Someone
Adventurer
One hundred and twenty years ago, an elf scholar called Astrol Ferinne initiated a long journey to investigate the nature of psionics. He spent thirty years searching, documenting and investigating, and despite his bias as an arcane caster his work (which has a copy in the Orussus big library) is the most complete on the subject to the date.
Astrol found that there are as many psionicist traditions as magic ones, or perhaps more. Knowing that there are less overall psions than mages of any kind, this tells of the extreme variety of philosophies and beliefs psions around the world sport. Astrol blames it on the different nature of manifesting and casting: casting needs a series of specific words, gestures and material ingredients and foci to work, and while the ability of a mage to unite those component in harmony depends on his mental state, as long the ritual is performed correctly and the wizard can handle the magical energy the spell will be cast correctly. Manifesting a psionic power is on the other hand an entirely mental effort: the only constant among manifesters is that it requires concentration and a degree of energy manipulation and visualization, but how that is actually archieved varies greatly. Some see it as a concentrating a hot spot in your own’s stomach or heart, then moving it around to create the desired effect; others as an state of extraordinary awareness and tranquillity where you can feel the aura of things –including your own- and touch them. Astrol, at some points, asks himself is it’s correct to speak of psionics as a unified whole, or if they are many different supernatural powers with different characteristics that are similar in the surface.
The most striking examples of divergent psionicist Astrol found are those who believe their powers are granted by the gods or derived from philosophical, abstract entities. These psionicists have strict behaviour vows, and Astrol heard of some that lost their powers because they lost their faith on their gods. Astrol speculates that it may be a psychosomatic reaction, similar in some ways as how some people lose the use of their limbs despite having no physical harm, or it could be that, like the so called Wilders, these psions fuel their powers with a powerful emotion, in this case faith.
The second great subject of Astrol’s work is the origin of the psionicist power. Again, his efforts on finding a definitive answer were in vain, as he could find no proof that identified a definitive source. The gods themselves contradicted themselves, maybe because they don’t have an answer or more likely because they have an agenda. Astrol however catalogued the power source in two broad cathegories, internal and external.
The “internal” theories broadly agree that the psionicist generates their own energy and then release in into the world, after being shaped by the psion’s mind. This theory branches into those that believe the psion creates this energy ex nihilo or from his own personal life and mental force and those that think it’s channeled from an extraplanar source. In this last case, the psion would act much like an elemental tower, only that the energy would be shaped by the psion’s spirit and body and thus be very different to those emanated by the Towers.
The “external” theories maintain that the psion’s increased awareness is able to tap on some kind of surrounding magical pattern and alter it at will. The best known of those philosophies is the Sairundanese. Quoted from Astrol’s* work:
“The ziivash is like a web that connects all living things (but not undead--they are a null void of cold horror). Everyone has a personal ziivash, which is like an aura, and it can be tweaked and massaged by a Telepath to make them more submissive, or whatever else she wants to do. Egoists alter their own ziivash to augment their power. The universal ziivash has patterns that can be read by Seers. Nomads can alter the positions of things in the ziivash. Shapers can actually drip substance from the threads to create new things (the greatest can even create new worlds with their own mini-ziivash using Genesis). Psychokineticists can burn or destroy threads of the ziivash and even send that destruction into nulls such as undead.”
Astrol worked hard to gather data that could eliminate of verify one theory or other, but was unable to accomplish that. He found practitioners of the psionic arts with abilities that seemed to contradict every existing conjecture, so he tentatively suggests that it’d be possible that the core of the psionic art is the ability to shape power, and that an accomplished manifester could tap on many different sources and compliment them. Most psions think this is nonsense.
*Rystil’s, actually
Additional rules
Alternate or additional class features
Divine manifester:
You believe the source of your powers to be of divine origin – a god or an abstract universal principle. Your dedication to the divine and burning faith grants you insights not available for other manifesters.
You must take this alternate class feature as a 1st level Psion or Wilder. This changes the way you manifest powers in some ways.
You need a divine focus to manifest your powers; you can’t manifest a power unless you handle the focus as a divine caster would when he casts a divine spell. Your alignment must be within one step of your deity’s (that is, it may be one step away on either the lawful-chaotic axis or the good-evil axis, but not both). It may not be neutral unless your deity’s alignment is also neutral. Your lose the use of all psionic powers if you grossly violate your god’s code of conduct or if your alignment changes outside the allowed range, until you atone or your alignment changes back.
