S&P Psionics Revision v1.2 By: Michael Brown (mikeyb@thurston.ME.Berkeley.EDU) Steven Cox (slight@bev.net) With the release of the the Player's Option: Skills & Powers rulebook, as well as the revised Dark Sun campaign setting, AD&D gamers were presented with a revision of the existing psionic rules. Unfortunately, despite the inherent potential in the ideas posed by S&P, there were some errors that needed to be corrected before the revision could be put into test. Psionic Attacks Probably the most glaring mistake was concerned with the revised psionic attack forms. Originally, the five "telepathic attack modes" enabled access to an opposing psionicist's mind by establishing tangents, or a "three-fingered contact". Now, before one gains access to a psionicist's mind, one must totally batter their defenses down, shown as reducing their PSP scores to zero. With this change, tho, appears the problem. In most cases, the attacks require a higher PSP expenditure to establish than the attacks took away from the defender! Ego Whip: 4 PSPs/1d6 PSPs damage (average 4/3.5) Id Insinuation: 6 PSPs/1d8 PSPs damage (average 6/4.5) Mind Thrust: 2 PSPs/1d4 PSPs damage (average 2/2.5) Psionic Blast: 10 PSPs/1d12 PSPs damage (average 10/6.5) Psychic Crush: 8 PSPs/1d10 PSPs damage (average 8/5.5) As shown, the average attack will cost more PSPs that the attack will take away from the opposed psionicist. The surest way to lose in psionic combat is to participate! This has some real-world similarities (such as the Cold War- era MADD doctrine), but have a gaming combat system that *discourages* combat isn't that fun! Was this a conceptual design error with the psionics revision? We would think not, as its such a huge problem that its near- inconceivable that any playtester could let it slip. Hopefully the mistakes were a simple typographical error (but its doubtful!) Presented below is our suggested "patch" for the S&P psionics rules. They're quickly listed, but below them we present some of the math worked thru to mentally test the fix. Ego Whip: 4 PSPs/2d6 PSPs damage (average 4/7) Id Insinuation: 6 PSPs/2d8 PSPs damage (average 6/9) Mind Thrust: 2 PSPs/2d4 PSPs damage (average 2/5) Psionic Blast: 10 PSPs/2d12 PSPs damage (average 10/13) Psychic Crush: 8 PSPs/2d10 PSPs damage (average 8/11) There were two points to cover concerning this revision. The first is the necessity to make these psionic attacks cost-efficient. There is simply no psionicist in his right mind who would use the attacks as presented in S&P. If a psionic attack is going to be employed, it would have to make a "PSP profit", and in most cases, a sizable profit. As shown above, every attack now will do more PSP damage than it costs to utilize. The chance of "going into the black" is still present. For example, a lowly score of 2 can be rolled when using Ego Whip, but along the same line, a score of 12 could be rolled as well. Second, given the fact that a psionicist may pick which psionic attacks they gain as they advance levels, some incentive has to be in place to make the lower-powered attacks more tempting to use. This was accomplished by the downward bell-curve of PSP "profit" with the more powerful attacks. Here are some numbers to toss around: Ego Whip: 75% profit average 16% not profitable Id Insinuation: 50% profit average 24% not profitable Mind Thrust: 250% profit average 6% not profitable Psionic Blast: 30% profit average 31% not profitable Psychic Crush: 37% profit average 28% not profitable For example, Ego Whip does an average 7 PSPs of damage per 4 PSP expenditure (75% profit). To be "non-profitable", one would have to do 2-4 PSPs of damage, which occurs only 16% of the time. As the maximum amount of PSP damage per power rises, the profitability lowers and the chance to be non-profitable increases. While its the better tactic to try to drain the opposing psionicist's PSPs as quickly as possible, using a slower psionic attack has its advantages. But this bring to light another problem. Now that the cheaper attacks are comparatively better than their higher-cost cousins, what is stopping the psionicist from not even bothering with the more expensive powers? For example, why invest 20 PSPs (or 2 "units" of PSPs) into Psionic Blast when one could invest 20 PSPs (10 "units") into Mind Thrust and get better results? One method to prevent this abuse is to put a PSP unit cap on each power, something like 4 units per round. As such, a better power like Mind Thrust is topped off at 8 PSPs, while the more difficult power of Psionic Blast could throw 40 PSPs around in a single round! This reduces the min/maxing abuse inherent in the revision, while also slowing down high-level psionic combat. Do we really want to see a 200 PSP Mind Thrust utilized? As an alternate method of dealing with the min/maxing problem (and if you are willing to do the math), you could have each additional "unit" of PSP damage rise in cost exponentially. For example: Mind Thrust: 2 PSPs/2d4 PSPs damage 4 PSPs/4d4 PSPs