The (mostly) Complete (but broken up) Psionics Handbook

Players must follow two simple rules when choosing new powers for their characters:

• Within a single discipline, the number of devotions that a character knows must be at least twice the number of sciences.
• The first discipline chosen is the character's primary discipline. A character can never learn as many sciences or devotions in another discipline as he currently knows in his primary discipline.

Example: Lena's primary discipline is clairsentience. She knows three sciences and seven devotions in that discipline. This means:

1. she must learn an eighth clairsentient devotion before she can learn a fourth clairsentient science, and
2. at her current level, she cannot know more than two sciences or six devotions in any other single discipline.

Advancing Mid-adventure

Most Dungeon Masters award experience points at the end of adventures rather than in the middle, so experience levels are rarely gained in mid-adventure. in the unusual event that a new level is gained in the middle of an adventure, however, the character should have to wait at least until he has a chance to rest and recuperate - long enough to recover all his psionic strength points - before gaining any new psionic powers.

Raising Psionic Power Scores

A character can increase a psionic power score when he reaches a new experience level by "relearning it:' (He repeats his studies, and learns something new about a familiar power.) Instead of learning a new devotion, the character can add one point to his power score in a devotion he already knows. Similarly, he can exchange a new science for a one-point increase in a science he already knows.

Psionic Strength Points (PSPs)

Psionic energy comes from within the character. This energy is measured in psionic strength points, or PSPs. When a character uses a psionic power, he expends psionic strength points. The exact cost depends on which power is used, and how long the character uses it.

The total number of psionic strength points that a character has depends on four factors: his Wisdom, Intelligence, and Constitution scores, and his experience level. Wisdom, Intelligence, and Constitution determine the psionicist's inherent potential. (Wisdom is the primary factor.) Experience determines how well the character has developed that potential.

Follow these steps to calculate a character's total PSPs:

1. Find the character's Wisdom score on Table 5, then get his base score from that.
2. Add the appropriate ability modifiers for the character's Intelligence and Constitution scores to his base score. This final adjusted number is the character's inherent potential.

Example: Rowina's ability scores are Wis 17, Con 16, Int 12. Her inherent potential is 25 (24 points for her Wisdom score with a +1 modifier for her Constitution score). At 1st level she has 25 PSPs.

Gaining Psionic Strength Points

Every time a character advances to a new experience level, he expands his total pool of psionic strength points. To determine how many PSPs he gains, find the modifier on Table 5 that corresponds to his Wisdom score. Add this number to 10. The result equals the total PSPs gained.
 
Example: Rowina has just advanced to a new level. Her Wisdom is 17. According to Table 5, the modifier for this score is +2. Rowina can add 12 PSPs (2 + 10) to her total pool.

Recovering Psionic Strength Points

A character who has expended psionic strength points can recover those points by "taking it easy" - which means engaging in no hard physical activity and refraining from using psionic powers (i.e., from expending any more PSPs). After each hour in which a character expends no psionic strength points, check Table 6 to determine how many PSPs the character recovers. A character can never recover more PSPs than he lost.

A character's rate of recovery depends on how much physical exertion he experienced during the hour in question. Psionicists recover the most points when they sleep or meditate for the entire hour of rest. Light activity, such as walking or riding, diminishes the speed of recovery. Rate each hour according to the most strenuous physical activity undertaken, even if it lasted only a few minutes.

Option: DMs may allow characters to recover points per turn of rest rather than per hour. These rates are also listed below.

Hard exertion

No PSPs recovered. Hard exertion includes fighting, running, digging ditches, walking while encumbered, climbing a rope, scaling a mountain, exploring a dungeon, swimming, and any other activity the DM wants to include.

Walking, riding

3 PSPs recovered per hour (1 every 2 turns)

Sitting, resting, reading

6 PSPs recovered per hour (1/turn)

Rejuvenating, sleeping

12 PSPs recovered per hour (2/turn). This refers to use of the psionicist's Rejuvenation proficiency.

Defense Modes

Psionic defense modes are special powers which all psionicists acquire naturally in time. All defense modes belong to the telepathic discipline. Psionicists learn these powers automatically as they gain new experience levels - regardless of whether or not they have access to the telepathic discipline. Defense modes do not count toward the psionicist's maximum number of powers as listed in Table 4. Nor are they counted when characters determine the relative number of sciences and devotions they can acquire within a given discipline.

There are five psionic defense modes:

• mind blank
• thought shield
• mental barrier
• tower of iron will
• intellect fortress

All psionicists automatically know one of these powers at 1st level (player's choice). They learn another defense mode of the player's choice every other level (at 3rd, 5th, 7th, and 9th).

Special Abilities

In addition to ordinary psionic powers, which are the hallmark of the class, psionicists have several special abilities. These include their saving throws, THAC0s, and psionic powers that operate continuously.

Maintaining Powers

Certain psionic powers can operate continuously. Such powers can be "switched on" and kept on without interruption, until the user decides to (or is forced to) "switch them off". This is called maintaining powers.

Each power that is maintained is handled separately. In many cases, maintenance entails expending PSPs by the hour or turn rather than the melee round (the norm for psionic combat). If a psionicist is expending PSPs to maintain a power, he cannot recover psionic strength points that hour. A character cannot spend PSPs to maintain a power when he is sleeping or unconscious; no continuous power that requires strength points can operate during sleep.

A character can maintain any number of powers at one time, but he can "switch on" or initiate only one per round. When maintained powers are deactivated, the character can drop all maintained powers at once, or one per round. He cannot drop two or more in one round and maintain others.

