Orichalcum Universe: New Psionic/Psychic/Supernatural Phenomena and Skills...

[Johnny1A.2]

This started to overspill the 'Basics' thread, so I decided to put them in a thread to themselves.

For more about the Orichalcum Universe, see:
http://forums.sjgames.com/showthread.php?t=70111
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NEW PSIONIC SKILL: PK BLAST

Prerequisite Power(s): Psychokinesis 2+, ESP 1+
Prerequisite skills: Telekinesis at 15+

This skill utilizes Psychokinetic Power to produce what amounts to an
explosion, a rapid energy release. This can be more effective than
one might suspect, even at modest levels of Power, because the damage
of an explosion depends in part on the rate of energy release, not
simply on the amount of energy involved.

Psychokinesis provides the energy, ESP is necessary to properly guide
and target the energy (though this is instinctive if the ESP is present, so
no ESP skills are required to use PK Blast.)

A psion who uses the PK Blast skill must spend two Fatigue points in
preparation and a third FP in actually using it, the skill thus takes
two turns to use, one turn of concentration, then the turn of use in
which the effect is instantaneous. At PK Blast skill 15+ the effect
can come in the same turn as the concentration.

The psion must roll vs. PK Blast skill, on a success any chosen point within
the range of the psion's PK becomes the point of origin of a rapid
release of telekinetic energy, i.e. an explosion. The explosion does
(1D6) damage at Psychokinesis Power 2, doubling with every two
levels of increased Psychokinesis Power afterward, up until about PK
Power 20, at which point it levels off (at higher Power levels, PK Blast
becomes inefficient). The explosion does this damage to everything within
its hex, rounding up (minimum damage 1). (It can't be used the same hex
as the psion, because the psion's own psychic energy field will cancel
itself out). On a critical success double the effective damage.
Extra effort doubles explosive damage, with the usual skill penalties
and FP cost.

Note that the explosion can not harm the psion directly, that is,
the energy itself can not harm him/her, it will be reabsorbed by the
psychic field of the psion (which is why it won't work in the same hex
as the psion anyway). But secondary and indirect effects are quite
another matter, shrapnel will still have its normal effects if it hits the
psion, a surge of thermal energy and/or vibration in a room full of liquid
nitroglycerin is still likely a bad idea, etc.

The formula is: [(1d6) * ((2 ^ (Power/2))] concussive damage.

If the psion fails the PK Blast skill roll, the Fatigue points are
lost, and the energy dissipates harmlessly, possibly with a bit of
random poltergeist-like telekinetic activity for a round or two. On a
critical failure, the blast happens but in the wrong place (meaning
anywhere at GM’s discretion within the psion’s PK range (other than his
or her own hex)).

A psion with high Blast skill can try to bring about the explosion
with refined targeting (not just down to the hex), but at a penalty to
the skill roll. For example, a psion might try to create an explosion
inside a locking mechanism or inside a mechanism of some kind, but at
-2 or -4 on the skill roll. [1]

If the psion also has Pyrokinesis at skill 15+, s/he can at will add
an exothermic component to the Blast, that is, the explosion will be
fire-hot as well as concussive. Again, since the energy is expended
in a fraction of a second, even a modest level of Power can produce
very high temperatures, albeit momentarily. For every two levels of
power, a psion with Pyrokinesis can do an additional [(1d6) * ((2 ^ (Power/2))]
heat damage.

Addendum: A psion does not, of course, have to use his or her
full power against the target when using PK Blast, s/he can deliberately try
for a smaller explosion. Any time the psion tries to produce a blast of less
than one half of his/her full potential, s/he gets a +2 on the skill roll as well.
At the discretion of the GM, one might give an additional bonus if the damage
is less than one fourth of the maximum possible.

Addendum 2: The effect of a PK Blast appears within the target hex,
so normally armor does not protect if the blast is manifested inside the area
protected by the armor. Exceptions include forms of armor or other shielding
that would block the effect of Psychokinesis. [1]

[1] A PK blast cannot be produced inside a living creature, it
does not work. The effect of the attempt is the same as a normal
failure on the skill roll.

