Psion

2018-10-01T02:14:22Z

2001:4930:48:53:BD35:E30F:E8F9:D6C5: /* Fifth Edition */

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[[File:Southpark_S08E13.jpg|right|thumb|Pretend this psionic fight is an animated *.gif; it would look just the same]]
The '''Psion''' is a [[Dungeons & Dragons]] character class that uses [[psionics]]. That's really all there is to it, which you can already tell is a remark on just what kind of relationship D&D has with psychic powers in PC hands.

==[[AD&D]]==
In 1st edition, psions were normal characters that rolled 99-100 on d100 during chargen, and gained extra spellcasting that didn't require spellbooks nor devotion to a faith. They had their own psionic-only battles that were invisible to non-psionics, and required their own combat matrix (complete with only one always optimal attack and one always optimal defense) on the DM's screen so you could play rock-paper-scissors-lizard-spock with the five attacks and five defenses. Only one attack could actually affect non-psionics, and it was less effective than casing ''Feeblemind'' or just punching someone in the jaw. Everyone else would just stand around and watch 10 rounds of an invisible, silent fight between people standing perfectly still for each round of actual combat. Whoop-de-doo.

Can you tell Gygax didn't even want to include it yet?

In 2nd edition, the Complete Book of Psionics introduced the '''Psionicist''' class, which was dedicated to having psychic powers. It was the precursor to the Psion in every way that really matters, but it still relied on the same godawful psychic combat mechanics as 1e.

==[[Dungeons & Dragons 3rd Edition|Third edition]]==
[[File:Mvc2_Psylocke.jpg|right|thumb|Yeah we know why you ''really'' want to play a Soulknife]]
D&D 3.0 had horrific mechanics: the ultimate [[Multiple_Ability_Dependency|M.A.D.]], where you needed a high stat for every subcategory of psionics to have a decent power. There were no supplements for 3.0 psionics, and we're okay with this.

In [[3.5e]], psionics were simpler: Psions were accountant spellcasters who kept track of a mana pool. Psionic powers didn't level up (well, most of them), instead the psion would spend mana ("power points") to increase a power's effect. Other players raged about this being h4x because a psion could turn themselves into glass cannons and screw a BBEG if they really wanted to. Most of the complaints about psionics came from people who didn't actually read the rules entirely (Few noticed the the rule saying you can only spend your manifester level in PP at once stopping you from dumping your entire pool into something) from pro spellcasters, who want to be the only ones with an "I win" button.

3.5e psionics only had one good main class: the Psion, or psychic sorcerer. [[Psychic Warrior]] was just a better fighter (which isn't saying much). The [[wilder]] was a psionic [[warlock]], the [[Soulknife]] was a shitty knock-off of [[monk]] WITH LIGHTSABERS11!!ELEVEN11!!! just like that hot Asian chick in X-men comics. The other classes described in the Complete Psionic book aren't worth mentioning, except the [[Erudite]], or psychic wizard, which was as good as [[CoDzilla]] or a [[Wizard]].

==[[Dungeons & Dragons 4th Edition|Fourth Edition]]==
The 4e Psion was the Psychic Controller class, making it analoguous to the [[Wizard]] or [[Invoker]]. By the time 4e was cancelled, it could be divided into three subclasses; one focusing on telepathy to control peoples' minds, the second focusing on telekinesis to fling people around the battlefield like toys, and the third on creating psionic constructs to do the dirty work for them.

==[[Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition|Fifth Edition]]==
The Psion has yet to turn up officially in 5th edition, although the newcomer Unearthed Arcana class the [[Mystic]] has basically taken not only its place, but the role of every single psionic class of editions past. I more in-depth official version is expected relatively soon as of this typing.

==[[Pathfinder]]==
The Pathfinder third party supplement Ultimate Psionics contains the Psion class, which works more or less the same as it does in [[3.5e]]. Of the official PF psychic classes, the ''Psychic'' probably closest fits the general archetype of Psion as the "undiluted psionic master" class.

