Consuming Mind
A dangerous branch of psionics that are born from the ability to sap energy from other creatures, tearing from them their thoughts, their mind, and ultimately their vitality for your own consumption. A feared branch of power, it is often believed to be one of the roots of psionic power as it is a branch of power found in many of the most ancient and terrible practitioners of psionics, such as Illithids and Aboleths.
It has been refined by those that seek greater power either from ambition or desperation, and unlocks a terrible but effective path. One example of mortal creatures walking this path is the drow House Oblodra, who developed their dark powers from their study of feral vampiric mindflayers.
Psionic Predator
At 1st level when you select this archetype, you gain the ability to consume the psionic power of others. You gain the psionic discipline of Consumption. When you use your Mind Leech psionic power as an action, you can extend the range of it to 30 feet; if using a modifier that grants it a radius, you can center that radius on a point within 30 feet.
Dark Lurker
Additionally at 1st level, your powers grant you intuition that allows you to better adapt and survive as a mind hunter. You gain proficiency in Stealth and Deception.
When you use psionic abilities, you can make an Intelligence (Deception) check contested by a target's Wisdom (Insight) to conceal your use of psionic powers, suppressing their usual visible indicators. If you spend psi points on the ability, you must subtract the psi points spent from your Intelligence (Deception) roll result (concealing greater uses of psionics being more difficult).
Ravenous Powers
Starting at 3rd level, you gain the psionic talent Mind Devourer; this talent ignores the normal level restriction, and does not count against your Psionic Talents known, but cannot be switched out on leveling up.
Additionally, you can gain the benefit of this talent from a range of 30 feet when the creature is killed by one of your Psionic powers.
Consumption & Telepathy
As with all Psion subclasses, the 2nd psionic discipline can be selected from any of the available options, but the combination of Consumption and Telepathy is the default selection. Your features do not rely on this combination, but it opens some interesting possibilities in the Talents, and will best represent some of the sources of inspiration for the subclass.
Empowered Psionics
Starting at 6th level, when you deal damage with a Psionic Discipline power you can add your Intelligence modifier to the damage dealt.
Mind Vampire
Starting at 10th level, you can trigger Mind Devourer anytime you deal psychic damage to a target within 30 feet, regardless if it kills the target or not.
Further, you can have additional psi points (over your normal limit) equal to your half your Intelligence modifier (rounded down) when gaining psi points from Mind Devourer, but any additional psi points are lost when you complete a short or long rest.
Limitations
Even when used with Mind Vampire, Mind Devourer still requires a reaction to use, meaning that it can still effectively trigger once per round. All normal restrictions of Mind Devourer still apply (such as a minimum Intelligence ability score of the target.)
Shattered Husks
Starting at 14th level, your Mind Leech ability always gains the Shredding modifier, and it does not cost a psi point to add the modifier.
Further, you can use additional power to leave their mind further vulnerable. You can spend additional psi points on the Shredding modifier to further reduce their next Wisdom, Intelligence or Charisma saving throw (up to 2 additional points to reduce it by a total of 3d4). Once this is effect has been applied to a creature, you cannot spend additional psi points on the Shredding modifier against the creature until 1 hour has passed.
Consumption Discipline
Your psychic powers are that of a predator, and your prey is the minds of others. Their thoughts, their feelings, their vital psionic energies are your food.
Adaptive Hunter
After using your Mind Leech on a target, you can gain one skill, tool or language proficiency that creature has until the end of your next long rest. If you use this ability again, you lose the last proficiency or language to acquire the new one.
Mind Leech
Psionic Power
- Casting Time: 1 action
- Range: Touch
- Components: S
- Duration: Instantaneous
You assault the mind of a target you can see within range, rending and devouring its psionic energy. The target must succeed a Charisma saving throw or take 1d6 psychic damage. If the target is frightened or charmed by you, the psychic damage becomes 1d10 instead. Your consumption of this energy grants you temporarily boosted psionic power. The next time you deal damage with a psionic power before the end of your next turn, you deal an additional 1d6 damage on that power.
You can target the corpse of a recently perished creature with this power, as long as the target has died within the last minute and not been previously leached by this power.
Rending (1+ psi points): The target takes +1d6 psychic damage for each additional point spent. If the target is frightened of you or charmed by you, this adds +1d10 psychic damage per point spent instead.
Shredding (1 psi point): You leave the targets mind and soul shredded, reducing their next Wisdom, Intelligence, or Charisma saving throw before the end of your next turn by 1d4.
Nourishing (1 psi points): On a failed saving throw, you gain 1d6 temporary hit points. If you are below half of your maximum hit points, you can choose to regain 1d6 hit points instead of gaining temporary hit points.
Devouring (2 psi points): The range of Mind Leech becomes a radius of 5 feet, centered on you.
Stunning (3 psi points): On a failed saving throw, the target becomes stunned until the start of your next turn. If the power effects multiple targets, select one target for this effect
Thieving (1 psi point): On a failed saving throw, you can draw from the target's mind a spell it can cast (from a Spellcasting or Psionics feature). You must be aware that it can cast that spell; the target retains the ability to cast the spell, but you gain the ability to cast the spell using your Psionics feature by spending psi points equal to the level of the spell (restricted by your psi point limit). You can know one spell in this manner at a time, and retain the ability to cast the spell for 1 minute or until cast. If the spell is one that restores hit points, you reduce your own hit points by the amount healed by the spell.
Talents
Consuming Link
Prerequisite: Consumption Discipline
You can target a creature that is charmed or frightened by you with Mind Leech as long as they are within 120 feet. You do not need to be able to see the target when targeting them in this way and the target has disadvantage on the saving throw against Mind Leech.
Mind Thief
Prerequisite: Consumption Discipline
You can gain an additional number of skill, tool, or language proficiencies from Adaptive Hunter equal to half your proficiency bonus (rounded down) before losing the previously gained proficiency. If you would gain an additional proficiency from it beyond that, the first one you gained is lost.
Master of Stolen Power
Prerequisite: Consumption Discipline, 15th-level Psion
While you are in a boosted state from Mind Leech (with an additional 1d6 damage to add to psionic power), you gain an additional psi point from Psionic Mastery.
Mind Feast
Prerequisite: Consuming Mind, 9th-level Psion
You can gain further nourishment by literally consuming the minds of your fallen foes, adapting your metabolism. If you take a short or long rest while having access to the corpse of a fallen foe that died in the last hour and that had an Intelligence of 8 or higher, you can consume part of their mind, gaining extra psi points over your normal limit equal to the creature's CR (up to your proficiency bonus).
Vampiric Strength
Prerequisite: Consuming Mind subclass
A creature that is grappled by you has disadvantage on saving throws against your Mind Leech psionic power. Additionally, if a creature has failed a saving throw against your Mind Leech ability, it has disadvantage on Strength (Athletics) or Dexterity (Acrobatics) checks when making contested grapple checks against you.
