D&D 5E Psionics in a sci-fi D&D

[CleverNickName]

True, psi stuff made it into sci-fi because of the seventies, when there was crystal rubbing madness, its also the same time frame where people are against D&D because it is teaching kids magic.

Hey, that "crystal rubbing madness" is how I also made it into the world.

But yep, fair point: psionics in science-fiction is fairly recent. The first example that comes to mind is Spock using the "Vulcan mind-meld" on a wad of jelly in a cave; I think it must have been in the 1960s based on the costumes and disco lighting. Then there was "the Force," from Star Wars, which was about 10 years later judging from Skywalker's haircut and shoulder pads.

When I think "science fiction," though, I think of Jules Verne's "Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea" and Mary Shelly's "Frankenstein," or Kubrik's "2001: A Space Odyssey" film. No telepathic space-squids anywhere, and that's how I prefer my sci-fi to stay. But I can see why plenty of folks would want rules for it.

 

[dragoner]

Hey, that "crystal rubbing madness" is how I also made it into the world.

But yep, fair point: psionics in science-fiction is fairly recent. The first example that comes to mind is Spock using the "Vulcan mind-meld" on a wad of jelly in a cave; I think it must have been in the 1960s based on the costumes and disco lighting. Then there was "the Force," from Star Wars, which was about 10 years later judging from Skywalker's haircut and shoulder pads.

When I think "science fiction," though, I think of Jules Verne's "Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea" and Mary Shelly's "Frankenstein," or Kubrik's "2001: A Space Odyssey" film. No telepathic space-squids anywhere, and that's how I prefer my sci-fi to stay.

That's cool, we all get here somehow. Personally the seventies are my childhood, so not so bad at all. Still one has to think about in Battlestar Galactica, they face down the devil at one point, or Mr Rourke in Fantasy Island, he also banishes evil? So yeah, everyone believed in the psi stuff and that is cool, though I don't think I have read anything after around 1990 that purports to be serious sci-fi that includes it. Nothing I saw in the Expanse, Revelation Space, or even the Culture, which is Space Opera deluxe for the most part. It has pretty much been binned as magic, and in that case, esp if the game has no magic either, then I'd just use those rules, waste not, want not.

 

[Steampunkette]

... are y'all kidding me?

In the 1930s and 40s and 50s Radio-Plays Telepaths and Telekinetics were often the basis of alien life or strangeness.

The BBC had a Martian Beetle using Telepathy to convince astronauts that it was their -dog- named Bob on Journey Into Space in 1958.

Buck Rogers had Telepathy-Inducing Thought Amplifiers in the 1930s.

Psychic Powers have long been something touched on in Sci-Fi. 'Cause they've long been a "Strange Science" instead of a "Sorcery".

Made up in the 70s crystal madness my left foot... That's just a flavor people put upon it, decades later, to make it work with their pseudo-religious ideologies.

 

[dragoner]

Made up in the 70s crystal madness my left foot... That's just a flavor people put upon it, decades later, to make it work with their pseudo-religious ideologies.

Made it into sfrpg's ... indeed it does predate the 70's.

 

[tomBitonti]

There seems to be a difference in that "scientific" psionics describes both the mechanism and the effects with scientific terminology. Also, psionic abilities and effects can be created and amplified by technology: Alien experiments can imbue you with a particular psionic ability. An exotic device from a dark dimension focuses dark energy through rare crystals to amplify ones abilities. A telekineticist can "feel" the motion of atoms, and can, by focusing on this motion, amplify it to push things around, or simply to create heat. A psychoportationist (say, as in Leaper) creates a mini tear in space which they use to teleport. The tear can be detected with the right devices, and can be held open by other devices.

That is a much different feel than having a spell shoot a scorching ray, although the end effect (application of heat to cause damage) may be the same.

TomB

 

[CleverNickName]

... are y'all kidding me?

In the 1930s and 40s and 50s Radio-Plays Telepaths and Telekinetics were often the basis of alien life or strangeness.

The BBC had a Martian Beetle using Telepathy to convince astronauts that it was their -dog- named Bob on Journey Into Space in 1958.

Buck Rogers had Telepathy-Inducing Thought Amplifiers in the 1930s.

Psychic Powers have long been something touched on in Sci-Fi. 'Cause they've long been a "Strange Science" instead of a "Sorcery".

Made up in the 70s crystal madness my left foot... That's just a flavor people put upon it, decades later, to make it work with their pseudo-religious ideologies.

All fair points; I didn't listen to radio plays growing up so I didn't really notice their influence on the genre. But I certainly noticed The Force and the Vulcan mind-stuff when I was growing up, and they probably didn't come out of a vacuum.

Still, my favorite sci-fi works did not have anything 'psionic' about them...and because of their influence, I prefer my "magic science" to follow suit. I think a sci-fi TTRPG can (and should) include rules for psionics, but I need them to be modular and easy to remove...not every science-fiction story has them. I feel that would be easier to accomplish if they are modeled after the existing rules for magic.

 

[tomBitonti]

... are y'all kidding me?

In the 1930s and 40s and 50s Radio-Plays Telepaths and Telekinetics were often the basis of alien life or strangeness.

The BBC had a Martian Beetle using Telepathy to convince astronauts that it was their -dog- named Bob on Journey Into Space in 1958.

Buck Rogers had Telepathy-Inducing Thought Amplifiers in the 1930s.

Psychic Powers have long been something touched on in Sci-Fi. 'Cause they've long been a "Strange Science" instead of a "Sorcery".

Made up in the 70s crystal madness my left foot... That's just a flavor people put upon it, decades later, to make it work with their pseudo-religious ideologies.

Nod. My sense is that "ESP" was taken seriously as a possible actual ability until about the middle of the 20'th century. (Does anyone have a more concrete sense of this? I'm going by memory of things read and vaguely remembered.)

TomB

 

[Cadence]

Nod. My sense is that "ESP" was taken seriously as a possible actual ability until about the middle of the 20'th century. (Does anyone have a more concrete sense of this? I'm going by memory of things read and vaguely remembered.)

TomB

Wikipedia has formal study of ESP back to the 1930s: .https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extrasensory_perception . The psionic article also as some things (but not the term) going back to the 30s Psionics - Wikipedia .

 

[Crimson Longinus]

There seems to be a difference in that "scientific" psionics describes both the mechanism and the effects with scientific terminology. Also, psionic abilities and effects can be created and amplified by technology: Alien experiments can imbue you with a particular psionic ability.

Sounds like a warlock patron imbuing the character with power.

An exotic device from a dark dimension focuses dark energy through rare crystals to amplify ones abilities.

So +X casting focus?

A telekineticist can "feel" the motion of atoms, and can, by focusing on this motion, amplify it to push things around, or simply to create heat. A psychoportationist (say, as in Leaper) creates a mini tear in space which they use to teleport. The tear can be detected with the right devices, and can be held open by other devices.

I see...

That is a much different feel than having a spell shoot a scorching ray, although the end effect (application of heat to cause damage) may be the same.

You mean pyrokineticist using their mental powers to locally accelerate the motion of molecules to create a focused heat beam?


Seriously. Psionics is simply magic described using (pseudo) scientific terminology. That's it.

 

[Laurefindel]

Even if it didn't use the same terms, my understanding was that "modern" conception of psionics take root in late19th/early 20th century occultism.