Mental Powers

There are many means by which the sentient mind of an individual may directly interact with that of another. This can range from the constructive sharing of ideas, experiences, and other information, to the insidious and direct control of people's actions! To date, there are at least fifty known mechanisms that ascendant beings can use to impose their thoughts on the world around them, for better or worse.

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Astral Projection
Type: Mental Power
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 1 point per rank value
Related Powers: clone projection, dimensional interface, dimensional transit, dream projection, energy projection, object projection, possession, psychic invisibility, soul control, spectral flame control, spectral freedom, spectral sense, telepathy.

This potent ability allows a character to separate his or her consciousness from their physical body. This consciousness then moves into the astral plane, a realm of the mind adjacent to most other dimensions. From there, the character's mental projection, or astral form, can move about freely at great speed. Unencumbered by mass, a consciousness moves through the astral plane as if it were interplanetary space.

This allows a body to rapidly project their mind anywhere on earth, and often far beyond, to observe events. As it is adjacent to our reality, the astral plane can be used to spy upon others with ease, doing so invisibly. Unless a body has the ability to see into the astral realm or otherwise sense minds in their vicinity, he or she won't be aware that they're being observed from another plane.

Projecting astrally is an action which must be maintained consciously, but this may be done for quite a while; astral projection has a maximum safe duration equal to its rank value in hours. For example, a projector with rank value 50 astral projection may shed his or her consciousness and let it wander the earth for just over two days at a time. Food and water become an issue during longer projections, however.

This is because, while astrally projecting, the character's body remains in a coma-like state, burning little energy (per the Trance skill). It must have air to breathe, but it is otherwise inert, and need not consume food or water until the projection is complete. After this point the astral projector, if they've been gone for a good long time, may need to consume large amounts of food and water to recover.

While astral, the character effectively has no body - a seemingly obvious fact - which may cause complications in the event of astral combat. While astral, one's Melee remains the same, though they must substitute Awareness for Coordination, Intellect for Brawn, and Willpower for Fortitude when necessary. Any magic, psionic, or deionic items a projector possesses will 'make the trip' with them, as a part of their self-image.

Mind you, unless sentient themselves, such implements function on the astral plane at a -1 RS.

While astral bodies can fight each other directly, they cannot exert physical force on the 'real' world. They may wield abilities of the psionic sort against those on the material plane, such as telepathy or mind control, and they can control magic, psionic, or deionic items on their person from afar if necessary. But working against the physical world directly requires the use of the dimensional interface ability.

This allows astral effects to be wielded against physical targets normally, though the reverse is also true; an astrally projecting character who has interfaced his mind with normal reality can attack targets within, but those targets can attack back as well.

Auscultation
Type: Mental Power
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 1 point per rank value
Related Powers: danger sense, lie detection, telepathy, sensory reception, thought projection.

Engaging in conversation with others psionically involves telepathic contact between two or more individuals, allowing for proper, back and forth communication for all parties involved. Simply eavesdropping on the thoughts of others, however, is a much simpler affair. People are always thinking things all the time, and aren't really attempting to hide or cover up what's going through their heads at all.

Auscultation involves opening up one's mind to the random radiation of thoughts from all individuals within one's immediate area, as is defined by Very Near range. While auscultation is active, its wielder can 'hear' all the thoughts occurring within this ability's range, which can often be a very large jumble of gibberish; think of all the random thoughts that occur to you in a given moment, and multiply that by many people at once.

However, auscultation has a variety of uses. For one thing, the wielder of this ability can 'scan' all of these ambient thoughts when trying to find a singular person in a crowd. By listening in on every thought everyone present is inadvertently broadcasting, the wielder of auscultation can pick out the thought (or range of thoughts) that belong to the person he or she is looking for, even if they're not sure who that person is.

A passive power by nature, auscultation requires no ACTION roll if the persons being listened in on are unaware of this ability's use, or are not guarding their thoughts any. If someone suspects their minds are being listened in on, however, they may attempt a Willpower ACTION roll against this power's intensity to shield their thoughts from its use. If successful, the wielder of this ability won't know anything has been 'covered up'.

If this action fails, though, they'll realize someone's trying to hide something from them, and can then try to narrow down just who it is - and why!

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Charm
Type: Mental Power
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 1 point per rank value
Related Powers: emotion control, mesmerism, telepathy.

A charm is a powerful, aversive psychic aura that its wielder may use to avoid undue harm. It works by generating a field of 'good will' towards the wielder that affects everyone within range of this ability, as is determined on the Near range table. Those within the area effect of this power will become positively disposed towards the charmer, if they fail a Willpower ACTION against this ability's rank value.

What this means is, though they can't quite put their finger on the reason why, affected targets will find they have a deep liking for the charming individual. This prevents them from harming or acting against the character maintaining a charm in any fashion. Furthermore, they will remain unconvinced that they have been affected in any manner, and will actively resist arguments to this effect.

Charm counts as one spell or psionic for the purposes of maintenance. It has no 'grace period' like some abilities do; once cast, the character producing the charm must actively keep it going or it will cease. Of course, maintenance may not be necessary, as affected targets will remain charmed until they can eventually pass a Willpower ACTION against charm's rank value, which they may attempt each turn.

