Psionics Review: KibblesTasty

The Psion and other subclasses

A reddit favorite, the Psion by KibblesTasty is available in print in Kibbles' Compendium of Craft and Creation. This is the first review of the series to examine a full new psion class, rather than just psionic-themed character options.

The Psion

A full and dedicated class, the psion found in KCCC takes inspiration both from editions past as well as 5e design principles.

Basics. With a d6 hit die, the psion joins the sorcerer and wizard for being one of the squishiest classes in the game. Its proficiencies are slightly better, with the full complement of simple weapons as well as light armor, but its saving throws match the Wizard’s - Intelligence and Wisdom.

Psionics. Rather than spellcasting, the psion has an alternative source of supernatural ability. The core resource are psi points, which replenish on a short rest. Like a monk’s ki points, the psion has psi points equal to their level. Furthermore, psions have a psi limit that is equal to half their level, rounded up, matching the maximum spell level a full caster has. Like a wizard, their spell save DC and attack bonus is based on Intelligence.

Magic-Psionics Transparency. Psionics are supernatural effects and still subject to dispel magic, but counterspell and detect magic have reduced effectiveness against a psion. There’s also a new Psionics skill, which is similar to Arcana but covers psionic subjects.

Psionic Archetypes, Disciplines, and Talents. An iconic feature of Kibbles design is the sheer number of options available. In this case, the psion takes inspiration from the warlock, with three different paths of customization. Psionic archetypes are the psion’s subclasses. Psionic disciplines (clearly inspired by the 3.5 disciplines) are an alternative to free-form spell selection; selecting a discipline grants access to each ability in the discipline as you level up, and each discipline is the approximate equivalent of a school of magic. Finally, psionic talents allow for additional customization, unlocking new abilities or improving existing ones. There is both a general list of talents as well as a list specific to each discipline.

Psionic Mastery. At 5th level the psion’s resources expand, gaining a free psi point at the start of each of their turns that disappears at the end of that turn. This improves at 11th and 17th levels to two and three free psi points per turn respectively.

Innate Psionics. At 11th level the psion gains the equivalent of a warlock’s Mystic Arcanum; once per day use of a 6th level spell, with additional selections at 13, 15, and 17. Notably, these are not restricted by prior choices of discipline.

Ascension. The psion capstone draws inspiration from 4e; at level 20, if you would die you don’t, and instead you become a ghost with 10 psi points. While a ghost you can’t rest, and if you run out of psi points you die for real.

Psionic Disciplines

Psions get access to their first discipline at 1st level, determined by their choice of archetype. They get a second at 3rd level, and then a third and final discipline at 18th level; these latter two choices are not tied to the psion’s archetype.

Each discipline comes with a few benefits

• A passive or at-will feature

• A psionic power that can be augmented in a variety of ways by expending psi points. Despite being cantrip equivalents at their base these do not automatically scale with the psion’s level - Psionic Mastery is expected to provide the at-will scaling. The upside is that you can trade off damage for other effects, but it means the psion multiclasses poorly.

• A table of “Alternate Effects” that lists spells the discipline grants access to; spells cost psi points equal to their spell level. Psions may spend additional psi points to upcast a spell from these tables.

Furthermore, each discipline has about half a dozen talents specific to it.

Enhancement. A physically-focused discipline, the enhancement discipline passively boosts Strength and Dexterity ability checks through Enhancing Skill. Enhancing surge is the discipline’s psionic power, giving a target creature temporary hit points and bonus damage the next time it does damage. The alternate effects are a best hits of the transmutation school - heroism, lesser restoration, haste are each notable inclusions. The talents include improving self-casting enhancing surge as well as granting access to healing spells like cure wounds.

Projection. A creation-focused discipline, all projectionists can create temporary physical items with Project Item. The psionic power is astral construct, which summons an “ethereal creation” to do the summoner’s bidding and can be enhanced and commanded by expending psi points. The discipline has a small Alternate Effects list, only granting floating disk, unseen servant, mirror image, phantom steed, arcane eye, and creation. The talents enhance the construct, grant additional conjuration spells, or in one case dramatically improve weapons created by Project Item.