[Johnny1A.2]

SPECIAL PSIONIC SKILL: PRESERVATION

Basic Power: Psychobioetics/Biopsionics
Prerequisite skills: Healing, Metabolism Control, Life Extension all
at 15+

This is an ability that requires both high Power and high levels of
skill, it's very dangerous and also quite potent in its way. It is usually
used as a self-only skill, although it can be used on others, at a
very high penalty to skill and much higher Power requirement.

Like Metabolism Control, Preservation enables the body to operate with
greatly reduced requirements of food, water, and air, in fact, it
permits the body to survive essentially indefinitely without any of
the above (within certain limits and with certain caveats).

In order to use Preservation under ideal conditions, the psion must
succeed in a roll vs. (Preservation skill + Power), at -10. If the roll
fails, nothing happens, and the psion can not try again for a week, on
a critical failure the psion must wait at least 30 days to try again.

If this roll succeeds, the psion slips into a catatonic state that is
far deeper than the trance-state of a user of Metabolism Control. In
fact, to most superficial observations a psion in a Preserved state
appears to be quite dead. No pulse, no motion, the heart stops
beating, respiration essentially ceases, hair and nail growth cease,
body temperature drops to environmental temperature, the body is
unresponsive to most stimuli.

However, the body is not dead. Decay does not occur, and the
process is fully reversible. In a Preserved state, a psion for
practical purposes needs no food, no water, and no air, and is immune
to harm from any temperature from the freezing point of water up to
about 150 degrees Fahrenheit, and can remain in this state almost
indefinitely. The key word is almost.

If the psion is exposed to harsher conditions while in a Preserved
state, s/he rolls vs. (Power + Preservation) skill again (or the GM does
as the case may be), with a penalty depending on the nature of the
conditions. If the roll succeeds the psion takes no damage from the
harsh conditions (within reason). On a failed roll there is lasting
damage of some sort appropriate to the situation, on a critical
failure the psion dies.

(The GM must apply common sense, if the psion is shoved into a pit of
magma, dropped off the top of the Empire State Building, or hacked to
pieces, obviously there's no need to even attempt a roll.)

Recommended penalties to the roll:

Immersed in warm water long term - 3
Immersed in ice cold water long term - 2
Temperatures up to 200 degrees F - 6
Prolonged temps below freezing - 2
Pressure up to 10 atmospheres - 1
Pressure up to 20 atmospheres - 4

Etc.

The psion will not awaken until conditions are appropriate to permit
survival, and whatever trigger conditions the psion set are met. A
psion can set a time, and will awaken within 10% of the total length
of the set time, unless conditions are unsuitable.

(For ex, even if the 'alarm clock' rings, the psion won't emerge from
the catatonic state if he's frozen solid in a block of ice. He'll
awaken if he's removed, though, and the time/conditions are met.)

For every 10 years that the psion remains in the Preservation
trance, s/he must roll vs. Power + Preservation skill, losing a point
of HT on failure. On a critical failure 2 points of HT are lost. After
100 years, the rolls continue every ten years, but at -1, in the third
century at -2, and so on. When HT reaches 1, the psion rolls vs.
Preservation skill for a chance to awaken, at HT 0 the psion dies.
On any critical success on the roll, the psion actually regains a HT
point (in theory successive critical successes could bring HT back up
to the level s/he had at the start, but odds are bad...).

Note that this means that the higher the HT of a psion when s/he
enters the Preservation state, the better!!! Entering a Preservated
state with low HT can be very dangerous.

When a psion emerges from the Preservation state, s/he will have no
Fatigue points, and will be disoriented and confused for 2D6 hours, or
longer depending on circumstances. It's likely to be days or weeks
before s/he is fully back to normal, even under good conditions. The
longer the trance, the harder it is to regain one's waking ‘footing’.
He or she will remember nothing of the time in the Preserved state,
it is a state of absolute unconsciousness, even the subconscious is
shut down. Psionic powers will be unreliable for a while as well, all
Powers will be at Power 1 for several days (all the psychic energy
having been depleted keeping the character alive at the edge of
death), and then gradually return to normal.

(All Powers will increase by one level with the passage of every 1d days.)

A psion in a sudden extreme emergency can try to use Preservation as
well, without preparation, but the roll is at -15 instead of -10.

Certain drugs and technological assistance can improve the odds of a
psion trying to use Preservation, and simple precautions can greatly
increase the chance of survival (common sense must be the guideline).