This ACTION is never 'impossible', but if the rank value is high enough, it can usually keep charmed individuals 'friendly' most of the time. Once charmed targets have shaken off the charm, they may then behave normally, but will not be aware that their behavior has been modified. Subsequent attempts to charm a target in a given encounter, once a charm wears off the first time, are at a -2 RS.

All of this assumes that the charmer has not, in turn, harmed those affected by this ability. If a charmed target is attacked by the person who charmed him or her, the power will no longer affect them for the duration of this encounter - and the target so attacked will be keenly aware that their mind has been tinkered with!

Clairalience
Type: Mental Power
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 1 point per rank value
Related Powers: clairaudience, clairgustance, clairtouchence, clairvoyance, finding, super tracking, teleport, teleport other.

Clairalience allows its wielder to smell things far, far beyond the range of their natural sensory apparatus. This power works by crafting artificial, transient mental constructs that act as invisible, surrogate noses (or whatever) in the area a clairalient wishes to smell. These 'pretend' noses are disembodied from the wielder of this ability, usually by a staggeringly wide margin, but function as if their creator were actually present.

This power functions on the Far range table, allowing the person using it to observe events in far-flung locations in real time, regardless of the laws of physics or even common sense. The nature of clairalience allows it to defeat most methods of disguising one's scent, as the surrogate olfactory organs can quickly move about to determine the source of would-be countermeasures - and then disregard them.

While using clairalience, the character with this ability can smell anything that they otherwise could in the observed area, but cannot directly affect it at all. Similarly, events occurring in the observed area cannot directly harm the clairalient, though sensory overload (from, say, noxious odors) can happen. No damage or poison can transfer through this link, but a particularly nauseating scent can temporarily sicken a clairalient.

The activation of clairalience 'mutes' one's normal olfactory sense, presenting the power's stimulus to its user instead. The clairalient's other senses function just fine, however, so while one cannot smell imminent danger approaching them while this ability is active, they can still hear, see, feel, or even taste it, whichever of such may be applicable in a given instance.

Clairaudience
Type: Mental Power
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 1 point per rank value
Related Powers: clairalience, clairgustance, clairtouchence, clairvoyance, finding, teleport, teleport other.

Clairaudience allows its wielder to hear things far, far beyond the range of their natural sensory apparatus. This power works by crafting artificial, transient mental constructs that act as invisible, surrogate ears in the area a clairaudient wishes to hear. These 'pretend' ears are disembodied from the wielder of this ability, usually by a staggeringly wide margin, but function as if their creator were actually present.

This power functions on the Far range table, allowing the person using it to observe events in far-flung locations in real time, regardless of the laws of physics or even common sense. The speed of sound is no detriment to clairaudience, and in fact, with a high enough clairaudience rank value, the wielder of this ability could eavesdrop upon events occurring on other planets - live, right as they are happening!

While using clairaudience, the character with this ability can listen in on anything that they could otherwise hear in the observed area, but cannot directly affect it at all. Similarly, events occurring in the area listened to cannot directly harm the clairaudient, though sensory overload (from, say, loud noises) can happen. No damage can transfer through this link, but effects such as hypnotic music can function via clairaudience.

The activation of clairaudience 'mutes' one's normal audio sense, presenting the power's stimulus to its user instead. The clairaudient's other senses function just fine, however, so while one cannot hear imminent danger approaching them while this ability is active, they can still see, smell, feel, or even taste it, whichever of such may be applicable in a given instance.

Clairgustance
Type: Mental Power
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 1 point per rank value
Related Powers: atomic sense, clairalience, clairaudience, clairtouchence, clairvoyance, finding, teleport, teleport other.

Clairgustance allows its wielder to taste things far, far beyond the range of their natural sensory apparatus. This power works by crafting artificial, transient mental constructs that act as invisible, surrogate tongues (or whatever) in the area a clairgustant wishes to sample. These 'pretend' tongues are disembodied from the clairgustant, usually by a staggeringly wide margin, but function as if their creator were actually present.

This power functions on the Far range table, allowing the person using it to observe events in far-flung locations in real time, regardless of the laws of physics or even common sense. While a sense of taste is generally restricted to physical contact with one's person, clairgustance allows one to vicariously sample the flavors of items and substances (and even people) without physically interacting with them!

While using clairgustance, the character with this ability can taste anything that they could otherwise sample in the observed area, but cannot directly affect it at all. Similarly, materials in the remote area cannot poison or harm the clairgustant, though sensory overload (from, say, intense flavors) can happen. No damage can transfer through this link, but particularly disgusting tastes can temporarily sicken a clairgustant.

The activation of clairgustance 'mutes' one's normal sense of taste, presenting the power's stimulus to its user instead. The clairgustant's other senses function just fine, however, so while they may be tasting cakes on the other side of the planet, a clairgustant may not readily be ambushed while using this ability - unless, of course, the flavors they experience are just that engrossing.

Clairtouchence
Type: Mental Power
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 1 point per rank value
Related Powers: clairalience, clairaudience, clairgustance, clairvoyance, finding, telekinesis, teleport, teleport other.

