Psionic Rules Clarifications and Suggestions (Core22)

[Tom B]

'Machine Symbiosis'; Learning DM -1; Book 04: Psion, p 63;

• Interrogate
• Control

Dimensional Manipulation, Temporal Manipulation, and Ship Integration are all 'think carefully before you allow this in your game' talents. Some powers (like 'Rejuvenation') share names with different powers which are described elsewhere, but are distinctly different. The 'Machine Symbiosis' powers seem to be duplicated in the 'Zhodani Talent'. There is some other weirdness, too.

For the Zhodani Talent, the more I think about it, the more I think someone just put together some random things and some rules without much thought.

First, the contents aren't coherent, it consists of some telepathy, some teleportation, some new ones (the machine symbiosis above - I assume these are the same) and some awareness. I would split into 4 different talents and add in a few more powers to flesh them out. Also add in a rule that you can't learn teleprojection unless you know teleportation etc.

Then with the -3 to learn it, when would you actually get it? Usually someone would be after trying the 5 main talents and then it becomes impossible. Try the maths!

You could try for it before the others but then you could end up with someone knowing teleprojection without knowing teleportation!

Also a couple of issues with teleprojection. This seems an easy kill someone power. Restrict it to a willing subject or allow some kind of saving throw. And what's the range? The rules effectively say 'see teleportation', but teleportation doesn't have a range since it is self only. Suggestion: range of touch.

For Zhodani opposition, the Zhodani talent is great for them to have to mess with the Travellers - apart from teleprojection! That might mess with them too much. I would have each Zhodani operative only have a subset of the talent, e.g. one has the telepathic powers.

You might have guessed this has been annoying me for a while.

 

[Tom B]

Here is my list of all the rules for Psionics. There is a really nice TAS book by Hermit King Studios, Free Fall and Other Delights, that has some really good powers. It also has diseases and equipment which I didn't include on this list.

The Zhodani power psychic power and the droyne one Boost do similar things, so I'd put them in the same category.

 

[J. L. Brown]

For the Zhodani Talent, the more I think about it, the more I think someone just put together some random things and some rules without much thought.

First, the contents aren't coherent, it consists of some telepathy, some teleportation, some new ones (the machine symbiosis above - I assume these are the same) and some awareness. I would split into 4 different talents and add in a few more powers to flesh them out. Also add in a rule that you can't learn teleprojection unless you know teleportation etc.

Then with the -3 to learn it, when would you actually get it? Usually someone would be after trying the 5 main talents and then it becomes impossible. Try the maths!

You could try for it before the others but then you could end up with someone knowing teleprojection without knowing teleportation!

Also a couple of issues with teleprojection. This seems an easy kill someone power. Restrict it to a willing subject or allow some kind of saving throw. And what's the range? The rules effectively say 'see teleportation', but teleportation doesn't have a range since it is self only. Suggestion: range of touch.

For Zhodani opposition, the Zhodani talent is great for them to have to mess with the Travellers - apart from teleprojection! That might mess with them too much. I would have each Zhodani operative only have a subset of the talent, e.g. one has the telepathic powers.

You might have guessed this has been annoying me for a while.

The 'Zhodani Talent' is a mish-mash for a reason: these are powers that it is useful for opponent Zho NPCs to have. Putting them in one 'Talent' means having the package with only one roll. The rules for the 'Dedicated Psion Agency' career (1e Book 04: Psion, pg 13) details how to end up with something similar:

Basic Training: You are trained in one Basic Talent without needing to roll to learn it. You begin with that Talent at Level 0. Roll 1d6 to
determine which talent:

1. Awareness
2. Clairvoyance
3. Telekinesis
4. Telepathy
5. Teleportation
6. Special

If you roll Special, you may select 1d3+2 Powers from any of the Basic Talents. These form a Talent particular to you; give it an appropriate
name. This Talent begins at 0 and improves in the same way as any other Talent. However, when you learn new Talents, the Powers it
contains that replicate your specialised talent are not replaced with others.

As written, the 'Zhodani Talent' is

Zhodani; Learning DM -3; 2e AoCS 01, p 276

• Awareness of Others (should be part of 'Awareness')
• Blocking (should be part of 'CounterPsi')
• Control (should be part of 'Machine Symbiosis')
• Empathic Healing (should be part of 'Healing' or 'Awareness')
• Interact (should be part of 'Machine Symbiosis')
• Interrogate (should be part of 'Machine Symbiosis')
• Mimic (should be part of 'Telepathy' or 'Changeling')
• Psychic Transfer (should be part of 'Telepathy' or 'Awareness')
• Teleprojection (should be part of 'Teleportation')

'Interact' is interesting, because the original 'Machine Symbiosis' talent has nothing like it.

I am leaning towards a 'power tree' approach; where Psions initially start with just one or two powers in each of their talents, and can learn other powers based on the powers & talent levels they already posses.

 

[mavikfelna]

The 'Zhodani Talent' is a mish-mash for a reason: these are powers that it is useful for opponent Zho NPCs to have. Putting them in one 'Talent' means having the package with only one roll. The rules for the 'Dedicated Psion Agency' career (1e Book 04: Psion, pg 13) details how to end up with something similar:


As written, the 'Zhodani Talent' is

Zhodani; Learning DM -3; 2e AoCS 01, p 276

• Awareness of Others (should be part of 'Awareness')
• Blocking (should be part of 'CounterPsi')
• Control (should be part of 'Machine Symbiosis')
• Empathic Healing (should be part of 'Healing' or 'Awareness')
• Interact (should be part of 'Machine Symbiosis')
• Interrogate (should be part of 'Machine Symbiosis')
• Mimic (should be part of 'Telepathy' or 'Changeling')
• Psychic Transfer (should be part of 'Telepathy' or 'Awareness')
• Teleprojection (should be part of 'Teleportation')

'Interact' is interesting, because the original 'Machine Symbiosis' talent has nothing like it.

I am leaning towards a 'power tree' approach; where Psions initially start with just one or two powers in each of their talents, and can learn other powers based on the powers & talent levels they already posses.

This is pretty much how I break it down. The Dryone fortunately break theirs out for the most part.

As for changing the approach to Psionics, I'm taking a different approach. My plan is to use the Psionic Talents as Cascade and Cluster Skills. You'll still need to roll for access, though with a Difficult (10+) target but no penalties for each previous talent, and a +1 DM if you have a skilled instructor. The other regular bonuses or penalties apply and it is a PSI check.

If you get a skill point, other than 0 level, in the Cascade Talent, IE Telekinesis, you then have to apply it to a single cluster skill talent, IE Telekinetic Lift 1, aka Telekinesis. Max Pionic Skill levels is equal to PSIx3, though 0 level skills are unlimited. Anyone with a PSI score can attempt to use a power unskilled but suffer the normal -3 for unskilled and Jack of All Trades does not apply. Also, when using unskilled, difficultly cannot be reduced by taking more time and PSI point costs are doubled.

Also, trying to use psionics on a different species suffers penalties, -2 for non-sophonts (animals) and for species similar to but not the same as the psion and -4 for very different mental makeup species. This penalty can be overcome through a skill, but I haven't figured out what to call it or if it should be something like Science (Psiconology) instead.

A Psion with PSI 0 is possible. They would be limited to 0 level talents and could only perform psionic actions that cost no PSI, of which I believe the only one currently is Telepathic Shield.

This system really limits Psions in alot of ways but also gives them much more broad access to psionic abilities.

And for the Mental Shield ability talked about earlier, for my version, it's an always on ability that doesn't limit outgoing psionics and can be dropped voluntarily and selectively at any time to allow someone to connect while still keeping others out. Trying to connect to an unwilling, shielded mind is an opposed check and they know you're trying it. Attacking a shielded mind increases the PSI cost of the attack by 1. It is a free action to drop or raise the shield.

 

[Tom B]

The 'Zhodani Talent' is a mish-mash for a reason: these are powers that it is useful for opponent Zho NPCs to have. Putting them in one 'Talent' means having the package with only one roll. The rules for the 'Dedicated Psion Agency' career (1e Book 04: Psion, pg 13) details how to end up with something similar:


As written, the 'Zhodani Talent' is

Zhodani; Learning DM -3; 2e AoCS 01, p 276

• Awareness of Others (should be part of 'Awareness')
• Blocking (should be part of 'CounterPsi')
• Control (should be part of 'Machine Symbiosis')
• Empathic Healing (should be part of 'Healing' or 'Awareness')
• Interact (should be part of 'Machine Symbiosis')
• Interrogate (should be part of 'Machine Symbiosis')
• Mimic (should be part of 'Telepathy' or 'Changeling')
• Psychic Transfer (should be part of 'Telepathy' or 'Awareness')
• Teleprojection (should be part of 'Teleportation')

'Interact' is interesting, because the original 'Machine Symbiosis' talent has nothing like it.

