Psychic Numina

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Hedge Magic -PN- Gypsies -PN- Secret Societies

Introduction

Animal Telepathy

While most psychic abilities affect other humans, some psychics use their talents on the "lower" animals. The actual method of communication may vary. Some psychics bark or growl at the animal. Others use dressage gestures, even if the animal has never even seen a trainer before. A few simply speak their native language (or even an imaginary one) and hear the animal speak it back to them. Animals may communicate with the psychic, though the information they relate should be limited by their intelligence and perceptions.

Animal psychics may use their power on any mammal, lizard or bird with no change in the difficulty. In fact, highly intelligent animals (chimpanzees, dolphins, gorillas) or well trained animals (dogs, horses, circus or show animals) are more susceptible to Animal Psychics. The difficulty is reduced by one. Fish are harder to control; increase the difficulty by two. Insect minds are too simple (or perhaps too different) for the psychic to affect.

Roll: Charisma + Animal Ken

● Communication -- The psychic may "speak" with a single animal, allowing two-way communication with the beast. The communication does not give the psychic control over the animal, though misunderstandings may be explained away. Roll at difficulty 6.
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●● Command -- The psychic can command the animal to perform for him. The animal will not endanger itself for the psychic. However, it can do any trick the psychic can adequately describe to it. Under some circumstances, an animal will attack for the psychic, though it would be under circumstances where the animal had some proclivity toward attacking in the first place. A police dog might bring someone to the ground, or a hungry tiger might go after a hunter. Roll at dif. 7, with modifiers depending upon the complexity of the command (plus 1 for a rather complex command or one to which the animal is ambivalent; minus one for something it would do anyway).
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●●● Mass Communication -- This power works like the Communication power, though it now works on all animals within earshot. Additionally, the psychic may communicate with multiple types of animals simultaneously. Roll at difficulty 6, plus one for each additional species of animal in the area of communication.
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●●●● Mind Link -- With this power, the psychic joins his mind with that of a single animal. Once the link is established, the psychic's and the animal's minds are linked until the psychic drops the connection. While linked, the psychic can perceive whatever the animal perceives. She can also communicate with the animal using any of the lesser Animal Psychic powers, with the difficulty reduced by 1. The drawback to this power is that if the animal is injured, the mental feedback injures the psychic. For every lethal wound level the animal takes, the psychic takes one bashing wound level (soakable normally). Difficulty is 8.
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●●●●● Domination -- This ability gives total control of an animal's mind. It will do whatever the psychic wishes, even at the cost of it's own life. Roll at difficulty 8 and spend 1 Willpower. The animal will explicitly follow 1 command. The command may be conditional ("if somebody attacks me, then kill him") but it cannot be conjunctional ("follow the scent of this shirt and attack him").



Anti-Psychic

Anti-psychic is the rarest psychic talent yet observed. The psychics' very presence makes even reliable psychic talents weaken or fail. Sensitives, before their powers fail them, describe the anti-psychic as generating a "static" in the mental plane. An anti-psychic cannot purchase additional psychic powers. Due to the subtle nature of their powers, most anti-psychics remain unaware of their talent until approached or even attacked by other psychics. Anti-Psychic is useful against all psychic abilities, as well as the Mind Sphere (though it provides only a single level of defense against the latter, regardless of the anti-psychic's power).

The stronger the anti-psychic, the larger the radius affected. Anti-Psychic isn't "activated" in the fashion of other powers; rather, it always clouds those around the anti-psychic, adding its level to the difficulty of all psychic powers in the area. (As usual, pushing a difficulty past 9 generates a threshold for successes.) With a roll of Intelligence + Meditation (difficulty 7) an anti-psychic may dampen this aura down one level per success rolled; this allows the anti-psychic some attempt at controlling the power.


Power Level Effect Radius
1 5-yard radius
2 10-yard radius
3 15-yard radius
4 20-yard radius
5 25-yard radius



Astral Projection

The power of Astral Projection allows the psychic to split his spirit off from his body. The discarnate spirit can travel very quickly in this form. The spirit intangibly travels across planes of thought while still able to look in on the physical world. While in astral form, the psychic cannot physically affect the real world, though he may use other psychic abilities (the difficilty numbers for doing so are increased by two). However, while away from his body, he cannot perceive what is happening to it. Many out-of-body travelers have nightmares about someone moving or harming their physical self while their spirit is roaming free. Two astrally projecting characters may affect each other, though for purposes of astral combat, they substitute their Wits for Dexterity, their Intelligence for Strength and their Perception for Stamina. Some astrally projecting psychics could once perceive ghosts and certain spirits, but most such spirits now appear as blurry forms, barely in the realm of perception. In general, an astral spirit can see the material world or other abstract spirits in the realm of thought; ghosts of the dead and the like usually remain imperceptible except to those psychics who also have some mediumship abilities.

To release the astral form, the player spends one point of Willpower and rolls for the power. Should the player botch while attempting to have his characters step outside his body, the psychic is unable to leave his body for 24 hours. Psychics who frequent the astral plane whisper that other entities sometimes intrude there, human or otherwise, and on some occasions find their souls drawn to strange spirits worlds far removed from the mortal plane. A few never find their way back. Caution is the rule when exploring planes unknown to humans.

