List Price(USD): $34.95 |
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Title: Complete Warrior (Dungeons & Dragons Accessory) by Andy Collins, David Noonan, Ed Stark ISBN: 0786928808 Publisher: Wizards of the Coast Pub. Date: 03 December, 2003 List Price(USD): $26.95 |
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Title: Player's Guide to Faerun (Dungeons & Dragons: Forgotten Realms Campaign Accessory) by Richard Baker, James Wyatt ISBN: 0786931345 Publisher: Wizards of the Coast Pub. Date: 17 March, 2004 List Price(USD): $32.95 |
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Title: The Draconomicon (Dungeons & Dragons) by Andy Collins, James Wyatt, Skip Williams ISBN: 0786928840 Publisher: Wizards of the Coast Pub. Date: 14 November, 2003 List Price(USD): $39.95 |
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Title: Book of Exalted Deeds (Dungeons & Dragons Supplement) by James Wyatt, Darrin Drader, Christopher Perkins ISBN: 0786931361 Publisher: Wizards of the Coast Pub. Date: 29 October, 2003 List Price(USD): $32.95 |
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