Telekinesis. A classic discipline, the Telekinetic Hands ability is similar to the mage hand cantrip but with the added option to pour Psi Points into it to increase the weight limit - which effectively becomes a passive buff with Psionic Mastery. The psionic power is telekinetic force, a Strength saving throw that can knock prone in addition to dealing 1d10 damage; a potent setup for melee-weapon wielding allies. It can be enhanced with more damage, to hit an area, or even impose the restrained condition. The Alternate Effects list features a mix of damage spells like shatter, movement effects like fly, and a new spell for every spell level. The talents are a grab bag of effects - Intelligence-based grapples, improved movement, bonus spells, and even a unique extra power (telekinetic weapon).

Telepathy. Another classic discipline, the Telepathic Communication provided by this discipline is fairly weak by current standards; a strict limit of 30 feet and no group calls, without any innate upgrade options. The psionic power telepathic intrusion is like frostbite; it’s 1d8 psychic damage and a Wisdom saving throw, and the disadvantage is on all attacks until the next turn but only against the caster. In addition to a raw damage increase, the power can be upgraded to impose one of several status conditions, from frightened to stunned to making an ally invisible to the target. The Alternate Effects list is full of iconic enchantment spells like suggestion, dominate person, and handful of new options. As for talents, the options include learning several illusion spells, empathetic damage manipulation, and improving the base Telepathic Communication.

Transposition. Prior editions would refer to this discipline as psychoportation. Flicker Step allows the psion to at-will substitute their movement for a short range teleport; the distance automatically scales with the psion’s level. Phase rift is a very short range teleport that damages anyone along the path, and can be augmented to do more damage, go farther, pass through thicker walls, or otherwise have more flexibility as a form of movement. The Alternate Effects are mostly teleportation spells with a few defensive tools like blink, but pass without trace and banishment stand out as extraordinarily powerful spells. Most of the talents are devoted to improving weapon attacks, with a few other options that generally improve phase rift.

Psychokinesis. The evocation of disciplines, Energy Manipulation is most similar to control flames but is a more general grab-bag of effects a la druidcraft or prestidigiation. The power elemental blast not only deals 1d8 damage of the caster’s choice but has an effect based on the damage type chosen - cold, fire, force, or lightning. The augmentations are fairly predictable, but Overcharged stands out as a Sharpshooter or Great Weapon Master style buff; take 1d4 force damage and -prof to the attack bonus for +2x prof damage. The Alternate Effects are a grab bag of evocation spells, alongside some new force and lightning damage options from the Spells chapter. The discipline has an additional, optional layer of customization - a psion can (but is not required to) choose from one of three specializations, limiting their elemental blast to cold, fire, or lightning damage while gaining an additional effect, in addition to replacing the Alternate Effects list. The talent options are very combat focused, providing various defensive benefits or in one case a conjured mephit.

Precognition. Not tied to any archetype, precognition is a divination-oriented discipline. Prescience provides proficiency in both perception and initiative checks, and at the cost of your concentration can substitute intelligence for the ability score used in either check. Seeing can either provide advantage and bonus damage on a hit to an ally or impose disadvantage and a damage penalty to an enemy. The augments are a grab bag of buffs, from advantage on a saving throw to improving the bonus damage to providing some immediate movement. The Alternate Effects list is mostly what one would expect, but death ward sticks out both for its general utility as well as the unique synergy an 8-hour duration spell has when cast through resources that recharge on a short rest. The discipline only has three talents; two provide personal benefits while the third is a daily buff that provides temporary hit points and prevents surprises.

