Firehawk Games
Firehawk Games RPG Products => Novus RPG => Topic started by: imported_Rasyr on December 22, 2013, 08:18:10 PM
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Okay, so one of the thing that I am working on is a Psionics system for Novus. I figured that I would lay out the basic structure of what I am intending to get some initial feedback on the idea...
Okay, to first thing is that pions will be grouped in 3 different ways....
Minor Disciplines - the lesser abilities
Major Disciplines - the greater abilities
Paths -- these are groups of Disciplines that fit together into something along the lines of a package deal... some example below:
- Telepath - includes abilities that affect the mind
- Kinetipath - telekinetic abilities
- Pyropath - fire abilities
- Cryopath - cold abilities
- Empath - emotional abilities
- Biopath - abilities involving the body
Classes - There would be a full and a semi psion using class. Each would get xx (and yy, respectively) psi-slots. Each psionic ability would cost a specific number of slots (Paths actually give a break on the slot costs). The psi-user would spend a portion of his slots at first level to gain initial abilities. He would also have an ability to purchase more slots as time progresses (using his Character Points), so that he could gain more abilities as he went up in level.. He would have one or more skills that he can purchase to control his abilities...
Talents - there would be talents that could be bought to gain "slots" to allow for the use of psions, and or talents for the purchase of additional psi points.
Using Psi abilities -- characters will have a small pool of psi points. They are used to activate abilities. Some abilities may be maintained. The activation points are not regained so long as the ability is active (i.e. if a psi ability, such as a shield has a maintenance of 2, then when it is active, he will have 2 less than his total available each round. (these are more like Concentration Points, I would say))
Now, granted, everything is still in flux, as it is still in development, but I was hoping to get some feeback about the direction I am heading...
thanks in advance...
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I am always reluctant to inject psionics in a fantasy setting. I feel they suit sci-if settings better.
Anyway, I find that what you suggest is a very good start. You have to give psionics a different feeling (and rule system) than magics.
I think a skill-based system as you suggest would be a good way to go. What about taking it a bit further and use psionics to either bolster natural abilities (stats and skills) or expand them (giving access to talent-like abilities such as natural attack...).
For example, Telepath could give access to: increase charisma, increase wisdom, detect illusions or lies by expanding perception and special abilities to read or alter minds.
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Oh, I am heading in those directions.... I haven't formalized anything yet, but I was thinking that direction.....
What I am picturing is something along the following lines:
Say your character has a Will of 15, this would give him a Mental Strength (MS) of 45 (I am still debating between making it 3x Will (for full psi user; 2x fo semi, 1x for non/wild), or of creating a Static number based up type of psion user.
Our psion user is a BioPath, so he focuses mostly on psions that enhance his own body. Combat is coming, so he decides to activate Armor. The TN for this is 18. He rolls a 34. This is 16 points above the TN, so he gets 1 to his AR for beating TN, and the +1 for every 5 points over TN (this also gives him a Boon point), so for a total of +4 to AR, he has to pay 2 MS for base, and +1 MS for every 5 points (or additional +1 to AR), for a total of 5 MS. Our Psion used DOES have the option of activating to a lesser degree (i.e. pulling his punch, as it were), but he cannot activate higher than he rolled. The Boon Point - he can use this to either increase the psi effect by 1 or to decrease the MS cost by 1 - he decides to increase the psi effect.
This means that so long as he has Armor up and running, his MS is reduced to 40.
Our Psion also decided to learn Energy Bolt (outside of his BioPath abilities). This lets him throw what appears to be bolts of electricity. Since this is outside his BioPath, he had to learn a separate skills for using this. So, he rolls and makes his attack, For this, he has to decide how many MS he is putting into before activating it, as this determines the Damage Rating (added to his Will stat bonus to determine Base Damage). Our psion user decide to put 3 MS into it (with his Will stat bonus of +2, that gives a Base Damage of 5. He rolls, and hits his target, getting 7 point over foe's DEF, so he does 1 extra point of damage...