THAC0 and Saving Throws

As shown above, a psionicist's THAC0 advancement equals that of a rogue, and lists saving throws.
 
Psionicists gain a +2 bonus on all saving throws vs. enchantment/charm spells and the like. This is in addition to their magical defense adjustment for high Wisdom.

Followers

At 9th level (which is sometimes called "name" level), a psionicist becomes a contemplative master. He can build a sanctuary (usually in an isolated place), and use it as his headquarters. Most importantly, he begins to attract followers.

One neophyte psionicist (1st or 2nd level) will arrive each month, coming to study at the feet of the master. These neophytes will arrive regardless of whether or not the master builds a sanctuary. If the master does have a sanctuary, however, he will attract a maximum number of followers equal to his Charisma score. If not, the maximum number is halved (rounded down).

These followers want only to learn. They will serve in any capacity the master chooses. In return, the master must spend at least 10 hours per week instructing his followers, or they will leave.

Restrictions

Like members of other classes, psionicists must abide by restrictions when choosing weapons and armor, and in selecting non-weapon proficiencies.

Weapons

Psionicists tend to disdain weapons of any sort, given the crudeness and imprecision of such tools compared to psychic weaponry. Still, a good sidearm is indispensable for a last-ditch personal defense, and it's essential when a display of psionic power would be inappropriate. Also, in the rough-and-tumble frontier areas where adventurers are common, appearing in public without a weapon often invites ridicule and trouble.
 
Psionicists can use any of the common weapons listed below. Essentially, these are most small- or medium-sized weapons weighing 6 pounds or less: hand/throwing axe, short bow, hand/light crossbow, club, dagger, dirk, knife, horseman's mace, horseman's pick, scimitar, spear, short sword, and war hammer.

Armor

Psionicists can don armor made of padded leather, studded leather, or hide. They can also carry a small shield.

A psionicist can use his powers while wearing a helmet that is psionically active, or one featuring magical enchantments that affect or simulate psionic powers. But if the psionicist is wearing a normal helmet of any sort, he cannot use his powers. Removing a normal helmet won't affect the character's armor class, but it may have other effects defined by the Dungeon Master. For example, a thief who approaches the psionicist from behind may find the psionicist easy prey. Or, if the DM allows called shots, the character's bare head might present a tempting target.

Optional Rule: A DM may allow psionicists to wear any sort of armor, but impose penalties for heavy armor that's made of metal. (See Table 9.) This rule creates an across-the-board reduction in psionic power scores when a psionicist wears inappropriate armor.

Proficiencies

Psionic powers function like proficiencies, but they do not replace them. Psionicists can learn the usual weapon and nonweapon proficiencies regardless of their powers. Proficiencies are acquired at the rate shown on Table 10.

Psionicists can learn a weapon proficiency for any weapon they can use. They can learn any nonweapon proficiency from the "General" group (see proficiency rules in the AD&D 2nd Edition Player's Handbook, page 54, Table 37) or from the Psionicist group, described below.

If the optional proficiency rules in the Player's Handbook are in use, psionicists can gain extra nonweapon proficiency slots based on their Intelligence scores. See Table 4, "Intelligence" in the Player's Handbook to determine these bonus proficiencies (Chapter 5, page 16). Characters can use these extra slots for languages or nonweapon proficiencies, but never additional psionic powers.

Initial refers to the number of weapon or nonweapon proficiency slots received by psionicists at 1st level.

# Levels indicates how many levels a psionicist must advance before he receives a new weapon or nonweapon proficiency. Thus, psionicists receive a new weapon proficiency every five levels - i.e., at levels 5, 10, 15, 20, etc. They receive a new nonweapon proficiency every three levels - i.e., at levels 3, 6, 9, 12, etc.

Penalty is the modifier to a psionicist's attack rolls when he fights using a weapon he isn't proficient with. This penalty is subtracted directly from the character's rolls to hit.

The Psionicist Group: The table below lists seven nonweapon proficiencies which psionicists can easily learn. These proficiencies - the "Psionicist group" - are an extension of Table 37 in the AD&D 2nd Edition Player's Handbook.

Harness Subconscious

This meditative proficiency lets the psionicist temporarily boost his total PSPs. In effect, the proficiency lets him tap into energy reserves that lie deep in his subconscious - reserves which are usually unavailable to him. It's like enjoying a shot of psychic adrenalin.

Before he can harness subconscious energies, the psionicist's PSP total must be at its maximum. He then must spend two days (48 consecutive hours) gathering this energy, taking only necessary breaks for eating and sleeping. At the end of that time, the character makes a proficiency check. If he passes, he increases his PSP total by 20%, rounded up.

The increase in PSPs lasts 72 hours. At the end of that time, the character loses as many strength points as he initially gained, regardless of his current total. This loss can never reduce his total below 0 points, however.

During the 72 hours of heightened strength, the character cannot recover PSPs if his current total equals or exceeds his usual maximum. Once his current total drops below his usual maximum (i.e., once he has spent all bonus points), he can begin regaining PSPs normally. He cannot recover the lost bonus points, however; he can only recover enough points to return to his usual maximum.

Hypnosis

With this proficiency, a psionicist can hypnotise another character - placing the subject into a relaxed state in which he is very susceptible to suggestions. However, hypnosis is not possible unless the subject is willing and knows he is being hypnotised.

Psionicists with this proficiency can hypnotize humans and demihumans with ease. Non-humans can be hypnotized, too, but the DM should assign a penalty to the proficiency check. The size of the penalty depends on how inhuman the subject is. A half-orc, for example, could be hypnotized with a -2 modifier, while a lizard man could be hypnotized only with a -8 modifier to the psionicist's proficiency check.