I am leaning towards a 'power tree' approach; where Psions initially start with just one or two powers in each of their talents, and can learn other powers based on the powers & talent levels they already posses.

Yeh but it does state that Travellers can learn it. And as for opponents you can design them how you like.

 

[MasterGwydion]

Yeh but it does state that Travellers can learn it. And as for opponents you can design them how you like.

My issues with this are that this just makes Traveller into Dungeons & Dragons. Traveller is awesome because the same rules apply for NPCs as for PCs.

 

[Tom B]

My issues with this are that this just makes Traveller into Dungeons & Dragons. Traveller is awesome because the same rules apply for NPCs as for PCs.

I know what you're saying ...

But there is a difference between NPCs and PCs, in the rules as written.

For an opponent, you can give whatever talents and powers you feel like to make a good game if that includes some or all of the Zhodani talent then so be it.

The rules say Travellers can get the Zhodani talent as well but unless it's available at character creation, then the rules as written mean they won't get them.

To me it feels as if it was written for the opposition to have.

I don't know. It's a mess, which is where I started. I'll shut up now.

 

[MasterGwydion]

I know what you're saying ...

But there is a difference between NPCs and PCs, in the rules as written.

For an opponent, you can give whatever talents and powers you feel like to make a good game if that includes some or all of the Zhodani talent then so be it.

The rules say Travellers can get the Zhodani talent as well but unless it's available at character creation, then the rules as written mean they won't get them.

To me it feels as if it was written for the opposition to have.

I don't know. It's a mess, which is where I started. I'll shut up now.

If those are the rules as written in Traveller, then we might as well go back and play D&D. I understand Rule Zero, but if to play this game I have to accept that it is basically 2d6 Future D&D, then I am definitely not interested. I like the fact that everyone are just people, some more skilled than others, but all with the same potential skills and abilities. If NPCs can simply be "magically better" in ways PCs cannot, then Traveller is becoming basically D&D.

 

[Tom B]

If those are the rules as written in Traveller, then we might as well go back and play D&D. I understand Rule Zero, but if to play this game I have to accept that it is basically 2d6 Future D&D, then I am definitely not interested. I like the fact that everyone are just people, some more skilled than others, but all with the same potential skills and abilities. If NPCs can simply be "magically better" in ways PCs cannot, then Traveller is becoming basically D&D.

There is no rule stopping Travellers getting the Zhodani talent. The problem is the rules have not been thought through. It is virtually impossible to obtain the talent. I don't think anyone intended NPCs to have abilities that PCs don't have, it's just that after going for all the main talents, then trying to get a 6th one, with a -5 and a -3 on the roll means you ain't ever going to get that talent. What you could do is amend the penalty or have the Travellers obtain it in some other way.

My whole point was the Zhodani talent at the moment is broken, I was saying why it was and some suggestions on what to do about it.

 

[mavikfelna]

Ok, working on my Psionics redo and this is the Talents and Skills list I came up with. I didn't use alot of Book 4 talents or skills because they either were over powered or just not really inline with my vision for Psionics. I have changed some names for skills and talents but they should be reasonably obvious. Everything from the core rulebook, Zhodani and Dryone books is there. Plus some from the healer from Compendium 1 and a few from Book 4: Psions, and most of the stuff from the TAS supplement Freefall and Other Delights. I fully integrated the Zhodani skills into the list. The Droyne, if I though it was mostly a racial ability I labled it as Droyne, otherwise I integrated it.

I'd like to hear you're all thoughts on the list and any suggestions you have for it.

