PSIONICS

When creating a character, your dungeon master may employ the optional rules of PSIONICS. After a brief glance at "their" PSI rules, I have taken what I liked and left the rest. Naturally.

PSIONICS CHECK ROLL

A newly created character may only be psionic if they have an unmodified initial statistic score of 15 or higher in WISDOM, INTELLIGENCE, and/or CHARISMA. (I use charisma instead of constitution, as they initially did in first addition, since charisma is more of a reflection of a state of mind than constitution. If you prefer constitution for some reason, replace all instances of charisma with constitution). Since no human or PC class may have an innate statistic score above 20, the following tables run from 15 to 20. Consult the table below to determine your character's bonus points toward modifying their PSIONICS CHECK ROLL. Add the three numbers together and subtract them from 100, then drop any remaining fractions. You must roll this number or higher on percentile dice or your character will never naturally be a PSIONIC character.

EXAMPLE: Leoric, a newly created first level fighter, has a WISDOM of 16, an INTELLIGENCE of 15, and a CHARISMA of 18. Any one of these three scores would have qualified him for a PSIONICS CHECK ROLL, but having more than one doesn't hurt. Consulting the above table we find his modifiers to be 2.5 for wisdom, 0 for intelligence, and 1.5 for charisma. This totals 4. 100 - 4 = 96. Therefore, if Leoric's player rolls 96 or higher on percentile dice, Leoric will have psionic potential.

The psionic character can be approached in two different ways on my worlds. First, they may be treated like a different character class. In this case, it is possible for an individual who qualifies for the PSIONICS CHECK ROLL to forgo the roll entirely. If they do this, they may never be any other character class in addition to being a PSI character at least until they achieve 9th level. Then, they may become dual class under the normal rules. That is, an individual may be psionic and not be a fighter, rogue, priest, or wizard. If this is the case, the following experience table is used for this character. (Your DM may relax the necessary standards for this character class, allowing someone with the minimum scores of Charisma 11, Intelligence 12, and wisdom 15 to become a psionicists). For the most part, this character is treated like a rogue as far as THAC0 and weapon and non-weapons proficiencies are concerned.

The saving throws for the pure psionicists, however, are identical to the table of the class the PSI character has the greatest affinity toward determined by their highest statistic score. That is, for example, if their highest statistic were intelligence, they would save as a magic user, wisdom, as a cleric, dexterity, as a rogue, strength, as a fighter. If they have a tie in statistic scores, they may choose which table they wish to use. This choice is fixed once made, and even subsequent alteration of one's statistics will not change their saving throw table. This rule primarily is used to save space and to reflect the fact that not every psionicist has the same affinities or outlooks toward their environment at large. But mostly, to save space.

If, on the other hand, as is more typical, a regular adventure class individual will qualify for the roll and succeed, and thus is psionic in addition to their other skills. This is similar to a multi-class or dual class individual, but it is different. (A psionicist class character takes 1 SHP, but a wild talent takes 0 SHPs. SEE Super Humanism). These "wild talents" (regular class individuals who qualify for psionics) have a latent psionic talent, buried beneath their other training until such a time as they themselves deem it time to develop their PSI skills. This is nearly always after puberty (99% of the time), but may be any time in their life. If they choose not to develop this skill, this individual is treated like any other non-psionic character. If, however, they do eventually choose to start their PSI training, this is in addition to their other training, and time and money must be expended in order to develop these skills. Because of the time necessary to develop these talents, a specialist fighter will lose their specialist bonuses due to their lack of 100% commitment to their martial art. They will, however, be psionic as well as a fighter!

Whether the player starts to develop this talent right away or decides to wait, the PSI experience is kept separately from their normal experience. When the dungeon master awards experience to the PSI character, this experience is added normally to their regular experience. Also, this same number is then multiplied by the ratio of their current PSI LEVEL to their regular level, or, for multi-class characters, the ratio of their current PSI level to the average of their regular levels.

