Tuesday, April 30, 2013

FATE-ing Dawning Star - Species


First off, forgot in my last post I'm going to be breaking up Lore into three skills:
  • Knowledge: Generally knowing stuff like history, literature, etc. More of the humanities.
  • Medicine: Knowing how to heal people.
  • Science: Knowing how the universe works.

Like many science fiction settings, Dawning Star has a number of human-like and completely non-human alien species available as player characters. In the d20 setting these were primarily humanoid species that were some common science fiction tropes (a vaguely reptilian species, a vaguely insect species, a silicon based species, some androids, etc). There are in setting reasons for these species looking so humanoid and it all links together, but still, it feels a bit forced now. Early in the process of working on Dawning Star we talked about having more out there species, but we figured players would have a bit of a barrier playing intelligent floating squid species that communicate through flatulence. But now that we've got a setting of humanoid species that it's easy for people to identify with, I'm putting the weird back in.

Quick review for folks not familiar with Dawning Star: the core setting is a habitable planet named Eos that is colonized by one evacuation generation ship launched from Earth shortly before Earth is rendered uninhabitable by an asteroid impact. The ship, the Dawning Star, was part of an evacuation fleet of twenty ships, but they were dispersed across the galaxy by a alien wormhole device on the edge of the solar system. The Dawning Star ends up in a stellar system brimming with life, alien relics, ruins, sleeping evils, etc. The core setting on Eos is very humanocentric with one alien species, the velin (who look human like for very specific reasons), also present on Eos. Other species are present on other planets, but due to paranoia, lack of fuel, lack of common language, etc have not made contact with the humans on Eos who are busy trying to get their bearings on this new planet.

As part of the setting update for Dawning Star we're moving the time line forward five years and adding a big wild card to the setting in the form of a massive alien ship entering the system. Built by the most ancient civilization in the setting, this gateship the Utyi has become an ark for dozens of alien species threatened by the main villains of the setting, the vaasi. Among these refugees are the crew of another human evacuation ship, the Evergreen, that is now bolted to the Utyi and acts as it's bridge after the original bridge was destroyed in battle. So fifty years after colonizing Eos, just after they got enough farms running to feed everyone and all the colonists on the Dawning Star out of cryo, suddenly several million more hungry mouths show up on the door step of the Dawning Star Republic. And some of those mouths breathe methane and eat silicate proteins.

With the ranks of the alien hordes on the Utyi, I want to take Dawning Star from Star Trek level aliens (lots of obvious human-like species, weird foreheads, etc) to more Star Wars/Futurama territory where now there are dozens of alien species each with their own cultures, needs, beliefs, etc, all trying to live on one planet that cannot feed everyone. Originally Dawning Star was very Firefly/Indiana Jones with an undercurrent of Babylon 5 in the metaplot, and with the addition of the unwashed alien masses washing up on Eos I'm hoping to inject some District 9 to the mix.

So what does that mean for species mechanically?

species in FATE Core are best done as extras from what I've seen, and my personal preference is to create them with a minimum of adding aspects to a character. Having played Spirit of the Century, too many aspects can be a major problem and the base five of FATE Core seems like a good number; I don't want to get on a slippery slope of adding a bunch of aspects for every type of extra in the setting since by the end there will be weapons, armor, alien relics, spaceships, etc.

This leaves primarily skills and stunts to mechanically represent different species. Currently I'm thinking something like the following for the mechanical representation of a species:
  • The species must be noted in the High Concept of the character.
  • Each species gets 2 stunts and 2 skills at Average. Additional skill points spent on racial skills are added to this.
  • Some species may have additional stunts or skills, but offset those by taking penalties to other skills primarily negative aspects (though want to avoid this where possible)

These would be soft guidelines. So thus far the species I've worked up using these guidelines:

Humans
  • 1 Additional Fate chip per session
  • Start with Average Physique and Will

Velin
  • Holy Warrior: Gain +2 to attacks made against vaasi with traditional velin weapons
  • Vaasi Sense: You can use Awareness to detect vaasi with an opposition equal to the number of zones away the vaasi is. If successful the velin knows the distance and direction to the vaasi.
  • Start with Average Survival, Will, and Physique
  • Start with Poor Engineering and Computers

Tyran Saurian (large reptilian warrior caste)
  • Thick Hide: 1 armor against unarmed attacks
  • Teeth and Claws: Never count as unarmed due to natural weapons
  • Start with Average Physique and Fighting
  • An aspect relating to the large size (9+ feet tall) of the character

Haimedians (Plant People)
  • Carbon Dioxide Breather: Does not need to eat or breathe like most species.
  • Living Tech: Gain +2 when using biological technology to overcome an obstacle.
  • Start with Average Science and Medicine.

In addition each species would have a set of species specific stunts.

Sunday, April 28, 2013

A Song of Dirt and Wind - Google Doc

I've been working on A Song of Dirt and Wind in googledocs for awhile, and a commentor suggested putting all the docs into one, so I figured I would share my working doc.  It's got a lot of unedited stuff, half finished thoughts, etc, but everything is in there in slightly organized fashion.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1md_FwdymyQJb7w9BnFKS3fAvoRlgiVwgB_bWajlGOBY/edit?usp=sharing

FATE-ing Dawning Star


So one of the projects I've been working on lately is a new version of Dawning Star using the new FATE Core rules. In the grand scheme of things, this is not that difficult as FATE is a pretty modular system, but there are a few specific subsystems that I want to bring over from the original, d20 version of Dawning Star that don't map directly. Most of these are FATE extras in some capacity, but I want to tinker a bit more to make them more involved and to keep the number of aspects each character has from exploding. As I learned from Spirit of the Century (awesome game it is), too many aspects can be really really hard to keep track of.

