Thought Exercise: A Psionic Fantasy World...

Good Morning, All:

For those that know me, you are likely aware that I feel that psionics does not have a place in my fantasy games. (As an example of how much I feel psionics does not belong in my campaign worlds, the goddess of dreams and the mind is the one that dies to form the Madlands, as opposed to the Shieldmatron in the Hammersong's Legacy campaign setting I published last year.) My position on the subject is that, for me, psionics is much better as a source of special abilities in sci-fi games, while magic fills the same role in fantasy campaigns. However, I can think of one possible situation in which I'd be okay with the concept: what if psionics were the only source of special abilities in the campaign? Any cleric with "divine gifts" is simply a psion working for a religious organizations. Any mage with "arcane powers" is simply a psion with a ritualistic approach to tapping into his own mental abilities. Such a setting would work well using the Traveller rules, the D20 System rules (such as the Third Dawn Campaign Setting by Dreamscarred Press), or my gaming group's current favorite rules system, Savage Worlds.

With the possibly that, like the less powerful wish spell, the wording of the Rite of Worldly Transformation could potentially be perverted, the fact that it could result in a psionic fantasy world came to mind. In order to prepare for that possibility, I thought I would engage in a thought exercise exploring the concept, and since I'm blogging today, you guys get to come along for the ride.

Character concepts are always a big consideration for me when crafting a new setting, and this would be no different. Since we won't have the traditional roles from a D&D-esque game, my thought is to fall back on the three generic class concept first introduced in 3E Unearthed Arcana: warrior, expert and adept. (This is the same concept that was picked up and expanded by the True 20 system by Green Ronin.

The role of warriors in such a setting would not change dramatically. You'd still have knights, soldiers, gladiators, swashbucklers, woodsman, etc., none of which would be impacted by the lack of magic or the presence of psionics. Class concepts that touched on magic (such as the fighting man/magic-user concept behind the sorcerer or the fighting man/cleric concept behind the crusader in Hammersong's Legacy) would have to be changed in light of the presence of psionics (perhaps a warrior/adept concept inspired by the Jedi of Star Wars fame, or the more mystical monk class from 1E and 3E).

Experts would also be unchanged, such as rogues, sages, assassins, and aristocrats, as they are largely uninvolved with magic. Again, multi-class concepts such as seekers (a rogue/cleric) or dungeoneers (the rogue/magic-user class from Hammersong's Legacy) would have to be modified or redesigned, replacing magical power with psionics (and I don't have any examples of this, so I'd likely spend some time coming up with ideas here.)

Adepts, or psions, would be what gives such a setting its more unique flavors. Looking at the classic types of psionic powers defined in roleplaying games, we can see a number of potential roles emerge. Those talented in clairsentience would like fill the same roles as diviners and oracles within the culture of our psionic world. The psychokinetic or telekinetic types serve in much the same manner as force mages, and with some cultural emphasis, I'd probably make them my go-to specialization for a warmage role, as they replace the damage capacity of evokers. Psions specializing in psychoportation or teleportation would probably create a cultural role that promotes high speed movement and transportation. Psychoportive cat burglars are also a good concept for mystical rogue types (hmmm, sounds like my first volunteer for an expert/adept multi-class concept). Telepathic psions would replace enchanters and interrogators in the world. Empathic healers would provide healing and some of the basics previously given by clerics. I'm sure that, depending on the system and the list of powers I made available to psions, I could come up with other specializations, and that's without even considering 3E core classes and prestige classes for additional concepts for potential addition.

The monsters of the setting would lose any obviously magical abilities that did not duplicate psionics, unless a psionic equivalent could be found. (For example, creatures that turn a foe to stone may instead simply paralyze them or stun them into unconsciousness.) This would lend itself well to a subtle shift in flavor that would make for distinctive gaming experiences, and emphasize the new setting. That's always a big plus in my book.

Races would not need to change as much. If they did, I'd be more for limiting them to human and possibly a few psionic races instead of keeping the wide plethora of races available that would be found in a magical fantasy world. Then again, you could always just get rid of the more magical races and replace them with a psionic equivalent.

