RPG Mechanics Round-Up #10: All 5E D&D

10!? Really? Yeah, and more are coming.

Mundane/Crossover Backgrounds

I’ve been listening to Dungeons and Daddies, a mostly-non-BDSM actual play podcast. It’s hilarious and really well done. The conceit is that four dads are drawn through a portal into the Forgotten Realms, where they have to rescue their sons from some asshole in a purple robe. This is similar to some of my first games, where my friend and I would create ourselves as D&D characters and then drop ourselves into Krynn or the world of a novel we were reading at the time. I imagine lots of people have played games like this, and Fantasy Flight even put out four games that are specifically built around creating yourself and then dropping yourself as a character into some end of the world scenario.

So I was thinking about creating real-world Backgrounds that characters could take, followed presumably by D&D 5E classes. I would like for them to be very regular, not special forces or anything. I came up with: Cashier, Barista, Sex Worker, Blogger/Vlogger, Parent, Weekend Athlete, Supervisor, Manager, Driver, Grad Student, Teenager, Technician

Real-world backgrounds. Start a campaign with real-world backgrounds, and then you’re transported to a fantasy world. Dungeons and Daddies, basically. What would those real-world backgrounds be? Cashier, Barrista, Sex Worker, Blogger/Vlogger, Parent, Weekend Athlete, Supervisor, Manager, Driver, Grad Student, Teen, Technician, Teacher. What else do you think I should list?

Druid (Ranger) Spell: Beast Travel

3rd level enchantment

Casting Time: 10 minutes

Components: V, S, M

Duration: 8 hours

When this spell is cast, the caster entices up to six medium or large beasts native to the environment to approach her. These beasts are willing mounts for the next 8 hours. If a character tries to ride a beast into battle (or ride it through similar danger), she must make an Animal Handling roll at disadvantage to prevent her mount from fleeing the scene at its top speed. When traveling overland, the beasts travel about as quickly as horses.

Social Vulnerabilities

Often players will ask for lore rolls in ordre to discover vulnerabilities in the creatures they are going to face. Sometimes, as with dragons, there just aren’t any vulnerabilities. They’re freaking dragons. Others might be vulnerable to a particular kind of damage, like a Rakshasa. Others, like demons, might just have an element or two they aren’t resistant to, which is as close as they get to vulnerability.

The thought occurred to me that NPCs could also have social vulnerabilities – the idea that certain approaches would be especially likely to work, like flattery with the President, for example, or threats against Sam Tarly. These vulnerabilities can be a simple as choosing a social skill that will work especially well against them – just Deception for someone who is credulous or Intimidation for a coward. Or it could be more specific – if you threaten someone’s family it’ll work extra well, or if you try to get them to laugh your persuasion will go even better.

Recovery Through Place

I believe the game was called Song of Arda – it was a free RPG put out years ago that sought to emulate Middle-Earth, and it’s one of the more interesting attempts at doing that out there. One mechanic that it included was a “Wellbeing” mechanic – that is, a measure of how well a character is doing overall beyond whether they are wounded or fatigued. A high wellbeing is how one feels when visiting Rivendell or Lothlorien; a low wellbeing is how one feels crossing the Dead Marshes or the Dagorlad.

The idea to adapt here for 5E (or other games in similar ways) is to have recovery depend more on wellbeing than be determined by the player (rolling HD for a short rest) or full recovery (for a long rest). For a short rest, wellbeing could limit how many Hit Dice can be rolled. For example, if you are huddled under a rocky overhang in a driving rainstorm, maybe only 1 or 2 HD can be rolled, whereas if you build a comfortale camp in a cozy mountain vale, there might not be a limit.

For long rests, recovery would depend on wellbeing as a dice-pool to be rolled to recover.  Rivendell would provide 10d10, for example, whereas huddling in squalor in an alleyway might provide 2d10. I would leave it at d10s so that there’s only one variable, but I like this as an option to make recovery a bit more challenging.

5E Backgrounds as Zero-Levels

As was pointed out on the Dungeons and Daddies podcast in their first or second session, D&D 5E is something like survival horror at levels 1 and 2, before transitioning more to heroic fantasy. For many players, this is a feature rather than a glitch. For others, they just start at 3rd level.