damage 8 PSPs/6d4 PSPs damage 16 PSPs/8d4 PSPs damage... and so on. Or you may want to use "cost stacking" in which the cost of succeeding attacks is the sum of the previous attacks For example: Mind Thrust: 2 PSPs/2d4 PSPs damage 6 PSPs/4d4 PSPs damage 12 PSPs/6d4 PSPs damage 20 PSPs/8d4 PSPs damage... and so on. These two options remove the need for the artificial PSP "cap", allowing high-level psionicists to do some serious damage in a single round (but at a terribly inefficient cost ratio). Sometimes speed is worth it! Psionic Defenses Another problem is with the psionic defenses. Many gamers have noticed that it's 40-60% likely that any given psionic defense will make one *more* likely to take damage from a psionic attack! The below numbers are an attempt at making all the attacks, no matter their comparative power, be a better defense than *no* defense! Note: These numbers are bonuses to the user's bases MAC - for example, using Tower of Iron Will against Mind Thrust grants a +10 MAC (!) Thought Mind Mental Intellect Tower of Shield Blank Barrier Fortress IronWill Mind Thrust 10 0 5 9 10 Ego Whip 0 5 10 9 8 Id Insinuation 0 10 7 3 7 Psychic Crush 4 3 2 7 9 Psionic Blast 1 3 4 6 7 New suggested costs: 1/2/3/4/5 for Thought Shield to Tower of Iron Will, in that order. Statistically, this scheme has the attack modes meeting less and less average defense (6.8/6.4/5.4/5/4.2) as they power up. The average defense provided by each power increases with cost: (3/4.2/5.6/6.8/8.2). First, to explain/remind as to how the attack modes work: Mind Thrust: This mental attack is representative of the psi forming physical "attacks" with his mind; forming mental swords, blasts of fire, etc, and sticking his opponent with them. Ego Whip: This attack literally beats the target's emotions into paste; smashing him with waves and symbols of despair, anguish, anger, and drowning him in misery. It is the manifestation of "pure" emotion. The Dark Sun supplement, The Will and the Way, suggests harbingers like the Slave (despair), or the Templar (betrayal). Id Insinuation: This attack mode is often described as the equivalent of a "mental poison"; when it strikes it sickens and weakens the target's will and self-image, allowing his subconscious to run rampant and, as noted in the Psionicist's Handbook, "driving him crazy". Id insinuation often takes the form of a poisonous gas or serpent-like monster; sneaking around the psi's defenses or driving a poisonous fang right through them. Psychic Crush: The psionicist generates "overwhelming forces" to smash his enemy's mind. This is another relatively "physical" attack, taking the form of giant boulders, behemoth-type monsters, natural disasters like earthquakes in the mental landscape, etc. Psionic Blast: The most devastating attack mode is the ever-popular Psionic Blast, which generates a ferocious burst of mental energy and can take, reasonably, any "physical" form; a hail of missiles, a blast of dragon's breath, etc. Dark Sun gives Psionic Blast the attributes of a vicious beast which tears and shreds the target into gory bits. The defining characteristic of this attack is the power behind it; the only real way to protect against it is to have as powerful a defense as possible. The more expensive the defense mode, the better defense it provides. That established, we move to the defenses, and why they were structured as they were: Thought Shield: This defense mode generates "physical armors" for the psionicist's mental personae. This provides excellent defense against Mind Thrust's physical attacks (sword vs shield); and some against Psychic Crush (also physical). It doesn't really have any application to protecting the user's emotions, so it provides no defense against Ego Whip, and the poisons of Id Insinuation just slip past the armor. Psionic Blast just overpowers it completely, although the physical armor helps a tiny, tiny bit. Note: unlike the presentation of the Psionicist's Handbook, Thought Shield is the weakest defense, not Mind Blank (which, as a defense technique, has more utility). Mind Blank: This defense mode "hides" the mind; clouding it in a confusing landscape - forests, a thick fog, darkness, etc. This provides good defense against Ego Whip, since the mind is "hiding in the closet" and the "door" muffles the attack. Id Insinuation is totally foiled because it can't find the right place to "bite". The hiding technique isn't as effective against the physical attacks - Psychic Crush defeats it easily because of the "size" of the crushing attack (sure, you're hiding in that copse of trees, but what good does that do when a landwhale is smashing the whole thing down?). Mind Thrust's directness punches right through deception, and hiding from it will do one absolutely no good. Hiding might protect you from Psionic Blast a little, but its harbingers either smash the entire hiding place at once, or, as "animals", can hunt through it. Mental Barrier: This is the "concept" defense - the psionicist fills his mind