Talent	Skill	Range	Activation	Cost	Activation Time	Duration	Restrictions	Notes	Book
Botanical Symbiosis
	Camouflage	Short	6+	1D x10 Seconds	Effect x10 Minutes		In area with plant life, blend in and use plants as cover for DM -4 to be detected and +D3 Protection	(CA3 p41)
	Entangle	Short	8+	1D Seconds	Effect x2D rounds		Entangle 1D opponents, Athletics (STR or DEX) to resist, 10+ to act
	Plant Detection	Distant	4+	1D x10 Seconds	Instant		Detect amount and distance of living plants in a direction	(CA3 p41)
Changling
	Enhanced Charisma	Self	8+	2 per skill level	1D Seconds	Effect x10 Minutes		Increase any interaction skill by 1 skill level per 2 points spent	(Book 4 p64)
	Facial Metamorphosis	Self	6+	1D x10 Minutes	Effect x2D Minutes		Appear as another. Specific person is 1 difficulty increase (8+), Deception DM +effect	(CA3 p42)
	Full Metamorphosis	Self	10+	1D Hours	Effect x1D Hours		Appear fully as another. Specific person is 1 difficulty increase (12+), Deception DM +effect x2	(CA3 p42)
	Psychic Mimic	Self	8+	1D Minutes	Always Active		Opposed check by opponent or they only detect a normal, artificial personality	(AoCS1 p277)
	Vocal Mimic	Self	6+	1D Seconds	1D Minutes		Mimic any heard voice or voice like sound	(CA3 p42)
Counter Psionics
	Anti-Psionic Field	By Effect	10+	1D Seconds	1D +Effect Minutes		Blocks all psionic use in area: Effect 0 creates a Reach: Short field, success with Effect 2+ creates a Reach: Medium field and success with Effect 4+ creates a Reach: Long field.	(CA3 p43)
	Deflect	Short	10+	1D Seconds	Instant		Effect 0-2 blocks effect of psionic attack, Effect 3+ may be redirected to any target	(CA3 p43)
	Focused Block	Medium	8+	1+opposed PSI cost	1D Seconds	2D +Effect Minutes		Blocks opposing psion from using specific talent	(CA3 p43)
	General Block	Medium	10+	2+opponsed PSI cost	1D Seconds	2D +Effect Minutes		Blocks opposing psion from using any talent	(CA3 p43)
	Telepathic Blocking	Long	8+	1D Minutes	Effect x1D Minutes, Min 1 minute		All Telepathy and Remote Sensing activations in range suffer DM -PSI/2	(AoCS1 p276)
Healing
	Mental Healing	Close	10+	6 per day of Activation	1D Days	Activation Days	Only 1 activation active at a time	Cure 1 mental affliction/illness. Mental trauma repair takes 1 Day per day of Activatation and healer and target may not perform complex actions during those days.	(Compendium 1 p117)
	Physical Boost Other	Close	8+	2 per point	1D Seconds	10 Minutes		Boost any one physical characteristic of another character	(Compendium 1 p118)
	Healing	Close	8+	1D x10 Minutes	Instant		Restore effect to damaged characteristic, may add Medic skill levels to effect. Can only repair 1 characteristic at a time. May restore any damaged characteristic, mental or physical	(Compendium 1 p117)
	Regenerate Other	Close	10+	1+restored characteristic value/ammount of RAD removed	1D x10 Minutes	1 Day		Restore a single permanent lost characteristic point or heal RAD damage. IE Restoring 1 lost STR returning value to 9 would cost 9 PSI points +1 PSI point to activate. Takes 1 day per sesion and may only have 1 active session per character. May not raise characteristics over characters original starting value or above racial maximums.	(Compendium 1 p118)
	Transferance	Close	8+	1 per point of damage	1D Minutes	Instant		Character transfer physical damage from target to themselves and suffers the full damage effect until healed	(AoCS1 p276)
	Triage	Close	8+	1D Seconds	Instant		Treat as First Aid from Medic Skill, may add Medic skill levels to effect	(Compendium 1 p117)
Machine Symbiosis
	Arc	Short	10+	3 per target	1D Seconds	Instant		Massive arc jumps between close targets for 2D energy damage each	(FFaOD p10)
	Assimilation	Self	10+	2 per point of damage absorbed	1D Seconds	1D Minutes		Energy damage is converted to one physcial characteristic of choice
	Charge	Personal	4+	1 per 20% charge	1D x10 Seconds	Instant		Charge, transfer or discharge personal battery or magazine charge up to 20% of capacity per point spent. Transfer of charge does not haveto be similar types	(FFaOD p10)
	Dampen	Long	8+	1D x10 Seconds	While concentraiting		Stops electric flow in machines	(FFaOD p8)
	Energy Armor	Self	8+	1D Seconds	Effect rounds		Armor vs energy	(FFaOD p8)
	Interface	Long	6+	1D x10 Seconds	Effect x10 Minutes, Min 1 minute	Can only issue 1 command per round	Control computer or device without outside interface, Effect improves control	(FFaOD p8)
	Sense EM	Close	4+	1D x10 Seconds	Effect x10 rounds, minimum 1 round		Sense active EM sources	(FFaOD p8)
	Sense Flow	Close	8+	1D Minutes	Effect x10 Minutes, Min 1 minute		Reduce difficulty of computer tasks by one step	(AoCS1 p276)
	Sense Status	Close	8+	1D Minutes	Instant		Effect gives information	(AoCS1 p276)
	Surge	Long	8+	1D Seconds	Instant		Causes power surge in target equipment that damages or destroys unprotected gear. Causes Effect in damage to any sophont in contact	(FFaOD p9)
Precognition
	Danger Sense	Self	4+	1D Seconds	Instant		Gain +2 bonus to avoid surprize.	(FFaOD p13)
	Glimpse	Self	10+	1D Seconds	Instant		Gain vision of upcoming event which can now be affected by viewer	(FFaOD p13)
	Predict Movement	Self	8+	1D Seconds	Instant		Gain +2 bonus to attack or defend next attack	(FFaOD p13)
	Temporal Echo	Self	8+	1D Minutes	Instant		Gain bonus to investigation and insight for object or location with significant events is past or near future	(FFaOD p14)
	Temporal Warning	Long	10+	1D Seconds	Instant		Group gains +2 bonus to initive checks	(FFaOD p14)
Psychokinesis
	Force Field	Personal	6+	1 per 1.5 cubic meters	1D Seconds	5 Minutes, dismissable	Cannot move when active	Protection 12 vs Enengy and Physical damage, may be any shape or size the character can power	(FFaOD p17)
	Magnetic Manipulation	Short	6+	1D Seconds	Effect x10 Minutes, Min 1 minute		Can cause EMP to shut down electronics for 2 points, move or lock in place metal objects up to 10kg	(FFaOD p18)
	Molecular Manipulation	Short	12+	1D Seconds	Instant		Break or mend molecular bonds in a small area. If used for damage, deal 2D damage that bypasses all armor	(FFaOD p18)
	Motion Control	Short	8+	1D Seconds	Instant		Redirect intertia and momentum to reduce or increase fall or collision damage by effect or deflect a moving object from its path, causing DM -effect to accuracy	(FFaOD p19)
	Pyrokinesis	Short	6+	1D x10 Seconds	Instant		See chart for effects, may ignight objects	(CRB p233)
	Radiation Manipulation	Short	8+	1D Seconds	Effect x1D Minutes, Min 1 minute		Create a radition shield to prevent all RAD damage at personal range or Attack an opponent for effect RAD damage	(FFaOD p20)
	Vibration	Short	6+	2 per 1D damage	1D Seconds	Instant		If used for damage, ignores armor, 1D per 2 points spent, if used to stop tremors or vibrations, 2 points per 1D stopped. If used for echolocation, gain effect as a bonus to all recon, navigation, stealth and survival rolls for Effect minutes.	(FFaOD p17)
Remote Sensing									(AoCS2 p166)
	Clairvoyance	Very Distant	8+	1D x10 Seconds	Instant		effect provides audio and visual details to observed area that is blocked or beyond normal sight range	(CRB p232)
	Homing	Self	6+	1D Seconds	Instant		User may determine distance and direction to a home point. Point is most significant home for user	(AoCS2 p167)
(Droyne)	Link	Medium	4+	1D Seconds	15 Seconds		Droyne family link. May detect other members of the Oytrip and see and hear what is happening around them	(AoCS2 p167)
	Sense	Very Distant	6+	1D x10 Seconds	Instant		Detect distant area, details vary by effect but remain limited at best	(CRB p231)
	Tactical Senses	Long	8+	1D Seconds	Effect rounds		Senses are not penalized by environmental conditions	(CRB p232)
	Vision	Self	8+	1D x10 Seconds	Effect x10 Minutes, Min 1 minute		Effect provides visual and audio details to an event significant to the viewer ocurring currently as if they were present. Viewer may move about and pass through barriers freely	(FFaOD p14)
Self-Awareness
	Awareness of Others	Personal	As copied skill	2+copied skill cost	As copied skill	As copied skill		As copied skill	(AoCS1 p276)
	Enhanced Characteristic	Self	8+	1 per point of increase	1D Seconds	Effect x10 Minutes, Min 1 minute		May choose one Physical Characteristic to increase per activation	(CRB p233):
	Fortitude	Self	4+	1 per point of damage	1D Seconds	Until PSI recovered		May absorb physical damage to PSI instead of other characteristic. Damage is temporary	(AoCS2 p167)
	Inspiration	Self	8+	1D Seconds	1 Minute		+2 to any one check during duration	(CRB p233)
	Psychic Armor	Self	10+	1 per point of armor	1D Seconds	Effect rounds		Stacks with worn armor	(CRB p233)
	Psychic Transfer	Close	8+	1+Transfer amount	1D Seconds	Instant		Character transfers PSI points to target psion	(AoCS1 p277)
	Rejuvination	Self	6+	1 per point of damage	1D Seconds	Permanent		Loss of PSI points used to repair aging damage is permanent	(AoCS2 p167)
	Suspended Animation	Self	8+	1D Minutes	1 Week		As Low Berth, no death chance	(CRB p233)
Telekinesis
	Flight	Self	10+	1D Seconds	Effect rounds		Fly up to 15 meters per round	(CRB p232)
	Microkinesis	Close	10+	1D x10 Seconds	Effect x10 rounds, minimum 1 round		Affect very small, down to microscopic objects	(CRB p233)
	Telekenetic Lift	Short	8+	1 per 10kg	1D Seconds	Effect rounds		Manipulate and move objects close together up to limit of PSI points spent. May move at dashing speed. Object may be thrown with PSI replacing STR for the check.	(CRB p232)
	Telekenetic Slam	Short	8+	1D Seconds	Instant		Effect in damage to target	(CRB p232)
Telepathy
	Assault	Short	14+	1D Seconds	Instant		Effect x3 damage and target unconcious if unshielded	(CRB p231)
	Boost	Short	6+	1D Seconds	10 Minutes		Share PSI points after activation	(AoCS2 p165)
(Droyne)	Forgetfulness	Close	10+	1D Seconds	Instant		Suppress PSI hours of memories of target if fail INT (10+)	(AoCS2 p166)
(Droyne)	Psychic Invisibility	Very Long	Automatic	Instant	Always active		Character may suppress invisibility unless stressed	(AoCS2 p166)
	Life Detection	Distant	4+	1D x10 Seconds	Instant		Pick a direction and distance and get number of animals and sophonts detected. If know individual is detected, they are identified.	(CRB p230)
	Mind Link	Distant	4+	1D Seconds	Combined Effect Minutes, Minimum 1		Must be with another telepath, unrestricted mental communications	(CRB p230)
	Mind Shield	Self	Automatic	Instant	Always active		May be dropped voluntarily. Opposed roll for trying to bypass	(CRB p231)
	Mind Wipe	Short	12+	1D x10 Seconds	Instant		Remove D3 x Effect Minutes of memories	(SA1 p49)
	Probe	Close	12+	1D Minutes	Effect x10 Minutes, Min 1 minute		Deep read target mind, effect determines clarity	(CRB p231)
	Read Surface Thoughts	Long	8+	1D x10 Seconds	Effect Minutes		Read active thoughts of target without detection if unshielded. Effect determines clarity	(CRB p230)
	Send Thoughts	Distant	10+	1D x10 Seconds	Instant		Send a message to another mind	(CRB p230)
	Suggestion	Short	12+	1D x10 Seconds	Instant		Implant a command, idea, suggestion, or thought in target mind. Effect determines effacacy	(CRB p231)
	Telempathy	Long	6+	1D x10 Seconds	Instant		Read or Implant emotions of target, may be non-sophont. Effect determines strength of emotion	(CRB p230)
	Transfer	Medium	8+	1 Day per Skill Level	1 Day		Requires Boost link or other boost method, Only 1 skill level per Day but all skill levels to be passed must be done consecutively	(AoCS2 p166)
Teleportation
	Jump Sense	Self	6+	1D x10 Seconds	Instant		Boon dice for Astrogation check	(FFaOD p15)
	Teleport	Distant	8+	1D Seconds	Instant		Instantly move up to 400 meters in any direction to a point you can see or are very familiar with	(CRB p234)
	Teleport w/Clothing	Distant	10+	1D Seconds	Instant		instantly move up to 400 meters in any direction to a point you can see or are very familiar with, includes clothes and up to 10kg gear
	Teleport w/Armor	Distant	12+	1D Seconds	Instant		instantly move up to 400 meters in any direction to a point you can see or are very familiar with, includes clothes and up to 500kg gear and armor
	Teleprojection	Distant	8+	1D Seconds	Instant		Teleport other	(AoCS1 p277)

​

Edit: Table is messed up, it put the description into the restriction line if there was no restriction.