As a way to add survive-ability to characters at low levels, I thought that it might make sense to treat the various D&D 5E backgrounds as 0-levels, similar to what has been present in some previous editions and D&D clones. This also puts a level 1 character on par with a basic NPC like a town guard, who usually has 2 Hit Dice. These 0-levels would still grant max hit points, and I think I’d arrange them this way:

6HP: (Scholarly) Acolyte, Anthropologist, Archaeologist, Cloistered Scholar, Hermit, Inheritor, Sage

8HP: (Skilled) Charlatan, City Watch/Investigator, Clan Crafter, Courtier, Criminal/Spy, Entertainer, Far Traveler, Guild Artisan/Guild Merchant, House Agent (Dragonmarked), Noble, Outlander, Pirate, Sailor, Shipwright, Smuggler, Urban Bounty Hunter, Urchin

10HP: (Fighty) Folk Hero, Gladiator, Knight, Marine, Mercenary Veteran, Soldier

I would probably combine this with some house rule that also limits how high hit points get over time – something like the old 3E house rule that you didn’t gain hit points past level 6 (while you still gained other abilities).

Acts 16: From Exploitation to Reconciliation in 9 “Easy” Steps

This is something I wrote out for a sermon on 6/2/19 that I thought was interesting. The overall sermon got more good responses than I honestly expected (was ready for zero, and some criticism). If nothing else, this got me to think through the various social movements I see around me, and am a part of, more carefully, and also to say some things that some folks in my congregation needed to hear I think. This is a reflection on Acts 16:17-34:

1. Those who exploit others still hear the truth, but ignore it and don’t act (v 17)
2. God liberates the person who is being exploited, often using human means (v 18)
3. The exploiters are angry at losing profit, make use of the authorities to enforce their will, and punish those through whom God liberates (v 19-24)
4. Working against the authorities, God continues to liberate those who are part of God’s kingdom and who keep faith (v 25-26)
5. Seeing this, those who exploit, and the authorities who support them, feel a real existential threat to identity, meaning, and life (v 27)
6. Those who are liberated, who are part of the kingdom of God, do not abandon those still caught in the system of exploitation (v 28-29)
7. Those who exploit, and the authorities, are liberated by God through repentance (v 30-32)
8. When they are liberated, the former exploiters and former authorities bind the wounds they have inflicted (make restitution) (v 33a)
9. A new community is formed through baptism and table fellowship in the kingdom of God (v 33b-34)

Pathfinder Beastfolk to D&D 5E: Muroideans

Gritty Survivors

Created before the Collapse to be hardy and adaptable, the muroideans are a hybrid race with rat-like characteristics. They are known to eat things that would sicken other humanoids, and they have a particularly harrowing culinary culture. For some, it is a rite of passage merely to survive a muroidean restaurant.

Urbanites

Though they can successfully survive almost everywhere, muroideans are most at home in large cities, and there is no large city that isn’t host to at least a neighborhood of the rat-folk. They often know more than they have any right to know about what is going on in a given city, from the rich and powerful all the way down to the gutter.

Ability Score Increase. Your Constitution score increases by 2 and your Dexterity score by 1.

Age. Relatively short-lived, muroideans live about half as long as humans, or up to about 40 years.

Alignment. Muroideans are gritty realists, and their selfishness has helped them survive. They tend to be freedom-loving and they often see benevolence as an invitation to be exploited.

Bestial Nature. You have the supernatural ability to speak with mice and rats.

Bite. Muroideans can bite with their sharp teeth for 1d3 piercing damage, and their bite counts as a finesse weapon if they wish.

Darkvision.

Size. Muroideans stand around 4 feet tall and weigh approximately 50 pounds, making them a Small species.

Speed. Though small, muroideans are fast and light on their feet, with a base move of 30 feet.

Vermin. Muroideans are able to eat things that other species would reject as spoiled, rotten, or downright nasty. A muroidean always has advantage on Wisdom (Survival) rolls to find food and water. Muroideans also always have advantage on saving throws against disease and poison.

Mage the Ascension: PbtA Hack

This is not by any means a fully-formed idea, but it’s one that I kind of like. In a way, it’s interesting to  take a push-button mechanic like the core mechanic of PbtA and apply it to an open-ended, flexible game like Mage the Ascension. What buttons do you include? What must those buttons do? 