EXAMPLE: Leoric, now a 7th level fighter, decides he has the time and money to begin his PSI training and to develop his latent PSI talent. He does this by finding a PSI MASTER. The cost per level is the same as the base cost for the rogue character class. (See TRAINING COST). Now, when the DM awards Leoric experience, his player adds that xp to his fighter experience just like he has always done. But, in addition to this, he starts a new experience score for his PSI level. Since the ratio of his PSI level of 1 and his fighter level of 7 is currently 1/7th, he adds 1/7th times the awarded xp to his new experience score. For instance, if the DM awarded 13,350 xp, Leoric's player would add all 13,350 to his fighter xp AND 1,907 xp (1/7th of that) to his PSI xp. (This is due to the fact that the wild talent is not treated as another character class, as multi-class or dual classes are treated, but as a bonus skill the character just happens to receive). Later, as he progresses in PSI level, the ratio will change, always being his PSI level divided by his fighter level. Later, when Leoric is a 12th level fighter and a 9th level PSIONIC, the ratio would be 9/12ths or 3/4ths. Eventually, Leoric's levels will be the same in each as the PSI level xp catches up with the fighter xp. He will always have more fighter xp than PSI xp, but they will eventually indicate the same level, thus making the ratio of 1 to 1. When this happens, the xp for the PSI class may be safely ignored, and Leoric may be considered to be the same level PSIONICIST as he is a FIGHTER.

NOTE: If a wild talent character decides to start their PSI training right away, their PSI level is always the same as their regular level since the ratio of their PSI level to their regular level is always 1/1. It is not then necessary to keep track of the experience scores separately.

The PSI experience is always compared to the same table as their regular character class (or for multi-class characters, the LEAST favorable table from all their classes). That is, if the character is a fighter, his PSI experience is compared to the fighter experience table. If the character is a wizard, the PSI experience is compared to the wizard experience table. If the character is a thief/magic user, the PSI experience is compared to both the thief and wizard tables and the least favorable (the lowest) level indicates his current level in psionic skill.

PSIONIC STRENGTH POINTS (PSPs).

For the pure psionicist (with no other character classes) the PSPs/level is 15 + 1D6 + Modifiers. They would get this addition for each level they would normally get a hit dice. For the other PSI characters (the "wild talents" with other character classes) it is 10 + 1D6 + Modifiers for each level their regular character class experience table indicates they would receive a hit dice. (This would make a high level monk a powerful psionicists). Afterwards, beyond their hit dice levels, each level simply adds their modifiers bonus score to their PSPs.

The modifiers for PSPs are determined by comparing each of the WISDOM, INTELLIGENCE, and CHARISMA scores to the table below.

EXAMPLE: Leoric's scores of a 16 wisdom gets +1, a 15 intelligence gets +0, and an 18 charisma gets +3. Since Leoric is a fighter, he will get 10 + 1D6 +4 or 14 + 1D6 for each of his first nine levels as a psionicist, and 4 more PSPs (his total modifiers) for each subsequent level. If, at any time, Leoric's statistics change in a non-ephemeral way (not a temporary curse, an ioun stone, or any other statistic modifier that is temporary, but only permanent changes dues to wishes or similar effects), then Leoric's PSPs are recalculated using his new bonus score instead of his old bonus score, but his D6 rolls never change.

Finally, due to their CHAOTIC nature, any pure psionicist with a chaotic alignment divides their PSPs by 2, giving them only half the strength of other PSI talents. This is due to their inherent inability to maintain the ordered and structured life style, training, and thoughts of a disciplined mind. Also, those of chaotic alignment regain their PSPs at half the normal rate. That is, their PSP total divided by 16 per hour. EXAMPLE: Leoric, a neutral good character, regains his PSPs back at the rate of 20/hour since his score of 156 divided by 8 is 19.5 (rounding up). If he were to become chaotic, he would still have a PSP total of 156 (since he is NOT a pure psionicists, but would regain PSPs at a rate of 10/hour since 156/16 = 9.75 (rounding up). It's tough to be a chaotic psionicist, but not impossible.

MAC and MTHAC0

In order to be more like the regular combat system, the MAC (Mental Armor Class) and MTHAC0 (Mental To Hit Armor Class 0) system has been adopted. Every living thing has a MAC. To find your BASE MAC, compare your WISDOM, INTELLIGENCE, and CHARISMA Scores to the table below.