The act of hypnotizing someone takes about five minutes. The subject is then very relaxed and willing to do almost anything that isn't very dangerous or against his alignment. Note, however, that a hypnotized subject can be easily fooled; the subject may be convinced that he's doing one thing, while he's actually doing another. Lawful or good psionicists who trick their subjects in this fashion should beware. Psionicists who use hypnotism to make people do chaotic or evil things may find themselves with alignment problems of their own.

Hypnotism can have the following (or similar) effects:

• A character can be induced to remember things he has forgotten by reliving a frightening or distant event.
• A character can be made calm and unafraid in the face of a specific situation that he has been prepared for.
• A character can be cured of a bad habit or addiction (but not of curses or magical afflictions).
• A character can be prepared to impersonate someone by thoroughly adopting that individual's personality.

Hypnotism cannot be used to increase a character's attributes, give him powers or abilities he does not naturally possess, let him do things that are beyond his capabilities, or give him information that he couldn't possibly know.

Rejuvenation

This proficiency allows a character to recover PSPs while he meditates, as quickly as if he were sleeping. The character achieves a state of deep concentration, in which he focuses and regains his energies. He is still conscious and aware of his surroundings, so he does not suffer any penalties on surprise or initiative rolls, and he is not helpless if attacked. (He still can't expend PSPs, however.)

Meditative Focus

Through this proficiency, a psionicist can focus his mental energy on one particular discipline. As a result, his power scores in that discipline temporarily increase, while those in other disciplines decline.

The proficiency requires the character to meditate, uninterrupted, for 12 hours. The last four hours of this meditation are spent in a deep, sleeplike trance. The psionicist can recover PSPs normally during the entire period.

When the meditation is complete, the player makes a proficiency check. if the character passes the check, he has successfully focused his mind on one particular discipline (which was chosen when the process began). All of the character's psionic power scores in that discipline are increased by two points for the next 24 hours - or until the character's PSPs have been reduced to zero, whichever comes first. All of his power scores in other disciplines are reduced by one for the same period.

Gem Cutting, Musical Instrument, Reading/Writing, Religion

See the Player's Handbook for a description of these proficiencies.

Wild Talents

A wild talent is someone from any other character class who has natural, latent psionic potential. This potential can be present in any character, regardless of class, alignment, or race. Wild talents can never approach psionicists in skill, but they do boast at least one psionic power - which is known as a "wild power" among psionicists.

Any character can test for wild powers. (The character should be forewarned: such efforts are not without risk, as explained below.) A character can test for wild powers only at specific times: when the character is first created; when the character's Wisdom increases to a higher point than it has ever been; the first time the character goes to a psionicist who can perform psychic surgery on him; when psionics is first introduced to the campaign.

Every character (and NPC and monster, if the DM wishes) has a base chance of 1% to possess wild powers. This is modified as shown below:

Round fractions up. Apply this penalty only once, even if more than one of these descriptions fits (e.g., a "nonhuman mage").

Once you've determined the character's chance to be a wild talent, roll percentile dice. subtract 2 from the roll if the character is under the guidance of a psychic surgeon (see psychic surgery). If the result is less than or equal to the modified chance, the character has at least one wild power. If the number is 97 or higher, the character suffers lire consequences. See "The Risks" below.

Example: Consider a 3rd level dwarf cleric with a Wisdom of 17, Intelligence of 9, and Constitution of 16. His chance to be a wild talent is 1 (base chance) +2 (Wis 17) +1 (Con 16) x 0.5 (because he's a dwarf). The final result equals 2%. The dwarf has a 2% chance of being a wild talent. The player rolls a 3 on percentile dice. The dwarf has no talent.

Determining Powers: If a character is a wild talent, the player should roll percentile dice again and consult the file Dropbox\DND\PsionicAbilityDetermination.qpw to determine exactly what the character's psionic powers are. Most wild talents have only one power. A lucky few (those with high-rolling players) boast more than one. Furthermore, if a character gains any power with a prerequisite, he automatically gains the prerequisite, too. For example, if the wild talent knows a telepathic power which requires contact (an important telepathic power), he automatically knows contact, too.

Strength Points: Like an actual psionicist, a wild talent has psionic strength points. He receives the minimum number of PSPs necessary to use the power (or powers) once. If a power can be maintained, he receives enough additional points to pay the maintenance cost four times. Afterward, the character receives four additional PSPs every time he gains a new experience level (he receives no bonus for levels he already has).

The Risks: Characters who attempt to unlock their psionic potential are tampering with things they cannot begin to understand. If the dice roll is 97 or higher, the character may suffer dire consequences (as covered in the file Dropbox\DND\PsionicAbilityDetermination.qpw).

Psionic Combat

Combat featuring psionicists is no more complicated than a fight between one or more wizards. In fact, it's similar. During a battle, psionicists and wizards tend to employ the same tactics: they avoid enemy hackers and slashers, and focus their efforts on the strongest opponent or shore up defenses where needed.

A lone psionicist caught by enemy fighters is in serious trouble. Unless he can summon, create, dominate, or otherwise garner some help, he probably will be overpowered. For this reason, psionicists - especially NPCs - rarely travel without an escort if they are expecting trouble.

Using Powers

In general, a character can initiate only one psionic power per round. There are two key exceptions:

• Once a power is initiated, a character can maintain that power for as long as he can continue paying the maintenance cost. (This assumes that the power has a maintenance cost; if no such cost is mentioned in the description, the power cannot be maintained beyond its initial duration.)
• Psionic defense modes (mind blank, thought shield, mental barrier, intellect fortress, and tower of iron will) do not count against the one-power-per-round limit. A character can always use a defense mode and initiate one other psionic power in the same round.