Design Goals

I want to focus on the flexible but costly nature of Awakened magic. I see mundane things being handled through conversation more often than rolls, to keep the focus on magic. There needs to be a harm mechanic and a Paradox clock – let’s say you are at -1 per harm taken. A certain points on the Paradox clock, the ST makes a Paradox move. As with my Fate hack, I’ll boil the Spheres down to seven: Correspondence, Forces, Life, Matter, Mind, Spirit, Time (eats Entropy). Prime can be cut because it is mostly concerned with meta-magic. Each Tradition is its own playbook. This is a work in progress. 

Character Creation

Distribute 3 +1s between the seven Spheres. You have -1 in any Sphere without a bonus. Circle one and describe your Avatar (Dynamic, Entropic, Pattern, Primordial). Choose your true Nature. Describe your Sanctum. Circle an advantage (things like a Node maybe). I can see different playbooks having different things to circle or choose – acolytes, thin places, cool gadgets, turf, etc. 

General Mage Moves

When a Mage does something mundane but dangerous or costly, roll +0.

• On a 10+, it goes as well as it could.
• On a 7-9, you succeed but there is an unexpected cost or problem – choose one of the following: 
  • You lose or damage something of value – the ST will tell you what
  • The cost was more than you expected – the ST will tell you what the additional cost is, including a favor or a debt owed forward
  • You succeed, but someone else pays the price. The ST will tell you who
• On a 6-, the ST can make a move. Any resources you used in the attempt are damaged or lost.

When you use your magic to shape reality, describe your rote or procedure and roll +Sphere. The ST will tell you which Sphere applies if there is any question.

• 10+ and you get what you wanted.
• 7-9 and pick one mishap, otherwise you get what you wanted.
• 6- pick three mishaps, otherwise you get some version of what you wanted. Or, you can flinch, distance yourself from your Avatar, and cancel the effect. You take -1 forward to magical effects you attempt, but the effect fails without other consequences. (With a 7-9 you can always mark Paradox to avoid other mishaps.)
  • Mark Paradox
  • The effect is not under your control
  • You draw unwanted attention
  • There are unintended consequences (ST move)

When you use your magic to inflict harm, describe your rote or procedure and roll +Sphere. The kind of harm will depend on the Sphere used, but harm is harm.

• On a 10+, you inflict 1 harm in the way you intended, and have +1 forward to inflict further harm.
• On a 7-9, you inflict harm but must mark one mishap from the Sphere move.
• On a 6-, you inflict harm and also take harm in return.

When you use your magic to defend yourself against magic, roll +Sphere using the Sphere against which you are defending.

• On a 10+, you stop the magical effect from affecting you and can choose one:
  • You turn it back on the attacker, or
  • You can protect a group, or an area, from the effect
• On a 7-9, you stop the magical effect from affecting you
• On a 6-, you are vulnerable to the effect (the ST makes a move)

When you improvise magic to defend yourself against magic, roll +Sphere using any Sphere, describing how you use that Sphere creatively (use Correspondence to defend against Time for example). 

• On a 10+, you stop the magical effect from affecting you
• On a 7-9, you stop the effect from affecting you, but there is a cost. Choose one: 
  • You take -1 to Sphere moves going forward
  • The effect strikes a nearby ally or innocent bystander – the ST will choose who
  • You lose access to that Sphere until you have time to rest and meditate
• On a 6-, the effect hits you full force

When you improvise magic to affect reality, describe the improvisation and roll +Sphere. 

• On a 10+, you get the effect you wanted, but pick one: 
  • The ST tells you one strange side-effect
  • The magic affects one additional object or person of the ST’s choice
• On a 7-9, the magic affects the wrong person or object – the ST will tell you who, or what
• On a 6-, the ST makes a Paradox move

When you meditate at a Node, roll +0, or +1 if it is a Node where you are expressly welcome, or +2 at your own Node.

• On a 10+, you are suffused with Quintessence and take a +1 forward on Sphere moves.
• On a 7-9, you are suffused with Quintessence and take +1 forward on Sphere moves, but the Node is depleted and no one can draw from it until it regenerates.
• On a 6-, the Node is depleted and must regenerate.

When you use your magical perceptions, choose a Sphere in which you have at least a +1. The ST will describe what you perceive through that Sphere.