For those not familiar with Dawning Star it's a firm tech pulp sci-fi setting where characters do lots of poking around in alien ruins, meeting strange species, and fighting ancient evils. You can find some samples and such on RPGnow.com.

Skills

First off, I think some additions and changes to the base skills list is in order, given the focus of the game. First off I think changing Crafts to be focused on low tech craftsmanship (bows, wooden structures, etc) would be a good idea. Someone who is a great velin spear maker should not be good at fixing spaceships. I would then add an Engineering skill to cover building and repairing more high tech stuff. Plus a large variety of stunts for focusing on different types of tech.

Drive works great for the myriad of ground vehicles available, but mounts are also a big thing so we'll also need a Ride skill that functions much the same. On top of that we'll need Pilot for spaceships and aircraft. I'm tempted to make another skill called Helmsman or something for capital ships, but I think Pilot will work. Systems is another new skill that is needed for controlling the various non-movement focused systems on a ship, like life support, sensors, etc. Using Shoot for spacebased weapons feels odd, so adding Gunnery to the list. This does mean a space character is going to have a lot of skills that are very space focused, thus may add some skills slots to the starting total.

Given the exploration themes of the game I think a Navigation skill for the game will be necessary along with a Survival skill. Survival could be used for some basic direction finding tasks, but Navigation is necessary for plotting water routes, slingshot courses to take advantage of gravity wells, etc.

Computers are a big part of the setting and have a skill for them makes sense. This skill could conceivably be an attack skill for hacking people's systems, but that seems like an unnecessary complication. Thus far Dawning Star has been more about people doing stuff in the real world.

I think psionics is going to need a skill of it's own as well with some special rules regarding how you learn it (for those not familiar with Dawning Star psionics are the ability to perceive a parallel information dense layer of reality called Red Truth where you can look at a table and see all the information about it, such as size, weight, who touched it last, if you are able to sort through it all). But a Red Truth skill is probably a good idea, especially since the potential for other truths are out there.
So the end result skill list, including the normal Fate Core skills, are:
  • Athletics – Overcome/Create an Advantage/Defend
  • Burglary – Overcome/Create an Advantage/Defend
  • Computers – Overcome/Create an Advantage/Defend
  • Contacts – Overcome/Create an Advantage/Defend
  • Crafts – Overcome/Create an Advantage/Defend
  • Deceive – Overcome/Create an Advantage/Defend
  • Drive – Overcome/Create an Advantage/Defend
  • Empathy – Overcome/Create an Advantage/Defend
  • Engineering – Overcome/Create an Advantage/Defend
  • Fight – Overcome/Create an Advantage/Attack/Defend
  • Gunnery – Overcome/Create an Advantage/Attack/Defend
  • Investigate – Overcome/Create an Advantage/Defend
  • Lore – Overcome/Create an Advantage/Defend
  • Navigation – Overcome/Create an Advantage/Defend
  • Notice – Overcome/Create an Advantage/Defend
  • Physique – Overcome/Create an Advantage/Defend
  • Pilot – Overcome/Create an Advantage/Defend
  • Provoke – Overcome/Create an Advantage/Attack/Defend
  • Rapport – Overcome/Create an Advantage/Defend
  • Red Truth – Overcome/Create an Advantage/Attack/Defend
  • Ride – Overcome/Create an Advantage/Defend
  • Resources – Overcome/Create an Advantage/Defend
  • Shoot – Overcome/Create an Advantage/Attack/Defend
  • Stealth – Overcome/Create an Advantage/Defend
  • Survival – Overcome/Create an Advantage/Defend
  • Systems – Overcome/Create an Advantage/Defend
  • Will – Overcome/Create an Advantage/Defend


Stunts

Obvious we'll need a ton of custom stunts for flying spacecraft, dealing with alien tech, surviving in different environments, etc. While players can obviously make up their own, I want to provide a good list of several score stunts to get the ideas rolling.


Race

Here's the first toughie, and it ties into difficulties with weapons, armor, and psionics since these are all extras by FATE Core. Because of that I think I'll hit that next time after I've had more time to turn it over in my head.   

Monday, April 22, 2013

A Song of Dirt and Wind: Mutations and Cybernetics


This is the text thus far for mutations and cybernetics in A Song of Dirt and Wind, which are complete in that they are functional but I would really like to have both more cybernetics and more mutations. I've also updated the psionics section I posted the other week to add more powers and more details to the rules.

Next time I'll start posting on my revamp work for Dawning Star 2.0 via FATE.

Mutations/Cybernetics

Mutations and cybernetics effectively use the same rules as they are both permanent modifications to the body that provide long term bonuses.  They are effectively new categories of Benefits that also include drawbacks and other factors. Mutations and cybernetics are both fundamental changes to the nature of a character’s body and thus not something they can easily adjust to; these are not mutations like an extra toe or a simple cybernetic replacement finger.  These mutations and cybernetics require years of adjustment, training, and therapy to use, thus they are not just equipment to be purchased and instead are gained with experience points/Destiny Points.  That said, mutations or cybernetics purchased after character creation should have some manner of in game explanation, such as developing a new mutation after sending several weeks in the deep wastes searching some ruins, or adding a cybernetic system recently taken from a defeated foe.  To purchase an implant or some manner of concoction that will let you develop a mutation should cost thousands of supply days with five thousand being a good ballpark number.  

