Psionic Role Play
So you've got yourself a complete psi-active character. Now what?
Does he just hang around all day at the local diner, watching the news and waiting for the latest criminal caper? Does he hold down a nine to five job, only wielding his powers when circumstances demand it? Does he cloister himself away in a secluded monastery and study the mental arts incessantly? Does he pursue an agenda designed to change the entire world, or perhaps just a small portion of it?
The short answer is that a psi can do just about anything he wants. Thanks to the nature of his powers, the mere possession of psionic abilities does not outwardly betray their presence. Sometimes, even wielding psionics directly has no visible or other cue to their use, which means one can often go about their business, using their psionic powers as they see fit in life - with no one the wiser.
An important thing to consider is how easily one's psi powers can help out their job. Imagine the television repair man that has diagnosis, or the lawyer with lie detection. These psis could be frighteningly good at what they do, and make lots of money in the process. Is this entirely ethical? That's a very hard question to answer, but when the bills are due, it can be difficult to resist the temptation to 'cheat' with one's powers.
Obviously, most psis don't go about advertising their abilities - or else everyone would be aware of them. This allows the majority of psi-active individuals to do whatever it is they want with their powers. Some might hold down a secret identity when not fighting crime, some might well be the leaders of social movements dedicated to any number of goals, while still more might just focus on their psionic studies above all else.
Unlike sorcerers, a psi need not spend long periods of time researching lost knowledge to gain power. Unlike technologists, a psi doesn't have to perfect some piece of hardware before using it in the field. And unlike mutants and mishaps of science, there's nothing physical about a psi that readily broadcasts their nature. Thus, a psi can easily have a life apart from their powers, if they so choose.
While this ambiguity seems like it doesn't 'say' anything about the nature of a psi in general, the truth is their powers allow them much more flexibility than those following other paths of power in how they live their lives. And that's one of the true strengths of playing a psi - with less cultural 'baggage' holding them down, they're much more reliant on themselves and the possibilities their psionic powers afford them.
The following is a series of concerns that set the life of a student of psionics apart from other super human entities. Some involve their day to day life, some examine basic details about how certain facets of psionics function, and still more are optional details that can be used to add 'flavor' to one's psi-active character. Specifics on psionic character advancement are also included.
Learning Psionic Powers
While a psi need not dig deep into abandoned ruins and ancient dungeons to discover the secrets of power, the truth is that mastering psionic powers is in and of itself no summer picnic. Psis have to turn their mind's eye inward, seeking the knowledge about themselves that allows them to activate their abilities. And truly facing yourself down - both the good parts and the bad - is never an easy affair.
In order to become a trained psi, one must first discover how to awaken their psionic potential. While some dedicated individuals may very well meditate intently enough to determine how to do this on their own, a trained psi most often requires the assistance of a mentor to activate their psionic potential. Such an individual is called an upsilon, and typically instructs several different students, called epsilons, over his lifetime.
Most often an upsilon will be the master of one or more disciplines of power, though there are a rare few mentors of a casual bent, who have never come into their own in any particular discipline - but nonetheless have a staggering array of psionic powers they can help another unlock. These casual upsilons may mentor other epsilons of casual schooling, or instead mentor other psis who have lost their own instructors for some reason.
Once a trained psi is first activated, he need only engage in an hour or so of meditation per day to either advance his extant powers or to unlock all new ones. This is easiest with the aid of an upsilon of course, but not all psis are so fortunate. Perhaps they lost an upsilon due to tragedy early on, or were instead cast out for aberrant behavior of some sort - these things do happen.
Maintaining Psionic Powers
Some psionics, such as a psi bolt, are of instantaneous effect; you invoke it, it fires, and that's it. A large number of psi powers are not quite so cut and dried, however. While many are in fact 'fire and forget' in nature, many more require constant effort on the part of the psi in order to function properly. This is called power maintenance. A psi may invoke a new power with each action, but can only maintain so many simultaneously.