Power Checks

The power check is fundamental to psionic combat. In general, no psionic power functions unless the character first makes a successful power check. (Chapter 1 explains how the check is made.) Modifiers apply for some powers. Furthermore, several powers require an additional power check before they'll yield a specific result.

Psychic Contests

Psionic powers often clash "head-on.' For example, one psionicist may make a psionic attack against a character with an active psionic defense. Which power prevails? Does the attack break through the defense, or bounce off? A psychic contest determines the answers.

Resolving a psychic contest is simple when both powers are initiated in the same round. The two contestants just compare the die rolls for their power checks. The character with the higher successful roll wins the contest. If neither character's power check succeeds, or if both rolls are equal, the defender "wins" by default. (In other words, a tie goes to the defender.)

Example: An attacker is using ego whip. The defender has erected a thought barrier. The attacker's ego whip power score is 15, and the defender's thought barrier score is 12. The table below shows several possible outcomes of the psychic contest between these powers.

Maintained Powers

In the example above, powers were initiated in the same round as the conflict. Some psychic contests involve a power that is being maintained - i.e., a power that was initiated in a previous round. In this case, the player whose character is maintaining the power must make a new power check strictly to resolve the contest. He gains a +1 bonus to his power score because the power is being maintained. If the contest roll "fails," it doesn't mean the power fails. It's still being maintained - just not very well. For the contest, the character ignores the "failed" check and instead receives a "successful" result of 1.

Multiple Conflicts

In the thick of battle, a psionicist may be involved in more than one psychic contest per round. If he's using more than one power, the player must make a separate die roll for each power used that round.

If he's using a single power against more than one opponent, the player can make a separate die roll for each opponent. As soon as he rolls a number he likes, the player may use that result for all remaining psychic contests involving that power, in that round. (In other words, once he gets a power really well "tuned in" during a given round, he can stop "fiddling with the dial".) This rule applies to telepathic defense modes, as well as other powers.

Psychic Lock

In some psychic contests, there is no clear-cut defender. For example, two characters may try to use psychokinesis on the same object simultaneously. (They do a little psionic arm-wrestling.) In such a case, the character with the higher successful die roll still wins the contest that round. In our example, the winner would control the object.

If the power checks indicate a tie, however, the characters are deadlocked - or psychically locked. Neither character wins that round. To resolve the conflict, both characters should maintain the same powers during the next round, and engage in a new psychic contest. If either character fails to maintain his power (effectively giving up), he suffers a backlash and loses 4d4 PSPs immediately.

In any case, victory may be fleeting. If conditions are right, the loser can challenge the winner to a "rematch" in the next round.

The Combat Round

Psionic conflicts follow the standard AD&D game combat sequence. All psionic powers - excluding defense modes - are used in order of initiative. For example, if a psionicist wants to attack, or plans to teleport to safety, he can do so when his normal chance to attack comes around. Psionic defenses work throughout the entire round, starting at the very beginning. Unlike spells, psionic powers do not have initiative modifiers.

Psionic powers require a certain amount of concentration. A character who uses one during a combat round can move at only half his walking rate. Furthermore, he can be disrupted like a mage casting a spell. A power that is being maintained from a previous round cannot be disrupted this way, nor can telepathic tangents that were established in previous rounds (see below). If a power is disrupted during a preparatory round, the time invested in preparation is lost. No PSPs are expended when a power is disrupted.

Telepathic Combat

Before a psionicist can use a telepathic power, he must establish contact with the recipient's mind. "Contact" is a telepathic devotion which paves the way for other telepathic powers. Usually, a single use of this devotion is all that's required; the psionicist uses contact first, then follows up with another telepathic power. Beings with little or no psionic talent, including wild talents, can be contacted in this way. So can psionicists and psionic creatures, provided they cooperate.

The contact devotion never works against a psionicist (or psionic creature) who does not allow it to work. This is true even when he's sleeping or unconscious. Psionicists normally have closed minds. Before the contact power can work against them, they must intentionally open their minds. They can be selective, allowing contact with a friendly power while closing their minds to hostile characters or strangers.

When a subject's mind is closed, he can only be contacted through telepathic combat. The text below describes five telepathic assaults, or attack modes, that are used to establish contact with a closed mind. It also describes five telepathic defenses, which can help prevent such attacks from succeeding. Lastly, it explains what happens when these opposing powers clash.

Telepathic Attack Modes

There are five attack modes: mind thrust, ego whip, id insinuation, psychic crush, and psionic blast. Against a mind that is open to contact, each of these powers has specific effects. For example, ego whip can make a character feel so worthless that he suffers a penalty to all of this die rolls. None of these effects occur unless the subject's mind is open to contact, however. If the subject's mind is closed, an attack mode only serves to erode its resistance. If he is repeatedly struck with this attack mode, his mind can be forced to open, and contact will be established. (See Tangents" below for details.)

Telepathic attack and defense modes are often abbreviated as follows, especially in character or creature descriptions.

Learning Attack Modes: A psionicist learns attack modes in the same way he learns other powers. The character must first have access to the telepathy discipline. Then he must allot some of his devotion slots to the power (only psionic blast is a science). A character could devote himself completely to learning the attack modes, and know all five by 2nd level. Or he could [earn dozens of telepathic powers without ever picking up a single attack mode. is the player's option.

The One-Two Punch: Attack modes differ rom most other psionic powers in one key regard: a character using an attack mode gets one bonus attack with that power each round. An attack mode packs a one-two punch.) The player rolls two power checks. Each of these rolls constitutes a separate attack and, if opposed, is conducted as a separate psychic contest. Both attacks must be directed against the ame target. The initial cost of an attack mode includes this double attack.