Nullification. Another discipline without an archetype, nullification is the discipline equivalent of abjuration. Disruptive Touch allows for at-will cantrip dispelling, advantage to disprove illusions you can touch, and the ability to shut off spellcasters you’re grappling. Denial is a weak damage effect that is much stronger against supernatural creatures and spellcasters, doing bonus damage and imposing a 1d4 penalty to attack rolls, ability checks, and concentration-induced saving throws. The augments are straightforward, with Supernatural sticking out as a way to suppress non-spell monster abilities. The Alternate Effects list is a slim offering of abjuration spells, with only a single option per level except for third, which gives counterspell, dispel magic, and remove curse. While counterspell is largely regarded as one of the strongest spells in the game, it’s much weaker on the short-rest based psion who even at high levels won’t have otherwise low-value resources that can be burned to “nova” a fight; a 10th level Wizard can spend four rounds casting 5th & 4th level spells while still counterspelling every reaction to effectively use all their best resources in only a single fight. The talent options are all defensive in nature, from armor proficiency to high level access to antimagic field.

Consumption. A unique option, this predatory discipline feeds on its foes. It’s built around the power mind leech, which normally does 1d6 psychic damage but is upgraded to 1d12 if the target is afflicted by one of many status effects. It also provides a “charge of consumed power” that can be used to deal bonus damage or gain temporary hit points, and fuels the discipline’s feature Adaptive Hunter, which grants the psion a skill, language, or tool proficiency possessed by the target until the psion takes a long rest. The augments are the usual panoply of extra damage and area targeting, but Thieving sticks out as a way to temporarily copy a “spell known”; you still have to spend the psi points to use the copied spell. The Alternate Effects are a slim list of necrotic-damage spells, with only a single option per level. The four talents are a grab-bag of improving grappling, improved range on mind leech, increasing the number of copied proficiencies from Adaptive Hunter, and raising a zombie or skeleton as a servant.

General Psionic Talents

The non-discipline-specific talents can largely be divided into a few categories

• Additional features available to all psions or a pair of disciplines.

• 1/LR uses of higher level spells, without also consuming power points

• Features requiring one of two disciplines

• Features requiring a specific subclass

Like the warlock invocations that inspired them, the grab-bag of talents provide a mix of weird and unique upgrades alongside more straightforward statistical boosts. The most interesting throughline on the talents is the various investments needed to make an effective melee psion; an unarmed monk-like psion appears to be supported as well as a more directly weapon-based version.

Psionic Archetypes

Each subclass provides features at 1st, 3rd, 6th, 10th, and 14th level. The bulk of the Psion’s power is in its disciplines — archetype features are meant to support a character build, not carry them. While psions do technically gain a third discipline, it doesn’t come until level 18, so the review will focus on the bulk of play — levels 3-17 — when a psion has access to exactly two disciplines.

Awakened Mind. Specializing in Telepathy, the other first level feature is Mental Awareness, which lets the psion use Intelligence instead of Wisdom for Insight checks. Mind Reader at 3rd level allows telepathic intrusion to target Intelligence saving throws instead of Wisdom and adds additional roll manipulation. Empowered Psionics at 6th level buffs damage from powers, All Seeing Eye at 10th level gives “mindsight”, which is a creature-only form of blindsight, and Full Awakening allows you to spend 2 psi points per turn to have advantage on all rolls.

Perhaps the most “pure” psion out of the options here, the Awakened Mind is great for someone who wants to blast people with their mind and rely on pure intelligence. The base Telepathy discipline provides a solid damage cantrip, so I would look to Enhancement for support, Precognition for utility, or Nullification for caster duels (where telepathic intrusion is least likely to be effective).

Unleashed Mind. Specializing in Telekinesis, this archetype also has access to the thaumaturgy cantrip through its Overwhelming Power feature. The third level feature, Rampaging Power, provides a ramping damage bonus for each turn that the Awakened Mind successfully deals damage, scaling from a d4 to a maximum of d12. The Unleashed Mind’s damage further improves at level 6, with Empowered Psionics. The level 10 feature Uncontrollable Mind provides select status immunity while the rampage die is a d8 or higher, and Unstoppable Rampage provides protection against death.

