Is there going to be a Psionics book?

[Sigtrygg]

Be careful what you wish for, note this was a crossover with the White Wolf games at the time, here are the first two pages

Julian May Psionics for Traveller

Each meta function is given a potential (a characteristic rating) on a roll of 2d6 and then during training you have to roll 2d equal to or higher than a target number to achieve full operancy in that faculty.
For every four years past the age of twenty reduce the metafaculty potential by 1.
5+ Farsense
6+ PK
6+ Coercion
7+ Redaction
9+ Creation

DMs:
-1 each time you roll after the first (you can roll for the talents in any order, but if you want Creation don't wait until your fifth roll as you will be at -4)
+1 if potential 9 or higher
+2 if potential 11 or higher

If you achieve operancy in one faculty but not others, the latent talents can be used at half their potential value.

If you are latent, never trained and gain access to a silver or golden torc then your current potential becomes your active characteristic (but remember age penalties). The downside is you may develop Black-torc. syndrome until your mind becomes fully operant in all latent faculties, or you lapse into a coma and die.

Latent Creativity is a bit of an exception. While operant in other metafaculties and latent in Creativity the full Creation potential is used for power points, even though the Meta’s rating in Creativity is halved.

A latent metafaculty can be brought to full operancy through exceptional circumstance, Paramount Redaction, or putting on a torc.

Attribute...........Rank.........White Wolf dots (or power level)
1-3 ................Operant......................O
4-6 .................Adept.........................OO
7-9…. .........Master class..................OOO
10-12.......Grandmaster class...........OOOO
13-15...Paramount Grandmaster....OOOOO
The list below shows all the skills that may be learned in each metafaculty:

FARSENSE
1. farspeach (intimate and declamatory), life sense, shield
2. aura perception, farsight (clairvoyance/clairaudience)
3. micro perception, read surface thoughts

COERCION
1. command, awe, shield
2. suggestion, willpower drain
3. dominate, entrancement, assault
4. summon (requires farsense1)
5. majesty, possession (requires redaction3)

CREATION
energy:
1. light; 2. illusion, laser; 3. invisibility, EM radiation; 4. aura alteration (temporary)
3. sigma field (defensive screen)
4. rho field (inertia less flight)
5. upsilon field (d-jumping)
matter:
3. alteration
4. transmutation
5. generation

PSYCHOKINESIS
1. move object
2. temperature control
3. micromanipulation, body shield (kinetic attacks), plasma bolt (requires Creation 2), flight

REDACTION
1. telempathy, project emotion, read surface thoughts, shield
2. body control, suspend animation, probe, assault, aura alteration (temporary)
3. psyche surgery, healing, willpower drain
4. deep psyche surgery
5. aura alteration (permanent)

 

[ProfGrizzlyJon]

Ouch.
I have also developed a psionics expansion, but it ended up being tied to a biotechnology-based Minor Race.

My version of meta-psionics was basically required the psion to have multiple skills and talents in order to make it work.

IMHO, any expansion of Psionics needs to include vigilant application of the Sanity characteristic and mechanic.

 

[To Tha Moon!]

Sorry, I missed that - we have a Psion book on our 'list of things to do' but it is likely to be quite some time before we can take as proper look at it.

Ok, I'm going to post it then.

 

[To Tha Moon!]

Be careful what you wish for, note this was a crossover with the White Wolf games at the time, here are the first two pages

Julian May Psionics for Traveller

Each meta function is given a potential (a characteristic rating) on a roll of 2d6 and then during training you have to roll 2d equal to or higher than a target number to achieve full operancy in that faculty.
For every four years past the age of twenty reduce the metafaculty potential by 1.
5+ Farsense
6+ PK
6+ Coercion
7+ Redaction
9+ Creation

DMs:
-1 each time you roll after the first (you can roll for the talents in any order, but if you want Creation don't wait until your fifth roll as you will be at -4)
+1 if potential 9 or higher
+2 if potential 11 or higher

If you achieve operancy in one faculty but not others, the latent talents can be used at half their potential value.