Okay, so our psion user is now down to 37 MS. Each round, he will recover 1 MS, until he is back to 40. He cannot regain those last 5 while using Armor.
However, should he become stunned or unconscious, those psi abilities that he was maintaining will automatically drop. If he is Dazed, then he has to make a save vs Will (TN 15 + # of rounds Dazed) or drop the maintained abilities. That is unless he has enhanced Armor with another ability that makes the maitenance of the psi subconscious until he deliberately shuts it down (this basically increases the MS cost of a given Psi ability, but cannot be used on all abilities).
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Must Digest before posting....new mantra
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A series of good article have been written for RMSS about Psionics in the Guildcompanion. Have you read them?
http://www.guildcompanion.com/scrolls/2014/jan/psionics09.html
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Nope, and sorry, but not planning on reading them either...
I am trying to come up with something that will be distinctly Novus, and not likened back to being based on another system....
besides which, IIRC, Rolemaster psions are basically the same as spell lists, which is not where I want to go.....
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I agree with you fully. Psions have to be different than spells (and magic in general).
Besides, are you sure you want to make psionicists into professions? Talent-based psionicists seem more natural to me.
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Oh, the psions will be very very much liked Talents (individual abilities), but they will be restricted in multiple ways as well, and a Psion class would be a class designed to specifically take advantage of how they are setup....
The Paths are going to be kinda/sorta like "Elemental Controls" and "Multi-Powers" from Champions, in that they are groups of related abilities that allow for more focused characters...
ooh.... and just had a bit of a thought...
magic is skill based - SOOOOO, we do not want psions to be skill based (except where appropriate, such as for attacks that can do physical damage (i.e. where they need to aim).
We can have Psions be Save-based.... Activating a psion requires making an appropriate Save...... Hmm... I am liking this idea the more that I think about it...
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I was thinking the exact thing! Save based makes it more of an "innate" ability- which differentiates it from Spell Casting.
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Like I said before... this is definitely a work in progress.... and I do want it to work a bit differently from spells...
the Mental Exhaution thing is more of a measure of how much a psion user can do at 1 time (not an overall measure like spell points), as psion users should be able to maintain certain psions for a given period (also making the psion user choose which he has running since they have no duration except when they have mental energy/concentration focused on them...
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I will use a dice pool example to formulate my thoughts; you have 10 Dice in Psionics, to activate Telekinesis is a minimum of 3D, but you can use up to 10D. If you want to activate a second ability your Dice Pool gets penalized by 1 Dice. So, you want to activate Personal Shield at the same time as Telekinesis: Your Pool is now reduced to 9D,.
Personal Shield Has a minimum of 3 Dice to Activate. Telekinesis has minimum of 3D. The remaining 3D from your Pisonics can be allocated round to round based on what the Psion wants to do...round 1 the Psion wants to lift a boulder off a comrade why maintaining a Shield to protect against missile fire- he allocates 3D to Shield and 6D to Telekinesis...round two he hurls the boulder at an Ogre- Allocating 6D to Telekinesis and 3D to Shield....round three the Ogre hurls the boulder back, he allocates all 10 Dice to Shield....
Now there is no dice rolling outlined- but I'm just trying to envision a pool of energy being divided up in a game setting...
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Kinda-sorta
Okay, say our psion user has the following abilities (the number in parenthesis represent the costs for using in a given round)
- Dangersense (4) - warns of danger a round before it happens, Will Save (TN18) to activate
- Mindsense (3) - locates all minds within a 50'; add +1 to cost for each aditional 50'; Will Save (TN20) to activate
- Telekinetic Bolt (5) - bolt does 5 points of Base Damage, range 50'; Will Save (TN15) to activate, use Bolt Skill (Favored) to aim/attack with Bolt
- Inertial Shield (3) - gives +2 to AR; +1 for each additional +1
- Deflection Field (3) - gaives +2 to DEF; +1 for each additional +1
Our psion user has 10 points of Mental Capacity (or Mental Strength or Mental Exhaustion)
So, in a given round, he could have Deflection Field, Mindsense and Dangersense all up and running, but could not use any other abilities as he has no more mental capcity left.