with a powerful and consuming thought, like "Truth" or "Pure Will" or even "Hatred" or "Denial" - you name it. This provides great defense against the "emotional" attack of Ego Whip (which is snuffed). Id Insinuation's poisons can't find purchase - a mind focused on "Truth" transcends its subconsciousness and can't be dislodged - one that is denying the attack's very existence renders the poisons feeble. Mental Barrier is a reasonably powerful defense, and the power behind it even mitigates the ferocity of Psionic Blast to some degree; calming the beast within, so to speak - but not very much. Mental Barrier provides good strength against Mind Thrust as well, due to its "overpower" and the fact that these concepts, given form, somewhat confound the weaker, direct attacks of Mind Thrust. How can one "stab" the Truth? Unfortunately, Mental Barrier is confounded utterly by Psychic Crush, which literally "squishes" the defender along with his petty concepts..... Intellect Fortress: This defense girds the psionicist into the fleshly form of an incredibly tough monster - a "living fortress". An ironwood tree, a Dragon Turtle, Dinosaur, Tarrasque, a giant Beetle are all good examples of the Fortress constructs. These provide great defenses against all "physical" harbingers, and the "living" nature of the beasts bolsters the psionicist against Ego Whip. Id Insinuation is its weakness - poison goes right to the heart of the living beast. Tower of Iron Will: This is the ultimate in defense - building a lonely, desolate fortification, strong walled and hard to reach. The psionicist puts his psyche deep in the center of this haven. This defense takes the form of Castles, or lonely Towers. This protects against *everything* - the hidden mind is protected from Ego Whip, "physical" attacks fail against its ramparts. It is weakest against Psionic Blast (strong attack) and Id Insinuation (which can form poisonous vapors and slip in the "windows" or find a hidden entrance - but not easily). Charp System for Psionicists One consistent complaint about the S&P revision of psionicists was the neglect to include the charp system rules for that class which the rest of the book presented. The following are my suggestions for implementing such a charp system for psionicists. Note: it would take an extensive list to fully upgrade S&P to use a charp psionicist - in cases where the rules might be unclear, consider a psionicist follows the guidelines for rogues. Also, DM's should feel free to add new charp purchasable skills/restrictions as necessary, as this is a very customizable part of the entire character creation process. Psionicists (beginning charps: 40) The standard psionicist purchases access to disciplines (25), psionic attacks/defenses (5), followers (5), and saving throw bonus (5). Access to Disciplines (5-25): It costs 5 points per discipline to which the psionicist has access. For example, if the psionicist wanted access to 4 disciplines, it would cost 20 charps. The standard psionicist purchases all 5 disciplines for 25 charps. Psionic Attacks/Defenses (5): Psionicists who purchase this ability gain psionic attacks and defenses automatically by level advancement. The rate of acquisition is listed in S&P, p.154, Table 80 1d8 for Hit Points (10): Psionicists with this ability use 1d8 to determine their hit points instead of 1d6. Followers (5/10): By purchasing this skill, a psionicist can gain followers as described in the Complete Psionics Handbook if he builds a sanctuary and is at least 9th level. If this is purchased as a 10 point ability, the fighter can attract followers whenever he establishes a sanctuary, regardless of level. Saving Throw Bonus (5): Psionicists with this ability gain a +2 bonus to all saving throws vs enchantment/charm spells. Warrior Hit Point Bonus (5): A psionicist with this ability can enjoy the benefits of a high Con score as if he were a fighter. For example, a psionicist with Con 18 would gain 4 bonus hp instead of 2. Armored Psionicist (15): This psionicist can use his abilities while wearing the armor of his choice. Weapon Specialization (15): The psionicist can specialize in a particular weapon. The charp cost for gaining proficiency and specialization in the weapon must be met in addition. Discipline Focus (10): The psionicist's MTHAC0 scores in his primary discipline are increased by +2. Combat Bonus (10): A psionicist with this ability uses the priest's THAC0 table. Optional Restrictions No Weapons/Armor (5): The psionicist may not use any weapons or armor. Limited Magical Item Use (5+): A psionicist with this restriction disdains enchanted items as a crutch for the weak and refuses to use certain categories of magical items. For each barred category, he receives 5 charps. The categories are: potions, oils, and scrolls; rings, rods, staves, wands, and miscellaneous magical items; all magical weapons and armor. Note that Contact (ie - psionic attacks) have been changed over to be a class ability, not treated as a nonweapon