Mindsword ability (for Psionic Powers)

[Not another shrubbery]

A rather straightforward teleportation-based melee attack.

Port Foil

8 points for Level 1, plus
6 points for each additional level

Skill: Port Foil (DX/Hard); defaults to DX-6, or Force Sword-2

You can create a blade of warping energy that is wielded like a thrusting only force sword. To those with the proper senses, it resembles (but can be easily distinguished from) those ultra-tech weapons, but the blade is all but invisible to normal vision. Unlike most other psychic blades, the Foil is more physical than mental in nature, and damage is increased if the teleporter is strong enough. The nature of the energy involved makes the weapon more effective against armor than most normal swords, though. It does 1d-3 thrust impaling damage, plus your ability level, and has Reach C, 1. It parries other weapons like a fencing Force Sword, only being useful against psychic weapons which can also parry those. While indestructible itself, the warping energy tends to quickly corrode and break parrying weapons made of normal matter, something that defenders need to be wary of.

Statistics: Impaling Attack 1d-2 (Armor Divisor (2), +50%; Destructive Parry, +10%; Low Signature {-8 to Vision rolls to see}, +20%; Melee Attack, C, 1, -20%; Strength-Based, +100%; Teleportation, -10%) [8] Further levels add +1 damage [6]

I don't know if any psionic techniques would fit well. Penetrating Blow might be used to improve the AD. Because it works much like a normal weapon, normal techniques might often be useful. With this blade, Aggressive Parry could be a good one to learn.


I had the idea for this skill months ago, but I held onto it, wanting to get the trickier write-ups for ESP and (especially) Psychic Vampirism worked out, since I knew this one would be comparitively simple. It is based on the Innerportation skill from Psionic Powers (p70), modified to make it resemble the other psychic melee attack skills. Like the parent skill, wounds caused by it will probably be gaping ones, with the same nasty special effect of the bits appearing a short distance away and then falling to the ground. Other than that, it seems less offensive, balance-wise, than Innerport... keeping in mind that all these builds are off-the-cuff and have not been playtested :)

[Not another shrubbery]

Heh... It's been a while since I was inspired to add a new ability here, but my recent entry in the Manakinesis thread got me to thinking about a melee equivalent to Mana Bolt.

Mana Blade

3 points for Level 1, plus
2 points for each additional level

Skill: Mana Blade (DX/Hard); defaults to DX-6, or Force Sword-2

You can create a weapon of concentrated magical energy that has the appearance of a forceblade. Mages will recognize it as a magical construct, even if they are unfamiliar with manakinesis and its use, and other (non-MK) psis will know it it is a psionic sword, but only if they have prior acquaintance with mana blades will they know the specific type.

By bending the magical energy to your will, you are able to choose how the weapon appears (this does not affect the damage it does). As with other such weapons, they are indestructible, and have a reach of C,1. They have the special ability to "short circuit" magical items or constructs, as described in the Mana Bolt ability. They normally have a base cutting damage of 1d-2, but this is modified depending on the local mana level. In low mana, damage is reduced by 1. In high or very high mana, damage is increased by 1 or 2, respectively. In normal mana, damage is unchanged, but in zones of no mana, the Mana Blade cannot be manifested at all.

Statistics: Cutting Attack 1d-2 (Environmental (Special, see description above), -0%; Manakinesis, -10%; Melee Attack, C,1, -20%; Surge, +20%; Variable Appearance, +5%) [3] Further Levels add +1 damage [2].


With the low cost advancement, GMs would want to be careful about how many levels of this ability they would allow. I was fond (inordinately, perhaps) of the variation of Surge I used for Mana Bolt, and adding it here helps distinguish this weapon from the other psi blades. The version of Environmental looks balanced to me, although the synergy of two manakinetics (or just one, working with a friendly non-psionic Mana Enhancer) does give me a little concern. The Variable Appearance was borrowed from Astral Sword, and just seemed like a nice touch.

[vierasmarius]

Very nice. I like that Mana Surge modifier, it makes Manakineticists nicely distinct from both mages and other psis.

[Not another shrubbery]

When I was wrestling with what to do for the ESP power, this is one of the ideas that I tossed around before tossing it out :)

Wand of Nightmarish Visions

15 points per level

Skill: Nightmare Wand (DX/Hard); no default

Although ESP is primarily an introspective power, some ESPers are able to manifest their own version of the psychic blades that are used by practitioners of other psionic disciplines. Unlike most other psychic skills, the Wand has no default. Only actual training allows the psi to create the energy rod, which greatly resembles a Rod of Insensibility. Like that weapon, it is nearly invisible to normal sight, but looks like a dim force sword to those with appropriate psychic senses. Psis familiar with either weapon will be able to tell them apart, but will otherwise just know it is a psionic weapon of some type. Like the Rod, the Wand is unbreakable, has Reach C, 1, and can parry the same attacks. A successful strike requires a QC of the attacker's skill vs. the defender's HT. If the attacker wins, the target experiences a vision of some disturbing future event, and is mentally stunned for at least one second. They remain stunned until they make an IQ roll, rolling once each following turn.

