Uses of the Skill
Rank | Power | Description |
---|---|---|
1 | Sense Psychic Impressions |
At-will, concentration; you sense any prevailing psychic impact on a location. DM adjudicated. |
1 | Sense Minds |
At-will, concentration; you sense the presence of thinking minds. Works slowly, as in old Detect Magic. |
Telepathic communication:
- Rank 1 may only be by touch, eye contact, or between fellow telepaths. Rank 2 would start with Mindlink and Missive.
Dev Notes
These are kind of inseperable, as it were.
- Rank 1: touch telepathy. Perceive and transmit simple thoughts or emotions.
- Rank 2: short-range telepathy. Read surface thoughts of nearby minds. Project psychic blasts. Implant simple ideas or emotions at range.
- Rank 3: mind transfer. Enter another's mind. Read and alter memories, thoughts, etc. Can be done quick-n-dirty, or slow and careful.
- Rank 4: long-range telepathy. Link with alien minds. Spin off patterns of thought in others without maintaining concentration.
- Rank 5: mind synchronization. Instantly command the will of others. Total information awareness.
Things on the way out:
- Simple charms. If you can't figure out how to get what you want with emotional projection, you probably should get out of this power.
- Simple domination. Again, between emotions and telepathic suggestions, you should be able to duplicate this in most circumstances.
Powers
Those below are Powers, each of which can be gained by spending a Power Point, assuming the prerequisites are met.
Power | Prereqs | Description |
---|---|---|
Empathic Touch |
Telepathy 5 ranks |
Sense and affect emotions by touch. |
Telepathy 10 ranks, Empathic Touch |
Transfer your consciousness (ridealong), or move mental effects from one target to another (beneficial or harmful) | |
Telepathy 15 ranks, Empathic Transfer |
Fully impose your senses, emotions, and will on another. | |
Combat Insight |
Telepathy 5 ranks |
Sense enemies' intentions to gain advantage in combat. |
Telepathy 10 ranks, Combat Insight |
See events before they occur; easily react, test multiple alternative counter actions, etc. | |
Clairvoyance |
Telepathy 5 ranks |
Project your senses remotely to familiar places or near familiar people. |
Telepathy 10 ranks, Clairvoyance |
Travel to remote locations through a plane of pure thought. | |
Telepathy 10 ranks, Clairvoyance |
See events before they occur. | |
Hypercognition |
Telepathy 5 ranks |
Accelerate your mind; gain more time to react to fast-paced situations. |
Mindlink |
Telepathy 5 ranks |
Establish mind link at short range (sustain at higher range), use it read or implant thoughts (suggestions) |
Telepathy 10 ranks, Mindlink |
Deep-scan subject's mind for information, alter or implant memories | |
Telepathy 15 ranks, Mind Probe |
Plant deep suggestions. |
Skill Uses (OLD CONTENT)
Rank | Use | Description |
---|---|---|
1 | Read Emotions |
At-will, swift, short range, sustain swift; you read the current emotional state of the subject, learning which emotions are affecting him, and how intensely. |
1 | Sense Psychic Impression |
At-will, concentration; you sense any prevailing psychic impact on a location. DM adjudicated. |
1 | Missive |
At-will, free, variable range; you send a message of up to 10 words to a known subject. Does not empower subject to respond. Range based on rank: long, 1 mile, 100 miles, world, solar system. |
1 | Lucid Dreaming |
You may take command of your own dreams. Many recreational uses; also may be useful for exploring your own psyche, resolving unanswered questions, etc. Highly subjective. |
2 | Sense Link |
Sense all that subject senses. |
2 | Shared Dreamstate |
Link dreams with other sleepers, as Lucid Dreaming. |
3 | Inception |
As Shared Dreamstate, but one or more participants might be unwilling, and you can plant suggestions deep in the psyche. |
4 | Astral Projection |
Leave your body behind and explore the multiverse. |
Totally useless, but still cool:
- 1 - Lucid Dreaming
- 2 - Shared Dreamstate
Notes
- It is not possible for targets to resist Read Emotions, unless they themselves are empaths, in which case they may make an opposed Empathy check against you. If they succeed, they can negate their emotional signature; you detect that they are doing so.
Feats
Rank 1
- Assault
- Phantom Pain: At-will, std, medium range; subject feels as if he is being harmed. The exact type of harm is up to you, or you can even leave it up to the subject. In any case, subject suffers nominal psychic damage; if subject has knowledge of psionics, he may attempt a Willpower save for half.
