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The Psionics Toolkit is something new from Fiery Dragon Productions. As the title indicates, it's suppossed to be a play aide for Game Masters who wish to use psionics in their D20 fantasy adventure campaigns. To that end, it's a welcome product; there is a clear need for D20 play aides in the hobby, especially with elements such as psionics.

The first chapter is a 12-step questionaire, the intention of which is to suss out the GM's ideas about psionics in his campaign and how to deal with them. This is a detailed process, and the results are what the GM uses in the second chapter. Through the example of the Vaniar, the toolkit shows the GM how to take his concepts and put them into that playable format that he needs for his campaign.

The third through sixth chapters are all about various appropriate crunchy bits. Chapter Three has two psionic prestige classes: the psychic thief and the beastmaster. Chapter Four has some new groups for PCs to join, ally with or oppose: the Band of the Opened Eye and the Order of the Broken Staff. This chapter also includes a method of creating an organizational stat block that allows GMs to see at a glance what an organization's makeup is, who's in charge and what it does. There are also some new items here. Chapter Five addresses psionics in established campaigns; it focuses upon retroactively having PC psionics and how to explain them. This one is sure to offend people, as it does involve retroactive PC redesign to do this. Chapter Six is the new monster chapter, which has the expected new dragon type (psionic drake) and magic beasties (solarian cat, cryscorn). It also has three new templates: lyphillian (representing the fusion of an incorporeal psionic entity with a materal being), psi-killer (representing someone afflicted with the Zarth war virus) and the Battle-Thrall (representing a mind flayer's psi-active slave warrior). The last two are of particular interest to me, as they will see much use in most Dungeons & Dragons campaigns where mind flayers exist. Chapter Seven has sample characters, which are as useful as examples as they are for direct employment in a GM's campaign.

It appears to be a disjointed jumble of bits, and it can be used in that fashion, but if you see the common thread through all seven chapters--that this is a toolkit--and it comes together into a greater whole. It may not be for you, especially if you're an expert GM or if you're very familiar with the new psionics rules, but I say that you should check it out anyway. There is greater utility here that is apparent; the answers to the questionaire will inform a GM's use of the rest of the tools, as he will dissect the examples to see how and why they work. Then he'll follow suit and those answers will become new races, classes, groups, monsters, etc. for his group to use and enjoy. This is a good thing. Kudos to Fiery Dragon and Mearls for this product.

Check it out.

Psionics Toolkit
Psionics Toolkit Capsule Review by Bradford C. Walker on 26/03/02 Style: 3 (Average) Substance: 3 (Average) The Psionics Toolkit is something new from Fiery Dragon Productions. As the title indicates, it's suppossed to be a play aide for Game Masters who wish to use psionics in their D20 fantasy adventure campaigns. To that end, it's a welcome product; there is a clear need for D20 play aides in the hobby. Check it out. Product: Psionics Toolkit Author: Mike Mearls Category: RPG Company/Publisher: Fiery Dragon Productions Line: Sword & Sorcery Studios Cost: $11.95 (US) Page count: 56 pages Year published: 2002 ISBN: 1-58846-194-7 SKU: WW16006 Comp copy?: yes Capsule Review by Bradford C. Walker on 26/03/02 Genre tags: Fantasy Other	The Psionics Toolkit is something new from Fiery Dragon Productions. As the title indicates, it's suppossed to be a play aide for Game Masters who wish to use psionics in their D20 fantasy adventure campaigns. To that end, it's a welcome product; there is a clear need for D20 play aides in the hobby, especially with elements such as psionics. The first chapter is a 12-step questionaire, the intention of which is to suss out the GM's ideas about psionics in his campaign and how to deal with them. This is a detailed process, and the results are what the GM uses in the second chapter. Through the example of the Vaniar, the toolkit shows the GM how to take his concepts and put them into that playable format that he needs for his campaign. The third through sixth chapters are all about various appropriate crunchy bits. Chapter Three has two psionic prestige classes: the psychic thief and the beastmaster. Chapter Four has some new groups for PCs to join, ally with or oppose: the Band of the Opened Eye and the Order of the Broken Staff. This chapter also includes a method of creating an organizational stat block that allows GMs to see at a glance what an organization's makeup is, who's in charge and what it does. There are also some new items here. Chapter Five addresses psionics in established campaigns; it focuses upon retroactively having PC psionics and how to explain them. This one is sure to offend people, as it does involve retroactive PC redesign to do this. Chapter Six is the new monster chapter, which has the expected new dragon type (psionic drake) and magic beasties (solarian cat, cryscorn). It also has three new templates: lyphillian (representing the fusion of an incorporeal psionic entity with a materal being), psi-killer (representing someone afflicted with the Zarth war virus) and the Battle-Thrall (representing a mind flayer's psi-active slave warrior). The last two are of particular interest to me, as they will see much use in most Dungeons & Dragons campaigns where mind flayers exist. Chapter Seven has sample characters, which are as useful as examples as they are for direct employment in a GM's campaign. It appears to be a disjointed jumble of bits, and it can be used in that fashion, but if you see the common thread through all seven chapters--that this is a toolkit--and it comes together into a greater whole. It may not be for you, especially if you're an expert GM or if you're very familiar with the new psionics rules, but I say that you should check it out anyway. There is greater utility here that is apparent; the answers to the questionaire will inform a GM's use of the rest of the tools, as he will dissect the examples to see how and why they work. Then he'll follow suit and those answers will become new races, classes, groups, monsters, etc. for his group to use and enjoy. This is a good thing. Kudos to Fiery Dragon and Mearls for this product. Check it out.