So I have the PDF's for the Psionics books, and I have the hard copies en route but I need an experienced hand, or two, to give me a few pointers and a feel for just what the fuck I'm getting into.

How much hassle is Psionics for you? What about the various Psionically active races? What sort of things have you discovered that I should know about? Basically what do I need to really know?

3.5 psionics really isn't bad...  They finally got this one right.  I made my player responsible for most of the upkeep.  Balance is good, I think.

The psionic races are pretty well-balanced, too.

Just make sure you enforce the "You can't spend more points than your level" restriction.  Players often forget this one.

-O

Which psionics books do you have?

The good ones are the 3.5 ones: Expanded Psionics Handbook and Complete Psionic.

I kinda love em. One of the player characters in my last campaign was an Elan Psion and he got plenty of use out of them.

Don't do it! While the latter version of psionics for 3.5 is at least balanced (first time since 1st ed), its needless, flavourless, and dull.

Quote from: Abyssal MawThe good ones are the 3.5 ones: Expanded Psionics Handbook and Complete Psionic.

I have both of these on order, and in PDF.

It's essentially an alternative magic system with spell points.  Whether that's good or bad depends on your point of view.  I never played with it enough to get a strong feel because it's a fair amount on top of everything else and I didn't need 2 magic systems.  But it's not the wtf of 1e or the loophole filled craziness of 2e - it's well done and coherent.  I could see dropping standard magic and using just psionics for a campaign or having both to represent directions taken by different civilizations.

I love psionics like a fat kid loves Little Debbies.

As mentioned, don't let the player breeze past the PP limit rule.

There are a few powers you need to watch out for. The energy powers had save DCs that were abusive; Complete Psionic had fixes for those. There are a few others.

If you don't at least occasionally hit the party with 3-5 encounters in a day, the flexibility of the psion may make them seem very strong as they can be free with their points. If you occasionally hit them with decked out and surprise encounters, it should keep psion players fearful.

If you dig those books, definitely check out Hyperconscious from Malhavoc. It's got some nifty flavorful classes and powers, and a psionic combat system that makes the psionics feel a bit more distinctive from magic.

Oh!  Another quick note - don't make Magic and Psionics different.  Unless you're running a game like Dark Sun (or some homebrew which sharply distinguishes the two), it'll make psionics far more valuable than traditional spellcasting.  Even if you are running such a homebrew, I'd still make psi & magic the same.

-O