13 replies to this topic

[Rathwellin the Bard]

4. Psion, Psychic Fighter kits

I know, I know. Not in this version. Not being tested now. Not being worked on. Undecided!

B)

But I'm curious. In general what were your guys thoughts on how to implement this? If there was one thing that I could have wished for in BGII this would have been it. For some reason I've always like psionics & psi based PCs ... even though I haven't liked every D&D version.

[jester]

4. Psion, Psychic Fighter kits

..... In general what were your guys thoughts on how to implement this? If there was one thing that I could have wished for in BGII this would have been it. ...

my 2 cents


Gsus, not another fighter kit. Sounds interesting in principle, but it is getting a bit tight slotwise.

[Littiz]

My opinion: plain impossible.
We're trying to do things that have a chance to look "official", and I don't see many chances here.

Of course we could always realize a kit with a lot of sub-optimal solutions. Maybe psi-point could be handled with a LOT of scripting (similarly to how Sim handles Virtue), but there would be troubles nonetheless, and such scripts should be placed in the player scripts, I fear.
I don't know what could be done about this kit, it'd need a hard-coded class, like monks.

We will try to think about something, though.

EDIT: yes, scripting opens some nice possibilities. This kit might see the light, after all... we'll see. Surely, it'd need an IMMENSE load of work

[GreyViper]

Hope this helps Psioninc Powers, Psyhic Warrior class in BG2.
Btw I think TOIW has working Psion class ask them.

[Andyr]

You could maybe make a Psionic Warrior based off a Ranger/Paladin for combat abilities and a few spells, though handling the Fallen status might be a problem.

Psions themselves could maybe be done as Clerics, or Bards?

[Jinnai]

Probably spells/abilites with no visual effects and relatively low casting time would be best for representing psionic powers without a total conversion. For opposed abilites best idea would be adding a wisdom score together with a d20 roll...ignore all magical restiances. This is hardly an ideal way to do it however.

[T.G.Maestro]

The Psion/Psychic Warrior are a tough area indeed. As stated in the TODO, they are undecided/planned componenets, which means we are open to any constructive suggestions! Of course I have my own share of ideas on these kits, but again - this is far future.

The next kit(s) will be most likely either the Blackguard, Fire Guardian, or the Shadow Druid.

[Rathwellin the Bard]

As much as I would wish otherwise I don?t think that the game is well equipped to handle a full fledged psion. You would probably have to make it a Bard or Cleric kit & give it a whole new set of spells. Then there would be all sorts of problems with item restrictions and the like. So as much as I would like this I?m not sure that it would be worth the work to even try to create a true Psion kit.

The Psychic Warrior on the other hand seems a lot more doable to me.

I would suggest using Innate Abilities for ?psychic powers? as opposed to spells and making this a pure fighter kit. I just think that this works better than trying to cram everything into the few paladin or ranger spell slots. It would be extra cool if you allowed ability customization similar to HLA selection or Sorcerer spell selection but even a fixed advancement table would work.

Psionic Warrior (fighter kit)

Advantages
- Psychic powers
- Immunity to Charm at level 5
- Mind Shield at level 10
- Immunity to Int drain at level 15

Disadvantages
- Gains THACO via Cleric progression (i.e. gains two THACO every 3 levels with a max THACO of 0 at level 31)
- Can only specialize in weapons & styles
- Cannot wear helmets (but can use Ioun Stones)
- A -1 penalty to STR
- Minimums: STR12, CON13, INT 9, WIS 13, & CHA 13

HLAs would look sort of like the Fighter/Mages with basic stuff like Whirlwind (but not GWW) & a few of the more powerful Psychic powers.

[jester]

Psionic Warrior (fighter kit)

Advantages
- Psychic powers
- Immunity to Charm at level 5
- Mind Shield at level 10
- Immunity to Int drain at level 15

Can you be more specific as to what psychic powers? The three others you can get anyway by wielding the right items as a fighter.

[Andyr]

The next kit(s) will be most likely either the Blackguard,

Are you going to code it as a Paladin and try and stop falling, or a Fighter? If you know yet, that is.

[T.G.Maestro]

If you know yet, that is.

Not yet. We concentrate on v1 at the moment, anything related to future versions will follow later .