If you are latent, never trained and gain access to a silver or golden torc then your current potential becomes your active characteristic (but remember age penalties). The downside is you may develop Black-torc. syndrome until your mind becomes fully operant in all latent faculties, or you lapse into a coma and die.

Latent Creativity is a bit of an exception. While operant in other metafaculties and latent in Creativity the full Creation potential is used for power points, even though the Meta’s rating in Creativity is halved.

A latent metafaculty can be brought to full operancy through exceptional circumstance, Paramount Redaction, or putting on a torc.

Attribute...........Rank.........White Wolf dots (or power level)
1-3 ................Operant......................O
4-6 .................Adept.........................OO
7-9…. .........Master class..................OOO
10-12.......Grandmaster class...........OOOO
13-15...Paramount Grandmaster....OOOOO
The list below shows all the skills that may be learned in each metafaculty:

FARSENSE
1. farspeach (intimate and declamatory), life sense, shield
2. aura perception, farsight (clairvoyance/clairaudience)
3. micro perception, read surface thoughts

COERCION
1. command, awe, shield
2. suggestion, willpower drain
3. dominate, entrancement, assault
4. summon (requires farsense1)
5. majesty, possession (requires redaction3)

CREATION
energy:
1. light; 2. illusion, laser; 3. invisibility, EM radiation; 4. aura alteration (temporary)
3. sigma field (defensive screen)
4. rho field (inertia less flight)
5. upsilon field (d-jumping)
matter:
3. alteration
4. transmutation
5. generation

PSYCHOKINESIS
1. move object
2. temperature control
3. micromanipulation, body shield (kinetic attacks), plasma bolt (requires Creation 2), flight

REDACTION
1. telempathy, project emotion, read surface thoughts, shield
2. body control, suspend animation, probe, assault, aura alteration (temporary)
3. psyche surgery, healing, willpower drain
4. deep psyche surgery
5. aura alteration (permanent)

That's very cool work.

I think if we pit our brains together, we could make a great supplement. I'm going to post up my chart in the regular area and there's a bunch of Psionics stuff on my blog.

More 'flavor' for your Psionics

 

[Sigtrygg]

One day I will revisit it and get rid of the White Wolf stuff,
On the pages that follow those first two there is a more in-depth look at each metafaculty, rules for metaconcerts and the all important torques and CE rigs.

 

[Tom B]

There's a lot of tidying up for the psionics already there.

One question that recently came to mind is for Flight. The description says you can move up to 15m per round flying. But is that a minor action or a standard action? It doesn't say. Personally I would like a minor action so you can shoot and fly at the same time!

It's not been important yet, but when we started playing, I went through the psionic abilities and two of us created a lot of house rules for them to preempt issues arising.

If people are interested I can post our house-rules / clarifications here.

 

[IanBruntlett]

There's a lot of tidying up for the psionics already there.
<snip!>
If people are interested I can post our house-rules / clarifications here.

This sophont is definitely interested...

 

[Tom B]

This sophont is definitely interested...

Life Detection​

The range is distant, but by upping the number of PSI points used you can get it up to Continental, which is a range of 5,000 km. The rules as read (by me), mean that the Traveller is aware of all the minds, animal and sophont in the area (a sphere of up to 5,000 km) and knows what they are and who they are, if he is familiar with them.

This is silly. The Traveller would be overloaded with information.

This needs to be restricted. The Traveller should be able to concentrate on an sub-area. Within that area what can they do?

Suggestion: Once casting the psion, The Traveller is aware of a fuzziness of minds and can concentrate each round on an area of a 20m radius sphere and get the details as specified by the psion in that area.

Also what is the duration?

Suggestion: Go for, number of rounds of the Effect +1. The +1 is to alleviate the problem of being successful and unsuccessful at the same time as discussed below in the telekinesis psions.

Mind Link​

This is used by two telepaths to talk to each other. In most cases a Comdot will be better, but there are two scenarios where I can see Mind Link being useful.

Where privacy is required – arrange it over normal comms. No issues. Could even set up a code word or phrase to do this so no-one else is aware that it is happening.