Okay, by running through this basic thought exercise, I can now envision a fantasy game using psionics instead of magic, and I think I could be happy with that. It has enough diversity to let me players find enjoyment with it, and yet there's enough similarities to previous gaming experiences that the concepts aren't alien to them. That promotes connections and provides springboards for expanding on the gaming experience of the players. I wouldn't have to worry about the typically unbalanced nature of psionics versus magic found under most rules systems, and it's something I could port over into a science fiction campaign if I wanted to use it later.

Yes, This Has Potential,
Flynn

Fantasy Concepts: Adding Psionics To The Mix...

Good Afternoon, All:

A recent purchaser of Fantasy Concepts wrote me an email asking about how one could introduce psionics into their games. I didn't include psionics in the original rules because I am not a fan of psionics in my fantasy games. However, as this was not the first request I've received along the way, I realize that others might enjoy some input on adding that element to their games. Following in the trends set in my post on adding Vancian magic back into Fantasy Concepts, I present the following talent for Scholars.

Psionic Mastery
Through this talent, a Scholar gains the ability to manifest psionic powers.

Benefit: When a Scholar selects their first level in the Psionic Mastery talent, the Scholar must decice which psionic discipline he will specialize in. Choosing a discipline provides a Scholar with Psionic Mastery with access to the powers restricted to that discipline. This also means that the Scholar cannot learn powers that are restricted to other disciplines.

A Scholar with Psionic Mastery begins play knowing three psionic powers of your choice. Each time he achieves a new level of mastery, he unlocks the knowledge of new powers.

Choose the powers known from the psion power list, or from the list of powers of your chosen discipline. You cannot choose powers from restricted discipline lists other than your own discipline list. You can choose powers from disciplines other than your own if they are not on a restricted discipline list. A Scholar with Psionic Mastery can manifest any power that has a power point cost equal to or lower than his character level.

The number of times a Scholar with Psionic Mastery can manifest powers in a day is limited only by his daily power points.

A Scholar with Psionic Mastery simply knows his powers; they are ingrained in his mind. He does not need to prepare them (in the way that some spellcasters prepare their spells), though he must get a good night’s sleep each day to regain all his spent power points.

The Difficulty Class for saving throws against psion powers is 10 + the power’s level + the Scholar with Psionic Mastery’s Intelligence modifier. Maximum Power Level Known: A Scholar with Psionic Mastery begins play with the ability to learn 1st-level powers. As he attains higher levels, a Scholar with Psionic Mastery may gain the ability to master more complex powers.

To learn or manifest a power, a Scholar with Psionic Mastery must have an Intelligence score of at least 10 + the power’s level. Unless otherwise stated, you may manifest a power as a standard action. You must make a magic power check against a DC of 10 + power level to successfully manifest your power. If your power description indicates that a specific Save Score must be overcome, then the magic power check must also overcome the target's Save Score. The spellcasting ability score modifier for psionics is Intelligence.

Special: This talent can be taken up to ten times. A Scholar's level of ability in Psionic Mastery is based on the number of times the character has selected this talent. For example, a Scholar that has taken the Psionic Mastery talent three times is said to have 3rd level mastery.

Table: Psionic Mastery Talent

Level of Mastery	Power Points/Day	Powers Known	Maximum Power Level Known
1st	2	3	1st
2nd	11	7	2nd
3rd	25	11	3rd
4th	46	15	4th
5th	72	19	5th
6th	106	22	6th
7th	147	25	7th
8th	195	28	8th
9th	250	31	9th
10th	311	34	9th

Hope That Helps,
Flynn

Stellar Quest: Psionics...

Good Morning, All:

Here's a quick peek at the beginning of the Psionics section of Stellar Quest. After this introduction, I am describing the various abilities (talents) that fall under each given specialty. I'm allowing Eradanites to select Telepathy as one of their specialties, even if it isn't normally on their branch's list, since many of the Vulcans that inspired the race had telepathic powers.