[Rathwellin the Bard]

Can you be more specific as to what psychic powers? The three others you can get anyway by wielding the right items as a fighter.

Immunity to Charm ? Helm of Charm Protection would be forbidden to this kit so sure the Shield of Harmony could be used but what if you want to use a two handed weapon or dual wield? This kit would need it as an innate IMO.

Mind Shield ? I was thinking along the lines of the ability you can get from the Deck of Many things, but this might work better as a just a normal power with a duration. What would be really cool would be scripting things such that this ability was permanent but gets suppressed when other powers were used. If you are going to use powers then your Psionic Warrior would be as vulnerable as a normal.

Immunity to Int Drain ? as far as I know the only way you can get this for a PC is via mod items. I personally will not be using Item Upgrade anymore so there would still be a place for this in a kit IMO. Upon further reflection though I?ve thought that this might make a better HLA than a kit ability. Call it Fortified Mind, Mind Bar, or Sour Brain. If you wanted to go TGM side effect style then it could be an ability with a duration that prevented the use of other powers when active

As for other powers I was thinking that in general to avoid powers that affect multiple targets ? those would be more in the providence of a pure Psion or at best HLAs IMO.

Given that off the top of my head a list might look something like what follows. Keep in mind that I haven?t had a chance to really dig back into my D&D sourcebooks yet or finish browsing through what is actually in the game and in the Tactics mod, which includes some psi stuff for Mind Flayers and the like.

Psychomotabolism
Body Weaponry ? would grant protection something like the Armor Spell & a Claw ?weapon?
Cell Adjustment ? a self healing power ? maybe like Mazzy?s
Healing Touch ? would cure poison, disease, & some damage but would cause the Psionic Warrior a few HP of damage when used on others.

Telepathy
Paralize ? much like hold person or monster
Possess ? much like domination
Empathic Attack I ? a fear like ability.
Empathic Attack II ? something like the mage spell Empathy except that it affects one target and has a negative modifier for the save.
Confusion ? per the mage spell

Psychokinesis
Ballistic Attack ? piercing damage attack (TK to throw small stone)
Molecular Agitation ? magic fire attack (TK to heat up target)
Disintegration ? maybe a HLA. Per mage spell.

Divination
See Aura ? like Know Alignment.
Clairvoyance ? as per one of the remote viewing mage spells

[jester]

Immunity to Charm ? Helm of Charm Protection would be forbidden to this kit so sure the Shield of Harmony could be used but what if you want to use a two handed weapon or dual wield?  This kit would need it as an innate IMO.

I must say I like the idea of the kit. I'd rather have another bard kit though.

For dualwielding I don't know, but for a two-handed sword you could use the Psionic (?) Blade in WK to get that effect.

Mind Shield ? I was thinking along the lines of the ability you can get from the Deck of Many things, but this might work better as a just a normal power with a duration.  What would be really cool would be scripting things such that this ability was permanent but gets suppressed when other powers were used.  If you are going to use powers then your Psionic Warrior would be as vulnerable as a normal. 

This could be interesting since it takes much mental discipline to focus on one of the things mentioned below.

Immunity to Int Drain ? Call it Fortified Mind, Mind Bar, or Sour Brain.

Sour Brain sound like a hangover.

Psychomotabolism
Body Weaponry ? would grant protection something like the Armor Spell & a Claw ?weapon?
Cell Adjustment ? a self healing power ? maybe like Mazzy?s
Healing Touch ? would cure poison, disease, & some damage but would cause the Psionic Warrior a few HP of damage when used on others.

Telepathy
Paralize ? much like hold person or monster
Possess ? much like domination
Empathic Attack I ? a fear like ability.
Empathic Attack II ? something like the mage spell Empathy except that it affects one target and has a negative modifier for the save.
Confusion ? per the mage spell

Psychokinesis
Ballistic Attack ? piercing damage attack (TK to throw small stone)
Molecular Agitation ? magic fire attack (TK to heat up target)
Disintegration ? maybe a HLA.  Per mage spell.

Maybe you could get three of those depending on your stats or alignment like in the new PP tests.

Divination
See Aura ? like Know Alignment.
Clairvoyance ? as per one of the remote viewing mage spells

Sorry to say that, but divination spells are utterly useless in BG. KA never told me anything about how to handle a situation.