If in combat, he could drop the Danger Sense and Mindsense, only keeping the Deflection Field up, but strengthening it to a +4 to DEF (total MC of 5) and still be able to pummel a foe with his telekinetic bolt (at base damage, and base range)
Now, of course, the above numbers are made up... But the MC costs are within the range I am looking for them to be...The MC total for a given character is likely to be closer to 20 or perhaps 30.
I was also thinking of having some minor penalty, such as not making the MC immediately available upon dropping an ability (perhaps only for the sustained/maintained ones (perhaps increasing the cost by 1 to sustain a sustainable ability) -- for example, upon dropping the Mindsense, our psion user does not have all 3 MC available the next round, he only gets 1 back. the following round he gets another back, and the last back on the third round.
Just an idea, NOT set in stone...[/list]
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I love that line of thought.
Maybe you can use stat value + bonus (linked to a talent, something like +10 for pure psionist) as MC total?
At the moment you can use as many Psions per day as you want. Maybe you can allow a PC to go beyond his MC but the consequence could be to burn out MC for an extended duration (say if you go 3 points over your MC, your MC goes down 3 points with a 1 point recovery per day).
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interesting suggestions! (http:///smile.gif)
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I think we both envision it working in a very similar fashion.
My concern is that it makes the Psion really powerful in a group if they can have multiple powers active without penalty. Also, it doesn't make sense to me not to penalize having multiple abilities active- they all require some sort of concentration- like tossing a ball up and down in one hand, then with the other reaching over to type an email. It is possible, but both actions would suffer.
Spells should have the advantage of not requiring attention after they are cast- but the disadvantage of requiring attention to cast. Psionics should be activated easily, but require attention to maintain. IMO
My vision also makes the Psion very powerful doing one thing- but less powerful doing multiple things because they must spread their ability too thinly to be as effective.
My observation from playing a fair amount of Hero & D6 systems is that you need to make sure their is an inherent advantage/disadvantage trade-off between Magic & Psionics (& priestly abilities too).
Maybe a +2 TN Penalty to activate additional abilities or something similar?
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I like that idea... increase the activation TN based upon the number of abilities active (so the more you have active, the harder to activate another). The actual numbers will be more based upon how the abilities end up, but I am thinking +1 to the Will Save for each ability active (i.e. if you have none active, and activate 1, there is no minus, to activate a second, that is +1 to the TN, if you have 3 active, that is +3 to the TN, and so forth). This would allow for just requiring a simple Will Save (TN 15) as the basis for all psionic activations...
I was also thinking of putting in a negative modifier to physical actions while focused on concentrating... (say -2 if using half of your MC; -4 to all physical actions (including throwing that telekinetic bolt) if your using all your MC (perhaps I should simply call it "Psionic Focus" -- I do need a better name)
As for the Mental Capacity(/Psionic Focus), I was figuring the following
Phrenic (pure psionicist) = 10 + Will Stat
Adept (semi psionicist) = Will Stat
Wild Talent (non psionicist) = double Will Stat Bonus OR 5; whichever is higher
Psions would then have a BASE MC cost of 1-5 or 6(depending upon their basic strength). THe MC cost can go up based upon certain factors (i.e. number of targets, or increased range) These scaling options would not affect activation, but amount of MC required to activate/use them.
At least, that is my thinking at the moment... I am still going through my list of psions (I have over 150 possible psionic abilities at the moment).
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Have you considered how boons will work in activating an ability? They would be harder to achieve as they are not skill based.
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I see two important improvements that boons may bring: decrease the MC cost and lower the cumulative penalty for maintaining multiple Psions.
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Good Point, and definitely something to consider.....
