|
 Home Community Members options |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Become one of Dreamscarred Press's Premier Customers, which gives you 10% off all products at the Dreamscarred Press PDF store! |
|
|
|
Use these links to shop at other sites and support Dreamscarred Press!
 |
|
|
|
Articles › So You Want to Be a Society Mind?
| So You Want to Be a Society Mind? (Article #2 Page 1) |
So you want to be a society mind? Take a look at one of the newer psionic classes and understand its strengths and weaknesses first and make sure this class is what you really want.
Choosing to play a society mind typically means foregoing the flash of another manifester type to support your allies in battle. Selecting the right combination of powers, feats and skills can take your society mind from flat to fantastic.
Strengths
Moderate Skill Points: Society minds get 4 skill points per level, giving you enough to specialize in a few skills, but not quite enough to diversify your selections.
Good Will Saves: A society mind has the best Will save progression available in addition to relying on Wisdom for your manifesting ability. This makes a society mind extremely resistant to affects that attack the mind, such as charms, fears, or illusions.
High Amount of Power Points: You have just as many power points as a psion or wilder, making you able to keep up with psionic effects. Your well of power is not limitless, so you’ll want to make sure you always keep enough in reserve in case something unexpected happens.
Variety of Class Features: The society mind gains several key class features, such as your worldthought network, the ability to share your powers with those in his network, and even the ability to force unwilling creatures into your network, using your powers against that target. You can also direct healing potential across your network, passing it on to the member most in need.
Fair Weapon Selection: The society mind has proficiency with only simple weapons, making the choices available limited, but not as restricted as some other classes.
Fair Armor Selection: The society mind is proficient with light armor, but not with shields. While this type of armor doesn’t grant the society mind a huge amount of protections, it is better than none at all, and it also doesn’t interfere with manifesting.
Weaknesses
Society minds specialize in their network and utility features, giving up some of the options available to other classes. You should take these into account when creating a society mind to ensure the character meets your expectations.
Fairly Low Hit Points: The society mind gains 6-sided hit dice, granting a comfortable level of hit points, but not quite enough to stay near the front during combat.
Low Number of Powers Known: The powers you learn are very few so choose carefully. Your power list is also somewhat limited, revolving mostly around your worldthought network class ability. While a power chosen for a specific niche might look good on paper, make sure you’ll be able to perform the skills the party needs. If you decide that a choice was poor, remember that you can change it the next day.
Poor Attack Bonus: A society mind gains only +1 to his base attack bonus per two class levels, which is the slowest progression. Society minds are not adept at making attack rolls and may need to utilize enhancements even for successful touch attacks.
Poor Reflex and Fortitude Saves: Society minds have the slower progression for Reflex and Fortitude saves (see Table 3-1 in the Player's Handbook). Remember that you’re not designed for physical effects and should do your best to stay out of the way of these effects.
Playing a Society Mind
When you play a society mind, here are some things you’ll want to consider.
Consider the Big Picture
As a society mind, you have a very limited selection of powers from which to choose and an even smaller number that you learn. Because of these factors, you really need to consider just how useful every power you take will be, not just for you, but for your allies. The society mind class is designed with your party in mind – your worldthought network is your greatest asset, so it’s recommended to choose some powers that compliment it. Powers that you can share over your worldthought network are going to give you the most bang for your buck in the long-term, so those should be some of your primary choices.
However, every day when you regain your power points, you can choose to change out which society mind powers you have known. This is a tremendous asset, but you still need to keep in mind that you are locked into these powers until the next day, so make your choices count!
It also needs to be remembered that the society mind is not a class designed to do a lot of damage. While choosing an offensive power as a back-up option might not be a bad idea, it should not be the focus of your entire selection.
Know When to Manifest
Your role in the party is as a manifester. You should not expect to be a front-line fighter or the party member that does the most damage. Instead, you should look for ways to enhance the ability of your allies, or share the abilities of your allies with each other. By playing this role in the party, you’ll need to constantly be aware of the lay of the land in and out of battle and see what you can do to augment your party members’ normal abilities.
However, you also need to remember that you have just as large a power point pool as a psion or wilder, so you don’t need to treat every power point spent as extremely precious. Pace yourself, but you don’t want to end the day with over half of your power points left in reserve. You should keep enough power points in reserve to manifest at least a couple of your highest level powers (or maximum augmented lower level powers). Remember, a society mind with no power points is a liability, not an asset.
Group Tactics
Your greatest asset as a society mind is your fellow party members. You need to learn what they can do and how they do it so you can determine exactly which effects you can create will best synergize with their abilities. Don’t be afraid to try out new ideas, either; thinking outside the box can make your powers go a long way.
Tools of the Trade
While your primary asset is your manifesting ability and your class features, you should plan to augment yourself with some choice pieces of equipment. Here are some ideas:
Melee Weapon: Avoid melee combat if at all possible, but sometimes, your enemies might decide you look like a good target. Have a club, quarterstaff, or other simple weapon available in case of emergency.
Ranged Weapon: Attacking from afar might be the best option in times when you’ve already augmented your allies’ abilities and don’t want to invest more power points. You don’t have the high attack bonus to make hitting a guarantee, but if you don’t take the shot, you’re guaranteed to not do any damage. Since you are proficient with simple weapons, a light crossbow might be your best option.
Reserve Power Options: With your limited selection of powers for each day, you never know when an unexpected situation might arise where your chosen powers just don’t work. Having several powerstones on hand encoded with the less frequently used powers might just save you (and your party) from certain doom. You might also consider picking up a dorje or two with the powers you use most frequently, especially lower-level powers that don’t utilize augmentation. Remember, you don’t have to have the power known to use a dorje – it need only be on your class list.
About the Author Jeremy Smith has been a D&D player for over a decade, originally playing the red boxed set. Since the release of the AD&D 2nd Edition Complete Psionics Handbook, he's been fascinated with psionics in Dungeons and Dragons. A regular member of the Wizards of the Coast forums, Jeremy has created a variety of new content revolving around psionics while not spending his time working on computers.
Expanded Psionics Handbook ©2004 Wizards of the Coast
Dungeons & Dragons is a registered trademark of Wizards of the Coast, Inc.
|
| Author | Jeremy.Smith |
| Date & Time | 15-01-2007 00:00 |
|
