Psion is HERE!

[alex_greene]

Does anyone want to talk about Psion here now? I got my copy at long last, and I want to ask whosoever else has it whether or not they thought it was worth their money before I tell you all whether or not my copy was worth mine.

 

[captainjack23]

Does anyone want to talk about Psion here now? I got my copy at long last, and I want to ask whosoever else has it whether or not they thought it was worth their money before I tell you all whether or not my copy was worth mine.

Okay....

I got it, and this silly "have to work and interact with my family stuff is getting in the way" problem :evil:

(Man, cute kids that you like drain gaming time like spectres drain EP...)

Onward, though, with that caveat:
From what I can see, I may use tiny bits of it in my current fairly OTU/low psi universe from the character side, but I can see it being good for statting out their evil Zhod adversaries in a consistent way (again, hunt and pick) ; but it has great potential for another campaign I'm hoping to run with a much more Pleistocene exile type universe setting -or, oddly a steampunky setting.

It does have some nice tweaks for the core rules Psion which I can see integrating (more skills, training options, some mechanics) even if I don't go for the really serious add ons.

I think this more than any so far will be a YMMV toolkit book; you'll like it depending on your liking for Psi in a campaign, and use it based on how you see Psi. I don't see it being an "every option and class will be used with the core rules" type of suppliment -But, I stress this is from a very quick flip thru.

 

[alex_greene]

Does anyone want to talk about Psion here now? I got my copy at long last, and I want to ask whosoever else has it whether or not they thought it was worth their money before I tell you all whether or not my copy was worth mine.

I got it, and this silly "have to work and interact with my family stuff is getting in the way". :evil:

From what I can see, I may use tiny bits of it in my current fairly OTU/low psi universe from the character side, but I can see it being good for statting out their evil Zhod adversaries in a consistent way (again, hunt and pick) ; but it has great potential for another campaign I'm hoping to run with a much more Pleistocene exile type universe setting -or, oddly a steampunky setting.

I think this more than any so far will be a YMMV toolkit book; you'll like it depending on your liking for Psi in a campaign, and use it based on how you see Psi. I don't see it being an every"option and class is used with the core rules" type of suppliment -But, I stress this is from a very quick flip thru.

I'm already working on variations and options that were not considered, or included, in Psion. I just wanted to make certain that I was not treading on any toes before I committed words to PDF.

 

[captainjack23]

I'm already working on variations and options that were not considered, or included, in Psion. I just wanted to make certain that I was not treading on any toes before I committed words to PDF.

Hey ! You drag me out of OT arguing with a promise of discussion, get me to dis my family, and this is what you have to say about Psion ? Tease. :wink:

 

[Stofsk]

You know, I was thinking of something. Would it not benefit Mongoose by having a section for book or product reviews? It's nice that a thread get's opened up every now and then, but I figure you could get more detailed reviews if there was a dedicated function for that.

If it's quick and accessible, and perhaps put on the same page where the products are sold - so as the customer when you're deciding whether to purchase an item you can read feedback for it, see if it's your cup of tea - do you guys think that could work for Mongoose?

 

[alex_greene]

Well, I'm sure you could ask a couple of the Mongoose staff here and see what they think.

 

[BP]

...- so as the customer when you're deciding whether to purchase an item you can read feedback for it, see if it's your cup of tea - do you guys think that could work for Mongoose?

Looking at the reviews on third party sites - I've basically come to the conclusion that this is a bad thing for this type of product. Mongoose provides preview PDFs - I think this is sufficient for making up one's mind. Plus they sell in retail establishments allowing full access. And there is this forum for true skeptics...

Moderating a commercial review area would just eat more staff time IMHO and most likely only have a potential (often unjustified) negative impact on sales.

Unlike say hardware - where at least features can be said to work/not work - this type of product is totally subjective - throw in personal preferences on artwork, layout, editing and the numerous setting's fetishes that exist and reviews really not worth a grain of salt...

 

[rust]

Unlike say hardware - where at least features can be said to work/not work - this type of product is totally subjective - throw in personal preferences on artwork, layout, editing and the numerous setting's fetishes that exist and reviews really not worth a grain of salt...

I agree. The best and only truly reliable information a review can give
me is the content of the book (e.g. how many pages about what subject,
etc.), but it is easy - usually easier - to find this information elsewhere.
Everything else is only useful for me if I know the person who wrote the
review and his opinions very well.

 

[FallingPhoenix]

So will there be a Psion SRD?

There are no current plans for one.

Drat.

 

[EDG]

So will there be a Psion SRD?

There are no current plans for one.

It seems a bit weird to me to not have an SRD for it - it's a black book after all, those are supposed to be generic SF rules aren't they? Or is the Psion book tied to the OTU somehow?

 

[MongooseMatt]

It seems a bit weird to me to not have an SRD for it - it's a black book after all, those are supposed to be generic SF rules aren't they? Or is the Psion book tied to the OTU somehow?