Unlike the Awakened Mind, there’s no explicit synergy between the base Telekinesis discipline and the archetype tied to it. In fact, the entire rampage die mechanic isn’t tied to power usage at all, and much more strongly synergizes with and benefits from multi-attacking; players looking to build a “melee psion” should strongly consider the Unleashed Mind alongside the generic talent Astral Arms. Telekinetic Force further incentivizes this through being a reliable source of the prone condition. Secondary disciplines to consider include Enhancement, Transposition, or even Projection for the Projected Weaponry talent.

Transcended Mind. Specializing in Enhancement, this archetype also improves outdoor survival through the State of Mind feature. At 3rd level the Balance of Power feature rewards you for weaving between restoring hit points/granting temporary hit points and dealing damage. Perfected Enhancement at 6th level improves temporary hit points granted from powers (which turns into damage through Balance of Power). Mental Control at 10th level improves concentration saving throws, and Mind over Matter at level 14 lets you substitute an Intelligence saving throw for a Strength, Dexterity, or Constitution saving throw.

As a support-oriented archetype, the question is what’s the best way to use the pool of bonus damage from Balance of Power. This rules out Precognition and Nullification, but basically every other discipline has a fair argument for why it would pair well with a Transcended Mind.

Shaper’s Mind. Specializing in Projection, the benefits granted by Boundless Imagination at 1st level dramatically improve the Astral Construct. The Astral Metastability, Empowered Construct, Astral Guardian, and Imaginary Army all further improve the use of Astral Constructs; the primary goal of the archetype is to play a singular, primary “pet”.

The overriding focus of the Shaper’s Mind archetype means it’s mostly looking for out of combat utility. Disciplines with strong Alternate Effects tables like Precognition are more appealing, while the combat-oriented Psychokinesis just competes with the Astral Construct for actions.

Wandering Mind. Specializing in Transposition, the base features provide of Spatial Manipulation and Nomad’s Gear not only proficiency with martial weapons and medium armor, but let the psion use Dexterity as their primary ability score for Transposition powers. At 3rd level, Cunning strikes further emphasizes the focus on weapons, while Curious Mind gives a more limited form of Jack of All Trades. Phase Danger at 6th level and Flickering Presence at 10th level both provide defensive utility. The Planeswalker ability at level 14 provides enormous utility through 1/day casts of plane shift and teleportation.

The limitations around Dexterity only benefitting Transposition powers means a Wandering Mind should prefer a more utility-based second discipline, such as Enhancement or Precognition. The first level proficiencies make the Psionic Weaponry talent in Projection far less useful.

Elemental Mind. Specializing in Psychokinesis, this archetype is as combat-focused as its discipline. Primordial Aspect at 1st level improves defense, Living Power at 3rd level provides some metamagic-type effects, and Empowered Psionics is the same bonus damage several others provide. The enhancements from Full Manifestation and Elemental Form are even more unique defensive benefits, balancing out the raw offensive potential of the attached discipline.

Like several other archetypes, the Elemental Mind wants to be paired with a utility-oriented discipline like Enhancement or Precognition. It’s a very straightforward subclass that delivers on its promises of blasting enemies with energy beams.

Consuming Mind. Specializing in Consumption, the 1st level feature Dark Lurker provides proficiency in Stealth and Deception and lets the psion conceal their powers. Two of the features — Ravenous Power at 3 and Mind Vampire at 10 — grant and boost a generic talent, Mind Devourer, improving its ability to heal 1d4 hp and 1 psi point per turn of combat at the cost of the psion’s reaction. Empowered Psionics at 6 is the same feature many other archetypes have, adding the psion’s Intelligence modifier to their power damage. Shattered Husks at 14 improves upon mind leech, specifically improving its ability to reduce the target’s saving throws.

Compared to the Elemental Mind and Psychokinesis, the main strength of the Consuming Mind is the additional durability and longevity granted by the archetype’s features. Secondary discipline options include Nullification, which when taken alongside Consumed Strength can result in potent grapples. Telepathy provides more access to the status conditions that boost mind leech’s damage, while Transposition augments the “assassin” aesthetic of the archetype.

