PSI Drugs: No Duration of Effect?

Yenaldlooshi

Cosmic Mongoose
PSI Drugs: No Duration of Effect?

CSC p94 says that the PSI boost is "temporary". How temporary? Hours? Days?

Also, can each dose boost both PSI and restore points at the same time?

Am asking so an author/designer might chime in and give a response that can be considered canon.

Psionic minds want to know...
 
PSI Drugs: No Duration of Effect?

CSC p94 says that the PSI boost is "temporary". How temporary? Hours? Days?

Also, can each dose boost both PSI and restore points at the same time?

Am asking so an author/designer might chime in and give a response that can be considered canon.

Psionic minds want to know...
For what it's worth, in the Little Black Books standard and double lasted an hour, and special wore off after four hours at one point per hour. You'd be justified in using that if you liked.
 
PSI Drugs: No Duration of Effect?

CSC p94 says that the PSI boost is "temporary". How temporary? Hours? Days?

Also, can each dose boost both PSI and restore points at the same time?

Am asking so an author/designer might chime in and give a response that can be considered canon.

Psionic minds want to know...
Also, can each dose boost both PSI and restore points at the same time?

No - important word highlighted below.

These drugs restore PSI if taken when the Traveller has already spent PSI points or temporarily increase the Traveller’s PSI if taken when they are at full strength.

My main concern with them is they can be abused. If you take too many you can lose a point of Psi, so anyone wanting to make a psionic non-psionic, all they have to do is pump 'em full of these very expensive drugs
 
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I would have thought any society which repress Psionics would consider the excess administration of these drugs to be humane treatment
 
None of this is "official", but it's how I would handle it.

Your character probably took the drug so that you could immediately spend the boosted or recovered points, in which case the typical duration is, "until you spend them all a few combat rounds later."

After a few hours you would naturally recover any drug-recovered PSI that you had spent (the rule is 1 point per hour starting with the 3rd hour after you spent them), so I would say that if you don't spend the drug-recovered points then you keep them until you start recovering points naturally.

Example: If you started with 12 PSI and spent 8 points, then took a dose of standard you would be at 10 points. If you didn't spend any of them, after three hours you would be at 11 points, and fully recovered back to 12 PSI the hour after that.

For a psi boost, there's no duration in the rules, but I would rule that you loose the boosted points at the same rate you would naturally recover PSI: 1 point per hour starting with the 3rd hour after using the drug.

Example: If you had 12 PSI and took a dose of standard you would be at 16 points. If you didn't spend the points, three hours later you would be at 15 points, and three hours after that you would be back to 12.

As for abusing psi-drugs by forcing them on a victim, sure. If someone really wants to spend thousands of credits on very rare black-market (in the Imperium, at least) drugs trying to burn out someone's PSI they're welcome to try.
Note that the victim will either get a PSI boost or recover points before they'll take any permanent damage, so you could run into trouble trying to do this to, say, a teleporter.
 
As for abusing psi-drugs by forcing them on a victim, sure. If someone really wants to spend thousands of credits on very rare black-market (in the Imperium, at least) drugs trying to burn out someone's PSI they're welcome to try.
Note that the victim will either get a PSI boost or recover points before they'll take any permanent damage, so you could run into trouble trying to do this to, say, a teleporter.
I would recommend only doing this on an unconscious psion.
 
None of this is "official", but it's how I would handle it.

Your character probably took the drug so that you could immediately spend the boosted or recovered points, in which case the typical duration is, "until you spend them all a few combat rounds later."

After a few hours you would naturally recover any drug-recovered PSI that you had spent (the rule is 1 point per hour starting with the 3rd hour after you spent them), so I would say that if you don't spend the drug-recovered points then you keep them until you start recovering points naturally.

Example: If you started with 12 PSI and spent 8 points, then took a dose of standard you would be at 10 points. If you didn't spend any of them, after three hours you would be at 11 points, and fully recovered back to 12 PSI the hour after that.

For a psi boost, there's no duration in the rules, but I would rule that you loose the boosted points at the same rate you would naturally recover PSI: 1 point per hour starting with the 3rd hour after using the drug.