Additional levels apply a penalty to the targets resistance roll, and to the IQ roll to recover from the mental stun, -1/level after the first.

Statistics: Affliction 1 (Accessibility {Only vs. Sapient, Living Targets}, -40%; Advantage, Nightmarish Vision [Based on Aspected Vision from Psionic Powers p39, plus Stunning, +10%], +100%; ESP, -10%; Melee Attack, C, 1, -20%; No Signature, +20%) [15] . Additional levels increase only the level of the Affliction [+15/level]


I kept the same Accessibility I used for the Sword of Ages. It made sense at the time I was working on it, and it gave a nice point break. In retrospect, changing it to (Sapient Only) might make more sense. One of the technical problems I had with the build was the Advantage pricing. I wasn't sure if it was cool to keep the Passive Only limiter from Visions on an Affliction that is not under the target's control anyway. I finally gave up on the build as more trouble than it was worth. It seems thematically inappropriate for the power, but I just included it here for grins ;)

[Not another shrubbery]

Originally Posted by Ghostdancer

PK actually wrote this up before, here and here is the main thread.

Just to give myself something to do, I decided to rework Rev's build :)

Variable Sword

8 points for Level 1, plus
6 points for each additional level

Skill: Variable Sword (DX/Hard); defaults to DX-6, or Force Sword-2

By willing it, you can cause a rod of telekinetic force to appear in your hand. Although it resembles a Force Sword, anyone familiar with those weapons will know this is something different. These with appropriate senses will be able to detect, from long distances, when a Variable Sword is being. The sword is most dangerous when used as a thrusting attack but, by tweaking the force, the user can switch to a cutting or crushing attack. In each configuration, it does a base 1d-3 damage (modified for ST), plus your ability level, and the crushing version allows the teke to give an extra "push" to those struck, which may cause extra knockback. Like other such weapons, it is unbreakable, and has Reach C, 1. It can parry attacks as though it were an actual Force Sword, but without the destructive parry.

Statistics: Impaling Attack 1d-2 (Melee Attack, C, 1, -20%; Nuisance Effect, "Blatant" psychic signature, -5%; ST-Based, +100%; Telekinesis, -10%) + Cutting Attack* 1d-2 (Melee Attack, C, 1, -20%; Nuisance Effect, "Blatant" psychic signature, -5%; ST-Based, +100%; Telekinesis, -10%) + Crushing Attack* 1d-2 (Double Knockback, +20%; Melee Attack, C, 1, -20%; Nuisance Effect, "Blatant" psychic signature, -5%; ST-Based, +100%; Telekinesis, -10%) [8] Further levels add +1 damage to each configuration [+6 per level]

* The Cutting and Crushing Attacks are Alternative Attacks to the Impaling Attack, and are 1/5 normal cost.

I liked RPK's method of adding an Alternate Attack to the build to show another use of the weapon, and just expanded the idea, while taking away the elements that didn't fit my conception of a telekinesis version of Mindsword. The NE is another idea of his, from an earlier post in a tangentially related thread. I assume the +10 to detect from that post, meaning the VS will be quite obvious to those with the right Detects. It will probably be as noticeable as a Force Sword, otherwise. The name is borrowed from Niven, but here, I am riffing off the different configurations (imp, cut, cr).

[vierasmarius]

Originally Posted by Not another shrubbery

In each configuration, it does a base 1d-3 damage, plus your ability level...

Statistics: Impaling Attack 1d-2 (Melee Attack, C, 1, -20%; Nuisance Effect, "Blatant" psychic signature, -5%; ST-Based, +100%; Telekinesis, -10%) + Cutting Attack* 1d-2 (Melee Attack, C, 1, -20%; Nuisance Effect, "Blatant" psychic signature, -5%; ST-Based, +100%; Telekinesis, -10%) + Crushing Attack* 1d-2 (Double Knockback, +20%; Melee Attack, C, 1, -20%; Nuisance Effect, "Blatant" psychic signature, -5%; ST-Based, +100%; Telekinesis, -10%) [8] Further levels add +1 damage to each configuration [+6 per level]

Surely you mean it does "ST-based damage plus 1d-3 plus ability level"? Also, if it can only use thr-based damage for impaling and sw-based damage for cutting, apparently there's a cheaper +30% enhancement in PU4 for that.

[Not another shrubbery]

Originally Posted by vierasmarius

Surely you mean it does "ST-based damage plus 1d-3 plus ability level"? Also, if it can only use thr-based damage for impaling and sw-based damage for cutting, apparently there's a cheaper +30% enhancement in PU4 for that.

I was thinking the stats section was clarification enough, but I suppose the wording could be more precise... fixing it now.