I am trying to work up some sort of increasable bonus for psion users, likely a talent-like bonus that is applied solely to psion activations (and since only 1 talent may be purchased per level, that provides a built in limitation, I would think)
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So, to be devils advocate, wouldn't it make more sense to just make it skill based so that you don't introduce more "core" rules.
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I will have to think about that further but I could second that. In fact not just magic but every other aspects of the game are skill-based.
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We already have such things like hits and bonuses to specific skills, that are talents, that can be purchased multiple times, allowing for increases in capability that are not "skill based". There is even a talent that allows for bonuses to Saves. What we would be doing is saying that the talent that improves saves, does not apply to psion activation.
Then we can have one that does apply to psion activation (think of it as a "conditional bonus" to the Saves (in fact, we could even have different psions use different Saves for activation (mostly the mental stats in the vast majority).
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Okay, so here is the current recap (so far -- as always, things may always change)
[li]Psionic Focus == the total amount of concentration available for using psionic abilities. This is expressed as a number of slots that may be filled each round.
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[li]A character's Psionic Focus (PF) is determined by his level of training overall (i.e. a full psion user has a PF equal to 10 + his Willpower Stat, a semi-psion user has a PF equal to his Willpower Stat, and wild talent/non-psion user has a PF equal to 5 OR his Willpower Stat Bonus, whichever is higher).
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[li]Using half of those "slots" gives the character a -2 modifier to all physical rolls. Filling those slots gives the character a modifier of -4 to all physical rolls.
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[li]Activating a psionic ability requires an Activation Roll (essentially a Saving Throw for a specific stat, as determined by the specific psionic ability).
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[li]Characters may purchase a talent that gives a bonus to their activation rolls. This will be very similar to the Improved Save talent from the core rules. (sidenote: am thinking about limiting this to bonuses to specific Paths only - thus outlier abilities would not be covered).
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[li]Having more than a single psionic ability operating in a single round increases the TN of the Activation Roll,
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[li]The TN of the Activation Roll is increased by 1 for each psionic ability already active and/or used in the same round.
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[li]Some psionic abilities may require skill rolls once they have been activated (this is most common with psions that create physical/energy attacks, but may apply to some others).[/li]
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That's a good start I think. (http:///bigeyes.gif)
What we would be doing is saying that the talent that improves saves, does not apply to psion activation
I think it would be easier to use the improved save as activation bonus lest a character have to track which save he has improved in the past or not. You can still have a activation bonus for a lesser cost.
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Well, the activation roll uses the same mechanic as a Save, but it is not a Save (not an attempt to resist something).
And I was thinking -- the activation rolls, I could even set them up to use multiple stats (up to 3, if need be), which gives me more flexibility in some ways
The activation roll would be setup like so:
1 stat == 5 + stat bonus
2 stats == 3 + stat bonus 1 + stat bonus 2
3 stats == stat bonus 1 + stat bonus 2 + stat bonus 3
Base TN of activation roll is 15. Increased by 1 for each psion active (or activated in the same round).
Then we have the Imrpoved Path talent, which allows a character a +1 to ativation rolls for a single Psionic Path. This means that if you have Telepath, and also know the Telekinetic Bolt psion, the Improved Path talent could increase the activation roll for any psion that is part of the TelePath, but not the Telekinetic Bolt...
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Understood. You don't use saves at all.
Using multiple stats makes sense. That way, psions can be seen as "natural" abilities.
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Okay, so we have the basics of using psions worked out, now it is the time to take a closer look at gaining them.
I do believe that I may need help in deciding some of the terminology involved..
To start off with, there will be 3 new Talents, two of which will be used for making new Classes (costs will be comparable to Major & Minor Adept talents). They are as follows (remember, just rough draft, may be subject to change).
- Psionic Potential - This is the most basic ability. Allows player to purchase Psionic Abilities using CP Costs (yes, this means that all Psionic abilities, even though they are like other talents, have a built in requirement of one of these three talents).