Mechanically, the Psychic functions akin to the [[Sorcerer]], with most of its power stemming from the various Disciplines (sources of psionic energy) that it chooses.
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Aoskar

2018-09-30T23:49:52Z

2001:4930:48:53:BD35:E30F:E8F9:D6C5:

{{Infobox Deity
|Name = Aoskar
|Symbol =
|Alignment = True neutral
|Divine Rank = Dead God
|Pantheon =
|Portfolio = Doors, opportunity, portals
|Domains =
|Home Plane = Unknown
|Worshippers = [[Planeswalker]]s
|Favoured Weapon =
}}
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'''Aoskar''' was perhaps the most infamous deity in [[Sigil]]; once coming close to calling that city home, now he is forgotten by nearly all, and those that do still know his name almost always know him only as a cautionary tale, a story of the fate that would befall all deities that would seek to unseat the Lady. Even today, his worship is still punishable by death within the city's walls. If any Aoskarians still exist, their numbers must be slim; hiding in the shadows of Sigil, their very existence a capital crime but the Cage still the closest thing they have to a holy site, and still holding the closest thing they have to a high priest. Recently, however, interest in Aoskar has begun to emerge as the Will of the One, a sect of the [[Sign of One]], has looked upon him as a potential target for divine resurrection, a demonstration of the power of their faction. Considered by most as a fool's choice, the ire they may draw from the Lady has dissuaded few of their number.

Though most records of Aoskar were lost in the Lady's destruction or the acts of various factions since that day, a semblance of the deity's history has been reconstructed. It is believed that ages past, Aoskar was naught but a simple god of planar travel, though his origins have long since been lost. What is known is that his worship caught the attention of a slight few in Sigil, bringing the attention of the god himself to the city. Always seeking new opportunities as was his wont, Aoskar was quick to see the potential of the planar metropolis. And while he obviously couldn't enter himself, however appropriate a realm it may have been, he soon forged plans to exploit it despite.

The Aoskarians soon gained a strong reputation for the depth of knowledge they held in the ways of portals, greater than near all the sages of the city, never failing to credit Aoskar for that knowledge. Here and there, they began incorporating rituals into their gate-keys, minor beseechments thanking Aoskar for his gifts. Soon, these rituals began to take hold amongst the commonfolk of Sigil as well. Aoskar's influence began to spread, and within a matter of years long it's recorded that nearly half of the people of Sigil were claiming the title of Aoskarian.

This period is believed to have continued for decades, known now as the Aoskarian period. It was during this timeframe, for example, that the now-common Aoskian hounds were bred; portal-sensitive dogs commonly used then and now by Primes to detect portals they otherwise would miss. It was also in this period that the great Temple of Doors seems to have been erected, built within the then-Prime Ward likely due to Aoskar's strong Prime origins and his heightened popularity amongst those with Prime origins. Before long, the cult's influence spread to the dabus themselves, and it is recorded that many of them began to themselves incorporate beseechments towards Aoskar into their duties. A strong argument could be made that he was, at the time, the most influential deity in the planes due to how much he'd interwoven himself into every planar transit in Sigil.

Finally, though, his influence overstepped his reach when one of the Lady's dabus took an additional step and beneath the Lady's notice took up within the priesthood of Aoskar. They rapidly rose through the ranks, becoming a full proxy before the Lady realized what had occurred, apparently a key step in Aoskar's plans to usurp the Lady; upon her realization of this act, her vengeance was swift and brutal. This event can be definitively dated for its sheer resonance within the city: it was in the year Hashkar -4873 that, overnight, the Temple of Doors and all those buildings for blocks around it were destroyed by a force unknown and unseen mid-sermon, all Aoskarians within those bounds killed in a single horrible instant. Aoskar vanished, responding to none, and it was not for centuries hence that his godcorpse was found in the Astral, head impaled with a multitude of blades. All iconography of Aoskar was purged from the city by the dabus, and the cortolestials once honored as living icons of the deity were no longer anywhere to be found, likely all mazed at once. The dabus priest of Aoskar was exiled from the warrens and banished from the Lady's service, forced to walk upon the ground and thus taking up the name Fell. Within a month of Aoskar's fall, his worship was declared a high crime by the city's government, one of the few laws to survive the transition into the faction era untouched. Within a year, the number of known Aoskarians fell to but a few dozen, and within a century, his name was spoken publicly only when refering to his hounds, the lone acceptable reference still held in Sigil.

Though there was a brief belief in some that his return was soon to be heralded at the first appearance of the blinks, it is only with the more recent appearance of the Will of the One that the common citizen of Sigil even knows of his existence. It is believed that an underground cult of Aoskar still persists, and of course Fell still preaches in his name, the only priest still publicly professing in the name of the Gate-God, as despite his exile harming him still brings the Lady's wrath. However, beyond rumor and exiles, Aoskar has truly since been purged from the Cage's bounds.

[[Category:Dungeons & Dragons Gods]]
[[Category:Planescape]]

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Psion

Aoskar