A week after we got the official Artificer class, now we’re seeing some UA psionic subclasses! This UA article features subclasses for the staple classes of D&D: the fighter, rogue, and wizard.

The survey for the last UA is also available, so go let your voice be heard!

Now let’s talk about the psychic warrior, the soulknife, and the psionics tradition subclasses!

Martial Archetype: Psychic Warrior

Psychic warriors incorporate psionic techniques into their fighting techniques. These fighters supplement their physical prowess with psychic abilities, such as telekinesis and barriers.

Fighters get their subclass at 3rd level, gaining additional subclass features at 7th, 10th, 15th, and 18th level.

Psionic Armament

At 3rd level, psychic warriors can bolster their offensive or defensive capabilities (and switch between these options on a long rest). They can either mitigate damage done to them or a creature nearby as a reaction, or they can deal extra psychic damage on a weapon attack once per turn. Once the character reaches 10th level, the die for both of these options goes up (a d10 to a d12, and a d4 to a d6).

This makes a lot of sense for the fighter. It’s nice that this ability gets a little stronger once you reach 10th level. You’ll use both options frequently in combat, and I like the ability to extend the defensive benefit to a friend nearby. On top of that, it’s easy to switch between these options if you decide that you like one over the other.

Telekinetic Hand

Also at 3rd level, psychic warriors learn mage hand. This is a version of mage hand that requires no components to cast, and you can choose to make the hand invisible (like the arcane tricker rogue’s Mage Hand Legerdemain, but without the additional action options).

This mage hand reskin mimics the expected effects of telekinesis without making a whole new spell for it (especially because there’s already a spell called telekinesis). It’s a nifty addition to enhance the theme of the subclass.

Strength of Mind

This 7th level ability gives the psychic warrior a spell-like attack. This is a bonus action attack that forces the target to make a Strength saving throw, doing half damage on a successful save, and has the additional effect of pushing or pulling the target 15 feet on a failed save. The fighter can use this attack a number of times equal to their Intelligence modifier, with a minimum of once, per long rest.

While you can easily make up 15 feet with your average movement on your turn, a fighter can use this for some tactical maneuvering with their party. The attack also deals force damage, which is one of those damage types that affects most monsters and isn’t commonly resisted. Also, since this is a bonus action, the fighter doesn’t have to sacrifice their Extra Attack to use this.

Telekinetic Bulwark

At 10th level, the psychic warrior can substitute one of their attacks made during their Attack action and instead project a sort of force field in a 10-foot radius around them. This field grants you and allies within it advantage on Strength saves and the effects of half cover. The field lasts for a minute or until you’re incapacitated, and you can’t use it again until you take a long rest or use Second Wind.

Half cover is a +2 bonus to Armor Class and Dexterity saving throws, so that’s a nice once-per-day ability (recharging on a Second Wind usage is also very good). You make yourself and your nearby allies about 10% harder to hit. On top of that, you’re only substituting one of your attacks for this. By the time the fighter gets this ability, they can already make two attacks on an Attack action and are about to get three.

(As a side note, I realized that I often forget that cover exists. Whoops!)

Agonizing Strikes

Once you reach 15th level, your fighter can use Agonizing Strikes a number of times equal to their Intelligence modifier (minimum of once) per long rest. This feature allows you to deal extra psychic damage with a weapon attack, plus it forces the target to make a Constitution saving throw or fall prone and have disadvantage on ability checks until your next turn ends.

This is pretty beefy, especially since your target being prone gives you advantage on attacks within 5 feet of them. So, you could use this on your first attack, and if they fail the save, you get advantage on your subsequent attacks on the same turn.

Psychic Dreadnought

At 18th level, you can use the Psychic Dreadnought feature once per long rest as a reaction when you take damage. Now you can warn your enemies that, once they manage to pierce your armor, you’ll get harder, better, faster, stronger to regenerate 10 hit points every round, spend only 5 feet of movement to stand up if prone, and +10 feet of movement. These last for a minute or until you’re incapacitated.

This is a really cool capstone ability for this subclass, making the fighter an even more formidable opponent in battle. I’m really curious to see how this plays at these higher levels!

