Interesting game idea

[Nanshork]

Preface: I am not willing to run this, I just think it would be cool and would want to play.

I think it would be interesting for someone to run a game where every character is a psionic character.  And I mean psionic in the sense that every charact in Mister_Sinister's Fear the Unknown game(s) is a cleric.  Third party material is a must given the lack of psionic support WotC has put out.  I've never played a psionic character but I'm officially tired of traditional spellcasting and the uselessness of lower level spell slots.

So, does anyone else find the concept to be interesting?  All roles are easily filled, though granted you might end up with the lameness of "Psychic Rogue".  

Rules!

• Starting level 3
• 36 Point Buy
• Max hit points at first level, average after that (3.5 on a d6, for example). Or you can roll after first, if you'd prefer.
  
• Wealth by level is basically thrown out the window. You can only use 8 attuned magic items at a time, anyway. See the House Rules link I posted above for details. Magic items will probably be rare, but I'm still grappling with this.
• No flaws. 1 Trait. (If we decide to not include Tome feats, I will probably allow 2 flaws as well.)
• Everyone has to be psionic somehow. If you're not otherwise psionic, you'll get Wild Talent for free. This automatically makes you a "criminal" in the eyes of the state, and in fact the game will begin with all of you being exiled.
• Partial BAB and saves (see the House Rules thread for details. It is a bit different than unearthed arcana.)

• No item crafting feats. Everyone can craft one item of their level at every character level. No XP cost for item crafting. If you get an item crafting feat as a bonus from a class, pick another feat that is appropriate for that class instead.
• Guidance of the Avatar is banned, because it makes most skill checks meaningless. The Dark Chaos feat shuffle, and buying magical location feats and retraining them are both right out also. Other similarly broken things will be banned too. I'm sure I'm forgetting some. Leadership and other feats that grant one or more characters comparable to your own level will likely be banned. Classes which grant something like this will probably be allowed on a case-by-case basis, but I don't want to have to deal with armies of followers in combat. So figure out a way to leave them somewhere "off-screen", if you have them. I'd like to see at most one "cohort" for each PC (and prefer none).
• Traditional spellcasting has become unavailable to most people, and is in fact impossible without a special "focus", access to which the government heavily regulates. Psionics work just fine, but are outlawed. I think I'll say that racial spellcasting abilities also work, but will also likewise be outlawed (psionics will be a subset of racial spellcasting).
• Custom setting, but most materials available. (All official D&D, and homebrew on a case by case basis)

We'll be using most of what is contained in the link I posted above (my House Rules thread), but whether we'll be using Tome classes and feats is still undecided.

I'm debating on giving everyone the benefits of something like Vow of Poverty (minus the bonus feats), but reflavoring it to be a racial bonus that comes from being psionic. Basically, I want you guys to have appropriate bonuses even if we make magic items very rare.

Magic items rules and other houserules mentioned

[endgamecutter]

clarification: you mean everyone is capable of psionics (with a build focused on psionic classes obviously) or simply everyone's a psion? Either way it could be interesting. 'Course I (unfortunately) wouldn't be able to DM seeing as I lack the skills and patience to write up a decent plot, encounters etc. (last time I tried a group of level 1s were fighting a flaming BADGER that grew a size category every round. Then a small scale mecha. To be fair the stats weren't nearly as high as they would be on such creatures but they were still waaay too strong)

[Mister_Sinister]

And I mean psionic in the sense that every charact in Mister_Sinister's Fear the Unknown game(s) is a cleric. 

I am starting quite the trend...

[veekie]

Well, theres also the All Bard setup...

[Prime32]

"All psionic" is a bit more flexible than "all cleric". Transferrable power points added to the ability to manifest each others' powers leads to interesting results.

This can be pretty interesting.


EDIT: I'd like to submit these for consideration
http://brilliantgameologists.com/boards/index.php?topic=5398
http://brilliantgameologists.com/boards/index.php?topic=8360

[Sohala]

Allowing some psionic variants of PrCs would help fill in some of the holes for support.

[Nanshork]

Apparently in the middle of the night I'm incapable of fleshing my ideas out properly. 

By all psionic I mean every character uses psionics, not everyone is a psion.  For example: Dreamscarred Press put out the Worldthough Medic, a variant on the Society Mind.  It makes an excellent healing and support character.  They also have a psionic version of the Monk and created other base classes.  Reading through their books is what prompted this idea.


Prime: Those are some interesting house-rules you've developed there.  We just need a DM to approve them.



On the other hand, I guess somebody could just start a game and let me run a psion.  That'd work too I guess.  I just thought that making a post saying "Hey, somebody want to let me join a game as a psion?" sounded a bit underwhelming. 

[Prime32]

We'll need a Tashalatora, a Big Guy, and...

[Mister_Sinister]

Prime: I don't hear your argument. Clerics can do anything with the right spell selection. How are psionic characters more flexible on that basis?

[Sohala]

More base classes imo.

[Nick]

Too bad nobody is running.

I'd like to play an Inspired. 

[VennDygrem]

Prime: I don't hear your argument. Clerics can do anything with the right spell selection. How are psionic characters more flexible on that basis?

Despite the larger basic variety of using just "psionic" versus just "cleric," I'd have to agree and say Cleric is simply a much better/stronger base to build from. Mister Sinister's House Rules make it easier, but even without them, cleric is such a solid base class that it can be used for any role in a party.

[Nick]

So who wants to run this?

Its like Fear the Unknown: Psionic Edition

[veekie]

Well, for monotypes, Psions(no, not psionics, Psion the class) would be more blasty than the cleric equivalent(lacking the 3/4 BAB and proficiencies to make their default ability to break face).
If you open up to psionic in general, I would actually have to say they can represent a wider range of archetypes than the clerical version, considering that other than SCM, theres little that can perform as a classic arcanist on the cleric side, while the psionic side covers that and wilders/psywars cover tanking.
Pure Psions meanwhile, would to be worse off overall, but still compelling

Wizard Academy on the other hand might have trouble doing similar.

[archangel.arcanis]

This would definitely be interesting. Hell it could even be set up the same as fear the unknown and have a quadruple crossover. Perhaps adjust it a bit to say that psionics won't work unless you have a demigod or greater keeping the deities of magic from trying to stomp it out since it is competition for them.

[veekie]

Hey, mind magic is still magic!

[archangel.arcanis]

Hey, mind magic is still magic!

Yes but it is sooo much cooler than waggling your fingers and speaking gibberish that the deities of regular magic get jealous. And since it is Wizards of the Coast they can't allow anything to be cooler than them so they beat Psi with a nerf bat so hard that it is safe for toddlers to play with, then they feed the regular magics steroids just in case.

[Nanshork]

Nice to see that my idea is gaining in popularity.   

Anybody actually want to run this?  Or run something?   

[veekie]

The usual suspects are rather tied up with game though.

[archangel.arcanis]

someone really needs to run this now. I've already got an idea and it is going to kill me to just sit on it for months.