- Minor Psionic - used for creating semi-psion users. Players selects 8 psi-slots (Minor Disciplines fill 1 slot, Major disciplines fill 2 slots, Paths fill 5 slots) worth of abilities (these are selected at chargen and can never be changed, even if they are not gained right away), and he can gain these by paying 4 points per each Minor Discipline, and 6 points for each Major Discipline. May purchase additional psions using CP costs.
- Major Psionic - used for full psion users. Player selects 12 psi-slots worth of abilities (Minor Disciplines fill 1 slot, Major disciplines fill 2 slots, Paths fill 5 slots) . These are selected at chargen, and cannot be changed, may be gained whenever the player spends the CP to learn them (2 CP per Minor Discipline, 4 CP per each Major Discipline). May purchase additional Psions using CP costs
Note: Paths cost 5 psi-slots. However, they contain 10 psi-slots of related psi-abilities. Each psi-ability within a Path is treated as a Minor Discipline for learning, regardless of whether ir is a Minor or Major Discipline.[/list]
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That seems a very promising way to go. I especially like the potential / unlocked twist.
The terms you use are very clear. Additionnally, if you are still unhappy with your "Psionic Focus", I would suggest "Inner Strength", "Inner Pool" or "Mens" (the latter being the latine world for mind.
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And if you look at the way I set them up (8 psi-slots for Semi, 12 Psi-slots for Full), that allows the semi to have 1 Path of related psions, and the full to have 2 Paths.
Additionally, the psi-slots basically are used to create the equivalent of base lists of abilities (those gained at a less expensive cost, but which much still be paid for).
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That way, Full Psionicists are both more versatile (likely to develop more Psions) and more powerful (having a higher Mental Focus).
The difference between full and semi is very coherent IMO.
We will have to pay attention to wilders though. Being limited to 5 active slots at any time, they will suffer a minus 2 penalty to all their physical activities as soon as they use 2 or 3 of them at the same time. Psions which give small boost to stats or skills for example would have a limited interest.
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I expect that wilders would be less likely to choose any sort of skill booster (not many of them to begin with), and likely choose something a bit more interesting/useful.
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Does physical abilities include DEF? And how is armour a factor in Psionics?
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It depends on the given bonus I think. I can easily see a fighting character eager to boost his weapon stat and/or speed. My point is: if he gains +2 to strength for example via a psion (so +2 to his AB and damage in the case of a strength-based weapon) but it costs him 3 slots to activate and so gives him a -2 to all physical activity, the interest is dubious.
It is this kind of things that have to be finely tuned IMO.
Of course, the same character can acquire a danger sense or a feather landing ability to full benefit.
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Does physical abilities include DEF?
I am going to presume that you mean the negative modifier to physical activities. And in regards to DEF, hmm... I have no actually thought about that yet, but I was likely thinking that such a modifier did not apply to DEF (but would apply to physical-based Saving Throws).
And how is armour a factor in Psionics?
At the moment, it is not a factor at all, BUT helms would be....
My initial instinct here is to say that a helm's bonus to saves vs stuns would also apply to saves vs psions. As for the psion user, I would say that that SAME modifier would increase the TN of the activation rolls --
For example -- target is wearing a Reinforced Leather Pot Helm (+3 vs Stuns), and our psion user is wearing a Chain Coif (equivalent of a metal skullcap; +3 vs. Stuns). Our psion user would then have a base activation roll TN of 18 (15 + 3 for the coif). And our defender/target (who has a Will of 15, giving a standard Will Save mod of 6) would have a Save vs Psions of +9 (Will Save mod + 3 RL Pot Helm).
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As for physical abilities, the only psions that can boost anything, so far, are as follows:
Minor Disciplines
- Armored Skin - give self tough skin (counts as AR versus attacks)
- Enhanced Strength - increase strength (up to max allowed for character)
- Heightened Senses - gains a +4 to all perception rolls (increase bonus for every bit over TN)
- Intensify - Con, Intelligence, & Willpower (and maybe wisdom), can raise one stat by x amount, but reduces the others by same amount - only affects skill rolls - not saves, hits, or anything along those lines
and perhaps a few more along those lines.... but I haven't actually gotten to writing them up yet, they are still in notes stage (as seen above).
