In the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game, psionics are a form of supernatural power similar to, but distinct from, arcane and divine magic.
Psionics have appeared as part of the core rules beginning with Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 1st edition.
In 3.5 edition, several psionic character classes are forced to choose one, thereby losing access to the most potent powers of the others.
In 2nd edition, each power is tied to an ability score (generally Constitution, Intelligence or Wisdom).
There was no specific character class that specialized in psionics, although an unofficial one, the Psionicist, was introduced in Dragon Magazine issue #78.
The book includes updates on psionic monsters (including the thought eater and cerebral parasite), a discussion of society's reaction to psionicists, and a section describing the role of psionics in Ravenloft and other TSR campaign settings.
The new Dark Sun campaign setting made psionics a core part of its fictional world and rule.
It's a matter of taste, though, as to whether you think there's any need for spell-like psionic powers when the game already supports such a wide variety of magical styles.
[7][8] The psionicist was renamed "psion" and more closely resembled the Sorcerer class in terms of combat ability.
[9] The May 2004 issue of Dragon introduced the "Athasian elan" as a playable character race for the Dark Sun campaign setting.
[10] In the Eberron Campaign Setting (2004), many psionic characters have some connection to the quori - malevolent spirits from the dreamrealm of Dal Quor - with such talents being particularly common on the quori-ruled continent of Sarlona.
The book also introduces "Kalashtar" as a playable race, psionically-gifted humans whose ancestors offered sanctuary to rogue quori within their own souls.
The Player's Handbook 3, published March 16, 2010, includes four psionic classes, the ardent, battlemind, monk and psion.
On July 6, 2015, Wizards of the Coast published an Unearthed Arcana article on their website introducing a playtest version of new psionics rules for 5th Edition D&D.
[11] An online survey was conducted to gather feedback from the community, and on September 11, Wizards reported that the core rules were "a good start," but the Mystic class could use greater flexibility.
Two Third Edition classes, the Psychic Warrior for Fighters, the Soulknife for Rogues were brought back as subclasses, and a new psionic Arcane Tradition was created for Wizards.
[14][15] Designers continued to revise the psionic rules releasing another playtest in an Unearthed Arcana article published in March 2020.
A new Psionic Talent Die was included which would gradually grow in size as a player levels up, and offer either increases in damage, or other mechanical augmentations to a psion's powers.
[13] [16] At their online gaming event D&D Celebration Wizards' of the Coast revealed that the upcoming supplement Tasha's Cauldron of Everything would include a new take on Psionics.
[18] Psions also have access to metapsionic feats, which grant generic augments that can be applied to any power.
Like fighters, they gain bonus feats, and like Psions, they wield psionic powers, though at a slower rate than either specialized class.
In 3rd edition, Psychic Warrior powers are tied to multiple statistics depending on their discipline, as Psions.
Introduced in 3.5 edition, wilders can use "wild surges", which allow them to augment their psionic powers to a greater extent than normal.
Doing so is dangerous: every time a wild surge is used there is a chance that the wilder will suffer from "psychic enervation" causing them to become dazed and lose power points.
Wilder is the favored class of the dromite and maenad races (both found in the Expanded Psionics Handbook).