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The latest Dungeons & Dragons playtest update has strong psychic superhero vibes. If you're an old-school D&D player, you probably already know what I'm talking about: psionics are back. The next Unearthed Arcana document straight from Wizards of the Coast adds new psychic-powered subclass options for the Fighter, Rogue, and Wizard classes, along with some new spells and feats. It's a strong followup to the playtest for new class feature variants.
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Back in the old days of D&D, the special rules for psionic characters filled entire sourcebooks. This playtest material is a much more manageable 9 pages of new character options. The Psychic Warrior archetype for Fighters adds some utility with the option to either turn your mind toward protecting your allies from damage or empowering your own strikes. The standout feature, unlocked at level 10, lets you project a Telekinetic Bulwark that gives your allies cover and assists them in making Strength saving throws. It's basically a mobile Titan bubble from Destiny, and I love it so much.
Rogues can pursue the new Soulknife archetype, which lets you summon blades of psychic energy like Psylocke from X-Men. At later levels, your mental abilities can effectively render you invisible - making your foes even more vulnerable to your terrifying Rend Mind attack, which does a ton of damage to your target and stuns it all at once. Lastly, wizards can pursue the new Arcane Tradition of Psionics. Once they do, they can reroll low damage for spells that deal Psychic or Force damage (like the classic Magic Missile), make friends with the power of mind-altering cantrips, and later even turn themselves into a Thought Form of pure psionic energy.
Then there are nine new spells which embrace the two themes of "f%@# with your enemies' heads" and "make it easier to f$#@ with your enemies' heads", and two new feats that let you give your character telekinetic or telepathic abilities even if they don't have a full-on subclass for it.
Unearthed Arcana documents are created by the makers of D&D for public testing purposes, and it's up to you and your group if you want to use any of them. That said, they could always make their way into an official sourcebook somewhere down the road - though I wouldn't hold my breath for another 200-plus page Expanded Psionics Handbook.
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