Psonics
There have always been tales of people with abilities that escape comprehension, of witches hidden away in feral worlds, of spacers with alien and arcane powers born in the void, but those have always remained unproven tales. Though some theorize Psions have been hidden among humanity for decades or centuries, it is true that over the last two or three generations there have been more stories of witches, psychics and other oddities haunting the darkest corners of the human sphere than ever before.
Powerful people are secretly dedicating time and credits to researching the possibility that these tales are real, sometimes even using the most unethical, ruthless scientific means to awaken psionic potential in unwitting test subjects. There are tales of human lab rats escaping from these facilities, of psionic savants hidden among the population, or child witches being born in wild planets isolated in the dark. In the dark recesses of the Netsphere, brain scans of ‘psionic individuals’ are shared with believers and skeptics arguing their veracity, plans for ‘psionic implants’ are created, shared and built, then installed by back alley doctors or independent scientists in unsanctioned surgeries.
The few Psions that do exist are blessed with powers beyond comprehension and cursed with the burden these represent. Balancing the risk between living with their abilities, learning to control them and even improving them…and ending in some research lab at the bad end of someone’s scalpel. Psions themselves do not know the nature of their abilities, they are both a gift and a curse. Many wake up in the middle of the night, haunted by the urges and desires of others insidiously crawling into their minds, eating away at their sense of self… others still are wary of their own desires, inadvertently harming innocents over minor annoyances, or finding themselves hunted by those who fear and hate their abilities. Regardless of the particularities, each Psion’s abilities are their greatest secret to be shared only with those they trust the most, lest they end up in a lab somewhere. or worse... a dissection table.
Psionic Markings
Many times, as a Psion’s power grows, strange markings or tattoos manifest on their skin. These markings can range from simple symbols or patterns to complex images stretching over entire limbs and they may be so faint they are barely visible or noticeable enough even when the Psion is using their abilities. Not all Psions develop these Psionic patterns but enough of them do to consider them commonplace and when they do appear, they are often tied to the Psion’s personality or Psyche. Additionally, these markings seem to universally flare up and glow or slightly change when the Psion uses their abilities, scaling with the power of the ability used.
Psionic Trees
A Psion’s very abilities are shaped by their outlook and mindset… some might project outwards a field of thorns, a wave of pain against any interlopers, whereas some might seek to build bridges, hoping they can build understanding through healing.
There are four Psionic trees:
Empathic; Focused on information gather, recovery and empowering oneself and one’s allies.
Enmitic; Focused on direct combat, gaining power through harm and fear.
Theurgic; Focused on summoning powerful psionic avatars and controlling the battlefield.
Gnostic; Focused on versatile invocations, weakening and addling one’s opponents.
Psions will only ever be able to access abilities in one tree at a time. A Psion’s ability is ultimately a manifestation of their psyche and personality, as a Psion’s personality changes for better or worse, their psionic abilities will change to match their new outlook. This happens only with slow and meaningful transformations that fundamentally change who the Psion is as a person.
Psionic Abilities
The power of a Psion’s abilities depends on their psionic skill and attribute and each Psion type has different combinations they can use as their own:
Empaths will use the Empathy Skill paired with either Insight or Intelligence.
Enmitics will use the Willpower Skill paired with either Insight or Charisma.
Gnostics will use the Knowledge Skill paired with either Insight or Intelligence.
Theurges will use the Presence Skill paired with either Insight or Charisma.
Whenever a character uses Psionics to achieve something not contemplated by their Psionic abilities, reach out with some sort of supernatural sense or maintain an ongoing psionc ability, the GM may ask for a test using the character’s Psionic Skill and Attribute.
Psionic Focus
Psionic abilities are fueled by a resource called Focus which represents the character’s sense of self and force of personality.
The amount of Focus points a character has access to is three times the sum of their Psionic Attribute and the rank of their Psionic Skill. Focus is expended when using Psionic abilities and regained either by taking a full night’s rest or engaging in at least one hour of Psionic Meditation.
Psionics tend to draw power from the character’s psyche and sense of self, as such, the machinery of heavy implants can interfere with the development and application of Psionic power. Psions will lose Focus depending on how much of their Implant bulk they have used at the rate of 3 Focus per Bulk.
Some abilities can be boosted by consuming additional focus to gain more powerful effects.
Psionic Burn
When out of Psionic Focus; Psions can attempt to continue to use their abilities through a dangerous process called ‘burning’. Doing this places heavy strain on their mind and can have disastrous consequences. When a Psion lacks the required Focus to use an ability, they can attempt Psionic Burn to make up the difference..
The Psion receives the Fatigued condition (or increases their Fatigue by 1, to a maximum of 4, if they are already fatigued) and must make a test with their Psionic Attribute and Skill. If they obtain a number of successes equal or higher than the amount of Focus they were missing, they are able to channel the ability. If playing with Stress rules, a psion attempting Burn may also take a point of Stress on their Psionic attribute to add 3 successes to their attempt and they may do so before or after rolling the test.
Psionic Meditation
Every Psion has a way of re-centering themselves to regain Focus; this is called Psionic Meditation. This meditation can take many forms- for one psion it might be something as simple as going for a jog, for another it might be chanting a mantra, sitting in silence or even watching a recording of a favorite show. For every hour a Psion spends on their meditation, they regain 1D6 Focus when the meditation concludes.
Specific Psions can also learn additional ways to recover focus, which many times involve their meditation.
Ongoing Effects
Some Psionic abilities have ongoing effects, while a Psion can use a Psionic Ability while the ongoing effect of another is active, they can only have one ongoing effect active at any given time. If a Psion is hit by an attack or some sort of damaging effect, they must roll using their Psionic skill and attribute to keep the psionic ability and effect from dissipating. The difficulty for this would be 1 for every 5 points of HP damage the character takes, rounded up.
Psionic Implants
While Psions are able to do things others cannot even imagine, their abilities are still in their infancy. In order to achieve greater powers, they need technological enhancements to focus and channel their power. There are three levels of Psionic ability; Talents, Powers and Masteries. To use anything above a Talent, a character must have the corresponding implant; a Psionic Enabler to cast Powers and a Psionic Amplifier to cast Powers or their Mastery ability.