proficiency (an ill-fated idea, IMO). When dealing with Wild Talents, it is suggested to allow them to use charps from their true class to purchase the psionicist Psionic Attacks/Defenses ability, and to spend additional 5 charp increments in the future to gain additional attacks (ie- Wild Talents don't follow the true psionicist's attack/defense acquisition rate, but must purchase them when able). Here are the suggested charp cost/relevant stats for the psionicist's NWPs: Name NWP cost Init Rating Harness Subconscious 4 5 (Wisdom/Willpower) Meditative Focus 3 7 (Wisdom/Willpower) Rejuvenation 3 6 (Wisdom/Willpower) Mental Armor 3 5 (Wisdom/Willpower) Miscellaneous The S&P psionics revision created further problems, some of which are unnoticed until studied with a careful eye. Presented below are some conceptual errors that need to be changed to make the system playable. Stealthy Psionicists: The changes to the nature of psionic contact appears to have drastically weakened the psionicist when it comes to making contact quietly and without notice. Back in the Psionics Handbook, the psionicist could enter a victim's mind without notice using the Contact power. Under S&P rules, the only method to enter a victim's mind is by psionic attack. As described in the Psionics Handbook, contact by psionic attack feels "like a tiger has unsheathed its claws in your head". This is about as far from subtle as possible! How could powers such as Daydream, False Sensory Input, and Invisibility operate, when their surprise factor highly reduced or simply eliminated? While contact will always present itself as a sudden mental pain (probably best compared to a headache, perhaps migraine level), this does not necessarily point towards psionic intrusion. Since psionics is rare in most campaigns, it's very unlikely that a sudden headache will be linked to a psionic attack. Given the general state of health of the average medieval citizen, headaches were probably a quite common occurrence. DMs may want to handle whether or not targets of contact recognize the attempt as contact in a similar method as adjudicating illusions. Clever psionicists will disguise their contacts with other painful activities. An earsplitting noise, a whack on the head, or even telling the victim he's been given a drug. Anything to give the victim a reason to suspect that the sudden headache is being caused by normal circumstances, or at least abnormal circumstances that don't relate to psionics! For players of psionic characters who wish to bring back the truly stealthy psionicist, you might want to allow psionic attacks with a -5 to -10 MTHAC0 modifier to establish contact without causing an obvious mental pain. A subtle contact shouldn't be easy - part of the spirit of the new rules is that no psionicist can manipulate a victim's mind without some tell-tale clues. Remember that one of the main complaints about the Psionics Handbook was that the powers were *too* stealthy! Closing An Opened Mind: The S&P psionics revision has made it much easier for non-psionicists to protect themselves with the ability to close an opened mind. However, this reduces the effectiveness of psionic powers that normally have long durations, such as Fate Link. The problem can be solved by redefining the effects of closing an opened mind. Closing one's mind: 1) prevents the activation of any new telepathic powers against the target, until the mind is re-opened. 2) exercising any active powers already established. In other words, passive powers such as Fate Link that have been "implanted" into a victim will not be severed even if the victim manages to close his mind. Even active powers such as Domination that have been implanted will not be severed, but no active control can penetrate the closed mind. In many ways, this is similar to the effect of a Protection from Evil spell. Powers remain in place if the psionicist continues to pay maintenance costs, as the psionicist has a "foot in the door". When and if the target's mind is re-opened, the implanted powers can again be accessed and controlled. Example: A Dominated victim could not be controlled after the he manages to re-close his mind, but, if the maintenance costs are paid, the psionicist won't have to reactivate Dominate once he re-opens the target's mind. Level Modifications: It has been suggested that a system be installed that makes it more difficult to resist higher-level psionicists. This problem is present throughout the AD&D system, and has finally been touched upon by the presentation of Saving Throw Modifications by Level, new rules presented within the DMs Option: High Level Campaigns sourcebook (table 36, p.143). For example, let's consider a 7th level fighter attempting to close his mind from the intrusions of a 12th level psionicist. When the fighter makes his saving throw vs paralyzation, his roll would normally need be 10 or better. Due to the higher level of his psionicist attacker, this saving throw is penalized, requiring a 14 or better. If