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E X P A N D E D P S I O N I C S H A N D B O O KBRUCE R. CORDELL

A D D I T I O N A L D E S I G N

DAVID NOONAN

D E V E L O P M E N T T E A MRICH BAKER, MIKE DONAIS, ANDREW FINCH,

ED STARK, JONATHAN TWEET

E D I T O R S

MICHELE CARTER, GWENDOLYN F.M. KESTREL, CHARLES RYAN

A D D I T I O N A L E D I T I N G

JENNIFER CLARKE WILKES

M A N A G I N G E D I T O R

KIM MOHAN

D E S I G N M A N A G E R

ED STARK

D E V E L O P M E N T M A N A G E R

ANDREW FINCH

D I R E C T O R O F R P G R & D

BILL SLAVICSEK

A R T D I R E C T O R

DAWN MURIN

C O V E R A R T I S T

HENRY HIGGINBOTHAM

I N T E R I O R A R T I S T SSTEVEN BELLEDIN, BRIAN DESPAIN, WAYNE ENGLAND, LARS GRANT-WEST, HEATHER HUDSON, JEREMY JARVIS, CHUCK LUKACS,

DAVID MARTIN, MONTE MOORE, JIM PAVELEC, WAYNE REYNOLDS, ARNIE SWEKEL, SAM WOOD

G R A P H I C D E S I G N E R

DAWN MURIN

G R A P H I C P R O D U C T I O N S P E C I A L I S T

ERIN DORRIES

I M A G E T E C H N I C I A N

ROBERT JORDAN

P R O D U C T I O N M A N A G E R S

JOSH FISCHER, RANDALL CREWS

Playtesters: Alan Anderchuk, Paul Barclay, Jason Bazylak, Ted Bolstad (playtest lead), Vern Brooks (in spirit), Wayne Dawson, Voin Despotovic, Prince Elcock (playtest lead), Skaff Elias, Darryl Farr, Michael Friedrich, Dale Friesen (playtest lead), Karen Friesen, John Gillespie, Linda Gillespie, Curt Gould, Kirk Hockin, Bryan Kelley, Paul May, Steven Mombourquette, Jennie Nicholson, Phillip Nicholson, Sulenna Nicholson, Wes Nicholson (playtest lead), Eric Paquette, Mike Piazza, Ashwyn Rajagopalan, Jeff Richardson, Tagg Richardson, Mark Templeton (playtest lead), Rob Watkins, Kristian Williamson, Worth WollpertSpecial Thanks: Andy Collins, Michael Donais, Prince Elcock, Rob Heinsoo, David Noonan, Jonathan Tweet, James Wyatt

Sources include the Psionics Handbook by Bruce R. Cordell; various Mind’s Eye articles on www.wizards.com/dnd by Mark A. Jindra, Scott Brocius, and Luis Oyola; “Mind Lords of Talaron” by Stephen Kenson in DRAGON

® Magazine #281; “Expand Your Mind” by Bruce R. Cordell in DRAGON

® Magazine #287; Dungeon Master’s Guide, Player’s Handbook, and Monster Manual by Monte Cook, Jonathan Tweet, and Skip Williams; the new FORGOTTEN REALMS

® Campaign Setting by Ed Greenwood, Skip Williams, Sean K Reynolds, and Rob Heinsoo; Complete Psionics Handbook by Steve Winter; Planewalker’s Handbook and Guide to the Astral Plane by Monte Cook; The Illithiad and DRAGON

® Magazine #245 “Mindstalkers” by Bruce R. Cordell; Psionic Artifacts of Athas by Kevin Melka and Bruce Nesmith; The Will and the Way by Rich Baker; City by the Silt Sea by Shane Hensley; Monstrous Compendium Annual Vol. 1 (2nd Ed.), Monstrous Manual (2nd Ed.), and Fiend Folio (1st Ed.).

Based on the original DUNGEONS & DRAGONS® rules created by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson, and the new DUNGEONS & DRAGONS

game designed by Jonathan Tweet, Monte Cook, Skip Williams, Richard Baker, and Peter Adkison.