In both the case of cybernetics and mutations, a healer is required to assist in this process.  For cybernetics this involves installing the device, while for mutations the healing arts are often needed to just survive the changes the mutant’s body is undergoing.  In both cases this usually requires at least a day and a Formidable Healing (12) Treat Injury check.  This process inflicts a wound on the subject that must  be healed normally. The target number increases by +3 for each additional cybernetic implant or mutation the subject gains.  If the Healing test fails the subject suffers two wounds and the mutation or cybernetic implant does not take; not in the case of implants this may leave the subject disfigured, such as lacking an arm or leg.  If the Healing test gets more than three successes the subject does not suffer a wound in the process.  Note the narrator may wish to ignore the wounds inflicted if the surgery is replacing an already missing limb.  

Mutations and cybernetics represent large, obvious, and powerful changes to a character’s body and cannot be easily hidden.  Cybernetics purchased with this system are not human looking limbs, but large metal monstrosities that may have been passed down for generations.  Similarly mutations are large, misshapen, and obvious. Generally speaking less obvious changes to a character’s body do not provide the benefits listed below, but if a character loses a limb or organ, they can get a simple, non-enhancing, base line cybernetic implant that is not so obvious and just replicates their original abilities.  In such case they need not buy a benefit for it; just find one in play along with a healer to install it.  If you wish your cybernetics or mutations to represent some manner of more subtle change but still have the mechanical benefits described below, purchase the Subtle Mutation or Subtle Cybernetics benefit below.  

Note that cybernetics only modify a portion of your body and thus may lead their owners to making poor choices due to this limitation.  For example a cybernetic arm may have the raw strength to pick up a car, but the rest of the human body definitely does not and a determined effort to do so may cause the arm to rip free of it’s moorings.  Narrator’s should be careful to pay attention to such limitations.  Mutations tend to affect the whole body, so such limitations are not such an issue.  

For every mutation benefit obtained, you reduce your composure by -1 but increase your health by +1.  As your body grows more twisted your mind begins to go, making it harder to deal with mental stress and driving you further towards the animalistic mutants who roam the wasteland.  Unless the Stable Mutation benefit is selected any character with mutant benefits is sterile.  

A character cannot have a combined total of mutations and cybernetic implants greater than his Endurance before he begins suffering problems.  Any more than this threatens the ability of the character’s body to deal with all the changes to it, each additional mutation or implant inflicting an injury on the character that cannot be healed until the character’s Endurance increases.  Note that normal, medical implants to just replace lost limbs or organs or incidental mutations do not count towards this total.

Cybernetics

Arm Cybernetic
Your arm has been replaced with one of steel, allowing you to crush your enemies in your literal iron grip.  
One of your arms has been replaced with a cybernetic arm.  You gain +1B to Strength, Climb, and Throw when using that arm and it is immune to normal heat and cold, allowing you to reach into fires without suffering harm.  You lose one point of Health, but gain one point of armor that does not stack with worn armor with a bulk of greater than 1.  Your arm is a large, steel construction that cannot be easily concealed without a cloak or other item that covers most of your body.  

Bone Reinforcement Cybernetic
Your bones have been seeded with a advanced mixture of metals, protein armor, and other hardening agents to make them more resilient to damage.
You may suffer an additional wound before being forced to concede; this does not decrease the penalties associated with wounds.  Your body is better able to support your cybernetic systems; bonuses from your cybernetic limbs may be added to any appropriate skill checks even if the  check involves your natural limbs, such as using your cybernetic arm to lift a heavy object that you need the rest of your body to support. You lose one point of Health, but gain one point of armor that does not stack with worn armor with a bulk of greater than 1.  Your joints become large and bony, making your implants obvious.  

Cogitator Cybernetic
Your brain has been enhanced with an onboard support computer, allowing you to perform calculations with blinding speed and never forget an important fact.  
You gain +1B to all Knowledge tests.   Your skull has ports across it’s base, requiring you to keep it shaved for easy access.  

Dermal Layering Cybernetic
The layers of your skin are interwoven with layers of kevlar, carbon fibers, and other resilient materials to make it especially difficult to cut you.  
You gain 3 points of armor, but when wearing armor with a Bulk of 1 or higher it only increases the worn armor by +1.  Your skin has a rubbery feel and has a number of unusual visible patterns due to the materials beneath the surface, making your skin look and feel unnatural.  Dermal layering does not decrease your Health or increase your armor like other implants.  

Filtration Cybernetic
All aspects of your internal organs are run through a complex filtration system, removing poisons, waste products, and other undesirable materials quickly and efficiently.  
You gain a +2B bonus to Endurance tests to resist poison, diseases, or other invasive materials that are inhaled, ingested, or injected.  This does not help you breath in environments where there is no oxygen or digest normally indigestible materials.  Your neck has a number of unnatural bulges to it and your heart and lungs tend to make unusual clicking and whirring noises.  

Eye Cybernetic
One or both eyes have been replaced with artificial versions, allowing you to see in a number of unusual spectrums but also giving your gaze a cold, inhuman quality.  
Your eyes include night vision, telescopic, and infrared options.  You do not suffer penalties due to darkness or penalties to Awareness checks due to distance.  Your cybernetic eyes are obvious, being silver with oversized black irises, plus they make a obvious whirring noise when you focus your vision on something.  

