Mindhunter
A Psion Path of mental assault: a free psychic cantrip, penalties on psychic damage, a precision strike on one mind, bypassed defenses and a mind shatter once per long rest.
Identity
The Mindhunter is the Psion Path that reads a mind the way a tracker reads ground, for its direction of travel and the marks it leaves. Every power that can afford Mindhunters uses them, and none admits it. Halcyion counter-intelligence keeps a stable of them, Echelon calls them auditors, and the Black Meridian Syndicate pays in advance and gives them no name. The work is invasive by definition, and the people who are good at it stopped finding that interesting years ago.
Features
- L3 Psychic Lance
You learn Psychic Lance, an offensive cantrip that does not count against your spells known and costs no Psionic Points. As an action, you direct it at a single creature within 60 feet. The target makes an Intelligence saving throw against your spell save DC. On a failure, it takes 1d10 psychic damage and cannot take reactions until the start of its next turn. On a success, it takes half damage and suffers no other effect. The damage increases with your Psion level, to 2d10 at 5th level, 3d10 at 11th level and 4d10 at 17th level. Once per turn, when you cast a Psion spell that deals psychic damage to a creature, you can add 1d6 psychic damage to one damage roll of the spell.
- L7 Disrupted Cognition
When a creature takes psychic damage from a spell or feature of yours, you can force it to make a Wisdom saving throw against your spell save DC. On a failure, it suffers one of the following effects of your choice until the end of its next turn: Mind-Slowed. The creature's speed is halved and it cannot take bonus actions. Mind-Garbled. The creature has disadvantage on its next attack roll and cannot cast spells that require verbal components. Mind-Blanked. The creature loses access to one feature or spell of its choice. If it has no chosen features available, it has disadvantage on its next saving throw instead. You can use Disrupted Cognition a number of times equal to your spellcasting ability modifier (minimum 1) per long rest. Each additional use after that costs 2 Psionic Points.
- L11 Mind Strike
As an action, you can spend 3 Psionic Points to strike the mind of one creature you can see within 60 feet. The target makes a Wisdom saving throw against your spell save DC with disadvantage. On a failure, it takes 6d8 psychic damage and gains one of the following conditions for 1 minute, which you choose when you use the feature: Stunned. The target is Stunned. It can repeat the save at the end of each of its turns. Frightened. The target is Frightened of you. It can repeat the save at the end of each of its turns. Charmed. The target is Charmed by you. It can repeat the save at the end of each of its turns, or whenever you or your allies damage it. On a success, the target takes half damage and suffers no other effect. Constructs, undead and creatures with active mental wards, such as Halcyion neural lattices and certain Tier IV and higher command-grade cybernetics, make the save with advantage.
- L15 Defense Breach
Spells you cast that call for an Intelligence, Wisdom or Charisma saving throw count, for the target's first failed save against them, as having a save DC of 10 + your spellcasting ability modifier + your proficiency bonus + 2, overriding the normal calculation. When a creature fails a saving throw against one of your Psion spells and takes psychic damage from it, it has disadvantage on its next saving throw against any spell of yours made before the end of its next turn.
- L18 Cognitive Shatter Capstone
Once per long rest, as an action, you can turn your full discipline on one creature you can see within 60 feet. The target makes an Intelligence saving throw against your spell save DC with disadvantage. On a failure: The target takes 12d10 psychic damage. The target is Stunned for 1 minute and is Incapacitated. It can repeat the save at the end of each of its turns, which ends the Stunned condition on a success but not the other effects. The target's Intelligence and Wisdom scores are each reduced by 1d4 for 24 hours or until it receives appropriate magical or technological cognitive restoration. A target reduced to 0 in either score is Incapacitated until restored. If the damage reduces the target to 0 hit points, it falls into a coma instead of dying and is aware of no passage of time until restored by appropriate intervention. It stabilizes automatically. On a success, the target takes half damage and suffers no other effect. After you use Cognitive Shatter, you gain one level of exhaustion that only a long rest can remove. Mind-Renders who use Cognitive Shatter on a target who survives often acquire a long-term shadow there.
