I don't like this method. I liked the old way. Everyone in Athas was born with a Wild Talent. Like a wild card, you never knew what power some one would have but you could always count on one thing, you will have one. With the way it is now, you can't have one unless you go into another class... even if its only for 1 or 2 lvls.Sorry, that don't seem like a Wild Talent to me.
Bring back the old Wild Talent!:sad:
It's Athas, a World where Psionics are as common as a light spell in Forgoten Realms or as common as an inate ability that most races get. Wild Talents should not be taught but given.
Besides, for my DS campaigns (at least) I have my characters all start at level 3, so that all the races are available, and the total ECL's comes out to be about right. Someone wants to be a wild talent, they just make one of those starting levels a psion.
It was a terrible system. Much better to just mandate that everyone's first feat MUST be wild talent if you really want everyone to be a wild talent.
Also - not everyone WAS a wild talent. Just PCs and NPCs with the stats to be psions.
Given that noone in any of the books was a wild talent, and the current DS project is aiming towards the books... it would seem silly to have wild talents as a standard feature of the game.
If everyone is a Wild Talent, then everyone would be vulnerable to psi attacks.. Not that I hate that because of my PsionS, but then again it break a lot of (already broken) mechanics.
Those Feats are cool n all but, I still like the old system better. Just would need to redo the Wild Talent table.
A little story to go with this: In a game I ran a couple years ago the PCs were a halfling and a halfgiant. The halfling got My Light for his wild talent, so whenever they were in the dark, the half giant would just pick up the halfling and use him as a flashlight. :D
Wild Talent
You can manifest one 0-level psionic power.
Benefit: Select one 0-level psionic power. You can manifest this power up to three times in a 24-hour period. There is no power point cost for using this power. Where manifester level is a factor (such as for determining the range of the power), use your manifester level + 1. Thus, if you have no levels in an appropriate psionic class, you use the power as if you were a 1st-level manifester.
Special: You can gain this feat multiple times. Each time you take it, you select a different power.
This is similar to the DS3e version. I like this one a bit better, although it still doesn't address psionic combat.
My personal opinion is that psionic combat requires you to have power points, which this doesn't have. Think of a wild talent as being on the fence between psionic and mundane.
*shrugs*
I think the feat fits the Wild talents of old very nicely. As far as psionic combat goes, pretend they have a non-psionic buffer and call it good. Could 2e Wild talents use psionic combat (don't have the Complete psionics handbook)? If not, then there's no problem. If they could, then say they can't anymore and that all I have to say about that.
You all are making this way more complicated than it has to be.
Originally posted by Naga_Slayer
Or you could be a pr*ck like me and force everyone to use their first level feat on Wild Talent unless they choose to be of a psionic class because i wish to stay true to the old boxed set. Of course, Ialso force everyone to make 3rd level characters (I turned the powerful races into classes for those who want to be thri-kreen and half giants) using the Savage species guidelines for making racial classes.
I think the feat fits the Wild talents of old very nicely. As far as psionic combat goes, pretend they have a non-psionic buffer and call it good. Could 2e Wild talents use psionic combat (don't have the Complete psionics handbook)? If not, then there's no problem. If they could, then say they can't anymore and that all I have to say about that.
You all are making this way more complicated than it has to be.
In 2e, it was the non-psionics who got reamed in psionic combat.
Psion attacks
a) non-psionic: He makes a single use of 'contact', and he's in.
b) psionic: contact doesn't work, psionicist must get three tangents with attack powers, resisted by the defensive powers before he's in.
The nonpsionic buffer was intended to stop psionics being such a "I win if I'm the only person with them" affair.
Originally posted by Pennarin
Someone had found an interesting way with a feat to procure an higher than first level power. I can't find that feat as it must be on the old DSBoard. There was some trade-off involved, but in the end you could get that teleport power (that was in 2nd DS), now it would be dimension slide, a 3rd level power, that that elf gladiator used in the PP novel Verdant Passage.
That was problably the old Cannabalized Power feat
There was a list of valid powers. In order to use the power, you payed with attribute points, rather than power points. The attribute drained would be from the power's associated dicipline, and had to start at 10+$power_level.
So, that elf would sacrifice 5 Dexterity points to use Dimension Slide. If she still had a 13 Dexterity after that, she could sacrifice another 5 and use it again.
It was removed a while ago, for balance reasons, and because there were some heavy exploits against it involving powers and spells that let you restore lost ability points.
One of the other guys (possibly Jon) would be able to tell you in more detail exactly why it was removed.
Originally posted by flip
That was problably the old Cannabalized Power feat
With the name given by flip ;), I'v searched for it on the old DSBoard but its description isn't there.
If someone as a very old version of the pdf document about feats, can you post a cut&paste of Cannabalized Power ?
Cannibalized Power [General]
You learn to use a psionic power at the expense of your health.
Prerequisites: Starting Feat Only
Benefit: This feat gives you access to a single high-level psionic power, but you may only use this power at great expense. You may temporarily cannibalize one point of the power's primary ability (Charisma for a telepathic power, Dexterity for a psychoportive power, etc) per power point normally required to manifest this power as a psion. You may alternately spend power points to manifest this ability, if you have sufficient power points to do so. Manifesting this power is a full round action, and you may not upgrade or scale this power. You manifest this power as a first level manifester, even if you acquire levels in a psionic class. Once the power's primary ability score drops below 10 + power level, you may no longer manifest the power, until the primary ability is then restored to the minimum required to manifest the power.
Special: Choose your cannibalized power from the following list: attraction, aura sight, aversion, biocurrent, biofeedback, body equilibrium, chameleon, combat prescience, conceal thoughts, concussion, condense water*, cone of sound, control air, control body, control flames, control light, control object, control sound, daze, demoralize, destiny dissonance, detect thoughts, dismiss ectoplasm, dissipating touch, dream surveyor*, electroplasmic cloud*, empathic transfer, empathy, environment*, expanded vision, far hand, feather fall, feel light, firefall, hammer, hibernation*, immovability, know location, lend virtue*, lesser concussion, lesser phase*, lesser telekinesis*, levitate, lesser lightning skin*, mass manipulation, matter agitation, metaphysical self*, mindwhisper*, object reading, painful touch, poison sense, produce venom*, psychic impersonation*, psychic tracking*, psycholuminescence, see sound, sense psionics, photosynthesis*, sense psychoportation, sensibility to psychic impressions, sever the tie, static discharge*, steadfast gaze, stomp, suggestion, true worship*, undead sense, vigor, wisdom of the land*.
* indicates new power.