Telepathic Defense Modes

A character with psionic powers is not defenseless against telepathic attack modes. Five telepathic powers, known as defense modes, help protect characters from unwanted contact. These powers are mind blank, thought shield, mental barrier, intellect fortress, and tower of iron will. (See Chapter 7 for a description of each.) Although these powers belong to the telepathy discipline, they are common to all members of the psionicist class.

Psionicists develop these powers naturally as they gain experience levels, regardless of whether they have access to the telepathy discipline. (See "Defense Modes" in Chapter 1 for an explanation.)

When a character activates a telepathic defense mode, it becomes effective at the beginning of the round. The character conducts a psychic contest against every attack mode coming his way. (The initial cost of the defense mode covers all attacks in the round.) At any point during the round, if he rolls a number he likes, he can keep it for the rest of the round. Defense modes have no effect against any psionic powers other than attack modes.

Attack Modifiers

Each attack mode is more effective against some defense modes than others, and vice versa. This is represented by modifiers which apply to the attacker's power score. Table 14 lists these modifiers.

When an attack mode clashes with a defense mode, cross-index the attack with the defense on Table 14, The resulting modifier is applied to the attacker's power score. Thus, positive modifiers are bonuses and negative modifiers are penalties.

Tangents

Each time an attack mode overcomes a defense mode (or an attack mode succeeds against someone who was not using a defense mode), the attacker has established a partial contact called a tangent. Three tangents equal full contact. Thus, establishing contact with someone's mind through combat requires three successful attacks. (In common parlance, a single tangent is often called "one-finger contact" and two tangents "two-finger contact:') Remember that an attack mode allows two attacks per round, so it is possible to establish two tangents per round.

A tangent has no direct effects in and of itself, no matter which attack mode helps to establish it. It is only a "foot in the door:' When the door is open - i.e., when three tangents have succeeded - full contact is established. This contact is the same condition that is achieved when the contact power is used successfully against a nonpsionicist. (In other words, the three effective attacks simply take the place of one successful use of contact.) The tangents no longer apply when contact is established. (That's why there's no such thing as "three-finger contact.")

When full contact is established, the attacker can make no more attacks against the defender that round. In the next round, he can use any telepathic power against the defender that he chooses - provided he's within range and pays the power cost, of course. Having contact does not make the use of another telepathic power automatic; it only makes it possible. Still, the subject is incredibly vulnerable once contacted. His only means of protection is an overwhelming counterattack (probably a nontelepathic attack) or ejection, which is quite risky. A contacted mind can be dominated, mindwiped, affected by any number of other telepathic devotions, or crippled by another assault.

Maintaining Tangents: Maintaining tangents (one or two) costs 1 PSP per round. A psionicist can maintain tangents with only one mind at any time. He can maintain full contact with any number of minds, however. A tangent is broken only when 1) the attacker voluntarily breaks it by simply announcing he is doing so; 2) the attacker fails to pay the maintenance cost of 1 PSP per round; 3) the attacker uses an attack mode against a different target, or; 4) the attacker is incapacitated.

Other Considerations

Line of Sight

Unless the description states otherwise, psionicists require a line of sight to their target when using a psionic power. Clairsentient powers are an obvious exception, as are many of the telepathic powers which list power score modifiers for targets which are outside the psionicist's field of vision.

Touch Attacks

Psionic powers with a range of "touch" can be used in combat, but they require a physical attack roll in addition to a power check to succeed.

Combat Cards

The use of combat cards is optional, but strongly recommended.

A combat card is a 3" x 5" index card (or something similar) listing pertinent information for one psionic power. Each player makes one card for each power his character knows. Pertinent information includes the power score, initial cost and maintenance cost, range, preparation time, area of effect, and a brief description of the power's effect.

Combat cards serve three purposes. First, they're a handy reference collection - a sort of "psionic spellbook" for a character. Second, they help speed up the game when psionic powers are used during combat. And third, they make psychic contests more equitable.

If a character intends to use a psionic power during combat, the player thumbs through his combat cards until he finds the card for that power. Then he places the card in front of him, face down on the table. When the power takes effect, he flips the card face up. This way, if two psionicists do battle, neither psionicist can detect what his opponent is doing before he chooses his own action. If a character maintains a power from round to round, the card remains face up on the table as a reminder.

Combat cards can also be used to hide psionic activity from other players. When a psionic power is put into use, the player can select the combat card and show it to the DM only, instead of announcing aloud something that he may not want everyone to know.

A psionics campaign

This chapter explains how to bring psionics into your AD&D games. It examines the role of psionics in a campaign, the attitudes of NPCs toward psionicists, and the relationship between psionics and magic. It offers the DM advice for handling psionic villains and monsters. Finally, you'll find out what it's like to experience psionic power.

Look What I Got!

When something new and exciting comes along, the natural impulse is to rush back to the gaming group, toss it on the table, and let everyone rip into it with full vigor. But that's the wrong way to bring something as powerful as psionics into an existing AD&D campaign. Players are likely to react in one of two ways. First, everyone will want to play a psionicist. The whole atmosphere of the game will suddenly change - so much that players may eventually say, "This isn't like it used to be!' The second reaction is that everyone will be skeptical about making a big change, so no one will want to play a psionicist. Either way, enthusiasm fizzles.

