The Telepath subclass gets a new update on the latest Unearthed Arcana. Reading minds has never been easier.
The last of the three updated subclasses is all about getting in your head, just like the Cranberries’ hit song, “Zombie”. Much like the lyrics to that song, which appropriately enough, consist of “in your head” on repeat, the updated Telepath subclass is all about worming your way into someone’s head on repeat.
And I will say right off the jump, the Telepath does feel like that’s what it’s good at. But it also feels like it needs the most time back at the drawing board. Because while you can get boosted telepathy, the things you can actually do with it are surprisingly limited. Let’s take a look and see what it does!
The Updated Telepath: Meeting of the Minds
One of the biggest things about the Telepath is the whole idea that this subclass lets you get inside someone’s head. But once you’re there, there’s not much else to do. In the updated Telepath’s defense, it does make it easier to read someone’s thoughts, for sure. You have a whole core identity feature that centers around this, Mind Infiltrator.
And for a level 3 feature, it’s kind of okay. It feels more like a ribbon/flavorful feature because all it really does is let you spend a Psionic Energy Dice whenever you cast Detect Thoughts. Whenever you do, it means the spell doesn’t take Concentration or components. No one can tell you’re casting it, you just right away start detecting thoughts. And better still, there’s no chance that the creature whose thoughts you’re detecting knows you’re doing it if they fail their Wisdom save.
I really like the feature. But it doesn’t feel as impactful as some of the other features the Psion subclasses get. It changes the way you play very little. Especially considering the other feature, Telepathic Distraction, a new feature that lets you take a Reaction to spend a Psionic Energy Die and roll it, subtracting the number from the attack roll. Eventually this becomes better than casting the Shield spell, but it takes a while. And you can just cast Shield.
And the fact that both of these features require your Psionic Energy Dice to be spent seems very resource inefficient. The other feature, the bonus Telepath Spells, gives you some decent extra spells. But the point is that the Telepath doesn’t have much that defines what you should be doing with it at the earliest levels.
Meanwhile, the Metamorph is creating living flesh weapons. And the Psykinetic is telekinetically pushing everyone around the battlefield. But the Telepath? Slightly better at casting one spell, and potentially able to sometimes deflect attacks. There’s no sense of what their “core deal” is, from a mechanical perspective, I feel.
Advanced Telepathy
At higher levels, the updated Telepath does get features that feel a little more like what you’d expect. There’s the level 6 Potent Thoughts, which has gotten buffed in the update. This increases your telepathic range from 30 feet to 60 feet and lets you add your Intelligence modifier to damage dealt with any Psion cantrip. But that still feels anemic compared to a similar feature, the Draconic Sorcerer’s Elemental Affinity, which lets you add your Charisma modifier to any spell that deals the associated damage type, not just cantrips.
You do gain another level 6 feature, Bulwark Mind, which replaces the old Empowered Defense Mode. This one seems to suggest that the Telepath is maybe meant to be some kind of defender of the party. Similar to the Psykinetic’s Destructive Trance, you can spend one of your Psionic Energy dice and for 10 minutes you become resistant to Psychic Damage and can add a free power die to any Intelligence, Wisdom, or Charisma saving throw you make. But it’s a limited resistance and I don’t know how that implies “this is what the Telepath does.”
At 10th level, you gain Telepathic Bolstering, which finally starts to feel like something to do with your telepathic abilities. You can spend a Psionic Energy Die any time you or someone you can see fails an ability check or attack roll (but weirdly NOT a saving thow) and add it to their check. Which again, is a cool idea, but it feels so measly compared to what even the other Psion subclasses get.
And at 14th level, the updated Telepath gets Scramble Minds. Like the Psykinetic’s Enhanced Telekinesis, this lets you spend four of your Psionic Energy Dice to cast the Confusion spell without a spell slot. When you do so, it has an AoE of a 30 foot sphere. And you get to choose what a creature under its effects does instead of rolling at random. Not bad, but it does mean that your ultimate capstone for the subclass is about casting a 2nd level spell kind of okay.
I just think this one doesn’t feel like it has a coherent theme. And worse, the abilities don’t feel as fun to me as other ones do. It seems like there’s a missing ingredient or two that might make this subclass feel more powerful. But as it is, I don’t think I’d ever want to play one. That’s just me though. Agree or disagree, you should let WotC know what you think and shape the future of this subclass and others. You can find the survey and the playtest at the link below!
Get out of my mind!
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