Welcome to part 3 of my review of Korranberg Chronicle: Psion’s Primer. You can peruse my coverage of the previous sections through the following links:

Psionic Feats and Items

Chapter 3 covers a variety of options intended to provide psionic flavor at a low commitment for non-psionic characters as well as complement characters using the other psionic options in the book.

Psionic Feats

Like Keith Baker’s works (covered previously), the feats here are a mix of racial feats and general-purpose psionic themes. One general note - many of these talents provide 2 additional psi points to fuel their usage. From an initial glance that may seem significant, but on a practical perspective this is only a small fraction of what a full level in a class adds and is an insignificant addition to a psionic character’s reservoirs.

Changeling Mindreading (Changeling only). This half-feat provides 2 psi points and a 2-cost ability that is similar to detect thoughts. Compared to the spellcasting half-feats of Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything, this is actually slightly under-powered; those provide not just a 1/LR use of a specific 2nd level spell, but also a 1/LR use of a 1st level spell chosen by the character. It’s not a major gap, but it does speak to the difference in design assumptions between the 2018-published Psion’s Primer and the 2020 official release.

Lucid Meditation. A psionic alternative to War Caster, Lucid Meditation is far more helpful at purely maintaining concentration and resource management at the cost of War Caster’s melee threat potential (that’s particularly strong in synergy with booming blade, a cantrip most manifesters won’t have access to).

Psionic Savant. The psionic equivalent of magic initiate, this feat provides one talent and one power that augments it (and 2 psi points). Compared to magic initiate, which in the 2014 PHB provides two cantrips as well as a first level spell, it’s probably not as effective as a dip for non-psionic characters. However, for a psionic character, the additional talent unlocks a whole tree of augments; for all but the psion, talents known are fairly restrictive, making this feat much more appealing.

Quori Atavist (Elan or Kalashtar only). Technically six different half-feats under one listing, this is basically a pre-selected version of Psionic Savant that also provides an ability score bonus. As usual, attack talents like energy ray are generally weaker options than more utility talents; if you wanted to actually use energy ray on a regular basis, you would’ve selected other character options that naturally give it. One exception here is Tsoreva, which grants mindblade - an interesting way to gain single-ability-dependency melee attacks for a paladin or sorcerer without needing to pick up Charisma-based melee attacks from warlock.

Umbragen Shadowknife (Drow only). An unusual half-feat that riffs off mindblade, turning it into a spell rather than power and providing a ranged “Shadow bow” option. It singularly focuses on providing Charisma based attacks, which is most useful for paladins or certain subclasses of bard as they have good reasons to make the Attack action of the classes with Charisma synergy.

Unlocked Potential. An unusual feat that teaches additional augments for a talent the character already knows, it only increases a character’s psi limit rather than psi point maximum; it’s most useful for the half- and third- manifesters in the book, as the full manifesters learn plenty of powers and don’t need an additional three while characters with racial talents lack the points to use the new powers. For the third- manifesters, this actually increases their psi limit above their natural progression; while they lack the psi points to use those powers for an extended period, it’s a worthwhile option to increase “nova” potential.

Psionic Equipment

The book presents four “mundane” items, each sourced to the Eberron campaign setting. The first, absentia, is an addictive drug with a secretive purpose. The next two are crysteel and sentira, special materials with very minor properties. The fourth is a unique weapon, the zulaat, a special double weapon used by the soldiers of the empire of Riedra.

Psionic Magic Items

Psion’s Primer contains eight pages of magic items, a respectable amount that primarily seeks to adapt psionic items from past editions to 5e.

Some highlights from the magic item section

• A “new” type of magic item — Tattoos, which are consumables that provide unique effects

• Crystal Capacitator, a battery for psi points

• Dendrites, special staves that contain a mix of powers tied to a particular psionic discipline.

• A variety of magic weapons and armor

• A symbiontic artifact named Gagetha’s Cerebral Hood

• A pair of psionic ioun stones

• Psychoskin Shells, a strange form of “second skin” that grant unusual abilities

All told these items nicely round out the collection of official 5e material, both by providing psionic equivalents of effects but also by providing unique flavor that isn’t just a 1:1 conversion of magic’s greatest hits. The rarities are well distributed, with Gagetha’s Cerebral Hood sticking out at that top level artifact tier.

