You should not think of psionics as some kind of “magic”.
Mages studies magic for many yrs, most of them have powefull intelects.
They are not dumb. They classify their magics, they have ways to saying if a sword is +1 or +3. ( They may call it Magic Enhancement level or whatever you think they will call it…)

They know what is magic, and what not.
They classify different ways to acess the “weave”, Magic, Divine, Psionic, Elemental, Shadow…

But there is no problem in a setting that have so many different powers…
Some enemys receive power from negative or shadow plane, others have non-magical elemental powers.
Some characters use weird powers like some prestige classes.

Psionics are just “some guys” that have powerful minds, and train their will to create effects on the “weave” to alter the reallity.
Since all special, magical, divine, elemental or psionic powers in fantasy settings are normally expained as “the weave” being used to alter the reallity, in the end they are all different ways to achive same goal.

Most of D&d settings ( Forgotten Realms, Dark Suns…) have some psionics.

For exemple, illithids, classical d&d monsters, are much for fitting with psionic powers them with magic.
They dont seems as a race that study from tomes, and research magical powers, and use magic words and
gestures.

Sorry by my bad english. ( Not main language =/ )
And for the long block of text.

Despite the standard complaint of psionics not fitting in, the effects really do fit into fantasy worlds. Often, psionics fits the fiction *better* than vancian magic. People get so distracted by the associations of the name that they don’t realize how well it fits.

Of course, convincing a publisher (such as Dreamscarred Press) to rename their entire product line is pretty unlikely…

But I don’t need a different mechanic to differentiate them from magic. That being said I greatly prefered the 3.5 psionic system to vancian spellcasting. You can also put me in the group that wished 3.5 had done more to make divine and arcane spellcasters unique.

That being said, I have allowed ‘psionic’ characters in my D&D 3.x campaign with the understanding that as far as the world is concerned, it is just another form of magic (although one that uses a different set of mechanics).

I felt that the Psionics system in 3.5 was *better* than the spellcasting system.

The fluff I could leave in a ditch. But the *balance*, the way it worked, the way it scaled so well, was delicious.

I would rather use the 3.5 system in PLACE of the Vancian magic system.

There is no reason why arcane magic, divine miracles, and psychic powers have to be entirely different subsystems. With a few tweaks, it’s possible to differentiate effects without relying on separate mechanics.

When I’m prepping, I’ve got far better ways to spend my time than poring over pages and pages of spells, miracles, and powers, looking for something to challenge the party with.

Sorry if I sound bitter, but I got frustrated with D&D 3.5 when I discovered that I was avoiding spell-casters as opposition for my group, simply because I didn’t want to spend hours of research coming up with a caster whose ‘screen time’ was under an hour.

I did mention in my blog though that I do like psi systems in science fiction, though offhand I can’t think of a good sci-fi game with a good psi system. If I ever find a system that plays like Babylon 5, I’m probably “in.”

I used to think psionics didn’t really fit in my D&D games, so I kind of shunned it (without actually getting to know it). But at the time of D&D3.5, I picked up a book out of curiosity and the rest is history.

I prefer the psionics system of D&D being a completely separate mechanic than spells. In fact, I love it that way (just like the differently ruled positive and negative energies, ki’s, …), and its lack in 4E is one of the beefs I have with that system. Everything in the new edition is so streamlined and so off-the-construction-line-with-a-different-paint-slapped-on that the powers of 4E really don’t excite me much.

I love the freedom of spending power points on whatever power you choose at that moment, and getting a chance to even improve or alter it at the cost of some extra points. It makes it all the more unique.

I think part of the animosity some people feel towards psionics comes from the name (it sounds too sci-fi) and the artificial distinction that’s been drawn between psionics and magic.

Think of what psionics describes: knowing thoughts, seeing the future or distant locations, moving objects, creating fire by force of will, etc. All of these effects fit perfectly well under traditional fantasy! People who could do such things exist already in mythology, except they weren’t called psions, they were seers, mystics, etc.

About the only thing in the modern conception of psionics that doesn’t seem to have a strong basis in old mythology is telepathy, in the direct mind-to-mind sense of communication.

So really, what’s the difference anyway?

Not to mention, DnD’s espers are too much like the magic system in that they give the player too much choice in the powers that they get. It makes for a better game, but doesn’t really fit in with my idea of how psychic powers work, which is more along the lines of you get what you get.

That said, I have seen a few settings (both role-playing and not) that have worked both of them together, but they are rare enough that I’d have to be really confidant in either myself or the other GM to do it properly to want to play it.

Also, bare in mind that D&D likes its subsystems. Turning undead, different casting progressions, different class progressions, multi-classing, etc.

I like psionics. I consider them fantasy. A lot of what “mentalists” can do, wizards in fantasy have been able to do, so it’s not that far a stretch. Not to mention mystical Yogi and other Eastern things.

The line I draw with psionics is more whether the tone of them are mystical in nature, or pseudoscience. That’s the problem I find; psionics straddles this line between Another Form of Magic, and Science.

Since I don’t like genes, germs, or atoms in my Fantasy, I don’t like pseudoscience.