Roll: Perception + Meditation (difficulty 8)

● -- With only rudimentary awareness of astral existence, the psychic can shift her senses to feel the astral realm but cannot quite enter it. The psychic sees the astral realm overlaid upon the normal physical world. There are psychics who prefer to close their eyes and visualize the astral plane, while others have no difficulty watching both. A psychic may view the astral realm for so long as she maintains her concentration upon it.
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●● -- The psychic practitioner can leave her body for one minute per point of Stamina. While in astral form, she can only perceive things by sight. She is also limited to traveling approximately one mile away from her body.
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●●● -- The character can leave her body for up to ten minutes per point of Stamina. She gains the ability to hear in astral form and can travel up to 100 miles from her body.
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●●●● -- The psychic can now leave her body for up to an hour per point of Stamina and travel up to 1,000 miles away. Each additional hour out of her body after the first requires the expenditure of a point of Willpower. If the player succeeds on a Charisma + Occult roll (difficulty 8), the psychic can manifest visually to observers as a translucent, ghostly apparition, though the projector cannot communicate verbally with observers.
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●●●●● -- The psychic may astrally travel anywhere in the world, so long as her body remains healthy, and she may use all of her senses normally. The psychic's form (should the character choose to manifest, using the same roll as previously noted) appears as a blurry and translucent version of her usual physical form but somewhat idealized. While manifest, the projection can speak, though only in a soft whisper. Like her visual appearance, the psychic's speech does not appear on recordings.



Body Control

Most psychics turn their paranormal abilities outward, sensing things beyond normal perceptions or controlling them with their wills. Other psychics turn their powers inward. Psychics with Biocontrol regulate their autonomic nervous systems with the ease that others tie their shoes. Proper use of Biocontrol allows a psychic to shut down pain, regulate his internal organs or even direct the flow of blood and glandular secretions at will. While some otherwise normal people learn basic techniques of biofeedback, the truly talented psychic can perform marvels beyond all but the most dedicated meditative disciple.

Roll: Stamina + Meditation

● Basic Body Control -- The psychic has power over his body to a basic degree. By entering a self-induced hypnosis state, he controls basic functions. He can stop a small cut from bleeding, ignore small amounts of pain or hold his breath longer than he would be able to under normal circumstances. Roll at difficulty 6 for the effect to succeed. While in this self-imposed trance, the character can do nothing else but focus on his body. He remains peripherally aware of his surroundings but can bring himself out of the trance at will.
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●● Self-Healing -- By maintaining his internal focus over a long period of time, the character accelerates the healing process. Psychics with self healing recover at a vastly accelerated rate, as their bodily controls allow them to more efficiently reknit flesh and fight off infections. Roll at difficulty 7, though the current wound penalty does apply to the dice pool. Every success reduces the time for the wound to heal by one stage on the healing chart. The character must spend his time resting comfortably (preferably under some sort of medical care) for the power to work. For instance, if Raymond was Mauled, he would roll his Stamina + Meditation minus 2 dice. If he scored three successes, he would heal from Mauled to Wounded in three days. He could then roll again to heal from Wounded to Injured.
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●●● Hysterical Strength -- The psychic gains control of his adrenal glands, allowing brief periods of hysterical strength and speed. The player rolls at difficulty 8. Every two successes on the roll gives the character one additional point to Strength, Dexterity or Stamina, up to a maximum of five dots in any characteristic. The effect lasts one scene, after which the player must roll again at difficulty 6 to "soak" these successes in bashing damage--as the psychic "comes down" from the hysterical episode, his body responds to the excessive stress and pain. (Some psychics see this more as a form of channeled energy than as a scientific methodology and might well have Hysterical Strength without any glandular response. The results are the same.)
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●●●● Ignore Pain Response -- he psychic has the ability to shut off his pain centers for a brief period of time. This does not heal any damage, though it does let him function while injured. Roll against difficulty 7. Every success allows the psychic to ignore one die of wound penalties for one scene. At the end of the scene, the wound modifiers return, and the character cannot deflect away the pain again until he has healed at least one wound level.
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●●●●● Mind Over Matter -- The character's control of his body is complete. At will, he can stop his heart, control the immune system and accelerate or suppress cell growth, generation or processing. In effect, the pyschic can direct his body consciously to perform feats of biology almost as if cells responded individually to his mind. The psychic can nullify most toxins with a difficulty 8 roll, though sufficiently large doses (like a quart of mercury) would overwhelm his system. He can fight off just about any mundane disease, allergen or irritant and can even try to counteract severe diseases like HIV or cancer (again, at difficulty 8). With pain control (previous), he can flex and contort his body into unnatural positions and slip out of bonds or into tight spaces. He can hold his breath for minutes at a time while remaining active and, if necessary, can actively redirect toxins to other parts of the body--so he might be able to keep his mind and hands working by shunting the effects of poison gas all into his legs. The psychic can, if he prepares his body against trauma, gain a normal Stamina soak against any sort of damage, even aggravated (difficulty 8; successes determine the maximum number of dice that the psychic can use to soak lethal or aggravated damage for the scene, not counting armor or other external modifiers).


Note: Although theoretically possible in the Dark Ages, this power has mostly manifested from the end of the 19th century through the 21st century. It might be paradoxical, but Indian yogis have been doing this kind of thing for centuries.



Channeling

Some psychics have the ability to draw upon the knowledge of those who have passed on. Channelers tap the knowledge and experience of the dead, briefly obtaining skills that they personally lack. Some psychics have a repertoire of spirits they can call on for help and assistance. Others claim that they tap the collective unconscious.