When you take the Expanded knowledge feat you may instead choose a spell from the cleric list (domain spells are not allowed) of 3rd level or lower instead of a psionic power. This spell is changed in the following ways:
-It’s considered to be 1 level higher.
-It loses any school, and it’s outside the normal classification of psionic disciplines. Any appropiate spell or power (like detect psionics or Analyze dweomer) reveals it’s school or discipline as “unknow”, and the caster or manifester is aware of his inability of classifying the power’s effect.
-It loses the “components” line and instead gains a Visual display
-Change all instances of “caster level” to “manifester level”
-If the spell deals a variable amount of damage dice based on caster level, now instead it deals a fixed amount of dice based on the minimum manifester level to manifest it, and gains an Augment. This augment raises the minimum caster level, for damage calculation purposes only, in a "1 point-by-1 level" basis, and raises the power’s DC by 1 for every 2 power points spent. Damage caps on these spells/powers are lifted.
For example, an unaugmented Searing light power counts as a 4th level power with a Visual display, that deals 3d8 damage to living targets, 7d6 damage to undead and 7d8 damage to undead creatures vulnerable to sunlight. If 11 extra power points are spent augmenting it, it deals 9d8 damage to living targets, 18d6 to undead creatures and 18d8 to undead creatures vulnerable to sunlight.
(desing notes: I’m not very satisfied with this one because the earlier you can benefit from this is at 5th level, using the psion’s bonus feat to take Expanded knowledge. But the penalty isn’t that important and is flavourful, so it’s not that of a big deal. I capped the level at 3 because I was worried about Divine power, Egoists can buff themselves quite well and adding full BAB to that could be problematic. Other than that I don’t see right now any other spell that could be unbalanced in this fashion)
Self taught psions
When a psion starts manifesting uncontrolled powers, normally as he enters the puberty, most of the time he attracts a master who teaches him the ways of the mind. When the young gifted if left to himself, he either learns to suppress his powers and forget about them, taking them as manifestations of something evil, or nurtures them in a self taught fashion. Of these, the most become Wilders, but a minority with an innate understanding of the psionic world become fascinated with their new powers and experiment with them in search of new ways to use it. Since these psions aren’t aware of the broad variety available to them, they frequently concentrate on one aspect of their craft.
You can take this optional class feature as a 1st level psion. Choose a discipline: from now on you have a +2 bonus to Concentration, Psicraft and Knowledge skills that deal with powers, psionic items and psionic phenomena of that discipline, and a –1 penalty on checks related to the rest of the disciplines.
Feats
Academic Psion
Most psionic communities are quite small; the city that has more than a handful of them is rare, and organized academies are but unheard of except on exotic lands where monasteries that blend monk and psion traditions flourish, or remote lands where magic is frowned upon but psions are accepted. Even there is common to favor certain disciplines and powers, but in those rare places where the psionic craft is pursued as a end on itself the young student can greatly benefit from this enhanced pool of knowledge. You come from (or have studied in) one of those communities.
Requisites: 1st level psion or psiwarrior. You can take this feat only at 1st level.
Benefit: You can learn new powers and adapt your repertoire with relatively a small amount of time and effort. Doing this requires selecting one of your psionic powers and spending1 day and XXX Craft points. At the end of this time make a Knowledge (psionics) check of DC 20+2*power level. If you have access to a large repository of psionic knowledge, like a sized community or library, you have a +5 circumstance bonus to the check. If the check succeeds, you can exchange the power for any other of the same level subject to the normal rules (you can select powers only in your list).
You can’t use this feat to change powers selected by the Expanded knowledge power.
Special: You can’t take this feat if you have the Self taught psion alternate class feature.
(notes: I’m not sure how many Craft points would make an adequeate cost, or if it should cost any craft point at all)
Torrent of fire [Metapsionic]
You have learned to tap on the incandescent energy coming from the tower of fire, and can supplement your powers with it. Doing so it’s difficult and exhausting, but the added wild energies can leave your enemies charred and unable to act for a while.
