Story Secrets for a Modern Psychic?

[shadowlight]

So I'm starting a d20 Modern game where one of the characters is a Psychic. This is an X-Files / Dark Matter type game where the only FX rules I'm using (so far) are Incatations, and the Psychic rules from Green Ronin's Psychic Handbook.

Does anyone have any ideas for secrets/plot hooks for a modern psychic? I'm looking for secrets that she wouldn't know about herself that could drive some good conspiracy story arcs (like she's actually from another planet, her parents were demons, etc).

Thanks!

 

[twistnack]

She could be the product of a secret government/corporate research program that removed that part of her memory, but she could later recover.

 

[dream66_]

I'm always in favor of the secret government research project, ala Akira

Or awaking natural thing with government repression, ala the Backgroud for Babylon 5 presented in the Psi Corp Trilogy

 

[BluSpecs]

She could have had Psychic Surgury (also in the Green Ronin book) performed on her

I've actualy a very similar thig going on in a game I just started.

The characters are actually re-pressed Psychic's and Moreus that don't know it yet. As the game unfolds the Moreus will begin to mutate and the psychics will start to unlock their powers. There all abandoned corporate/goverment experiments....

 

[shadowlight]

She could be the product of a secret government/corporate research program that removed that part of her memory, but she could later recover.

Cool... I always love mental tampering and false memories...

 

[shadowlight]

I'm always in favor of the secret government research project, ala Akira

Or awaking natural thing with government repression, ala the Backgroud for Babylon 5 presented in the Psi Corp Trilogy

Also cool... This could imply an organization that hunts down natural psychics...

 

[shadowlight]

She could have had Psychic Surgury (also in the Green Ronin book) performed on her

I've actualy a very similar thig going on in a game I just started.

The characters are actually re-pressed Psychic's and Moreus that don't know it yet. As the game unfolds the Moreus will begin to mutate and the psychics will start to unlock their powers. There all abandoned corporate/goverment experiments....

Good point. There's a mechanice for altered memories already there... hmmm... I'll have to re-read that part of the book.

I'm a big fan of having powers emerge in the players. The only problem I find with this is that it takes away their choice when levelling up... How are you handling introducing the new powers/mutations (from a rules/character sheet perspective)?

 

[ledded]

The "psychic" could in actuality be channelling the spirit of a little-known god, demon, spirit, etc and have no idea; they think they are psychic but their 'powers' are just manifestations of the Other's power unbeknownst to them. You could then drop various hints to her about losing control, flashes of memory or visions (great handouts), strange voices, etc that could easily be construed as Psychic ramblings where they are really the increasing force of some kind of extra-planar power (ghost, ancient sumerian god, voodo loa, forgotten saint/hero, cthulu-like ickybeast) that is slowly attempting to turn her into his/her avatar for whatever reasons (evil, good, world domination, etc). Can also lead to really fun encounters where other magic/psychic/possessed people think they recognize her and talk to her with hints about past association, but she has no idea why.

And trust me, you can really, really freak a player out with this.

 

[shadowlight]

The "psychic" could in actuality be channelling the spirit of a little-known god, demon, spirit, etc and have no idea; they think they are psychic but their 'powers' are just manifestations of the Other's power unbeknownst to them. You could then drop various hints to her about losing control, flashes of memory or visions (great handouts), strange voices, etc that could easily be construed as Psychic ramblings where they are really the increasing force of some kind of extra-planar power (ghost, ancient sumerian god, voodo loa, forgotten saint/hero, cthulu-like ickybeast) that is slowly attempting to turn her into his/her avatar for whatever reasons (evil, good, world domination, etc). Can also lead to really fun encounters where other magic/psychic/possessed people think they recognize her and talk to her with hints about past association, but she has no idea why.

And trust me, you can really, really freak a player out with this.

Wow. Wow.

Totally Cool!!! I really like this one and it could easily be combined with some of the other suggestions as well... I'll have to think about this one for a bit...

I really like the idea of having other people recognize her when she doesn't know it herself yet...

Thanks!

 

[twistnack]

Here's something I just came up with and thought was very good, until I saw ledded's post.

You could do a variation of a classic parapsychology theory and make the source of her powers a ghost that has possessed her. The ghost would remain out of sight allowing the "psychic" use it's powers until the group is assigned to case tied to it's past giving incentive to reveal it's self.