While the source of knowledge varies, the effects remain the same. The player rolls the Channeling pool (difficulty 7); every success gives the character one dot of the Talent, Skill or Knowledge desired for the remainder of the scene. On a botch, the channeler has opened herself up too widely to the spirit planes; she may summon a malevolent entity that tries to control her actions, lose some of her usual abilities as her personality is lost int he influx or simply find herself unable to reach her usual channeling talents for a day, sometimes more. Note that only one personality may be channeled at a time. Thus, a channeler cannot "stack" additional dots by channeling multiple personalities at a time.

Roll: Perception + Awareness

● -- The psychic can channel once per day. She has a vague sense of other personalities floating about and of the existence of some sort of consciousness beyond the body, but that's about all.
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●● -- The character can channel two times per day. She also can, against a difficulty equal to the Gauntlet, see briefly into the Shadowlands where ghosts live. She can communicate with ghosts for one minute per success rolled.
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●●● -- The psychic practitioner can channel three times per day. She can also see into the Shadowlands for an entire scene by rolling against a difficulty of the Gauntlet.
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●●●● -- At this level and beyond there is no limit to how often the character can channel, though the difficulty increases by one for each time after the third until the character sleeps. The psychic also can let ghosts skilled in the arts of possession (called "Puppetry" by wraiths) easily enter her body to use all of her skills. The medium retains full awareness of the wraith's actions. She can also eject a possessing wraith by winning a contest of Willpower against the ghost in question; each attempt costs one Willpower point and takes a full turn of struggling.
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●●●●● -- The psychic can channel two disparate personalities at once (and thus the player can roll Channeling twice and add to determine Abilities dots gained). As before, there's no effective limit to how often the character can channel at this point, though successive attempts become more difficult until the psychic has a full sleep cycle. When possessed by a ghost, the channeler often gains memories from the ghost, beyond what the possessor might do or tell--while a weaker channeler might hope the ghost says or does something significant, the master channeler can access some of the ghost's memories and passions (in game terms, the channeler gains a sense of the ghost's Nature, Demeanor and driving concerns).


Note: The first appearance of channeling was recorded in the mid 19th century, but there is nothing about this psychic ability that could not be used in the Dark Ages. However the Catholic Church will be likely to see this ability as a form of possession (which it is) and carry out an exorcism.



Clairvoyance

A clairvoyant has the ability to cast his senses away, allowing him to perceive people, places or things at great distances. Though, technically Clairvoyance refers specifically to remote sight, some psychics can also cast forth their hearing or other senses as well. Unlike astral projection, the clairsentient does not separate his consciousness from his body; he remains aware of what's going on around him (though this can be very confusing if the psychic tries to concentrate upon two locations at once). Similarly, the clairvoyant does not travel through the intervening space he simply perceives whatever happens at the target site as if he stood there.

The degree of familiarity the psychic has with the target may raise or lower the difficulty (by plus or minus one or two). Once the clairvoyant "locks on" to a target, he can then "pan" his view around, allowing him to see just about anything in the immediate area. The limits of their perceptions are the immediate area in question. If the character wishes to see beyond that area, he must refocus, and the player must make a new roll. For example, a character looking into a room in another house could see anything in that room. However, to switch perceptions into the hall outside would require a second roll. The clairvoyant cannot perceive anything he could not perceive with his normal senses. Thus, if the target area is completely darkened, remote sight does no good.

Roll: Perception + Awareness (difficulty 8)

● -- The psychic can see things, though the images are hazy and dreamlike. The character can extend his senses into just the immediate area, approximately a mile from his body.
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●● -- The psychic can see clearly through remote sight and can faintly hear. The range of perception is now anywhere in the immediate five to 10 miles, depending on the number of successes (1 success = 5 miles, 2 successes = 6 miles, etc).
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●●● -- The character can see and hear clearly at a distance. He can also "touch" things at the remote side, though his sense of touch is vague, as if he were wearing heavy gloves. (He cannot move things, naturally). The character's range expands to 10 miles per success rolled.
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●●●● -- The character can clearly see, hear and touch at range. Additionally, he can detect strong odors. The range is 100 miles per success.
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●●●●● -- The character can use all five senses clearly and can perceive things up to 1000 miles away per success rolled.



Cyberkinesis

A relatively new talent, Cyberkinesis is the ability to control electronic machinery with one's mind. Paranormal researchers believe that Cyberkinesis is a specialized application of telekinesis. The cyberkinetic generates small-scale electromagnetic fields that alter the operating systems of computers and other electronic equipment (stereo systems, burglar alarms, etc). However, while the psychic can control the machine, he cannot "read its mind." That is a separate power: Cyberpathy. For all powers above Level One, he must be able to see what he is doing, generally through a monitor or display readout. In effect, a cyberkinetic can send information to a machine but must read it back normally (or with Cyberpathy).

