Pyramid #3/69: Psionics II

[Kromm]

Flesh is but fleeting
Wealth and title, doomed to fade
The mind, immortal

— Some brain in a jar

Psychic abilities have a gift for transcending genre in a way that few superhuman capabilities do. Magic gets lumped in with fantasy and horror. Amazing feats of chi are most at home in heroic action stories. Genuine super-powers define a genre. People touched by superscience dwell mostly in futuristic sci-fi. Yet psionics have managed to coexist with wizardry in hack 'n' slash fantasy, catalyze an entire subgenre of horror, lurk behind tales of modern-day conspiracy, carve out a niche in otherwise "hard" science fiction, and turn up in everything from romance novels to superhero comics.

Given that GURPS, too, is a genre chameleon, it's only fitting that Pyramid has come up with Pyramid #3/69: Psionics II (a sequel to Pyramid #3/29: Psionics). And true to form, its articles offer many different takes on powers of the mind:

• A Little Bit Psychic starts things off gently. Gamers are most familiar with flashy mind blasts and with psi powers as super-powers, yet a lot of fiction involving the psychic is more understated – it's about detectives with uncanny hunches, "sensitives" who feel something horrific lurking nearby, and Gypsy fortune-tellers. Kromm's extensive perks, low-cost abilities, and advice make it a snap to game out the subtler kind of story.
  
  
• Most people think of psi as a purely mental discipline, but when psychic warriors fuse Mind and Body, the results are impressive. Christopher Rice backs up three detailed GURPS Martial Arts styles with two new Psychokinetic abilities (Psi-Shield and Psi-Sword), over a dozen special perks, and a variety of related techniques to "martial up" existing abilities.
  
  
• Where there's psi, there are ruthless conspiracies like The Overmind Institute abusing it for power. In this month's Eidetic Memory, David Pulver goes into great detail on this organization (introduced in GURPS Classic: Psionics' Phoenix Project setting): everything from its internal structure (with a full character template) through the countless front companies it hides behind (with details on 10 of these) to its secret programs (current and defunct).
  
  
• After a foreboding "dream conversation" with an ancient pharaoh spirit, a wealthy engineer walks away from his old life to found the Next Nubia Now movement. In the California desert, he builds The Pyramid Farm, a colony intended as a paradise for the psychically gifted. Is there a darker side? A horrific conspiracy? Of course not! That's just your human paranoia getting to you. Er, I mean "paranoia" – obviously, we're all human here. Move along.
  
  
• In what might be a record for the shortest time to support a new GURPS release, PK empowers GURPS Horror: The Madness Dossier with Expanded Psi for Sandmen. The new taisher lens trades in simple psychic advantages for full GURPS Psionic Powers-style abilities with power levels, skills, and techniques – and optional pre-applied limitations for campaigns in which psi is especially tricky. Whether you crave new ESP abilities or just more detail on what See Invisible (Irruptors) covers, everyone loyal to History A is going to want this.
  
  
• And you don't have to be a fixer to make our usual features likely to appear, including a Random Thought Table that challenges some of the fundamental assumptions about psi, and Odds and Ends that help you add just a dash of psi to your games . . . and also make sure you're still safely grounded in History A after reading that last article.

— PK & Kromm

[sir_pudding]

Surprise, non-wishlist issue, eh?

[GnomesofZurich]

I've just skimmed so far, but it looks good. One question for someone who has both: how does the Psi-Sword power (#3/69, p.18) power compare to the Psi-Sword from #3/51?

[Christopher R. Rice]

Originally Posted by GnomesofZurich

I've just skimmed so far, but it looks good. One question for someone who has both: how does the Psi-Sword power (#3/69, p.18) power compare to the Psi-Sword from #3/51?

Well, one is gear and one is not for one. What sort of comparison are you looking for? I think the Psi-Sword power is nasty against non-psis - it ignores all DR except for Mind Shield - that's huge. Plus it can stun the crap out of you. That said if you have more than Psychokinesis the Psi-Sword gear from #3/51 is probably better and more useful.

[Pragmatic]

Does the obsolescence of Powers-based psionics start in High Tech or Ultra Tech?

(Psionics seems such a big part of "space opera"--e.g., my favorites of Star Wars and Star*Drive--it wounds me to see it being a waste of points. And yes, I know, there's the Pyramid article on "turning Magic into Psionics.")

[sir_pudding]

Originally Posted by Pragmatic

Does the obsolescence of Powers-based psionics start in High Tech or Ultra Tech?

I don't even understand this question. Neither of those books have Psionic Powers or Psi-Tech at all. GURPS Ultra-Tech came out first, though.

[Steven Marsh]

"Smithers, use the amnesia ray."
"You mean the revolver, sir?"
"Precisely. Be sure to wipe your own memory clear when you're finished."

I suspect the question is, "When is gear [which doesn't cost points] start appearing that usurps psionics abilities [which do]?"

If so, then -- really -- any era with sufficiently advanced tech starts encroaching on psis' territory... and the "sufficiently advanced" part is pretty low. Teleporters supplant psionic teleportation, cell phones usurp telepathy, crossbows are as good as a mental force-bolt from a certain point of view.

Any campaign featuring psi will probably need to come up with its own answers as to what its niche is compared to tech... but that's true with most unusual abilities. ("You will believe a man can fly... on a plane." -- not terribly inspiring.)

[sir_pudding]

I haven't started it yet, but character generation is mostly done, and players seem pretty jazzed about powers in Blight Years at TL5/8. I don't really get this "obsolete" thing though:

Psionic Powers:

• Are innate, so you can use 'em naked if you need them.
• Do things that aren't possible with technology except at the very high levels of superscience: Mind-Reading, spooky action at a distance, teleportation...
• Do things that generally aren't possible except with psychotronics or other weird tech at all: interacting with ghosts, astral-travel...
• Psi-Tech also gets better with TL. Most of it works best if you already have powers. Some of it only works if you have powers.
• Tech that totally replicates innate psi (implants, gene-treatments, etc) also probably ought to cost points in any game that also has psi.

[GnomesofZurich]

Originally Posted by Ghostdancer

Well, one is gear and one is not for one. What sort of comparison are you looking for? I think the Psi-Sword power is nasty against non-psis - it ignores all DR except for Mind Shield - that's huge. Plus it can stun the crap out of you. That said if you have more than Psychokinesis the Psi-Sword gear from #3/51 is probably better and more useful.

Thanks! For whatever reason, when I read the blurb for #3/51, I assumed the Psi-Sword was also a power, rather than gear.

[Christopher R. Rice]

Originally Posted by GnomesofZurich

Thanks! For whatever reason, when I read the blurb for #3/51, I assumed the Psi-Sword was also a power, rather than gear.

Sure. You should go buy it. *uses Telepathetic abilities*