• All: you can sense the residue of powerful magic enacted recently – the more powerful the effect, the longer its residue lasts
• Correspondence: you exact physical location; precise distances from one object to another; the presence of a portal to another location
• Forces: ambient mundane energies (electromagnetism, heat, etc.); see using another spectrum (ultraviolet)
• Life: the health and general condition of living things nearby, your own health and condition in detail, 
• Matter: material composition of nearby objects; properties of unknown substances; potential or chemical energy stored in an object or substance
• Mind: whether there are nearby minds; whether someone is awake or asleep or in a coma; basic emotional state of those around you
• Spirit: thickness of the local Gauntlet; nearby ghosts or spirits; whether a nearby creature has a soul (i.e., could reveal an android)
• Time: exact time (including the ability to set an internal alarm); any nearby disturbances in time

When you use mundane means to escape danger, roll +0.

• On a 10+, you escape! Describe how. Also, choose one:
  • Your attacker leaves you alone for now, or
  • You can help your allies escape too
• On a 7-9, you escape, but your attacker has not given up.
• On a 6-, the ST makes a move.

Tradition Moves

I decided that each Tradition should have at least one signature move. These are what I came up with:

When an Akashic fights mundane people with her hands, roll +1.

• On a 10+, she defeats even a large number of mundane people she’s fighting in flashy fashion. The player describes how she prevails.
• On a 7-9, she defeats even a large number of mundane people, but takes harm in return.
• On a 6-, she got herself in over her head. She takes harm and things escalate – the ST says how.

When a Cultist of Ecstacy seeks insight in a trance, roll +1

• On a 10+, she can ask the ST up to three questions about herself.
• On a 7-9, she can ask the ST one question about herself.
• On a 6-, she gets a glimpse of a hard move the ST is going to make.

When a Dreamspeaker is solving a problem in her home territory, roll +1.

• On a 10+, her knowledge of her land enables her to solve the problem.
• On a 7-9, her knowledge of her land enables her to solve the problem, but the cost in time or materials is greater than she expected.
• On a 6-, she has revealed a problem she didn’t know about before, or a problem she knew about is worse than she thought.

When an Etherite uses technology in an unusual way, roll +1.

• On a 10+, the technology works just as the Etherite wanted.
• On a 7-9, the technology works but there is an unintended complication. The ST will say what it is, or you can offer a suggestion.
• On a 6-, the technology doesn’t work as intended, and there is a complication on top of that (the ST makes a move).

When an Euthanatos kills a mundane person, roll +1.

• On a 10+, you kill the person exactly as you planned and get away with it.
• On a 7-9, you kill the person, but draw the attention of either mundane authorities or a supernatural creature.
• On a 6-, you kill the person but the ST can make a hard move.

When a Hermetic speaks lore, roll +1.

• On a 10+, the lore you speak is true and helpful.
• On a 7-9, the lore you speak provides a helpful hint for the situation at hand.
• On a 6-, the lore you speak reveals a new problem.

When a Hollow One tries to make a connection on the street, roll +1.

• On a 10+, she finds just the person or information she needs.
• On a 7-9, she finds the person or information she needs, but there is a cost. The ST will say what it is.
• On a 6-, she’s made someone angry, or drawn unwanted attention, and didn’t find what she wanted. Or, she found what she wanted, but it’s much worse than she thought.

When a Verbena uses natural medicine, roll +1.

• On a 10+, she is able to heal using mundane means.
• On a 7-9, she understands what is wrong, but it will require awakened magic.
• On a 6-, it is much worse than she thought – the ST will say how bad.

When a Virtual Adept is solving a problem using a digital device, roll +1. 

• On a 10+, it functions exactly as the Adept needed it to.
• On a 7-9, the device functions as the Adept hoped, but she has pushed her luck and used up resources or drawn unwanted attention.
• On a 6-, she draws unwanted attention and the device fails.

ST and Paradox Moves

Your Avatar is displeased, or detached, or distant. -1 ongoing to all magic. You are plunged into Quiet. You have drawn the attention of the Technocracy. You have drawn the attention of the Nephandi. You have drawn the attention of a Marauder. You have drawn the attention of mortal authorities. Echoes of your magical effect follow you, causing problems. You are marked by your magic in a way that is visible to everyone who meets you. There is lingering harm that will fall on you (or someone near you or connected to you) the next time you try to use magic. You are cursed and everyday things will go wrong in embarrassing ways. 