The number of psionics a character can maintain at any given time is dependent on his Reason (mem) score. If the psi has a Reason (mem) rank of Typical (6) or less, he can only maintain one psionic at a time. For each rank of Reason (mem) he holds above Typical (6), then, a psi can maintain an additional power at the same time. A psi with Remarkable (30) ranked Reason (mem), for instance, can maintain four psi powers at once.
Unless one is a novice epsilon, it's most likely a character cannot maintain all of his persistent powers at the same time - it's just too hard to spread one's concentration so thin. Most often, it's in the best interest of a psi to keep his most important ability (or abilities) 'on' constantly, possibly oscillating between a few if his memory isn't too impressive, in order to defend himself under varying circumstances.
This can involve a lot of invocation of psi powers as is necessary, while keeping as many running as one's mind can reasonably focus on. Toggling powers may seem inconvenient - and it is, to an extent - but when one has about twenty powers to choose from, it's hard to feel too sorry for a body. Scientific misfits need not bother with such matters, but then they can't gain all new powers without devastating their very bodies, now, can they?
Character Advancement
After undertaking many adventures, or simply vanquishing the forces of evil for a time, a psi may have gained new insight into the world and how it works; in other words, Karma. For the most part, psi-actives use Karma much like any other character type, spending just as much when purchasing new talents or contacts, or when enhancing a current ability or power rank; this is handled as is defined in the Core Rules.
One facet of Karma use that is different for a psi is the purchasing of new powers.
Purchasing New Powers (Trained Psis)
Since psionic powers are defined as the equivalent of talents (as far as normal game mechanics go), a trained psi may learn new powers for the same cost - one thousand Karma points. Generally, new arts begin at Feeble (2) rank, talents at Poor (4) rank, and skills at Typical (6) rank. This allows a psi to quickly acquire a respectable roster of available powers, though work must be put into each to make them effective.
On the other hand, one may spend more Karma if he wishes a psi power to start at a higher rank. This can be done by paying one thousand Karma points for the 'base' power, plus one hundred times the final rank number. For example, say a psi wishes to buy a new art at Remarkable (30) rank. The cost would be 1,000 (base cost) plus 3,000 (the rank number of Remarkable times one hundred) for a grand total of 4,000 Karma.
This sounds like a lot of Karma to spend at one time, but a) grants a powerful new ability, and b) can actually be cheaper than raising an ability up the hard way; it's just a more 'front loaded' expenditure. However, if the price to raise an ability to the desired rank would be lower by doing it point by point (through, say, normal advancement), use that cost instead (this is occasionally the case with higher ranked skills).
All of the above assumes powers with a standard cost; in other words, a psionic that has a listed cost of one point per rank. If a power is listed as having a cost equal to 2 points per rank, double its total Karma cost, and so on. If a power is listed with a 'flat cost', the price is only 250 Karma points per point; invulnerability aura, for instance, would cost 3,000 Karma.
Once the 'total' cost is determined for a new power, apply a modifier to that value based on the form of psionic schooling a character has. Traditional psis gain a twenty five percent discount, while casual psis suffer a twenty five percent increase in the cost of new powers. Even with such a penalty for some trained psis, it's relatively easy and fast for them to gain new abilities with proper study.
Purchasing New Powers (Other Psis)
A natural psi or a believer, on the other hand, has a much harder time acquiring new psionic powers. The whole idea with them is that happenstance or their beliefs unlocked their psionic abilities to begin with, so adding more is tricky. It's possible new powers can be explained as new aspects of that belief or incident which first awakened one's powers, but this gets more and more difficult over time.
Since their minds aren't primed for the acquisition of new powers due to proper training, a natural psi or a believer must pay a base cost of three thousand Karma instead of just one, though all the other rules above apply. As prohibitive as such costs may be (particularly when considering powers that cost more than one point per rank), it often behooves these individuals to pursue proper education as a trained psi for such purposes.
