The Psionic Warrior

[Opalescence]

First, a note of warning. Here it is.

<<<<<<<<<<<<<WARNING!>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
IF YOU ARE A POWERGAMER, CLICK THE "BACK" BUTTON
ON YOUR BROWSER. THIS POST SHOULD NOT INTEREST
YOU IN THE SLIGHTEST
<<<<<<<<<<<<END WARNING>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

There. Now that all the powergamers have left, I'm going to continue on with my post. First, I'm going to give a little history on why I decided to make this character. For those not interested, I've blocked off this section so you can skip it.

- Begin History
Ok, so, I'll admit that I'm a D&D fan. And so, it happened that I was reading the Psion's Guide when I was playing Morrowind and something just clicked. I was using my Telekenesis when I thought, I could make a Psionic Warrior! Now, I realized such a character would have to be role-played, since it would be far from powerful enough to be powergamed, but I'm a role-playing type anyway! You wanna powergame, go get Doom.
- End History

Anyway, I began ticking off spells and other things I thought might "stand in" for psionic abilities. Telekenesis, for one. Probably Levitate. Chameleon could possibly stand in for a "Cloud men's mind" thing (from the Shadow), and it IS useful. But this was just a rough sketch, a work in progress, and being relatively poor at making design choices, I thought I'd ask you guys for help!

So here's what I need. First, and foremost, we should choose a race. It would be best if we chose one that we think would be most likely to manifest psionic ability, but I suppose if we want to be a tad powergamish we could choose the one that best suits the skills we're going to need.

Next, we need to choose the actual skills. Now, since we'll be wanting Chameleon, Levitate and (duh) Telekenesis, I guess that means that we'll be needing Alteration, Mysticism, and ... wait a sec, that's way too many. So you see my problem; I've got to cut something. I don't want to make this so that the dude's unplayable. So, here's what I've got so far:

DEFINATE:
Mysticism (what's a psion without Telekenesis?)
Acrobatics (mind over matter lets body do some pretty amazing things)
Athletics (ditto above)
Light Armor (don't want to be encumbered, strength is not the psion's forte)

The rest is up to all of us! Although we'd probably want either mercantile or speechcraft because we WILL have to interact with NPCs eventually. (Please note, with the sole exception of Mysticism, even the above is not set in stone! ).

Thirdly, we'd need to determine what kind of weapon we're to be using (Long Blades? Short Blades? Blunt Weaponry?).

And lastly, we determine a sign. My personal preference is the Atronach, but since we're not powergaming here, maybe some other sign would do better from a role-playing point of view. Just, please please please do not suggest signs like the Lord, or the Serpent. They're really just not good enough, even if they're the BEST choices for roleplaying sake (and they're not), because (the Lord sign especially), the drawbacks are horrendous! (100% vulnerability to fire? What were they smoking down at Bethesda Softworks?)

I actually intend to play the game through as such a character, so any suggestion how to do so would also be helpful. Hints on tactics would be useful (this warrior is obviously not going to fight in any ordinary way), and which great house this character should join for maximum benefit, etc etc. Remember, it's your creation as much as it is mine, so your input is valuable and desired!

Thanks in advance for the help!

[fable]

At a glance, Invisibility and Sound are two other spells you'd want to include: the first, because it fits with Chameleon, and the second, because it can be conceived as deluding an NPC by playing with their mind. Burden spells, too: a psionic could in effect convince a target that they were too heavy to move.

[Davidetuna]

Psi character

An interesting occupation, something I never thought about. My contribution would be, use the race: Imperial. Breton are already into magick. Redguard are already warriors & Nord are like the wikings from the Northern Europe. Imperial are good charmers, why not add psionic abilities to their famous charm? I read that the skills Speechcraft & Merchantile are needed. What race got the skill bonuses? Imperial!!!

[giles337]

you should use thrown weapons, kind of directed by your mind?? fits in with the telekinesis, but offensively rather than passively. later on in the game, get CE telekinesis thats something im gunna do righ away anyway! my ideas ROCK!

[Volk]

Marksmanship is powergamish, not as much as blunt or longblade but its there, Axe seems to be the least powergamish weapon choice, orcs might be an interesting race to try out, other then that i would say Imperial since they fit the best without major powergaming.

Ilusion should also be major because a lot of spells from the school fit the type of chracter.