This product uses updated material from the v.3.5 revision.

This WIZARDS OF THE COAST® game product contains no Open Game Content. No portion of this work may be reproduced in

any form without written permission. To learn more about the Open Gaming License and the d20 System License, please visit www.wizards.com/d20.

Visit our website at www.wizards.com/dnd

DUNGEONS & DRAGONS, D&D, DRAGON, DUNGEON MASTER, d20, d20 System, WIZARDS OF THE COAST, Player’s Handbook, Dungeon Master’s Guide, Monster Manual, and Expanded Psionics Handbook, and their respective logos are trademarks of Wizards of the Coast, Inc., in the U.S.A. and other countries. All Wizards product names, characters, character names, and the distinctive likenesses thereof are trademarks of Wizards of the Coast, Inc. Distributed to the hobby, toy, and comic trade in the United States and Canada by regional distributors. Distributed in the United States to the book trade by Holtzbrinck Publishing. Distributed in Canada to the book trade by Fenn Ltd. Distributed worldwide by Wizards of the Coast, Inc. and regional distributors. This material is protected under the copyright laws of the United States of America. Any reproduction or unauthorized use of the material or artwork contained herein is prohibited without the express written permission of Wizards of the Coast, Inc. This product is a work of fiction. Any similarity to actual people, organizations, places, or events is purely coincidental. Printed in the U.S.A. ©2004 Wizards of the Coast, Inc.

620-96666-001-EN 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

First Printing: April 2004

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EUROPEAN HEADQUARTERSWizards of the Coast, Belgium

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ContentsIntroduction ............................................................. 4

What Is Psionics? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4The ExpandedPsionics Handbook . . . . . . . . . 4

Chapter 1: Races ...................................................... 5Choosing a Race . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5Racial Characteristics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5Dromites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6Duergar. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8Elans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9Githyanki. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10Githzerai . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11Half-Giants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12Maenads . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13Thri-Kreen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14Xephs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15Age, Height, and Weight . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

Chapter 2: Classes.................................................17The Classes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

The Power Point Reserve . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17Abilities and Manifesters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18Starting Gear. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

Psion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19Psicrystals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

Psychic Warrior . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24Soulknife . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26Wilder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29Epic-Level Psionic Characters. . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

Epic Feats . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

Chapter 3: Skills and Feats................................35Skills and Psionics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35Skill Descriptions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35

Autohypnosis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36Concentration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37Knowledge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38Psicraft . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38Use Psionic Device . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38

Feats and Psionics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39Psionic Feats . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39Psionic Item Creation Feats . . . . . . . . . . . . 40Metapsionic Feats . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40

Feat Descriptions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41

Chapter 4: Psionics...............................................53Manifesting Powers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53

Choosing a Power . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54Concentration. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54Manifester Level . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54Power Failure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54The Power’s Result . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55Special Power Effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55Combining Psionic and Magical Effects. . 55

Power Descriptions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56Name . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56Discipline (Subdiscipline) . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56[Descriptor] . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58Level. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58Display . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58Manifesting Time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59Range. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59Aiming a Power . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59Duration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61Saving Throw . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61Power Resistance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62Power Points . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63

Powers and Power Points . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63Adding Powers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64Using Stored Power Points. . . . . . . . . . . . . 64Special Abilities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65

Variant: Psionics Is Different . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65Psionic Campaigns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66

Adding Psionics to Your Game . . . . . . . . . 66Psionic Creatures. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68

Chapter 5: Powers .................................................69Psion/Wilder Powers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70Psion Discipline Powers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72

Egoist Discipline Powers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72Kineticist Discipline Powers . . . . . . . . . . . 72Nomad Discipline Powers . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72Seer Discipline Powers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73Shaper Discipline Powers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73Telepath Discipline Powers . . . . . . . . . . . . 73

