Psionics

Character Creation

Not all characters have access to Psionic abilities. First, only characters with an Aura of 11 or higher may have psionic abilities. A dormant ability can be bought as an Aspect at character creation, and in the normal course of play a character may only develop psionic abilities that he has at least dormantly. It costs five points to buy a single dormant psionic ability.

Each psionic ability is an Ability, based on Aura. They are not covered by, nor do they contribute to, any profession. A character may use her Aura cultural ability for any psionic talent that she has, dormant or awakened. She may not use that ability to gain access to psionic talents she does not even have in a dormant state.

On the whole, characters should not have any active psionic abilities at the beginning of a campaign, although if you decide that a particular character does have access to her abilities, they are improved as any other.

Dormant Abilities

Dormant psionic abilities will manifest unconsciously, using the Aura cultural ability. If the character is in a situation where the ability might be useful, roll, using the cultural ability. If the roll succeeds, the ability functions.

Every time you check a dormant ability, roll another die and add the character's Aura. If the result is 21 or higher, the dormant ability becomes active, as the character becomes aware of her capacities. She may now increase it in the usual fashion.

Fatigue

Using psionic abilities is tiring. Every time an ability is used actively, the character gains fatigue. They are as tiring as strenuous physical activity, and fatigue should be assessed accordingly.

Psionic Abilities

This list is taken from Hârnmaster, but the descriptions of the abilities have been modified to fit them into DCS while staying as close to the original intent as possible. The need to keep things simple has led to some alterations. Hârnmaster should be consulted for suggestions on strange side effects, and the result of critical failures.

Clairvoyance

The ability to visualise events currently occurring at a remote location. Clairvoyance may be used in either of two ways, both requiring a Simple Roll:

Near: The clairvoyant enters a trance, and after one minute can send her point of perception to a location up to (Abilityx10) yards away. The vision lasts for Ability minutes, and its quality depends on the quality of the roll. Very Poor or lower should probably count as failure, while Poor will be a vague and confusing image. Very Good results should allow hearing and maybe smell, as well as sight.
Far: The clairvoyant enters a trance for about an hour, and attempts to focus on a person, location, or thing. In the case of a person or thing, the clairvoyant need not know where they are. The focus is achieved by visualising the target, so the clairvoyant must have previously seen it. There are no range restrictions, but there is a standard -3 penalty to the die roll.

Disembodiment

The psi can detach her spirit from her body by making a Threshold Roll against a difficulty of 12. She can stay in this state for up to Abilityx5 minutes, at which point the spirit will automatically return to the body. While disembodied, she counts as an astral entity. Columbia have not yet published their rules for these, so I don't know quite what the intention is.

Healing

This ability can be used in any of four ways, all of which require skin contact with the patient, who may be the healer.

Empathy: The healer determines the current emotional and physical well-being of the patient. A Simple Roll, the information gathered depending on the level of success.
Restoration: The healer removes fatigue from the patient. Treat as medical attention, but the time period is only one minute.
Succour: The healer may add her Healing ability to the patient's Endurance for the purpose of fighting off a disease or poison. Regardless of the normal time interval between rolls, the patient may make one per minute while the healer concentrates. This use does not heal any damage that the poison or disease may have done.
Healing: This use of the ability speeds the rate at which the injured character recovers. The patient may add the healer's Healing ability to his Endurance for the next recovery period only, but the healer may aid him again in the following period. If this effect increases the Recovery Total to more than four times the level of the injury, drop the time period by one category.

Hex

This is the "evil eye": the ability to lay a curse. It takes (20-Ability) minutes to lay the curse, and the hexer gets +4 to her roll if she has a part of the victim (hair clippings, nail parings, etc.) Such parts can only be used once. If the hexer has a part of the victim, he must be within Ability kilometres. If not, he must be in line of sight. The hexer makes a Simple Roll, and the victim must subtract half the total from his next roll.