Example: If you had 12 PSI and took a dose of standard you would be at 16 points. If you didn't spend the points, three hours later you would be at 15 points, and three hours after that you would be back to 12.

As for abusing psi-drugs by forcing them on a victim, sure. If someone really wants to spend thousands of credits on very rare black-market (in the Imperium, at least) drugs trying to burn out someone's PSI they're welcome to try.
Note that the victim will either get a PSI boost or recover points before they'll take any permanent damage, so you could run into trouble trying to do this to, say, a teleporter.
Yeh - it's just that I notice things and think - there's a loophole that could be exploited. I'm thinking is psion is arrested and locked up and can't teleport, then it could abused.
 
There's all sorts of horrible things someone with a lot of money could do to someone they've kidnapped in Traveller. Overdosing then on psi drugs is just one possibility.
 
None of this is "official", but it's how I would handle it.

Your character probably took the drug so that you could immediately spend the boosted or recovered points, in which case the typical duration is, "until you spend them all a few combat rounds later."

After a few hours you would naturally recover any drug-recovered PSI that you had spent (the rule is 1 point per hour starting with the 3rd hour after you spent them), so I would say that if you don't spend the drug-recovered points then you keep them until you start recovering points naturally.

Example: If you started with 12 PSI and spent 8 points, then took a dose of standard you would be at 10 points. If you didn't spend any of them, after three hours you would be at 11 points, and fully recovered back to 12 PSI the hour after that.

For a psi boost, there's no duration in the rules, but I would rule that you loose the boosted points at the same rate you would naturally recover PSI: 1 point per hour starting with the 3rd hour after using the drug.

Example: If you had 12 PSI and took a dose of standard you would be at 16 points. If you didn't spend the points, three hours later you would be at 15 points, and three hours after that you would be back to 12.

As for abusing psi-drugs by forcing them on a victim, sure. If someone really wants to spend thousands of credits on very rare black-market (in the Imperium, at least) drugs trying to burn out someone's PSI they're welcome to try.
Note that the victim will either get a PSI boost or recover points before they'll take any permanent damage, so you could run into trouble trying to do this to, say, a teleporter.
Thanks Bense,
I have basically copypasta'd this into a house rule. Makes sense to me. You recover PSI equilibrium!
but wait, in your last example, you meant 3 hours, then 1 hour right? Not 3 hours then 3 hours again.
 
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The second example works like this:
You start with 12 PSI. A dose of Standard boosts you to 16.
If you don't use the points you stay at 16 until 3 hours are up, when you drop to 15.
After another hour (4 hours after you took the Standard) you drop to 14.
An hour after that (5 hours after you took the Standard) you drop to 13.
And finally an hour after that (6 hours after you took the Standard) you drop back to your normal 12.

The idea being that you loose the boosted PSI at the same rate you would recover natural PSI. You're at the boosted level for three hours, then move back towards equilibrium by 1 point per hour.
You don't drop directly from 15 to 12 after a second 3 hours. Sorry if that was unclear.
 
The second example works like this:
You start with 12 PSI. A dose of Standard boosts you to 16.
If you don't use the points you stay at 16 until 3 hours are up, when you drop to 15.
After another hour (4 hours after you took the Standard) you drop to 14.
An hour after that (5 hours after you took the Standard) you drop to 13.
And finally an hour after that (6 hours after you took the Standard) you drop back to your normal 12.

The idea being that you loose the boosted PSI at the same rate you would recover natural PSI. You're at the boosted level for three hours, then move back towards equilibrium by 1 point per hour.
You don't drop directly from 15 to 12 after a second 3 hours. Sorry if that was unclear.
Actually, I got that. There is boosting your PSI score, and boosting your PSI points.

Now, when you recover naturally, say you were at 12 down to 8. 3 hours later you recover 1 point bringing you back up to 9, then an hour later 10, but then let's say you use your PSI points, you would have reset the 3 hour timer due to that usage. I take it you don't reset the 3 hour timer for loss of drug benefits, right?

