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Old 05-15-2019, 07:35 AM   #1
Prince Charon
 
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Default [Banestorm] Yrth as a Psionic setting

I've occasionally seen threads discussing alternative magic systems for Yrth, and while one might debate whether Psionics counts, it can be described as a pretty detailed, worked example of a Magic As Powers system, and I think the exercise could be interesting. If you want to ask 'Why bother?' that's why... that and the small but non-zero chance that someone may want to run a Yrth or Yrth-like fantasy game with Psionics rules (though they may be less inclined to after reading this thread).

A note on terminology: I use the term 'Meta-Psi' a few times below, including as a power modifier ('Meta-Psi, -10%'). This is a houserule power that is basically 'psi abilities that modify other psi abilities,' sort of like the College of Meta-Spells for psionics. So, it covers all Anti-Psi abilities, all abilities that enhance psi in some way (e.g. Modular Abilities limited to Affliction of Talents, or Affliction of higher levels of existing psi abilities), and all abilities that otherwise modify it in some way. Steal Power (Psionic Powers p52) is thusly both a Psychic Vampirism ability and a Meta-Psi ability. Psi Sense and related abilities could also arguably fall under both ESP (or whatever power they're in, like Telepathy or Teleportation) and Meta-Psi.

Also, you might want to look at the 'Old-Time Psi' text box on page 5 of GURPS Psionic Campaigns, as well as the simplified Psi rules from GURPS Dungeon Fantasy 14: Psi, pp4-22 - in fact DF14 as a whole is useful for playing and running Psi in fantasy games (and horror games, due to the Elder Things), despite focusing on the traditional dungeon crawl niche. Psionic Campaigns, of course, is just plain good for its subject.


* I'll start with an easy (to my mind) conversion: Alchemy and Herb-Lore. Psi drugs (GURPS Psi-Tech pp33-35, as well as Concoctions from GURPS DF 14 pp24-25) are a very close parallel of Elixirs (GURPS Magic pp213-219) - most of the elixirs on that list would be specific forms of Psi Booster (Psi-Tech p34, and the text box on GURPS DF14 pp25). You can either insert '(Psi)' into the line for the appropriate skill (e. g. 'Alchemy/TL3^ (Psi)' or 'Herb-Lore (Psi)/TL3^'), or if you don't mind the base skill being less difficult, translate Alchemy/TL3^ to Pharmacy (Synthetic)/TL3^, and Herb-Lore/TL3^ to Pharmacy (Herbal)/TL3^, possibly with an optional specialization in psi drugs. Of course, Pharmacy (Synthetic) normally doesn't exist at TL3, but TL^ settings aren't normal; alternatively, they could both be Pharmacy (Herbal)/TL3^ or Pharmacy (Psi)/TL3^, with the difference being that one is done in a kitchen, by a campfire, or other such location, and the other is in a laboratory with expensive equipment, allowing greater precision and reliability, but slower and at a higher cost. See also 'Psychobotanics' in the 'Old-Time Psi' text box on page 5 of GURPS Psionic Campaigns.

The times to brew specific elixirs from the list in GURPS Magic might be reduced, but on the other hand, working with primitive equipment does require compromises. Really, it depends on how the GM feels it should work. In a later post or posts, I might go through the list of elixirs and describe how they might work in this setting, or at least what power each uses, though some are pretty obvious (Magic Resistance (p216) becomes Psionic Resistance, for example, and the ones that grant a Talent bonus are most likely based on ESP or Probability Alteration). I'm currently thinking that Hybridization, Lichdom, Reanimation (all on p217) and Resurrection (p218) should either be forbidden, or altered to better fit a psi-based system.


* Races, Creatures, and Mystics are another easy conversion: Any trait with the 'Magic, -10%' limitation, or that looks like it should have it, gets an appropriate Psi Power limitation. If there's an existing psi ability with a close-enough cost and capabilities, I suggest using that, unless the GM objects. Mystics retain their Pact limitation in addition to the psi power limitation. The 'Dependency (Mana)' disadvantage might need replacing, depending on how the GM handles replacing mana levels (see below; it might be simplest to say it's replaced by the Psi Power limitations that various abilites will now have). Likewise, what the Magery advantage might be replaced with, if anything, depends on how the 'wizard' niche is being filled. See also 'Psionic Monsters,' GURPS DF14 pp41-44 for things you might want to use or adapt.