 

[J. L. Brown]

Ok, working on my Psionics redo and this is the Talents and Skills list I came up with. I didn't use alot of Book 4 talents or skills because they either were over powered or just not really inline with my vision for Psionics. I have changed some names for skills and talents but they should be reasonably obvious. Everything from the core rulebook, Zhodani and Dryone books is there. Plus some from the healer from Compendium 1 and a few from Book 4: Psions, and most of the stuff from the TAS supplement Freefall and Other Delights. I fully integrated the Zhodani skills into the list. The Droyne, if I though it was mostly a racial ability I labled it as Droyne, otherwise I integrated it.

I'd like to hear you're all thoughts on the list and any suggestions you have for it.

Talent	Skill	Range	Activation	Cost	Activation Time	Duration	Restrictions	Notes	Book
Botanical Symbiosis
	Camouflage	Short	6+	1D x10 Seconds	Effect x10 Minutes			In area with plant life, blend in and use plants as cover for DM -4 to be detected and +D3 Protection	(CA3 p41)
	Entangle	Short	8+	1D Seconds	Effect x2D rounds			Entangle 1D opponents, Athletics (STR or DEX) to resist, 10+ to act
	Plant Detection	Distant	4+	1D x10 Seconds	Instant			Detect amount and distance of living plants in a direction	(CA3 p41)
Changling
	Enhanced Charisma	Self	8+	2 per skill level	1D Seconds	Effect x10 Minutes		Increase any interaction skill by 1 skill level per 2 points spent	(Book 4 p64)
	Facial Metamorphosis	Self	6+	1D x10 Minutes	Effect x2D Minutes			Appear as another. Specific person is 1 difficulty increase (8+), Deception DM +effect	(CA3 p42)
	Full Metamorphosis	Self	10+	1D Hours	Effect x1D Hours			Appear fully as another. Specific person is 1 difficulty increase (12+), Deception DM +effect x2	(CA3 p42)
	Psychic Mimic	Self	8+	1D Minutes	Always Active			Opposed check by opponent or they only detect a normal, artificial personality	(AoCS1 p277)
	Vocal Mimic	Self	6+	1D Seconds	1D Minutes			Mimic any heard voice or voice like sound	(CA3 p42)
Counter Psionics
	Anti-Psionic Field	By Effect	10+	1D Seconds	1D +Effect Minutes			Blocks all psionic use in area: Effect 0 creates a Reach: Short field, success with Effect 2+ creates a Reach: Medium field and success with Effect 4+ creates a Reach: Long field.	(CA3 p43)
	Deflect	Short	10+	1D Seconds	Instant			Effect 0-2 blocks effect of psionic attack, Effect 3+ may be redirected to any target	(CA3 p43)
	Focused Block	Medium	8+	1+opposed PSI cost	1D Seconds	2D +Effect Minutes		Blocks opposing psion from using specific talent	(CA3 p43)
	General Block	Medium	10+	2+opponsed PSI cost	1D Seconds	2D +Effect Minutes		Blocks opposing psion from using any talent	(CA3 p43)
	Telepathic Blocking	Long	8+	1D Minutes	Effect x1D Minutes, Min 1 minute			All Telepathy and Remote Sensing activations in range suffer DM -PSI/2	(AoCS1 p276)
Healing
	Mental Healing	Close	10+	6 per day of Activation	1D Days	Activation Days	Only 1 activation active at a time	Cure 1 mental affliction/illness. Mental trauma repair takes 1 Day per day of Activatation and healer and target may not perform complex actions during those days.	(Compendium 1 p117)
	Physical Boost Other	Close	8+	2 per point	1D Seconds	10 Minutes		Boost any one physical characteristic of another character	(Compendium 1 p118)
	Healing	Close	8+	1D x10 Minutes	Instant			Restore effect to damaged characteristic, may add Medic skill levels to effect. Can only repair 1 characteristic at a time. May restore any damaged characteristic, mental or physical	(Compendium 1 p117)
	Regenerate Other	Close	10+	1+restored characteristic value/ammount of RAD removed	1D x10 Minutes	1 Day		Restore a single permanent lost characteristic point or heal RAD damage. IE Restoring 1 lost STR returning value to 9 would cost 9 PSI points +1 PSI point to activate. Takes 1 day per sesion and may only have 1 active session per character. May not raise characteristics over characters original starting value or above racial maximums.	(Compendium 1 p118)
	Transferance	Close	8+	1 per point of damage	1D Minutes	Instant		Character transfer physical damage from target to themselves and suffers the full damage effect until healed	(AoCS1 p276)
	Triage	Close	8+	1D Seconds	Instant			Treat as First Aid from Medic Skill, may add Medic skill levels to effect	(Compendium 1 p117)
Machine Symbiosis
	Arc	Short	10+	3 per target	1D Seconds	Instant		Massive arc jumps between close targets for 2D energy damage each	(FFaOD p10)
	Assimilation	Self	10+	2 per point of damage absorbed	1D Seconds	1D Minutes		Energy damage is converted to one physcial characteristic of choice
	Charge	Personal	4+	1 per 20% charge	1D x10 Seconds	Instant		Charge, transfer or discharge personal battery or magazine charge up to 20% of capacity per point spent. Transfer of charge does not haveto be similar types	(FFaOD p10)
	Dampen	Long	8+	1D x10 Seconds	While concentraiting			Stops electric flow in machines	(FFaOD p8)
	Energy Armor	Self	8+	1D Seconds	Effect rounds			Armor vs energy	(FFaOD p8)
	Interface	Long	6+	1D x10 Seconds	Effect x10 Minutes, Min 1 minute	Can only issue 1 command per round		Control computer or device without outside interface, Effect improves control	(FFaOD p8)
	Sense EM	Close	4+	1D x10 Seconds	Effect x10 rounds, minimum 1 round			Sense active EM sources	(FFaOD p8)
	Sense Flow	Close	8+	1D Minutes	Effect x10 Minutes, Min 1 minute			Reduce difficulty of computer tasks by one step	(AoCS1 p276)
	Sense Status	Close	8+	1D Minutes	Instant			Effect gives information	(AoCS1 p276)
	Surge	Long	8+	1D Seconds	Instant			Causes power surge in target equipment that damages or destroys unprotected gear. Causes Effect in damage to any sophont in contact	(FFaOD p9)
Precognition
	Danger Sense	Self	4+	1D Seconds	Instant			Gain +2 bonus to avoid surprise.	(FFaOD p13)
	Glimpse	Self	10+	1D Seconds	Instant			Gain vision of upcoming event which can now be affected by viewer	(FFaOD p13)
	Predict Movement	Self	8+	1D Seconds	Instant			Gain +2 bonus to attack or defend next attack	(FFaOD p13)
	Temporal Echo	Self	8+	1D Minutes	Instant			Gain bonus to investigation and insight for object or location with significant events is past or near future	(FFaOD p14)
	Temporal Warning	Long	10+	1D Seconds	Instant			Group gains +2 bonus to initive checks	(FFaOD p14)
Psychokinesis
	Force Field	Personal	6+	1 per 1.5 cubic meters	1D Seconds	5 Minutes, dismissable	Cannot move when active	Protection 12 vs Enengy and Physical damage, may be any shape or size the character can power	(FFaOD p17)
	Magnetic Manipulation	Short	6+	1D Seconds	Effect x10 Minutes, Min 1 minute			Can cause EMP to shut down electronics for 2 points, move or lock in place metal objects up to 10kg	(FFaOD p18)
	Molecular Manipulation	Short	12+	1D Seconds	Instant			Break or mend molecular bonds in a small area. If used for damage, deal 2D damage that bypasses all armor	(FFaOD p18)
	Motion Control	Short	8+	1D Seconds	Instant			Redirect intertia and momentum to reduce or increase fall or collision damage by effect or deflect a moving object from its path, causing DM -effect to accuracy	(FFaOD p19)
	Pyrokinesis	Short	6+	1D x10 Seconds	Instant			See chart for effects, may ignight objects	(CRB p233)
	Radiation Manipulation	Short	8+	1D Seconds	Effect x1D Minutes, Min 1 minute			Create a radition shield to prevent all RAD damage at personal range or Attack an opponent for effect RAD damage	(FFaOD p20)
	Vibration	Short	6+	2 per 1D damage	1D Seconds	Instant		If used for damage, ignores armor, 1D per 2 points spent, if used to stop tremors or vibrations, 2 points per 1D stopped. If used for echolocation, gain effect as a bonus to all recon, navigation, stealth and survival rolls for Effect minutes.	(FFaOD p17)
Remote Sensing									(AoCS2 p166)
	Clairvoyance	Very Distant	8+	1D x10 Seconds	Instant			effect provides audio and visual details to observed area that is blocked or beyond normal sight range	(CRB p232)
	Homing	Self	6+	1D Seconds	Instant			User may determine distance and direction to a home point. Point is most significant home for user	(AoCS2 p167)
(Droyne)	Link	Medium	4+	1D Seconds	15 Seconds			Droyne family link. May detect other members of the Oytrip and see and hear what is happening around them	(AoCS2 p167)
	Sense	Very Distant	6+	1D x10 Seconds	Instant			Detect distant area, details vary by effect but remain limited at best	(CRB p231)
	Tactical Senses	Long	8+	1D Seconds	Effect rounds			Senses are not penalized by environmental conditions	(CRB p232)
	Vision	Self	8+	1D x10 Seconds	Effect x10 Minutes, Min 1 minute			Effect provides visual and audio details to an event significant to the viewer ocurring currently as if they were present. Viewer may move about and pass through barriers freely	(FFaOD p14)
Self-Awareness
	Awareness of Others	Personal	As copied skill	2+copied skill cost	As copied skill	As copied skill		As copied skill	(AoCS1 p276)
	Enhanced Characteristic	Self	8+	1 per point of increase	1D Seconds	Effect x10 Minutes, Min 1 minute		May choose one Physical Characteristic to increase per activation	(CRB p233):
	Fortitude	Self	4+	1 per point of damage	1D Seconds	Until PSI recovered		May absorb physical damage to PSI instead of other characteristic. Damage is temporary	(AoCS2 p167)
	Inspiration	Self	8+	1D Seconds	1 Minute			+2 to any one check during duration	(CRB p233)
	Psychic Armor	Self	10+	1 per point of armor	1D Seconds	Effect rounds		Stacks with worn armor	(CRB p233)
	Psychic Transfer	Close	8+	1+Transfer amount	1D Seconds	Instant		Character transfers PSI points to target psion	(AoCS1 p277)
	Rejuvination	Self	6+	1 per point of damage	1D Seconds	Permanent		Loss of PSI points used to repair aging damage is permanent	(AoCS2 p167)
	Suspended Animation	Self	8+	1D Minutes	1 Week			As Low Berth, no death chance	(CRB p233)
Telekinesis
	Flight	Self	10+	1D Seconds	Effect rounds			Fly up to 15 meters per round	(CRB p232)
	Microkinesis	Close	10+	1D x10 Seconds	Effect x10 rounds, minimum 1 round			Affect very small, down to microscopic objects	(CRB p233)
	Telekenetic Lift	Short	8+	1 per 10kg	1D Seconds	Effect rounds		Manipulate and move objects close together up to limit of PSI points spent. May move at dashing speed. Object may be thrown with PSI replacing STR for the check.	(CRB p232)
	Telekenetic Slam	Short	8+	1D Seconds	Instant			Effect in damage to target	(CRB p232)
Telepathy
	Assault	Short	14+	1D Seconds	Instant			Effect x3 damage and target unconcious if unshielded	(CRB p231)
	Boost	Short	6+	1D Seconds	10 Minutes			Share PSI points after activation	(AoCS2 p165)
(Droyne)	Forgetfulness	Close	10+	1D Seconds	Instant			Suppress PSI hours of memories of target if fail INT (10+)	(AoCS2 p166)
(Droyne)	Psychic Invisibility	Very Long	Automatic	Instant	Always active			Character may suppress invisibility unless stressed	(AoCS2 p166)
	Life Detection	Distant	4+	1D x10 Seconds	Instant			Pick a direction and distance and get number of animals and sophonts detected. If know individual is detected, they are identified.	(CRB p230)
	Mind Link	Distant	4+	1D Seconds	Combined Effect Minutes, Minimum 1			Must be with another telepath, unrestricted mental communications	(CRB p230)
	Mind Shield	Self	Automatic	Instant	Always active			May be dropped voluntarily. Opposed roll for trying to bypass	(CRB p231)
	Mind Wipe	Short	12+	1D x10 Seconds	Instant			Remove D3 x Effect Minutes of memories	(SA1 p49)
	Probe	Close	12+	1D Minutes	Effect x10 Minutes, Min 1 minute			Deep read target mind, effect determines clarity	(CRB p231)
	Read Surface Thoughts	Long	8+	1D x10 Seconds	Effect Minutes			Read active thoughts of target without detection if unshielded. Effect determines clarity	(CRB p230)
	Send Thoughts	Distant	10+	1D x10 Seconds	Instant			Send a message to another mind	(CRB p230)
	Suggestion	Short	12+	1D x10 Seconds	Instant			Implant a command, idea, suggestion, or thought in target mind. Effect determines effacacy	(CRB p231)
	Telempathy	Long	6+	1D x10 Seconds	Instant			Read or Implant emotions of target, may be non-sophont. Effect determines strength of emotion	(CRB p230)
	Transfer	Medium	8+	1 Day per Skill Level	1 Day		Requires Boost link or other boost method, Only 1 skill level per Day but all skill levels to be passed must be done consecutively		(AoCS2 p166)
Teleportation
	Jump Sense	Self	6+	1D x10 Seconds	Instant			Boon dice for Astrogation check	(FFaOD p15)
	Teleport	Distant	8+	1D Seconds	Instant			Instantly move up to 400 meters in any direction to a point you can see or are very familiar with	(CRB p234)
	Teleport w/Clothing	Distant	10+	1D Seconds	Instant			instantly move up to 400 meters in any direction to a point you can see or are very familiar with, includes clothes and up to 10kg gear
	Teleport w/Armor	Distant	12+	1D Seconds	Instant			instantly move up to 400 meters in any direction to a point you can see or are very familiar with, includes clothes and up to 500kg gear and armor
	Teleprojection	Distant	8+	1D Seconds	Instant			Teleport other	(AoCS1 p277)