Leg Cybernetic
One of your legs has been replaced with a steel version, allowing you to kick with great force but giving you a unique gait.
When using your leg you gain +1B to Strength, Climb,  Jump, and Run.  Your cybernetic leg is also immune to normal fire and cold, so you can run across hot coals without difficulty.  You lose one point of Health, but gain one point of armor that does not stack with worn armor with a bulk of greater than 1.  Your leg is a large, steel device that cannot be easily concealed without a long coat or cloak, but even then it gives you an odd stumbling gait in addition to making your footfalls with it very loud.   

Lung Cybernetic
Your lungs have been replaced with artificial versions, allowing you to survive without outside sources of oxygen for some time.  
Your lungs carry an onboard oxygen storage tank that allows you to breathe for four hours without needing any external oxygen and also makes you immune to inhaled poisons during this time.  This system automatically activates any time low oxygen levels or hazardous materials are detected.  Your chest has obvious venting ports and extra bulges, making your implants difficult to hide without bulky clothing.  

Neural IO Port Cybernetic
Your mind has port allowing a direct link to computers and other machinery, allowing you a superhuman level of control of such devices.  
Your neural IO port also has slots you can use to hook directly into most computer systems, including those in vehicles, automated targeting systems, etc.  If such a link is established you gain +1B in any test using that item. Connecting or disconnecting from such a system requires a Greater action; just pulling out of a device without taking a Greater action inflicts an injury on you.  

Subtle Cybernetics Cybernetics
Your cybernetic implants are made of more advanced tech than most, allowing them to be concealed with minimal effort.  
Requirement: Requires the character already have a cybernetic implant, but does not count toward the number of cybernetic implants the character can have.  
Any internal cybernetic implants, such as lungs or filtration systems, are not detectable without surgery.  Any external implants, such as limbs or eyes, require an Challenging (9) Awareness test to detect.  They can be more effectively concealed by wearing bulky clothes, sunglasses, etc.  

Survival Implants Cybernetics
Your body contains a number of implants to improve your chances of surviving under extreme conditions, such as moisture collectors in your nose and special pigmentation in your skin to ward off sunburn.  
You gain a +1B bonus to resist any manner of natural environmental threat such as heat, cold, snow blindness, etc.  Also you can go an additional five days before suffering from starvation or dehydration.  You lose one point of Health, but gain one point of armor that does not stack with worn armor with a bulk of greater than 1.  Small sensor units stick out of your skin across your body and your skin has a constantly shifting pattern of pigments just beneath the surface.  

Targeting System Cybernetics
Your mind and sense have been improved with a suite of sensors and simple cogitators, allowing your to more effectively aim ranged weapons.  
You reduce any penalty due to range, cover, or lighting by 1D.  You also get a +1B bonus to any trick shots or called shots.  Your eyes have a striking silver hue to them and there are several data ports along the side of your skull, requiring you keep that area shaved.  

Water Adaptation Cybernetics
You have a series of implants across your body that enable you to survive in aquatic environments.  
You can breathe water and gain a +1D bonus to all Swimming checks through retractable webbing and water jets built into your extremities.  You can regulate your own buoyancy, allowing you to float or sink on demand.  You lose one point of Health, but gain one point of armor that does not stack with worn armor with a bulk of greater than 1.  Your skin has an odd blue hue, there are obvious gill slits on your torso, and small water jets poke through your skin on your limbs.  

Weapon Cybernetics
You have some manner of weapon built into your body, making it impossible to ever be completely disarmed.  
You have one weapon built into an appropriate limb, most likely your arm.  You must provide this weapon separately if you gain this advantage after character creation.  If selected at character creation you may select any weapon with a cost less than one thousand supply days.  Any weapon with the Adaptable, Two-Handed, Bulk, Unwieldy, or Slow traits may not be used. Any ammunition needed must be loaded into a slot locate on the implanted limb. Attacks with the weapon are made using the appropriate abilities and specialties. The weapon is normally stowed for concealment and not useable; making the weapon ready requires a Lesser action and makes the weapon impossible to hide. If the weapon implant is not being installed in an existing cybernetic limb you lose one point of Health, but gain one point of armor that does not stack with worn armor with a bulk of greater than 1.   If you already have a cybernetic limb you can house your weapon in that limb; doing so means this implant does not count towards the limit of how many implants you can have,  

Mutations

Beasthide Mutation
You have developed a hide similar to that of an elephant or alligator, making you far more resistant to injury than most humans.  
You have a natural armor rating of 5, but you also have an armor penalty of -2.  When wearing armor that provides a higher armor rating, the worn armor’s rating is increased by +2.  Your skin is thick, tough, and impossible to conceal without covering it from head to toe.  

Breaker Mutation
Your mutation has given you massively overdeveloped muscular tissue, granting you great strength..  
You gain a +1B bonus to Strength, Throw, and Climb.  Your muscles are vastly out of proportion to your frame, making you look top heavy and rendering anything but a whole body disguise ineffective.  

Cutter Mutation
Your mutation reaches back to your animal forebearers, causing a set of retractable claws to sprout from your hands and feet when threatened.  
You have a pair of retractable claws that you can use in melee combat using your Fighting (Claws) ability and specialty.  The claws inflict your Athletics in damage and have the Fast and Off-Hand +1 qualities.  Even when retracted, your claws make your hands look extremely meaty and malformed, though bulky gloves can conceal this.  

Dirteater Mutation
Your mutation has changed your digestive tract such that you can gain sustenance from almost any sort of organic matter and resist many of the harmful effects that this ability can lead to.  
You can eat any sort of organic material and gain sustenance from it, allowing you to only consume one supply day every other day and remain fully fed.  You also gain a +2B bonus to Endurance checks to resist any type of ingested, injected, or inhaled poison.  Your overdeveloped jaw and throat, needed to for chewing and swallow hard materials like wood, are a dead giveaway of your mutation.  