the fighter were to have been of higher level than his attacker, the saving throw would have received a bonus. Presented below is the Psionicist's saving throws by caster level or hit dice (yes, this is the same as the rogue chart as presented in HLC): Target's Class Target's Level Paralyze/Death Magic Petrify/Polymorph Spell Psionicist -9 or more 13 12 15 -5 to -8 12 11 13 -1 to -4 11 10 11 0 10 9 9 +1 to +4 9 8 7 +5 or more 8 7 5 Range Limitations: With the loss of the unlimited range Contact power, replaced by the psionic attacks, the range of many of the telepathic powers have been greatly reduced. As the psionic attacks are limited to line-of-sight targeting, what good are powers such as Mindlink, Send Thoughts, and Sight Link? Sending thoughts to comrades across the room isn't nearly as useful as sending thoughts across the globe! To handle this limitation, it's suggested that the non-attack communication powers be granted an innate contact ability, allowing for a much greater range. This gives the powers the ability to "knock on the door and ask to be let in" - to carry an announcement and request a voluntary contact. For these powers, use the old Contact rules found in the Psionics Handbook to determine cost modifiers for range: Separation Distance Power Score Modifier Line-of-sight 0 1 mile -1 10 miles -3 100 miles -5 1,000 miles -7 10,000 miles -9 PSP Acquisition: Similar to the inherent problem behind the S&P psionic attacks, the rate of PSP acquisition between psionicists and wild talents is skewed. Psionicists are listed as gaining 1d6 PSPs per level, while the wild talents gain a flat rate of 4 PSPs per level. For the statistically challenged, the average value of 1d6 is only 3.5 - purebreed psionicists would have fewer PSPs than their equivalent wild talents! There is another fault to be considered in PSP acquisition - the 9th level PSP ceiling. Akin to the slowdown point of hp acquisition at 9th level, the psionicist is reduced to a 3 PSPs per level gain once reaching that level (altho the wild talent is still gaining his flat rate 4 PSPs!) These are simple to fix: 1) Psionicists receive 8 PSPs per level (plus any bonuses from Con, Int, Wis) 2) Wild Talents receive 1d6 PSPs per level (no bonuses) The rationale behind these values is easy to see. Psionicists are, quite obviously, the specialists of psionic skill. They should receive a flat rate of PSP acquisition, and an appreciable rate at that. 3.5 PSPs per level dampers the class to such a degree that its barely functional. Wild talents, on the other hand, are just the candidates for random PSPs. Having gained their powers thru sheer luck, without any training or discipline, their power level should be decided by randomness as well. Psionic Vampirism: Under the new psionic rules, the Psionic Vampirism power (as presented in The Will and the Way) overlaps the function of the new psionic attacks, as well as being inconsistant with some of the new core rules. Presented below is the revised Psionic Vampirism power Psionic Vampirism Psychometabolic Devotion MAC: 8 PSP Cost: 8/3 Range: touch Area of Effect: Individual Prerequisite: none Psionic vampirism is the much feared ability to steal another's psionic strength in order to replinish the psionicist's own. Although it resembles psychic drain, psionic vampirism is different in three important ways: first, PSPs are directly drained; secondly, the victim need not be asleep; and third, the victim need not be humanoid, it only need a PSP pool. Psionic vampirism is a very painful process, but is not debilitating as psychic drain can be. To begin draining PSPs, the psionicist must first make his MTHAC0 roll against this power's MAC. This roll also determines the amount of PSPs drained per usage of the power (as below). Once established, the psionicist must touch the target to be drained, requiring a to-hit roll. A successful touch attack is necessary for each round of draining desired. MTHAC0 Roll PSP Drain 19-20 3 PSPs 17-18 5 PSPs 13-16 7 PSPs 10-12 9 PSPs 8-9 11 PSPs 6-7 13 PSPs 5 or less 15 PSPs Although no permanent damage is caused by this power, it is unpleasant to the extreme and the victim will almost certainly not want to voluntarily experience this drain! Psionic strength drained by this power returns normally, just as if the victim had expended the PSPs himself. If the victim is drained to 0 PSPs by psionic vampirism, he must make a saving throw versus death or fall unconscious for 2d6 turns. PS: Rate of PSP drain doubles. 1: The power backfires; the user loses half of his remaining PSPs. There is still some additions to be made to the above revision, such as the much-needed fix to Mass Contact, along with a few other loose ends. These will be added ASAP and posted when possible. A prettier, nicely formatted version is available in Microsoft Word v2.0 for those interested. Any suggestions, compliments, or complaints are welcome. -- Steven C nor Fame I slight, nor for her favors call she comes unlook'd for, if she comes at all.