Requisites: Knowledge (arcane) 4 ranks
Benefit: You can use this metapsionic feat on any power with the Fire descriptor that grants a Reflex saving throw for half damage. You must expend your psionic focus to use this feat. If those affected by the spell fail their Reflex saving throws, they must make an extra Will saving throw or be dazed for 1 round.
Using this feat increases the cost of the power by 2 points.
(Notes: This costs the same as Empowering it. I think the opportunity for a Daze effect –if they fail two saving throws- is worth about the same as a +50% damage, correct me if I’m wrong)
Earth’s durability [Metapsionic]
You can call the energies of the Earth tower and infuse it into your creation powers. This tightens then and makes then resistant to damage and the natural evaporation ectoplasmic stuff suffers.
Requisites: Knowledge (arcana) 4 ranks
Benefit: You must use your psionic focus to use this feat. You can use this feat on Metacreativity (creation) powers. The power’s duration is doubled, and any object created has it’s Hardness increased by 2. Weapons created add a +1 enhancement bonus to damage, and armor a +1 enhancement bonus to AC.
Using this feat increases the cost of the power by 2 points.
(Designer notes: This feat is flavourful, but it hardly will see any use)
Air’s swifness [Metapsionic]
You can infuse the energies flowing from the Air tower into your Nomad powers, increasing the ease of moving yourself around.
Requisites: Knowledge (arcana) 4 ranks
Benefit: You must use your psionic focus to use this feat. You can use this feat on any Nomad power that grant you a movement mode, increase your speed, or any Nomad power with a (teleport) descriptor.
If used on a power (like Burst) that grant a bonus to your (or the target’s) speed the bonus is increased by +5 feet.
If used on a power with the (teleport) descriptor, like Psionic Dimension door, the power’s range is increased by a 50%
If the power grants another movement mode, like Psionic Fly, the speed of that new mode is increased by +50%.
Using this feat increases the cost of the power by 2 power points.
Positive resonance [Metapsionic]
You are adept at weaving energies coming from the Positive energy tower into your Egoist powers that deal with life force.
Requisites: Knowledge (arcana) 4 ranks
Benefit: You must spend your psionic focus to use this feat. You can use this feat on any Egoist power that heals or transfers hit points between two creatures. If you do so, you or the power’s recipient gain Fast healing 1 for as many rounds as the power’s level.
Astrol found that there are as many psionicist traditions as magic ones, or perhaps more. Knowing that there are less overall psions than mages of any kind, this tells of the extreme variety of philosophies and beliefs psions around the world sport. Astrol blames it on the different nature of manifesting and casting: casting needs a series of specific words, gestures and material ingredients and foci to work, and while the ability of a mage to unite those component in harmony depends on his mental state, as long the ritual is performed correctly and the wizard can handle the magical energy the spell will be cast correctly. Manifesting a psionic power is on the other hand an entirely mental effort: the only constant among manifesters is that it requires concentration and a degree of energy manipulation and visualization, but how that is actually archieved varies greatly. Some see it as a concentrating a hot spot in your own’s stomach or heart, then moving it around to create the desired effect; others as an state of extraordinary awareness and tranquillity where you can feel the aura of things –including your own- and touch them. Astrol, at some points, asks himself is it’s correct to speak of psionics as a unified whole, or if they are many different supernatural powers with different characteristics that are similar in the surface.
The most striking examples of divergent psionicist Astrol found are those who believe their powers are granted by the gods or derived from philosophical, abstract entities. These psionicists have strict behaviour vows, and Astrol heard of some that lost their powers because they lost their faith on their gods. Astrol speculates that it may be a psychosomatic reaction, similar in some ways as how some people lose the use of their limbs despite having no physical harm, or it could be that, like the so called Wilders, these psions fuel their powers with a powerful emotion, in this case faith.
The second great subject of Astrol’s work is the origin of the psionicist power. Again, his efforts on finding a definitive answer were in vain, as he could find no proof that identified a definitive source. The gods themselves contradicted themselves, maybe because they don’t have an answer or more likely because they have an agenda. Astrol however catalogued the power source in two broad cathegories, internal and external.