Roguish Archetype: Soulknife

A soulknife is a rogue who uses their psionic powers for stabbing (if not good/evil). They manifest psychic power in the form of a blade. If the “soulknife” name sounds familiar, the last UA for the Mystic class (back in 2017) featured an Order of the Soul Knife subclass. The flavor is similar, but it’s mechanically different, being a rogue subclass now.

Rogues get their subclass at 3rd level and gain additional subclass features at 9th, 13th, and 17th level.

Psychic Blade

At 3rd level, the subclass gets access to the Psychic Blade feature. This feature allows you to use your bonus action to manifest a blade in one or both of your hands. This weapon deals 1d6 psychic damage, has a normal range of 30 feet, and is otherwise identical to a dagger. You can throw the psychic blade, and it will disappear once it either hits or misses your target. When you’ve got the blade summoned in your hand, you can’t hold something else with that hand.

These blades are explicitly called “magical” in the text, thus they’ll do full damage to monsters who resist nonmagical weapon attacks. That alone is pretty nice at 3rd level. You also always have these weapons on you without having to carry physical weapons.

Psionic Enhancement

Also at 3rd level, you can choose one of three benefits on a long rest. You can increase your walking speed by 5 feet, boost your hit points and max hit points by an amount equal to your Intelligence modifier added to your rogue level, or get telepathy out to 30 feet (the creature you speak to can respond if they are telepathic or can speak a language). The benefit lasts until you take another long rest.

These benefits (and the flexibility you have with them) do make sense with the “psychic rogue” theme. The walk speed increase looks a little odd at first, but it comes in handy with some added maneuverability, especially with a Cunning Action Dash.

Terrifying Blade

At 9th level, whenever you hit someone with your psychic blade, you can force them to make a Wisdom saving throw or be frightened of you until the beginning of your next turn. (If they succeed, this ability won’t work on them until 24 hours have passed).

With the frightened condition, you can hamper someone’s attack power by granting them disadvantage, and you can prevent them from getting closer to you (if you are what they are frightened of). It’s interesting that there’s no limit to how many times you can use this ability; it’s only limited by whether or not they’ve already succeeded on the save.

Psychic Veil

Once you reach 13th level, you can use an action to become invisible for 10 minutes. This invisibility ends if you make an attack or do something to cause a creature to make a saving throw. You can do this a number of times equal to your Intelligence modifier per long rest, with the standard minimum of once.

This is a natural fit for rogues, as invisibility is perfect for sneaking up on someone or sneaking out of a bad situation.

Rend Mind

At 17th level, you get the ability to really ruin someone’s day/life with your psychic blades. As an action, you can use up a psychic blade (it disappears) to make a nearby creature roll an Intelligence saving throw. The DC is unusual—it’s 10 + proficiency + Intelligence modifier instead of the usual 8. (Edit: This is a typo and will be fixed to be the standard 8) And if you’re hidden from the target, they have disadvantage, which. Yikes. This feature deals 12d6 (more than your Sneak Attack!) psychic damage on a failed save (half as much on a success), and the target is stunned if they fail as well. The stun lasts until the start of your next turn.

The stunned condition prevents the creature from taking actions or reactions, they automatically fail Strength and Dexterity saves, and attacks against them have advantage. So not only are you dealing lots of damage, you’re also setting up any party members of yours for a one-two punch of nastiness. This ability’s usage is also a number of times equal to your INT per long rest (1 minimum).

Arcane Tradition: Psionics

A wizard who studies the psionics tradition applies their psychic power to the rigors of wizardly magic. They gain the ability to assume a nonphysical form and to cast spells without using components.

The wizard class gets their subclass at 2nd level and gain additional features at 6th, 10th, and 14th level.

Psionic Focus

At 2nd level, the psionics wizard can use a psionic focus for their spells. The psionic focus’s form can vary; there’s a whole sidebar in the UA article about what it might be. This feature allows you to reroll a 1 on a damage die for psychic and force damage.

This is a good way to flavorfully set apart psionics wizards from other wizards. The damage boost is also a nice touch, especially with the psionic spell additions later in the document.