Everliving Mutation
Your body has developed an amazing healing rate, allowing you to recover from harm far faster than most people  Your body operates so effectively you age at a greatly reduced rate.  
You age at 1/10th the normal rate and gain a +3B bonus to any Endurance or Healing checks to heal.  Also you can spend a Greater action and a Destiny point to actively heal yourself, requiring an Routine (6) Endurance test. If successful you heal 1 health per success.  Your hair turns prematurely silver and does not take dye well, making it difficult to hide your mutation.  

Mentat Mutation
Your mind grown far larger than is normal for humans, unlocking hidden reserves of intelligence and computational skills.  
You gain +1B to Knowledge tests and two psionic power points.  Your skull has grown to fit your enhanced brain size, making your skull large and bulbous.  No normal hats fit your head.  

Stable Mutation Mutation
Your body has adapted well to your mutations and they do not affect you as adversely as they do others.  
Requirement: One mutation benefit.  
You can pass your mutation on to your children and will breed true unless you have children with another mutant with this trait.  You can gain one more mutation than normal for a character with your Endurance before you start suffering for it, and you gain one point of Composure.  

Subtle Mutation Mutation
Your mutations have developed in such a way that they are not obvious to the naked eye.
Requirement: One other mutation benefit.  
Your mutations cannot be detected without a physical inspection; someone touching your skin may detect your Beastskin mutation or your Cutter claws beneath your skin, but requires more than just looking.  

Survivor Mutation
Your body has adapted to the rigors of life in the Bonelands, allowing you to resist many of its more subtle threats while minimizing your need for food.  
You gain a +1B to Endurance tests to resist radiation and extremes of heat or cold.  Also you only need consume one supply day every other day to remain fully fed.  Your body always looks healthy and hearty, which is often out of place in the Bonelands since most people go hungry regularly.  

Techant
Your mind has changed such that you can more easily understand machines and how they work, enabling you to even speak modem when required.  
You gain +2B to all Technology tests and when engaged with machines in an intrigue they are always at worst Indifferent to you.  Unfortunately while you can relate well to machines, people are another matter; you suffer a -1D penalty to Persuasion checks made to seduce or charm.  Your skin has taken on a metallic sheen, making your mutation obvious when any of your flesh is visible.  

Underdweller
Your body has adjusted for life underground, allowing you to see in the dark and survive many of the minor afflictions present in subterranean areas, but these changes have forced a drastic change in your appearance.  
You suffer no penalties due to darkness and gain +2B to resist poison and disease.  You can survive on a diet of lichen and other simple subterranean fare, granting a +1D bonus to Survival tests made underground.  Unfortunately your offputting appearance, that of a pale cavedwelling ghoul, inflicts a -1D penalty on any Persuasion tests to seduce or charm and you suffer a -1D penalty when in brightly lit conditions if not wearing sunglasses or other visual protection.   

Thursday, April 18, 2013

Song of Dirt and Wind: Psionic Powers

More rules crunch for my post-apocalyptic hack of the Chronicle/Song of Ice and Fire rules system.  I hope to have a few more powers to post in a few days, but I figured this was a good start.

Updated with more powers and better defined rules.

Psychic Powers


While rituals require preparation and forethought, psychic powers are more freeform but have a high cost.  Psychic powers require the expenditure of Composure or Health or the suffering of injuries or wounds, representing the physical and mental cost of using psychic powers.  Various benefits can offset this damage.  Health and Composure damage suffered in such fashion heals at a rate of one point per hour unless other means are used; damage done to your mind and body by pushing both beyond their limits through sheer will can take some time to get over.  

Psionic powers are primarily concerned with affecting the minds of others and controlling kinetic forces.  Generally those powers that affect the mind inflict composure damage on the user, while those of a more physical nature inflict Health, while both can inflict injuries. Each psionic power, learned separately as a benefit, gives the character a general area of expertise, such as Pyrokinesis or Telepathy.  Some example uses of that power with target numbers and costs are included to give an idea of what those uses cost in terms of Health, Composure, Injuries, or Wounds.  Players and Narrators are encouraged to come up with other uses for the powers along these lines.  

Note that for campaigns that want more psionic powers without paying such a high price for them, the narrator could instead allow players to purchase the Psionic Vigor benefit below and gain double the normal psionic points, using those exclusively to generate psionic powers.  In such a campaign, two psionic points can be expended in place of an injury and four in place of a wound.  

Psionic Benefits

Combat Sense Ability
You have developed your senses to a superhuman degree, allowing you to perform feats of skill in combat that are beyond the limits of normal humans.
Requirement: Psionic 1+, Fighting 3+
  • 1 Health: As a Lesser action, you heighten your senses and reflexes, adding your Psionc level to your initiative checks for a number of rounds equal to your Psionic level.  .  
  • 2 Health: As a Lesser action, you can focus your senses to cut out interference, ignoring any penalties due to darkness for a number of rounds equal to your Psionic level.  
  • 3 Health: As a Lesser action, you may synchronize your senses and your muscles, making easy you to detect and avoid attacks.  You may add your Psionic level to your Combat Defense for a number of rounds equal to your Psionic level.  
  • Injury: As a Lesser action, you focus your senses outward and tune them to driving your attacks home with maximum efficiency.  You may add your Psionic level to all Fighting and Marksmanship tests for a number of rounds equal to your Psionic level.  
  • Wound: As a Lesser action you shut the world out except for you and your target, focusing all your will into striking that target.  You may add bonus dice equal to your Psionicspecialty to one Fighting test made on the same round.  