Familiars translate to Catalyst Creatures, from Kenneth Peters's article 'The Edge of Psience,' in Pyramid Vol 3 #29, pp19-24 (though the section on creatures stops on page 22; I believe they were also mentioned in GURPS Psionics Second Edition). To very briefly summarize, they're almost literally familiars, just with psi abilities instead of magic, and the unusual ability to awaken latent psi abilities in those they bond with.

Some of the more fantastic creatures might work best as astral entities (spirits), able to project a 'body' into the physical world, assemble one out of existing material, or possess an existing creature or object. This works well for werecreatures and other shapeshifters, for example, though making Alternate Form or Morph a slow biokinetic ability, a projection, or a disguise combining photokinesis and psychokinesis (for tactile effects), might also work, as long as the mass remains the same. Dragons turning into humans likely work best as spirits or projections, though, as do demons in general.

I might do some conversions in another post, and maybe others will, as well.


To try to avoid hitting the character limit, my thoughts on converting magic items, mana levels, and wizards are in later posts.
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Old 05-15-2019, 07:38 AM   #2
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Default Re: [Banestorm] Yrth as a Psionic setting

The next conversion is a little more difficult, and has more options: Magic items & (some forms of) ceremonial magic. My first thought on this is to just adapt psychotronics (Psi-Tech pp11-31) - they're TL^, so being invented long before we would expect electronics to exist is quite reasonable (and there's also the Baghdad Battery, which may or may not have been a TL2 electrochemical cell). If the devices use something similar to electronic microcircuits, you might need psychokinesis to produce them (a Micro-PK Perk, allowing the use of psychokinesis on a very tiny scale; I gave one to Oliver de Bruyn, in my Katalysator-2 thread, though there it was used subconsciously to produce psi boosters, edit genes, and such), as making such a thing reasonably small with medieval or earlier technology would be extremely difficult, requiring very precise jewelers at best. Even with Micro-PK and possibly some form of ESP-based Microscopic Vision, it could also take quite some time to get right, due to needing to fix mistakes that would make it useless, on top of needing to make many such items very durable. One way to do it would be to grow crystals with the circuits psychokinetically worked into them, rather than manually working with thin boards, fine gold wire, and tiny beads of doped silica and psi-reactive crystal. Either way, this does allow the GM to decide how long it takes to make & how rare the base materials are, and thus how common and expensive such items need to be.

Some of the items are fairly easy to convert: Psychotronic Batteries (Psi-Tech pp14-15) take the place of Powerstones, for example, and wouldn't need too many changes. A lot of other magic items would be specific classes of Psychotronic Generators (Psi-Tech pp13-14). The design aesthetics and user-interfaces would need to be changed to fit the setting, of course, but mechanically, they slot in pretty well. For example, a sword with Accuracy +2 and Puissance +3 could have a pair of small crystals on or in the hilt which use Probablity Alteration to make you luckier on attack rolls, and either Psychokinesis, Biokinesis, or more Probablity Alteration to increase the damage you do.

What does all this have to do with ceremonial magic? While most multi-person ceremonies should probably translate to gestalts, a few of the big ones, most especially the one that created Yrth's recurring Banestorm problem, might make more sense as single-use psionic devices with multiple operators - in the case of the Banestorm ceremony, the creators appear to have kept most or all of their notes on-site, causing those to be destroyed when the whole thing went horribly right, and thus making it even harder to fix things.

If you don't want to use psychotronics, or don't want to only use them, there are other options. You might use Spirit Communication and social skills to convince astral entities with useful abilties to anchor themselves (or to anchor another such entity) to a physical object, forming temporary charms (GURPS Thaumatology, p139), or more permanent fetishes (Thaumatology p161 text box); you might also force them to do this, with Mental Surgery, some form of Affliction, et cetra. Another option is to Attune an object to a particular psi ability or abilites (or skill, or even a disadvantage) - the name comes from David L. Pulver's Eidetic Memory article 'Magic as Psi,' in Pyramid Vol 3 #29, pp16-18 (the issue also has a useful section on Psionic Artifacts from pp22-24, by Kenneth Peters). A selection of examples is below:

Attunement
A. Statistics: Modular Abilities (Cosmic Power; Afflictions of Permanent Psi Traits Only, -50%; Objects Only, -20%; Meta-Psi, -10%) [2/level]
or
B. Statistics: Modular Abilities (Slotted Cosmic Power; Afflictions of Psi Traits limited by number of uses instead of duration Only, -40%; Objects Only, -20%; Nuisance Effect (Traits must fit current astrological conditions), -5%; Meta-Psi, -10%) [2, +1 per level]
or
C. Statistics: Modular Abilities (Super-Memorization; Afflictions of Psi Traits with Gadget Limitations Only, -50%; Requires IQ Roll (Religious Ritual), -10%; Meta-Psi, -10%) [1, +1 per level]

('B' does not require the user to cast a horoscope, or even know how to (though the latter would be odd), as long as he can get someone else to do it. Alternatively, they might just try without it, and hope the stars are right. In case it needs to be said, as 'C' does not have the 'Physical' enhancement, it will not conjure up the gadet; just like the others, it requires the item that will become a Gadget to be present.)

Many other combinations are possible. It may seem cheap at first glance, but the +300% to make a truly permanent item is significant, as are the costs of the various abilities. Having multiple casters working together in a gestalt (Psionic Powers pp9-11) would often be necessary, as well taking significant limitations to the chosen Affliction (e. g. 'Immediate Preparation Required' and 'Trigger').

You may also want to read 'Psi-Related Gear' (chapter two of GURPS DF 14, pp23-27), although most of that is stuff that you buy or find, rather than make.

This also depends on who is filling the 'wizard' niche, which is discussed in another post.
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Old 05-15-2019, 07:42 AM   #3
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Default Re: [Banestorm] Yrth as a Psionic setting

One thing that GURPS Banestorm, and 3e GURPS Fantasy before it, does that most of the other fantasy settings I've seen for GURPS do not, is to make mana levels geopolitically important (as seen in the map on Banestorm p176). The border between Caithness and Meglos is defined by the line along which normal mana becomes low mana, and their border with al-Wazif is affected by it. Agartha (see the GURPS Banestorm supplement 'Banestorm: Abydos') is scary because the mana there is death-aspected, and the folk who live there use that to their advantage. The Ring Islands are interesting and dangerous specifically because of their mana levels, the Great Desert is feared in large part because of its utter lack of mana, and so on. Psi normally has no equivalent to this, though (which I think was a factor in my taking so long to even start working on this idea, despite having it years ago). Here are a few ideas on how to handle that:

The first is to simply declare that psi in this setting is affected by something like mana levels, perhaps Sanctity, or a new term like 'Resonance' or 'the Planetary Psi Field.' This psi field might sometimes be aspected to certain powers, subcategories of powers, or specific abilities or uses (e. g. 'psychokinetic manipulation of formerly-living objects'). It seems to me like a lazy option, but it does preserve the geopolitics of the setting as written.

A variant of the above is to have a form of 'anti-psionic radiation,' left over from the Banestorm summoning and/or ancient wars, that exists in parts of Ytarria. It's strong in the Great Desert, effectively neutralizing psi abilites with few or no exceptions (depending on whether you want to allow some psionic equivalent of Mana Enhancer to exist in-setting). The radiation is weaker in Caithness and the areas around it (as well as a few other spots on the continent), giving penalties around -5 to active use of psi skills, and is itself neutralized in a few parts of Caithness by certain meteors. This doesn't help explain the 'low mana at sea' issue, though, and requires some sort of 'pro-psi radiation' in the Ring Islands and other spots of high or very high mana. It also doesn't help explain the variable mana areas.

Perhaps the animals, plants, and other lifeforms in certain regions have meta-psionic abilities, as well as other psi powers, and or some parts of Ytarria might have an abundance of psi-reactive crystals. Large numbers of meta-psionic plants can account for even the variable-mana regions, though the Great Desert seems more like a good place for anti-psionic crystals. Common anti-psionic deep-sea life, or some from of plankton that rarely drifts toward shore (or something like that) explains the difficulty of using powers at sea. These natural resources would be of great interest to many, whether to collect and cultivate for use in elixirs and psychotronic devices, or to control the psychic population, or even to destroy for personal, religious, or political reasons. This version would somewhat alter the culture seen in the books, but would likewise be a useful source of story-hooks.