​

Edit: Table is messed up, it put the description into the restriction line if there was no restriction.

With 'Awareness of Others' in the Awareness talent, Healer is almost pointless. There is a bunch of overlap; made worse by Healer apparently losing 'Rejuvenation'. Also, it is strange to break out 'Psion may teleport themselves' from 'Psion may teleport themselves plus clothes'. while leaving Teleprojection as one skill.

As a first pass, I would suggest deciding on distinctive flavor for each talent -- ie, make Awareness talent ONLY 'self' range, and put Empathic Healing as a rare / difficult power in that talent; where Healer talent is always 'personal' range -- and has better healing powers. Or 'Awaremess' gets buffs and utilty abilities, but no healing; or something similar.

Also, it might be good to try to make the various talents have similar numbers of powers -- 'Machine Symbiosis' in particular has grown from two (or three) non-combat powers which were focused around machines to ten powers which overlap into energy kinesis and combat.

 

[mavikfelna]

With 'Awareness of Others' in the Awareness talent, Healer is almost pointless. There is a bunch of overlap; made worse by Healer apparently losing 'Rejuvenation'. Also, it is strange to break out 'Psion may teleport themselves' from 'Psion may teleport themselves plus clothes'. while leaving Teleprojection as one skill.

As a first pass, I would suggest deciding on distinctive flavor for each talent -- ie, make Awareness talent ONLY 'self' range, and put Empathic Healing as a rare / difficult power in that talent; where Healer talent is always 'personal' range -- and has better healing powers. Or 'Awaremess' gets buffs and utilty abilities, but no healing; or something similar.

Also, it might be good to try to make the various talents have similar numbers of powers -- 'Machine Symbiosis' in particular has grown from two (or three) non-combat powers which were focused around machines to ten powers which overlap into energy kinesis and combat.

Good points.
Awareness and Awareness of Others are supposed to be short terms boosts, not healing. I'll see if I can fix that. Perhaps create a separate talent for extending Self range abilities onto others? Helps with Teleport as well, but it would only have 1 skill?

For Teleport, I broke it into 3 because that's how it's described in the core book and I thought it was easier to break it out into separate listings than shove it all in the description. But they aren't actually separate skills and that distinction isn't clear so I need to fix that. Need to add a teleport area skill as well, that let's you take a group with you that is in either personal or close range. Should be terribly expensive though.