[Opalescence]

The only problem I've got with making the PsiWarrior an Orc is that the Orcs aren't exactly the sharpest tools in the toolbox, y'know? Not bashing on the Orcs or anything, but let's face it, a Psychic Warrior's probably got an extremely powerful mind, and Orcs don't exactly strike me as the type to have a powerful mind (or much of a mind at all, for that matter). Powerful bodies, sure, but we're roleplaying here .

But Imperialist is great! I love it, because when I first envisioned this, I was thinking Dark Elf, but Imperialist is a great idea. So, then, let's see what we've got and our roleplaying justification for it:

Race: Imperialist
- Justification: A snobbish, high-born kid grows up disdaining pure physical combat as "dirty" and "a commoner's work". Instead, drawing on an old, mouldy tome from an ancient family library, this Imperialist finds descriptions on how to focus and hone the mind. Already born into a society that values cerebral, mental abilities more than physical prowess, this Imperialist felt it perfectly reasonable to enhance them with the description of training regimens found in the tome. Despite the use of mental power, however, this Imperialist retains his martial training, which he has been recieving since he was four. This blend of the martial and the mental creates a formidable opponent!

Major Skills
Heavy Armor
- Justification: If this was going to be a Psionic Assassin this would've been Light Armor, I'da gone for a set of Glass Armor, and shortswords, and we'd be powergaming again.
Spell School: Illusion
- Justification: With the power of his mind, this PsiWarrior can make the real seem unreal, and nightmares come true.
Spell School: Mysticism
- Justification: ok, the name Mysticism REALLY pisses me off, but what's a psionic without Telekenesis?!
<<FREE SLOT!>> (Acrobatics? Athletics?)
<<FREE SLOT!>> (Speechcraft? Mercantile?)

Minor Skills
Axe (Long Blade? Short Blade? Spear? ok maybe not Spear ...)
- Justification: This Psywarrior has been trained since birth in melee combat, and despite his hatred for the "dirty" art of the brawl is more than capable of defending himself. (You level in your weapon real quick, because you're swinging it all the time and any time you meet a hostile. It's a waste to make it a major.)
Spell School: Alteration
- With the power of his mind, this Psiwarrior can make himself do superhuman feats; jumping incredible distances and even floating off the ground. (I felt very uncomfortable putting 3 magics in Major Skill slots, so I figured that Alteration serves better in Minor Skills. Perhaps switch it with Illusion?)
<<FREE SLOT!>> (Armorer?)
<<FREE SLOT!>> (Block?)
<<FREE SLOT!>> (Security?)


We still have a few free slots! What do you think should go in them?

We also need a birthsign. In this ONE case, I'll accept powergamish suggestions (*COUGH!*TheAtronach*COUGH!*) simply because some of the signs suck so much (*COUGH!*TheLord*COUGH!*).

Also, here's where I (and for some of you, this is the best part) accept names for our creation here! I did not, in contrast to my many other pet projects, start this out with any names in mind! So, here's where you can come up with some cool, creative names for our Psychic friend. Just, please, try not to come up with names like "Greasy Man BoB". Funny though that may be, we ARE roleplaying here...

[Lost One]

I think it's a nice idea to create custom-made role-playing characters. However, I do not understand your justification for a psion character wearing heavy armor. You say that if he were to have light armor, he would be a powergamer. Well...this is not about powergaming is it? It's about role-playing, and heavy armor has nothing to do with what a psion would wear (I play D&D too). If anything, I'd recommend unarmored.

Armorer, security and block are also skills that don't have much to do with psions. Long, short sword and spears are ok choices for a psion, though I'd really go for short weapons or staffs unless you want to be the psychic warrior type (in which case, armorer and block would make sense).

I'd get restoration also...biofeedback and using the mind to get rid of maladictions are psionic powers. Destruction makes sense too...knowing how a psion can probe a victim's mind and cause harm, or disintegrate things from a distance. However, fire, ice, shock and poison spells don't have much to do with psions, though the rest does IMO. It all comes down to spell selection basically. But I think a psion should be played similarly to a mage (with differences in spell selection...better use with a weapon, perhaps the use of an armor..more energetic). I mean, even a psion knows how to psionically imbue weapons with his energy, so even Enchant might be a viable option. Though granted, alchemy would not make sense.

[JesterKing]

i agree... unarmored. and then the 'drain' spells. drain fatigue to 'convince' them they are very tired.. and drain personality 'convince' them they are ugly... lol, this is fun. and what the heck is powergaming? and why are you anti-powergamer, not using something like long-sword even if it waws for fun... ok well thats my 2 bits.

