Quote Originally Posted by Kurald Galain View Post
Fine. Wizard and Swordmage, then.

The point is, there is absolutely zero difference in fluff between "arcane" and "psionic"; the only difference is mechanical (i.e. power points). Note that pretty much all classes in the PHB3 exist to show off a new mechanic, and only the monk represents a literary archetype that hadn't been covered by other existing classes.
Not quite. 4e made psionics heavily tied to the Far Realm in a way that arcane source wasn't (it was presumably too busy hanging out in the Feywild). Also, Arcane and Divine tended to treat having an inborn potential as an exception rather than rule, like with the Sorcerer, whereas psionics tended to turn that on its ear - the monk was something that anyone could pick up, but the other psionic classes relied on some variety of strange, inborn potential. Also, the difference is very, very important if you're playing a game on Athas.

(Also, most classes in general exist to show off a particular mechanic. Avengers used to have the most "best of two d20 rolls", rogues have their advantage-dependent Sneak Attack, etc.)