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Using Pathfinder, is there a place or reference to help with Psionic wild talents for when a Dark Sun campaign is used?

My players don't want to be full psionic classes. Instead, they'd like to posses a Psionic wild talent, like in the AD&D 2nd edtion Dark Sun games. So many creatures on Athas are naturally gifted but not always fully Psionic. How does one find/create a table for this?

I do have the Psionics Unleashed and 3.5 Psionic Players guide with the expanded guide as well. But I haven't had any luck yet, perhaps looking for the wrong thing.

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    \$\begingroup\$ Have you looked at Athas.org's converted Dark Sun material for 3/3.5e? In particular, check out published by Athas.org for downloadable materials. These should be easier (or a possible baseline) to convert Dark Sun for Pathfinder. \$\endgroup\$
    – okeefe
    May 26 '13 at 7:45
  • \$\begingroup\$ @Okeefe Personal experience suggests that Athas.org's material should be avoided at all possible costs; its editing and quality are abysmal and skew towards the randomly and hideously lethal to a level even beyond Athas' actual standard (i.e. absurd rather than gritty), with the added problem of having to fight through poor wording and worse grammar. \$\endgroup\$
    – Lord_Gareth
    May 26 '13 at 14:06
  • \$\begingroup\$ I, on the other hand, have found many first- and third-party products are no better conceived or written than Athas.org products, and the Athas.org products have the advantage being free. If you want to set a Pathfinder game in the Dark Sun setting, inspiration can be found elsewhere, but the price will be much higher. As always, though, expect to do some of the heavy lifting yourself when adapting it to your own campaign. \$\endgroup\$
    – Hey I Can Chan
    May 5 '16 at 16:03
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There is no Pathfinder-specific Dark Sun material

Dark Sun is the property of Wizards of the Coast and Paizo's not allowed to touch it; that part's pretty simple. Additionally, Paizo has not published any first-party psionic material for Pathfinder, though Dreamscarred Press has done some phenomenal third-party stuff for that system that I highly suggest to you without reservation or qualification.

Random Wild Talents Got Dragged Behind a Shed and Shot

A table for random wild talents no longer exists for 3.X whatsoever. This is a good thing, believe it or not, because it makes your job as a DM much easier (to wit: it prevents you having to deal with random high-level powers tagged onto your PCs or monsters on accident). I would not suggest looking or building a replacement for this system, mostly because of the below:

There are some ways to represent what you're looking for

If you don't, or can't, use the Dreamscarred Press rules (which I am sadly not as familiar with as I would like) 3.5 still has some options for you. You could, for example, give your players Wild Talent as a bonus feat. Wild Talent gives them a single power point (but not any specific powers); access to that power point officially makes them Psionic beings, permits them to gain psionic focus, gives them access to psionic feats and lets them use certain psionic items. Alternately - or additionally! - you could give them/permit them the Hidden Talent feat, which grants two power points and access to a first-level power, many of which have staying power well beyond when a first-level spell would stop being useful (for example, a melee character will always enjoy the use of the expansion power). I'd suggest mining Dreamscarred Press's releases for additional options.

One Last Thing

With just a little bit of effort (mostly in the form of emphasizing certain feats and powers that are more martial-seeming and not flashy) the Psychic Warrior class can very easily be used to represent a martially-inclined character who has a natural psionic gift. They're not as magically powerful as a Psion or Wilder would be and retain a strong emphasis on triumph by force of arms, which can be enhanced by choosing and using psionic powers that buff themselves instead of going for flashy, attention-grabbing powers that look obviously magical. If any of your players are thinking of a martial concept, suggest it to them and see where it goes.

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  • \$\begingroup\$ +1 for Psychic Warrior. It's a really, really solid, well-designed class. \$\endgroup\$
    – KRyan
    May 26 '13 at 14:59
  • \$\begingroup\$ Awesome, thank you! Those feats will totally server the purpose I am looking for! \$\endgroup\$
    – Gamer Boy
    May 28 '13 at 8:45
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In a "High psionics campaign", which Athas definately qualifies as, I would recommend allowing everyone to take this feat: Unlocked Talent for free or as an option (depending on how you want to run things). It keeps things interesting, keeps it balanced and allows for first level powers. Hidden Talent is also a potential "freebie" to hand out, depending on what you like and allowing them to take Access Psionic Talent which gives out five 0-level powers (called Talents) and allows you to do some stuff that FEELS psionic without being game breaking.

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