EXAMPLE: Leoric's BASE MAC would be 9 (wisdom 16), -0 (intelligence 15), -2 (charisma 18) for a final base score MAC of 9-0-2 = 7. Thus, his BASE MAC is 7.

As the psionic's level increases, their MAC improves by 1 point for every three PSI levels. Leoric, now a 7th level psionicist, has his MAC adjusted down by (7/3=2.3333 etc. rounded down = 2). Thus, at 7th level, Leoric's MAC = 5. It will improve again at 9th, 12th, 15th etc. levels. Also, for each non-weapons proficiency slot used, any character can improve their MAC by 1 point for a non-psionic character, and by 2 points for a psionic character. (The pure psionicist gains weapon and non-weapon proficiencies as the character class they have the greatest affinity towards (based on their highest statistic score), or as a rogue class, which ever is better for them. Also, pure psionicists are limited to the smaller, hand held weapons like dagger, short sword, dart, etc. They also fight as rogues of the same level as they are a psionicist)

MTHAC0

The Mental THACO or MTHAC0 is 21 - CURRENT PSI LEVEL - INTELLIGENCE MODIFIER.

EXAMPLE: At 7th level, Leoric's MTHAC0 would be 21 - 7 - 0 = 14.

RECOVERY OF PSPs

Recovery of PSPs is based on the hourly rate of 1/8th your maximum PSP score per hour; 1/16th of your PSP score if your character is of chaotic alignment. Always round up to the nearest integer.

The most useful thing about psionic abilities is the disciplines that are the sciences and devotions that resemble magic but are different from magic. Ultimately, it will be up to your own DM to decide what these abilities cost in PSPs, their attempted use cost, initiation cost, maintenance cost, and innate MAC. Roughly speaking, the psionic disciplines are divided into five categories. Since it is not my intent to duplicate the psionics handbook or the Dark Sun booklet, I recommend you look over these materials and consult with your DM as to actual costs.

Usually, most psionic characters played will also be of another character class (the wild talents, unless you are running a campaign especially designed for psionics, like a Dark Sun campaign). For the pure psionicist, they must slowly gain access to the various disciplines, then acquire the devotions and then the sciences within these disciplines as they progress. For the non-pure psionicist, their talents almost manifest themselves randomly, as if by dice rolls. The DM will determine what your latent talents are and reveal them to you one by one as you progress in levels. (The DM may or may not limit you to 3 PSI attack modes, depending on what he or she wishes. Usually, I recommend giving at least 1 attack and 1 defense mode/level until all they have coming run out. I would also give them 1 of their minor devotions/level until they run out, then 1 major science until they run out, then start off a new discipline and do the same. All of these talents should to determined ahead of time at the beginning of the character's PSI training, but they should not be revealed to the player or character until they come into them as they progress in levels as a psionicists).

PSIONIC COMBAT

Most psionic abilities are very fast, usually occurring at the top of the melee round. These non-combat abilities may be used or attempted at a rate of one/round. If some psionic talent is attempted, other activities other than simple movement (and even then only up to 1/2 your movement rate) may be done, or perhaps dropping a weapon and getting another or drinking a potion. Spells and combat may not also be done the same round you attempted a psionic discipline. Psionic combat, on the other hand, is exceedingly fast -10 times faster than normal combat. Each melee segment constitutes a psionic combat round.

There are 5 psionic attacks and 5 psionic defenses. Usually, if two psionic individuals run across one another, each will be aware of the other only if any psionic activity or discipline is being used. (Certain exceptions, like psionic invisibility, which are designed to hide someone, may go unnoticed). This blatant use of psionic ability in the presence (LOS) of another psionic talent may result in either talent immediately choosing to psionically attack the other. If either decides to do this, both must engage in psionic combat.