Mark XP

When you get a 6- result; if your relationship with your Avatar deepened; if you expressed your true Nature; if you learned something new and amazing about the world; if your life was in danger. Every time you get nine xp you advance.

Advancement

Increase one Sphere bonus by one; or circle a new advantage; or reset your Paradox clock to zero; or mark a new option on your playbook. Will there be enough moves to warrant choosing a new move at advancement? Not sure.

Well, there it is. That’s what I have for Mage the Ascension, Powered by the Apocalypse.

 

RPG Mechanics Round-Up #9

I still have this 12-page Google Doc of little bits and pieces of game design, and I have this blog, so I thought it was about time.

Instead of Conditions or Disadvantages

A lot of systems, including many I have played – GURPS, Old World of Darkness, Dungeons & Dragons, and so on – include a system of conditions and/or disadvantages. These are effects that limit a character’s capabilities, but also provide opportunities for roleplaying, conflict, and interesting situations. The problem is often when the GM is forcing a limitation on the PC. It is more interesting for the player to be the one to inflict the limitation on the character. When they do, pay them with XP. Willful – when someone breaks your will or forces you to do something, gain xp. Enemy – when you get the shit kicked out of you, gain xp. Etc.

Skill and Risk

When writing a skill list, include what can be done with the skill without risk, and then what you can do with a risk. Generally speaking, only require rolls for uses of skills that involve a risk.

Character Main Plot and Sub Plot

A while back I was listening to yet another episode of Writing Excuses, and the topic of discussion was giving each character a main plot and a sub-plot. Not to say that this should be done merely by rote, but rather the idea is to mimic a lot of media apart from RPGs. It is common for a character to have a main plot, often the main plot of the story and his or her part in it, and a sub-plot, something with lower stakes that is important only to the character.

Superhero Collateral Damage

I was thinking that it would be interesting for superheroes to gain bonus dice for their abilities by incurring collateral damage to their environment. Ever notice how a fight involving supers will wreck a city? So the superhero can either work carefully, keeping others safe (like Spider Man) or cut loose and deal maximum damage (like Hulk) with little or no concern for buildings and people around you. I feel like every superhero game should have this option, one way or another.

Base Four Character Archetypes

I was thinking about core class archetypes, for games like Numenera and other D&D clones. They are some version of the Fighter, Doer and Knower. With the fourth addition of Speaker, perhaps as a subset of Doer. Given that Knower and Speaker will often come with built-in supernatural abilities.

 

Merry AKA Uncle Shellworth

My character for our new campaign is a tortle monk named Merry, also known as Uncle Shellworth.

DB Munro ordered a dragon turtle egg for his circus. It was going to be the talk of every town they came to – they could raise it from the egg, tame it and teach it tricks. The circus would grow as the turtle grew. That was the plan, anyway.

The egg arrived, all the way across the Dead Fields, and DB Munro believed it would make him rich and famous.

When Merry cracked his way out of the egg, all of DB Munro’s dreams came crashing down around him. He kept Merry, the tortle, and raised him as a member of the circus. He never missed a chance to crack on his shell with a stick or shout insults – which Merry seemed to absorb with a plodding aplomb.

Merry grew swiftly, and was surprisingly strong after only a few years. He was trained as a strongman and sideshow performer. By the time he seemed fully grown (after about 7 or 8 years – no one has ever seen another tortle) he was enormously strong. Another performer, an alcoholic named Idren Bloodhand took him under his wing. Long ago, before he was disgraced, Idren was trained as a monk. He began training Merry as a lark, watching the huge turtle-man go through the motions of kata. Turns out, Merry had a talent for it, and absorbed everything Idren had to teach, including a love of alcohol and other intoxicants.

No one is sure why, but intoxicants of all kinds affect him differently from the way they affect mammals. It is hard for him to resist experimenting.

One night, Nix, another performer, came to Merry with a plan. She was going to escape the cruel hand of DB Munro, but she needed the help of someone enormously strong and hard to hurt. After some convincing, Merry agreed, eager to see more of the wide world and, though he remained quiet about it, quite uncomfortable with the ongoing verbal and physical abuse.

They escaped, and only barely crossed the Dead Fields with their lives, Merry carrying Nix for the last couple of days as her life nearly left her. At last they made it, half-dead, to Avalon’s Crossing, a village that serves as home for many cast-offs and folks who don’t fit elsewhere.