Bonus Psion Content

Fusion Talents. In addition to all of the options above, KCCC provides a section of talents that can only be unlocked through the Psionic Synthesis feat; each fusion talent has exacting prerequisites but support more unique playstyles. For example, Parasitic Nightmare allows a Consumption+Telepathy psion to add telepathic intrusion modifiers to mind leech and further improves the ambushing capabilities of the combo.

Customization Guidance. An entire two-page spread is dedicated to design guidelines about how to reflavor content (the example is for the Inventor, the book’s other new class) and what to do if a concept requires more than reflavoring. This behind-the-scenes look speaks not just to the confidence and thoughtfulness of the design, but a consideration and accommodation of the community that has sprung up around the class.

Other Psionic Options

The player option front half of KCCC is split between two themes — the Inventor and the Psion. Not every piece of support for the psion directly uses the class mechanics, but are nonetheless psionic themed and fit right alongside the class.

Psionic Subclasses

Not every class receives a psionic subclass in KCC; notably missing are the three that received official support in Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything — the psi warrior fighter, the soulknife rogue, and the aberrant mind sorcerer. Many of these subclasses offer a small table of optional quirks, similar to the aberrant mind, that help reinforce the psionic flavor.

Psionics Review: Tasha's Cauldron of Everything

Barbarian: Path of the Raging Mind. A telekinetic subclass, the class features largely revolve around improving thrown weapons. While certainly welcome for a Barbarian, given the class’s otherwise strong reliance on melee weapons, the utility options are minimal — Distant Grasp even imposes disadvantage on Dexterity ability checks made with the 30 foot telekinesis. Within the boundaries of combat though the combination of improved thrown weapons and the flexibility of telekinetic force makes for a unique experience.

Cleric: Mystery Cult. A telepathic subclass, the domain spells provide a solid repertoire of enchantment spells. The early features for the subclass are mostly defensive in nature, but the mid-level features at 6, 10, and 14 are unique in that you can take them in any order. In reality, there seems to be a clear order — Gift of Mystery is the most powerful and flexible in granting a single psionic power, then Gift of Prophecy as additional defense, and finally Gift of Tongues for improved caster duels. It’s possible that in some campaigns where the cleric is less subject to physical attack compared to magical assault it would be correct to take Tongues before Prophecy, but Mystery is such a clear standout first option. The other features include Potent Spellcasting at 8, a cleric classic, and Dark Truth at 17 which provides blanket immunity to psychic damage and permanent 60’ truesight. Depending on the campaign this can be either one of the best domain capstones or one of the worst, compared to more frequently applicable but less drastic features like the War domain’s resistance to BPS.

Druid: Circle of Nightmares. An aberration-themed subclass, the core feature is Eldritch Mutation, which provides an alternative use for Wild Shape. When you mutate, you gain a solid stack of temporary hit points as well as grow your choice of a beholder-like eye stalk or a grasping tentacle; this choice is simplified at level 10 with Faceted Forms, which grants both. The other theme with the subclass is improving the new 3rd-level spell mutate, which is basically an expanded and upgraded version of alter self. The overall strength of the class is that Eldritch Mutation is a good combat form, freeing up spell slots to provide general utility for the druid’s party while the 2-per-short-rest Wild Shape uses handle any combats the druid gets into.

Monk: Way of the Soul Blade. Drawing more directly from the 3.5 soul knife, this subclass mixes telekinesis with conjured weapons. The initial features the ability to conjure a Soul Blade and access to the entire Telekinesis discipline, with ki functioning as a 1:1 replacement for psi points. The later features — Art of the Soul Blade and Power of the Mind — provide a mix of passive bonuses and new attack types. The capstone, Transcendent Blade, provides a mix of situational benefits

Paladin: Oath of Sanity. A nullification and precognition-themed subclass, the oath spells are a mix of divination and abjuration effects. Most of the features are defensive in nature, but the two channel divinity options impose status conditions on aberrations and spellcasters/psionicists. The capstone turns both of these themes up to 11, providing a focused set of immunities, resistances, and other countermeasures. Like the Mystery Cult cleric, the actual power of the Oath of Sanity is going to vary wildly based on the themes of a campaign; against daelkyr, mind flayers, and quori, the Oath of Sanity excels. Against a tyrannical red dragon… not so much.