PSIONICS

Psionics is the study and/or practice of using the mind to induce paranormal phenomena. Psionic powers typically fall into one of several different fields of specialty: Clairsentience (the ability to perceive outside the known human senses and gather information at a distance), Psionic Healing (the ability to diagnose and cure disease and other physical ailments), Psychometabolism (the ability to control one's own internal metabolic processes), Psychometry (the ability to locate and perceive objects and the events surrounding them over great distances in space and time), Telekinesis (the ability to manipulate matter at a distance without physical contact), Telepathy (the ability to transfer thoughts and emotions, including the ability to know another's thoughts), Teleportation (the ability to move from one location to another without travelling through the intervening space) and Thermokinesis (the ability to manipulate temperatures at a distance, including starting fires or flash-freezing a location). At the Referee's discretion, other psionic specialties may be allowed.

Psionics are powered by Psionic Strength points. Every character that has a psionic specialty has a pool of Psionic Strength points equal to their Psi ability score. Using a psionic ability, called a talent, costs a number of Psionic Strength points, temporarily reducing the character’s total. Expended Psionic Strength points are recovered at the rate of one point per hour.

In order to attempt to use a psionic talent, a character must have the psionic specialty associated with that ability. If the character does not possess a specialty in that field, then they will automatically fail when attempting to use such a psionic talent. Having a given psionic specialty grants access to all talents associated with that specialty. However, if the character does not have enough Psionic Strength points available to completely pay for a given talent, any attempt to activate that talent automatically fails, and one of the character's remaining Psionic Strength points is spent.

Optional Rule: Sacrificing Health For Power
As an optional rule, a character may elect to take hit point damage in order to gain additional Psionic Strength points, at a rate of 1d6 points of damage for every Psionic Strength point gained. This damage is resolved at the time the character attempts to activate a psionic talent, and could result in the character becoming unconscious or even dead. Should such happen, the attempt to activate a psionic talent automatically fails.

Using A Psionic Talent
To activate a talent, the character must make a Psi ability check using the appropriate specialty (Telepathy, Telekinesis, etc), adding any other modifiers as given by the Referee. The Difficulty of the talent is given in its description below. He must also spend the listed number of Psionic Strength points if he succeeds, or one point if he fails. A character with no Psionic Strength points cannot attempt to activate a power.

Many abilities are ranged. The Psionic Range table lists the number of points required to project an ability out to a given range – these must be paid as well as any points to activate the ability. Each talent has a different set of costs, with the exception of Psychometabolism – all Psychometabolism abilities apply to the psionic character only.

Enjoy,
Flynn

Stellar Quest: Thoughts on Psionics...

Good Afternoon:

In looking at Stellar Quest, I started considering the possible presence of Psionics in the game, as many of the inspirational material presented creatures or characters with psionic powers as adventure fodder. In addition, the ship's First Officer had some mental talents of his own. Finally, psionics have a place in science fiction. While I considered basing psionic potential on Wisdom, because it often represents insight or enlightenment, or Charisma, which is a measure of one's personal magnetism and self-confidence, in the end, I think I'm going to follow the lead of Starships & Spacemen and Traveller, and introduce a Psi ability score. Psi would be generated just like the six original stats, and follow the same ability score modifiers.

Given that I already have a branch of the Fleet based on each ability score, I would imagine that we should have a separate class based on the Psi ability, which I imagine we'd call the Psionic branch, Mentalist branch or Sensitive branch. The reason I want to go with a class for this is because I don't want to add yet another mechanic or level of complexity to a simple system. With a class, I have two possible options: I can either make it a basic spell-like system modeled after the Magic-User class, much like how it was handled in Savage Swords of Athanor; or I could use Specialties to create a pseudo-skill based approach inspired by Traveller. For the sake of consistency with other classes, I think I'd prefer the Specialties approach, but I am concerned that others may desire an approach more in tune with Swords & Wizardry.

What do you think?

With Regards,
Flynn