Alright, so picture this: Wizards of the Coast, you know, the folks behind Dungeons & Dragons, have been really into psychic stuff ever since Baldur’s Gate 3 hit the scene in 2023. That game threw players into combat against these brain-chomping mind-flayers. Creepy, right? Anyway, they doubled down on these psychic shenanigans for the 2024 rulebook. Suddenly, psionics are everywhere in the game. You’ve got these aberrant sorcerers, psychic warriors, whatever soulknives are – yeah, all of them found a spot in the Player’s Handbook. And just the other day, we got a fresh Unearthed Arcana drop, featuring rules for the psion class. Haven’t seen that since 4th edition—crazy stuff.
Let me take you back for a sec. The psion has been part of D&D since way, way back. I’m talking days of disco here. It got a serious spotlight in 1991 with The Complete Psionics Handbook. Fast forward, they tried something called a mystic in a 2017 Unearthed Arcana for 5e, but, meh, it didn’t stick. Now though? Seems like they’re pretty serious. They’re cranking out psion art left and right, talking about it in a snazzy 9-minute video. Makes you think this class could officially drop in the upcoming Forgotten Realms Player’s Guide. Fingers crossed.
Psions are like wizards but, well, not. They skip the whole mumbling arcane gibberish or waving magic twigs. Instead, they tap into this inner energy pool—like bonus dice or something. At level one, they can shove people around telekinetically or chat with your brain without a phone, you know? Their powers beef up as they level; they get more dice, bigger dice, new tricks to fight or defend. Kind of wild, right?
Then there’re the subclasses in the playtest. You’ve got the telepath: classic, solid, connects the team’s minds like a psychic Wi-Fi. They can eavesdrop telepathically—sneaky! And the psykinetics? They throw forcefields and kinetic blasts, very Jedi-like. Psi warpers mess with positions on the battlefield, kind of a tactical head-spinner. Then, there’s the metamorph—sounds gnarly—they can morph their bodies into weapons. Imagine bone knives shooting out like, surprise!
Oh, and for those not ready to dive headfirst into all this psychic jazz, just want a taste? There’re these wild talent feats. Ten of them. Like the empath—can sense emotions, kinda handy for manipulating folks. Or the pyrokineticist—you guessed it, fire stuff. They can shift their spell damage to fire, light up a room with fire spells. There’s also some new spells in the mix, one even lets you summon a psionic creature.
If you’re itching to try this stuff, it’s out there for free on D&D Beyond. Give it a whirl and have your say before June 3. Go on, dive into the mind-bending world of psionics!