Cryokinesis Ability
You can use your mental powers to slow the motion of atoms, lowering the temperature of items with intense concentration.  
Requirement: Psionic 1+, Endurance 3+
  • 1 Health: As a Lesser action, you can lower the temperature around you, adding your Psionic level to any tests to resist heat or fire, and can chill drinks or food on command.  
  • 2 Health: As a Lesser action, you can condense water from the air around you, allowing you to generate one gallon of water per level of Psionic, or create a fog 10 yards across per Psionic level  if the area is already damp.  
  • 3 Health: As a Lesser action, you can freeze water or other liquids with a touch, freezing one gallon of liquid per Psionic level.  It may be used on living beings if they are helpless, inflicting one Health per Psionic level.  
  • Injury: As a Lesser action, you may freeze an object within ten yards per Psionic level, making it brittle and breakable.  If such a broken item is struck it’s Armor Value is decreased by your Psionic rank, and the target numbers of any Athletics tests to destroy the item are decreased by your Psionic rank.  
  • Wound: As a Greater action, you may freeze the internal fluids of a living being within ten yards per Psionic level.  This requires a Will (Psionic) test against the target’s Intrigue defense.  This is treated as an attack with a damage equal to your Psionic level that ignores armor.  

Dream Walking
You may enter the dreams of others, communicating with them, or helping or hindering their sleep.  
Requirement: Psionic 1+, Cunning 3+
Note Dream Walking can only be used on targets that are actually asleep and you too must be asleep.  This psionic power may only be used out of combat, and generally requires at least half an hour to get into a deep enough sleep to reach the proper dreaming level.  
  • 1 Composure: You may view the dreams of others known to you within 100 yards per Psionic rank and can communicate with them.  You must know the target’s name and location, or be able to see them.  
  • 2 Composure: Your communication range increases to 1000 yards per Psionic level, and you can choose to aid in the sleeping process of your target.  This adds your Psionic level the Healing or Endurance test to heal injuries or wounds made by that character.  
  • 3 Composure: Your communication range increases to 1 mile per Psionic level, and you can choose to hinder the sleeping process of your target. This requires a Will (Psionic) test against the Intrigue Defense of the target; if successful the target suffers a penalty to Cunning, Will, and Awareness tests equal to your Psionic level until he gets a good night’s sleep.  
  • Injury: Your communication range increases to 10 miles per Psionic level, and you can actively stop characters from sleeping.  This requires a Will (Psionic) tests against the Intrigue Defense of the target; if successful the target is treated as not having slept.  Note characters can go a number of days equal to their Endurance without sleep without penalty, but after that they suffer -1D to all tests per day without sleep and will eventually collapse once their penalty equals their Endurance.  
  • Wound: You can actively hurt people by putting them in nightmares so frightful they have a heart attack.  Once per night you may make a Psionic (Will) test against the target’s Intrigue defense.  This is treated as an attack that inflicts damage equal to your Psionic level; with a good roll you may force an Injury or Wound on the target.

Empathy
You can both sense the emotions of others and project your own onto them.  
Requirement: Psionic 1+, Persuasion 3+
  • 1 Composure: As a Lesser action, you can sense the emotions of others, granting you a bonus to Intrigue Defense equal to your Psionic level when engaged in an intrigue.  
  • 2 Composure: As a Lesser action, you can project your emotions onto others with a successful Will (Psionics) check against their Intrigue Defense within 10 yards per Psionic level.  If successful you gain a bonus to Persuasion tests equal to your Psionic level.  
  • 3 Composure: As a Lesser action, you can use your ability to project emotions to assist others in making Persuasion tests.  
  • Injury: As a Greater action, you may instill great hope in your allies.  You may seek to rally a unit’s morale, adding your Psionic level to any attempts to issue the unit a Organize, Rally, or Regroup order for a number of rounds equal to your Psionic level.  If used on a single target, that target can ignore penalties due to Injuries and Wounds equal to your Psionic level for a number of rounds equal to your Psionic level.  
  • Wound: As a Greater action, you can instill great fear in your enemies.  If used on a unit make an attack against the unit using your Will (Psionic) against a target number equal to (21-the unit’s Discipline).  If successful the unit suffers Health damage equal to your Psionic level, but this damage heals at one Health per round.  If used on a single target make a Will (Psionic) attack against the target’s Intrigue Defense.  This is treated as an attack with damage equal to your Psionic level; if this attack only inflicts Health damage, that damage heals at one Health per round.

Psi-Baffler
You are able to cancel out the use of psionic powers in others.  
Requirement: Psionic 1+, Will 3+
  • 1 Health: As  Lesser action, you can scan the surrounding area for psionic activity.  You can detect if Psionic powers are in use within 10 yards per Psionic level.  This lasts for ten minutes per Psionic level.  
  • 2 Health: As a Lesser action, if you know Psionic activity is occurring in an area you can pinpoint the source with a Formidable (12) Will (Psionic) test if the target is within 10 yards per Psionic level.  .  
  • 3 Health: As a Lesser action, deflect psionic attacks made against you.  For one round per Psionic level, against psionic based attacks increase your appropriate defense by your Psionic level.  
  • Injury: As a Greater action, you can target an individual within 10 yards per Psionic level with psionic feedback.  Roll your Will (Psionic) against theirs; if you win they suffer an additional point of Health or Composure each time they use a psionic power.  This lasts for one round per Psionic level.  
  • Wound: As a Greater action you establish a psionic dead zone around you, reaching 10 yards per Psionic level.  Any Psionic power activated in that area, including your own, has it’s Psionic level reduced by your Psionic level.  If this reduces the power’s Psionic level to 0, the power does not function.  If it is above 0, the power functions at suitably reduced effectiveness. This dead zone lasts for one round per Psionic level.  