Psychic Warrior Powers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73

Chapter 6: Prestige Classes.............................141Cerebremancer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141Elocater. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142Fist of Zuoken . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144Illithid Slayer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146Metamind . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147Psion Uncarnate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148Pyrokineticist. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151Thrallherd . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153War Mind. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155

Chapter 7: Psionic Items ..................................157Using Items. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157

Saving Throws against Psionic Item Powers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159

Damaging Psionic Items . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159Repairing Items . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159Intelligent Items . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159Cursed Items. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159Charges and Multiple Uses . . . . . . . . . . . 160Magic Items for Psionic Characters. . . . 160

Psionic Item Descriptions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 160Psionic Item Names . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161Random Psionic Items. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161Armor and Shields . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161Weapons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 164Cognizance Crystals. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167Dorjes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167Power Stones . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 168Psicrowns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169Psionic Tattoos . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 170Universal Items . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171Cursed Items. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 178Psionic Artifacts. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 178Creating Psionic Items. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 180Special Materials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 182

Chapter 8: Monsters ..........................................185The Psionic Subtype . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183

Aboleth, Psionic. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185Astral Construct . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185

Creating an Astral Construct . . . . . . . . . 185Blue . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 189Brain Mole. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 190Caller in Darkness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191Cerebrilith. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 192Couatl, Psionic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 193Crysmal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 194Dromite . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 194Duergar, Psionic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 195Elan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 196Folugub. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 197Githyanki, Psionic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 198Githzerai, Psionic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 199Gray Glutton . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 200Half-Giant . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 200Intellect Devourer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 202Maenad . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 203Mind Flayer, Psionic. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 204

Neothelid. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 204Phrenic Creature . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205Phthisic. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 206Psicrystal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 207Psion-Killer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 208Puppeteer. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 209Puppeteer, Flesh Harrower . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 210Temporal Filcher . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 210Thought Eater. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 211Thought Slayer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 212Thri-Kreen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 213Udoroot . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 214Unbodied. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 215Xeph . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 217Yuan-Ti, Psionic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 217

Appendix: Spells and Deities.........................219Spells . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 219

Bard Spells . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 219Cleric Spells . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 219Cleric Domains . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 219Sorcerer/Wizard Spells . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 219Spell Descriptions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 219

Deities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 221Zuoken . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 221Ilsensine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 222

Index ........................................................................223

List of Numbered Tables1–1: Racial Ability Adjustments. . . . . . . . . . . . 61–2: Random Starting Ages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161–3: Aging Effects. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161–4: Random Height and Weight . . . . . . . . . 162–1: Ability Modifi ers and

Bonus Power Points . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 182–2: Random Starting Gold. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 192–3: The Psion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 202–4: The Psychic Warrior . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 252–5: The Soulknife . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 272–6: The Wilder. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 303–1: Skill Points per Level . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 353–2: Skill Synergies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 353–3: Skills . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 363–4: Feats . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 424–1: Items Affected by Psionic Attacks . . . . 624–2: Power Points by Power Level . . . . . . . . . 636–1: The Cerebremancer. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1426–2: The Elocater. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1436–3: The Fist of Zuoken . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1446–4: The Illithid Slayer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1476–5: The Metamind . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1486–6: The Psion Uncarnate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1506–7: The Pyrokineticist . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1526–8: The Thrallherd . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1536–9: The War Mind . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1557–1: Magic–Psionics Equivalencies . . . . . . 1607–2: Random Psionic Item Generation . . . 1617–3: Psionic Armor Special Abilities . . . . . 1627–4: Psionic Shield Special Abilities . . . . . 1627–5: Psionic Melee Weapon

Special Abilities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1647–6: Psionic Ranged Weapon

Special Abilities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1657–7: Cognizance Crystals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1677–8: Dorjes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1687–9: Power Stone Types. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1687–10: Powers Imprinted in a Power Stone . . 1697–11: Power Stone Levels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1697–12: Psicrowns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1697–13: Psionic Tattoos . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1717–14: Minor Universal Items . . . . . . . . . . . . 1717–15: Medium Universal Items . . . . . . . . . . 1717–15: Major Universal Items . . . . . . . . . . . . . 172

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IntroductionYou’ve read the Player’s Handbook, the Dungeon Master’s Guide, and the Monster Manual, and yet you are not satisfi ed. Why? Because you believe that magic is only part of the equation. The Dungeon Master’s Guide and the Monster Manual hint at another factor. That tantalizing word: psionic—the power of mind over matter. You knew there had to be more. And you were right. Welcome to the marvel of your mind.