First, each player secretly picks from their defenses (one of five, but not everyone has access to all five). They subtract the base cost from their PSPs. Next, if they desire it, they may choose one of five attack modes (again, not everyone has access to all five modes). [If they choose not to psionically attack, they may improve their MAC by 1 instead for each attack they forgo that round. For example, if you had 3/2 attacks, you could add 2 to your MAC on the rounds you would normally get 2 attacks, but may only add 1 during the other rounds.] If they do not have enough PSPs left to pay for at least one increment of that attack mode, they may not choose that attack mode. Similarly, they may not choose a defense for which they cannot pay. Next, initiative is rolled for psionic combat. The winner goes first, the other player, second. Then the attack mode of the attacker and the defense mode of the defender are revealed and compared. The table is consulted to modify the attacker's MTHAC0. The attacker then rolls a D20 and attempts to hit the defender's MAC. If he succeeds, he subtracts the base cost of the attack times the number of increments the attacker then chooses. Then consult the table to see how much PSI damage/increment is done (the total PSPs the defender loses). If the attacker misses, the attacker subtracts one half the base cost of the attack. If the defender loses all of his or her remaining PSPs, the up-coming attack will not go off. Their psionic defenses collapse, the attacker feels this happen, and his subsequent attacks have a +2 modifier to his MTHAC0. If the defender still has PSPs left, they may have their turn at the attack. A similar procedure is followed. Higher level psionicists may have more than one attack per segment. If they do and they wish, they may then pay for another attack mode again. (This may be a different attack mode, taking advantage of the knowledge of the defense of his opponent). The defender's defense mode remains up for the remainder of the segment for free unless his defenses collapsed. The number of attacks a psionicist has are the same as the number of attacks a fighter of the same level would have in a melee round. i.e. 3/2 at 7th, 2 at 13th. If attackers receives more than one attack, they will get their subsequent attacks after the defender has at least one of his or hers.

Usually, psionic combat is a very quick interaction between two psionic combatants and it is over in the blink of an eye. It can, however, bog down the rest of the game while the other players must patiently wait their turn at a 10 to 1 ratio. In any event, the PSI combat continues in this fashion until both players mutually agree to withdraw, or one player character's defenses collapse. At such a time - depending on the attack mode subsequently used - the defenseless psionicist may be dazed, confused, mentally damaged, or killed. The subsequent attacks against the defenseless psionicist get a +2 to hit for the attacker's MTHAC0, but the attacker must still hit this person's MAC. Also, subsequent attacks vs. the defenseless psionicist occur at one attack per normal melee round just like all other psionic activity that isn't psionic attack vs. psionic character with PSPs left. (Unless the PSI attacker has more than one attack per round, in which case he gets to attack twice in those rounds). The table below and the accompanying example should make this system clearer.

If a defense mode encompasses an individual with another mode of defense, the better defense prevails.

The following table gives the adjustment to be added to the attacker's MTHAC0 roll.

ATTACK VS DEFENSE

PSIONIC COMBAT EXAMPLE

For this example, Leoric's PSP rating is currently 125. While buying fresh fruit in the market with his friend, Leoric notices a vender using a form of psionic mind control on a customer. The vender also becomes aware of Leoric when their minds touch. The vender, an evil man, has a PSP total of 134 (after subtracting his cost for the customer manipulation), and he would rather not have anyone know he is psionically manipulating his customers. So Vender, as we will call him, decides to do away with Leoric, hoping it will look like a freak, but natural death. Psionic combat begins.

1). Both players pick from their defenses and subtract the base cost from their current PSP totals. Both decide to attack. Each player picks from his or her available attack modes. Let's assume all are available. Leoric picks Mind Blank to defend (cost 3, 125-3=122) and Id Insinuation to attack. Vender picks Mental Barrier to defend (cost 5, 134-5=129) and Psychic Crush to attack. Both can pay for the base cost of their attacks so they may pick these attacks modes, but they do not yet subtract anything for these attacks.

2). An initiative roll decides Leoric will go first. (Even though Leoric actually attacks first, Vender initiated combat by the automatic mental contact AND his deliberate choice of combat). Since they are both at close range, the range modifiers aren't a factor in this combat. If they were, you would have to adjust one's MTHAC0 accordingly. Leoric's MTHAC0 of 14 must hit Vender's MAC of 6. Leoric's MAC is 5, remember? Thus, a roll of 8 or better is needed to hit. But, when comparing attack vs. defense, we find Id Insinuation vs. Mental Barrier is -1 to hit, so a roll of 9 or better is needed. Leoric rolls an 11. He thus succeeds, and then decides to put 10 increments into the attack. (Leoric subtracts 10X6=60, so 122-60=62 PSPs left). Leoric does 10D8+30 damage to Vender. He gets a total of 75. (Vender's PSP 129-75=54). If Leoric had missed he would have lost 6/2=3 PSPs. (You may note that, on the average, the attacker usually spends more PSPs than he can hope to do in damage under the old rules, but I didn't like that. It meant the better you were at hitting someone, the more you would fall behind. Therefore, I have added the +N damage bonus per increment so you will, on the average, do slightly more damage than you spend).

