Metaphysicist

It is said that the metaphysicist is capable of shaping imagination into reality. True or not, these psychics are capable of manifesting psychic energy into an incarnation – a physical embodiment of energy or emotion.

Many metaphysicists serve as scholars or members of the clergy, preferring contemplation and research to uncover the vast mysteries of the multiverse. Other metaphysicists prefer the open road to meet new people and experience all the world has to offer.

Metaphysicists are capable adventures, having mastered a range of psionic powers and through the power of summoning an incarnation. In combat, a metaphysicist combines its various talents, able to exploit weaknesses in form and position. These talents are equally apt while navigating the world: incarnations prove useful as tools as they do for battle, and psionic powers can always be tapped to enhance skills or subvert obstacles.

The Metaphysicist

Metaphysicist Level	Proficiency Bonus	Planar Essence	Feature	Powers Known	Power Points	Conceits Known
1st	+2	4	Power Manifesting, Summoning	2	1	—
2nd	+2	5	Amalgamated Energy, Psychic Sense	3	1	—
3rd	+2	5	Summoner Calling	3	3	—
4th	+2	6	Ability Score Improvement	3	3	—
5th	+3	6	Summoner Calling Feature	4	5	—
6th	+3	7	Sophistic Conceits	4	5	2
7th	+3	7	Elusion	4	7	2
8th	+3	8	Ability Score Improvement	4	7	3
9th	+4	8	Swift Summons	5	10	3
10th	+4	9	Summoner Calling Feature	5	10	3
11th	+4	9	Greater Instill Conceit	5	12	4
12th	+4	10	Ability Score Improvement	5	12	4
13th	+5	10	—	6	14	4
14th	+5	11	Summoner Calling Feature	6	14	5
15th	+5	11	Incarnate Will	6	16	5
16th	+5	12	Ability Score Improvement	6	16	5
17th	+6	12	—	7	19	6
18th	+6	13	Psychic Vision	7	19	6
19th	+6	14	Ability Score Improvement	7	22	6
20th	+6	15	Conceited Recall	7	22	6

Class Features

As a metaphysicist, you gain the following class features.

Hit Points

Hit Dice: 1d8 per metaphysicist level
Hit Points at 1st Level: 8 + your Constitution modifier
Hit Points at Higher Levels: 1d8 (or 5) + your Constitution modifier per metaphysicist level after 1st

Proficiencies

Armor: Light armor, shields
Weapons: Simple weapons
Tools: None

Saving Throws: Wisdom, Charisma
Skills: Choose two from Arcana, Deception, History, Insight, Investigation, Medicine, Perception, and Performance

Equipment

You start with the following equipment, in addition to the equipment granted by your background:

• (a) a mace or (b) any simple weapon
• (a) a shield and any simple weapon or (b) a shortbow and 20 arrows
• Padded armor and an explorer’s pack

If you forgo this starting equipment, as well as the items offered by your background, you start with 2d4 x 10 gp to buy your equipment.

Power Manifesting

1st-level metaphysicist feature

Via tapping esoteric energies, you gain the ability to shape psychic energies into psionic powers. See chapter 2 of the Psychic and Spiritual Handbook for the general rules of power manifesting.

Powers Known

You know two powers of your choice from the metaphysicist power list.

The Powers Known column of the Metaphysicist table shows when you learn more metaphysicist powers of your choice. When you gain a level in this class, you can choose one of the powers you know and replace it with another power from the metaphysicist power list.

Power Points

The Metaphysicist table shows how many power points you have to augment your metaphysicist powers. When you manifest a power, you can expend power points to enhance the power. You can expend a number of power points no greater than half your metaphysicist level (rounded up) on a single power manifestation. You regain all expended power points when you finish a short or long rest.

Psionic powers differ from spells in that powers can have different expressions when augmented by power points. These different expressions have a similar theme, but the scope and scale can change. For example, the suspension power includes expressions that can affect single targets or an area with different measures of control.

Manifesting Ability

Charisma is your manifesting ability for your powers.

You use Charisma whenever a power refers to your manifesting ability. In addition, you use your Charisma modifier when setting the saving throw DC for a metaphysicist power you manifest and when making an attack roll with one.

Power save DC = 8 + your proficiency bonus + your Charisma modifier

Power attack modifier = your proficiency bonus + your Charisma modifier

Metaphysicist Power List

Here’s the list of powers you consult when you add a metaphysicist power to your list of known powers. Each power is in the Psychic and Spiritual Handbook, unless it has an asterisk, in which case it is in the PDF (powers will be added to the playtest for Aronar’s Grimoire at a later date).