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I think I'm going to watch Firestarter this week. LOL. I think that was the name of the movie....
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with drew barrymore, yeah
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Interesting.
For me I have always wanted a system that would let me duplicate the Pliocene Exile Saga which would be 5 rather than 6 categories + wild talents.
I do think you should consider wild talents in any case. These are Psionic abilities that don't fit in the normal categories that some characters might have.
Will definitely try and visit the forums more often to see what you come up with.
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Sunwolf -- in my first post, I listed 6 Paths, but those were simply examples, not meant to be specific categories. In fact, there will not be any categories, at least not in the RM/SPAM and AD&D 2nd ed ways of thinking where psionics were
Here is a current overview of how things look.....
There will be 2 professions, the Phrenic and the Adept. Each will have a specific number of "slots" for use in choosing psionic abilities.
Adept can have (3 +Will Stat Bonus) slots while the Phrenic will have (5 + (2* Will Stat Bonus)) slots to use to acquire psionic abilities. Wild Psions have a number of slots equal to their (Will Stat Bonus + 1),
(xx)Path -- group of to 2 Major disciplines & 4 Minor Disciplines. These disciplines must be related in some manner, either through special effects or source of ability (i.e. fire-based psions would be a special effect base, while those gained from manipulating one's own bio-energy to supercharge the body in some manner would be source based). Costs 4 slots to acquire/build)
Major Disciplines -- Costs 2 slots to acquire - the more powerful psionic abilities
Minor Disciplines -- Costs 1 slot to acquire -- the less powerful Psionic abilities
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Have you considered having talents that would increase the number of slots available or would they simply need to raise their Will Stat bonus? I might also consider having an option where the Will Stat Bonus doesn't factor in at all and Slots are bought seperately, allowing a powerful but gullible Psionic.
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Good Suggestions! I was already favoring the idea of having some psionic related talents..
hmm...
Class Slots
Phrenic == 10 slots
Adept = 6 Slots
Talents
Wild Psion Talent = 3 Slots (deliberately set so that a Path would not be accessible)
Extra Slots = +2 Slots (same cost as Wild Talent, must already have Psion Slots (i.e. from Class feature or Wild Psion talent))
Mentalist Talent = +Will Stat Bonus to number of slots (must track what psions acquired using these slots as loss of Will would mean loss of those abilities)
How does that sound?
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sounds pretty good
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Okay a little bit more refinement......
Pure Psion == Talent grants Psionic Focus as Favored Skill, a +5 to Psionic Focus, and 10 slots for picking Disciplines, +1 to activation rolls for Path for 4 CP, +1 to activation rolls for individual Discipline 2 CP
Semi-Psion == Talent grants Psionic Focus as Favored Skill, a +3 bonus to Psionic Focus, 5 slots for picking Disciplines, +1 to activation rolls for Path for 5 CP, +1 to activation rolls for individual Discipline 3 CP
Wild Psion == Talent grants 3 slots for picking Disciplines, character may learn 3 slots worth of Disciplines, +1 to activation rolls for Path for 5 CP, +1 to activation rolls for individual Discipline 3 CP
Extra Slots == Character gains additional 2 slots for learning Disciplines. Requires that the character already have psion slots to begin with
Mentalist == Gain Will Stat Bonus to total number of slots for picking Disciplines
Psionic Focus == new skill (Favored for Phrenic and Adept; skill uses Willpower Stat Bonus - total bonus equals how many psions can be active at one time (Minor Disciplines require 1-5 points of Focus to be active, Major Disciplines require 3-10 points of Focus to be active
(xx)Path -- costs 4 Slots to build using 6 slots worth of Disciplines, a Path must include a minimum of 1 Major Discipline and 2 Minor Disciplines at the least. The other 2 slots may be used for a second Major or 2 more Minor Disciplines at the choice of the player. All Disciplines within a Path must be related in some manner, either through special effects or source of ability (i.e. fire-based psions would be a special effect base, while those gained from manipulating one's own bio-energy to supercharge the body in some manner would be source based).