A Preserved character is almost invisible to Telepathy, since his/her
mind is shut down. ESP can determine the difference between a
corpse and a Preserved character, as can a detailed medical
examination at TL7+ (3e TL scale).

It is possible for another psion, possessing Biopsionic Power and the
Preservation skill, to attempt to 'break' the trance by force. This is
extremely dangerous, requiring that the intervening psion make
a successful roll vs. (Preservation Skill + Biopsionic Power - 15). On
a success, the Preserved person must then roll vs. HT..

On a success the Preserved person 'awakens', with triple the penalties
and time costs of a normal awakening to regain normal state. On a
critical success on the HT roll, the normal penalties listed above apply.
On a critical success by the intervening psion, the awakening sleeper
gets a +5 on his/her subsequent HT roll.

Should the intervening psion’s roll fail, the sleeper must roll vs. HT
and will die on any failure. Should the intervening psion hit
a critical failure, the sleeper must roll a critical success on the HT
roll to survive.

At high tech levels, ‘conventional’ means may be attempted to break
the trance, the possibilities here are too diverse for a general discussion,
and must be dealt with case-by-case.

(NOTE: The very nature of this skill involves a lot of variables, a
GM has to simply apply a lot of common sense to the details.)

[D10]

very nice,

im missing metashield =)

[Johnny1A.2]

METASHIELD

Prerequisite Power(s): Psychokinesis (2), ESP (1)
Prerequisite Skill(s): Telekinesis-10

Meta-shield (M/VH): This skill enables the psion to surround himself
with a personal barrier of Psychokinetic force, providing protection against
both physical and energy-based attacks. Power 2 provides 1 DR against
most forms of attack, Power 4 gives DR 2, Power 6 DR 4, and so on, DR
doubles with every two levels of PK power, rounding down. DR can be
doubled using Extra Effort for a short time.*

At least one level of ESP is necessary for the psion to instinctively use
the metashield in any valuable way, but no specific ESP skills are necessary
to use metashield.

In normal humans, use of the metashield skill costs a Fatigue point each
time it is initiated, and another Fatigue point for each minute of use.

Skill level affects how the metashield interacts with the universe.

Skill Levels:

1-3 Shield is strictly on-off, blocks everything including air flow
and visible light, character only has the air inside the shield to
breathe and can neither see nor hear anything outside. Others see
character as a humanoid-shaped zone of flowing mirror-reflectivity.
Note that ESP based senses can still operate through this barrier,
at -1 to skill.

Addendum: Note that the metashield can not be maintained indefinitely
at this skill level because the shield in this state reflects everything inward
as well, meaning that the character will rapidly begin to suffer the effects
of trapped heat from his/her body and equipment. The greater the sources
of heat, the more quickly it will become an issue.

4-6 Psion can choose to enable air to pass while blocking liquid and
solids, or close off gas permeability, can choose whether to let light
pass or not. Note that this does not enable the character to pass
desirable gases while screening out unwanted gases, at this skill level
s/he can not shut out toxins while admitting oxygen, for example.

7-8 Psion can choose to optimize shield against either energy-based
attacks or projectiles/blows, doubling DR against the chosen threat
and halving it against the other category.

9-10 Psion is able to 'snap' shield up in a single turn without concentration.

11-12 Psion can expand shield to protect larger areas. If the psion increases the shield as a simple sphere, each doubling of hexes reduces DR by 1/4. That is, if the psion expands out to an extra hex in all directions (including above and below), the DR drops to 1/4 of the normal level. But this will usually collapse the shield, because it will encounter the ground below and try to repel it.

Instead, a psion can choose to expand the shield 'laterally', keeping it vertically no larger, in which case subtract '1' from DR for each hex protected.

13-14 If psion has at least ESP Power 2, s/he can pick and choose which
gases and liquids and solids are blocked, i.e. allow oxygen in but block
poison gases or liquid toxins, though this requires 1 Fatigue per 5 turns
of doing so.

15-16 Shield can be tuned to permit visible light to pass while blocking
higher and lower frequencies (or to admit only certain colors of visible
light, if this should be desirable.)

17-18 Shield can be tuned to permit ordinary light to pass but reflect/
disrupt coherent light, or can be made totally reflective of light
(character appears to a humanoid-shaped moving mirror, lasers reflect
in accordance with angle of incidence)

19-20 Shield can be maintained indefinitely, even while asleep, as long
as the necessary personal energy is available.