Psionic Devotion

Also at 2nd level, you can learn either the friends, mage hand, or message cantrip and cast it as a bonus action with no components if your psionic focus is on hand. These versions of the cantrips have their own boosts as well; friends doesn’t make the creature hostile when the spell ends, mage hand is invisible and you control it as a bonus action, and message doesn’t require you to point or speak the message.

This is a neat way to buff these common cantrips to make them a little more useful for a psionic wizard. This version of the friends cantrip would get a lot more use than its standard iteration, I’d imagine.

Thought Form

At 6th level, you can use your psionic focus to transform into psionic energy. This form lasts for 10 minutes. You can dismiss it as a bonus action, and you revert back to normal if you die or become incapacitated. In this form, you can cast spells without needing its normal components (except for material component that have a gold cost), and you have resistance to psychic damage, as well as nonmagical bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing damage. You can use this feature a number of times per long rest equal to your Intelligence modifier with a minimum of once.

This is interesting—it’s giving you a defensive boost, and casting spells psionically is fun, too.

Mental Discipline

At 10th level, you pick dominate person, scrying, or telekinesis, and you can cast that spell once without using up a spell slot once per long rest. You can also cast that spell without components.

This is an upgrade to the Psionic Devotion feature. Casting without using a spell slot is nice, especially since these are higher level spells, and not needing components is especially useful for a costly spell like scrying.

Empowered Psionics

Also at 10th level, you can add your Intelligence modifier to your wizard spells’ psychic or force damage to one target.

This feature is a nifty boost; though I’m curious as to why it’s saved for 10th level and higher—maybe so that you can start picking up those higher level psionic spells?

Thought Travel

At 14th level, your Thought Form also grants you a fly speed equal to your walking speed. Like a ghost, you can move through solid objects as if they were difficult terrain, though you take damage if you end your turn there. If you revert to your normal form while in a solid object, you take the damage and are moved to the nearest empty space.

I’m interested to see how this feature might change in further iterations. It definitely makes sense for Thought Form, and the feature’s number of uses would allow you to circumvent certain obstacles (or escape). Though a 14th level wizard would probably have spells to do similar things in their toolbox, this is a cool way to incorporate it into the Thought Form feature.

Psionic Spells

This section presents a spell list of spells that might be suitable for a psionics wizard. This is interesting because it gives insight into what Wizards considers in line with a “psionic” theme—spells that alter perception, teleport, deal psychic or force damage, influence others, and some other qualities too.

New Psionic Spells

Also in this UA are nine new spells for the bard, sorcerer, warlock, and wizard spell lists! These spells vary in level: one cantrip, one 1st level, three 2nd level, one 3rd level, one 4th level, one 5th level, and one 6th level. Many of them require an Intelligence saving throw, which is relatively uncommon. Some of them share names with old Mystic abilities, like id insinuation. The cantrip, mind sliver, appeared in the UA for sorcerer and warlock earlier this year.

New spells are exciting, though I’m sure some of these may get tweaked if they appear in later UA/an official product. It’s nice to see more INT save spells and more spells that deal psychic or force damage. The buff and debuff options are exciting, too. On top of that, if your group uses the Spell Versatility class feature variant, your arcane caster can take advantage of these spells pretty quickly!

New Psionic Feats

The final option in this UA are two new psionic-themed feats: Telekinesis and Telepathy.

Telekinesis

This feat boosts your Intelligence score and grants you the mage hand cantrip. This version of mage hand is very similar to the other psionic features that give you mage hand. You can make it invisible, and you don’t need somatic or material components to cast it. Additionally, you can use a bonus action to try and shove a creature 5 feet away from you with the mage hand.

Telepathy

This feat also boosts your Intelligence score. It grants proficiency in Deception, Insight, Intimidation, or Persuasion, and it grants 30 feet of telepathy. This feat specifies that the creature can respond back if they can speak one language.

It’s interesting that we’re seeing feat options. By nature, these feats are available to any character to take; they have no prerequisites. You could use these to add some psionic flavor to a preexisting character, especially if you made them before all this UA started coming in.

What do you think of these new psionic options? Let me know in the comments!