Psionic Training 1 Ability
You have been trained in the use of psionic powers, making them much less dangerous for you to use.  
Requirement: Will 4+, Psionic 2+
You reduce the damage inflicted by psionic powers by one point of Health or Composure, but this has no effect on Injuries or Wounds inflicted.  

Psionic Training 2 Ability
You have mastered the concentration needed to activate your psionic powers without harming yourself through intense focus.  
Requirement: Will 5+, Psionic 3+, Psionic Training 3
You reduce the damage inflicted by psionic powers by two points of Health or Composure, but this has no effect on Injuries or Wounds inflicted.  

Psionic Vigor 1 Ability
The development of your psionic powers allows you to use them without harming your mind or body.  
Requirement: Will 3+, Psionic 1+
You gain two psionic points that can be expended instead of Composure or Health to power psionic abilities.  

Psionic Vigor 2 Ability
You have unlocked previously untapped resources of your mind, allowing you to channel more psionic power.  
Requirement: Will 4+, Psionic 2+, Psionic Vigor 1
You gain two more psionic points that can be expended instead of Composure or Health to power psionic abilities. Also you may spend three psionic power points to reduce an Injury suffered from using a psionic power to inflicting three Health.  

Psionic Vigor 3 Ability
You have reached a level of mental mastery few every even perceive, letting you bend the world around you while suffering little for the effort.  
Requirement: Will 5+, Psionic 3+, Psionic Vigor 2
You gain two more psionic points that can be expended instead of Composure or Health to power psionic abilities. Also you may spend fivepsionic power points to reduce an Wound suffered from using a psionic power to inflicting an Injury..  
Psychic                                                           Ability
You have some inkling of psychic talent with enough raw ability to turn it into something more.
You can learn other benefits that allow you to learn specific psychic powers.  You add your Psionic specialty rank to your Awareness tests.  

Psychometabolic
You are able to control your body through force of will, changing the needs of your body and its limits with a thought.  
Requirement: Psionic 1+, Healing 3+
  • 1 Health: As a Lesser action, you can marshal your regenerative powers, adding your Psionic level to Endurance tests for natural healing or Healing test made to tend to your wounds.
  • 2 Health: As a Lesser action, you can push back the forces of Fatigue, reducing any penalties due to lack of sleep by a number of dice equal to your Psionic level.  
  • 3 Health: As a Lesser action you can focus your energies on purging your system of impurities, adding your Psionic level to any Endurance or Healing tests to resist the effects of poison or disease.  
  • Injury: As a Greater action you can focus your will towards accelerating your natural healing rate.  With a Formidable (12) Will (Psionic) test you can heal one wound.  
  • Wound: As a Greater action you can push past your wounds to keep acting when your body would otherwise fail.  With a Formidable (12) Will (Psionic) test you can remain active for one round per success when you have suffered enough Wounds to render you defeated, but doing so increases the target numbers of any attempts to heal you by the number of rounds you remained active.  

Psychometry
You can sense the psychic impressions left on physical objects or locations by those who come into contact with them and the actions these items or places are witness to.  
Requirement: Psionic 1+, Knowledge 3+
Note this power only works when you are in physical contact with the item or location to be sensed.
  • 1 Health: As a Greater action, you can sense the single most important person to hold the item in question or the single most important act it was used in.  
  • 2 Health: As a Greater action, you can sense who were the most recent people to hold the item, up to a number of people equal to your Psionic level.  
  • 3 Health:  As a Greater action, you can sense the last tasks the item was used in, up to your Psionic level in tasks.  
  • Injury: As a Greater action, you can see a number of important events in an item’s history equal to your Psionic level.  Doing this multiple times allows you to stack events, letting you reach deeper and deeper into an item’s past.  
  • Wound: As a Greater action, You can sense the entire history of an item, allowing you to discern any owner, any act it was used in, and search them easily via time, importance, emotion, type of action, etc.  

Pyrokinesis
You can use your mental grip on molecules to agitate them, causing them to heat up and even burst into flame with nothing but willpower.  You can also suppress this agitation, but not so much as to actively create cold.  
Requirement: Psionic 1+, Agility 3+
  • 1 Health: As a Lesser action, you can heat the area around you, granting you a bonus to resist cold equal to your Psionic level and you can heat up food on demand.  
  • 2 Health: As a Lesser action, you can light small fires with flammable materials, like firewood or paper.  You can keep a small torch level light burning in your hand indefinitely, providing light similar to a torch.  You can immediately put yourself out if you catch on fire.  
  • 3 Health: As a Lesser action, you can suppress fires within a number of yards equal to 10 yards per Psionic level.  This requires a Will (Psionic) test against the Catch on Fire target number for the fire.  If successful the fire goes out immediately.  
  • Injury: As a Lesser action, you can wreath your hands, or items in your hands, in fire.  This will burn or melt items that are not strong enough to resist fire, like wooden weapons, though your hands are immune.  This increases the damage of any attacks made by your Psionic level and any target of a successful attack must succeed in a Routine (6) Agility test or catch on fire.  This lasts for a number of rounds equal to your Psionic level.  
  • Wound: As a Greater action, you can cause fire to spontaneously erupt from anywhere within 10 yards per psionic level.  Against inanimate objects they automatically catch on fire.  Against living beings make a Will (Psionic) test against the target’s Combat Defense; treat this as an attack with damage equal to your Psionic level.  That target must make a Formidable (12) Agility test or catch on fire but suffers a penalty equal to your Psionic level.  .  