Roll: Manipulation + Computer

● Switch -- The cyberkinetic possesses the ability to switch computers or easily operated electronic equipment off and on. Roll at diff. 6 for machines switched by electronic relays, difficulty 8 for switches that rely on physical relays.
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●● Link -- The cyberkinetic may operate the electronic equipment without touching it, as if by remote control. This does not give him any override codes or passwords. He could enter a password without it at the keyboard, but he could not login to the machine without a valid password. Roll against difficulty 4 or 5 for simple acts like programming a VCR or entering data into a word processor. Very complex actions require higher difficulty numbers, such as 7 for driving a car with power steering or 9 for a computer controlled factory.
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●●● Scramble -- he psychic possesses the ability to send microscale power surges through computers, giving them the equivalent of an epileptic seizure. Computers lock up, video equipment displays snow, and recording equipment picks up nothing but static. The scrambling effect lasts as long as the cyberkinetic concentrates upon it. When the effect lapses, the machines return to normal operation, though some less robust operating systems will crash. Roll against difficulty 7, though complex systems may require an 8 or 9.
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●●●● Password -- The psychic overrides the operating system of computers, essentially giving himself any password or code he desires. He can force the computer to do anything the normal operating system is capable of performing. He could, for instance, create administrator access for himself, erase data or forge e-mail from anyone with an account on the system. Roll against difficulty 7 for ordinary desktop machines, difficulty 8 or 9 for machines with high degrees of security or other intrusion countermeasures.
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●●●●● Run Hot -- The psychic has such control of electronics that he can effectively "reprogram" the computer to exceed its normal abilities. A computer calculates faster, a robot arm lifts more, a laser burns hotter. Roll against difficulty 8. Every success gives the psychic an extra success to apply to his next use of a machine. However, every success also does one "health level" of damage to the machine. Apply the wound penalties to the device's subsequent functions until repaired.


Note: Obviously in the Dark Ages there are no known computers, so this power would be paradoxical and largely useless.



Cyberpathy

While a cyberkinetic possesses the ability to control electronic equipment, the cyberpath can read the data stored on the computer. Researchers believe that the method for reading magnetic patterns in a computer's memory or on a hard drive resembles the way telepaths read the electrical impulses of the human brain.

All uses of Cyberpathy require the psychic to be within sight of the computer. Characters using Remote Access do not have to be able to see the remote computers they are linking to, but they must be able to see the machine they're using as an entry point. In all cases, the difficulty depends upon the system of complexity: difficulty 6 for standard desktop computers to difficulty 9 for heavily encrypted systems. This ability can also be used to read the data stored on diskettes, tapes or other digital media. Difficulty 6 for ordinary storage media, 8 for encrypted data. Generally speaking, these powers take 10 to 15 minutes to use, though the cyberpath can use successes from the roll to reduce the time by a minute per success.

Roll: Perception + Computer

● Analyze Structure -- At this level, the cyberpath possesses the ability to examine the directory structure of the computer. He can see what files are stored on the hard drive but cannot access them. This can be useful to cyberpath hackers looking for a specific piece of data.
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●● Read-Only Mode -- The cyberpath practitioner not only can travel the directory structure but can read the files. Simple text and graphics files are easy to comprehend. Additionally, he can grasp the functions of executable programs. Unscrambling encrypted files remains beyond him at this level.
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●●● Download -- The psychic can "copy" a file from a computer to his mind, writing the data in unused sections of his brain. While he can read text files, observe graphics or sound files and understand the nature of executable program, he cannot "run" the program in his brain. With the Level Two Cyberkinesis power Link, the cyberpath can upload the data back onto another computer. The cyberpath can download one program or file into his mind for every dot in Mental Attributes he possesses. (Example: Sridhar has Perception 3, Intelligence 4 and Wits 3. He can keep up to 10 files in his head.) The Storyteller should decide how much data constitutes a single file. Some large files such as operating system kernels, large software packages or large movie files may take up more than one "file" in the cyberpath's head.
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●●●● Remote Access -- With this power, the psychic connects to any computer that his local computer connects to. The cyberpath has no additional powers beyond the ability to treat a remote computer as if it were sitting on his desktop. For every "hop" between computers, the cyberpath loses 1 die off his pools.
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●●●●● Decrypt -- The cyberpath's understanding of computers progresses to the point of where he can decrypt encrypted data. The data can be on a computer (either locally or one connected to via Remote Access) or Downloaded into the psychic's mind.


Note: Obviously in the Dark Ages there are no known computers, so this power would be paradoxical and largely useless.



Ectoplasmic Generation

Among the more freakish psychic phenomena, Ectoplasmic Generation coalesces the stuff of spirits plasm into a tangible form. Through force of will and personality, the psychic tugs on ghostly energies and makes them solid. Most often, this manifests as a mucusy gel, though skilled psychics can disperse it or concentrate it to make oddly glistening webs, sticky vapors and the like. Such creations are rather disturbing and correspond to no known physical chemistry; indeed, ectoplasm tends to "dissolve" into the nothingness of the Underworld after a short time and defies scientific analysis.

For wraiths, all ectoplasmic creations are solid. They cannot pass through ectoplasmic mists. Psychics who attack wraiths with ectoplasmic entities do full damage to the ghosts, although they would need some way of perceiving the dead in their "Shadowlands".

