Talk:Psychic (5e Background)

List of psychic abilities

• Animal communication (Zoolingualism)
• Aura Reading
• Astral projection
• Aura (Clairvoyance)
• Divination
• Levitation
• Mediumship
• Parapsychology
• Precognition
• Psychokinesis or Telekinesis
• Psychometry
• Pyrokinesis
• Remote viewing
• Retrocognition
• Scrying
• Telepathy

Any other suggestions are more then welcomed. Azernath (talk) 21:44, 19 April 2015 (MDT)

I'm not sure how this is going to work as a background. How are these background features going to work? You know they can't grant mechanical benefits? Marasmusine (talk) 00:41, 20 April 2015 (MDT)

I made the following psychic abilities as a specialization, and the psionic spellcasting as a feature. Azernath (talk) 10:14, 20 April 2015 (MDT)

Sounds like a... class? Marasmusine (talk) 10:23, 20 April 2015 (MDT)

Well, you get one feature and one spell to use at will so you could say it is, but I tried to make it like the background classifications but with extra flare. Some spells might need to be made after a short or long rest but could still work.

P.S. I think I will change the name to psychic. Azernath (talk) 10:29, 20 April 2015 (MDT)

Now might be a good time for you to read the "creating backgrounds" section of the DMG. Marasmusine (talk) 11:27, 20 April 2015 (MDT)

You know that rules are more of a guideline then a restriction, but I will look in to it just to see where I made mistakes. Azernath (talk) 12:41, 20 April 2015 (MDT)

These key statements might help. From the PHB: "The most important question to ask about your background is what changed? Why did you stop doing whatever your background describes and start adventuring?". Does that make sense here? And from the DMG: "A background feature should avoid strict game benefits, such as a bonus to an ability check or an attack roll. Instead, the feature should open up new options for roleplaying, exploring, and otherwise interacting with the world."

Back in AD&D there was a variant rule in the PHB. During character creation you could optionally roll a percentile with the small chance of having psionic powers. Maybe this should also be a variant rule rather than a background? Marasmusine (talk) 01:26, 21 April 2015 (MDT)

I sounds good, but if so who ever choose the variant rule they get the psionic spellcasting and one of the special powers. Azernath (talk) 01:32, 21 April 2015 (MDT)

I made this, Simple Psychic (5e Variant Rule). It's crude, but it works fine. This could easily be a background which can work with that. Kydo (talk) 17:11, 8 May 2015 (MDT)

I'm just sort of perusing the wiki at the moment and stumbled over this again. I was just wondering... why did it get moved, exactly? It needs to be reworked, surely, buy why move it? It still appears in the backgrounds list thanks to the categories, but its title shows up all buggy! Besides, moving it to other just seems kind of like a lazy way of brushing it under the rug to me. Look what happened with the Mystic background- it's a perfect example of what a little elbow grease can do for a background with implied mechanical advantages. Just looking over this, all it would take to get it closed to finished would be to write an opening paragraph and replace the spells with flavor descriptions of normal actions. For example, the Telepathy specialization would simply state that your words appear in the minds of those you speak to. No spell. No transcontinental communication. Just a particular description of the normal speech everyone else does. Similarly with telekinesis, do we really care if a PC opens a door with their thoughts, as opposed to their boot, a weapon, fire, or any of the other things nobody questions? It's still an object interaction at the end of the day. Just state they can only do it within arms' reach. --Kydo (talk) 01:30, 25 July 2015 (MDT)

I was working towards making it a non-background 1e-style system per the conversation with Azernath above (in which you have a percentage change of having a power, you have it as well as a background, but doesn't preclude the use of the characteristic tables here). I held off when I heard WotC were releasing a psychic class ("mystic"), I wanted to see it first. Also, I still don't think it would make a good background. Just having a power isn't a background - it's not something you stop doing in order to become an adventurer.