We never said all core books would automatically be made into Open Content

 

[GamerDude]

That's always been the problem. First it starts with "canon" then people start going on about "apocrypha" and "heresy"...

WTF, people. When did this stop being about having fun in a fictional SF universe and start being something to declare bloody jihad over?! How did people lose their perspective so badly?

I remember a time when certain people demanded that certain books were canon, and there was a whole debate with others about who gets to decide canon, what person at what company said this book/books are/were not in the canon of the OTU ect.

I purposely rarely post anymore because of the noise-to-intelligence ration of the signal just makes me want to sit back and read instead of being one of those folks who must comment on everything possible as if they are just trying to raise their post count.

(also, calling a discussion 'the signal' outside of the cute saying "you can't stop the signal", which actually makes sense).

AS FOR MY IMPRESSION ON PSION:
My first pass through generated a "mmm nice job, glad I got this" but it stops there until I can sit down for a full read-through.

Though, in general, I'm not going to allow my players to make Psion characters unless I do a Psion campaign or they have a really good backstory for it. To do otherwise brings back horrible memories of allowing psionics in a game and ending up with the entire thing melting down to a argument of psionics being cheesy/psionics being the best thing in the game.

Of course, for NPC enemy agents from Zhodani and such... mmmmm such goodness.

 

[captainjack23]

Well, I do note that it's got lots of Timelordy goodness ! (No, really. Read to the end. There's even a picture...)

 

[Stainless]

Looks like we're finally back on topic. So...how is the editing in the book? Any obvious typos/printing errors spotted yet?

 

[Galadrion]

It seems a bit weird to me to not have an SRD for it - it's a black book after all, those are supposed to be generic SF rules aren't they? Or is the Psion book tied to the OTU somehow?

Considering all the references/homages to other sci-fi tropes, I don't see how it could be considered tied to the OTU. I counted at least five distinct references to various L****Arts properties, as well as references to various Gallifreans and others. None of that really fits in with the 3I.

 

[alex_greene]

Living Ships bring up McCaffrey's "The Ship Wot Sang," not to mention the potential for Stargate SG-1 / Sliders / The Time Tunnel - style escapades, all brought about through the mechanics listed in Psion.

Oh. And River Tam, "a creature of extraordinary grace." You can now use thexe expanded rules to generate a Summer Glau - *cough* River Tam style character.

I love the way Psionics are listed by tech level, starting with primitive perceptions of Psionics as "magic.' That works for me. Again with the Firefly reference: the episode "Safe," where River and Simon got pinched by those settlers, and the look on the woman's face when she started spouting that Biblical stuff and then accused River of being a witch.

This book works for me. It's given me a couple of ideas for the most bizarre kinds of Patrons and casual encounters already ...

 

[Kilgs]

No plans to pick up Psion myself, at least for now, but are any of the mechanical issues cleared up? The preview suggested that the game systems were released without any playtesting. Is that evident or was that just limited to the talents released in the preview?

 

[OldMongooseFordy]

Looks like we're finally back on topic. So...how is the editing in the book? Any obvious typos/printing errors spotted yet?

No plans to pick up Psion myself, at least for now, but are any of the mechanical issues cleared up? The preview suggested that the game systems were released without any playtesting. Is that evident or was that just limited to the talents released in the preview?

Because a couple of people disagree with the levels of certain powers, does not mean the game was not playtested. I also think people will be pleasantly surprised at the quality of the text.

 

[Stainless]

Because a couple of people disagree with the levels of certain powers, does not mean the game was not playtested. I also think people will be pleasantly surprised at the quality of the text.

My question was not stimulated by the psion preview, but from my experience of every MGT publication to date. Not one has come out without some obvious errors (most that should have been picked up at the beta testing or printer's proof-reading stages). My policy with all things Mongoose is to wait until I read reviews and/or wait until the second or third printing.

 

[Rikki Tikki Traveller]

Looks like we're finally back on topic. So...how is the editing in the book? Any obvious typos/printing errors spotted yet?

No plans to pick up Psion myself, at least for now, but are any of the mechanical issues cleared up? The preview suggested that the game systems were released without any playtesting. Is that evident or was that just limited to the talents released in the preview?

Because a couple of people disagree with the levels of certain powers, does not mean the game was not playtested. I also think people will be pleasantly surprised at the quality of the text.

I have read through it twice now and have not found any glaring quality problems. This may be the best production quality of any of the first edition Mongoose Traveller books yet.

One thing that is mentioned OVER AND OVER (almost ad nauseum) is that ANY of the advanced talents are OPTIONAL and dependent on the game and setting.

I don't normally run Psionic games, but this book as a bit of everything and if you want to run Dr. Who, Jedi Knights or your own version of Zhodani, there are tools here for you to use.

Personally, this book will be used by me for Zhodani and Droyne NPCs in my OTU game and for a Psionic Order in my Pleiades Cluster setting.