Roll: Charisma + Occult

● The Big Sneeze -- The psychic can summon up some strands of snotty material. The ectoplasm created by this power wells out of the psychic's orifices or follows in the wake of her touch, leaving slimy, glistening trails. Each success scored causes the psychic to leave a slime trail that lasts for one turn. This goo is disturbing and nasty but has no deleterious effects. Summoning up this goo only has a diff. of 5. The psychic can also vaguely summon ectoplasmic fog. The thick, white mist boils out of the psychic's eyes, nose and mouth. This cloud generated is vaguely spherical and has a diameter of about five feet, plus one foot in diameter per success rolled in generating it. The cloud hangs in midair in front of the psychic and does not move. The cloud slowly dissolves, leaving oily, viscous goo behind. In still air, the cloud lasts two turns, plus one turn per success rolled. A stiff wind will disperse the cloud in half the time. The difficulty to raise such a cloud is only 6.
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●● The Mists -- The psychic's control of the ectoplasmic cloud coalesces and the cloud begins to obey the commands of the summoner. The Cloud no longer disperses in wind and lasts as long as the summoner concentrates on it. If kept in a sphere, the fog would have a radius of five feet, plus one foot per success rolled in generating it. However, the psychic has rudimentary control over the shape of the fog, though it is merely basic control. No complex shapes can be formed, yet. The cloud initially appears in front of the psychic, though the cloud can move five feet per round, if the summoner desires. Once the psychic's concentration lapses, the cloud dissolves in five rounds. Difficulty is 7.
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●●● "A Fog So Thick" -- By investing a greater portion of her will in the ectoplasmic cloud, it becomes solid to the touch. The cloud itself feels like cotton candy and requires a Strength roll (difficulty 6) to pass through. If the roll succeeds, the character travels at one-quarter of normal speed. Attacking the fog with normal weapons rarely does any good. Bullets, blades and fists may shift the solid ectoplasm, but cannot break it down. To generate the fog, the player rolls against difficulty 8. The fog appears in front of the summoner and does not move. The psychic shapes the ectoplasmic wall at the time of creation, though the total volume of ectoplasm would be a sphere with a radius of five feet plus one foot for every two successes rolled. The cloud remains solid so long as the psychic concentrates upon it. When concentration lapses, the cloud remains (though no longer solid) for three rounds.
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●●●● Dream Shaper -- The psychic's greater control of her ectoplasm allows her to mold it into complex shapes. The ectoplasmic creation may look like anything the psychic wishes, though the ectoplasm remains a dull white color. The summoner creates the shape near her. Roll against difficulty 8. Once created, the shape moves at 10 yards per turn. During creation, the psychic gets one point for every success rolled to divide among the creation's physical characteristics.
(Example: Matthew gets 4 successes to generate the ectoplasmic creature. He has four points to divide among the three physical characteristics. Because he wants the creation to pick up and carry his groceries, he gives it two points of Strength and two of Dexterity. It has a Stamina of zero, so any damage, even bashing damage, causes the creation dissipate.)
The dense ectoplasm takes bashing damage from bullets and cutting weapons and lethal damage from impacts and fire (or other environmental effects). Its bashing soak is determined by its Stamina, and it has no lethal soak. It has 3 bashing health levels. If the creation takes any lethal damage (including lethal damage from bashing overflow), it disappears. The creation is a puppet, controlled by the will of the psychic. It cannot travel outside of the psychic's perceptions or perceive anything the psychic does not perceive. If the psychic's concentration lapses, the creation vanishes in a puff of smoke.
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●●●●● Tulpa -- By a powerful investment of mental energy, the psychic creates an ectoplasmic extension of his will. Unlik the Dream Shape, the Tulpa possesses rudimentary intelligence. The character spends a point of Willpower and rolls Charisma + Meditation (Difficulty 7). The psychic can spend additional points of Willpower and create the Tulpa as an extended action. Every success generates 3 points. The points can be spent as:
Dot Of Physical Attribute..................
Dot Of Mental Attribute....................
(Cannot Exceed Creator's Mental Attribute.)
Health Level...............................
Extra Senses...............................
(The creation gets one sense at creation if given any Mental characteristics)
Extra Movement.............................
(The creation flies as fast as a person can run, based on its Dex. without an investment of points)



Electrokinesis

Like other psychic manipulations of the raw elements this power consists of creating and manipulating an element – in this case, electricity – with one’s mind. Being that this was not covered in the core book for psychics, let’s just say that, though potentially useful, this ability is considerably more rare than pyrokinesis, and less documented.

The psychic is not immune to their created electricity – they can be shocked, electrocuted, or killed by their own powers. A botch could result in physical injury, or electricity shooting wildly about, crackling through the scene and becoming a danger to friend and foe alike.

Roll: Manipulation + Science (For virtual adepts, Sons of Ether, or Techno Sorcerer) / Manipulation +Meditation (For any other type of Sorcerer)

● Static -- At this level, it’s really just a spark of electricity. It can shock somebody or mess up delicate machinery, it can even startle somebody if used correctly. The Psychic must be able to touch the intended person of the shock, or item in which they wish to shock. This does not cause any actual damage to people, to electrical things though you may need to replace them.
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●● Spark -- The psychic can create a crackle of electricity – to shock somebody, power a device, or potentially really screw up a machine. Surge protector, my ass. At this level the Psychic must once more be able to touch the person or object they wish to cause damage to. Damage from a successful shock is considered bashing and can be soaked.
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●●● Shock -- The psychic can manifest sparks and electric surges out of thin air now. At this level the power of the Psychic is a bit more controlled, but still is not perfect. The Psychic can create and control the electrical currents, up to a radius of 30 Feet( or 10 yards). Damage inflicted at this level is lethal.
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●●●● Ka-Zap -- he Psychic, at this level, has a greater control over both electricity that is already there, and the electricity they can 'create' or pull out of the air. Keeping in mind that electricity is not a stead and placid type of thing, wild surges, can happen even under the best of control. Damage at this level is still lethal, but the Psychic has a greater radius in which to pull or be able to effect things in, A radius of 60 feet (or 20 yards). Should the Psychic attempt to use their abilities with such things as a downed power line, the difficulty is at diff 8.
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●●●●● Make The Hurting Stop -- The Psychic can at this level, has a supreme control over their ability to control electricity. As long as their target is within sight (including mundane or magical means), they can create an electrical surge through a building (Diff 7), in a small area (Diff 8), or cause a massive almost bolt of electricity at someone (Difficulty 9). Damage, if applicable, becomes aggravated.