Like any new source of power, psionics should be approached with common sense and a bit of caution - especially by the DM. No matter how much experience the DM has, this material is completely new, and there's a lot of it. The DM who dives in with both feet may find himself drowning in details. If play bogs down every time a psionicist tries to do something because the DM must flip through this book, players will quickly lose interest in the class. It's best to start in the shallow end of psionics and advance slowly, rather than swamping players with the whole package at once.

An NPC psionicist is the perfect way to introduce psionics gradually. If the NPC is a hireling, a follower, or an ally, he might not even reveal his psionic powers right away - especially if he's a dual-class character. The DM can introduce as much or as little psionics as he wants, developing a feel for the powers and how they mesh with other elements of the game. A particularly sly DM might not even mention that psionics is involved, but instead let the players try to puzzle out the unexplained events around them. (For example, some people currently believe that poltergeists are not troublesome spirits, but manifestations of untrained and often unconscious psychokinetic ability. An NPC with such powers could "haunt" players for along time.) Once the DM is satisfied and comfortable with his psionic NPC, the class can be opened to player characters.

Of course, in some games, secrecy may not be appropriate. Many DMs allow players to help develop the campaign background, and routinely discuss the game's direction with them. If you're that kind of DM, then your players should take part in the introduction of psionics. Slow and steady is still the best approach. Let one player have a psionic character. Debrief the player after each game session; get his reactions to both the rules and the way psionics is being used in the campaign. Ask other players for their opinions, too. When you and the players feel you have the bugs worked out, the class can be opened up in general.

Burn Him!

How do NPCs and society in general react to psionicists? The answer covers the gamut of emotions. A DM should choose whatever attitudes best suit his campaign. Some possibilities are as follows:

• Psionics is viewed no differently than magic. It is a tool, as good or as bad as the psionicist who wields it.
• Psionics is misunderstood by those who don't practice it, who generally believe it is magic and the psionicist is just another sort of wizard.
• Psionicists are feared and reviled, as witches were in medieval times.
• The practice of psionics is outlawed or restricted to officially sanctioned court practitioners.
• Psionicists are treated as a separate race entirely. They maintain their own small communities within the larger community.
• Psionicists have been driven underground. They maintain secret societies for their own preservation.

It is quite reasonable to mix these attitudes in a single campaign; viewpoints can vary from country to country or even town to town. When choosing a social attitude, however, keep several points in mind. Many fantasy novels involving psionics have a common thread: psionicists are segregated from the rest of society, often by choice, sometimes by force. There are several good reasons for this.

To most people, the heart of psionics is telepathy, and telepathy equals mind reading. Tapping directly into someone else's thoughts is the ultimate invasion of privacy, the ultimate violation of intimacy. Worst of all, the subject has no way to know when it is happening or how to prevent it from happening. He is not only invaded, but helpless.

Psionics lends itself to secrecy. Its use has no outward sign. Wizards must utter incantations, wave their hands through the air, and fling bits of dust and bone into sulfurous smoke to cast their spells. Clerics must pray and invoke their deities. All of these things clearly tip off the potential victim that something is about to happen, that a supernatural force is about to be released. The psionicist reveals nothing. His powers require no verbal, material, or somatic components. When psionic powers are used, anyone nearby could be the source, and sometimes even distance is not a restriction.

Nor does the psionicist's appearance reveal his nature. His pockets and purse do not bulge with strange concoctions. His fingers and sleeves are not stained with ink and chemicals. He does not wear the robes or symbols of a holy order. Psionic characters who are careful can conceal their nature for a long time.

What this means to the common man is that anyone, even a friend or relative, could be reading your mind at any time - could, in fact, be influencing your actions, delving into your most intimate secrets, entering your home without leaving a trace. Who can be trusted with this sort of power, if power truly corrupts?

The answer, as far as the suspicious farmer or merchant is concerned, is no one. And if no one can be trusted with it, then anyone who has it should be controlled, or at least prevented from living among decent, normal folks.

This, of course, is the attitude among people with no real knowledge or experience of psionics. An enlightened populace or one that has benefitted from benevolent use of psionics would view psionicists in a positive light.

TSR's Campaign Worlds

The overall attitude toward and prevalence of psionics in each of TSR's published campaign worlds is described below. Bear in mind that these are general trends, and can vary significantly from region to region.

FORGOTTEN REALMS game setting.

Prior to the Time of Troubles, psionics were extremely rare in the Realms. The incidence of psionic abilities is now on the rise and the powers themselves seem to have become more stable. Most people have never heard of psionics or psionicists; those who have tend to confuse it with magic.

WORLD OF GREYHAWK game setting.

Psionics is an old and established facet of life on Oerth. Presumably it was brought there when an illithid spacecraft crashed on the planet ages ago. Psionicists are by no means common, but most people are at least aware of the existence of psionics and often consider it to be just another mystical pursuit, little different from magic. Psionic guilds and secret associations can be found in major cities.

Krynn, a DRAGONLANCE game setting.

No natives of Krynn exhibit any psionic potential whatsoever. What few psionicists live on that world undoubtedly came from somewhere else (via spelljamming vessels or other magical travel) or are the descendants of psionically-able ancestors who came from another world. Only the most widely-read sages and wizards will have any knowledge of psionics.

RAVENLOFT game setting

Psionics is known in Ravenloft. However, the nature of the Demiplane of Dread restricts the effectiveness of some psionic powers:

• No psionic power can breach the Mist. A character can teleport, travel through dimensions, travel through dreams, or travel any other way he chooses, but he will almost always emerge in the same domain. In those few cases where he emerges somewhere else, it will be in a bank of Mist which will lead him who knows where. The DM determines the exact location.
• No psionic power can bring another character into Ravenloft from outside. Some magical spells can do this; psionics cannot.
• All of the demiplane is so suffused with evil that it encroaches on everyone's aura. Examining a person's aura can reveal the character's alignment only so far as law and chaos are concerned, but not good or evil. Aura alteration cannot change a character's alignment with regard to good or evil.
• Any psionic power that gives the character access to remote or extrasensory information (primarily via clairsentient or telepathic powers) also creates a shadow presence of that character. This shadow presence can be detected by rolling the subject's level or hit dice or less on 1d20. Roll only once and use the level or hit dice of the most powerful creature or character begin affected.

