Psychic Warrior in Scarred Lands? Ideas?


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I get knocked down...

I know that Joseph and co write the books too so its kind of silly to be back here with my mouth open.

But from what I know about Scarn I can't really put together a 'gods are ignorant of and fear psionics' image in my mind.

I'm not arguing with the fact that, if a significant number of them every massed again, the Slarecians would probably be the single greatest threat to the status quo of Scarn.
But just because someone has a few power points (or a few hundred) they can't, to borrow a phrase, start crank calling Vangal.

I feel like a bit of a jerk going into somebody for a well done set of points but I feel like I can't leave this alone.
tabrumj said:
It took the combined efforts of the Gods and the Titans to defeat them.
All well and true. Note here that Slarecians is the key term.
Its not any old person with psionics.

And its not just a few Slarecians either. Or more preceisly and empire built up in secret and hidden since the 2nd epoch (if the epochs presented in the SLCS aren't just a titanspawn fairy tale ;] ).
That's a pretty long time they spent building their empire, given how long the current epoch has gone on you could probably say 5000 years an epoch and there were (no books in front of me) maybe 6-8 epochs between then and the time the gods came knocking on their door. I think that 50,000 years isn't an unreasonable time period. On one hand they probably weren't just getting ready to fight, and were keeping a low profile. on the other hand they arrived on Scarn with a lot of power.
And it was a pretty kick-ass empire. The young gods couldn't get rid of it by themselves, they'd never encountered psionics and they had to get help.

But lets look at what happened more closely because I think this is the most important part:
1. They had whole cities
2. They were well prepared
3. The gods badly underestimated the strength of the opposition
4. The gods had never encountered the Slarecians or psionics before
(I would also suggest the gods lacked experience and viciousness and tatical skill of the sort that they honed during the Divine war. Would you rather have to face Tanil before the divine war, or after?)

The result:
1 dead demi-god and 1 captured demi-god.

It was definitely a brusing encounter but even with everything stacked against them they came back swinging and with the Titans completely obliterated them.

It is fair to say that (as far as we know of) the Slarecians are the only mortals to have ever killed a god (albeit a demi-god).

Its hard to see this situation replicated again. The gods know about the Slarecians, they've dealt with psionics before, they know the Slarecians are powerful, and they've had a hell of a lot of tough fights and the accumulated skill at decision making, strategy, etc.

To extend the metaphor further the gods (&Denev) then went to war with the titans net result:
11 beaten titans, 1 surrendured.
2 dead demi-gods: Hedrada's daughter and That Which Abides

So neither the Slarecians nor the Titans have killed a god. But that doesn't mean psionics or a handful of Slarecians figuring out some way to either be reborn or return to Scarn is going to herald the defeat of the gods and the destruction of the world either....
I'm not saying that the gods don't fear psionics. But I don't see much reason for them to be quaking in their boots as a collective group either.
(Complantancy builds its own problems, of course but...)
[There was an interesting conversation recently about the Slarecians using Kaduums body and inadvertently triggering events leading to Corean's death on Scarntalk but that invovled a lot of other stuff too]

tabrumj said:

And even then they didn't do it before they had wrenched the secrets of shadow magic out of Drendari.
She probably hates them more than anybody. I'm glad you mentioned this. Somebody should definitely make a PrC/magic item relating to this; great story stuff.
As I recall they caught her by stealth too.

tabrumj said:
IF the Slaericians were to return in force it is not definite that the Gods could defeat them.
This is where I don't really follow you. The gods destroyed their 50,000 year little empire in a big war (which probably didn't take more than 50 or 100 years).

Again we know little about the Slarecians and it is possible that they rule this immense dimension spanning empire and they're all 100th level psions/ 100th level psychic warriors and they've got a troup of 20,000 of these guys just itching to invade Scarn.

There's no real evidence for that and I'd be a bit disappointed if S&S took the game this route. We've seen a lot of gaming systems & worlds from Vampire to Forgotten Realms continually jack-up the power level to continue to sell books and its a trend that's probably likly to continue in the RPG field even if SL manages to dodge the bullet.

tabrumj said:
And even if the Gods triumphed the distraaaction might be all that the Titan's needed to return.
On one hand I think this is a well put concept. But it doesn't hold water with me for the following reason:
I don't see the titans returning easily. If the gods disappeared from scarn suddenly most of the titans would still be out of the picture.
There are only three or four who could probably act quickly. Thulkas might try to pull the sun into Scarn, Mesos potentially could reform or Chern could bust out from his rotting prision. That's about it. (unless you think the blood crone could start putting mormo back together but after getting her butt whipped by Glivid Autel that looks less likly).