I was trying to keep flavor for each talent, I have changed several descriptions slightly, or greatly in a couple of cases, but it's still somewhat unfocused. And there are alot of abilities and some overlap so it's complicated it for me. I welcome suggestions, please!

For Machine Symbiosis it would probably be good to break out a new talent for Energy Kinesis but that is an area that could easily be totally overpowered and so I was hesitant to do it. There are alot of talents in Book 4 that I didn't include because of that. Temporal and portal manipulation in particular.

Should Attack abilites be their own talent? I don't think that makes sense but I'b be curious to hear what others think.

 

[Tom B]

I like the renaming of clairvoyance and awareness.

Why the restriction of 400 metres for teleport? Normally its 5 kilometres. Though there is the restriction about the laws of thermodynamics.

I do like that you've also split into three separate powers. By doing that it answers a question I've had and raised in another thread, if you're casting teleport and trying for the 500kg version and fail can you go with a lesser version?

I also like that you've included a column for duration.

 

[mavikfelna]

I like the renaming of clairvoyance and awareness.

Why the restriction of 400 metres for teleport? Normally its 5 kilometres. Though there is the restriction about the laws of thermodynamics.

I do like that you've also split into three separate powers. By doing that it answers a question I've had and raised in another thread, if you're casting teleport and trying for the 500kg version and fail can you go with a lesser version?

I also like that you've included a column for duration.

For the range in teleport, it's set there presumably so if you want to go farther you have to pay extra to extend the range, the same as any other talent. And there are the thermodynamic considerations on top of that.

For the split powers, my reading of the rules would seem to imply that you cannot step down to a lower level. But I don't see any reason why that wouldn't work.

 

[Tom B]

For the range in teleport, it's set there presumably so if you want to go farther you have to pay extra to extend the range, the same as any other talent. And there are the thermodynamic considerations on top of that.

For the split powers, my reading of the rules would seem to imply that you cannot step down to a lower level. But I don't see any reason why that wouldn't work.

In the core rules, the default range for teleport is 5km.

 

[mavikfelna]

In the core rules, the default range for teleport is 5km.

Ok, I got 400m from the vertical distance limit before thermodynamic effects become an issue from the last paragraph of the teleport description. My brain converted that to the distance limit despite the distance being listed as Distant. I will fix the description.

 

[mavikfelna]

Ok, How about these modifications? The addition of Mind Shield to the Universal Talent instead of telepathy allows any psion to protect themselves from mental assault. Telepathy remains the largest talent and I'm not sure I can cut it down any further. I renamed Teleporation to Dimensional Symbiosis to give it a little more than just Teleportation, but I'm not sold on the name so what do you think? Moved all of the affect others skills that are not healing to the Projection talent. Does that name work?

EDIT, crap, it deleted the cost column and pushed everything else over. I'll see if I can fix it