WHAT IS PSIONICS?Simply put, psionics is the art of tapping the mind’s potential. A psionic character is blessed with a form of innate ability that enables him or her to use mental power to achieve goals or perform tasks that nonpsionic characters can accomplish—if they’re even capable of doing them at all—only by using gross physical skills such as brute strength or raw agility, or by using intellect or force of will distinct from the natural power of the mind itself. Your character’s mind is an infinite metaphorical plane, where all things are possible. It may be that all characters have within them the potential for harnessing the energy of the mind, but only those who succeed in tapping into that potential can become psionic characters. A psionic character knows the mental pathways that lead to amaz-ing edifi ces of thought and energy. Knowing the path, the psionic character walks it. Like a fl are being thrown off a star, a power is manifested from a psionic character’s en-ergy of consciousness.

ABOUT POWERSIf this book is your fi rst exposure to psionics in the D&D® game, the following information will serve as a brief explana-tion of how psionic powers work. A psionic power is a one-time psionic effect (similar in this respect to a spell). Activating a power’s effect is known as manifesting that power (the psionic version of spellcasting). Every psionic character or creature has a daily supply power points that he or she can spend to manifest powers the char-acter has learned. A power known to a psionic character can be used as many times as he or she has power points to pay for it. A power is manifested when a psionic character pays its power point cost. Some psionic creatures automatically mani-fest powers, called psi-like abilities, without paying a power point cost. With this handbook, you can learn everything you need to know about the psionic art. Then, let all the world stand in awe of your character’s mental might. As you will it, so it is done.

THE EXPANDEDPSIONICS HANDBOOK

This book gives you everything you need to create and play psionic characters, including psionic items and psionic foes. It contains the following chapters.

Races (Chapter 1): This chapter introduces four new psionic races: dromites, elans, half-giants, maenads, and xephs. It also provides psionic versions of the dwarf in the Player’s Handbook (duergar) and three creatures in the Monster Manual (githyanki, githzerai, and thri-kreen). Classes (Chapter 2): This chapter presents four psionic character classes: the psion, the psychic warrior, the soul-knife, and the wilder. Skills and Feats (Chapter 3): Psionic characters can use all the skills in the Player’s Handbook, and they have exclusive access to a few new skills detailed here, including Auto-hypnosis, Knowledge (psionics), Psicraft, and Use Psionic Device. The feats section provides more special abilities for psionic characters, as well as feats that enable nonpsionic characters to combat the power of psionics. Psionics (Chapter 4): This chapter discusses how psionic characters learn and manifest powers and provides some guidelines for rules adjudicating special situations. Powers (Chapter 5): This chapter describes nearly three hundred powers from 1st level to 9th level for psions, psychic warriors, and wilders. Prestige Classes (Chapter 6): Take your psionic charac-ters in exciting new directions with the illithid slayer, meta-mind, the psion uncarnate, pyrokineticist, or one of the other options presented here. Psionic Items (Chapter 7): Both psionic and nonpsionic characters might be interested in some of the items described here. Psionic armor, weapons, cognizance crystals, dorjes, power stones, psicrowns, tattoos, universal items, and arti-facts are presented in a format similar to that of Chapter 7 of the Dungeon Master’s Guide. This chapter also contains rules for creating your own psionic items. Monsters (Chapter 8): Here are psionically endowed monsters to challenge all characters, nonpsionic and psionic alike. Favorites from earlier versions of the game, including the githyanki and githzerai, are provided, as well as several new monsters. The phrenic template allows you to turn al-most any D&D monster into a psionic creature.