SPELLJAMMER campaign setting

Psionic powers function normally in wildspace and the phlogiston. Psionics is not magic, however, and cannot power a spelljamming helm.

Psionics and Magic

Psionics and magic are completely separate forces, Some of their effects overlap, as might be expected, since some effects are so useful that everyone who can get them probably will try. For example, both psionicists and magic-users have a means of becoming invisible, traveling instantaneously, and controlling other people or creatures. But in their basic makeup, magic and psionics are like oil and water; they do not mix. The text below offers some general guidelines and specific rules for the interaction magic and psionics.

General Guidelines:

The essences of magic and psionics are wholly different. A wizard or cleric who can detect magic will never detect psionics. Nor will a psionicist who scans for psionic activity ever detect spell-casting. This holds true even if the effect of a particular magical and psionic skill is identical, or nearly identical. For example, a wizard can use hold portal to hold a door shut. In his own way, using psychokinesis, so can a psionicist. If a psionicist is holding a door shut, and a wizard casts detect magic on the door, the wizard will find nothing unusual about it. If the wizard casts dispel magic, the door will not open. No magical forces are at work on the door.

Exceptions do exist, but they're fairly easy to determine. For example, a wizard who casts a detect invisibility spell will see a character using psionic invisibility because the spell description states specifically that the spell does not discriminate between types of invisibility.

Magic is capable of duplicating psionic effects like ESP, clairvoyance, clairaudience, teleportation, and levitation, among others.

Again, however, the energy involved is magical, not psionic. So normal psionic powers do not detect these magicks.

Magical images and illusions manipulate light, sound, and scent. That means they can affect psionic powers which rely on or expand the normal senses: clairvoyance, clairaudience, all-round vision, feel light, etc. Using any psychometabolic, psychokinetic, telepathic, or psychoportive power against a magical illusion automatically gives the psionicist cause to make a saving throw vs. spells. Depending on the situation, the DM may rule that the use of such a power penetrates an illusion automatically.

Magical phantasms, on the other hand, operate entirely in the mind of the viewer. A psionicist using any power against a phantasm automatically gets to make a saving throw vs. spells to penetrate the phantasm. (The psionicist is too tuned into his own mind to be easily fooled this way.)

Spells and Psionics

Note: As stated above, all psionicists gain a +2 bonus when making a saving throw vs. any enchantment/charm spell.

Magical Items

The same guidelines which apply to spells also apply to magical items, their effects, and the interplay between them and psionics. One item in particular, however, deserves special mention - the philosopher's stone.

For reasons that are unknown, a philosopher's stone aids a psionicist in shaping energy. As long as the stone is in contact with the psionicist's flesh, all psionic power scores in his primary discipline are increased by one. If the stone is of the rare, crystalline salt variety, it increases his power scores in his primary discipline and one other discipline of the character's choice. If it is the extremely rare white powder stone, it boosts his power scores in his primary discipline and allows him to recover psionic strength points at twice the normal rate.

Monsters, Villains, and Other NPCs

Most of the common-sense rules that apply to regular monsters, villains, and NPCs apply equally to psionic figures. It never hurts to review, however, so some pointers follow.

Psionic NPCs make excellent major villains. But like any powerful, single entity - a vampire, a dragon, a lich, a beholder - they are much less effective in isolation than they are at the center of a web of minions. For this reason, most psionic villains will have numerous slaves, followers, mercenaries, and other vassals at their beck and call. Some of these may be minor psionicists in their own right. As well as acting as the master's eyes, ears, and go-fers, they serve to wear down attackers before the final confrontation. (Or they buy time for the psionicist to escape if the opposition is overwhelming.)

Psionic monsters, on the other hand, tend to be solitary creatures. Many of them hunt by keying in on mental activity, or even on purely psionic activity. (They detect and track psionic activity the way a hound picks up the scent of a fox and mercilessly hunts it down.) A crowd of thinking beings tends to create interference (i.e., "jam the airwaves"), making it more difficult to notice an actual psionicist (or choice victim) who wanders into range.

Because they operate alone or in small groups, psionic creatures tend to strike quickly, inflict as much damage as possible, and then melt away before the victims can organize a counterattack. An excellent tactic, for example, is to teleport into a group, grab someone at random, and teleport away immediately. Suddenly, that one person can be dealt with alone, rather than in the midst of his comrades. Tactics like this can cause far more fear and destruction than a glance at the creature's statistics might inspire.

Even when they're friendly, NPCs with psionic powers tend to keep their those powers to themselves. Secrecy is always the best policy. Unless there is a good social or employment reason for it, never reveal that an NPC is a psionicist; let the players figure it out for themselves.

Living psionics

Psionics - the harnessing and shaping of personal, internal energies - is a unique experience. Much like Zen, its essence cannot be described; it must be felt. At the heart of psionics is a tautology: only understanding brings understanding. Still, for the curious, what follows is an attempt to describe the psionic experience.