Optional Merit: Battery - (3 Pt Merit) -- Electricity isn’t quite as likely to fry a character with this merit. A botch is still a botch, but a character with this merit can pass an electric current through themselves – to store, absorb, or immediately release electricity from one source, through themselves, and into another. They are allowed to roll soak when damaged by electricity, unless of course there’s been a botch.


Note: While an interesting power, Electrokinesis was not found in Sorcerer Revised like most of these other psychic abilities and is clearly a player or storyteller addition, but I granted it honorable mention. Obviously, the author was not originally an English speaker and these descriptions could be cleared up in terms of syntax.



Empathic Healing

This ability is both beautiful in its own way and quite dangerous to its practitioner. The healer, in effect, joins her mind and boy with that of the sick or injured subject. She then absorbs his hurts into her own body, where they heal normally (i.e., the healer takes the same number of Health Levels she heals as damage to her own body). Empathic healers can repair the most horrible aggravated wounds, which makes such practitioners quite valuable among Kin and werewolves alike. The drawback is, of course, that it may take months before the healer is able to function after using her powers. Usually, the healer will have an assistant or friend who can watch over her during the healing process. Most practitioners push themselves past their own limits in using this power to help others, though Gifts such as Mother's Touch can help them recover more quickly.

Each level of Empathic Healing requires a minimum of three successes (Charisma + Empathy) to be effective; successes can be cumulative, though the strain on the healer is harder to bear. The base difficulty is 6, but increasses by 1 per level of Empathic Healing beyond soothe the Spirit. Thus, Knit Flesh is difficulty 7, Mend Bone is Difficulty 8 and so on.

Roll: Charisma + Empathy

● Soothe the Spirit -- The healer absorbs minor bruises, simple depression and grief. She can heal damage of the Bruised Health level. Her own body recovers in about a day. Difficulty 6.
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●● Knit Flesh -- The psychic can heal deep cuts and stop blood loss; Hurt and Injured Health Levels heal, though it takes about a week for the psychic to regain her strength. Difficulty 7
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●●● Mend Bones -- Wounded and Mauled Health Levels disappear from the subject, as the empath mends shattered bones and torn connective tissue. At best, she can hope for her own recovery after several months. Difficulty 8
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●●●● Organ Repair -- The healer can repair severe internal injuries and even bring back patients from the brink of death. Crippled and Incapacitated Health Levels are healed. Minimum recovery time for the healer is a year. Difficulty 9.
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●●●●● Pacify Madness -- Only the most able psychic ever reach this level of training, for it requires strict mental discipline and great courage. The healer actually absorbs the most severe forms of mental illness (Including Harano) into her own mind and falls into the same state of psychosis she alleviates in her patient. Some healers never recover , at the least, it usually takes many, many months of rest. Difficulty 10


Note: While an interesting power, Empathic Healing was not found in Sorcerer Revised like most of these other psychic abilities and is clearly a player or storyteller addition, but I granted it honorable mention. Obviously, the author was not originally an English speaker and these descriptions could be cleared up in terms of syntax.



Mind Shields

Some psychic's possess shields that protect their minds from mental attacks, be they psychic assaults, vampiric Domination, magic spells or other ensorcelment. The discipline of the psychic's mind, the confusion of his thoughts or just some innate talent makes him resistant to outside influence.

This resistance only affects assaults on the psychic's mind. It would not, for instance, keep a telekinetic from lifting her or a pyrokinetic from burning her. The psychic can lower these defenses, though opening them to a friendly psychic leaves her just as open to a simultaneous mental attack. At Level Three and above, the psychic may differentiate between "friendly" and "hostile" contacts and use the shields against some while allowing others to penetrate.

When someone mentally attacks a psychic with Mind Shields, the target gets to roll a number of dice (difficulty 6) as a counter-roll. These successes subtract from the effect. If the defender gets more successes than the attacker, the attack fails. If a psychic assault normally gets a defense roll (such as attacks using the Mind Sphere), the psychic adds the dice in Mind Shields to her defense pool instead.


MIND SHIELDS CHART
Versus Psychic Powers Shield Levels Versus other Mental Attacks
2 Dice 1 1 Die
4 Dice 2 2 Dice
6 Dice 3 3 Dice
8 Dice 4 4 Dice
10 Dice 5 5 Dice



Precognition

One of the rarer psychic talents is that of precognition, and only the singular talent approaches the clarity of vision for accurate prediction. Seeing the future is difficult, as the probabilities shift with each action. The best psychics travel the most accurate probability tracks, but no seer (except for the fabled Cassandra) has seen the future with 100 percent accuracy.

