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See also Psionicist.

More than a character of any other class, the psionicist is self-contained. Unlike the fighter and thief, he needs no weapons or tools to practice his art. Unlike the priest, he needs no deity. Unlike the wizard, he relies on no outside energies. His power comes from within, and he alone gives it shape.

The psionicist strives to unite every aspect of his self into a single, powerful whole. He looks inward to the essence of his own being, and gains control of his subconscious. Through extraordinary discipline, contemplation, and self-awareness, he unlocks the full potential of his mind.

Requirements[]

This section describes the requirements all characters must meet to become a psionicist, including restrictions based on ability scores, race, and alignment. The DM may waive these requirements in special circumstances, but players shouldn't count on it.

Ability
Requirements:
Constitution 11
Intelligence 12
Wisdom 15
Prime Requisites: Constitution,
Wisdom
Races Allowed: human, halfling, dwarf,
gnome, elf, half-elf

Ability Requirements: To be eligible for the psionicist class, characters must have ability scores equal to or greater than those listed above for Constitution, Intelligence, and Wisdom.

Prime Requisites: The pursuit of psionics requires strict mental and physical discipline, so the psionicist has two prime requisites: Wisdom and Constitution.

Wisdom - the measure of enlightenment and willpower - is the psionicist's primary mental characteristic, not intelligence. Reasoning and memory (two hallmarks of intelligence) are indeed crucial to this class. However, the essence of psionic ability is the understanding and mastery of the inner self.

Although psionic powers are centered in the mind, acquiring and controlling those powers demands physical fitness. Meditative study places tremendous physical strain on the psionicist, not to mention the sheer drain of projecting psychic energy out of one's body. The psionicist need not be muscular, or even exceptionally strong, but he must maintain his health and fitness at a high level to fully exercise his powers. That's why Constitution is also a prime requisite for psionicists.

Racial Restrictions: Humans, halflings, dwarves, and gnomes often have a high degree of psionic talent. Elves and half-elves also exhibit some natural psionic ability, but they are unable to pursue it to high levels.

Multi-class Characters: As usual, only demihumans can be multi-class characters. Halflings and dwarves can combine psionics with other classes as shown below. Gnomes, elves, and half-elves cannot be multi-class psionicists; characters of these races develop their psionic powers at the expense of all others.

Multi-class
Halflings:
Multi-class
Dwarves:
fighter/psionicist fighter/psionicist
thief /psionicist thief /psionicist

Dual-class Characters: Humans can be dual-class psionicists within the normal rules and restrictions for dual-class characters (see "Multi-class and Dual-class Characters" in Chapter 3 of the Player's Handbook).

Racial Level Limits: Humans can reach the highest possible experience level as psionicists. Characters of other races have limits, as shown on Table 1. Because of their experience limitations, half-elf and elf psionicists are best suited as NPCs. Players who don't mind this "diminished potential" may still play such characters, however (the DM may amend these level restrictions for characters with exceptionally high Wisdom and Constitution scores; see the optional rule under "Exceeding Level Limits" in Chapter 2 of the Dungeon Master's Guide).

Table 1: Psionicist Racial Level Limits

Halflings 10
Gnomes 9
Dwarves 8
Half-elves 7
Elves 7

Alignment: Psionicists have only one alignment restriction: they cannot be chaotic. Discipline is the foundation of all psionic power. A character whose creed is chaos cannot achieve the level of self-control that psionicists require.

This restriction applies to a character who becomes chaotic for any reason. Such a character will quickly lose his psionic powers. Every day in which his alignment is chaotic, the character must make an ability check against one-half of his Wisdom score, rounded down. Each time he fails one of these Wisdom checks, the character loses access to one of his disciplines, selected randomly by the Dungeon Master. Furthermore, a chaotic character cannot recover psionic strength points. (Disciplines and psionic strength points are explained below.) If the character's alignment returns to normal - or even to another, non-chaotic alignment - he can recover his disciplines, one per day, by successfully making the same halved Wisdom check.

Other Qualifications: If a character meets all the requirements above, and the player wants to play a psionicist, the PC is assumed to exhibit psionic potential. Nothing else is required.

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