New Class: Psionist (Spell Caster)

[Spit]

I'm definitely un-original.  This topic is from an old D&D term:  Psionics. 

Basically, you could have a spell-casting class with all new Psionic spells.  These spells would be related to mind damage (psionic blast or mind blast) or telekinesis (Lifting your opponent up and dropping them to the ground or throwing items at the opponent).  Also the Psionist could change their form with various spells.  For instance, a first level psionics spell would be to change their arm into a club/sword of relatively low damage.  As the Psionist progresses in levels, the damage/properties of the club/sword could change.   Similarly they could have "room" spells/ armour/ single damage spells/ ability enhancement spells...etc. 

Mind damage spells would decrease by the amount of intelligence/wisdom a defender has, not by AC.

I would probably suggest only silk wearing and allowing no weapons.  I would also think that no headgear would be allowed.

[Valentine]

What about a Helmet of Magneto to block psionic forces? ;D

I couldn't resist....and there's nothing wrong with channeling D&D.

It'd be difficult to set up psionics *right* though...there'd have to be factors to determine efficacy based on number of people in the room (the more people 'polluting' the air with their thoughts, the harder it is for a Psionic to concentrate), int/wis of each person around, the risk of people in the psionic's party will be affected, and the possibility of having a mental breakdown. Maybe I'm making it more complicated than necessary...

Although I have to say the thought of adding fore/post sight would be fun. If only...

[DeathCow]

I do like the idea of a psionist type class, the problem is finding them a niche they would be in.  They need a unique purpose, so what exactly who this class do?  They can have any ability that we can come up with, at least functionally they can.  They do need to stay within the power range of other classes.  If all this class does is the same things a mage does but has different messages returns then, :/.  The transmuting arm thing is a little bizarre though.  You're no longer allowed to watch Lord of the Rings while on LSD. <--new rule.

[Valentine]

"who this class do"? I'm guessing whoever they can get drunk enough.....

Again, couldn't resist.

The idea of Psionics is they can control others...not sure if this is how mages are set up...in other games I've played mages mainly cast spells like warriors use weapons. Controlling another character against their will...well, that's everyone's dream.

Or...just mine...at 2:30a...

[DeathCow]

Wow...i did type who rather than what..nice! anyway..that pack is empty.. oh good a full pack of smokes....btw the way im glad your home safe valentine.  Really I am looking for unique abilites...the mind control thing was kinda left to the mages in majormud, they hada few spells like enslave, slow, confuse...it not a matter of HOW the abilities are explained but more what they do.  The special effects are nice, but not what makes a class fill a niche.  The class needs a purpose before I feel it has a home in greatermud.

(keep in mind I'll have basically the same classes as majormud, but not all the same spells.....)


If you are hot blow me....


I didnt say that,,,



unless your hot,

[Valentine]

Should a board have a limit on the number of drunken idiots that post at a time? Of course I got home OK. My tab was only $4, remember? (yes, I know asking you to remember is not fair)

Perhaps Psionics would be a sub-class of wizardry. Have sub classes been discussed? It only makes sense that what ever spells/weapons you practice/purchase would lead to your specialty. Wizards (mages, magic-wielders, whatever) could break down into Attack, Defense, Nature (looking more towards druids with this one), Mental, etc.

Actually this leads into my other thought...rather than picking a class when rolling a char (if that's how it's done), how about class is determined by what abilities you choose. Maybe I'm complicating things again (not to mention mixing topics). But think...you are classless until level 5, when your chosen methods are weighed and determine what class you are destined for. This may be one of those times I'm not supposed to be thinking.

I'm so glad I'm not hot.  :P

[DeathCow]

Ok, I've got ideas for an enchanter class<so I call them> in mind already...Btw your tab had a shot one it 2...Doesn't matter if you paid for it...it was there..lush.

The issue is 'what' this class does.  I could come up with hundreds of ideas for what it does.  The point is that it neds to be unique.  Sure it needs attacks and such, BUT the main power needs to be somethign else.  Mages cover the magica; attacls, druid cover the tick spells. priests heal..and eventually..enchanters will stun/charm..what do these people do?

[Spit]

I don't really see this class as being similar to a Mage from a spell-casting perspective.    Their powers would tap the powers of the mind and body  and the energy around themselves.  There is nothing magical about the psionist. 