We've talked a bit about this on Scarntalk and I'm always curious about hearing more.

SSS-Druid said:
There are myriad strange and unexplained powers in the Scarred Lands - who can tell if one half-orc has been tainted by the Slarecians, or is simply heir to some other kind of legacy?

This was what I was kind of getting at above in my first post. The whole my-special-powers-make-me-special instinct is strong in most players. I have it a bit too but I think it undermines the world in exchange for shock value.

SSS-Druid said:
...note that the gods don't necessarily know what psionics are, either; their clerics sure as heck won't.

...the gods do fear [psionics], because it is beyond their ken.

Hmm.
Why?
Does psionics create some kind of weird field that prevents divine beings from understanding it?

It would be one thing to say that the gods are uncomfortable with psionics because it is the only force on Scarn that either they or their progenitors the titans did not create.

Or to say that since gods can't tap into psionic power it represents a tool which can be used against them.

Or that since they aren't worrshiped by psionic beings then its at best neutral or at worst a tool of the enemy.

Or that the transdimentionsonal nature of the powers mean that there are some unexpected consiquences.

But absent any sort of explaination it seems like you've basically said that the gods -can never- understand psionics by definition. Given their generally impressive ability to understand things this sits poorly with me.
According to the tD&tD they almost certainly all have access to Knowledge (psionics) through the Divine Knowledge powers they have; just like they have Knowledge (Planes), Knowledge (Arcana), etc.
Very simplistic words/phrases like 'fear' and 'beyond their ken' don't make much sense to me when applied to them as a group.

SL has traditionally presented the gods of their setting (unlike most other settings) as not being threatened by common mortals and generally possessed of a great deal of information about Scarn. (the best a mortal can hope to do, for example, is take down an avatar and that's pretty unlikely unless you're seriously epic level). I don't know why someone, even someone who's twentith level and psionic, is going to get people worked up.

Frankly I think that Tanil is significantly more concerned about the Blood Crone than some 20th level savant. I think that if you gave him the choice Corean would prefer to wipe vangal's herald off of scarn instead of some 20th level psychic warrior.
 
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Well that's slightly true in a degree there graf, at least about Corean and Tanil wanting to wipe off the champions of titans/evil. But even so, they can't JUST go and squash something. It would upset the status quo, (even if it WAS the Blood Crone). The thing about the Psion is, that there's NO defense against their powers. That's what scares a god. At least with the Titans, there was a MODICURIUM of defense. But even so, I do think a Psion would worry a follower of the gods. Why? Because they represent a power THEY aren't able to manifest themselves. Arcane and Divine magics MIGHT be separate, but each of the gods CAN to a degree use them. They can't do Psionics however. Do I think in a fight, a 20 level Psion would be up the Herald of Vangal? Well 50/50 chance certainly but I'd STILL bet on the Herald since I doubt Vangal would look too kindly on seeing his Herald kicked around AGAIN! In any case it's more of the USE of the power that frightens them, and no way to CONTAIN it that disturbs both arcane and divine casters. At least with Titanspawn, there are some ways to pend them in. Psionics doesn't allow for that.

Anyway just my two cents too. You've got some good ideas Grraf I just don't think you're following the logic through here. :)
 

i sense.... confusion

I can see my posting style has managed to confuse you. Let me see if I can try to respond to what you were saying and clairfy the confusion.

I'm at home so I have my books too which will help.


My thesis is that: The gods to not fear psionics either because they don't know it nor because its a threat to them.
They may fear it for some other reason Joseph isn't sharing (like every psionic being on Scarn is unknowling contributing to a powerful psionic effect which will allow the Slarecians to return).

Nightfall said:
But even so, they can't JUST go and squash something. It would upset the status quo, (even if it WAS the Blood Crone).


Unfortunately I wasn't talking about what the gods do or can't do. I was pointing out from what I've seen in the books so far that psions aren't the thing that the gods are most worried about or focused on getting rid of.
(no I don't have R&RII, but no-ones said that it says anything about the gods and psionics. In fact Joseph said that it didn't address gods and psionics at all).
Lacking new evidence I don't see a 3rd level psion -or- a 18th level psion suddenly being more -important- (as in worth if their concern and/or fear) to the gods than the Blood Crone where the Blood Crone (where the Blood Crone represents anything powerful trying to create havok and bring back a titan).

