[Dthclaw]

Hey all. I'm working on the psionics section of my CS, and I'm running into even more trouble than I do with the spell's department.

I've currently got the beginnings of a section going, but I've still got some rather thorny issues here.

-How is psionics different from tech and magic? (Not going for a sci-fi'ey explanation or a psionics-is-the-red-headed-step-child-of-magic approach, but beyond that dunno)

-How do psionicists interact with the rest of the world? (I've currently got a hidden/under world type approach... almost MiB'ish in keeping psionics out of the lime-light)

-Powers (I've got literally nothing)

-Psionic items (fuzzy ideas, but nothing more)

-How does psionics interact with magic and technology?

I've attached what precious little I've got so far onto this post.

Please help

Attached File(s)

•  psionics_intro.pdf (23.06K)
  Number of downloads: 8

[Dthclaw]

Okay, well, I had one thought on a new power to add.

Tell me what you think of it.

Glimpse of Knowledge
Clairsentience
Level: Psion/wilder 1
Display: Visual
Manifesting Time: 1 standard action
Range: Personal
Target: You
Duration: Permanent until discharged; see text
Power Points: 1

With glimpse of knowledge you can gain an insight into how to do or achieve something. With a single manifestation of this power, you can make a single skill check as though you were trained in it. For example, a Psion could manifest this power and make a single Tumble or Spellcraft check despite having no ranks in those skills. This power lasts until you make the skill check, at which time it is discharged.
Augment: You can augment this power in one or more of the following ways.
1. If you spend 2 additional power points, you can use this power to make a skill check with any skill you possess with a +2 enhancement bonus
2. For every additional power point you spend, you gain a +1 enhancement bonus on the skill check.

[Raven Bloodmoon]

Here are some blind suggestions:

Dthclaw, on Aug 9 2007, 07:35 PM, said:

How is psionics different from tech and magic? (Not going for a sci-fi'ey explanation or a psionics-is-the-red-headed-step-child-of-magic approach, but beyond that dunno)

How about the kung fu explination? Psionics is your internal power that you manifest through training and concentration. It is the pinnacle of bodily and mental preparation and results in really cool action movies.

Dthclaw, on Aug 9 2007, 07:35 PM, said:

How do psionicists interact with the rest of the world? (I've currently got a hidden/under world type approach... almost MiB'ish in keeping psionics out of the lime-light)

If psionics is passed on through a mentor-pupil relationship, there may be small, secluded schools that teach it. Because it is such an internal pursuit, it may not interact that much with the world at all, unless two schools start fighting each other or a school is hired for a job of sorts. Modeling it on kung fu movies, you could say that it is clandestine because to flaunt it simiply would not be humble, and self-restraint is part of training the mind. It comes out when necessay, but only as much as is needed at the time. Furthermore, you never want to show potential enemies the true scope of your power, because if they know your limits, then that is one less surprise you can give them.

Dthclaw, on Aug 9 2007, 07:35 PM, said:

Powers (I've got literally nothing)

Uh, if you go with the monk idea, protective powers would be very appropriate, as well as body-enhancement type powers. There wouldn't be much in the way of flashy offensive powers, though. You'd also want some intuition- and awareness-type powers.

Dthclaw, on Aug 9 2007, 07:35 PM, said:

Psionic items (fuzzy ideas, but nothing more)

Dthclaw, on Aug 9 2007, 07:35 PM, said:

How does psionics interact with magic and technology?

Uh, it doesn't, I don't think. It's just different. No transparency, in my opinion. If a psionic power and a magic power both affect the same subject in opposite ways, I'd consider stacking the bonus and penalty, but then that leads to hairy issues. Perhaps a caster check vs. power check to see which one applies. As for technology, uh...my toaster doesn't stop working because I have a permonition, and my microwave doesn't let me remotely view other parts of the world. Or I'd set it for a few hours and try tuning into Nicole Kidman's shower.

Dthclaw, on Aug 10 2007, 08:54 PM, said:

Okay, well, I had one thought on a new power to add.

Tell me what you think of it.