Nix made her way, using her skills to get by. Merry had never lived anywhere but DB Munro’s circus. He had no skills for dealing with regular folk. Fortunately, the Woodhall family of halflings took pity on him, and eventually adopted the six-foot-tall turtle into their family. The kids call him Uncle Shellworth.

Merry’s strength and quick mind was of great use to the Woodhalls, and in return they taught him carpentry – the family trade. They helped him build a nice little hut next to a pond, where he was most comfortable. Around 2 years passed, and Merry grew even larger and stronger. His shell toughened, and he learned to cook, because his new family of halflings love to eat. Every morning and every evening, he practices what he learned from Idren Bloodhand.

D&D 5E Playtest: Psion

Here I am taking a shot at the bane of D&D class design from the very beginning – a psionic class. I feel like, deep down, everyone kind of wants one, but psionic classes have consistently been the most problematic in each iteration of D&D. So of course I wanted to take a stab at it.

Design goals: I wanted the psion to be a pure caster class, and to be most similar to the warlock in terms of how it functions. I liked using the warlock’s flexible spell slots rather than the fixed ones that a sorcerer or wizard gets. I also decided ahead of time that psionics would just be another kind of magic – so counterspell and dispel magic and similar effects will all affect psionics. Psionics differ, though, in that they do not have verbal, material, or somatic components. This is a big advantage, and so I balanced that out by requiring most psionic abilities to use concentration – so ideally the psion should have fewer requirements, but will probably always be concentrating on an effect. Overall, I wanted the psion to be more limited than in many past iterations – to be more like what you see in movies or Anime, focusing on the ‘big four’ of telekinesis, telepathy, pyro/cryokinesis, and biokinesis or the physical adept. I also wanted another Intelligence-based pure caster to join the wizard.

Psion

Powerful Minds

Psions are driven by iron discipline and self-mastery. A psion will spend as much time researching her inner life seeking out secrets as a wizard would spend researching new spells and secrets of the outer world in libraries. Through mastery of her inner world, a psion has the ability to mater the outer world as well.

Some psions are trained when they show a talent for one of the disciplines – others manifest innate abilities and are self-trained. In a world like Athas, or Eberron, psions might be members of particular schools where they are taught a particular mental regimen. In other worlds, they might be loners, drawing on inner reserves to accomplish amazing feats.

Creating a Psion

Quick Build

First, make Intelligence your highest ability score, followed by Constitution.

Psion Table

Psion Level	Features	Cantrips Known	Psionic Spells Known	Psi Points	Slot Level
1	Psionic Discipline, Discipline Ability	2	2	1	1
2	Discipline Ability, Telepathy	2	3	2	1
3	Discipline Ability	2	4	2	2
4	Ability Score Improvement	3	5	2	2
5	Strength of Mind	3	6	2	3
6	Discipline Ability	3	7	2	3
7		3	8	3	4
8	Ability Score Improvement	3	9	3	4
9		3	10	3	5
10	Consumptive Power	4	10	4	…
11	Potent Psionics	4	11	4
12	Ability Score Improvement	4	11	4
13		4	12	5
14	Discipline Ability	4	12	5
15		4	13	5
16	Ability Score Improvement	4	13	6
17		4	14	6
18	Mind Over Matter	4	14	6
19	Ability Score Improvement	4	15	7
20	Psionic Mastery	4	15	7

Class Features

Hit Points

Hit Dice: 1d6 per psion level

Hit Points at 1st Level: 6 + your Constitution modifier

Hit Points at Higher Levels: 1d8 (or 4) + your Constitution modifier per level after 1st

Proficiencies

Armor: Light armor

Weapons: Simple weapons

Tools: None

Saving Throws: Constitution and Intelligence

Skills: Choose two skills from Acrobatics, Arcana, Athletics,  History, Insight, Intimidation, Investigation, Religion

Equipment

You start with the following equipment, in addition to the equipment granted by your background:

• (a) a light crossbow and 20 bolts or (b) any simple weapon
• (a) a scholar’s pack or (b) an adventurer’s pack
• Leather armor, any simple weapon, a dagger

Psionic Discipline

At 1st level, you are trained in a psionic discipline and have developed basic psionic abilities. Your psionic discipline grants you special abilities at 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 6th, 10th and 14th levels.