Roll: Perception + Awareness

● Intuition -- The character has yet to develop a clear view of future events. However, the psychic's perception of what is yet to come begins to take shape. Generally speaking, the power gives him a bit more luck than the average person, making him a good guesser. Predictions for random events (lotto numbers, roulette numbers) can be quite accurate. Additionally, the character's guesses on other situations can be equally accurate. He could choose the shortest route to a place or know that one person is "right" for another. Roll Perception + Awareness (difficulty 7). The more successes, the better his guesses will be. Predictions will rarely be 100 percent accurate, even with five or more successes on the roll.
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●● Insight -- The psychic possesses the ability to induce precognitive dreamlike visions. These visions are never literal interpretations of the future but metaphoric impressions of what is to come. An enemy might be revealed as a black knight or an evil gunslinger. A new friend might appear as a guide dog. The form of the dream generally depends on the mindset of the psychic. A New Age crystal reader's visions would differ from those of a Wall Street financier. The detail of the vision depends on the number of successes the player rolls on a Perception + Awareness (difficulty 7) roll. The more successes rolled, the more accurate the vision is, though it remains a metaphor.
Example: Chase, a financial counselor for Insight Investments attempts to see if a certain tech stock is going to do well in the upcoming quarter. He rolls three successes on his Perception + Awareness roll. That's a "complete success" so the vision should be accurate. The Storyteller decides to tell him that he sees a robot with the company logo climbing a silicon mountain. The robot loses its grip at one point but then continues up the mountain. The stock is going to dip in value in the future but will rally back and continue to increase in value.
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●●● Danger Sense -- The psychic's perceptions of the future give her a psychic early warning system. This manifests as raised hackles, tingling sensations, flashes of violence or some other system, but it's usually consistent for a given psychic one might have flashes while another has cramps, but they both always have the same sign.
This ability remains up all the time, though Anti-Psychic (or certain Time and Mind magics) can suppress or subvert the talent. If the character is about to be in danger (perhaps someone is laying in ambush or a weak link holding an overhead chandelier is about to snap), the Storyteller (or player if no Storyteller is present) rolls Perception + Alertness (difficulty 6) and consults the table below.
Roll Result
Botch The character remains unaware of the danger and is distracted by a hunch or feeling that places the character in an inconvenient situation perhaps hesitating right in the perfect line of fire for an ambusher or the like.
None The character's danger sense simply fails. No special intuition warns the character this time.
1 The character knows she is in danger, but none of the details of the specific danger.
2 The character knows she is in danger and what she should do to avoid it. (Duck, dive for cover, etc.) This allows the character a dodge even against an ambush.
3 The character knows she is in danger, how to avoid it and the exact source of the danger. This allows a dodge with a one point bonus on the difficulty and gives the psychic a "feeling" of the direction of the trap or attacker for a moment.
4 The character knows the details of the danger and has an extra turn of warning. In effect, the danger actually happens one turn later. This gives the psychic a turn to act, prepare, fall back, whatever.
5 The character also gets a psychic impression of the person responsible for the danger, if any. She would recognize the person should she see him.
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●●●● Show Me the Cards -- Though accurate predictions of the far future remain out of the character's grasp, she does have an almost perfect view of the immediate future. Roll the usual Precognitive ability (difficulty 8), every success allows her to see one turn into the future. All other players and the Storyteller must announce their general future plans and goals for as many turns as the precognitive rolled (in translation, insight in future events). If, by knowing the future, the precognitive changes her plans, then the future is changed, and thus, the character would have to try again to see what new plans would be made. For instance, in the middle of a firefight, the precognitive ducks behind cover, no longer making herself a target to a sniper. The sniper had announced his intent to shoot at the psychic, but since she is no longer a target, the sniper does not have to keep shooting at an impossible target the future diverges to a different possibility due to the psychic's interference.
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●●●●● Clear Vision -- Few precognitives progress this far in their ability to see the future. (Consequently, this level may only be taken on a case-by-case basis with the approval of the ST) With Clear Vision, the psychic can accurately predict the most probable one. The player rolls Perception + Awareness (Diff. 8). The future as seen is likely to happen but can be changed by the actions of the precognitive. The psychic can elect to see her own future, the future of the immediate surroundings or the future of a person or object touched. The distance into the future perceived is:
Successes Time Span
1 Next 12 Hours
2 Next Day
3 Next Week
4 Next Month
5 Next Year
6+ +1 Year/Success
Obviously, giving concrete information about the future can be difficult for the ST. Instead of giving vague information about the story, the ST may choose to give the precognitive's player the chance to re-roll tasks--one re-roll for the story for each success scored on the Precognition roll. This represents the psychic foreseeing the future and preparing appropriately. Naturally, this power is usable only once per story.



Psychic Healing

Psychic healers are a rare breed, even among the gifted. The ability to heal is both a blessing and a curse. These powers can become a problem for the psychic, though, as she becomes a target to people seeking her miraculous aid or becomes hunted by the medical establishment for practicing medicine without a license. Still, psychic healing does accomplish incredible feats; with contact, the psychic has banished pain or directs the body to speed its natural recovery or even to fight off infections or diseases with intelligent direction. Many psychics with this talent have a great deal of medical skill, though rarely via formal training. Most also have a strong empathy with other humans and a tendency to feel the pain and suffering of others.

Should the player botch while the psychic heals someone, the character may heal the wound improperly (fusing bones out of alignment, requiring that they be re-broken) or may inadvertently transfer the injury or disease to himself. The victim might even suffer a worse condition brought on by the psychic misdirecting the body's healing properties and causing cancerous or poisonous results.