Summoning

1st-level metaphysicist feature

Through a connection to the planes, you can channel energy to give form to your resolve. This is represented by your Planar Essence. You have a count of 4 Planar Essence, and you gain more as you reach higher levels, as show in the Planar Essence column of the Metaphysicist table. You can never have more Planar Essence than shown on the table for your level.

You regain all spent Planar Essence when you finish a long rest. You can also use an action to expend power points or a spell slot to regain Planar Essence at a rate of one point of Planar Essence for every two power points or for each slot level expended this way.

As an action, you can summon an incarnation by spending an amount of Planar Essence no greater than your proficiency bonus to transfer to the incarnation. This Planar Essence sustains the incarnation. Once summoned, the incarnation remains for 10 minutes or until you use an action to dismiss it. It is dismissed early if it runs out of Planar Essence or its hit points are reduced to 0. When it is dismissed, you regain half of its remaining Planar Essence, rounded up.

Each time you summon an incarnation, choose one of the following options. You determine the appearance of the incarnation.

Astral Halo

You create an aura of light at a point within 60 feet of you that sheds bright light in a 20-foot radius and dim light for additional 20 feet. As a bonus action, you can dismiss or restore its light or move it up to 30 feet. If you are even more than 120 feet from the incarnation, its light is immediately dismissed and the halo is moved to your space.

As an action, including the one you use to summon the incarnation, you can cause it to shoot energy at any number of creatures and objects you can see within 60 feet of the incarnation. Each target you attack depletes one point of Planar Essence from the incarnation, and you can’t attack the same target more than once with an action unless a class feature allows it. Make a ranged power attack for each. On a hit, that target takes 1d10 + your Charisma modifier lightning damage. The damage increases as you reach certain levels in this class: at 5th (2d10), 11th (3d10), and 17th level (4d10).

In addition, when creatures within 20 feet of the incarnation take acid, cold, fire, lightning, or thunder damage, you can take a reaction and expend one or more of the incarnation’s Planar Essence to diminish the energy. For each Planar Essence expended, targets take 1d10 less damage, to a minimum of 0 damage.

Cacophonic Burst

The incarnation shrouds you in a field of sonic energy. While shrouded, you double the distance you can jump and take half damage from falling or damage from being slammed into an object, such as from telekinetic force.

Whenever you hit a target with a melee attack, you can expend one Planar Essence to deal an extra 1d6 + your Charisma modifier thunder damage to it. This damage increases when you reach certain levels in this class: at 5th (2d6), 11th (3d6), and 17th level (4d6).

If you are hit by an attack, you can take a reaction and expend one Planar Essence to increase your AC by an amount equal to your Charisma modifier (minimum of +2) against that attack, potentially turning a hit into a miss.

Enmity Entity

You fashion a Small creature under your control in an unoccupied space within 10 feet of you. The incarnation uses the Enmity Entity stack block. As an action, you can infuse an Enmity Entity with additional Planar Essence to heal it for 10 hit points for each point of Planar Essence you spend. If the incarnation is dismissed early, it is treated as having 1 Planar Essence for every 10 hit points it has remaining.

In combat, the entity shares your initiative count, but takes its turn immediately after yours. It can move and take reactions on its own, but the only action it takes on its turn is the Dodge action, unless you take a bonus action to direct it to take another action. That action can be one from its stat block, the Dash or Disengage action, or some other action it is physically capable, such as pushing or pulling an object. Regardless of its form, the entity can’t wield weapons.

The damage the entity deals with its slam attack increases as you reach certain levels in this class: at 5th (1d8), 11th (1d10), and 17th level (1d12). In addition, when you reach 11th level, it gains flying and swimming speeds equal to its walking speed and can hover.

Stygian Barrier

You summon an incarnation that shrouds one creature or object you touch in soothing mists. A shrouded target is immune to the ravages of time and decay and can ignore the effects of exhaustion and extremes of heat and cold (but takes fire and cold damage normally).

Whenever the target takes damage, you can take a reaction and expend one of the incarnation’s Planar Essence to grant the target resistance to that damage type until the end of the turn. In addition, if the attack was made within 5 feet of the shrouded target, the attacker must make a Constitution saving throw. It takes 1d8 cold damage on a failed save or half as much damage on a successful one. The cold damage increases when you reach certain levels in this class: at 5th (2d8), 11th (3d8), and 17th level (4d8).

Amalgamated Energy

2nd-level metaphysicist feature

When you summon an incarnation, you gain an energy type of your choice which must be acid, cold, lightning, or thunder. As long as the incarnation is summoned, whenever you deal acid, bludgeoning, cold, fire, lightning, or thunder damage with a power or spell, you can choose to deal the chosen damage type instead.

