Always used them in Dark Sun, since it was part of the setting.
In "regular" D&D we kept it pretty rare. Roll for psi if you wanted to try. And there are a few monsters whose schtick is psionics. Mind Flayer is one of the well known examples.
So, regularly in Dark Run, rarely, but not absent in other D&D campaigns.

Psionics as a distinct thing from magic, in fantasy games, only really make sense to me in a few settings, such as Dark Sun and Eberron, and maybe Ravenloft for the "OMG WTF" factor.

Outside of it, though? Love it. The day I get a chance to play in a Rifts game (ha!) I am so playing a Mind Melter.

Quote from: Patrick;849188If I were to do anything related with psychic powers now, I would probably hack something from BRP or Runequest.

Luther Arkwright has a psionics system. My first thought was, of course, to use them for a Dark Sun conversion.

Used them in my homebrew, decades back.  Tried it in GURPS, VERY briefly, but I really don't like the GURPS psionics rules: they seem to encourage the Champions-esque "So, how many weird limitations can I bolt on to this to bring the cost down?" games.

Quote from: The Butcher;850089Luther Arkwright has a psionics system. My first thought was, of course, to use them for a Dark Sun conversion.

There are also psychic powers in After the Vampire Wars for BRP, but not having it in hand yet I don't know how they differ from those in the BGB.

Quote from: Orphan81;849964But they'd stand out like a sore thumb say in places like Middle Earth.

I disagree. The most archetypal 'psionic' talents are such things as:

picking up emotions and impressions of thoughts
getting a sense of past or future events associated with a place, item or person
getting a vision of events transpiring elsewhere
great ability to heal others' physical as well as psychic wounds
sensing danger or making "lucky" choices
perceiving entities beyond normal human ken such as ghosts
influencing others' perceptions and feelings
mastery of one's own mind and body, including things normally considered beyond control

All of these seem to me not only in keeping with Middle Earth, but far less likely to stand out as exceptional than many things that are relatively commonplace in the D&D magic system and others like it.

Psionics are hard to pin down as distinct from magic--it depends on cultural background, fictional genre, and pure individual subjectivity. On top of that, there's ambiguity and lack of detail, more so in literature, but even in games, about:

--where do these powers come from?
--how do you get them?
--do they operate through a (pseudo)scientific process?
--do they work dependably or are they mysterious
--how does the user feel when the powers are used (like, you have to engage your emotions; you get tired, etc.)
--what concrete effects do they have?
--how do they differ from "magic" in all the above?
--is there a concept of the supernatural, the divine, the afterlife, or the spirit world in the setting, and if so, how does psi interact with those?

Personally, I used psionics in Eldritch Wizardry but quickly decided they were too sci-fi for the "pure" fantasy I was aiming for. Also, while someone above said the EW mechanics were better than AD&D 1e stuff, I don't remember a difference, and the psi rules struck me as clunky and overpowered, a bad combination of being so rare that you couldn't depend on them but so powerful that if they showed up they would dominate.

Too bad, because some of the psi-flavored monsters really were cool.

Nowadays I could use them or not depending on genre and treatment. Post-apoc science fantasy like Thundarr the Barbarian? Definitely.

Quote from: Phillip;850151All of these seem to me not only in keeping with Middle Earth, but far less likely to stand out as exceptional than many things that are relatively commonplace in the D&D magic system and others like it.

I agree, all of those seem like they'd fit well in fairy tales and anything with witches or seventh-son-of-a-seventh-son type folklore. Just the name, 'psionics' sounds scifi... call it 'second sight' or 'the gift' or 'talents'.

Quote from: Simlasa;850158I agree, all of those seem like they'd fit well in fairy tales and anything with witches or seventh-son-of-a-seventh-son type folklore. Just the name, 'psionics' sounds scifi... call it 'second sight' or 'the gift' or 'talents'.

It is science-fictional, dating I think only to about the middle of the 20th century. The "psi-" part is like "psychic" and the "-onics" like "electronics" (which was an exciting new field of science and technology at the time).

Quote from: Phillip;850161It is science-fictional, dating I think only to about the middle of the 20th century.

Yeah, all my old issues of Astounding from the '50s are full of articles and stories about 'Psi'.

The word, though, can't be the font of furor. It would be like, "Do you like magic-users, fighting men and clerics? Do you use them?" being a seriously controversial issue just because lots of folks prefer to call them wizards, warriors and priests.

If what's meant is some particular set of rules, then I can understand it. But there have been lots of different sets of rules!

The meaning of the word to me, though, comes from its original SF context. It's what you call magical "mental powers" when you want give them a pseudo-scientific spin. The actual standing of all 'psionics' in science today is roughly on par with astrology, water dowsing and spirit mediumry, but the notion was more acceptably SF in former decades.

The imagined powers themselves are about as "new age" as the stone age.

Quote from: Phillip;850164The word, though, can't be the font of furor. It would be like, "Do you like magic-users, fighting men and clerics? Do you use them?" being a seriously controversial issue just because lots of folks prefer to call them wizards, warriors and priests.

Except all those terms still have a 'fantasy' feel to them... whereas 'psionics' never did to me... at least not mainstream Tolkienesque Eurofantasy. It would be fine in Sword & Planet stuff or wild crossover settings.

Quote from: Phillip;850164The imagined powers themselves are about as "new age" as the stone age.

Yes, that's why I think the name 'psionics' is a problem... but calling it 'mysticism' or somesuch takes the scifi out of it... as does removing some of the more extreme powers... like powerful telekinesis and all the Scanners/Firestarter stuff. Make it unreliable and leave the visions/prophecies open to interpretation.
I really don't think it works so well in class and level games because IMO it shouldn't ever get that wacky powerful... it's an innate, untrained power. Once a 'Mystic' leveled up, like a lot of other things, it crosses over into superheroes and scifi... but that's just my preference for low-powered fantasy showing.

In something like Magic World I might keep it as simple powers that a person could have, but improving them would require actual magical study and formalization into rituals/spells or whatnot. Learning to turn the ability that can sometimes set a piece of paper on fire into a full-fledged fireball attack.

Quote from: Phillip;850151I disagree. The most archetypal 'psionic' talents are such things as:

picking up emotions and impressions of thoughts
getting a sense of past or future events associated with a place, item or person
getting a vision of events transpiring elsewhere
great ability to heal others' physical as well as psychic wounds
sensing danger or making "lucky" choices
perceiving entities beyond normal human ken such as ghosts
influencing others' perceptions and feelings
mastery of one's own mind and body, including things normally considered beyond control

All of these seem to me not only in keeping with Middle Earth, but far less likely to stand out as exceptional than many things that are relatively commonplace in the D&D magic system and others like it.

This argument can be convincingly made, but only for the enumerated things.  Powers like psionic blast, psychic crush, and dimension walk are another thing entirely.  I would still argue those don't fit the typical "fantasy" milieu very well.

Quote from: IggytheBorg;850170This argument can be convincingly made, but only for the enumerated things.  Powers like psionic blast, psychic crush, and dimension walk are another thing entirely.  I would still argue those don't fit the typical "fantasy" milieu very well.

I agree... though I'm not sure what 'dimension walk' is... could that be just some sort of astral projection? Call it 'dreamwalk' or something?

If memory serves, it was actual, physical dimensional teleportation of a sort. Kind of reminded me, from the description, of how the royal family of Amber moved through Shadow in the Zelazny novels.  A very flashy power.

Quote from: Orphan81;849964But they'd stand out like a sore thumb say in places like Middle Earth.

Telepathy shows up in the books as does agressive mind reading.