The “internal” theories broadly agree that the psionicist generates their own energy and then release in into the world, after being shaped by the psion’s mind. This theory branches into those that believe the psion creates this energy ex nihilo or from his own personal life and mental force and those that think it’s channeled from an extraplanar source. In this last case, the psion would act much like an elemental tower, only that the energy would be shaped by the psion’s spirit and body and thus be very different to those emanated by the Towers.
The “external” theories maintain that the psion’s increased awareness is able to tap on some kind of surrounding magical pattern and alter it at will. The best known of those philosophies is the Sairundanese. Quoted from Astrol’s* work:
“The ziivash is like a web that connects all living things (but not undead--they are a null void of cold horror). Everyone has a personal ziivash, which is like an aura, and it can be tweaked and massaged by a Telepath to make them more submissive, or whatever else she wants to do. Egoists alter their own ziivash to augment their power. The universal ziivash has patterns that can be read by Seers. Nomads can alter the positions of things in the ziivash. Shapers can actually drip substance from the threads to create new things (the greatest can even create new worlds with their own mini-ziivash using Genesis). Psychokineticists can burn or destroy threads of the ziivash and even send that destruction into nulls such as undead.”
Astrol worked hard to gather data that could eliminate of verify one theory or other, but was unable to accomplish that. He found practitioners of the psionic arts with abilities that seemed to contradict every existing conjecture, so he tentatively suggests that it’d be possible that the core of the psionic art is the ability to shape power, and that an accomplished manifester could tap on many different sources and compliment them. Most psions think this is nonsense.
*Rystil’s, actually
Additional rules
Alternate or additional class features
Divine manifester:
You believe the source of your powers to be of divine origin – a god or an abstract universal principle. Your dedication to the divine and burning faith grants you insights not available for other manifesters.
You must take this alternate class feature as a 1st level Psion or Wilder. This changes the way you manifest powers in some ways.
You need a divine focus to manifest your powers; you can’t manifest a power unless you handle the focus as a divine caster would when he casts a divine spell. Your alignment must be within one step of your deity’s (that is, it may be one step away on either the lawful-chaotic axis or the good-evil axis, but not both). It may not be neutral unless your deity’s alignment is also neutral. Your lose the use of all psionic powers if you grossly violate your god’s code of conduct or if your alignment changes outside the allowed range, until you atone or your alignment changes back.
When you take the Expanded knowledge feat you may instead choose a spell from the cleric list (domain spells are not allowed) of 3rd level or lower instead of a psionic power. This spell is changed in the following ways:
-It’s considered to be 1 level higher.
-It loses any school, and it’s outside the normal classification of psionic disciplines. Any appropiate spell or power (like detect psionics or Analyze dweomer) reveals it’s school or discipline as “unknow”, and the caster or manifester is aware of his inability of classifying the power’s effect.
-It loses the “components” line and instead gains a Visual display
-Change all instances of “caster level” to “manifester level”
-If the spell deals a variable amount of damage dice based on caster level, now instead it deals a fixed amount of dice based on the minimum manifester level to manifest it, and gains an Augment. This augment raises the minimum caster level, for damage calculation purposes only, in a "1 point-by-1 level" basis, and raises the power’s DC by 1 for every 2 power points spent. Damage caps on these spells/powers are lifted.
For example, an unaugmented Searing light power counts as a 4th level power with a Visual display, that deals 3d8 damage to living targets, 7d6 damage to undead and 7d8 damage to undead creatures vulnerable to sunlight. If 11 extra power points are spent augmenting it, it deals 9d8 damage to living targets, 18d6 to undead creatures and 18d8 to undead creatures vulnerable to sunlight.
(desing notes: I’m not very satisfied with this one because the earlier you can benefit from this is at 5th level, using the psion’s bonus feat to take Expanded knowledge. But the penalty isn’t that important and is flavourful, so it’s not that of a big deal. I capped the level at 3 because I was worried about Divine power, Egoists can buff themselves quite well and adding full BAB to that could be problematic. Other than that I don’t see right now any other spell that could be unbalanced in this fashion)
Self taught psions
When a psion starts manifesting uncontrolled powers, normally as he enters the puberty, most of the time he attracts a master who teaches him the ways of the mind. When the young gifted if left to himself, he either learns to suppress his powers and forget about them, taking them as manifestations of something evil, or nurtures them in a self taught fashion. Of these, the most become Wilders, but a minority with an innate understanding of the psionic world become fascinated with their new powers and experiment with them in search of new ways to use it. Since these psions aren’t aware of the broad variety available to them, they frequently concentrate on one aspect of their craft.
