Wilder

For most wilders, psionic power is not a choice, but a discovery. Some wilders discovered their mental powers in childhood or puberty. While psions train in the academies to harness their abilities, wilders tend to discover their powers accidentally and without training. Most wilders never work to harness their powers, lacking the time, inclination or will to further their training. Lowlevel wilders often think of their power as a handy “gift” or “knack”, rather than a trait that defines them. Generally, only the more focused and powerful will actually identify themselves as “wilders”. Wilders often first release their abilities while under great stress. Even as they progress, stress or excitement can flood through a wilder, allowing a display of power beyond his normal range of ability.

Making a Wilder
Through experience, the wilder discovers supernatural powers that are an extension of his personality. Wilders know fewer powers than other manifesting classes, but their wild surge ability gives their powers greater flexibility. These surges are not without cost, however, and can have a great toll on the careless wilder.

Races: Psionic talent is common in the tablelands. Because of the limited access to psionic instruction, humans elves, halflings, and to a lesser extent, muls, are much more likely to be wilders than psions. Races that are less charismatic, less individualistic, and less prone to emotion, such as thri-kreen and dwarves rarely become wilders; more of them become psions or psychicwarriors. The pterran culture glorifies the path of the psion, so wilders are rare. Half-giants tend to become wilders rather than psions, because even with psionic training, many half-giants lack the wit, Will, or focus to excel as psions.

Alignment: Though wilders have no inclinations towards good or evil, as a whole they tend to be chaotic.

Class Features
As in Psionics Unleashed, except where noted below

Class Skills
Add Survival (Wis) to the Athasian wilder's class skill list, and remove Swim (Str).

Playing a Wilder
As a wilder, you adventure to practice your abilities and gain further understanding and mastery about the Will. You are very passionate about your powers, and you often push yourself to your limits with your wild surges, but you are not blind to its dangers.

Religion
Although wilders, like psions, draw their energies from within, wilder powers require less focus and discipline, so wilders are as likely as any other Athasian to be religious. A wilders religion can have a great impact on his power selection. A wilder who worships fire, for example, often discovers powers that involve light, heat or flame.

Other Classes
Wilder’s opinions vary wildly. Some wilders view psions with awe, respecting the psion’s greater knowledge and control; others chafe under the psion’s perceived superiority complex.

Combat
In combat, you use your impressive array of psionic powers for both attack and defense against your enemies and opponents, just as any other psionicist would. Of course, as a wilder, you can call upon swells of psionic potential that other psionicists cannot access in the form of wild surges.

Advancement
Your interest on psionics is more than academic—it has been your motivating force for years. Perhaps you became a wilder after witnessing one destroying an entire village during one of his surges, or you vowed to gain control of the power you first displayed in your puberty every time you got were angered. Whatever the case, since the day you first became a wilder, you’ve worked to master a power more primal than spells and stronger than steel.

The powers you choose strongly shape your abilities. You are heavily invested in combat prowess as a result of the erratic and emotional nature of your power, but you have some flexibility in how you learn your powers. If you choose only offensive powers, you will have few defenses and limited versatility beyond combat, but you’ll be devastating even in dire situations. If you focus on other powers, you will have more options outside a fight, but you might have only area attacks that could accidentally hurt a friend.

Wilders on Athas
"“Something seemed strange the second I saw Nakua’s face. It's odd. He acted like a different person. My friend Kuko asked him if he was really Nakua or if he was someone else. And those were his last words” ―Ekee, elven dancer"

Psionic is very common on Athas, and wilders can be widely found in the Tablelands, representing psionic energy in its most raw state, and change for change’s sake. Neutral wilders are rare, but such characters become famous within the ranks of their comrades, since their vision is unclouded by moral concerns.

Wilders know that using psionic powers can be strenuous, and the limit of a character’s endurance is his Will. Eventually, even the most powerful of masters becomes exhausted and must rest to replenish his strength. When wounds and exhaustion cloud the vision and the mind swims in delirium, only the greatest wilders possess the Will to continue using their powers.

Daily Life
Wilders spend their days in travel and contemplation, with an occasional rant and wild outburst (usually against the foes an adventurer comes across). They enjoy talking about their psionic abilities and about their life philosophies.

Notables
The xenophobic Kenkus (FFN 126) are the race to most commonly sport wilders, although no one knows for sure why. Elves, due to their chaotic nature, also seem to have a higher rate of wilders in their milieu.

Organizations
A wilder’s path is his own to thread, since no overarching organization exists to recruit you into its ranks. Most wilders are just too erratic and freedomloving to join one, anyway.

NPC Reactions
Most people do not understand the difference between a psion and a wilder, so their attitudes span the spectrum. Psions NPC attitudes range from indifferent to unfriendly, although most psiologists (page 104) tend to have their attitude bent towards hostile.