Untutored Advancement
A character who attempts to awaken his own psi potential - or to study new powers before ready to go it alone - does do at a distinct penalty. Learning new psi powers, or advancing existing ones, costs twenty five percent more Karma without a mentor to aid in the endeavor. This penalty lasts until one masters their first discipline or has learned thirteen distinct psi powers (whichever of the two comes first).
This penalty is on top of any others inflicted by their form of activation. A casual psi would suffer this atop their existing twenty five percent penalty, while natural psis and believers would have this penalty in addition to the higher base cost for purchasing new 'untrained' powers in the first place. This is why, if one intends to study psionics proper, it pays to work with a mentor of the mental arts, instead of doing it solo.
Power Stunts
Over time, a psi may wish to work with a power in order to develop a new use for it, instead of simply meditating on a new one. Such new uses are called power stunts. Every attempt to create a psionic power stunt costs 50 Karma points per try, but they are otherwise governed by the same basic rules that exist for all other characters. So, if you have a new idea for the uses of a dusty old power, give it a shot, already!
A power stunt starts out at -1 CS of the original power, but it doesn't count as a power for the purposes of discipline mastery. This may hamper a character's mastery of a discipline some, but allows him to develop related powers at a relative discount compared to buying it at a much higher Karma cost. This is why natural and believer psis tend to lean on stunts, getting all they can out of their existing power roster.
Mastering Psionic Disciplines
One of the benefits of psionic schooling is the mastery of a discipline of power. Trained psis have the ability to do this, once a) they've learned the root power in a given discipline, and b) raised at least nine powers in said discipline to Excellent (20) or better rank. This makes one a master of said discipline, which offers a psi a few handy perks (on top of, you know, having nine powers).
For one thing, a +1 CS will apply to every power rank in a discipline a psi has mastered. This column shift applies immediately to powers a psi already knows in said discipline, as well as any other powers he picks up at a later date. This CS applies to new powers after they are bought (which gives one even more incentive to purchase a power at a higher than standard rank).
Overminding in Psionic Disciplines
A feat only a traditionally trained psi may pull off, psionic overminding is a situation that occurs some time after a psi has learned more than half of the powers in said discipline. At a point determined by the game Judge, usually between learning one half and two thirds of a given discipline, a traditional psi will begin to overmind in it. What this does is apply yet another +1 CS to all his power ranks in said discipline.
Furthermore, the overlapping channels of power in his mind will allow him to spontaneously manifest all of the other abilities in the discipline he has not yet learned. They will only be extant at the standard beginning ranks +2 CS (one for mastery, one for overminding), but this means that the psi has learned everything he can in this discipline of power. The only thing that remains is to develop the powers within as he sees fit.
Or to begin work mastering another discipline...
Omniminds
An omnimind is a character who has unlocked every single psionic power available - his mind is one hundred percent active. An omnimind comes into being much like an overmind, though where the number of disciplines are concerned - not individual powers. If a psi lives long enough (often thanks to metapsi powers), overminding in five different disciplines, it's possible the other four will open themselves up to him soon afterwards.
If the psi who has five overminded disciplines begins to train with a sixth, he will become an omnimind some time during that process, usually after he's mastered his latest discipline, but sometimes as late as when he's become an overmind in it. When this happens, every single psi power remaining will open itself up to the character, and he can quite literally do just about anything. Anything at all!
Though developing all those new powers will take some time, the character definitely has that time to use.
Optional Psionics Concerns
Unlike those heroes who utilize powers of a biological nature (mutants, altered humans) or others that are based upon knowledge (sorcerers, technologists), a psi-active character wields power that is derived solely from the interaction of his mind, body and spirit. In game play, this aspect of psionics can be simulated by adopting one or more of the following notions; the rules presented here are optional.