An interesting option, though one requiring a fair bit of work from the GM, is to just not have an equivalent to mana levels at all, instead coming up with non-psi-related reasons for all geopolitical and other concerns. Perhaps there is a wide and/or well-fortified river or canal on the border between Meglos and Caithness, for example, or the land, being close to the Great Desert, might be less fertile, so Meglos isn't as interested in controlling it. The Ring Islands having lots of exotic, non-psionic, but poisonous and/or venomous plants and animals is quite reasonable, and the Great Desert just being an unusually dry and hostile desert (like Death Valley, but larger) likewise works fairly well.

You might also combine a few of the above, such as the Great Desert being full of anti-psionic radiation, but the Ring Islands being home to a great diversity of interesting psionic and non-psionic life.
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Old 05-15-2019, 07:46 AM   #4
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Default Re: [Banestorm] Yrth as a Psionic setting

The question of how to fill the 'wizard' niche is fairly important, and the answer isn't necessarily obvious:

The simplest option conversion-wise is to use David L. Pulver's Eidetic Memory article 'Magic as Psi,' in Pyramid Vol 3 #29, pp16-18, which was mentioned in the OP. It's a good article and an interesting idea, but not that much of a change from the source material.

Another option, simple from the psionics side, is to declare that 'wizards' are those who specialize in using their psi abilities (especially the more versetile ones), or in having lots of psionic Alternate Abilities. See also the 'Old-Time Psi' text box on page 5 of GURPS Psionic Campaigns. You aren't limited to the standard powers from the Psionic Powers book, as long as the GM is willing to accept the power talent you come up with. A hypothetical 'Necrokinesis' power would be quite useful for a GURPS Banestorm: Abydos campaign - perhaps adapting the Death power from GURPS Powers p125 (and adding a few more abilities, like Telekinesis with the 'Animation' limitation from Powers p83 and a 'Corpses Only, -30%' limitation, or PK-Binding that requires the presence of dead bodies to hold the subject), and psi-based Elemental powers would fit the mentality of the setting, even if they would also mostly be specialized versions of PK, with a few related abilities added (e. g. Exoteleport fuel into fires). I might make some worked examples in later posts. This has the downside of being pretty expensive in comparison to the standard magic system, even with the Alternate Abilities rules, though. I've considered a couple of variants of this, which could work in combination:

- Wizards are Mystics with lots of alternate abilities, and the canon mage guilds are secular or semi-secular mystical organizations (and some of them are not secular at all), many of them with 'Pact: Ritualism, -5%.' This does mean working out more details than you otherwise might on each guild that's going to be important, and some that aren't, as well as helping with player-created guilds, but you might enjoy that. Creating Lazarine Mystics/wizards (see GURPS Banestorm: Abydos) could be interesting, for example.

- Take Sorcerous Empowerment, and replace the 'Magic, -10%' limitation (which it at least has in the Pyramid Vol 3 #63 article, I don't currently have GURPS Thaumatology: Sorcery) with 'Meta-Psi, -10%,' or perhaps with a specific 'regular' psi power (so, you have Psionic Sorcery (Telepathy), Psionic Sorcery (Biokinesis), and so forth). You could also adapt some of the Sorcery colleges to psi powers, but then you're getting pretty close to 'Yrth as a Sorcery setting,' which could be interesting, but is a different thread. Basing it off of another form of Modular Abilities can also work fairly well.

In any case, this is fine if you don't mind 'wizard' characters being some combination of 'low in power levels,' 'rather specialized,' and/or 'rather expensive' (and indeed, a 200- to 300-point Yrth game could work quite well), but there are other possibilities.


Another option is Spirit Communication. Spirits are canon for Yrth, so it's just a matter of calling them psi-based spirits (astral entities), rather than magical ones. From there, one relatively simple 'magic system' is to just use Spirit Communication and Influence rolls - along with Occultism or Spirit Lore (or another appropriate skill or skills) to work out what spirits to contact for what purpose, and perhaps 'Spirit Empathy (Astral Projection, -10%) [9]' to hopefully make them more agreeable - to get the spirits to do things for you. Spirit hirelings, as well as Allies and Patrons, are easily plausible (spirit Dependents are possible, but odd), and a wizard would generally be one who has a lot of them. Ghostdancer did a helpful chart for ally/familiar/dependent costs in his blog (scroll down a little), which I highly recommend. This does rather add to the GM's burden, though, as this system is very, very freeform. A couple of variants of this (one of them rather less freeform) are below:

One way to use spirit-magic is to adapt the existing Path/Book Magic system from GURPS Thaumatology (pp121-165). The Paths and Books could be described as spirit-focused social skills combined with specialized Spirit Lore/Occultism skills, while the rituals are contracts that usually work with those spirits. Magery 0 is replaced by whatever level of Spirit Communication you have, and the Magery talent is replaced by the appropriate Psi Talent (by RAW, Spirit Communication is an ESP ability, but I prefer to put it under Astral Projection or Telepathy). Path/Book Adept probably either is not available, or has an appropriate power limitation. The base skill could be Spirit Communication, with Ritual Magic (or an equivalent, like Symbol Drawing or Meditation) as a Complementary Skill, or the Spirit Communication Ability could be operated by the Ritual Magic skill (or, again, another appropriate skill).

Going another direction, you could use the method from the Spirit Magic as a psi ability thread: To summarize, you have so many spirit allies that they are mechanically represented by a Modular Abilities advantage (generally with a limitation like 'Only for Allies with Summonable and Minion, -50%,' 'Only for Allies with Summonable, -40%,' or a specific category of spirits, generally adding a further -10% (or worse if it's especially narrow or otherwise disadvantageous), and a few others, usually including a skill limitation). This may be because you contracted or made friends with them before the game starts, or during the game if the GM lets you gain the advantage in-play, or because a Patron or other such being helped you, or perhaps because you happen to be very good at generating thoughtforms at a useful power level (tulpa; see also GURPS Horror for 4e, p81). If the advantage is granted by a Patron, a Pact limitation may apply. Categories of spirits might include Demons (there are always literally-damned fools out there willing to sell their souls for power), Faeries (almost as dangerous as demons, though for mostly-different reasons), Ghosts (depending on the GM, this may be a fairly safe option, but not a greatly powerful one), Nature or Hearth spirits, or something more specific, like Animal totems, Plant guardians, or Elementals (e. g. Elemental Phantasms, from the Echo Type Ghost Template thread - itself pretty useful for this setting).


A different option is that wizards are those who have and use lots of psionic items and/or psi boosters. This may mean that they are fairly rich, that they have a patron who provides the equipment (e. g. wizards in military service), they they are a very skilled and daring thief, or that they are highly-skilled alchemists, herb-lorists, or attuner, or some combination thereof. I don't think I've seen something like this used in a game, but Robert Asprin used it in Myth Directions for Massha when she was introduced, before she became Skeeve's apprentice (which I think was in a later book); Asprin calls her a 'mechanic,' and that may be an appropriate term if this type of wizard is present along with one or more other types. Visually, this sort of wizard is likely to be fairly similar to a Path/Book Magician, in that when adventuring, both would be carrying lots of fiddlybits: jewelry, small bottles, weird-looking geegaws, and so one, many of which might still be single-use.


There are probably options I haven't thought of, but this seems like enough for now. As noted above, it's reasonably plausible that more than one type of wizard might coexist in the setting. It just depends on what sort of game you want to play.
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Old 05-15-2019, 09:32 PM   #5
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Default Re: [Banestorm] Yrth as a Psionic setting

In the DF game, I'm GMing I exchanged magic for psi, we are three sessions in already so I may be able to give some input considering what has happened in-game.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Prince Charon View Post
A note on terminology: I use the term 'Meta-Psi' a few times below, including as a power modifier ('Meta-Psi, -10%').
Considering PMs, I adapted them to fit DF1 Templates, so psi powers are not divided as per Psionic Powers but as Bard, Cleric, Druid, Holy Warriors, Martial Artist, and Mentalist. Each template has a list of abilities to choose, with a corresponding Talent. Psi categories exist similar to how DF14 treat them.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Prince Charon View Post
Of course, Pharmacy (Synthetic) normally doesn't exist at TL3, but TL^ settings aren't normal; alternatively, they could both be Pharmacy (Herbal)/TL3^ or Pharmacy (Psi)/TL3^.
I like this one; I'm slowing adjusting specific skills to suit better my DF setting. The idea is that psi has been around for some centuries, that is the reason I changed Hidden Knowledge (Psi) to Psilogy IQ/VH, similar to Thanatology.