Medium

This ability allows the character to interact with ethereals. It can be used in four ways:

Passive: If an ethereal is within Ability yards of the character, she gets to make a Threshold Roll against a difficulty of 12. If she succeeds, she becomes aware of the presence of the ethereal, but nothing more.
Communion: The character goes into a trance for a minute, and makes a Threshold Roll against a difficulty of 12. If she succeeds, she can clearly perceive and communicate with any ethereals within Abilityx10 yards, for Ability minutes.
Summon: The character can try to summon any ethereal currently perceived, or any whose true name is known. This requires a Threshold Roll, the difficulty varying depending on the situation. For a simple summoning of a seen ethereal, it should be 10. Summoning a spirit from the other side of Lythia shuold have a difficulty of at least 16.
Control: The character enters a contest with the spirit, who must be present. The Medium's Acting and Effect values are based on the Ability, and the Resistance Total is Resistancex3. The Spirit uses Mental Conflict and Resistancex3. If the Medium wins, the spirit may be commanded to perform a simple task. If the Spirit is granted a Resistance Total of Resistancex5, the task may be more complex. If the Spirit wins, it may possess the Medium, or depart, as it wishes.

Mental Bolt

The ability to project a blast of mental energy at any target within Abilityx5 yards and line of sight. The victim is immediately fatigued, with a recovery ability of Endurance, level equal to half the result of a Simple Roll, and severity of one hour. Until the target recovers, he must subtract half the level of the fatigue from all totals. It takes (20-Ability)x2 seconds to invoke this ability.

Negation

The negator enters a trance for (20-Ability) seconds, and creates a field in which all magical and psionic abilities are impeded. The field is centred on the negator's head, has a radius of Ability feet, and lasts for Ability minutes, although the negator may dissolve it at will. The field requires great concentration to maintain, and the negator may do nothing more complex than walk.

The negator must make a simple roll. Any magical or psionic ability used within or projected into the area must subtract half the result from its rolls. Any roll that exceeds the original roll is affected, but dispels the field.

Prescience

This ability allows the character to determine the 'fate' of a group, person, or item. There are three ways this ability can be used:

Passive: If the character is in immediate danger, a Threshold Roll against a difficulty of 14 will warn her. This warning is unspecific, but can wake a sleeping character.
Sense of Danger: The character enters a trance for about a minute, and tries to determine whether a particular area is safe. A Simple Roll determines how much information is gained.
Prescient Vision: The character enters a trance for (20-Ability) hours, and specifies the subject. A Simple Roll determines how much is revealed in the vision. The acting total may be reduced if the target is protected magically or some other way, and the vision may be obscure and allusive.

Psychometry

This ability allows the character to gain information from an object, either about the object itself or about its owners, makers, and users. The character must hold the object, decide on a question, and enter a trance for (20-Ability) minutes. She then makes a Simple Roll, the result determining what information she gets. A good roll will provide extra information related to the question asked.

Psychometry cannot divine the future, and works best for the present and recent past: penalties should be applied to the Simple Roll if information about the distant past is sought.

Pyrokinesis

The pyrokinetic can ignite any combustible, inanimate object by the power of thought. The object must be within Ability yards and line of sight, and it takes (20-Ability) seconds to start the flames. The pyrokinetic must make a Threshold Roll, with a difficulty depending on how flammable the target is. Something designed to burn, like tinder or a wick, has a difficulty of 10, while logs have a difficulty of 16. Once the fire has started, the pyrokinetic has no control over it.

Sensitivity

This ability makes the psi sensitive to psionic or magical residues and effects. It can be used in two ways:

Passive: If the character comes within Ability yards of a notable magical or psionic effect, a Threshold Roll against a difficulty of 14 will alert her to the fact, although it will give no other information.
Active: The character enters a trance for about 30 seconds, and makes a Simple Roll. Any magical or psionic effect, thing, or person within Ability yards may be detected: the level of the roll determines how effective the talent is.

Telekinesis

The character can move objects by mental power alone. Only whole objects can be moved, not parts. The object to be moved must weigh less than Ability lbs, and stay within Abilityx100 yards, and line of sight. Every second, the character makes a Simple Roll, and can move the object that many yards in that second. The talent takes (20-Ability)x3 seconds to invoke initially, and may be maintained for Ability seconds.

Telepathy

The power to transmit thoughts or emotions to other minds. The target must be within Ability leagues, although clarity decreases with range. The talent takes (10-Ability)x2 seconds to invoke, during which time the telepath concentrates on the thought or emotion. A Simple Roll determines how successful the transmission was.

The target must have an Aura of at least 11, and should be well known to the telepath. If he is not, apply a penalty of up to six to the simple roll. If anyone with the Sensitivity ability is near the target or the telepath when the ability is used, she may also receive the message.

Conversion

Hârnmaster psionics convert to DCS in the same way as normal abilities: assign a DCS Ability score equal to the Skill Index plus four.