Nightfall said:

The thing about the Psion is, that there's NO defense against their powers. That's what scares a god.
At least with the Titans, there was a MODICURIUM of defense.

Ok. Now I really don't think this is what you mean to be saying. I could be wrong, but this makes very little sense.

Example: Corean's avatar
SR45 (and PR 35)
A 15th level wizard casting a spell at Corean won't affect him. And neither will a psion.
Where's the -no- defense?

I think you can see my confusion here. Psionics will start to have a chance of harming a god sooner than arcane magic. But psionic powers are (deliberatly) weaker than arcane powers of the same level and they -never- scale (so your fireball is always cast as if the caster is 5th level, no matter how high you go).
Bruce Cordell's gone over it a whole bunch, its a necessary componet of balancing the system against arcane magic (because psions can use armor, don't need componets, etc.) Since BC was involved in the creation of R&RII I assume these rules were followed.

Further point 1: Psionic effects can be detected & dispelled by magic and vise versa. Worried about psonics? Anti-magic field. *poof* no problem.
Further point 2: most divine servants of the gods don't have SR anyway so it doesn't really matter. They get the same saving throws and so forth as anyone else.

Nightfall said:

Because they represent a power THEY aren't able to manifest themselves. Arcane and Divine magics MIGHT be separate, but each of the gods CAN to a degree use them. They can't do Psionics however.
I mentioned this point in my post above. i -do- like it. that's why I mentioned it. I'm pretty good at coming up with an explaination for anything. But unless its in a book or from somebody from S&S then its just conjecture.
And conjecture that contradicts previously published material (see point 2 below).

Furtherpoint 1: Corean can't cast arcane spells either. Neither can his clerics. Nor can Madriel. They aren't losing sleep over an arcane wizards.
Furtherpoint 2: the Divine and the Defeated pg21 Divine Knowledge "...an avatar with this power has has a number [of] ranks in any Knowledge skill equal to X x 5."
-If- there is a rule somewhere in R&R that says that a gods Divine Knowledge power power doesn't apply to knowledge psionics then I'm wrong (or if that's errata or whatever) otherwise I'd like to know why Corean doesn't have Knowledge (Psionics) 25 ranks?

Nightfall said:
Do I think in a fight, a 20 level Psion would be up the Herald of Vangal? Well 50/50 chance....(snip)
Dude. Look at tD&tD again and then make me a 20th level -anything- that's got a 50% chance of killing Vangal's herald.
Heck I'd like to see at 20th level psion or psychic warrior who could take on Galdor. Or even make it to round 3....

(going back to my original point about Gods not caring about an individual psion) why would Vangal get involved at all? If his herald is getting punked my some 20th level then they don't deserve to be his herald anyway.

Nightfall said:

You've got some good ideas Grraf I just don't think you're following the logic through here. :)
I'll, ahhh, let this one slide and stick to my points. :}


Why all the fuss and bother? Because up until this point things in the Scarred Lands have generally made sense and made for a good story.
I -like- psionics. I don't see much reason for them to be THE ULTIMATE THREAT TO THE GODS FROM WHICH THEY QUAKE IN FEAR. Its contradictory with basically everything we've seen so far and its an implausible and (from my standpoint) kinda cheezy B-movie-type story.
A 5th level psion or pychic warrior is about as powerful as any other 5th level character.

(we can do the Slarecians another time I realize the longer my posts get the harder it is to follow what I'm saying)
 
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Re: i sense.... confusion

Graf said:
Further point 1: Psionic effects can be detected & dispelled by magic and vise versa. Worried about psonics? Anti-magic field. *poof* no problem.

I'm running the risk of reading too much into things here, but from reading the thread I'm coming away with the impression that Scarred Lands use the "Psionics is different" option from PsiHB. If so, anti-magic of any type does not affect psionics. This would also explain why the gods would have less defense... especially if they have NO power resistance. Have I misread this?

. . . . . . . -- Eric
 

The Scarred Lands does indeed use the Psionics is Different rule.

Perhaps our concepts of the gods are different, Graf, but I don't see gods (even the Eight) as being all-knowing and all-powerful.

They are each the sum total of their essences, yes; Madriel is healing and light and mercy. Her very existence is tied up in those concepts - they are the essence of her divinity, thus, her reality.

Now, to an extend, the gods can draw upon their knowledge of one another for information, which is why you can use diviniation spells to contact them and ask them any questions.

Who, though, is the god of psionics?

No one. They have no frame of reference for this phenomenon. They understand titanic magics and the like because they are the children of titans.