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Originally Posted by Prince Charon View Post
The times to brew specific elixirs from the list in GURPS Magic might be reduced, but on the other hand, working with primitive equipment does require compromises.
Since this is a DF campaign, players can only buy elixirs and concoctions, so no input here.

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Originally Posted by Prince Charon View Post
Likewise, what the Magery advantage might be replaced with, if anything, depends on how the 'wizard' niche is being filled.
As I said, I'm using Talents (5cp/level) that are template specific. It meshes well with how DF works.
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Old 05-15-2019, 09:56 PM   #6
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Default Re: [Banestorm] Yrth as a Psionic setting

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Originally Posted by Prince Charon View Post
The next conversion is a little more difficult, and has more options: Magic items & (some forms of) ceremonial magic.

You may also want to read 'Psi-Related Gear' (chapter two of GURPS DF 14, pp23-27), although most of that is stuff that you buy or find, rather than make.
I'm not using magic items yet at my campaign. Players will have to discover the lost knowledge to create them so magic items can start to be created again.
I'm using Psi-Related Gear, but none has been found yet.

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Originally Posted by Prince Charon View Post
One thing that GURPS Banestorm, and 3e GURPS Fantasy before it, does that most of the other fantasy settings I've seen for GURPS do not, is to make mana levels geopolitically important (as seen in the map on Banestorm p176).
I'm not using Psi-Mana-Levels at the campaign but did you thought about using that "negative" psi energy? Can't remember the name or which book it is...
That could be used to explain that certain places have more of this energy and so hinder psi use, maybe with your explanation of crystals that produce it, akin to radiation and radioactive minerals. But for high and very high mana zones, I'm at a loss.
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Old 05-17-2019, 04:24 PM   #7
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Default Re: [Banestorm] Yrth as a Psionic setting

I'm glad there's interest in this concept.

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Originally Posted by binn05 View Post
I'm not using Psi-Mana-Levels at the campaign but did you thought about using that "negative" psi energy? Can't remember the name or which book it is...
The only reference to that that I can think of is the Anti-Psi power.

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Originally Posted by binn05 View Post
That could be used to explain that certain places have more of this energy and so hinder psi use, maybe with your explanation of crystals that produce it, akin to radiation and radioactive minerals. But for high and very high mana zones, I'm at a loss.
Yeah, I'm thinking of going the hybrid route on the small chance that I run a psi-based Yrth game. Naturally psi-reactive crystals can explain a lot, and are a valuable resource, besides.


On another note, I started working on this for another idea quite some time ago, but now I don't remember what that idea was. Distractible and Imaginative are more annoying quirks in real life than they are in a game.

I do think it's an interesting combination of 'specialized' and 'versatile,' though.

Lucky Witch Template:

Advantages
Coincidence (Nuisance Effect: Must speak or gesture, -5%) 1 [26]
^ Adjustment 5 (Alternative Ability of Coincidence; Nuisance Effect: Must speak or gesture, -5%) [5]
^ Curse 3 (AA of Coincidence; Nuisance Effect: Must speak and gesture, -10%) [5]
^ Second Chance 2 (AA of Coincidence; Nuisance Effect: Must speak and gesture, -10%) [5]
^ Weather Control 1 (AA of Coincidence; Nuisance Effect: Must speak and gesture, -10%) [4]

Protected Power (Probability Alteration) [5]

Subtotal: 50


Disadvantages
Trickster (12) [-15]
Weirdness Magnet (Probability Alteration, -10%) [-14]

Quirk: Prays to Saint Cajetan, patron of gamblers, when nervous. [-1]

Subtotal: -30


Skills
Adjustment [IQ/H] [4] IQ
Coincidence [IQ/H] [4] IQ
Curse [Will/H] [2] Will-1
Second Chance [IQ/H] [1] IQ-2
Weather Control [IQ/H] [1] IQ-2

Techniques
Delayed Effect (H) Curse-5 [2] Will-5
Evil Eye (H) Curse-4 [2] Will-4
Remove Curse (H) Curse-1 [2] Will-1
Transference (H) Second Chance-10 [4] IQ-9
Faster Onset (H) Weather Control-8 [2] IQ-9
Thunderbolt (H) Weather Control-7 [4] IQ-6
Unsupervised Change (H) Weather Control-10 [2] IQ-11

Subtotal: 30

Total: 50

Notes

The 'Evil Eye' technique allows the user to afflict a Curse at range, through eye contact. Thunderbolt works mechanically mostly like the EK version, but fluffwise, it works by making it very likely that the target will be hit by a bolt of lightning from the storm that the user is controlling.