[techoluvr]

you might want command humanoid/creature for ( ) seconds. this could be being able to take over their minds

[Davidetuna]

Psionic character

Ok, you want to be serious about this, let me lend a hand. I'm sitting with GURPS Psionic game book together with the Morrowind manual next to me. I've checked and matched most of the spells to the psi abilities in the GURPS book. Some matches & some doesn't. So here goes:

Antipsi:
Neutralize - Resistant to Magicka (Restoration). Both Orcs and Bretons has this ability. Even Drain (any of the 6 skills of magic art. Enchant & Alchemy skills doesn't use spells, so those 2 are not effected)
Psi Static - Doesn't match

Astral Projection:
Astral Projection - Ancestor Guardian ability of the Dunmer
Astral Sight - Not needed, since the player can see ghosts anyway

Electrokinesis:
Confuse - Causing confussion in the brain. Frenzy Humanoid or Creature, Demoralize Humanoid or Creature (Illusion)
Cyberpsi - Not needed, obviously
Dampen - Makes electrical stuff stop working, not needed either
Energy Sense - Sense electromagnetic field. Detect Enchantment perhaps? (Mysticism)
Energy Shield - Resist Shock (Restoration), Lightning Shield (Alteration), Fire Shield (Alteration), Resist Fire (Restoration)
Lightning - Shock Damage (Destruction)
Photokinesis - Invisibility (Illusion), Chameleon (Illusion), Light (Illusion)
Surge - Cause electrical stuff to overload and break them. Maybe Disintergrate Weapon or Armor (Destruction)

ESP:
Clairvoyance, Clairaudience, Clairsentience - Detect (any) (Mysticism), Maybe even Night-Eye (Illusion)
Combat Sense - No match, or Maybe Dragon Skin ability of Breton. Woad ability of the Nord. Or Sanctuary (Illusion)
Precognition - No match
Psychometry (Postcognition) - No match
Retrogression - No match
Seeker Sense - Detect (any) (Mysticism)

Healing:
Healing - Any Cure spells, any Restore spells, Remove Curse (Restoration)
Life Extention - No match
Metabolism Control - Resist Poison (Restoration)

Psychic Vampire:
Drain Attributes - Drain (attributes) (Destruction)
Drain Emotion - Calm Humanoid or Creature, Rally Humanoid or Creature (Illusion)
Steal Dreams - The closest spell would be Stunted Magicka (Destruction)
Steal Energy - Absorb (Health & Fatigue) (Mysticism)
Steal Power - Spell Absorption (Mysticism)

Psychkinesis:
Cryokinesis - Slowing molecular motion. Frost Damage (Destruction), Resist Fire (Restoration), Fire Shield (Alteration)
Levitation - Levitate, Slowfall, Jump, Waterwalking (Alteration)
Psychokinetic Shield - Sanctuary (Illusion), Any Shield spells (Alteration)
Pyrokinesis - Increasing molecular motion. Fire Damage (Destruction), Resist Frost (Restoration), Frost Shield (Alteration)
Telekinesis - Telekinesis (Mysticism), Lock, Open, Burden, Feather (Alteration)

Telepathy:
Aspect - Charismatic aura that manipulate the emotions of others. Eye of Fear ability of the Khajit. Calm, Frenzy, Demoralize & Rally Humanoid or Creature spells (Illusion).
Emotion Sense - No match
Erase Signature - No match
Illusion - Invisibility, Chameleon, Light, Silence, Blind, Sound (Illusion), obviously
Mental Blow - Damage (any, but no elemental damage or Health damage) (Destruction)
Mental Stab - Damage Health, Poison Damage (Destruction)
Mind Shield - Resist Magicka (Restoration), Magicka Shield (Alteration)
Mindswitch - No match
Mindsword - Bound (any weapon) (Conjuration)
Mindwipe - Erasing memories. No match
Psi Sense - Detect Enchantment (Mysticism)
Signature Sniffer - No match
Sleep - No match. Star of the West ability of the Imperial. Or Drain Fatigue (Destruction)
Suggest - Charm (Illusion), Voice of the Emperor ability of the Imperial
Telecontrol - Beast Tongue ability of the Bosmer. Command (Conjuration), Paralyze (Illusion)
Telereceive - No match
Telescan - Maybe Summon Creature (Conjuration)
Telesend - No match

Teleportation:
Autoteleport - Mark, Recall (Mysticism)
Combat Teleport - Avoiding attacks by teleportation. Maybe Sanctuary (Illusion)
Exoteleport - teleport objects from point A to point B. No match

Ok, just making this list gives me headache, dude. As you can see, there are all 6 school skills the Psionic have to master. I even played an Imperial with Psionic occupation. In the next input, I'll tell you how...