Does it have some kind of effect on the reality of the Scarred Lands? Absolutely. Do you see those lovely Displays associated with psionic powers? Those are the effects that the use of that power (which should, in and of itself be relatively invisible) has on the reality around the psionic character.

The auditory effect creates a thrumming in an area that resonates from no one object, but from the area itself, almost as though something has somehow struck reality itself - or the barrier that seperates it from whatever lies Beyond.

The material effect is the manifestation of extraplanar seepage and the mental effect is basically psychic "static."

The olfactory and visual effects are both telling, in that they are ways of the denizens of this plane perceiving something that has no analog in this plane, so the details are "filled in" for us.

In every instance, something has passed into this reality from another.

Hell yeah, psionics are scary. ;)
 

Re: Re: i sense.... confusion

Pyske said:


I'm running the risk of reading too much into things here, but from reading the thread I'm coming away with the impression that Scarred Lands use the "Psionics is different" option from PsiHB. If so, anti-magic of any type does not affect psionics. This would also explain why the gods would have less defense... especially if they have NO power resistance. Have I misread this?

. . . . . . . -- Eric

Not that I could see Pyske/Eric. The gods HAVE no defense. SR does NOT equal PR in the Scarred Lands. The only reason it WOULD work that way IS because the Slacerians creations such as the Slacerian Dragons HAVE a PR EQUAL to their SR. Does that mean SR equals PR? No, just that the Slacerian creatures have managed to "adapt" their own SR to PR. The divine and titanspawn races haven't.
 

SSS-Druid said:
The Scarred Lands does indeed use the Psionics is Different rule.

Perhaps our concepts of the gods are different, Graf, but I don't see gods (even the Eight) as being all-knowing and all-powerful.

They are each the sum total of their essences, yes; Madriel is healing and light and mercy. Her very existence is tied up in those concepts - they are the essence of her divinity, thus, her reality.

Now, to an extend, the gods can draw upon their knowledge of one another for information, which is why you can use diviniation spells to contact them and ask them any questions.

Who, though, is the god of psionics?

No one. They have no frame of reference for this phenomenon. They understand titanic magics and the like because they are the children of titans.

Does it have some kind of effect on the reality of the Scarred Lands? Absolutely. Do you see those lovely Displays associated with psionic powers? Those are the effects that the use of that power (which should, in and of itself be relatively invisible) has on the reality around the psionic character.

The auditory effect creates a thrumming in an area that resonates from no one object, but from the area itself, almost as though something has somehow struck reality itself - or the barrier that seperates it from whatever lies Beyond.

The material effect is the manifestation of extraplanar seepage and the mental effect is basically psychic "static."

The olfactory and visual effects are both telling, in that they are ways of the denizens of this plane perceiving something that has no analog in this plane, so the details are "filled in" for us.

In every instance, something has passed into this reality from another.

Hell yeah, psionics are scary. ;)

Also perhaps it might be a good idea to ask Mike Gill to think about maybe some kind of "reality backlash" for using Psionic powers so often. Maybe THAT'S what scared Mesos, is that the use of Psionics turned the land sour, destroyed any "natural" connection to the rest of reality. Something to think about huh Joseph/Dru?
 

That chilly feeling in your lower vertibrae.

SSS-Druid said:
The Scarred Lands does indeed use the Psionics is Different rule.

ahhh

Things have come into focus.

You know. It never occured to me that you guys would do something like that.
As BC explained in the Psionics are Different sidebar (and this is also the reason why everything in the book is written to the magic=psionics mindset) this system is fundimentally broken.

So psionic characters are going to be significantly more powerful than characters of the same level? It'll make that certain subset of vocal psionics players quite happy I suppose.

Thanks for pointing that out Pyske and for answering his question Joseph. I would not have figured it out by myself (or at least not until the book goes on sale here).

J: And thanks for your comments about a god uni-mind. I'd never thought about it but that raises a lot of helpful points my players have been raising a lot of tough questions about the good gods working with the evil gods...
I'll definitely tuck that away in my world notes.
 

Re: That chilly feeling in your lower vertibrae.

Graf said:

You know. It never occured to me that you guys would do something like that.
As BC explained in the Psionics are Different sidebar (and this is also the reason why everything in the book is written to the magic=psionics mindset) this system is fundimentally broken.


I could be misreading your post, but SS introduced a new mechanic called fatigue to help balance out that most things in the Scarred Lands doesn't have resitance to Psi.
 

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