Making Psi (ESP) abilities fun for everyone

Tenrath · 12-09-2017, 05:33 PM

Hi all,

My friend is starting up a campaign based around the Dark Sun setting which means a heavy reliance on Psionics. The party has a TK user and a telepath/mind controller so I don't want to step in their toes. Healing is also not allowed, the campaign is intended to be gritty.

Now this didn't leave me with too many choices so I picked ESP. Many of the abilities seem to spoil GM surprises which I don't want to do. Surprises are fun for us players as well as the GM. So far my build has combat sense, detect, and an ESP variant of luck. Are there any other RAW abilities or even custom powers that you all can think of to help my character be useful both in and out of combat?

A neat feature in this build was that my character is blind but has 360 degree Extra-sensory awareness out to 20 yards. Something that plays on this would be neat too.

This is a 100 point start, I know it's not much. So limitations are my friend. She uses a staff (blind woman should get way with carrying it anywhere) and has a good number of non-combat skills (which is a GM mandated build requirement).

Let me know if any other info would be helpful.

Kelly Pedersen · 12-09-2017, 05:50 PM

Well, first thing I'd say is not to worry too much about the future-seeing abilities "spoiling GM surprises". Most of them are pretty strictly limited in what they show - Prognostication, for example, only gives you a quick vision, which the GM defines. The GM doesn't have to give away too much in such a vision, and there's always the old trick of fiction involving prophecy, of having the events in the vision only happen because you take action to try to stop them.

That said, if you're looking for good ESP abilities that are a) cheap, and b) give the GM maximum flexibility to avoid spilling secrets, I'd strongly recommend the various Visions abilities (Psionic Powers p. 39), including the Visions (Aspected Dream) perk (Psionic Powers p. 42).

For your "360 degree extra-sensory awareness" thing, I'm afraid you may not be able to buy that on your current budget - it's going to be pretty expensive. I estimate you're probably looking at a point cost around 70-80, and that's without assuming it can penetrate solid objects as well.

Culture20 · 12-09-2017, 06:20 PM

Psychometry with series limitations can be useful for parties and thwarted by GMs when they have a mystery they don’t want auto-solved.

Tenrath · 12-09-2017, 06:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kelly Pedersen

Well, first thing I'd say is not to worry too much about the....
That said, if you're looking for good ESP abilities that are a) cheap, and b) give the GM maximum flexibility to avoid spilling secrets, I'd strongly recommend the various Visions abilities (Psionic Powers p. 39), including the Visions (Aspected Dream) perk (Psionic Powers p. 42).

For your "360 degree extra-sensory awareness" thing, I'm afraid you may not be able to buy that on your current budget - it's going to be pretty expensive. I estimate you're probably looking at a point cost around 70-80, and that's without assuming it can penetrate solid objects as well.

Thank you for the advice! I'll really hope my GM is cool with giving some kinda-spoilers so I'll talk to him a bit. With respect to the ESA it only worked out to 45 points (ESA 20 pts, +125% for 360 degree as per scanning sense) did I miss something?

Tenrath · 12-09-2017, 06:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Culture20

Psychometry with series limitations can be useful for parties and thwarted by GMs when they have a mystery they don’t want auto-solved.

Those are good ideas, he shouldn't have too much trouble with seeing the past. Future sight could be un-fun but history seems helpful and could be a fun ability for everyone.

scc · 12-09-2017, 06:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tenrath

A neat feature in this build was that my character is blind but has 360 degree Extra-sensory awareness out to 20 yards. Something that plays on this would be neat too.

This would be Scanning Sense (Field Sense) from Supers28, costs 10 points.

Tenrath · 12-09-2017, 06:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by scc

This would be Scanning Sense (Field Sense) from Supers28, costs 10 points.

Hmm, I don't have supers yet, but I'll check it out!

Kelly Pedersen · 12-09-2017, 06:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tenrath

With respect to the ESA it only worked out to 45 points (ESA 20 pts, +125% for 360 degree as per scanning sense) did I miss something?