- Control
- Empathic Projection: At-will, std, short range, sustain std; you project a chosen emotion into the subject's mind, overriding their own emotions. This may affect their behavior. See Emotions below. Willpower ends.
- Suggestion: At-will, swift, short range, costs 1 Mana; subject must obey a single-sentence, spoken proposition (Willpower negates, language-dependent).
- Defense
- Combat Intuition: At-will, swift, reserve; your empathy gives you slightly advanced notice of your opponent's intentions. Gain +1 to avoidance and negation checks per Focus slotted. Applies only to attacks from enemies with the capacity for thought and intent.
- Utility
- Detect Minds: At-will, std, emanation short, sustain std; you use Read Emotions on all in area, potentially detecting unseen foes. Costs 1 Focus per minute sustained.
- Meta
- Subtlety: You may use Persuasion to make your Control powers less obvious (situational modifiers apply). If you succeed, subject is not allowed a save to end, unless he takes very unusual actions due to your meddling, or others point out his odd behavior.
Rank 2
- Assault
- Phantom Injury: At-will, std, medium range, costs 1 Mana; subject believes he suffers from a minor injury of your choice. The effect of the injury is real, even though the injury itself is not. Does not cause Wound Points. Willpower ends.
- At rank 3, you may spend 3 Mana to choose a major injury.
- At rank 4, you may spend 5 Mana to choose a critical injury.
- Control
- Alter Emotion: At-will, swift, short range, costs 1 Mana; you alter subject's emotions. You can redirect emotions to different targets, or change their intensity, or even reverse their polarity (hate becomes love, etc). See description.
- Alter Senses: At-will, swift, short range, reserve 1 Mana; you nullify one of subject's senses, causing blindness, deafness, numbness, etc. Willpower ends.
- For each extra point of Mana you reserve, you numb an additional sense. May reserve up to 1 Mana per rank. Willpower ends each sense individually.
- At rank 3, you may provide false sensory input instead of nullifying.
- Defense
- Mind Shield: At-will, swift, short range, reserve; subject gains 1 "charge" per Focus he reserved. Each charge allows subject to avoid one mental effect, or pass one save to end the same.
- Utility
- Correspond: At-will, swift, short range, reserve 1 Focus; you and subject reserve 1 Focus. Thereafter, you may send Missives to each other at will, over the usual range.
- Read Thoughts: At-will, swift, sustain swift, short range; you read subject's surface thoughts. Subject can resist, but only if subject is aware you are using the power; if so, Willpower negates each round. Costs 1 Mana for each minute sustained.
Rank 3
- Assault
- Mind Blast: At-will, std, short range, costs 1 Mana; you unleash an all-out neurological assault on the target, overloading their nervous system. Inflicts nominal psychic damage plus stun 1 rd (Will negates) plus 1 damage to Int, Wis, and Cha. Empower adds +100% damage (as normal), including the ability damage, and adds 1 rd of stun (Will negates each round).
- Control
- Domination: At-will, swift, short range, reserve; subject must obey all of your orders as if each were a Suggestion, but without Willpower saves to end each individually. The overall effect can be resisted; treat as Willpower ends, but for each point of Mana you reserve (minimum 1), the effect can withstand 1 success...thus, the subject is not truly free until all such "charges" have been resisted. You may reserve additional Mana before the subject is freed, though you do not regain reserved Mana until the effect ends entirely. When subject passes a Willpower save, any orders he was currently following are cancelled, though you can of course re-issue them at the next opportunity.
- Mind Control: At-will, std, short range, sustain std (1 Mana each time); you take direct control of subject's actions. Does not grant you knowledge of subject's abilities that you were not already aware of. Subject suffers -2 penalty to all checks due to clumsiness. Willpower ends.
- Utility
- Mind Probe: Read and alter memories, reprogram subject.
- Psychic Network: As Correspond, but multiple targets may join network, each reserving 1 Focus. Max members = 3 + 1/rank of each subject with Mentalism skill.
Rank 4
- Aneurysm: kill or injure with neurological trauma
- Phantom Death: phantasm makes subject believe they are dead, risk asphyxiation
- Psychic Chirurgery: totally rearrange subject's brain, can harm, heal, or just learn
- Mind Blank: based on Focus, can be overpowered with copious Mana spending
- Mind Seed: implant yourself in subject's mind to plant suggestions that are not noticed (the better to avoid pesky saving throws) or even take over remotely, slowly reprogram target to be more receptive in the future
- Emotion Seed: same as Mind Seed, but for emotions; truly alter subject's feelings on a permanent, nonmagical basis (the better for making thralls)