Archive • Analyzing Arcana • Buttondown

Psionics Review: laserllama

November 30, 2023

First published in January 2021 and last revised in January 2023, the laserllama psion is a warlock-inspired take on the class that uses normal spellcasting...

When economy, politics, and technology mismatch

November 17, 2023

The Eberron campaign setting is defined by its treatment of magic as technology — what if ordinary people could learn how to use prestidigitation to clean...

Psionics Review: MCDM

November 2, 2023

After two years of development — the first open playtest was May 2022 — MCDM has released The Talent, their third and final 5e class after the pet-oriented...

Psionics Review: Anthony J. Turco Part 3

October 19, 2023

Welcome to part 3 of my review of Korranberg Chronicle: Psion’s Primer. You can peruse my coverage of the previous sections through the following links:...

Psionics Review: Anthony J. Turco Part 2

October 5, 2023

Welcome to part 2 of 3 reviewing Psion’s Primer. If you missed the part 1, you can find it at the link below. This part covers the icon, psionic subclasses...

Psionics Review: Anthony J. Turco Part 1

September 21, 2023

Possibly the most thorough psionics system available for 5e, The Korranberg Chronicle: Psion's Primer is a whopping 174 pages of pure psionics content. The...

Eberron and the Concept of the Nation

Political science defines a nation as a people with a shared identity. This identity is a social construct; it exists as a manifestation of collective...

Psionics Review: WebDM

Weird Wastelands, written by Jim Davis, Jonathan Pruitt, and Emma Lambert of WebDM with additional writing by Celeste Conowitch and Gwendolyn Marshall and...

Psionics Review: KibblesTasty

A reddit favorite, the Psion by KibblesTasty is available in print in Kibbles' Compendium of Craft and Creation. This is the first review of the series to...

Spelljammer: The Gathering

Like many others, I was disappointed by the Spelljammer: Adventures in Space. Rather than an open-ended gazetteer, the Astral Adventurer’s Guide is a...

Psionics Review: Keith Baker

The world of Eberron was designed with psionics in mind from the very start, although it doesn’t center them like say the Dark Sun campaign setting. Instead,...

Psionics Review: Tasha's Cauldron of Everything

Released in November 2020, Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything is the only first-party take on psionic player options released in 5e’s decade-long run. Wizards of...

Playing with Zone of Truth

The fifth edition version of zone of truth can cause many problems in mystery-oriented scenarios. This second level enchantment available to bards, clerics,...

Psionics Review: Past Editions

This is the first entry in the Psionics Review series, looking at the first party takes on psionics from 3rd and 4th edition. Psionics existed in D&D before...

1920s Psychology and the Planes of Eberron

February 26, 2023

As many people already know, Eberron draws a lot of influence from the American 1920s; Art Deco, Noir, and many other features of the setting specifically...

February 24, 2023

This is Analyzing Arcana, a newsletter that mostly exists for me to write up long-form takes about TTRPGs that don’t fit elsewhere. I’ve made two sections,...