WHY A REVISION?The new psionics system debuted in 2001. In the three years since, we have observed the reaction to the rules, seen the re-lease of various d20 SYSTEM™ products that attempted to steer psionics in new directions, and of course seen a revision in the core DUNGEONS & DRAGONS® game. If for no other reason than a need to remain true to the core system, the psionics rules also required a revision of their own. And what a great opportunity this revision was! Three years of feedback, notes, observations, and new ideas could finally come to light in a completely expanded, revised, and updated version of the Psionics Handbook . The inclu-sion of races, more classes, more prestige classes, more feats, more powers, and so on was just as important as revising the original classes, feats, and other elements. For instance, if anyone had lingering doubts that psions were still weak compared to a wizard or a sorcerer, all those doubts should now be dispelled. Do not fear for the balance of your game when you use the Psionics Handbook . Have at it, and enjoy!

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according to race (see Table 1–1: Racial Ability Adjust-ments), and continue detailing your character.

RACIAL CHARACTERISTICS

Your character’s race determines some of his or her qualities.

RACE ADJUSTMENTSFind your character’s race on Table 1–1: Racial Abil-ity Adjustments. If your character has a racial level adjustment, add that number to the character’s class level and racial Hit Dice (in the case of a thri-kreen character) to determine the character’s effective character level (ECL). See Monsters as Races, page 172 of the Dungeon Master’s Guide. Apply the ability adjustments given on Table 1–1 to your character’s ability scores. If these changes raise your score above 18 or below 3, that’s okay, except in the case of Intelligence, which does not go below 3 for characters. (If your githzerai char-acter would have an adjusted Intelligence of 1 or 2, make it 3 instead.) In addition, Table 1–1 gives each race’s favored class and automatic languages. A character’s favored class doesn’t count against him or her when determining experience point penalties for multiclassing (see XP for Multiclass

he psionic races presented here are just as varied as the common races described in the Player’s Handbook. Elans—both more than and less than human—conceal

themselves in the hearts of humanoid cities; only their mental arts let them survive when life should have fl ed their bodies. Gith yanki and githzerai roam the world,

journeying across the planes from their extraplanar homes. Half-giant encampments are found in climates too harsh for those without inborn psionic adaptation. Maenads insinu-ate themselves into civilized societies, fi nding the waging of war a fi tting outlet for their unending angst. On the other hand, xephs are rarely accepted into civilization; they must subsist on the edges, getting by as best they can with trick-ery and psychic contrivance. Even farther removed from “normal” civilization are the dromites and the thri-kreen, two races with insectoid features and characteristics. Along with humans, dwarves, elves, gnomes, half-elves, half-orcs, and halfl ings, those of psionic heritage can be found em-broiled in life and politics of many lands.

CHOOSING A RACEAfter you roll your ability scores and before you write them on your character sheet, choose your character’s race. At the same time, you’ll want to choose his or her class, since race affects how well a character can do in each class. Once you know your character’s race and class, assign your ability score rolls to particular abilities, alter those abilities

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Characters, page 60 of the Player’s Handbook). Some of the favored classes on Table 1–1 are psionic classes, presented in Chapter 2 of this book. All characters know how to speak Common, and many races speak racial languages as well. Smart characters (those with an Intelligence bonus) speak additional languages, one extra language per point of bonus. Select your character’s bonus languages (if any) from the lists found in each race’s Racial Traits summary. Literacy: Unless your character is a barbarian, he or she can read and write all the languages he or she speaks.

PSI-LIKE ABILITIESMany of the races described in this chapter have psi-like abilities, which function much like spell-like abilities. For an explanation of how psi-like abilities work, see page 65.