Psionic Discipline Table

In order to maintain your psionic abilities, you must discipline yourself. Roll randomly, or choose one of the disciplines below (or come up with one with your DM):

1. You must maintain a strict vegan diet.
2. You cannot kill (though you need not be a pacifist, and don’t have to prevent others from killing)
3. You use pain to focus your concentration
4. You must remain fastidiously clean at all times
5. You cannot wash in anything but running, natural water
6. All of your food must incorporate an incredibly hot pepper that no one else can even tolerate
7. You must deny yourself sleep each night, only taking perhaps 3 hours (requiring Con saves to avoid levels of exhaustion)
8. You must deny yourself normal comforts
9. For 3 days you fast, and then for 3 days you are allowed to eat. You can only drink water
10. You must meditate entirely alone for an hour each day – no one can be within 100’ of you, and it must be quiet
11. You must abstain from any sexual activity, and can never have a family or children
12. You can never own more possessions than you can carry on your person

Psionic Abilities

Psionic Spellcasting

Psionics is a spellcasting discipline. Psions are arcane spellcasters who access spells and spell-like abilities through inner strength and discipline more than by studying ancient lore or drawing on hereditary power.

Cantrips

You know two cantrips of your choice from the list associated with your discipline. You learn new cantrips as defined by the Psion Table. When you learn a new cantrip, you can also switch one known cantrip for a new one.

Spell Slots

To case one of the psionic spells that you know, expend one psi point. The cost is always one psi point, regardless of spell level, and the spell is always considered to be cast at the highest level possible based on the psion table.

Spells Known of 1st Level or Higher

Spellcasting Ability

Your spellcasting ability is Intelligence.

Spell Save DC = 8 + your Intelligence modifier + your proficiency bonus.

Spell Attack Modifier = your Intelligence modifier + your proficiency bonus

Telepathy

At 2nd level, with a bonus action a psion is able to establish a telepathic connection with a willing creature within 30′. This connection does not require concentration to maintain. If the psion and the creature to whom she is connected don’t share a language, they can still share images and impressions enough to communicate basic ideas. This ability automatically fails with any creature with an Intelligence lower than 3.

Ability Score Improvement

The psion can increase one ability score by 2 at 4th, 8th, 12th, 16th and 19th level, up to a maximum of 20.

Strength of  Mind

At 5th level, the psion’s discipline has given her resistance to psychic damage. She also has advantage on saving throws against abilities that inflict the frightened or stunned condition.

Consumptive Power

At 10th level, when a psion has no more psi points, she can draw on her physical reserves instead. As a bonus action, she can spend 5 hit points in order to generate 1 psi point.

Potent Psionics

When the psion reaches 11th level, she is able to augment her attacks with psychic energy. When she hits with a melee or missile weapon attack, she can deal extra psychic damage. For each psi point she spends, she deals 1d8 bonus psychic damage.

Mind Over Matter

At 18th level, a psion’s life of discipline begins to change her body and mind in new ways. She no longer needs to sleep, and can benefit from a long rest simply by sitting quietly and meditating for 6 or so hours. She also no longer needs to eat more than once a week, and can live for much longer without water as well. Finally, as a bonus action she can spend a psi point to enable her to roll hit dice in order to recover hit points even when not taking a short rest.

Psionic Mastery

I need ideas here too.

Telekinetic

Spell List

Cantrips	blade ward, eldritch blast (?), mage hand, shape water
1st level	feather fall, mage armor, shield, tenser’s floating disk, unseen servant
2nd level	arcane lock, hold person, knock, levitate, shatter, silence
3rd level	conjure barrage (?), erupting earth, fly, melf’s minute meteors
4th level	control water (?), fabricate, otiluke’s resilient sphere, staggering smite (?)
5th level	animate objects, bigby’s hand, hold monster, telekinesis, wall of force

Telekinetic Abilities

As a bonus activation, a telekinetic psion can activate her telekinesis. As an action, she can then attempt to lift or throw an object or, at higher levels, a creature.