Where one telepath is in danger and unable to communicate via any other method, e.g. been kidnapped.

So if Bob has been kidnapped and needs to call Alice to arrange a rescue, how does Alice know when Bob is calling? I would suggest that if two telepaths know each other, one can call the other (using Mind Link) and the second knows that the first is calling and can cast their Mind Link psion in order to speak. The psions’ duration starts when both Mind Links are active.

Duration of some telepathy psions​

Telempathy: Assumption: you get to do it once.

Read surface thoughts: Suggestion: this lasts for number of rounds of the effect (+1), see the discussion on telekinesis duration.

Send thoughts: Suggestion: this lasts for number of rounds of the effect (+1). It could be interpreted as a single thought, but the name of the psion is plural!

Probe: This seems to be a long lasting psion, in that from the description a full scale interrogation can be carried out. Suggested duration, effect +1 in minutes.

Telekinesis duration​

For some psions, especially telekinetic ones, The Effect of the check determines the duration of the telekinesis in combat rounds. This can mean success and unsuccess at the same time.

Example: For Flight, the target dice roll is 10. Rolling an 8 with a bonus of 2, means that the Traveller makes the check, but the effect is zero, meaning that the duration is zero!

Suggestion: Increase the duration by an extra round, so a net roll of 10 means the duration is one round, a net roll of 11 means 2 rounds etc.

Psions affected by this rule change:

• Mind Link
• Tactical Awareness
• Telekinesis
• Flight
• Microkinesis
• Fortitude
• Enhanced Strength (but is in 10s of minutes)
• Enhanced Endurance (but is in 10s of minutes)

Note: This rule effects other skills, e.g. first aid. Though at one place in the rules it does say a minimum of one point. This clarification means that an Effect of zero and an Effect of one have exactly the same effect.

Sense​

The description states, ‘The clairvoyant Traveller must state the range at which they are applying the power and will generally sense the most interesting or important feature at that range. The Effect of the check determines the level of accuracy and clarity.

Suggestion: For clarity, the words range are replaced by the word location. I would expect that the size of the location is determined on a case by case basis.

This also affects the Clair… psions.

Regeneration​

How quickly are points regenerated? one per round, instantaneous? Our compromise, is take the effect +1 and that is the number of points regenerated per round.

Can the Traveller choose which stats to regenerate? So if he has lost END and STR, can he choose which to regenerate first or are the points allocated equally?

Suggestion: they are allocated equally, similar to rule for ‘Medical Care’ on page 83.

The regrowth of lost limbs and organs is not instantaneous. So how long does it take to regenerate them and how many psi points does it cost? Presumably you have to cast regeneration multiple times.

Is it restricted by time or number of psion points invested?

We'll probably do this on a case by case basis: about a week worth of successful casting of regeneration for a full limb or organ, a missing hand or finger would be less.

Teleportation​

By the way the heading is wrong in the book.

When it says to be able to teleport with up to 500kg equipment, it says t requires an additional 4 points, is this for a total of 6 or 8? In other words are you saying 4 more than the original base, or 4 more than with 10kg of equipment. My assumption is that the cost is 6.

Also when doubling for going for longer distances (Very Distant or Continental), which you could in space, I would assume you are adding and then doubling, rather than doubling then adding.

All of this could be clarified by just stating this version of the psion costs x.

 

[Tom B]

I've been thinking about this and now I'm retired I have a lot of time on my hands!

Things I would include in a book about psionics.

