This book is designed for the White Star game.Though it can be ported over to Swords & Wizardry with no issues. The psionist is introduced and powers are detailed. The psionist chooses a focus power area and sticks with that in the game. A nice, simple system with some useful powers. 11 pages with cover and OGL.

The supplement details a new class, the Psion. It’s similar to the Star Knight which is understandable given the aim of this class. It goes up till level 10, but the XP-requirements are slightly lower than the Star Knight. It’s somewhere between the Mercenary (the standard fighter) and the Star Knight. Weapon and armor restrictions are also comparable to the Star Knight, however, the Psion can’t use shields. All in all, the class reminds me a bit of a mix between a Cleric and a Magic-User. Why Cleric? The Psion has access to a number of so-called Disciplines. Disciplines are scaled in level. The author created a level-less “spell system” (yay for none-vancian magic!) where higher levels in this class grant the Disciplines more power. A level 1 Psion has access to 1 power and can use it once per day. A level 8 psion knows 5 powers and can use them 8 times per day. Actually, I’m not really clear if the Psion has to choose which power to learn at each level or if he can use all powers. The class table has an entry for “Powers Known” but the section about the Disciplines tells us that “they are all available from first level and simply grow in power as the character gains levels”. Thus, I stand by my notion that the Psion is a bit like a Cleric in that he has access to all powers.

Furthermore, the Psion chooses a Focus at the start of play. He has to determine his Focus once and can’t change it. This is a “minor” power that doesn’t count against his daily uses. Examples include “Sensitive: gain +1 to AC; Initiative, Saving Throws & avoiding Surprise” or “Telepathic: contrate 10 minutes and sense thoughts within 60 ft, target can resist with a Saving Throw”. Although these talents are billed as minor, they are pretty useful. Plus, they are quite handy as they can be used at-will.

Let’s get back to the Disciplines. Matthew Skail has created 11 Disciplines for the Psion, quite a lot. There are cool things like Biomastery which lets you raise your Armor Class or heighten your reflexes. You can also Cloud Minds where you can make others ignore you. As an attack power, there is Mind Assault which always does damage, save only halves it. At level 1 your damage is 1d6+1 and each level grants you a pool of d6s. With these you can empower the attack, for instance, you can spend dice on making the attack a cone or to strike only selected targets. There are also some powers which might be problematic for the GM to incorporate without breaking the adventure, for example, Meta-portation which allows the Psion to translocate to spaces he has seen before. Granted, at level 1 they can only transport 10 lbs at a range of 50 ft but at level 6 it’s already 1 mile and 500 lbs.

And that’s where I see problems with this class. Generally, the Psion is very interesting but I assume that he is pretty powerful. His XP requirements are lower than the Star Knight, but he is way more versatile with his choice of Disciplines. Some powers are very impressive and from reading this supplement the Psion looks like he’s a much more interesting class than the Star Knight.

Visually, the product clearly stems from the DIY-OSR-movement. The layout is barebones but the author made sure to include nice illustrations from Luigi Castellani. (I think these were part of one of Sine Nomine’s free art packs but that doesn’t influence the art’s quality.) All in all, this is a serviceable looking product but nothing spectacular.

I find it a bit hard to rate this supplement. On the whole, the new class is very appealing and I especially like the level-less powers. However, I have the impression that the Psion is too powerful for his own good and might overshadow other classes: he can choose between a whole lot of powers right away (beginning from level 1 whereas the Alien Mystic and the Star Knight access their powers at level 2) and the foci are also very versatile. The price point is fair but on the upper range of White Star supplements (yes, that’s true, most cost between USD $1.00 and $1.99). I’m giving this a 4/5.

Psionics is what it says on the tin: a psionicist class for White Star. The “Star Knight” and “Alien Mystic” classes are fine for Jedi-style flavor, but I know in my particular home campaign I’m not really a fan of having them. Not to mention their meditations and gifts felt too much like D&D counterparts, which isn’t exactly what I was hoping for. I loved the “Psychic” class out of Stars Without Number, but it’s a bit beefy to implement in the liter rules of White Star.

So for an alternative, Matthew Skail gave us a class that acquires a number of powers (and a limited number of uses a day) based on level. The difference here is each power (called disciplines) is available to choose from level 1, and it scales by the character’s level. Psionicists also get to choose a focus at level 1, which is an ability they can use that doesn’t spend one of their daily power uses.

What’s great is each discipline has a variety of uses, and even when you can only kick them off once a day they turn out handy. For instance: “Cellular Adjustment” provides a pool of d6’s equal to level. The duration of the power, however, is 1 hour. In that time, the psionicist can take that pool of dice and spend it how they want between themselves and others. Some of those dice can also be spent to grant a target extra saving throws versus poison or disease, and at max level can revive someone who was recently slain (but with some tolls put on them.

Other powers are what you would expect — mind assault, shielding, remote viewing, telekinesis, etc. But all of them offer an array of effects and aren’t just one time tricks that are spent and gone.

Pros: A damn fine alternative psychic-powered utility class that offers options but is mechanically sound for the lighter aspects of the system. Would even make a good class for fantasy-based games using Whitebox style rules. Artwork is pretty cool and appropriate.

Quibbles: The only cons I have about this are minor nags of preference: the flavor text still has this element of the fantastic, such as references to the “Akashic Overmind” and forming temples at higher level. This is easily remedied with hand waving, and isn’t terribly distracting. There’s also something not quite grabbing me about the choice of font and size, and I wished the tables and pictures ran alongside the text as opposed to being breaks between text and taking up their own real-estate — leaving a bit of negative space on the page. I’m guilty of these things in my own self-released games, though, so I really have no room to talk.