Unless maybe you take another dose during your still boosted condition from the previous dose, but that is probably a rare case due to the negative effects.
 
Actually, I got that. There is boosting your PSI score, and boosting your PSI points.
As I read it, boosting your PSI also boosts your current PSI points, so I'm not sure what distinction you're making there.
Now, when you recover naturally, say you were at 12 down to 8. 3 hours later you recover 1 point bringing you back up to 9, then an hour later 10, but then let's say you use your PSI points, you would have reset the 3 hour timer due to that usage. I take it you don't reset the 3 hour timer for loss of drug benefits, right?

Unless maybe you take another dose during your still boosted condition from the previous dose, but that is probably a rare case due to the negative effects.
Okay, more examples:

You started at PSI 10 and take a dose of Double, boosting you to 16. You don't use those points for 4 hours, and drop to 14 PSI in that time (15 after 3 hours, then 14 after 1 hour more). Then you spend 2 points, dropping you to 12. You're still above your base PSI, so if you don't spend any more points you drop to 11 in one hour, and then finally back to 10 an hour after that, a total of 6 hours after you took the Double, and the drug has then effectively worn off (2 hours early). The use of more PSI while the boost was wearing off doesn't reset the "return to equilibrium" clock.
 
As I read it, boosting your PSI also boosts your current PSI points, so I'm not sure what distinction you're making there.
As one of the other posters (TomB) pointed out, the exact wording is; boost "OR" points. I do question how much designer intent is behind that explicit interpretation as it seems a bit confusing to force a choice on the user. Like, why is not listed as two drugs? or does the user look at the injector and just meditate on a higher score or more points? Seems too meta. I may go with AND instead of OR if it doesn't break another mechanic.
 
As one of the other posters (TomB) pointed out, the exact wording is; boost "OR" points. I do question how much designer intent is behind that explicit interpretation as it seems a bit confusing to force a choice on the user. Like, why is not listed as two drugs? or does the user look at the injector and just meditate on a higher score or more points? Seems too meta. I may go with AND instead of OR if it doesn't break another mechanic.
The way I understood it is, that if you're at full points, you get a boost. If you're not at full points, you get some psi points back but you can't go over your natural maximum. I can give examples.
 
The way I understood it is, that if you're at full points, you get a boost. If you're not at full points, you get some psi points back but you can't go over your natural maximum. I can give examples.
That is my understanding. "These drugs restore PSI if taken when the Traveller has already spent PSI points or temporarily increase the Traveller's PSI if taken when they are at full strength." You have to be at full natural strength to get a boost, so if you're down 3 points and take a dose of Standard you are at your normal PSI, not your normal PSI+3.
If you are at your full PSI and you take a dose of Standard you're at PSI+4.

PSI the attribute and psionic points are not two separate things. "Using a psionic power costs a number of PSI points, temporarily reducing the Traveller's total. As the characteristic DM for all psionic skill checks is determined by the Travellers' current PSI total, it gets harder and harder to use powers as the Traveller's PSI declines."

So if you use a psi-drug to boost from your natural PSI 10 to PSI 14 you now have 14 PSI points to burn on powers, and a characteristic DM of +2 (where it was +1 at your normal strength) to all your PSI rolls. Until you start spending that PSI and your current total goes down, that is.

Note that you use your PSI rating before you spend any points to determine the characteristic modifier to your roll, and if you fail your roll you only use 1 PSI.

Detailed Example of Multiple Psi-power and multiple doses of psi-drug use:
I've boosted my original PSI 10 to PSI 14 by taking a dose of Standard. Now I want to teleport myself with my clothing a Very Distant range - around 400 kilometers - to a different city on the planet I'm on to see why we've lost contact with it. Teleportation normally costs 2 points. It costs another 2 for teleporting with clothing and up to 10kg of gear. The Reach of Teleportation is normally Distant, but can be increased to Very Distant by spending double the points to increase the range by one range band. The full cost for the teleport will therefore be 8 PSI. Teleportation on a planetary surface is restricted to Very Distant at most, and I have to have a good mental image of the location I'm teleporting to - I'm teleporting into a city park I've visited before in the middle of the night, so no one is likely to see me.