Ah, sorry! I forgot about Extra-Sensory Awareness, so I was basing my estimate on Para-Radar. You're right, using ESA is much more cost-effective.

Tenrath · 12-09-2017, 07:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kelly Pedersen

Ah, sorry! I forgot about Extra-Sensory Awareness, so I was basing my estimate on Para-Radar. You're right, using ESA is much more cost-effective.

No worries! I was super pleased that it was in there because it is so cost effective. My GM was cool with letting me combo the -50 for blindness and the +45 for 360-ESA into a -5 point disadvantage. I do want to keep it as a disadvantage so I'm keeping the range at 20 yards (extra range is way too cheap for this ability).

AlexanderHowl · 12-09-2017, 07:21 PM

Well, 100 points is rather low for a psychic campaign, so I doubt you will end up stepping on anyone's toes. If you have Powers, there are plenty of psychic powers not related to the ones in Characters, so you might want to look at them as well. I like Body Control and Probability Control myself, though an interesting alternative to ESP would be Sound/Vibration, which gives you Scanning Sense (Sonar) and Vibration Sense.

12-09-2017, 05:33 PM	#1
Tenrath Join Date: Dec 2017 Location: Boulder, CO, USA	Making Psi (ESP) abilities fun for everyone Hi all, My friend is starting up a campaign based around the Dark Sun setting which means a heavy reliance on Psionics. The party has a TK user and a telepath/mind controller so I don't want to step in their toes. Healing is also not allowed, the campaign is intended to be gritty. Now this didn't leave me with too many choices so I picked ESP. Many of the abilities seem to spoil GM surprises which I don't want to do. Surprises are fun for us players as well as the GM. So far my build has combat sense, detect, and an ESP variant of luck. Are there any other RAW abilities or even custom powers that you all can think of to help my character be useful both in and out of combat? A neat feature in this build was that my character is blind but has 360 degree Extra-sensory awareness out to 20 yards. Something that plays on this would be neat too. This is a 100 point start, I know it's not much. So limitations are my friend. She uses a staff (blind woman should get way with carrying it anywhere) and has a good number of non-combat skills (which is a GM mandated build requirement). Let me know if any other info would be helpful.

12-09-2017, 05:50 PM	#2
Kelly Pedersen Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Saskatoon, SK, Canada	Re: Making Psi (ESP) abilities fun for everyone Well, first thing I'd say is not to worry too much about the future-seeing abilities "spoiling GM surprises". Most of them are pretty strictly limited in what they show - Prognostication, for example, only gives you a quick vision, which the GM defines. The GM doesn't have to give away too much in such a vision, and there's always the old trick of fiction involving prophecy, of having the events in the vision only happen because you take action to try to stop them. That said, if you're looking for good ESP abilities that are a) cheap, and b) give the GM maximum flexibility to avoid spilling secrets, I'd strongly recommend the various Visions abilities (Psionic Powers p. 39), including the Visions (Aspected Dream) perk (Psionic Powers p. 42). For your "360 degree extra-sensory awareness" thing, I'm afraid you may not be able to buy that on your current budget - it's going to be pretty expensive. I estimate you're probably looking at a point cost around 70-80, and that's without assuming it can penetrate solid objects as well.

12-09-2017, 06:20 PM	#3
Culture20 Join Date: Feb 2014	Re: Making Psi (ESP) abilities fun for everyone Psychometry with series limitations can be useful for parties and thwarted by GMs when they have a mystery they don’t want auto-solved.

12-09-2017, 07:21 PM	#10
AlexanderHowl Join Date: Feb 2016	Re: Making Psi (ESP) abilities fun for everyone Well, 100 points is rather low for a psychic campaign, so I doubt you will end up stepping on anyone's toes. If you have Powers, there are plenty of psychic powers not related to the ones in Characters, so you might want to look at them as well. I like Body Control and Probability Control myself, though an interesting alternative to ESP would be Sound/Vibration, which gives you Scanning Sense (Sonar) and Vibration Sense.