Psionics

Psionics are mental abilities that allow a character to tap into their mind’s full potential, enabling feats like telekinesis, telepathy, or psychic manipulation.

During Session Zero, groups are encouraged to discuss the choice of story and setting to determine if and which types of physic powers are appropriate before proceeding with character creation.

Defining Psychic Abilities

The following is a list of common psychic powers.

TELEPATHY: The ability to read minds or communicate mentally with others. Telepaths can sense thoughts, emotions, and sometimes even influence or control minds.

TELEKINESIS: The power to move or manipulate objects using mental force. Telekinetic users can lift, throw, or reshape objects from a distance, and sometimes shield themselves with force fields.

CLAIRVOYANCE: The ability to perceive distant locations or events beyond normal sensory reach. Clairvoyants can see things happening far away or get glimpses of possible future outcomes.

PYROKINESIS: The control over fire and heat through mental focus. Pyrokinetics can ignite flames, control their intensity, and manipulate fire for offensive or defensive purposes.

PSYCHOMETRY: The power to gain information about an object or person through touch. A psychometrist can receive visions or impressions about the history or emotions associated with a particular item.

MIND CONTROL: The ability to dominate and manipulate the thoughts or actions of others. This power allows a character to control a target’s behavior.

PRECOGNITION: The power to foresee future events, often giving characters the ability to predict outcomes or avoid danger. Precognitive abilities can range from brief flashes of the future to more detailed predictions.

EMPATHY: The ability to sense and influence the emotions of others. Empaths can read emotional states and even calm or incite strong feelings in those around them.

PSYCHIC HEALING: The ability to heal physical or mental injuries through mental power. Psychic healers can accelerate recovery or mend wounds, often by channeling their psionic energy into the target.

ASTRAL PROJECTION: The power to separate the mind or spirit from the body, allowing a character to travel as a disembodied presence. Astral projection enables exploration of distant places or other planes of existence without physical movement.

Creating Psychic Powers

A character's physic abilities are expressed through assets and features.

ASSETS: Use assets to add a psychic ability if the power can be directly leveraged to increase the chance of success when performing specific actions. For example, adding an Empathy asset can be leveraged in social conditions when attempting to persuade or intimidate another character.

FEATURES: Use features to boost and extend a character's psychic abilities. Features can be used to impose specific conditions, provide passive abilities, or break the rules for a standard turn. For example, a feature could boost empathy to add a Lie Detector passive ability.

The following are some examples of psychic abilities that could be added as assets. Use tags to identify the kinds of conditions the asset can be used for.

SAMPLE ASSETS
Telepathy (*read-minds, *silent-speech, *influence)
Psychic Healing (#heal, *soothe)
Telekinesis (#move-objects, #block-objects)

The following are examples of psychic powers that could be expressed as features.

PSYCHIC OVERLOAD - You can push yourself to extend the power of your psionic ability. Add a bane to your control conditions to a) double the range of your psychic ability, b) apply the effect to all targets within a small area, or c) target up to 3 characters within short range.

PSYCHIC INSPIRATION - You occasionally exhibit a natural talent and inspiration when using a psychic ability. Twice per encounter, when performing an action using a psychic ability you gain an automatic success.

LIE DETECTOR - You have an innate talent to detect lies. If you can see and hear a target character, you can automatically tell if they are lying.

DANGER CLOSE - You have an innate ability to detect danger. You can't be surprised by an attack and are lead the initiative order when being ambushed.

SOOTHING AURA - You mind can heal and rejuvenate friendly characters nearby. Once per encounter you can activate a soothing aura that surrounds you. Any nearby allies can remove a bane from their performance or control conditions.