I might create a character based on this. Maybe take a hint from the quirk, and make him or her a Mystic trained by a Megalan Order of Saint Cajetan (not the Theatines, who are a separate group, but might have a branch on Yrth). In that case, though, the abilities might be different (already planning to add Combat Sense to the character, but not as part of the set of Alternative Abilities). On the other hand, I might create them as a Nomad Lands pagan Mystic, or leave them a regular psychic.


Thoughts?
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Five Earths, All in a Row. Updated 12/17/2022: Apocrypha: Bridges out of Time, Part I has been posted.
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Old 05-17-2019, 06:30 PM   #8
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Default Re: [Banestorm] Yrth as a Psionic setting

I don't see the value of a pro-psi force in the Ring Islands. Just assume the anti-psi force is A) subtle on Earth propper, it prevents those with less than a certain amount of skill learning psi (which means skilled Psions can act on Earth) and B) the anti-psi force is unequally distributed on Yrth.

I might suggest that Yrth's moon causes the anti-psi force to wane when Yrth's moon is brighter. And that each orbit of Yrth's moon around Yrth slightly weakens the force. This would cover the slow reduction of the No Manna area in the Banestorm book.

By the way, don't have the slow weakening actually be connected to the moonlight. Correlation isn't causation after all. But let the PCs think it might be. It's a fun red herring.
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Old 05-17-2019, 07:01 PM   #9
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Default Re: [Banestorm] Yrth as a Psionic setting

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I'm glad there's interest in this concept.

The only reference to that that I can think of is the Anti-Psi power.

Yeah, I'm thinking of going the hybrid route on the small chance that I run a psi-based Yrth game. Naturally psi-reactive crystals can explain a lot, and are a valuable resource, besides.

Found it! Rá! I'm absent-minded, but still not crazy!!! Do you hear that, voices inside my head????

I was thinking about Torsionic Radiation. Pyramid #3.29, p23.
It is about a psi radiation that causes "psychic pollution that causes emotional distress in sapient creatures, kill plants, and destabilizes the weather."...

It could be speculated that harnessing this energy through active psi abilities cause damage to living beings, but raw and disperse energy only hinders psi abilities. The text also says, "Limited exposure is harmless, quickly dissipating into the environment or negated by harmonious energies produced by natural crystals, running water, and sunlight."

Natural crystals match your idea of psi-crystal scattered through the environment giving "high mana" levels to some places.

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I do think it's an interesting combination of 'specialized' and 'versatile,' though.
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Skills
Adjustment [IQ/H] [4] IQ
Coincidence [IQ/H] [4] IQ
Curse [Will/H] [2] Will-1
Second Chance [IQ/H] [1] IQ-2
Weather Control [IQ/H] [1] IQ-2

Techniques
Delayed Effect (H) Curse-5 [2] Will-5
Evil Eye (H) Curse-4 [2] Will-4
Remove Curse (H) Curse-1 [2] Will-1
Transference (H) Second Chance-10 [4] IQ-9
Faster Onset (H) Weather Control-8 [2] IQ-9
Thunderbolt (H) Weather Control-7 [4] IQ-6
Unsupervised Change (H) Weather Control-10 [2] IQ-11
Did you think about using Wildcard skills?
Since I'm not using specific Power Talents (Telepathy Talent, TK Talent, etc.), but using Template Talents (Psi Talent, Sanctity, Chi Talent, etc.), each template has a list of specific psi abilities that they can buy. So, I'm using wildcard skills like Anti-psi, Telekinesis, and Thermokinesis).
But this is DF, not Fantasy. It is working nicely for us, though.
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Old 05-17-2019, 07:03 PM   #10
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Default Re: [Banestorm] Yrth as a Psionic setting

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By the way, don't have the slow weakening actually be connected to the moonlight. Correlation isn't causation after all. But let the PCs think it might be. It's a fun red herring.
You sly evil genius, hahaha
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