Talent	Skill	Range	Activation	Cost	Activation Time	Duration	Restrictions	Notes	Book
Botanical Symbiosis
	Camouflage	Short	6+	3	1D x10 Seconds	Effect x10 Minutes	.	In area with plant life, blend in and use plants as cover for DM -4 to be detected and +D3 Protection	(CA3 p41)
	Entangle	Short	8+	5	1D Seconds	Effect x2D rounds	.	Entangle 1D opponents, Athletics (STR or DEX) to resist, 10+ to act
	Plant Detection	Distant	4+	1	1D x10 Seconds	Instant	.	Detect amount and distance of living plants in a direction	(CA3 p41)
Changling							.
	Enhanced Charisma	Self	8+	2 per skill level	1D Seconds	Effect x10 Minutes	.	Increase any interaction skill by 1 skill level per 2 points spent	(Book 4 p64)
	Facial Metamorphosis	Self	6+	4	1D x10 Minutes	Effect x2D Minutes	.	Appear as another. Specific person is 1 difficulty increase (8+), Deception DM +effect	(CA3 p42)
	Full Metamorphosis	Self	10+	8	1D Hours	Effect x1D Hours	.	Appear fully as another. Specific person is 1 difficulty increase (12+), Deception DM +effect x2	(CA3 p42)
	Psychic Mimic	Self	8+	1	1D Minutes	Always Active	.	Opposed check by opponent or they only detect a normal, artificial personality	(AoCS1 p277)
	Vocal Mimic	Self	6+	2	1D Seconds	1D Minutes	.	Mimic any heard voice or voice like sound	(CA3 p42)
Counter Psionics							.
	Anti-Psionic Field	By Effect	10+	6	1D Seconds	1D +Effect Minutes	.	Blocks all psionic use in area: Effect 0 creates a Reach: Short field, success with Effect 2+ creates a Reach: Medium field and success with Effect 4+ creates a Reach: Long field.	(CA3 p43)
	Deflect	Short	10+	4	1D Seconds	Instant	.	Effect 0-2 blocks effect of psionic attack, Effect 3+ may be redirected to any target	(CA3 p43)
	Focused Block	Medium	8+	1+opposed PSI cost	1D Seconds	2D +Effect Minutes	.	Blocks opposing psion from using specific talent	(CA3 p43)
	General Block	Medium	10+	2+opponsed PSI cost	1D Seconds	2D +Effect Minutes	.	Blocks opposing psion from using any talent	(CA3 p43)
	Telepathic Blocking	Long	8+	4	1D Minutes	Effect x1D Minutes, Min 1 minute	.	All Telepathy and Remote Sensing activations in range suffer DM -PSI/2	(AoCS1 p276)
Dimensional Symbiosis							.
	Jump Sense	Self	6+	4	1D x10 Seconds	Instant	.	Boon dice for Astrogation check	(FFaOD p15)
	Teleport	Distant	8+	2	1D Seconds	Instant	.	Instantly move up to 5kms in any direction to a point you can see or are very familiar with	(CRB p234)
	Teleport w/Clothing	Distant	10+	4	1D Seconds	Instant	.	instantly move up to 5kms in any direction to a point you can see or are very familiar with, includes clothes and up to 10kg gear
	Teleport w/Armor	Distant	12+	6	1D Seconds	Instant	.	instantly move up to 5kms in any direction to a point you can see or are very familiar with, includes clothes and up to 500kg gear and armor
	Teleportal	Distant	12+	4 +2 per additional target	1D x10 Seconds	Instant	.	Instantly move a number of targets of up to person size (size 5) within Close range and yourself up to 5kms in any direction to a point you can see or are very familiar with clothes and up to 10kg of gear. Targets of size 6 to 8 count as 2 targets, targets over size 8 cannot be teleported.
Energy Kinesis							.
	Arc	Short	10+	3 per target	1D Seconds	Instant	.	Massive arc jumps between close targets for 2D energy damage each	(FFaOD p10)
	Assimilation	Self	10+	2 per point of damage absorbed	1D Seconds	1D Minutes	.	Energy damage is converted to one physcial characteristic of choice
	Charge	Personal	4+	1 per 20% charge	1D x10 Seconds	Instant	.	Charge, transfer or discharge personal battery or magazine charge up to 20% of capacity per point spent. Transfer of charge does not haveto be similar types	(FFaOD p10)
	Dampen	Long	8+	3	1D x10 Seconds	While concentraiting	.	Stops electric flow in machines	(FFaOD p8)
	Energy Armor	Self	8+	3	1D Seconds	Effect rounds	.	Armor vs energy	(FFaOD p8)
Healing							.
	Mental Healing	Close	10+	6 per day of Activation	1D Days	Activation Days	Only 1 activation active at a time	Cure 1 mental affliction/illness. Mental trauma repair takes 1 Day per day of Activatation and healer and target may not perform complex actions during those days.	(Compendium 1 p117)
	Physical Boost Other	Close	8+	2 per point	1D Seconds	10 Minutes	.	Temporarily boost any one physical characteristic of another character	(Compendium 1 p118)
	Healing	Close	8+	3	1D x10 Minutes	Instant	.	Restore effect to damaged characteristic, may add Medic skill levels to effect. Can only repair 1 characteristic at a time. May restore any damaged characteristic, mental or physical	(Compendium 1 p117)
	Regenerate	Close	10+	1+restored characteristic value/ammount of RAD removed	1D x10 Minutes	1 Day	Only 1 activation active at a time	Restore a single permanent lost characteristic point or heal RAD damage. IE Restoring 1 lost STR returning value to 9 would cost 9 PSI points +1 PSI point to activate. Takes 1 day per sesion and may only have 1 active session per character. May not raise characteristics over characters original starting value or above racial maximums. Restores lost limbs and organs. Does not affect caracteristics lost due to age.	(Compendium 1 p118)
	Transferance	Close	8+	1 +1 per 2 points of damage transferred	1D Minutes	Instant	.	Character transfer physical damage from target to themselves and suffers the full damage effect until healed	(AoCS1 p276)
	Triage	Close	8+	1	1D Seconds	Instant	.	Treat as First Aid from Medic Skill, may add Medic skill levels to effect	(Compendium 1 p117)
Machine Symbiosis
	Interface	Long	6+	3	1D x10 Seconds	Effect x10 Minutes, Min 1 minute	Can only issue 1 command per round	Control computer or device without outside interface, Effect improves control	(FFaOD p8)
	Sense EM	Close	4+	1	1D x10 Seconds	Effect x10 rounds, minimum 1 round	.	Sense active EM sources	(FFaOD p8)
	Sense Flow	Close	8+	1	1D Minutes	Effect x10 Minutes, Min 1 minute	.	Reduce difficulty of computer tasks by one step	(AoCS1 p276)
	Sense Status	Close	8+	2	1D Minutes	Instant	.	Effect gives information	(AoCS1 p276)
	Surge	Long	8+	3	1D Seconds	Instant	.	Causes power surge in target equipment that damages or destroys unprotected gear. Causes Effect in damage to any sophont in contact	(FFaOD p9)
Precognition							.
	Danger Sense	Self	4+	2	1D Seconds	Instant	.	Gain +2 bonus to avoid surprize.	(FFaOD p13)
	Glimpse	Self	10+	6	1D Seconds	Instant	.	Gain vision of upcoming event which can now be affected by viewer	(FFaOD p13)
	Predict Movement	Self	8+	4	1D Seconds	Instant	.	Gain +2 bonus to attack or defend next attack	(FFaOD p13)
	Temporal Echo	Self	8+	3	1D Minutes	Instant	.	Gain bonus to investigation and insight for object or location with significant events is past or near future	(FFaOD p14)
	Temporal Warning	Long	10+	4	1D Seconds	Instant	.	Group gains +2 bonus to initive checks	(FFaOD p14)
Projection							.
	Teleprojection	Distant	8+	2+Teleport cost	1D Seconds	Instant	.	Teleport other within Short range with any teleport skill	(AoCS1 p277)
	Transfer	Medium	8+	20	1 Day per Skill Level	1 Day	Only 1 skill level per Day	Requires Boost link or other boost method. Transfer any skill or talent skill levels to target. All skill levels to be passed should be done consecutively	(AoCS2 p166)
	Boost	Short	6+	5	1D Seconds	10 Minutes	.	Share up to remaining PSI points after activation	(AoCS2 p165)
(Droyne)	Psychic Invisibility	Very Long	Automatic	0	Instant	Always active	.	Character may suppress invisibility unless stressed	(AoCS2 p166)
	Psychic Transfer	Close	8+	1+Transfer amount	1D Seconds	Instant	.	Character transfers PSI points to target psion	(AoCS1 p277)
	Awareness of Other	Personal	As copied skill	2+copied skill cost	As copied skill	As copied skill	.	As copied Self Awareness skill	(AoCS1 p276)
	Rejuvinate Other	Close	6+	1 per point of damage	1D Seconds	Permanent	.	Repair aging damage to other for permanent Loss of PSI points
Psychokinesis
	Force Field	Personal	6+	1 per 1.5 cubic meters	1D Seconds	5 Minutes, dismissable	Cannot move away when active	Protection 12 vs Enengy and Physical damage, may be any shape or size the character can power	(FFaOD p17)
	Magnetic Manipulation	Short	6+	3	1D Seconds	Effect x10 Minutes, Min 1 minute	.	Can cause EMP to shut down electronics for 2 points, move or lock in place metal objects up to 10kg	(FFaOD p18)
	Molecular Manipulation	Short	12+	4	1D Seconds	Instant	.	Break or mend molecular bonds in a small area. If used for damage, deal 2D damage that bypasses all armor	(FFaOD p18)
	Motion Control	Short	8+	4	1D Seconds	Instant	.	Redirect intertia and momentum to reduce or increase fall or collision damage by effect or deflect a moving object from its path, causing DM -effect to accuracy	(FFaOD p19)
	Pyrokinesis	Short	6+	3	1D x10 Seconds	Instant	.	See chart for effects, may ignight objects	(CRB p233)
	Radiation Manipulation	Short	8+	3	1D Seconds	Effect x1D Minutes, Min 1 minute	.	Create a radition shield to prevent all RAD damage at personal range or Attack an opponent for effect RAD damage	(FFaOD p20)
	Vibration	Short	6+	2 per 1D damage	1D Seconds	Instant	.	If used for damage, ignores armor, 1D per 2 points spent, if used to stop tremors or vibrations, 2 points per 1D stopped. If used for echolocation, gain effect as a bonus to all recon, navigation, stealth and survival rolls for Effect minutes.	(FFaOD p17)
Remote Sensing							.		(AoCS2 p166)
	Clairvoyance	Very Distant	8+	2	1D x10 Seconds	Instant	.	effect provides audio and visual details to observed area that is blocked or beyond normal sight range	(CRB p232)
	Homing	Self	6+	0	1D Seconds	Instant	.	User may determine distance and direction to a home point. Point is most significant home for user	(AoCS2 p167)
(Droyne)	Link	Medium	4+	1	1D Seconds	15 Seconds	.	Droyne family link. May detect other members of the Oytrip and see and hear what is happening around them	(AoCS2 p167)
	Sense	Very Distant	6+	1	1D x10 Seconds	Instant	.	Detect distant area, details vary by effect but remain limited at best	(CRB p231)
	Tactical Senses	Long	8+	2	1D Seconds	Effect rounds	.	Senses are not penalized by environmental conditions	(CRB p232)
	Vision	Self	8+	4	1D x10 Seconds	Effect x10 Minutes, Min 1 minute	.	Effect provides visual and audio details to an event significant to the viewer ocurring currently as if they were present. Viewer may move about and pass through barriers freely	(FFaOD p14)
Self-Awareness							.
	Enhanced Characteristic	Self	8+	1 per point of increase	1D Seconds	Effect x10 Minutes, Min 1 minute	.	May choose one Physical Characteristic to increase per activation	(CRB p233):
	Fortitude	Self	4+	1 per point of damage	1D Seconds	Until PSI recovered	.	May absorb physical damage to PSI instead of other characteristic. Damage is temporary	(AoCS2 p167)
	Inspiration	Self	8+	1	1D Seconds	1 Minute	.	+2 to any one check during duration	(CRB p233)
	Psychic Armor	Self	10+	1 per point of armor	1D Seconds	Effect rounds	.	Stacks with worn armor	(CRB p233)
	Rejuvination	Self	6+	1 per point of damage	1D Seconds	Permanent	.	Loss of PSI points used to repair aging damage is permanent	(AoCS2 p167)
	Suspended Animation	Self	8+	3	1D Minutes	1 Week	.	As Low Berth, no death chance	(CRB p233)
Telekinesis							.
	Flight	Self	10+	5	1D Seconds	Effect rounds	.	Fly up to 15 meters per round	(CRB p232)
	Microkinesis	Close	10+	3	1D x10 Seconds	Effect x10 rounds, minimum 1 round	.	Affect very small, down to microscopic objects	(CRB p233)
	Telekenetic Lift	Short	8+	1 per 10kg	1D Seconds	Effect rounds	.	Manipulate and move objects close together up to limit of PSI points spent. May move at dashing speed. Object may be thrown with PSI replacing STR for the check.	(CRB p232)
	Telekenetic Slam	Short	8+	1	1D Seconds	Instant	.	Effect in damage to target	(CRB p232)
Telepathy							.
	Assault	Short	14+	8	1D Seconds	Instant	.	Effect x3 damage and target unconcious if unshielded	(CRB p231)
(Droyne)	Forgetfulness	Close	10+	6	1D Seconds	Instant	.	Suppress PSI hours of memories of target if fail INT (10+)	(AoCS2 p166)
	Life Detection	Distant	4+	1	1D x10 Seconds	Instant	.	Pick a direction and distance and get number of animals and sophonts detected. If know individual is detected, they are identified.	(CRB p230)
	Mind Link	Distant	4+	1	1D Seconds	Combined Effect Minutes, Minimum 1	.	Must be with another telepath, unrestricted mental communications	(CRB p230)
	Mind Wipe	Short	12+	5	1D x10 Seconds	Instant	.	Remove D3 x Effect Minutes of memories	(SA1 p49)
	Probe	Close	12+	4	1D Minutes	Effect x10 Minutes, Min 1 minute	.	Deep read target mind, effect determines clarity	(CRB p231)
	Read Surface Thoughts	Long	8+	2	1D x10 Seconds	Effect Minutes	.	Read active thoughts of target without detection if unshielded. Effect determines clarity	(CRB p230)
	Send Thoughts	Distant	10+	2	1D x10 Seconds	Instant	.	Send a message to another mind	(CRB p230)
	Suggestion	Short	12+	3	1D x10 Seconds	Instant	.	Implant a command, idea, suggestion, or thought in target mind. Effect determines effacacy	(CRB p231)
	Telempathy	Long	6+	1	1D x10 Seconds	Instant	.	Read or Implant emotions of target, may be non-sophont. Effect determines strength of emotion	(CRB p230)
Universal
	Mind Shield	Self	Automatic	0	Instant	Always active	.	May be dropped voluntarily. Opposed roll for trying to bypass	(CRB p231)