[Davidetuna]

Psi in Morrowind

Ok, I started with choosing the Imperial race, but as I have written in the previous input, any race can be a psi.

When you are choosing the occupation, you take 'Create new one'.

Name of the occupation: Free choice

Specialized Class: Magic

Favored Attributes: Willpower & Intelligence

Major Skills: Choose 5 of the 6 magic arts skills which produces spells

Minor Skills: 1. The magic art mentioned above you didn't choose
2. Shortblade (free choice, but you will start with Bound Dagger spell. Starting with a Deadric Dagger isn't bad, don't you think?)
3. Unarmoured (Or Light Armor, free choice. Never Medium or Heavy Armor. A Psi is usually like a Mage, bookworms.)
The rest 2 Minor skills are free choice too, though I picked Merchantile and Speechcraft.

Starting spells: Bound Dagger, Shield, Water Walking, Fire Bite (Fire damage on Touch range), Ancestor Guardian, Sanctuary. Hope I got them all. I didn't get any Restoration spell, because I put Restoration skill as Minor Skill.

So, if you still like to play a psi in Morrowind, go ahead.

[Davidetuna]

Psychic Warrior

Well, I've played D&D too, and that system is based on levels. Within that level, you can have any psi abilities you like. A little bit mixed together. GURPS is more specific, psi skills develop within the psi power. To me, it feels more realistic. So, Opal, If you want to play an ordinary psi in Morrowind, a bookworm psi, that's ok. Because that's the stereotype of a psi, strong mind, weak body. I like to see how you play an orc with psi powers, like Antipsi or Psychic Vampire. That can be cool.

[Davidetuna]

Birthsign for a psi

I think Atronach sign doesn't fit, my opinion. Try the Tower instead. It has 'Beggar's Nose', gives the character Detect ability. Could be Mental scan or ESP abilities. Also 'Tower Key', telekineticcally open locks.
How cool isn't that?

[Demortis]

Psionic warrior

if you think about it and illusion skill deals with psionincs.making people think your not there, header to hit, that they hear a nosie in their mind and they cant concintrate. making your self think its brighter then it is. making others think is darker then it is. all about illusion. others are second rate. when making your "class" make it a warrior. people then think of warriors as strong people holding huge weapons like double bladed axes, or huge broad swords. i would go with the light armor, like above everyone thinks a warrior is a bulky man/woman with big heavy armor. you want confussion when dealing with people. go with short blade as well. illusions work to get you in close to your target without their knowlage striking with one single movement then they fall and never know what hit them. having some of the other classes of magik is good like alteration. some ones hidden behind a door unlock it open it up and say something like tag your it i dont know. i dont want to make this char just 1 magik class only but im adding the ablities most people dont relize. Part of the chars story he distains "dirty" work like that up close and in your face fighting most people have to do. dont make his story he trained with an axe that has to much work involved with it , make him fight with a short blade. theres no power gameing invovled. using his mind so much could drive him in to insanity. so make him beserk at points. this lets his mind releave pressure its not always being trained or in use. the dagger he learned to use at a young age has been his tool from cutting food to make on the trail to opening that stubborn lock on his fridge that his room-mate put on to piss him off. but his weapon what ever it is has to represent an aspect of his life.

[Davidetuna]

[QUOTE=Demortis]if you think about it and illusion skill deals with psionincs.making people think your not there, header to hit, that they hear a nosie in their mind and they cant concintrate. making your self think its brighter then it is. making others think is darker then it is. all about illusion. others are second rate. when making your "class" make it a warrior. people then think of warriors as strong people holding huge weapons like double bladed axes, or huge broad swords. i would go with the light armor, like above everyone thinks a warrior is a bulky man/woman with big heavy armor. you want confussion when dealing with people. go with short blade as well. illusions work to get you in close to your target without their knowlage striking with one single movement then they fall and never know what hit them. having some of the other classes of magik is good like alteration. some ones hidden behind a door unlock it open it up and say something like tag your it i dont know. i dont want to make this char just 1 magik class only but im adding the ablities most people dont relize. Part of the chars story he distains "dirty" work like that up close and in your face fighting most people have to do. dont make his story he trained with an axe that has to much work involved with it , make him fight with a short blade. theres no power gameing invovled. using his mind so much could drive him in to insanity. so make him beserk at points. this lets his mind releave pressure its not always being trained or in use. the dagger he learned to use at a young age has been his tool from cutting food to make on the trail to opening that stubborn lock on his fridge that his room-mate put on to piss him off. but his weapon what ever it is has to represent an aspect of his life.[/QUOTE]

That a good one. Roleplay, not powergaming, is to develope a character with a background story. If you choose to have the Imperial race, then their culture is kind of martial... If you choise Breton, their culture is more magical... So, I think it depends on the culture, where you are from. If you pick a Khajiit... Interesting psi character...