In addition, whenever the incarnation deals damage, you can choose to have it deal its normal damage type or one matching the chosen type.

Psychic Sense

2nd-level metaphysicist feature

You are attuned to the psychic currents that surround you. As an action, you can open your senses to detect these currents. Until the end of your next turn, you can sense magical emanation from any power or spell effect within 60 feet of you that is not behind total cover. You know the effective level of each effect, its discipline or school, and what the effect does. If the effect requires concentration and the manifester or caster is within 60 feet of you, you know who is maintaining the effect.

You can use this feature twice and regain all expended uses when you finish a short or long rest.

Summoner Calling

3rd-level metaphysicist feature

Choose the calling of your summoning potential: Amalgamated Armament, Empyreal Agent, or Spirit Entreaty, each of which is detailed after the class’s description. Your choice grants features at 3rd, 5th, 10th, and 14th level.

Ability Score Improvement

4th-level metaphysicist feature

When you reach 4th level, and again at 8th, 12th, 16th, and 19th level, you can increase one ability score of your choice by 2, or you can increase two ability scores of your choice by 1. As normal, you can’t increase an ability score above 20 using this feature.

Instill Conceit

6th-level metaphysicist feature

Through practice and experience, you have developed certain tricks to instill spiritual energy into your summoned incarnation.

You gain two conceits of your choice. Your conceit options are detailed at the end of the class description. When you gain certain metaphysicist levels, you gain additional conceits of your choice, as shown in the Conceits Known column of the Metaphysicist table. When you gain a level in this class, you can choose one of the conceits you know and replace it with another conceit that you could learn at that level.

While you have a summoned incarnation, you can instill it with a conceit you know as bonus action. The incarnation can only have one conceit at a time. If you instill a different conceit, the effects and benefits of the conceit you replace immediately end.

Elusion

7th-level metaphysicist feature

Under mental assault, you can slip your consciousness into an alternate meta-spatial reality. When you are subjected to an effect that allows you to make a Wisdom saving throw to take only half damage, you instead take no damage if you succeed on the saving throw, and only half damage if you fail.

Swift Summons

9th-level metaphysicist feature

You can summon an incarnation without using an action.

Greater Instill Conceit

11th-level metaphysicist feature

You can instill up to two conceits into an incarnation.

Incarnate Will

15th-level metaphysicist feature

When you fail on an Intelligence or Charisma saving throw while you have a summoned incarnation, you can take a reaction to dismiss the incarnation to succeed instead.

Psychic Vision

18th-level metaphysicist feature

Your Psychic Sense feature lasts for one minute, and you gain truesight to a distance of 60 feet while using it.

Conceited Recall

20th-level metaphysicist feature

Immediately after your incarnation is dismissed, you can take a reaction to summon it again with one conceit you know. The incarnation is summoned with the same amount of Planar Essence you spent to summon it originally. Summoning the incarnation cost you no Planar Essence unless you choose to infuse the incarnation with additional Planar Essence above its original amount.

After using this feature, you can’t use it again until you finish a long rest.

Conceits

If a conceit has a level prerequisite, you must be that level in this class it to learn it. You can learn the conceit at the same time that you meet its prerequisite.

Abyssal Might

Prerequisite: 14th level

Your incarnation or its target has advantage on Strength checks. The Astral Halo incarnation treats you as its target for the purpose of this effect.

Moreover, when the incarnation damages a creature, you can choose to force the target make a Strength saving throw against your power save DC. On a failed save, the target is pushed 10 feet away from the incarnation and knocked prone.

Acheron’s Frenzy

Prerequisite: 11th level

Once during each of your turns, the incarnation can make one additional attack when it is used to attack without expending Planar Essence, or it can deal twice as many damage dice when it triggers. The Astral Halo incarnation can strike one target twice using this conceit.

Arcadian Rhythms

As long as the incarnation has at least one Planar Essence or 1 hit point remaining, it remains summoned until you finish a long rest. As an action, you can transfer your Planar Essence to the incarnation to refill its essence, but it can never have more essence than your proficiency bonus.

Bellows from Limbo

When the incarnation damages a creature, the target is deafened until the end of its next turn. The target of the Stygian Barrier incarnation is only deafened on a failed saving throw against the incarnation’s damage.

Carceri Bindings

Prerequisite: 8th level

When the incarnation deals damage to a creature, you can forgo the damage to enthrall the creature instead. The target must succeed on a Wisdom saving throw against your power save DC or become incapacitated until the end of its next turn or until it takes damage.

Only one creature can be enthralled by this conceit at a time. If you enthrall a different creature, the effect ends for the prior one.