In no particular order

1) The clarifications given above and others I've not thought of yet.
2) Extensions to the existing psions (e.g. Probe is more powerful if you touch the target's head).
3) Additional effects when the roll succeeds by 6 or more (there are a couple of examples of this already) or when the roll fails by 6 or more (e.g. lose 2 points instead of the normal 1).
4) New psionic powers (e.g. Time travel - and this opens up a whole new can of temporal worm holes).
5) Other psions in existing powers.
6) Other psionic careers (and careers like a witch-finder general)
7) New psionic Items (and a list of all the others available in other books)
8) Psionic artefacts. I created one. Not that it is ever going in a campaign that I'm in!
9) Rules for other people to spot people using psions, (I can see a combination of Deception, Recon & Science: Psionicology coming into play here!) Is there a penalty to casting psions when you're trying to hide the fact that you are?
10) Psionic characters to meet.
11) Psionic institutes. Again I've created one.
12) Are there any abilities that all psionic characters have? One I can think of is to reduce your own psion points to zero and yes I can think of a use for this.
13) Clarifying how likely it is that someone could be psionic (in my view, it should be rare and most people should never even pass psionic testing)
14) Existing psionic communities.
15) I imagine going into the mind of a psychopath isn't a pleasant experience, so are there any downsides to doing so?
16) Lots of tables to roll on.

Note: A lot of these run the risk of overpowering psionics, so care must be taken. Most of these would not be available at character creation.

 

[alex_greene]

There's a lot of tidying up for the psionics already there.

One question that recently came to mind is for Flight. The description says you can move up to 15m per round flying. But is that a minor action or a standard action? It doesn't say. Personally I would like a minor action so you can shoot and fly at the same time!

It's not been important yet, but when we started playing, I went through the psionic abilities and two of us created a lot of house rules for them to preempt issues arising.

If people are interested I can post our house-rules / clarifications here.

Every use of psionics is a Significant Action, including Flight.
The restriction to 15 metres per round in just in combat scenes, that being the kind of scene where a psion would typically be using that power (in other words, to gain the advantage of height).
As for why Flight is a power of Telekinesis ... it's a Droyne thing, which would be learned by castes whose wings aren't big enough.

 

[Tom B]

Every use of psionics is a Significant Action, including Flight.
The restriction to 15 metres per round in just in combat scenes, that being the kind of scene where a psion would typically be using that power (in other words, to gain the advantage of height).
As for why Flight is a power of Telekinesis ... it's a Droyne thing, which would be learned by castes whose wings aren't big enough.

The casting of a power is a significant action, but flight lasts a few rounds. I was wondering if the movement (after it has been cast) of 15m/s was minor or significant?

 

[alex_greene]

The casting of a power is a significant action, but flight lasts a few rounds. I was wondering if the movement (after it has been cast) of 15m/s was minor or significant?

Never worry about things like that. Honestly. It's like running, only in three dimensions, and faster than you can use your legs on the ground. Use the movement rules, only you can only use one of your Minor Actions to actually move in the round, including hovering in place to aim.

 

[ProfGrizzlyJon]

The latest Wrath of the Ancients has some fairly serious implications on psionics.

I have been a long time player of psi-heavy campaigns (not just the Zhodani, but elsewhere- I blame Dune and Babylon 5). Spent the last year or so rewriting and updating those rules for sharing/publication.

The biggest changes to psionics that I see needed to become mainstream is the Sanity characteristic.

Unconscious psionic activity is an offshoot of decreasing Sanity (in my rules). I also allowed an increase in PSI as insanity sets in, with mental barriers falling.

 

[TrippyHippy]

The latest Wrath of the Ancients has some fairly serious implications on psionics.

I have been a long time player of psi-heavy campaigns (not just the Zhodani, but elsewhere- I blame Dune and Babylon 5). Spent the last year or so rewriting and updating those rules for sharing/publication.

The biggest changes to psionics that I see needed to become mainstream is the Sanity characteristic.

Unconscious psionic activity is an offshoot of decreasing Sanity (in my rules). I also allowed an increase in PSI as insanity sets in, with mental barriers falling.

Yep, I like that. Psionic could be like an extreme form of solipsism.

 

[alex_greene]

Yep, I like that. Psionic could be like an extreme form of solipsism.

I don't like tying psionics to increasing insanity, like some kind of dementia. That's kind of like putting a condition on INT of 11 or higher. We have enough stigmatising of mental health, thanks. Tying autism or paranoia to psionics would be imposing extra burdens on players.
It'd be like giving crippling neuroses and PTSD to everyone who gained a level in Gun Combat or Explosives, knowing that these skills were learned through killing people.
Stop nerfing psionics, just because.