On the other hand, if a given rule is not in play in one's campaign, it can make for a great character limitation! Fatigue rules can really put a damper on a psi in a long-running battle, particularly against other super-powered foes who lack such a limitation. Initiative penalties can definitely shift the course of a battle, lending more weight to a psi's 'lesser' abilities. And so on.
Distraction: psi powers require intense concentration in order to be invoked properly - they involve nigh-absolute focus in order to achieve effects of the mind or body that are typically impossible for 'normals'. This is why the number of powers a psi can maintain simultaneously depends on his Reason score - that statistic controls, among other things, the inner-looking, meditative eye that makes using psionics possible.
Thus, when someone successfully distracts a psi, they just might prevent them from using some - if not all - of their psi powers. If the psi is suffering extreme pain (often defined as taking more damage than their Endurance rank in one attack) or someone they care deeply for is in immediate mortal peril, they must make a Reason FEAT roll in order to determine whether or not they lose their focus.
A white distraction FEAT indicates that the psi cannot use any of their powers at all. A green FEAT means any attempt to use a talent or art will fail, a yellow FEAT roll allows skills or talents to be used without failure, and a red FEAT roll means the psi, despite whatever prevailing conditions exist outside himself, can still utilize any of his psionics. A psi may attempt to use an interrupted power again on their next action.
External Focus: while the whole idea of psionics is to look deep inside oneself in order to find the secrets that lie within, it's quite possible that a psi cannot externalize his powers without some sort of mental lens. This focus, an item outside of the psi himself, allows him to wield his powers on the external world; any power that would affect anything outside of one's own body may well require a focus.
This focus can be anything, really. Perhaps a trinket from one's childhood or just some lifeless hunk of crystal. This is technically a character limitation, and the amount of power boost it provides depends on how irreplaceable the focus is. One can find crystals and gems relatively easily, even if they're somewhat expensive, but an item from one's childhood (especially when his home burned down as a child) might be very hard to replace.
A somewhat common item would provide a psi a +1 CS to his power ranks. Rare but by no means unique items should offer a +2 CS to psionics. Incredibly rare but not necessarily solitary items may provide a +3 CS. A unique item that literally cannot be replaced would offer a psi a +4 CS to his power ranks. Training oneself to use a new focus (particularly if his is lost) should be the subject of a special adventure for the psi.
Fatigue: psionics is difficult work, and it can rapidly tire a psi-active character who exhausts his energy too quickly. This is because psionics draw upon the whole self in order to function, being fueled by the character and the character alone. This can be easily represented by a fatigue intensity; normally at Shift 0 rank, this intensity is increased by invoking powers, some draining more energy than others.
Skills add 1 to a character's fatigue intensity, talents add 2, and arts add 3. Fatigue intensity only comes into play as it approaches the rank of a psi's Psyche; he can only wield a psionic power in a given round if he can first pass a Psyche FEAT roll against this fatigue intensity. If his fatigue exceeds his Psyche score by more than +1 CS, he cannot activate any psi powers at all.
How does one avoid this loss of power use, one asks? Quite simply, by not using psionics. A psi who refrains from using his powers in a given turn can reduce his fatigue by one point; he may not wield any psionics, but a power used previously that is still being maintained (like flight or armor) will not hamper this loss of fatigue. Where fatigue is concerned, it is best to invoke powers in moderation (or to end a conflict quickly).
Initiative Modifiers: there are three types of psionic powers, each of them taking longer to actualize in a psi. A psionic skill possesses an initiative modifier of -1, while a talent has a -2 initiative modifier and an art suffers a -3 initiative modifier. This better reflects the effort necessary to muster such effects, and can radically alter a psi's battle strategy, leading him to use his 'weaker' abilities more in a scrap.
Of course, a psi should be allowed to reduce this modifier some as his prowess grows. Once he has become the master of a given discipline, a psi's initiative penalty for powers in said discipline should be reduced by one, while achieving the status of disciplinary overmind should reduce it by two - which, incidentally, will actually give him a net +1 modifier when using affected psionic skills.