Psionic Bestiary

Chapter five, “Psionic Friends & Foes”, provides a mix of foes in a way that’s reminiscent of the book’s continuous source of inspiration, the 3.5 Expanded Psionics Handbook.

Psionics-Converted. Creatures such as the Aboleth, Couatl, Githyanki, and Mind Flayers are all adapted from their Monster Manual versions to use psionic powers instead of spells.

Blast from the Past. Psionic creatures from D&D’s history such as the cerebrilith demon and the brain golem are adapted to 5th edition in these pages. Eberron specific threats, such as the Quori-Possesed NPCs, are also brought forward as an alternative to the more generic statblocks found in Rising from the Last War.

Originals. Gagethga, the Master of Silence, steals the show in this category as a threatening CR 19 daelkyr. Referenced throughout the book, this alien threat from Eberron serves as an excellent capstone to a campaign focused on psionic threats.

Overall. In terms of diversity, depth, and quality of bestiary, this has been the most impressive book thus far. The commitment to using its own subsystem here helps it, as even if none of the players want to pick the psionic options, the DM can still use the book’s material for their threats — perhaps sparking the curiosity of a player to engage with the material.

The Analysis

Clocking in at 174 pages, Psion’s Primer has an enormous amount of material to consume; about 3/4 the length of an official sourcebook! Of course, sheer quantity of material isn’t the only thing to judge a work by; that material needs to also be useful to your game.

What Went Right

Nostalgic Psionics. Anthony Turco set out to recreate the experience of the 3.5 Expanded Psionics Handbook within the context of 5e D&D and succeeded. Adaptations are made where needed — what constitutes a base class versus a subclass when adapting the base classes & prestige classes of 3.5 — but the heart of the system, the powers and talents, do a great job of replicating the fluidity of previous incarnations of psionics.

Sense of Identity. The book’s commitment to the Eberron setting pays off with resonant and consistent ideas that are willing to go beyond the obvious and innovate. Furthermore, for fans of the setting itself who want to include foes like the Inspired, this work has already done the job of creating and balancing stat blocks.

Overall Balance. While there’s certainly some features that are stronger or weaker than others, it’s not unlike the distribution of strong and weak options in official supplements. The psionics system itself does a great job of balancing what amounts to Spell Points by providing unique limitations on the full manifester’s ability to use powers above 5th level (go above psi limit 10), balancing against those same character’s ability to consistently use powers of 5th level.

What Went Wrong

Minimal Art Budget. Unlike the kickstarted or otherwise professionally produced content that’s been previously reviewed, the art budget here is obviously constrained (The recurrence of stock snake art for sections on the Shulassakar, good equivalents of yuan-ti, stick out here). Many of the better pieces are simply sourced from the dmsguild stock art archive. Given the relative prices and more limited distribution, this was a smart choice from a production standpoint but is nevertheless a weak point compared to the others.

Complexity and buy-in. This is a psionics system that requires significant buy-in from both the GM and any players wishing to use them; the introduction of a brand new subsystem, even one that tries to match 5e in function as closely as possible as this one does, may simply be a ring too high to jump through for some groups.

Eberron Focus. Similar to the previous point in that this is more a matter of taste than an objective flaw, this book is oriented around the assumptions of the Eberron campaign setting. Many ideas of course can be adapted, but if you’re looking for a psionic bestiary that includes favorites from other settings (such as the killer cacti of Athas), this book doesn’t have them. Furthermore, the general assumption is that psionics is ultimately widespread throughout the world, rather than particularly rare and dangerous; the underlying mechanics can certainly be used for a lower fantasy setting, but it may end up clashing with the writing’s assumptions of a general prevalence of these powers.

Conclusion

This is easily the most in-depth psionics system available for D&D 5e. If that sounds good, get this book. If that’s not what you’re looking for, maybe try a lower commitment set of psionics like those produced by KibblesTasty. And if you use Foundry Virtual Tabletop, check out my adaptation of these psionic rules in my module Prime Psionics.