Talk:Unfettered Psionic (3.5e Template)

Ratings

	Spanambula likes this article and rated it 3 of 4.
	Not so strong to make it an absolute must have, but not so weak that it's not worth the loss of a casting level. I dig it.

"That's no Nerf, That's a Space Station."

Wow, this slightly overpowered template just got nerfed into complete unusability. Ok, so we lost the +1 to manifester level, which took some of the sting out of taking an LA hit, since this was designed for classes that traditionally don't take non-casting levels ever the end. That's a bit painful, but you still had a laundry list of goodies out of this template. Next. Instead of +1 PP/HD you gain a virtual +4 to your manifesting stat, which overall provides more PP, but only so long you keep your manifester level as high as possible, and you now have 1 fewer of those. This makes it less attractive for gish builds unless they're going out of their way to keep their manifester levels as high as possible.

The big one: losing 1d8 or 1d4 pp per power manifested unless you expend psionic focus. This template is now unusable for partial manifesters like Psychic Warrior whose power point progression is severely limited. So now manifesters are forced to take full-round actions that provoke AoOs in-between manifesting powers or lose power points. Hope you optimized Concentration, since that DC 20 check is by no means a sure thing at low levels. Pre-combat buffing, now in twice the normal time or more! While Psionic Meditation is a frequently taken feat for that very reason, now it becomes an absolute must-have from level 1. You might as well just assign it as the 3rd bonus feat this template gives. But even in that case, now you get to choose between using your metapsionics and losing power points! So that's great. This template was nicest for Wilders, who already work on a high-risk-high-reward system, but now there's just a flat guarantee they'll lose power points no matter what for using their signature ability. Sure, at higher levels even mildly optimized full manifesters have power points for days, and can afford a few extra here or there, but this makes surviving in early levels far more challenging than it needs to be. The whole balance idea of LA is that it benefits in the short term and levels off in usefulness in the long run. Now it can suck in both the short AND long term! Win-win! </sarcasm>

Bottom line, this template already required some feat investment to make up for the setback of lost manifesting, but the benefits outweighed the cost of being behind the casting curve. Now it's utterly unattractive for anything but a full manifester, and the bonus feats, few extra PP/day and a few extra powers come nowhere even CLOSE to outweighing the overall cost in action economy and/or the potential extra power points. Yes, the previous version probably needed to be toned down a bit, but as it stands currently this is unplayable for me now. - Spanambula (talk) 06:33, 21 September 2016 (UTC)

EDIT - These changes are great! I approve, two Spans up. - Spanambula (talk) 08:38, 21 September 2016 (UTC)