Note that all other PK powers work at -1 to Power and -2 to skill
through a metashield, unless the psion has a metashield skill at 16 or
better.

Also note that contact with fairly pure orichalcum can be disruptive to a
metashield at skill levels below 10.

* Certain special cases exist in how this ability operates.

[Johnny1A.2]

PSYCHONULLS

In my universe, every human being (and our fellow species of genus
Homo) are either psions or (at least in theory) potential psions.
However, there are various limiting factors that prevent most humans,
in most settings, from using their psionic potentials. [1]

There are, however, some special case situations, and one of them is what
the Espercorps branch of the Federal Patrol calls a ‘psychonull’.

These are not unique to their time, they’ve existed in every setting of my
universe where human beings (and our cousins) have existed, though by
many other names. The ancient Atlanteans certainly knew of them, though
they were actually relatively rare during that age and place, in part because
it was seen as much as a disorder or a liability as an advantage. Still,
whether a psychonull is to be pitied or envied is in part a question of
point of view. It can be an advantage or a liability or both.

Every normal human has Antipsi Power, and in most Homosentients in
most settings Antipsi is in fact their strongest single Power. Furthermore,
this Power is specifically ‘tuned’ to cancel out the other psionic powers
that a given Homosapient might otherwise display. Thus most people
nullify their own psychic potential by default. [2][3]

The conditions necessary for a given person to display their psychic
potential vary, but usually involve the right heredity and either the proper
training or the proper confluence of random chance, but it can
happen. On the other hand, some people, for various reasons, develop
something different: their Antipsi grows and absorbs their other potential
Powers, making them permanently unavailable, and the Antipsi in so
doing grows in strength and takes on additional properties.

A psychonull tends to have a potent Power, because he or she draws on
the potential that would otherwise have been spread across six different
Powers to drive a single set of abilities.

The precise effects vary from Power to Power.

ESP: A psychonull subtracts twice his or her Power from any effort
by any psion to use ESP to remote view, observe, or otherwise interact
with the psychonull, including precognition and retrocognition. Range
between the psychonull and the ESPer is irrelevant, the power of the
psychonull is shielding him or her from observation rather than
directly interfering in the powers of the ESPer. (Note that this protects
ONLY the psychonull, not those around him or her, or those s/he wishes
to protect. Psychonullification is not consciously controlled or shareable.)

If an esper comes within the personal range of the psychonull, he or she
takes another double-Power hit to both personal Power and skill.

PSYCHOBIOETICS: The presence of a psychonull within the range (use
Telepathy Range Table) of the psion trying to use this ability interferes
with all uses of this Power at three times the normal interference
level of Antipsi. If there is physical contact between the psychonull and
the psion, the effect is six times greater than baseline Antipsi.

Also, Psychobioetic skills can not be used on a psychonull at all, for good
or bad results. They are totally immune to both beneficial skills like
healing and life extension, and harmful skills like infliction.

PSYCHOKINESIS: A psychonull in range subtracts twice his or her Power
from any effort by another psion to use Psychokinesis, and
subtracts his or her Power from all skill rolls with Psychokinetic skills used
by any psion within his or her own range.

Further, attempts by other psions to use Psychokinesis on a psychonull,
regardless of range, must subtract the twice Power of the psychonull
from the other psion’s Power and the Power of the psychonull from the skill roll.

TELEPATHY: If the psychonull is within his or her own range of the
telepath, then all uses of Telepathy by that psion subtract twice the
Power of the psychonull from the Telepathy Power of the psion, and the
Power of the psychonull from all Telepathy skill rolls.

All attempts to use Telepathy on a psychonull, regardless of range,
must subtract the Power of the psychonull from both Power and skill.

TELEPORTATION: If the psychonull is within his or her own range of
the teleporting psion, then the teleporting psion loses four times
the power of the psychonull from Power and also loses two times the
Power of the psychonull from skill rolls with Teleportation. [4]

All attempts to teleport a psychonull suffer from a ten times loss
to Power and skill, regardless of range.

MORE LATER (including examples).


[1]Using my modified GURPS 3s psi system.

[2] In my modified psi system, you _can_ have Antipsi as well as the
other Powers.