1st level	At 1st level, a telekinetic psion is able to lift up to 10lbs by concentrating. She can throw objects up to 30’. Her attack roll uses her spell attack modifier and deals 1d4 damage, modified by Intelligence.
2nd level	At 2nd level, she can now lift up to 25lbs, and her attack deals 1d6 damage.
3rd level	She can now lift up to 100lbs, and her attack deals 1d8 damage. She can also attempt to move up to Medium-sized creatures. They resist with a Strength save against her spellcasting DC. If your target fails, you can lift them 10’ with an action, or push them 30’.
6th level	500lbs, and her attack deals 2d8 damage. She can attempt to move Large sized creatures, though they have advantage on their Strength save.
10th level	Similar to the telekinesis spell: 1000lbs. Thrown objects still deal 2d8 damage. She can also attempt to lift a Huge creature, though a creature larger than the psion receives advantage on their Strength save.
14th level	At 14th level, a telekinetic psion can attempt to lift 10,000lbs, and can also attempt to lift a Gargantuan creature. Throw objects now deal 3d8 damage.

Telepath

Spell List

Cantrips	friends, message, minor illusion, vicious mockery
1st level	cause fear, charm person, command, compelled duel, comprehend languages (spoken only), dissonant whispers, silent image, sleep
2nd level	calm emotions, detect thoughts, enthrall, see invisibility, suggestion, zone of truth
3rd level	clairvoyance (?), fear, hypnotic pattern, major image, nondetection, sending, tongues
4th level	charm monster, compulsion, confusion, hallucinatory terrain (?), phantasmal killer
5th level	dominate person, dream, hold monster, mislead, modify memory, rary’s telepathic bond, synaptic static (?)

Telepathic Abilities

As a bonus action, a telepathic psion can initiate a mind link with a willing creature. Even if she and the creature don’t share a language, they can exchange images and impressions well enough to communicate on a basic level. This ability automatically fails if used on a creature with Intelligence lower than 3.

1st level	Establish a mind link, as the kalashtar can do in Races of Eberron. If you are a kalashtar, the range on your mind link extends to 90’.
2nd level	Your mind link now has a range of 120’
3rd level	You can establish a group mind link with up to 6 intelligent creatures at a time within 30’ of you.
6th level	Group mind link 60’
10th level	Group mind link 120’
14th level	You can establish a group mind link with up to 6 intelligent creatures anywhere in the Material Plane

Pyrokinetic

Spell List

Cantrips	chill touch, create bonfire, frostbite, produce flame, ray of frost
1st level	burning hands, chromatic orb (cold or fire), ice knife, searing smite
2nd level	continual flame, flame blade, flaming sphere, heat metal, pyrotechnics, scorching ray
3rd level	elemental weapon (fire or frost), fireball, flame arrows, protection from energy (fire or frost)
4th level	fire shield, ice storm, wall of fire
5th level	cone of cold, flame strike, immolation

Pyrokinetic Abilities

At will, a pyrokinetic psion can ignite flammable material or freeze about a square inch of liquid with an action.

1st level	A pyrokinetic psion is able to heat metal as the spell, but it only deals 2d4 damage to begin. She can also generate a 10’ aura of comfortable temperature – cool in hot weather and warm in cold weather. This temperate aura does not require concentration, but the psion must be awake.
2nd level	Heat metal, as the spell but 2d6 damage. Temperate aura 20’
3rd level	Heat metal, as the spell. Temperate aura 30’
6th level	Heat metal, 2d10 damage (metal loses shape). Temperate aura 60’
10th level	Heat metal, 2d12 damage (metal begins to melt). Temperate aura 90’
14th level	Heat metal, 3d12 damage (metal turns to slag). Temperate aura 120’

Physical Adept

Spell List

Cantrips	blade ward (?), primal savagery, resistance, true strike
1st level	expeditious retreat, jump, longstrider, mage armor, thunderous smite
2nd level	alter self, barkskin, blur, enhance ability, enlarge/reduce (?), misty step (?), pass without trace (self), spider climb
3rd level	aura of vitality (?), blinding smite, gaseous form, haste (self), thunder step, water breathing, water walk
4th level	aura of life, freedom of movement, polymorph (self), staggering smite, stoneskin
5th level	far step (?), passwall, skill empowerment, swift quiver

Physical Adept Abilities

Actually I need some ideas here.

1st level
2nd level	You become proficient in Acrobatics, Athletics, or Stealth if you are not already
3rd level
6th level	Additional ability score improvement (Str, Dex, or Con)
10th level
14th level	Additional ability score improvement (Str, Dex, or Con)