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In the core Novus, I put a limit of 7 magic items that may be possessed by a character, and tied this limit to the 7 chakra that are in the body. In the psionic rules I am expanding that explanation to define the chakra as wellsprings or knots of life force for a character, and that the chakra are gateways between the character's own aura and the aura of magical items. Or more generally, between the character's aura and the world around it.
The chakra then actually work to impose a limit on how many psions may be active at one time. No more than 7 in total. And then the Psionic Focus skill would work as a guide to how strong those psions can be. Each psion will have a also have a Psion Focus rating, which will work much like I described in post 11 of this thread, quoted below (I made some changes to the quote to reflect the refinement of ideas...):
Okay, say our psion user has the following abilities (the number in parenthesis represent the costs for using in a given round)
- Dangersense (PF 4) - warns of danger a round before it happens, Will Save (TN18) to activate
- Mindsense (PF 3) - locates all minds within a 50'; add +1 to cost for each aditional 50'; Will Save (TN20) to activate
- Telekinetic Bolt (PF 5) - bolt does 5 points of Base Damage, range 50'; Will Save (TN15) to activate, use Bolt Skill (Favored) to aim/attack with Bolt
- Inertial Shield (PF 3) - gives +2 to AR; +1 for each additional +1
- Deflection Field (PF 3) - gaives +2 to DEF; +1 for each additional +1
Our psion user has a total skill bonus of 10 for his Psionic Focus skill
So, in a given round, he could have Deflection Field, Mindsense and Dangersense all up and running, but could not use any other abilities as he has no more mental capcity left.
If in combat, he could drop the Danger Sense and Mindsense, only keeping the Deflection Field up, but strengthening it to a +4 to DEF (total PF of 5) and still be able to pummel a foe with his telekinetic bolt (at base damage, and base range)
Now, of course, the above numbers are made up... But they give the general idea....
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Additionally, while a character will have a number of slots which determine how many psions he can learn, he must still learn them. The costs of learning will be based upon the Major/Minor distinction of the psion, and upon the Pure/Semi/Wild Psion user categorization of the character. This way, a player won't have to choose his psionic Disciplines immediately (unless he is building a Path, which MUST be defined upfront, even if all the Disciplines in the Path are not purchased right away).
And as mentioned before, each psion would have an Activation roll which worked in a manner similar to a Saving Throw, but had a few minor differences...
The bonus for making the activation roll is as follows (depending upon how many stats are associated with a specific Discipline):
1 stat == 5 + stat bonus (+ any activiation bonuses)
2 stats == 3 + stat bonus 1 + stat bonus 2 (+ any activiation bonuses)
3 stats == stat bonus 1 + stat bonus 2 + stat bonus 3 (+ any activiation bonuses)
As mentioned in the Pure/Semi/Wild Psion descriptions above, a character may purchase a bonus to the activation rolls of an entire Path, or to individual Disciplines. These are quasi-skills in that they provide bonuses, but they also are not effected by increasing costs, and there will most likely be a limit of no more than a single bonus per level allowed (if playing levelless, then that would be no more than +1 to any psion activation roll for every 15 Character Points that the character has spent.
As for the psions themselves. I am trying to limit myself to no more than 100 Minor Disciplines, and no more than 40 Major ones (though I may also try to cut these initial numbers in half just to make things more managable, saving the rest for a later product...
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Still working on this... In fact, I just started working on writing up the actual Disciplines
To recap/update where this is going we have the following:
Psionic Talents
There are a number of psionic Talents, such as Major Psionic Potential, Minor Psionic Potential, and Wild Psionic Potential. The first two are for making what for want of a better term Pure and Semi psion users, and the third allows for psionic dabblers....