3). Since Vender still has PSPs and can still pay for at least one increment of his chosen attack mode, Vender gets to attack. Psychic crush vs. Mind Blank is +1. Vender's MTHAC0 is 15, Leoric's MAC is 5. 15-5=10, but he is plus 1, so a roll of 9 or better is needed. He rolls a 20. Vender decides to pay for two increments. (2X8=16. 54-16=38). He does 2D10 +8 PSI damage for a total of 20. (Leoric's PSPs, 62-20=42).

4). Vender, determined to see this through, decides to press the attack. On segment 2 of the normal combat round, the second round of psionic combat takes places. Leoric's non-psionic adventuring buddy has not even noticed anything unusual yet, except, perhaps, a strange look on Leoric's face. In any case, he still has no time to do anything. If the PSI combat continued long enough - and he had time to react - he may be able to damage Vender by throwing a dart or casting a magic missile spell or something quick like that. In any segment when a PSI takes damage, they may NOT make a psionic attack that segment. Since this is not the case here, let's proceed.

5). Since Vender was using Psychic Crush, Leoric knows he has it, uses it, and likes it. He may use it again. (In fact, it may be the only attack mode available to Vender for all Leoric knows, so Leoric puts up Though Shield, the best defense vs. Psychic Crush, and hopes it will pay off. Leoric's PSPs, 42-2=40. He also chooses Psychic Crush for similar reasons. Vender, a stupid man in some ways, goes with what worked before. He chooses Psychic Crush for the attack, but takes Mind Blank for the defense. Vender's PSPs, 38-3=35.

6). Initiative is rolled and Leoric loses! Vender goes first. He needs 15-5 or 10, but Psychic Crush vs. Thought Shield is -4, so he now needs to roll 14 or better. He rolls 12. Too bad. Vender subtracts 8/2=4 (one half the normal cost of Psychic Crush), so 35-4=31. Leoric needs 14-6=8, but gets +1 for his attack vs. Vender's chosen defense. Thus, a roll of 7 or better. He rolls a 10. Since he is low on points, he puts in just 2 increments. Leoric, 40-16=24. He rolls 2D10+8 damage and gets a total of 22. Vender's PSPs, 35-22=13.

7). Since Leoric is 7th level, he has 3/2 attacks and will get his second attack now. Vender still has Mind Blank up. Since Leoric knows this, he takes advantage of this fact and picks Mind Thrust, the best attack vs. Mind Blank. 14 is his MTHAC0. With the +5 vs. Mind Blank he needs a 9 to hit a MAC of 0. Vender's MAC is still 6, so Leoric needs 3 or better. He rolls a 7, succeeds in hitting, chooses 5 increments, pays 5X2=10, so 24-10=14, and does 5D4+5 damage for a total of 19. Vender's PSPs, 13-19=<0).

8). Vender's defenses collapse! Leoric feels this, and psionic combat is over. Since we are now dealing with a defenseless psionic, Leoric may attempt to psionically attack him once/normal round. (Twice per round on the rounds he would have gotten two attacks). He does this at the beginning of the next round. He must roll to hit Vender's MAC, but is now at +2 vs. a defenseless psionic. He uses Mind Thrust to conserve PSPs and to psionically damage Vender to teach him a lesson. He can probably do this 14/2=7(Mind Thrust's cost is 2), or 7 times over the next 6 rounds as long as his LOS (Line Of Sight) to Vender isn't interrupted. Each time Leoric hits Vender's MAC, Vender will lose a random PSI ability for 1D6 days unless Leoric rolls a natural 20. In that case, Vender will permanently lose that particular randomly chosen PSI ability forever. Of course, if this had happened in the field during regular combat, Leoric would have tried Ego Whip or Id Insinuation to daze or confuse Vender, while Leoric's comrades moved in for the kill. Vender may try to run away (unless dazed or confused), but it doesn't look good for him. He can try to close his mind in 1D4+1 rounds, but until then, he's in serious trouble.