 

[TrippyHippy]

I don't like tying psionics to increasing insanity, like some kind of dementia. That's kind of like putting a condition on INT of 11 or higher. We have enough stigmatising of mental health, thanks. Tying autism or paranoia to psionics would be imposing extra burdens on players.
It'd be like giving crippling neuroses and PTSD to everyone who gained a level in Gun Combat or Explosives, knowing that these skills were learned through killing people.
Stop nerfing psionics, just because.

I was think more of tying it to the notion of paradigm like as in Mage: The Ascension or Unknown Armies, although I accept the concerns over mental health stigmatising. I would say, however, that unlike high intelligence, Psionics are not real.

 

[MasterGwydion]

I was think more of tying it to the notion of paradigm like as in Mage: The Ascension or Unknown Armies, although I accept the concerns over mental health stigmatising. I would say, however, that unlike high intelligence, Psionics are not real.

The Mage-like Paradigm, I do not believe would work. The Mage paradigm uses a shared reality to determine what is and what is not vulgar magic. That can not work in Traveller since Psionics do not travel FTL. Unless you had each planet in each system with their own unique paradigm, which could work... but ouch, the headache.

 

[ProfGrizzlyJon]

I am not trying to cripple psionics. My point about Sanity is that there should be a mechanic that captures the impact of the unexplainable on the human mind. I am not a fan of superhero games (while others may be- this is not a jab). I like the Sanity rules, because they allow for temporary impacts of the mind's resiliency in abnormal situations.

Doesn't each planet have their own cultural norms? Isn't that half the fun of Traveller?

 

[MasterGwydion]

I am not trying to cripple psionics. My point about Sanity is that there should be a mechanic that captures the impact of the unexplainable on the human mind. I am not a fan of superhero games (while others may be- this is not a jab). I like the Sanity rules, because they allow for temporary impacts of the mind's resiliency in abnormal situations.

Doesn't each planet have their own cultural norms? Isn't that half the fun of Traveller?

See Call of Cthulhu. Those Sanity rules rock for when human minds touch the unfathomable.

 

[Tom B]

Another psionic thing I've just been thinking about is using psionics in a casino.

Casinos will always be on the alert for psionic individuals cheating. Casinos will use psi-detectors on those they suspect of using psi abilities, i.e. anyone who wins big and possibly their companions. The biggest risk to casinos is teams of psions working with a few non-psionic players. The psionic players affect the game allowing the non-psionic players to win. Then when the winners are tested, they come out negative.

High level poker games and the like will be conducted in psion-proofed rooms.

Obvious use of telekinesis to affect dice rolls or roulette wheels can be noticed.

The following psionic abilities can be used to affect the outcome of a game.

Mind-link:​

Used by a psionic individual to tell another psionic character what another player’s cards are. Of course the first individual needs to discover what the cards are first.

Read Surface Thoughts​

Used by a psionic player to discover another player’s cards.

Suggestion​

E.g. telling another player, perhaps you should fold!

Clairvoyance / Clairsentience​

Seeing cards at a distance.

Telekinesis​

Affecting the roll of some dice or perhaps a game of roulette. Some ideas:

A die can be changed by the effect of the psi-check plus 1. So with an effect of zero a roll of 5 and 3 in a game of craps could be changed to a 5 and 2.

A roulette ball can be changed from red to black, odd to even with a successful check. It can be changed from 1-12 to 13-18 etc, with an effect of 1. An effect of 4 or higher allows the psionic individual to choose a specific number.

Microkinesis​

Can be used to affect fruit machines. The inner-workings of the specific machine must be studied in depth before this is possible.

Inspiration​

Could be used in games like poker to read another player.

Regeneration, Fortitude & Teleport​

Useful when the casino heavies catch you and decide you could do with a beating.

Control (Zhodani)​

Affecting fruit machines, similar to Microkinesis, but easier.

Others​

Of course if a psionic Traveller should ever learn precognition, then all bets are on!