Charm of the Twin Paradises

The incarnation can empower each weapon you hold. As long as it is active, these weapons counts as a magical weapons, allow you to use your Charisma modifier instead of your Strength for weapon attack and damage rolls, and always deals at least 1d8 damage.

Demesne of Hades

Prerequisite: 8th level

The area within 20 feet of the incarnation becomes difficult terrain for creatures other than you and your allies.

Ethereal Reality

Prerequisite: 14th level

The incarnation fades from view and can only be perceived on the Ethereal Plane, making it invisible. It still exists on the plane you occupy, as well as on the Ethereal Plane, and can interact with creatures and objects on both planes. If the plane you occupy doesn’t border the Ethereal Plane, this conceit can’t be instilled.

Focus of the Great Hunt

While the incarnation is active, both you and it score a critical hit on a 19 or 20 and deal 1d10 extra damage on a critical hit with any attack.

Heaven’s Truth

The incarnation ignores illusions and effects that confuse the senses, such as the muddle power, and grants you advantage on saving throws and ability checks to resist and disbelieve them. A target gains no benefit from the invisibility condition against attacks made by or with the incarnation.

Inner Planar Esotery

You infuse the incarnation with elemental energy form the Inner Planes. When a target takes damage from the incarnation, you can also deal 1d6 acid, cold, fire, or lightning damage (your choice when you instill this conceit) to that target. Once you deal this damage, you can’t use this conceit’s effect again until the start of your next turn.

Logic from Mechanus

Prerequisite: 8th level

As a bonus action, you can teleport the incarnation or its target 10 feet in any direction. The Astral Halo incarnation treats you as its target for the purpose of this conceit. After teleporting the Enmity Entity incarnation’s speed increases by 20 feet until the end of its turn.

Mark of Shadows

Prerequisite: 11th level

When the incarnation damages a creature, the target must make a Charisma saving throw against your power save DC. On a failed save, the target is blinded until the end of its next turn unless it can see in magical darkness. On a successful saving throw, the target is immune to this conceit for 24 hours.

Pandemonium Blessings

Prerequisite: 11th level

Each time the incarnation makes an attack, you make an attack with it, or a creature makes a saving throw against its damage, roll a d6. The number rolled is subtracted from the attack roll or save DC. On a hit or failed save, the incarnation deals 2d6 additional damage of its type.

Moreover, when you manifest a power or cast a spell that deals damage, roll a d6. The number rolled is subtracted from your attack roll or save DC. On a hit or failed save, you deal 2d6 additional damage of your energy type.

Roots of the World Tree

Prerequisite: 11th level

The incarnation or its target can’t be moved against its will. Effects that would teleport or push it automatically fail unless you choose otherwise. The Astral Halo incarnation treats you as its target for the purpose of this conceit.

Steps of the Fey

The incarnation or its target leaves no tracks and has a +5 bonus on Acrobatics and Stealth checks. The Astral Halo incarnation treats you as its target for the purpose of this conceit.

As an action, you can also grant this benefit to each of your allies within 20 feet of the incarnation, but the bonus to ability checks decreases to +2.

Tears of Elysium

Prerequisite: 14th level

After the incarnation or its target takes damage, it regains 1d6 hit points at the start of your next turn unless it has 0 hit points. The Astral Halo incarnation treats you as its target for the purpose of this conceit. This effect doesn’t stack with itself, and the target can’t regain more hit points than it lost since the end of your last turn.

Transitive Energy Esotery

Prerequisite: 8th level

Each time the incarnation spends one Planar Essence, one creature within 30 feet of it gains 1d8 + your Charisma modifier temporary hit points.

Visions of Arborea

Prerequisite: 14th level

As an action you can cast the major image spell centered at a space the incarnation occupies. When cast this way the spell doesn’t require components or concentration, but it ends early if the incarnation is dismissed or you cast the spell using this conceit again. If the incarnation is used to make an attack or otherwise harm any creature, the spell also ends.

Weight of Hell

Prerequisite: 11th level

After the incarnation deals damage to a creature, you can cause it to become supernaturally burdened. The target must succeed on a Strength saving throw or become heavily encumbered until the end of its next turn. If the target is already heavily encumbered, its speed is reduced to 0 ft. Once you force a target to make this save, you can’t use this conceit’s effect again until the start of your next turn.

Wrath of Gehenna

When the incarnation deals damage, you can chose to reduce its damage by half, rounded up, to make this damage ignore resistance and immunity and to bypass any effect that reduces or redirects damage, including temporary hit points. Moreover, a target’s regeneration trait doesn’t function at the start of its next turn. Once you deal damage this way, you can’t use this conceit’s effect again until the start of your next turn.