DROMITESDromites might be mistaken for halfl ings at a distance, due to their diminutive stature. However, closer scrutiny reveals dromites to have hardened, chitin-encrusted skin, compound eyes like those of an insect, and two small antennae protruding from their brows. Called “bug-men” by the ignorant, dromites share far more traits with humans than they do with insects. One major difference between dromites and most other races is their androgynous physiology. Aside from their Grand Queen (female) and their Elected Consort (male), dromites are genderless and possess no sexual characteristics. Personality: Dromites vary in their temperament, but each usually exhibits one of four personality types, depending on the caste that dromite eventually joins. Those of the Fire

Caste are often quick to anger, but also quick to laugh and forgive. Those of the Ice Caste are analytical, slow to make decisions, but often right. Those of the Voice Caste are con-summate artists, reveling in all types of performance, espe-cially song. Those of the Glimmer Caste always move at high speed, rarely resting in their pursuit of life’s tasks. Each caste identifi es with the energy type associated with its creed: fi re, cold, sonic, and electricity, respectively. The four major castes are important to dromites, but are not the race’s only form of social organization. Despite being a sex-less society, dromites form close emotional bonds with others of their race, especially within the confi nes of self-selected groups known as life bonds. These relationships are similar to what other races refer to as marriages, but a life bond usually contains more than two members. As older members of a life bond die, new members are brought in, so a life bond persists long after the original members are no longer a part of it. A single life bond may contain members of several castes. Physical Description: Dromites stand about 3 feet tall. They are essentially humanoid in appearance, if a bit thin. Their chitinous skin provides dromites with some protection against injury. Dromites have no body hair; where a human-oid might possess a head of hair, a dromite has a thin coating of convoluted chitin that smoothly rises from its skin and ex-tends down the back of its head, neck, and the rest of its body. Dromites are not fully covered in chitin, but it is noticeable on their shoulders, torsos, the backs of their hands, and other vulnerable spots (including their heads). A dromite’s eyes are striking—sparkling, almost lumines-cent orbs, subdivided into hundreds of tiny cells. Two small antennae sprout from its head; they move in accordance with the creature’s actions or moods. They wear heavy boots and

Table 1–1: Racial Ability Adjustments

LevelRace Type Adj. Ability Adjustments Favored Class Automatic LanguagesDromite Monstrous humanoid +1 +2 Cha, –2 Str, –2 Wis Wilder CommonDuergar Humanoid +1 +2 Con, –4 Cha Fighter Common, Dwarven, UndercommonElan Aberration +0 –2 Cha Psion CommonGithyanki Humanoid +2 +2 Dex, +2 Con, –2 Wis Fighter Common, GithGithzerai Humanoid +2 +6 Dex, +2 Wis, –2 Int Monk Common, GithHalf-giant Giant +1 +2 Str, +2 Con, –2 Dex Psychic warrior CommonMaenad Humanoid +0 — Wilder Common, MaenadThri-kreen Monstrous humanoid +2* +2 Str, +4 Dex, +2 Wis, Ranger Common, Thri-Kreen –2 Int, –4 ChaXeph Humanoid +0 +2 Dex, –2 Str Soulknife Common, Xeph*Thri-kreen have 2 racial HD, for a total ECL of 4.

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THE PSIONIC ELFIn some campaigns, you may want to create variations on the common races (those described in the Player’s Handbook) that are specifi cally known for their psionic talent. For example, most elves are known for their skill with magic—but in your game, per-haps the Illaeli elves of the Thurek Forest eschew arcane studies and instead concentrate on the power of the mind. To create a race that is simply “the psionic elf” or “the psionic dwarf,” all you need do is change out the favored class and sub-stitute an appropriate class from this book. For example, the Stonefi re dwarves might be renowned wilders, so dwarves of this clan have wilder as a favored class rather than fi ghter. Not

all Stonefi re dwarves will be wielders of powers, but many will have a level or two in wilder. The duergar, githyanki, githzerai, and thri-kreen have non-psionic favored classes, but those races could easily be reas-signed psionic favored classes as given in the table below.

Existing VariantRace Favored Class Favored ClassDuergar Fighter Psychic warriorGithyanki Fighter PsionGithzerai Monk WilderThri-kreen Ranger Soulknife

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