Remote Viewing
You can see distant locations, including the past if you are powerful enough.  
Requirement: Psionic 1+, Awareness 3+
  • 1 Composure: As a Greater action, you can view locations up to 100 yards away per Psionic level if you know the location, have someone describe it to you, or know any item or person in the location.  You cannot hear anything at the target location.  The viewing lasts for one round per Psionic level.
  • 2 Composure: As a Greater action, you can view locations up to 1 mile away per Psionic level if you know the location or have someone describe it to you, or know any item or person in the location.  You can hear what is happening at the target location.  The viewing lasts for one minute per Psionic level.  
  • 3 Composure: As a Greater action, you can view locations up to 100 miles away per Psionic level if you or anyone you can touch know the location or an item or person in the location.  If you view a person or item, you know their exact distance and direction from your current position.  Anyone you touch may also see what you see.  The viewing lasts for ten minutes per Psionic level.  
  • Injury: As a Greater action you can create psionic bugs that you can always sense the location of and view regardless of distance.  You can only have a number of psionic bugs active at a time equal to your Psionic level.  
  • Wound: As a greater action you can view locations up to 1000 miles away per Psionic level and up to ten years in the past per Psionic level, but you must know a specific time frame you want to look at.  The viewing lasts for up to one hour per Psionic level.  

Technopathy
You are able to interface with machines on an instinctual level, communicating with them as if you were a machine as well.
  • 1 Composure: As a Lesser action, you can tune yourself into the operation of a computer or other device you can touch such that you can use it regardless of language difference or unusual inputs, such as telepathic controls.  This lasts for ten minutes per Psionic level.  
  • 2 Composure: Asd a Lesser action, you can focus your psionic talents on a single device, adding your Psionic bonus to tests involving a single specialty of Technology.  This lasts for ten minutes per Psionic level.  
  • 3 Composure: As a Lesser action, you can set yourself into a technological trance, granting you a bonus to all Technology tests equal to your Psionic level for ten minutes per Psionic level.  
  • Injury: As a Greater action, you can convince machine or device to keep running even when it should be nonfunctional.  This restores a number of Health to the target item equal to your Psionic level, or can remove one Wound from the target device.    
  • Wound: As a Greater action you can work to sabotage any technologically complex item using your psionic gifts.  You can make an attack against the device using your Will (Psionic) skill, inflicting your Will +4 in damage that ignores armor.  This has a range of 10 yards per Psionic level.  

Telekinesis
You can move objects with a thought, acting on a larger scale than most other psionic powers by moving entire objects instead of just moving molecules.  
Requirement: Psionic 1+, Athletics 3+
  • 1 Composure: As a Lesser action, You can move loose items weighing less than a pound at a rate of speed of 10 yards per round per Psionic level.  You can move the item for one round per Psionic level and can only affect items within line of sight and 100 yards per Psionic level.  
  • 2 Composure: As a Lesser action, You can nudge yourself upwards when leaping, climbing, or lifting, granting you a bonus to Athletics checks equal to your Psionic skill.  This lasts for one minute per Psionic level.  
  • 3 Composure: As a lesser action you can lift a single item weighing up to ten pounds per Psionic level at a rate of speed of 50 yards per round per Psionic level.  If you use this to throw items, you use your Will (Psionic) as the attack skill and your Will in place of Athletics or Agility for determining damage.  
  • Injury: As a lesser action, you can shield yourself with an aura of telekinetic energy, increasing your Armor Value by your Psionic level.  This lasts for one round per Psionic level.  
  • Wound: As a Greater action you can release a bolt of telekinetic force capable of smashing doors and crushing opponents.  This is treated as an attack using Will (Psionic) against the target’s Combat Defense and inflicting Health damage equal to your Will+2, but armor is effective against this attack.  If used to break an object use your Will (Psionics) instead of Athletics to see if the target item breaks.  

Telepathy
You can read the thoughts of others and project your thoughts to them.  
Requirement: Psionic 1+, Will 3+
  • 1 Composure:As a Free action, you can project a single sentence or image into a target you can see or you know within 100 yards per Psionic level.  
  • 2 Composure: As a Lesser action you can attempt to read the thought of an unwilling target with a Will (Psionic) test against their Intrigue Defense.  Each success nets you one surface thought.  The target is not aware of what is happening.  
  • 3 Composure: As a Greater action, you can link up a number of people equal to your Psionic level, allowing them to all instantaneously communicate silently as long as they remain within 100 yards per Psionic level.  They must be willing participants and must be known to you or within line of sight.  This lasts for ten minutes per Psionic level.  
  • Injury: As a Greater action you can try and root around in the memories of a target to find thoughts deeper than surface thoughts.  This requires a Will (Psionic) test against the target’s Intrigue Defense; if successful you can extract one memory per success.  The target is aware something has stirred up his memories.  
  • Wound: As a Greater action, you can fire a bolt of telepathic pain at a target using your Will (Psionic) in an attack against the target’s Intrigue Defense.  The attack inflicts your Will-2 in both Health and Composure damage but ignores armor.