Their "mana" would consist of Psi points. 

I listed a few abilities.  Some others might include teleportation, water walking, levitation, invisibility, dark vision...

You're creating this game.  I can probably dig up a few D&D spells somewhere and post if you are interested, but if not I won't bother.

Keep up the good work.

[Valentine]

I'm dragging my D&D books out of storage for this one so I can post more intelligently...later.

Psi points are a good idea on their own...they would give each individual the possibility of being slightly clairvoyant and perhaps enhance charisma--Edit: More ideas for base psionic ability...dec chance of surprise, defense attack bonus, inc chance to un-stealth a thief...these would all be slight (one in 50 or 100 chance?), but still noticible in a char who has say 3 base psi pts vs a char with 0 or 1--end edit. My thought here is everyone has a base psionic force (low), but then as a player chooses to train as a Psionic the number of psi points would increase with each level allowing the char to control their psi powers.




P.S. I'm pretty sure the rule is that the only drinks that count are the ones you pay for.

[DeathCow]

See i don't have these dnd books, im not familar with the rules for psionists.  I like the idea of passive offensive and defensive abilities though.

[proteus]

Why not make them a utility class? Sure, they could still have offense/defense, but the best abilities you could give them would be semi-access to sysop "powers" like lim listing. A character that could tell you specifically if a monster was alive or dead, or who has, or where is, a specific limited item would definitely fit into its own niche.

They wouldn't have access to the full lim list, though, more like one item per "cast". And maybe the ability to search for more powerful things as levels are gained.

Granted, allowing access to overall sysop powers might make this class useless, so it's really up to you.

[The Crazy Animal]

I like this sysop like power thing and I don?t like it here why.

Don?t like:
It sounds too easy to abuse.
Like:
It?s an interesting twist of powers.

Limiting the range is another way of limiting the abuse factor. If the player possessing an item has to be in the same room as the player using the power, if it was like that I wouldn?t have a problem with it. It would be a great counter power for the spell shadowform.

I think the where is item thing should be limited in power too if it was an instant on key location it would take all of the skill out of stash spots, and the time honored skill of hoarding valuables. I?m thinking perhaps you could get clues from using this power maybe a choice line from the room description it would make the power more feasible.

Scrying for a monster I think would be perfectly fine as is though could take a little fun out of things.

Some more power additions ? playing on this theme:

Sense hidden ? A psionist power where the user can sense when someone is hiding in a room but can?t see who is there without searching.

Sense Secret ? A psionist power where the user can identify the direction of a secret passages without searching for them.

Scrying ability ? Remote viewing (Direction):  This allows the user to see into the next room couple of rooms with out notifying any players in that room. Limits it must be a single direction only, so if there is 3 room west followed by a room to the southwest the player sees only the rooms to the west. I would say a good total limit would be 5 rooms in any direction.

TCA

[proteus]

I like this sysop like power thing and I don?t like it here why.

Don?t like:
It sounds too easy to abuse.
Like:
It?s an interesting twist of powers.

It's not too abusable when you consider that it would take many levels to gain access to some of the "better" abilities, and even at that point, you'd have the requisite chance of the "spell" failing, unlike an actual sysop command, which has the requisite chance of failing for completely different reasons. Just think, though, it'd be a new class with abilities nearly everyone would be familiar with already, yet it would be something completely new. Not to mention that it's something you'd never see in Majormud, with all the boards out there already granting limited sys powers.

It would definitely need to be reconfigured from the current MMUD setup, though. Scrying for an item location and getting "Map XX, Room XXX" means little in actual game terms. Perhaps somehow just getting a general location name or room description could be done?

This would open the door for a lot of new playable abilities, like teleporting.

[The Crazy Animal]

Don?t get me wrong here,  I didn?t say it was abuseable only that it sounds that way.

As long as it doesn?t give the exact location of an item like the current sysop power does it wouldn?t be abusable. I don?t know if there is a stable way of determining proximity to an item but that would be a great way of deciding the accuracy of the power. So, if you were 100 square rooms from an item it would be exact but if you were 1000 it would be more vague slowly going down in usefulness.

TCA

[DeathCow]

Ah crap I'm drunk ...I'll talk about this in a few hours.