The last big chunk of the updated Psion Unearthed Arcana is a selection of Psionic spells that also feel like they’d be at home in Dark Sun.
If you go back to the oldest days of D&D, you will find that some ideas endure throughout the long years. Among them, the idea of an Intellect Fortress and an Ego Whip. These two abilities have existed in some form or another in each edition of D&D, except for 5th Edition. In 1st edition D&D they were special talents any character might have. In later editions, they were specific psionic tools that only psionically empowered classes could use.
Now, in 5.5E, it looks like they’ll be spells. But spells that are not necessarily Psion exclusive, in the case of Intellect Fortress, at least. According to the latest Unearthed Arcana update, there’s a bunch of new psionic magic in the coming Dark Sun book. Assuming this all makes it to print. So with that in mind, let’s take a look at the magic of the mind.
Psionic Spells Update: More Ego, Less Whip
There are 17 new spells included in this Unearthed Arcana. Of particular interest for the shape of D&D 5.5E are the return of several spells from Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything, Xanathar’s Guide to Everything, and Fizban’s Treasury of Dragons in an effort to update them to be in line with the new ruleset. It’s interesting to see WotC admit the imbalance, in spite of the “backwards compatibility.” But that’s not necessarily shocking, it’s just further fuel for the new edition. Especially since the updates, by and large, buff the spells, making them more powerful with more flavorful flourishes like “if the creature dies from this damage, its head explodes” on the updated Psychic Scream.
But let’s take a look at the new psionic hotness. Starting with an eerie spell called Bleeding Darkness for Psions, Warlocks, and Wizards. This spell lets you create a 10-foot sphere that is an inky void from which darkness spills into a big cylinder. You can use a Magic Action every turn to move it, cause it to vomit forth a pillar of magical darkness that deals 3d8 damage and blinds enemies until the end of their next turn.
Meanwhile Ectoplasmic Trail lets the caster cloak themselves in ghostly spirits and walk through walls and creatures. Anyone you pass through while cloaked in spirits takes damage and has their speed reduced. It’s a nice getaway spell that’s available to both Psions and Warlocks.
Ego Whip is one of two classic D&D spells/abilities mentioned in the update. And truly, I don’t know that it’s where it needs to be. All it does is let you subtract 1d8 from a creature’s successful Charisma saving throw or Charisma skill check, and that’s on a 2nd level spell. I know it’s not Silvery Barbs good, but I don’t know that anyone would actually take it. It feels too specific, too narrow.
More Toys Less Tools
The same goes for the other classic idea Intellect Fortress. It’s a 3rd level spell that gives you advantage on Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma saving throws and Resistance to Psychic damage for an hour, but it takes your concentration, and it only works on one target. It might be better as a lower level spell.
There are two spells that involve using someone’s life force, which feels very Dark Sun. The first, Life Inversion Field, lets you regain 4d8 hit points, and any time you regain hit points (for a minute) you can pick a creature and deal that damage. Now, notably, you only regain hit points from the spell once, so you have to have teamwork to make this dream work. And Life Siphon which, despite the name, lets you siphon your OWN life to increase it’s damage. This one isn’t very good, for obvious reasons.
If you’ve ever wanted to be like a Mind Flayer, you can thanks to Psionic Blast. This 6th-level Psion and Wizard spell lets you blast enemies in a 60 foot cone with psionic energy, dealing 6d8 damage and potentially stunning them.
Psions get a summoning spell of their own with Summon Astral Entity, a new summoning spell that conjures a Psionic Spirit that can work as a mobile melee fighter with decent damage, a short-range battlefield controller, or a long-range blaster. Very useful.
Finally Telekinetic Crush gives Psions a damaging AoE that knocks creatures prone. Telekinetic Fling gets updated so that it doesn’t actually need you to provide your own ammo, you can just throw things with your mind. And Thought Form, which allows you to become a psionic spirit and transcend the material realm. That means you can fly, move through occupied spaces, and gain some immunities. But more importantly, you can restore spell slots to creatures as a Magic action once per turn. I love this one.
You can check out all of them—and leave WotC your feedback by following the link below. Pleasedo as it can help make sure that these new spells are firing on all cylinders!
Exploding heads is such a nice touch, truly!
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