[Demortis]

Well now that we have decided that he needs a story we need to focus on his weapon of choice right? Spear no no that takes to much work to move, hum Blunt weapons, no that takes str to move, hummm axe thats to barbaric if were going with imperalist, Marksmen weapons like bows and thrown weapons, they take to much dex if were going with the imperial, the only think i can think of for our char to have as a weapon is short bladed.doesnt reqiure to much to move, easily conciled, perfect for that last ditch effort right? It would work great with his illusion skills.

Then we also have to figure the spells and skills he will need right? this is all based on imperialist as our char. We also have to think about is he trying to confuse anyone and every one? or will everyone know what hes about?

[dairy]

Just a coupla thoughts

Sign - The Lady?
Favorite Atributes - Intelligence and ?

For weapon, you could go blunt and use a staff...Mr. Deception goes out for a walk with a "walking stick" and gets jumped by some thugs. Unable to mess with their heads (they're high on moonsugar) he turns his "walking stick" into a "whooping stick."

I have to admit I borrowed the idea from LotR. Gandalf pulls a trick like that in the Two Towers.

[Davidetuna]

If you choose Conjuration skill in Major skills, you start with Bound Dagger spell.

[Demortis]

Well we dont want him to sit there and have to conjure his dagger do we? thats a waste of time and he would be dead or seriously(?) injured, now we dont want a guy who can get jumped to be hurt do we? and the "Whooping stick"? theres got to be something better to term it, because if you look at it its all about playing with the mind. the "whooping stick" doesnt strick fear to me, you would be laughed at for calling it the "whooping stick".remember this char were trying to make has to able to get him self of of danger with out drawing blood or injury to and one. so if he cant talk his way out and beating the snot out of some one just wont work, what if they can take the mental abuse and take the blunt trama? then you my friend are kinda screwed right? But to master a small blade, it is easily hidden pull a slight of hand trick and the blade is in your hand they have to stop for a second and think about what just happend. Like where did the knife come from? Is anyone else around? and is so how many? what if their marksmen? what if... they ask themselves this in the span of a few seconds, and at that same time you can put the knife to their throat and "make" them leave you alone. no blood just a very scared and confused person. now can you do that with a walking stick?

[Opalescence]

hrm, everyone seems to revive this thread, just as I thought I could let it quietly slip into oblivion. If you don't mind, (you being plural), some mod either delete or close this thread, as I doubt it's going to have much of a fan-club anymore. SO! As a wrap-up:

I've tried playing several versions of this character. There are a few things that any intrepid creators of psionic warriors might consider:

The posters here were right about Illusion. It's a powerful spell class, and it fits well into the psion's profile.
Don't make Mysticism a major skill. One spell (Telekenesis) isn't worth a major skill slot. Stick it in minor and be done with it.
Abjuration, with Levitate (a highly useful spell that actually makes sense for a psion), is also a highly useful spell class.
As for armor, the primary problem is role-playing. Personally, I've always thought of psions as being weak of body, so I imagined the guy using Unarmored. But, as everyone knows, Unarmored is practically a death-sentence ... but it DOES mean that you wear CLOTHING throughout your journey. As you well know, clothes enchant far better than armor (I think, don't they, at least the exquisite ones?). What this means is that if you enchant every exquisite piece of clothing you find with as high-level sanctuary as you can get, I think you can get as high as 100 sanctuary - nobody will hit you with a physical weapon. That should even the odds a little, as a psion is physically weak anyway his power's his mind, not his body, he should have clothing that protect him from physical harm.
As for the two primary stats? Intel and Willpower, makes the most roleplaying sense, he's not the strongest, or the most buff, but he's smart and has an iron will (he has to, a psion's GOT to have an iron willpower to be able to do the stuff he does).
The rest? Like birthsigns and such? I guess that's up to any intrepid character creator who wants to try on this project. It's been fun watching this unfold but I think it's time we put this away. Bon voyage, and good luck!