PSIONIC ATTACKS vs. NON PSIONIC INDIVIDUALS

Unlike the old system where only the PSI attack of PSIONIC BLAST could affect the non-psionic character, now, all of them can. In order to do this the psionic character must first succeed in hitting a non-PSI with a PSI attack (one attempt per round vs. the non-PSI's MAC). If the PSI does this, it opens the non-PSI's mind. Next round, the PSI may attack as he would attack a defenseless psionic character. There is, however, an important difference. The non-PSI can attempt to close his mind right away by making his save vs. Paralyzation. If the non-PSI is psionically hit and affected, he still may attempt to close his mind every round with a save vs. Paralyzation at -4. If he ever succeeds in closing his mind, any PSI affect resulting from a PSI attack will end. The PSI attacker will have to open the non-PSI's mind again before he can further affect him with PSI attack modes.

DAZED, CONFUSED, and OTHER AFFECTS of PSIONIC ATTACKS vs. an OPEN MIND

EGO WHIP - DAZED: When DAZED by the Ego Whip, the character has a -5 penalty to all of his or her attack rolls, saving throws, etc. and may not cast any spells above 3rd level. This last for 1D4 rounds or until that character can close their mind. (-4 + -5 = -9 to save vs. Paralyzation for the non PSI, and a defenseless PSI may not even try to close their minds until 1D4 +1 rounds have passed from the point when their defenses collapsed).

ID INSINUATION - CONFUSED: When CONFUSED by the Id Insinuation, the character stands there, helpless, for 1D4 rounds. They are so confused as to what is going on, they may not even try to close their minds.

MIND THRUST - OPENED: The only thing a Mind Thrust can do to a non-PSI is to OPEN their mind to subsequent attacks. To the defenseless psionic character, however, it can do considerably more. If successfully hit, a randomly chosen psionic ability and/or attack or defense mode is wounded, and unable to function for 1D6 days. On a roll of a natural 20 for the attacker's MTHAC0 vs. the defender's MAC, the defenseless psionic defender will permanently lose that ability instead of temporarily losing it.

PSIONIC BLAST - DAMAGED: When the PSIONIC BLAST hits an open mind, it deals 1D8 physical damage per every 10 PSPs the PSI attacker expends in the attack. On a roll of a natural 20 for the attacker's MTHAC0 vs. the defender's MAC, the defender instantly dies, no save.

PSYCHIC CRUSH - DAMAGED: When the PSYCHIC CRUSH hits an open mind, it deals 1D6 damage for each 8 PSPs expended in the attack. On a roll of a natural 20 for the attacker's MTHAC0 vs. the defender's MAC, the defender takes 3D6 points of physical damage per 8 PSPs expended in the attack instead of 1D6. The attacker chooses how many increments to spend after the attack roll, so he knows he has already rolled a 20.

Some of these abilities vs. the non-psionic may seem frightening, but they are no more frightening than a fighter is. That is, you may realize a psionic character could easily kill normal people by Psychically crushing them. How dreadful! But a fighter can just as easily kill a common farmer or tradesmen. The only big difference is that the PSI character may be able to do it more covertly. At least when a fighter chops down your neighbor, you know to stay away from one bad ass fighter. But if your friend just drops dead, what then?

As a final note to this PSIONICS PRIMER, I would just like to remind you that this work simply encompasses the differences in the game mechanics of how psionics work on my worlds as compared to other more standard AD&D worlds. Nowhere in this PRIMER will you find a complete listing of psionic powers, costs, abilities, etc. For this, you must either use the Dark Sun material (which is probably best), the complete Psionics Handbook (as modified by Dark Sun), or the back of a 1st edition PHB (but you should tone down the costs listed there as the starting PSPs are considerably lower in the newer systems.

© December of 1998
by
James L.R. Beach
Waterville, MN 56096