[3] The reasons for this self-nullification have been described
elsewhere, and involve our evolutionary history in the early
emergence of our genus.

[4] Teleportation, like Psychobioetics, is especially vulnerable to
the power of a psychonull.

[D10]

Im guessing Bismark is a psychonull ...


PS: Does metashield replaces PKshield ?

[Johnny1A.2]

Originally Posted by D10

Im guessing Bismark is a psychonull ...


PS: Does metashield replaces PKshield ?

No, it's just a more advanced and potent skill. PK shield works by grabbing the air and holding it in place, metashield is much more potent...but in my world, far harder to learn becasuse so few people know it to be able to teach it. The vast majority of psions who have the necessary power to use it would never find anyone to teach it to them, or the instructional materials to teach themselves (which is always a second-best way to learn a psi-skill anyway). Even in Atlantis, it was a skill most people didn't know, though the existence of it was widely known (kind of like electrical engineering or high-level combat skills are in our world).

For a modern-day Earth psion to know it would probably call for an Unusual Background penalty.

[D10]

i see, how do you see the average psi powers on humans ?

do most people have a range from 0 to 1 with no knowledge of it ?

are people with power 1-3 relatively common (on the large scale?)


How many people would be able to hit power lvls 6-10 on average (assuming they train alone or with people with less power than them)

[Johnny1A.2]

Originally Posted by D10

i see, how do you see the average psi powers on humans ?

do most people have a range from 0 to 1 with no knowledge of it ?

are people with power 1-3 relatively common (on the large scale?)


How many people would be able to hit power lvls 6-10 on average (assuming they train alone or with people with less power than them)

That's a good place to lead into the following post:
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PSIONIC METRICS

In the late 21C, the standard set of 'casual' metrics used to assess and compare
the abilities of individual psions and categories of psions is the one established
by the United States Federal Patrol's Special Abilities Corps, more commonly
referred to as the Patrol Espercorps. The metric is commonly if unofficially
used even by the other Alpha Coalition States, as well as the Empire and various
non-aligned states and private groups.

The first set of metrics divides Homosapients (including such special cases as the
Avatars) into five broad categories. It is not impossible for a being to move
from one to another (except Class Omega).

Class Alpha - Homosapients with no active or latent psionic Power, other than
Antipsi which cancels out all other abilities. (Normal Homosapients, in essence.)

Class Beta - Homosapients lacking any active or latent psionic Power, but
lacking the self-nullifying Antipsi faculty, making them untrained potential
psions. (A relatively small category.)

Class Gamma - Homosapients with latent psionic Power, needing only appropriate
training to realize these abilities as active talents.

Class Delta - Homosapients whose psi faculty has taken or been guided into an
‘unusual’ form, beings such as psychonulls and other special cases.

Class Omega - Avatars and ‘race-specific’ psions such as Homo darvi.[1]

Class Alpha and Class Beta are not subdivided. Class Gamma, on the other hand,
is extensively subdivided into several categories and classifications.

Additionally, the Patrol divides the strength of psionic Power into ‘ranges’
for convenience. These classifications are, in GURPS 3e terms:

First Range:
Power 1 through 10 for most purposes. The vast majority of Homosapients with
active psionic Power fall into this Range, with innate limitations preventing the
development of Power beyond it. [2]

Second Range:
Power 11 through Power 15. This is the Range held by very exceptionally
powerful ‘normal’ psions. Few individuals have even one Power with a
theoretical ceiling in this Range, and even fewer more than one. [3]

Third Range:
Power 16 through Power 20. This is the range where most of the ‘ceilings’ of a
typical H. sapiens atlanticus or H. darvi will be found, as well as the very rarest
of normal psions. [4]

Fourth Range:
Power 21+. Generally speaking, these Power levels are beyond the reach of most
mortals under any circumstances, this is where we find creatures like the Avatars,
who often have Power levels of 25 or more.


[1] More about Homo darvi at a later date.

[2] For most psions, roll (1d+4) for each Power, this is the limit that character can achieve.

[3] For exceptional psions, permit one power with a theoretical ceiling in this Range. A character with more than one Power that could potentially reach into this Range would be one in multiple millions.

[4] A ‘normal’ human with one or more Powers topping out in the in the Third Range should definitely have an Unusual Background cost and an explanation.