You can take this optional class feature as a 1st level psion. Choose a discipline: from now on you have a +2 bonus to Concentration, Psicraft and Knowledge skills that deal with powers, psionic items and psionic phenomena of that discipline, and a –1 penalty on checks related to the rest of the disciplines.
Feats
Academic Psion
Most psionic communities are quite small; the city that has more than a handful of them is rare, and organized academies are but unheard of except on exotic lands where monasteries that blend monk and psion traditions flourish, or remote lands where magic is frowned upon but psions are accepted. Even there is common to favor certain disciplines and powers, but in those rare places where the psionic craft is pursued as a end on itself the young student can greatly benefit from this enhanced pool of knowledge. You come from (or have studied in) one of those communities.
Requisites: 1st level psion or psiwarrior. You can take this feat only at 1st level.
Benefit: You can learn new powers and adapt your repertoire with relatively a small amount of time and effort. Doing this requires selecting one of your psionic powers and spending1 day and XXX Craft points. At the end of this time make a Knowledge (psionics) check of DC 20+2*power level. If you have access to a large repository of psionic knowledge, like a sized community or library, you have a +5 circumstance bonus to the check. If the check succeeds, you can exchange the power for any other of the same level subject to the normal rules (you can select powers only in your list).
You can’t use this feat to change powers selected by the Expanded knowledge power.
Special: You can’t take this feat if you have the Self taught psion alternate class feature.
(notes: I’m not sure how many Craft points would make an adequeate cost, or if it should cost any craft point at all)
Torrent of fire [Metapsionic]
You have learned to tap on the incandescent energy coming from the tower of fire, and can supplement your powers with it. Doing so it’s difficult and exhausting, but the added wild energies can leave your enemies charred and unable to act for a while.
Requisites: Knowledge (arcane) 4 ranks
Benefit: You can use this metapsionic feat on any power with the Fire descriptor that grants a Reflex saving throw for half damage. You must expend your psionic focus to use this feat. If those affected by the spell fail their Reflex saving throws, they must make an extra Will saving throw or be dazed for 1 round.
Using this feat increases the cost of the power by 2 points.
(Notes: This costs the same as Empowering it. I think the opportunity for a Daze effect –if they fail two saving throws- is worth about the same as a +50% damage, correct me if I’m wrong)
Earth’s durability [Metapsionic]
You can call the energies of the Earth tower and infuse it into your creation powers. This tightens then and makes then resistant to damage and the natural evaporation ectoplasmic stuff suffers.
Requisites: Knowledge (arcana) 4 ranks
Benefit: You must use your psionic focus to use this feat. You can use this feat on Metacreativity (creation) powers. The power’s duration is doubled, and any object created has it’s Hardness increased by 2. Weapons created add a +1 enhancement bonus to damage, and armor a +1 enhancement bonus to AC.
Using this feat increases the cost of the power by 2 points.
(Designer notes: This feat is flavourful, but it hardly will see any use)
Air’s swifness [Metapsionic]
You can infuse the energies flowing from the Air tower into your Nomad powers, increasing the ease of moving yourself around.
Requisites: Knowledge (arcana) 4 ranks
Benefit: You must use your psionic focus to use this feat. You can use this feat on any Nomad power that grant you a movement mode, increase your speed, or any Nomad power with a (teleport) descriptor.
If used on a power (like Burst) that grant a bonus to your (or the target’s) speed the bonus is increased by +5 feet.
If used on a power with the (teleport) descriptor, like Psionic Dimension door, the power’s range is increased by a 50%
If the power grants another movement mode, like Psionic Fly, the speed of that new mode is increased by +50%.
Using this feat increases the cost of the power by 2 power points.
Positive resonance [Metapsionic]
You are adept at weaving energies coming from the Positive energy tower into your Egoist powers that deal with life force.
Requisites: Knowledge (arcana) 4 ranks
Benefit: You must spend your psionic focus to use this feat. You can use this feat on any Egoist power that heals or transfers hit points between two creatures. If you do so, you or the power’s recipient gain Fast healing 1 for as many rounds as the power’s level.
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