Your proposed changes sound okay if you want to go in that direction, so long as the background is about what the character did with that power, not the power itself (a card shark, or stage magician?) Marasmusine (talk) 02:07, 25 July 2015 (MDT)

well I'm working on it anyways. What you're talking about comes from the background description more than anything else. Right now I'm working on turning the powers into a usable roleplaying feature which encourages a variety of different types of imaginative play, interaction, and description. Once I have that sorted out, making it open and flexible enough to work with any race and class should be enough to give players freedom to generate any back story they'd like without clashing internally. --Kydo (talk) 02:25, 25 July 2015 (MDT)

OK, i'd like some feedback. Is the introductory paragraph good? Or does it feel too open/empty? Should psychics really be knowledgeable about magic? And if not Arcana, then what should the other proficiency be? Perception? Does anyone feel that Pyrokinesis is too much of a mechanical advantage in the hands of a creative player or rules lawyer? Do any of the powers need clarification to prevent abuse? Is the feature good enough? It just gives them a new way of initiating certain types of social interactions. Should I remove the note? Can we move this to Psychic (5e Background)? --Kydo (talk) 19:00, 25 July 2015 (MDT)

I was thinking of adding a feature for magic users that allow them to cast spells with the psychic spellcasting, plus a another Specialization that allow you to see event throw touch items. I know that Precognition can work like that. Azernath (talk) 10:15, 27 July 2015 (MDT)

What about a variant feature which does a similar thing as the first, but recharacterizes the styling of your spellcasting? That way, taking this background as a spellcaster would allow normal magi with common psychic powers, OR powerful psychics whose powers emulate those of a mage. Then the background itself still works like a background, maintaining balance, and you can also have psychics who can throw fire and lightning. I'll be honest, this is kind of what I was expecting WotC to do with psionics.

Also, I missed your comment about powers not being appropriate as a background, Marasmusine. I disagree with you a little. Not all campaign settings use the default idea of "adventurer" as a profession by name. In fact, only official settings seem to do that, I've never seen it in a homebrew campaign. The official backgrounds are written broadly enough that they can still function even in a highly realistic setting, and most of them can be treated as something you still do. There is no reason to assume that a character must have left their old life behind to pursue this new avenue, it's just a safe assumption to make. The guidelines for creating a background are a loose collection of recommendations which, by their own admission, are far from being rules. A background is a framework for giving genuine play value to your character's back story, whatever that may be, and the PHB bluntly states you should probably make up your own. As for this background specifically, think to how the "cursed" background here on the wiki is about a circumstance inflicted on a person in their past and how it affected their life, not what they actually did for their life. That part is open to interpretation, because it wasn't as influential upon them as their curse. One could just as easily choose the soldier background and still write that they were cursed, but their being a soldier is what defined them the most. The same approach can be applied here, and I think they both come from the idea that ones' condition, if unique enough, can redefine who they are and reshape every aspect of their life- a condition can be a part of your story and identity as much as your profession. This is true of reality for sure; a person born with an acute or chronic medical condition can trace many aspects of their life as being directly caused by their physical state. My wife became a pharmacist to defy tradition that people with rheumatic conditions cannot work in the medical field. My friend has been unemployed for over five years because hemophilia prevents him from working, and he has no money to improve his education. One of my caricature customers yesterday suffered from cerebral palsy, but is more brave and more genuine socially than any other person I have ever a, because she has nothing to lose and everything to gain. Who we are can be defined by what has happened to us just as much as what we have done. --Kydo (talk) 13:24, 27 July 2015 (MDT)

Greetings Kydo,

I just wanted to say I am enjoying using this background. My character is a Geist Illusionist (Wizard). I don't what the previous versions of this background were, but I have found this one to be well balenced. Even as a race that already gives levation (as difficult terrain) and the ability to go into the dreams of others. In particular I use telekinesis as my psychic power.

I don't think this background should give a neckless that gives pyschic resistance.

Agreed. Considering that just happened today without any discussion, I doubt anyone will mind me reverting it. --Kydo (talk) 21:28, 12 June 2016 (MDT)

Removed the comment of telekinesis having a limited duration. You may want to give a carrying limit (Ing. score times 5-10-15?) and state a range limit of 5 to 10 ft. tho.

The weight limit is equal to your normal carrying abilities. The range is equal to the length of your arms. This ability does not change your ability to move objects, it only changes the way that movement is described for role playing purposes. Specifically, you do not need to touch an object to move it. It is purely cosmetic. This is not a class. --Kydo (talk) 09:05, 9 July 2016 (MDT)

The background feature currently gives resistance to psychic damage. A background should not do something like this. --72.231.210.38 16:37, 16 November 2018 (MST)