The first thing a psionicist learns is how to recognize internal energy. Everyone is filled with it, but most people are completely unaware of it. It suffuses our being 24 hours a day, building up during times of rest and draining away during times of exertion or stress. The psionicist learns to turn his awareness inward and search for this energy. Gradually, he gathers it together, drawing it toward some spot. The notion of drawing is key, because this energy cannot be pushed or forced; it must be enticed to accumulate. An experienced psionicist can gather his energies continuously and unconsciously. For a beginner, however, this is the first and most important breakthrough.

Once an amount of energy has been gathered, the psionicist can begin shaping it. The closest description for this bundle of energy is a "warm spot" at the gathering point. Initially, warm spots are easiest to form at the front of the brain. As the budding psionicist practices, he learns to move it around. Eventually, he can gather energy anywhere: his head, his hand, his shoulder, his back. The precise location is important when using some powers, but not all.

The energy is not shaped in the normal sense of that word. Instead, primed may be a better label. The psionicist visualizes the effect he wants. The stronger the visualization, the more likely it is to succeed. When the gathering reaches its peak, the energy is usually realized in a single, explosive release.

Many psionicists describe this release as an instantaneous increase in the apparent temperature of the warm spot, accompanied by a "beat" sensation - as if the warm spot had fired spikes of energy in a radial pattern through the psionicist's body. This sensation is strongest when the psionicist is directing energy outward in an aggressive fashion - when moving an object, for example. If the power being used is directional, the spikes are strongest in that direction, and very minor in others. If power's effects continue for more than a few moments, the beat also continues, but at much lower intensity.

Contact, a common and vital power, has another physical manifestation. Rather than a warm spot, subjects describe the sensation of contact as a "thick spot" or a "heavy spot" somewhere in the mind. They usually have trouble locating it precisely (front, back, left, right), but feel nonetheless that it is a definite place. Forcible contact (as in telepathic combat) is similar, but much more extreme. Each tangent arrives like a gallstone in the mind: according to Bezelar Mujarif, a prominent psionicist now residing in Calimshan. When contact finally comes, he adds, it feels "like a tiger has unsheathed its claws in your head."

Clairvoyant powers tend to operate one of two ways. Either the power simply layers over the psionicist's normal senses (clairaudience, clairvoyance) or brings information in snatches and bursts of insight (object reading, precognition).

Nonpsionicists often imagine that a telepath can "eavesdrop" on their thoughts. That not's quite true. If a psionicist uses telepathy, the target's thoughts do not flood into his mind, masquerading as his own thoughts, or interfering with them. Instead, the thoughts come forth as simple knowledge. The psionicist knows what the target is thinking, as if someone had told him hours before and he just now remembered.

Knights of the Floating Table

Most AD&D game campaigns follow medieval themes and cultures, both historical and legendary. Players can easily find models for most character classes, from wizards to knights. But psionics is more often thought of as the property of science fiction and the future rather than the past. Historical examples are hard to find. Svengali is one possibility, in an evil vein. Modern figures like Kreskin and Uri Geller provide examples of extrasensory powers (allegedly), but these characters are thoroughly unmedieval.

To find models for the psionicist, one can delve into Indian and Asian folk tales. These contain many characters with abilities that mirror psionics, largely because Eastern mysticism emphasizes meditation and the harnessing of internal energy. Fantasy fiction also offers some good examples. The bibliography below includes several good sources which deal with psionics. Players with an interest in the subject are strongly urged to read some of these books for inspiration.

Related Reading: fiction

• Bester, Alfred; The Demolished Man, The Stars My Destination.
• Bradley, Marion Zimmer; Darkover series: The Bloody Sun, Children of Hastur, Darkover Landfall, The Forbidden Tower, Hawkmistress!, The Heritage of Hastur, The Keeper's Price, The Planet Savers, Sharra's Exile, The Shattered Chain, The Spell Sword, Star of Danger, Stormqueen! , The Sword of Aldones, Thendara House, Two to Conquer, The Winds of Darkover, The World Wreckers.
• Brunner, John; The Whole Man.
• Del Rey, Lester; Pstalemate.
• Henderson, Zenna; The People, The People: No Different, Holding Wonder.
• Foster, Alan Dean; Flinx series.
• King, Stephen; The Dead Zone.
• Kurtz, Katherine; Deryni Rising, Deryni Checkmate, High Deryni.
• May, Julian; Saga of the Pliocene Exile series:
• The Many-Colored Land, The Golden Torc,
• The Non-Born King, The Adversary. Nourse, Alan E.; Psi High and Others. Pohl, Frederik; Drunkard's Walk.
• Russell, Eric Frank; The Mindwarpers. Robinson, Frank M.; The Power.
• Schmitz, James H.; The Universe Against Her, The Lion Game, stories.
• Simmons, Dan; Carrion Comfort.
• Sturgeon, Theodore; The Synthetic Man. Tucker, Wilson; Wild Talent.
• Van Vogt, A.E.; Sian.
• Zelazny, Roger; Creatures of Light and Darkness, The Dream Master, Lord of Light, Isle of the Dead, This Immortal, To Die in Italbar.

Related Reading: nonfiction

• Brookesmith, Peter (ed.); Strange Talents, from the series "The Unexplained: Mysteries of Mind, Space, and Time;" Orbis Publishing, London, 1983.
• Index of Possibilities: Energy and Power; Pantheon Books/Random House, New York, New York, 1974.
• Mind Over Matter, Powers of Healing, Psychic Powers, Psychic Voyages, from the series "Mysteries of the Unknown;" Time-Life Books, Alexandria, Virginia, 1987.
• Puharich, Andrija; Beyond Telepathy; Anchor Press/Doubleday, Garden City, New York, 1973.
• Rhine, J.B.; The Reach of the Mind; William Sloane Associates, New York, New York, 1947.