[Johnny1A.2]

Psionic Metrics (continued)...

Okay, translating the Patrol's shorthand into practical modified GURPS
3e terms:

To begin with, on post-Atlantis OU Earth, about 1 human in 250 displays
occasional, unrecognized and unintentional psi activity. They don’t count
as ‘psions’ and usually don’t even know they’re doing it, the effects tend
to be subtle.

About 1 in 1000 people have an active psi Power they could use if they knew
they had it and were trained in it. This is the population of ‘psions’.

(Note that Earth is unusual because of Atlantis and its genetic heritage, on
most human and near-human inhabited worlds, the percentages are about 1/5
what they are on modern Earth).

Almost all 'normal humans' (and near-humans) who display psionic powers
are in the First Range, meaning Power levels from 1 to 10. This is ‘normal
human power level’. For gaming purposes, most characters with active psi
abilities should roll (1d+4) for each Power, the result is the highest level of
Power that character can achieve in that ability. (Using the six abilities
of my modified system). This will produce ceilings of Power 10 at most, and
only a small fraction of characters will have Power 10 ceilings for everything.
Also, just because a PC has a high ceiling does not mean he or she will ever
actually reach that high, just that this is as high as he/she can go.

(Note that this is Power, not skill. The only limit on how high a psion
can take his/her skills is how many points s/he is able/willing to spend and the
GM fiat. Note also that PCs don’t have to have that ceiling, with GM
permission they could be among the tiny fraction who can go higher. Unusual
background costs might or might not be reasonable for them, depending.)

A good comparison here is physical athletic abilities. A person may have the
potential to run the mile in four minutes, but that does not mean he or she will
put out the effort and practice to ever achieve that, it only means that he or she
could potentially do so. Others might simply not have the innate physical
ability to run that fast, no matter how hard they work. The same sort of thing
is true of psionic Power.

Now, a very few psions have a ceiling on a Power that takes them into what
the Patrol calls the Second Range, with at least one Power having a ceiling in
the 11-15 range. About one psion in 10,000 has a ceiling on at least one
Power in that range. Since all psionic Power derives from the same underlying
strengths, such a psion is likely to have ceilings on his/her other Powers on
the high end of normal (6-10) and may have more than one Power in the
Second Range.

Powers in the Second Range (for ‘normal human and near human psions) in the
OU post-Atlantis Earth setting:

1 Power with a ceiling of 11-15: 1 in 10,000
2 Powers with a ceiling of 11-15: 1 in 25,000
3 Powers with a ceiling of 11-15: 1 in 100,000
4 Powers with a ceiling of 11-15: 1 in 500,000
5 Powers with a ceiling of 11-15: 1 in 750,000
6 Powers with a ceiling of 11-15: 1 in 1,000,000

Note that this is of the population of active psions, not the general
population!!!

Now, a tiny, tiny handful of normal-mortal psions have a Power in the
Third Range, 16-20. How rare is this? About one in a million psions has
one Powers with a ceiling in that range. No guarantee s/he will
ever actually reach it, only that the potential exists. Maybe 1 psion in one
hundred million (of psions, not the general population!) might have more
than one Power in that Range. (Again, this is out of ‘normal human’ psions.)

So...Earth in 2011 has a normal-human population of about 7 billion, or close
enough for jazz. We can expect about 1 in 1000 of them to be an untrained
psion in the First Range, with Power ceilings in the 1-10 range. That’s about
seven million psions in the world (most of them untrained and have no idea
of what they could potentially do, other than that maybe odd things happen
to and around them sometimes.)

Of them, about 1 in 10,000 will have at least one Power ceiling in the
second range, so that’s 700. About 280 will have 2 Powers in that Range,
and so on, and about 7 will have all six Powers in the Second Range. That’s
seven people on Earth with the potential to get that powerful.

Likewise, about seven normal humans on Earth would have the potential
for at least one Power in the 16-20 Range. Any PC found here should pretty
much certainly have an unusual background!

Now, for some races and species these percentages are different, but that’s the
breakdown for almost all ‘normal mortals’ on Earth. On any other human or
near-human world, multiply the numbers in each category by 1/5.

Note that all this is innate natural ability. It says nothing about what
might be done with psi-tech or other artificial aids.