​

 

[J. L. Brown]

Starting at the top; Botanical Symbiosis seems a little weak and overspecialized. I suggest adding a few plant-focused powers; some ideas might include:

• Analyze Plant -- provides the psion with information about a plant or substantially plant-like organism; including whether it is safely edible. Mostly used to get a bonus to Survival checks when foraging for food or Medic checks searching for plants with particular medicinal properties.
• Boost Plant -- a psion may expend PSI points to enhance the health, growth rate, size of harvest, quality of produce. and so on. Effect in excess of basic success can be split (at the psions discretion) between these factors and the size of the area affected. Provides a bonus to Profession (Farmer), Science (agriculture), or similar checks.
• Clear Path -- plants in the immediate (longer distance with better effects) vicinity of the psion temporarily move aside to allow easier passage. Increases overland travel speed where plants would normally be a hindrance; speed of psions travel is somewhat limited by the distance that the path extends -- the path needs to be as long (or longer) than the distance moved in a round. Effect in excess of basic success can be split (at the psions discretion) between lengthening the distance of the path, or lengthening the duration of the power.
• Domesticate -- Allows a psion to sense the best method for enhancing desirable qualities, and reducing undesirable qualities, of a plant. Provides a bonus to Science (Agriculture) or similar (usually 'seasonal') rolls to produce 'seed' with the desired qualities.
• Protect Plant -- provide a bonus to allow a plant to survive attacks, drought, vacuum, radiation, or other harsh conditions.
• Tap Plant -- Destroys all plant life in a radius around the psion to restore END to the psion or single person touched.

That last one might belong in 'Tapping' Talent instead, but it seemed thematic. Open to other ideas, and will continue with the other listed talents as time allows.

 

[J. L. Brown]

'Changeling' Talent looks okay to me; mostly I think we need a clarification that it is accomplished by physical changes to the psion. We might consider adding a power (or powers) to allow the use of these on targets (willing or incapacitated targets at +4 psi point cost, unwilling targets at +4+Opposed check psi point cost) at touch range; but as written the Talent seems worthwhile. Another power that might be worth considering is to allow the psion to change to take on a non-sophont or non-living appearance.

'Counter Psionics' I would change fundamentally; starting with the name -- I would make it 'Meta-Psionics'.

• 'Anti-Psionic Field' and 'Telepathic Blocking' -- merge these two powers into 'Anti-psionic Static'. All Psi powers initiated by, or used against, a target in the area of effect is penalized. I like the idea of an opposed check, or the psion could divide up effect in excess of basic success into more area, more duration, or more penalty.
• Rename 'Focused Block' to 'Talent Block', and 'General Block' to 'Psionic Block'. Or merge them, and make the multi-Talent block more expensive and difficult.
• 'Deflect' -- I am not sure this belongs here. A 'Counter' seems like it might be better in 'Psionic Defense' Talent, if you have one.

Now on to added powers:

• 'Transfer Strength' -- basically everything which allows one psion to give psionic strength points to another psion goes here.
• 'Transfer Power' -- allows the psion to 'hand off' a power they initiated to another; a psion which receives such a 'hand off' may take over concentration on an effect, or sustain the power (even if they do not posses the power, or have it at a lower level) if the power has a provision for sustaining or extending the effect. This power also allows an already initiated power to be moved to a new target. The meta-psion still may use the power which was 'transferred', only that specific instance of the use of the power is being transferred, The recipient may NOT alter the target or any other aspect of the effect; although they may choose to stop concentrating on or maintaining it.
• 'Augment Range' -- the meta-psion can pay psionic points to reduce the range for psionic use by a particular psion, and against only a specific target. The basic success on this power shortens ranges of 'Personal' (essentially touch range) by one range band to 'Self'; extra effect extends the range to the initial target (but still only reduces range by one band) or extends the duration of the augmented range effect. The initial target must be within range (determined by effect) of the meta-psion; a 'Distant' target is unaffected if the meta-psion only achieves 'Very Long' range. The psion can choose to spend multiples of the powers cost; double cost shortens the range to target by TWO range bands, triple cost shortens range by three range bands, etc.
• 'Augment Duration' and 'Augment Area' might also be worth considering.

The idea is that meta-psi can be used to help or hinder psi powers, but is a bit useless on its' own.

 

[mavikfelna]

'Changeling' Talent looks okay to me; mostly I think we need a clarification that it is accomplished by physical changes to the psion. We might consider adding a power (or powers) to allow the use of these on targets (willing or incapacitated targets at +4 psi point cost, unwilling targets at +4+Opposed check psi point cost) at touch range; but as written the Talent seems worthwhile. Another power that might be worth considering is to allow the psion to change to take on a non-sophont or non-living appearance.

'Counter Psionics' I would change fundamentally; starting with the name -- I would make it 'Meta-Psionics'.

• 'Anti-Psionic Field' and 'Anti-Psionic Field' -- merge these two powers into 'Anti-psionic Static'. All Psi initiated by, or used against, a target in the area of effect is penalized. I like the idea of an opposed check, or the psion could divide up effect in excess of basic success into more area, more duration, or more penalty.
• Rename 'Focused Block' to 'Talent Block', and 'General Block' to 'Psionic Block'. Or merge them, and make the multi-Talent block more expensive and difficult.
• 'Deflect' -- I am not sure this belongs here. A 'Counter' seems like it might be better in 'Psionic Defense' Talent, if you have one.

Now on to added powers:

• 'Transfer Strength' -- basically everything which allows one psion to give psionic strength points to another psion goes here.
• 'Transfer Power' -- allows the psion to 'hand off' a power they initiated to another; a psion which receives such a 'hand off' may take over concentration on an effect, or sustain the power (even if they do not posses the power, or have it at a lower level) if the power has a provision for sustaining or extending the effect. This power also allows an already initiated power to be moved to a new target. The meta-psion still may use the power which was 'transferred', only that specific instance of the use of the power is being transferred, The recipient may NOT alter the target or any other aspect of the effect; although they may choose to stop concentrating on or maintaining it.
• 'Augment Range' -- the meta-psion can pay psionic points to reduced the range for psionic use by a particular psion, and against only a specific target. The basic success on this power shortens ranges of 'Personal' (essentially touch range) by one range band to 'Self'; extra effect extends the range to the initial target (but still only reduces range by one band) or extends the duration of the augmented range effect. The initial target must be within range (determined by effect) of the meta-psion; a 'Distant' target is unaffected if the meta-psion only achieves 'Very Long' range. The psion can choose to spend multiples of the powers cost; double cost shortens the range to target by TWO range bands, triple cost shortens range by three range bands, etc.
• 'Augment Duration' and 'Augment Area' might also be worth considering.

The idea is that meta-psi can be used to help or hinder psi powers, but is a bit useless on its' own.

I really like the plant powers. The talent comes from Core Adventure 3, along with Counter Psionics, and Changeling, and I couldn't think of anything to add to buff it up. Now I have something.

I like the change to Meta-Psionics, that sounds better and more versatile.

I don't have a defense or attack talents because I felt each talent should include those options to spread them out more. I might be persuaded to change my thinking but I'm hoping to avoid a must have talent as well.

I agree with the anti-psionic static and block.

I put the transfer stuff in Projection, though Transfer or Transference is a better name now that I think about it.

I'm not sure if Augments should talent skills, or options all psions can do to empower their abilities by spending point like the current rule for extending range.

I like Augment Range as you describe it, but the name is wrong, it's not an augment but a debuff. Call it Suppress Effect, and let it reduce any one element of all powers used by the target Psion, so you could suppress range, duration, area or something else. And you could have multiple suppressions on a target to really slow them down.

What do you think?