A number of the core talents will be listed as being possible Innate Psionics that can be acquired by the above 3 types, regardless of that Talent's Trainability aspect. There are also a number of other Psionic Talents that can be acquired by anybody with one of those three main talents.
Psionic Disciplines and Paths
Each character will have a number of Discipline Slots. And they can use those Slots to TAG or mark Disciplines for later acquisition. It requires 1 slot to tag a Minor Discipline, 2 slots to tag a Major Discipline. Disciplines may be tagged at any time, so long as the player as slots available. A player may keep Slots in reserve until he is ready to tag a Discipline that he wants to learn, be that 1 or 10 levels down the road.....
Characters can also spend Discipline Slots to tag an entire Path. A Path is a group of related Disciplines. 4 DS to get a Minor Path (which contains 6 DS worth of Disciplines) and 6 DS to tag a Major Path (which contains 9 DS worth of Disciplines). When a character "tags" a Path, ALL of the Disciplines that will be contained in that Path must be determined at that time, and cannot be changed later. Note that while I will be providing some SAMPLE Paths, they are just samples, and it is the player who determines the actual composition of any Path he knows. There are some rules for building Paths....
There are currently 50 Minor Disciplines and 32 Major Disciplines
To actually acquire/learn a Discipline, the player must spend Character Points -- double the PF in CP for stand-alone Disciplines, PF+1 in CP for Disciplines that are part of a Path
Note: using a Path means that a player cannot change his mind later as to what Disciplines are in the Path - but in exchange, he gets a few extra Disciplines and a cheaper cost -- the trade-off for the reduction in flexibility
Psionic Basics
[li]a Psion user can have no more than 7 Disciplines active at any given time[/li]
[li] Each Discipline requires that the psion user devote some of his Psionic Focus (which is a Favored skill for the character), and the total amount of PF of all active Psions cannot exceed the character's Psionic Focus skill total[/li]
[li]To activate a Discipline, the player makes an activation roll -- which has a TN of 15 (+1 for every discipline the character already has active). This TN may be increased by other modifiers or options selected the psion user[/li]
[li]Activation rolls use a base 2d10 + Stats+ other mods to make the activation rolls -- if a psion has a single stat, it uses that stat bonus+5; if a psion has 2 stats, it uses those stat bonuses +3; if a psion has 3 stats, it uses the sum of all 3 stats (and yes, negative stat bonuses reduce this total).[/li]
[li] Pure psion users get a +4 to all activation rolls, semis get a +2, and there are talents that can increase the activation rolls for individual Disciplines or entire Paths -- and yes, they do stack[/li]
[/list]
Sample Discipline -- here is the first one I have written up...
ADAPTATION
PF: 2
Stats: Will/Con
Save: None
Description: While the Discipline is active, the target's body will adapt to survive the surrounding conditions. This could be used for something as simple as being able to see in complete darkness, or to survive in cold weather without freezing or even as complex as being able to survive at the bottom of the ocean. For example, if the target is underwater, they would be able to breathe and see, at least up to 100', at any depth. The target will automatically adapt to any environment encountered so long as the Discipline is active.
The base form of this Discipline is only for a single target. That target must be willing, or the Discipline will not work on him. Additional targets may be included, but adding additional targets increases the PF requirement and the TN of the activation roll by 1 for each additional target. Once active, targets cannot be dropped from the Discipline or other targets added without shutting the Discipline down and reactivating it.
Activation Options PF ATN
Additional Targets........ +1.... +1
Thoughts? Comments?[/list]
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I have since decided to recap the Activation Options from the description at the end of the entry. There will be some where there are no activation options. There may be some where there are no activation options.
PF == Psionic Focus (how must must be available to activate the Discipline)
ATN == Activation Roll Target Number (remember, this is a base of 15 +1 for each additional Discipline already active -- however, using some of the activation options may increase the TN of the Activation Roll