Roll: Perception + Empathy

● Diagnosis -- Though unable to heal at this talent, psychics with this power possess the ability to instantly diagnose disease and injury in a person. This ability to sense what is wrong does not give him the ability to cure the problem, but it does allow psychics with medical training (formal or otherwise) to suggest the most efficient cures. A psychic healer without medical training finds it difficult to explain to doctors what the problem is; for instance, he might see AIDS as "the body does not want to fight the sickness anymore." Roll Perception + Empathy (difficulty 6). The number of successes determines the accuracy of the diagnosis. If the psychic has medical training, the player mat add any Diagnosis successes to the dice pool of a subsequent Medical roll.
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●● A Good Night's Sleep -- The psychic has the ability to accelerate the body's natural healing processes with a touch. This takes approximately a minute, and the psychic generally lays hands on the subject, "aligning charkas" or simply massaging the injured area. At the end of the minute, the player rolls Perception + Empathy (difficulty 7). If the player succeeds, the subject is considered to be treated by a "highly skilled physician (4 + dots in Medicine)" for the purposes of healing times. If the player scores more than 3 successes, the subject also recovers a point of Willpower.
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●●● Basic Healing -- The psychic's ability to knit wounds and cure disease has expanded. The healer can heal bashing damage and cure simple diseases or poisonings (Level Three toxins or less). Roll Perception + Medicine (difficulty 7). Each success cures one level of bashing damage. Every two successes reduce the effects of a toxin by one level. It takes a turn per wound level for the healing to take effect.
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●●●● Triage -- At this level, the psychic can knit broken bones, close serious wounds and cure potent diseases. Roll Perception + Medicine (difficulty 7) and spend 1 point of Willpower. This is spent before the roll. Each success heals one lethal wound level or reduces any disease or poison of toxin rating 4 or less by one level. This takes 10 minutes per wound level; such recovery is noticeably swift and unusual, though in the case of a seriously injured patient, it might simply stabilize a critical wound and prevent death.
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●●●●● Psychic Surgery -- The psychic empathically reaches his hands into the body of a person, allowing him to remove cancers or infections from the body. The psychic can cure diseases up to toxin rating 6. Roll Perception + Medicine (Difficulty 8). The process takes 10 minutes times the toxin rating of the disease. The healer can also use this talent to harm as well as heal. This power cannot be used in combat as it takes too long, but the psychic can reach into a healthy body and remove healthy tissue. Roll Perception + Medicine (Difficulty 7). Each success causes a level of unsoakable aggravated damage. The psychic simply places his hands against the subject's flesh and concentrates; in some cases, blood may well out of the flesh or the psychic's fingers may appear to dig into the body itself. At the end, the psychic is typically left with a handful of bloody tissue.



Psychic Hypnosis

Many hypnotists promise results. Some even produce them. Psychics with hypnotic powers dwarf the abilities of the best carnival hucksters. Though their abilities lack the speed of a vampire's mental commands or the effects of the Mind Sphere, hypnotic psychics achieve many of the same results, with enough time and effort.

Roll: Manipulation + Expression / Hypnosis

● Trance State -- The hypnotist can place a willing subject into a hypnotic trance. While in the trance, the subject's memories become clearer. He may also exhibit greater control of his physiology. Though the hypnotist cannot command the subject, the person in the trance automatically becomes relaxed and restful. He may (at the Storyteller's discretion) regain one point of Willpower for every two successes the hypnotist achieves. The psychic may, if she chooses, hypnotize herself. Roll against difficulty 6 in either case. Placing the subject in a trance takes five turns. The subject will come out of the trance of shaken or disturbed.
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●● Sideshow Suggestion -- After placing the subject in a deep trance (which takes the usual five turns), the hypnotist may command the subject to perform actions while in the trance state, each command taking a round. In the trance state, the subject will perform any action he would not be opposed to doing. Additionally, the entranced subject has far greater control of his autonomic responses. A hypnotized person could walk on hot coals, require less oxygen to breathe or even ignore wound penalties. The hypnotist could also cause the subject to forget previous actions that happened in the trance state. Roll difficulty 6 for simple commands, difficulty 7 for embarrassing commands and to forget actions that happen while hypnotized, difficulty 8 for controlling pain response. The subject will not come out of the trance until the hypnotist commands.
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●●● Delayed Action -- The subject of the hypnotist's powers now performs actions commanded once the trance has been broken. The psychic implants any command or improved memory recall from the lower levels of hypnosis, but this time, it is programmed to happen at a certain time. The commands are implanted as with Sideshow Suggestion, but the difficulty is raised by one. Every success on the roll gives the hypnotist one command to implant. Each extra condition requires a success as well. It takes five turns to hypnotize the object, plus one turn per command to program them. The hypnotist can make one of the commands to be to instantly fall into a trance at a later time.
Example: The Amazing Steve hypnotizes Denise, a member of the audience. He rolls three successes on his attempt to hypnotize Denise. He then orders her that, when someone says the word "rabbit" she will jump on one foot (the first success), say the word "duck" (the second one) and then fall back into a trance (the third one). He could also have told her to jump on one foot when someone says "rabbit" (the initial success) and then when someone says the word "carrot" (a second condition, requiring a success) to spin in the place (the third success).
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●●●● Fast Trance -- At this stage, the hypnotist has become so adept at inducing trances, that he, by a powerful act of will, may do so with a glance. This costs one Willpower, and the player must make the normal roll at a difficulty of the subject's Willpower. If the effect succeeds, the subject is entranced for one round per success. While the target is in a trance, the hypnotist can then use any of the other lesser hypnotic powers on the subject.
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●●●●● Manchurian Candidate -- With this ability, the psychic can preform major amounts of brainwashing on the target. With this level of deep programming, the subject will do anything the hypnotist commands, even to the point of death. The target must be placed in a trance, which takes 10 minutes (And may not be done with a fast trance). After that, the hypnotist spends an hour per command implanted programming the subject. Spend two Willpower and roll Manipulation + Leadership (Difficulty 7 for that are simply against the target's morals, Difficulty 9 for commands that lead to the subject's death). As in the Delayed Action power, the number of commands and the number or of conditions attached to them depend on the number of successes.



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