Ranger: Mind Reaper. A fear-themed subclass, the Mind Reaper pulls on a specific theme within the Telepathy discipline. Like most modern ranger subclasses, it provides a slim list of additional spells known. By itself, the early levels aren’t doing a ton; the new frighten spell takes an action to cast and provides a chance to re-save on each of the target’s turns, meaning the target has two opportunities at a Wisdom saving throw before the Mind Reaper can use the advantage from Psychic Reaper. The subclass gets much stronger at level 7, when the Mind Reaper gains a psi point pool equal to their proficiency bonus and the telepathic intrusion power; not only that, but when the power is augmented by those points, it can be cast as a bonus action - an obvious combo is to spend a single point to use the terrifying augment and follow it up with an Attack action. These synergies are strengthened by the later features Amplified Anguish, Mind Hunter, and Taste of Fear. Unusually, the ability to convert spell slots into psi points doesn’t come until level 15 with Psionic Adaptation. Like the other subclasses in the book, the strength of it is conditional on the roster of enemies; namely, a campaign with constructs or other creatures immune to frightened is going to thoroughly neuter the subclass, and enemies with strong Wisdom saving throws can similarly trouble this.

Warlock: That Which Is Beyond. A telepathic-themed subclass, the core feature is Psychic Onslaught, which gives limited, bonus action uses of telepathic intrusion. At later levels the subclass gives various defensive boons that protect against opposing psionicists and enchanters, with the “capstone” — insofar as a warlock pact’s level 14 feature can be considered one — providing a unique 1/SR conjuration/illusion style persistent AOE psychic damage + frighten effect. Similar to several of these other subclasses, the effectiveness of the features are going to depend on the campaign; a reliance on the frightened conditions and defensive boons centered around Wisdom saving throws and psychic damage may be incredibly effective or not at all.

Wizard: Order of the Unknown. An alternative to the psion class, this subclass provides access to a power of the wizard’s choice at levels 2, 6, 10, and 14. The power is treated as a first level spell, with each level of spell slot used equating to that many power points of augmentation. There’s more of an emphasis on roleplaying alterations through the “Psionic Madness” table. The subclass has a few other features - a twice a day cast of a power at the wizard’s maximum slot through Secondary Power, 1/SR swap of a Constitution or Death save for an Intelligence save, and 30’ range mindsight. The subclass also negates the penalties related to partial magic-psionics transparency. All told, it’s a very flexible subclass, with the choice of disciplines strongly impacting the direction. Compared to the psion class, the incredible depth of resources granted by the traditional Spellcasting feature dwarf the short-rest psi point pool, but the psion compensates with a litany of other features that provide more unique options on a more consistent basis. In a campaign where short rests are rare and long rests are frequent, the Order of the Unknown will certainly feel stronger while still providing that psionic flair; using feats on the psionic feats to access talents help enrich the mechanical space of the subclass.

Psionic Extras

Races. The two psionically themed races are the farling and the warped. The farling are aberrations with access to Telepathic Communication and telepathic intrusion from the Telepathy discipline, with lore themed around “crytallizing memories”. The warped is somewhat of a template, replacing most of the racial features with madness and body horror themed features. Neither have overwhelming synergy with the psionic options in the rest of the book; in fact the resistances and advantages are likely to duplicate the psionic themed options, a problem shared by Eberron’s kalashtar.

Feats. KCCC presents four “Psion Feats” that allow either characters to dip into the class mechanics or for psions to expand their potential. Psionic Adept is the ground-level feat, giving access to the feature and power of a discipline but not the Alternate Effects. Psionic Mind mirrors several of the feats from Tasha’s in giving access to a single talent. Inner power provides healing when psi points are used, and War Psion is a psionic version of war caster. All told these neatly round out the psionic options, both to parallel spellcasting as well as to provide options for characters who just want to dip into psionic powers.