Glimpse of Knowledge
Clairsentience
Level: Psion/wilder 1
Display: Visual
Manifesting Time: 1 standard action
Range: Personal
Target: You
Duration: Permanent until discharged; see text
Power Points: 1

With glimpse of knowledge you can gain an insight into how to do or achieve something. With a single manifestation of this power, you can make a single skill check as though you were trained in it. For example, a Psion could manifest this power and make a single Tumble or Spellcraft check despite having no ranks in those skills. This power lasts until you make the skill check, at which time it is discharged.
Augment: You can augment this power in one or more of the following ways.
1. If you spend 2 additional power points, you can use this power to make a skill check with any skill you possess with a +2 enhancement bonus
2. For every additional power point you spend, you gain a +1 enhancement bonus on the skill check.

Just scrolled down and read that. That's weaker than the nerfed cantrips that AE uses. You should at elast granta +2 bonus to the skill as a base. Augmentation might boost it further. A 1st level spell-equivalent woudl be around a +5 bonus, I'd say. Just for reference.

[Fade_XIII]

Hello, all.

This is my first post on these forums. I am a major lurker, but also part of Dthclaw's normal face-to-face group. Since I seem to be the member of our group most interested in/knowledgeable about psionics, he asked me to weigh in on this topic. I figured I would copy my reply to him here to see if anyone else had opinions on it. I wrote it originally for Dthclaw, but I think his PbP players and anyone else familiar with the Teltesh CS should be able to follow my line of thought pretty easily.




I was reading through some of the CS today and something came to me. During the last campaign we read something about a Daelkyr incursion into the Underdark a long, long time ago. Considering I don't think the Daelkyr are OGL I assume this could be altered to be an incursion of whatever plane serves as the Far Realm/Xoriat in this setting. There are also several psionic aligned races native to the underdark: Duergar, Aboleths, Mind Flayers (non OGL, but sort of assumed by most people). Dromites are also natively underground, and you have introduced the Lotha as psionic ocean-dwellers. Although the Lotha as described seem like they would stick to the shallower parts, they could have ancestors who dwelled in the deeper waters or oceanic caves. Even the Drow are occasionally connected to psionics. You have Isura listed as one of the few open power bases of the Chrysalis of the Ordered Mind, and you aren't the only one. I recall reading that one of the Drow families in the Forgotten Realms was strongly psionic (and in a very psionic deficient setting, no less).

What am I getting at with all this? Perhaps psionic abilities are more easily awakened with this sort of contact with the realms beyond. I don't know what you originally intended with the Daelkyr invasion, but perhaps whatever happened left a lingering influence on the deep dark places of the world. The touch of this influence has the potential to open the minds of those around it. This has lead the the prominence of entire races of psionic creatures ruling in the underdark, and some of their descendants have made their way to the surface (Dromites, Isurans, Lotha, etc). This could also be affected by the abundance of crystalline structures found in underground caverns. Perhaps they serve as an amplifier for these influencing powers, or they are somehow still resonating with the energy long after it's original source has departed.
The "traditional" psionic methods of meditation and philosophizing(?) are ways to artificially awaken the dormant parts of ones mind in the same way that contact with the realms beyond does naturally. Psionic races and wild talents may be the result of mutations/evolutions resulting from this otherworldly exposure (reducing or negating the need for meditations and training).


This idea leads to some interesting thoughts

First, the phenomenon of the Material Plane "source" of psionics being found deep inside the world. It serves as a nice parallel for psionic powers being found deep inside a persons mind.

Second, it provides an interesting way of looking at psionics as opposed to magic and tech. It neither reinforces or manipulates the natural laws. Instead, it exists outside the natural laws entirely. Teltesh may in fact be a purely dualistic setting. Psionic powers are truly not of this world.

Third, at the risk of making psionics and the Far Realms more chaotic and evil (instead of "beyond alignment" as I prefer to think of them) this could very easily tie into the Demonic Realms. Mysterious, horrifying and wholly unlike the planes we know, it seems an interesting fit. I personally would not go this route, but I can see some people liking it.

Fourth, speaking of "bad" psionics, this could conceivably put a new spin on the whole reasoning for sealing off the underdark in the first place. Most other settings don't consider Drow, Illithids, whatever such a world shattering threat to go to such extreme measures. Perhaps what they were really trying to contain was the warping influence of the Far Realms. Psionic creatures on the surface may mean they weren't near as successful as it seems. This puts a really sinister spin on psionics without necessarily tying them down to an alignment like above. However, I don't know how this factors into your previous ideas of the underdark's sealing. This may be one of those things to "suggest" in the CS and let individual DMs decide how they want to do it (like causes of the Mourning in Eberron).

Thoughts?