Main | Campaign Info | The Confederation

In the Confederation of Worlds, psychics are beings of various species with the natural power to reach within themselves and affect the external world with their will. Most psychics can do a few minor things, little tricks they’ve taught themselves over the years, and as such few people really believe in psychic powers, or that they are truly powerful. In truth, most of them aren’t.

Then there are races with natural psychic powers. True psi, abilities that often defy rational explanation and the training to use them properly. It is these races that provide the horror stories of peoples personalities being eradicated or hearts stopped with a glance. These races have PSI -- trained, strong, specialised and often very potent. Luckily for other races at large, all known psi races are also empathic, making it very difficult, if not impossible, to kill someone with their powers and not die also.

Game Mechanics

First off, psychics are rare. While most races do have some natural mental talents, most either fear, ignore or scorn their uses and those who use them, making learning and teaching of these skills difficult. PSI's (those specialised in 1 (or more) broad power) tend to be far rarer unless their race is naturally PSI, in which case they almost certainly have evolved safeguards to prevent themselves from killing with the mind alone. Specialist teleporters are an exception to this since without the ability to control ones 'porting precisely, they tend to have very limited life expectancies.

Point-wise, haveing 1-4 points in a certain skill is beginning, 5-10 medium, 10-15 is definitely proficient and anything higher is available only to specialists with lots of determination and time on their hands to learn it. You can use skills or quirks (preferably skills, starting out) to gain these powers. If one is a specialist, they are obliged to spend at least half their skill points on PSI abilities.

Psychic Powers

Biokinesis (bike) - This classification involves all abilities to affect both the psychic’s body and the bodies of others using touch and mental power alone.
Telekinesis (teek) - At its most basic, teeking is the ability to move objects through the air. It also includes other kinetics, such as producing fire and electricity or changing the weight of objects.
Telepathy (peep) - Telepathy is a fairly broad power, covering everything from enhanced intuition to projecting thoughts, mental communication, basic mind reading and empathic abilities.
Teleportation (porter) - This ability covers the skill to move oneself from place to place with a thought and altering ones perceptions of time.

In the Confederation, only telekinisis is officially considered a weapon that can cause direct death and must be registered as such with the appropriate authorities on arriving at a new world or place. While all psychics and psi’s are legally obliged to report their presence, only teeks (and often peeps) can face legal consequences for not revealing their presence.

Biokinesis

Absorb Blow - absorbs the damage of the next physical attack directed at them.
Armour - The PCs body becomes tougher.
Change Self - Changes the psychics physical appearance to an extent.
Heal - The PC heals someone’s wounds by draining 1 toughness for every point healed.
Hurt - Takes the damage from an absorbed blow and sends it back into the attacker.
Restore Energy - Invigorates someone with burst of hyper energy and reflexes.

Telekinisis


Deflection - This ability allows the psychic to direct one missile assault away from them.
Electric Ecstasy - sends wave of pure pleasure into someone, incapacitating them for 1 minute. The reverse is also possible.
Gravity Shift - Increases the weight of air around someone. Strong enough shifts can force someone to their knees or stop them from moving.
Mind Hand - 5. lb telekinetic hand. Range limited to 10 m..
Open - Opens a door you touch, as long as the security locks aren’t too strong.
Shield - A shield that absorbs simple damage. It covers a 10 m. area around you and can move with you.
Steel Shield - this creates a visible shield (like glass) dome shaped around you and up to 20 m.. It can absorb either physical or energy or even psi attacks. This shield can be placed over others or over and area and remains until the damage dealt to it breaks it.
Teke Lift - lift 50 pounds. Can move it as quickly as you can move.

Telepathy

Alter Self - you can wipe out and replace your own memories.
Change Person - This power allows a telepath to literally rewrite someone’s personality. It is rarely used and unethical by any standard.
Commune - can open a link to someone’s mind and talk to them. They must be willing and either side can break the link at will.
Empathy - Read surface emotions of others. Always active.
Mental projection
Mind Blast - causes a bolt of mental energy to lash into an unprotected mind.
Probe Mind - Scans the surface thoughts of someone for information.
Project Thought - Can send one basic sentence into up to 10 peoples minds in visual range.
Read Mind - Reads someone’s mind. This works best is the subject is sleeping or agrees to the reading.
Read Object - Read the last 10 minutes history of who touched what you pick up.
Sense lie - Sense is someone is lying to you.
True Empath - Read In depth emotions of others. Or change them, perhaps.

Teleportation

Change Speed - You move a bit .
Dimension Shift - You pop into a random dimension.
Phase - You alter the molecular bonds of your body and can all between walls etc. Teleport - teleport 100 yards per point spent. This version is limited to visible range.
Trueportation - teleport anywhere you have been in 1 world.
World Hop - Jumps you to another world.

NOTE: Empathy is always a given to telepaths, unless the PC picks otherwise. Since empaths feel pain, they can't kill without running a high risk of dying themselves. This tends to make telepaths very biddable and easy to control. Yeah, right. On the other hand, teeks without it are regarded very suspiciously.

Also note that telepathy generally only works on mind sets like yours. Weaker minds (animals) are easy to read since they operate only on an instinctual level often enough so its more a matter of empathy that true telepathy. For aliens, one must be a specialist in telepathy to be able to read their minds.

Obviously, this list is far from complete. Rumours of Psis who Double Specialise (only knowing two Psi powers but being good at them) or Psis with one power they control frighteningly well abound. Generally, most people hold psionics in low regard and as a myth. Meeting people with psionic powers happens but meeting real psis is incredibly rare unless the entire race are psis.


Specialists

Specialising in 1 mental power means you can only use powers from 2 other abilities (at most) and only ones you have skills in. Also, you can't put more than 1/2 your skill points placed into your specialist power into your non-specialist psi powers. However, you’re powers in that skill function twice as well as normal.

BIOKINESIS

Alter Texture - Alters the texture of something you touch, hardening or softening it.
Control Body (free) - can control body rhythms. Slow bleeding from wounds, slow heart beat etc.
Feign Death - You’re body’s bio-patterns are suppressed greatly.

TELEPATHY

Join - Allows two beings to forge permanent mental bonds. They can sense each other anywhere and know the state of the others mind. Mental communication is instantaneous.
Precog (free) - You can see possibly futures.
Xenopath (free) - Can read the mind of aliens as well as one’s own species. Very useful.
Wide Scan - Scan a crowd for basic thoughts, ideas, plans. Can pinpoint people, but it takes time.

TELEKINESIS

Energy Drain - You drain the energy of weapons and other power sources by touch..
Shatter (free) - destroy most small objects (2' by 2' by 2; or smaller) with a glance. It can't be organic.
Death Touch - Reach into someone’s chest and stop their heart. Even if it fails, is induces a heart attack in the subject. Is the single least talked about and most feared psi power.

TELEPORTATION

Control 'Port (free) - You wont 'port into solid buildings or people. Very, very useful.
Jump - The teleporter can teleport up to 10 yards away from any target. This gives them an extra attack.
Move Object - Teleports an object that could fit in a human hand in visual range thats not held down into yours.
'Port Other - You can teleport another person up to 100 yards away to a location you know.
Obviously, this list is far from complete. Rumours of Psis who Double Specialise (only knowing two Psi powers but being good at them) or Psis with one power they control frighteningly well abound. Generally, most people hold psionics in low regard and as a myth. Meeting people w/ psionic powers happens but meeting real psis is incredibly rare.

Making up additional powers is welcomed and encouraged as this list is, obviously, far from complete.

Main | Campaign Info | The Confederation