Psionic Spells. KCCC comes with a meaty spells chapter — 19 pages in total — with fourteen “psionic spells”. While structured like spells, they aren’t on any class spell lists. Instead, they are only accessible through the Alternate Effects list of various disciplines. To some degree the spell options can be thought of as “hole filling” — designs that very directly copies other structures with a simple find and replace — but that’s not necessarily a bad thing for the 5e spell options. Playing a tightly thematic caster, rather than one who just grabs the best spells at each level available to a class, is difficult with the official spell options. Spells like frighten are straightforward and that’s good; bottle necking interesting conditions at third level big AOE CC effects reduces people’s ability to build the character they want. The psion-restricted spells in this book lean on the more complex and innovative side, especially ones tied to precognition.

Multiclassing. Opting for a more informal tone, the text advises that psi points and ki are designed to be interchangeable. Psi points scale linearly, so there’s no need for a reference table and calculating “effective manifester level” like some other systems. This works without much fuss, which is good.

The Analysis

For those looking to add a dedicated psion class to their 5e game or simply spice things up with psionic-themed character options, KCCC or simply the individual online PDFs are an obvious option. There’s also a Foundry module available through Kibbles’ patreon, although it’s “only” a series of compendiums — don’t expect any special handling or automation.

What Went Right

Depth of Options. The signature feature of Kibbles’ designs is the layered options in each class; the warlock is probably the most customizable base class, and the psion starts there and builds on it; the 3D matrix of archetype, discipline, and talent choices — on top of ordinary 5e selections like ancestry and feats — make character building interesting no matter what level you’re gaining.

Breadth of Options. In addition to the layers within a single build, the range of options for each of these decision points is far larger than any base 5e option. KCCC provides 7 psion archetypes and 8 psionic-themed subclasses for the PHB classes. These aren’t shallow differences either - each is certain to feel quite distinct from each other, to the point that they could comfortably stand side-by-side in a party without stepping on each other’s toes.

Relative Simplicity in Play. Despite all these white room character options, the actual mechanics of a psion are straightforward. For the bulk of play you probably only have two powers to choose between, and none of the archetype features or talents feel like confusing, difficult-to-adjudicate globs of text. Balance is maintained through the limited, short-rest based psi point pool, which has the convenient benefit compared to a more Spell Points based approach of keeping the total numbers down — they’re not a second health pool sized number to track.

What Went Wrong

Layout & Editing Polish. To be clear, KCCC is not badly edited; it’s not getting in the way of my ability to comprehend and enjoy the text. But it lacks a certain level of polish that is present in the larger productions like MCDM. Headers that directly transition to headers, inconsistencies for when numbers are written out versus stated as numerals, and other minor defects give this a small-project feeling. There’s also the style choice — presumably to save on print costs — of a small font size and narrow margins. This review was based on the latest PDF, so I can’t speak to the state of the print book.

Martial Utility. A large part of the martial-caster gap is not just perceived combat usefulness at high levels, but what classes without the Spellcasting feature can do outside of combat to affect the game world. The barbarian and monk subclasses both fail this test, as the telekinesis abilities they grant are limited in scope and the rest of the subclass features are preoccupied with making combat more interesting. While this may be an issue with the base game and design of 5e, subclass designers still have an opportunity to course correct with their own designs.

Overly Focused Subclass Design. Most of the subclasses are very tightly themed around a particular condition, the psychic damage type, or defending against those kinds of things. As a third party publisher it can be good to delve into niches, but consumers should be aware that these are niche character options that will not feel good or effective in every campaign. 5e doesn’t do “soft” defenses or weaknesses well; if a condition immunity is common or certain types of damage and effects are rare, many of the features can feel useless for most of a campaign.

Conclusion

The psion here is a clear hit; versatile, flexible, and avoids common pitfalls of class design. The subclasses are more focused, which can prove detrimental if that focus doesn’t match the direction of a campaign. The psion would be a great addition to any game, but Dungeon Masters should have a talk with their players about tone and expectations before incorporating the psionic-themed subclasses into a game to minimize the risk of disappointment.