My Teleport check will be Difficult (10+) instead of Average (8+) because I am taking my clothing and limited gear with me. There is no increase in difficulty for the further distance, just PSI cost. My current PSI 14 gives me a +2 DM, and let's say my Teleportation skill is also 2, giving me a +4. I have to roll a 6+ to succeed, better than even odds. If I had tried to teleport without having taken the Standard first I would have to roll 7+ to succeed, and I would have only 2 PSI when I got there.

I rolled an 8, so the Effect of my roll was 2. I teleport, and my PSI drops by 8 points to 6. I am also disoriented for 2D-2 x10 seconds, because I teleported to a destination not within my line of sight. I roll a 8 on this and am disoriented for 60 seconds.
After the minute I am together enough to have a look around. I realize that the entire city around me is on fire, and I decide I want to teleport back to my origin immediately before the flames reach the park. Because my PSI is now 6 I have a +0 Characteristic modifier, so to return to my destination with my clothing and gear will be a roll of 8+. Very Difficult (10+), with PSI 0 and Teleport-2. It will also cost me 8 PSI, and I only have 6 PSI, but you can use more PSI than you actually have in a single power use, as long as you have some PSI (more than 0).

I roll a 7. Fail. My PSI is reduced to 5 by the failed attempt and I don't go anywhere. Dropping to PSI 5 means that I now have a -1 DM on PSI rolls. To teleport back now will need a roll of 9+ (and, again, more PSI than I actually have, but I can still make the attempt and take the extra 3 PSI as damage points to my END if I succeed).

Since the situation is desperate, I decide to use another dose of Standard so I can make the second attempt at an easier difficulty.
But, because I know I'm going to be making an END roll for taking a second dose of Standard within a one week time period, I decide to first use another of my PSI powers - Enhanced Endurance. My END is normally 8, for a 0 modifier. I decide to boost my END to 12 to give me a +2 DM. This takes 4 PSI and an Average (8+) Awareness check. I have Awareness 1 and a current PSI of 5 (-1DM) so the roll has to be 8+ to succeed. I roll an 8, and my END immediately raises to 12 and my PSI drops to 1. My enhanced END will last for the Effect of the check x10 minutes. Since I rolled exactly what I needed (Effect 0) the Referee rules that it will last 1D minutes before it starts to drop towards my normal END. I roll a 1, for 1 minute of enhanced END.

I now take the dose of Standard. The END check to resist damage is Average (8+), with a -1DM for having taken two doses within one week. With my +2 END modifier I need to roll a 7+ to avoid damage. I roll an 8, and avoid taking damage from the dose. Aside from losing permanent PSI, I would have also taken 3D damage, which could knock me unconscious on a high enough roll, leaving me to be burned alive.

I'm well below my normal maximum of PSI 10, so I recover points instead of receiving a boost. I go back to PSI 7. I now have a PSI characteristic modifier of +0 rather than -1. I technically don't have as much PSI as I will need to teleport back (8 points), but as long as I have above 0 PSI I can make the attempt. The difficulty is again Difficult (10+) with no modifier from PSI and a +2 DM for my Teleport skill, meaning I have to roll an 8+. I roll a 9, and am teleported back with an Effect of 1. My PSI drops to 0 and I take 1 point of damage, dropping my END to 11.

I am disoriented for another 2D-1x10 seconds, but I rolled a 4 on the dice, so it's only 30 seconds before I can tell the rest of the party that the city is on fire.

My END drops to 10 a minute after I used the Enhanced Endurance power, dropping by an additional point each minute until I'm back to 8 in another two minutes (four minutes total from when I used the power). The point of damage I took from spending more than my PSI in teleporting back was absorbed by my enhanced endurance, causing it to wear off a minute early but otherwise leaving me unharmed.

My PSI stays at 0 until three hours after I used Teleport, when it goes up to 1. It takes me 9 hours after that to recover my normal PSI, a total of 12 hours after the second teleport.
 
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