Clairtouchence allows its wielder to touch things far, far beyond the range of their natural sensory apparatus. This power works by crafting artificial, transient mental constructs that act as invisible, surrogate fingers (or whatever) in the area a clairtouchent wishes to feel. These 'pretend' digits are disembodied from the clairtouchent, usually by a staggeringly wide margin, but function as if their creator were actually present.

This power functions on the Far range table, allowing the person using it to observe events in far-flung locations in real time, regardless of the laws of physics or even common sense. While a sense of touch is generally restricted to physical contact with one's person, clairtouchence allows one to vicariously feel items and substances (and even people) without resorting to physically interacting with them!

While using clairtouchence, the character with this ability can feel anything that they could otherwise touch in the observed area, but cannot directly affect it at all. Similarly, materials in the remote area cannot harm the clairtouchent, though sensory overload (from, say, complex textures) can happen. No damage can transfer through this link, but particularly extreme tactile input can momentarily distract a clairtouchent.

Activating clairtouchence 'mutes' one's usual sense of touch, presenting the power's stimulus to its user instead. A clairtouchent's other senses function just fine, however, so while they may be dipping 'pretend' fingers into the sun or running them along monowire, a clairtouchent isn't easily ambushed while using this ability - unless they're so engrossed in what they're touching that they aren't otherwise paying attention, that is.

Clairvoyance
Type: Mental Power
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 1 point per rank value
Related Powers: clairalience, clairaudience, clairgustance, clairtouchence, finding, teleport, teleport other.

Clairvoyance allows its wielder to see things far, far beyond the range of their natural sensory apparatus. This power works by crafting artificial, transient mental constructs that act as invisible, surrogate eyes in the area a clairvoyant wishes to see. These 'pretend' eyes are disembodied from the wielder of this ability, usually by a staggeringly wide margin, but function as if their creator were actually present.

This power functions on the Far range table, allowing the person using it to observe events in far-flung locations in real time, regardless of the laws of physics or even common sense. The speed of light is no detriment to clairvoyance, and in fact, with a high enough clairvoyance rank value, the wielder of this ability could spy upon events occurring on other planets - live, right as they are happening!

While using clairvoyance, the character with this ability can view anything that they could otherwise see in the observed area, but cannot directly affect it at all. Similarly, events occurring in the viewed area cannot directly harm the clairvoyant, though sensory overload (from, say, bright lights) can happen. No damage can transfer through this link, but effects such as hypnotic lights can function via clairvoyance.

The activation of clairvoyance 'mutes' one's normal visual sense, presenting the power's stimulus to its user instead. The clairvoyant's other senses function just fine, however, so while one cannot see imminent danger approaching them while this ability is active, they can still hear, smell, feel, or even taste it, whichever of such may be applicable in a given instance.

Clarity
Type: Mental Power
Duration: 1d10 turns + maintenance, if desired
Cost: 1 point per rank value
Related Powers: mental repair, telepathy.

Clarity is a tool that allows its possessor to free others from various effects that prevent clear thinking. When invoked, clarity can cleanse the effects of emotion or mind control, or even possession - if it affects how a target might behave, clarity can usually help. When attempting to clear the head of a target, the wielder of clarity must pass an ACTION roll against the intensity of the outside influence.

If successful, clarity will remove the taint of such powers, and will protect the target from further manipulations, at its power rank value, for 1d10 turns. Optionally, the user of clarity can maintain this ability, providing a target (say, an ally) with continuing protection from external influence if desired. Clarity only works within Very Near range of those it would help.

Computer Link
Type: Mental Power
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 1 point per rank value
Related Powers: device sympathy, linguistics, radio wave control, radio wave generation, technical intuition.

A computer link is a mental interface with a digital system. This may be granted by either a physical connection to one's body (like a data jack), or perhaps a remote networking with the computer in question (either with conventional wireless technology, or perhaps psychic prowess). While connected with a computer via this link, a character may communicate with it directly, using digital code.

This makes a computer link the opposite of device sympathy after a fashion, as the latter ability is almost empathic in nature, while this one is grounded in just what the computer can do (and whatever information it houses within). While this power is active, the linked character can understand the digital impulses the computer they're linked to makes - as if it were talking to them in their native tongue!

How well one can make this link work depends on the ACTION rolled when the link is initiated. A red ACTION lets one understand the active programs a computer is running, as well as what it is currently doing. A blue ACTION lets one monitor and make transmissions with the computer and anything it is, in turn, networked to. Yellow ACTIONs are only required if the computer so linked is beyond the character's understanding.

If the information a linked character attempts to interact with is encrypted, he or she must pass the above ACTION roll at a negative Row Shift, ranging from -1 RS to -4 RS depending on its complexity, as the time spent decrypting the information makes it much harder to interact with data in real-time. This penalty can be reduced, if not transformed into a bonus, if the character also possesses the linguistics ability.

Computer link works within Very Near distance of the computer in question, though if delivered by a physical connection, contact is required (counting as a weak limitation).

Crowd Control
Type: Mental Power
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 2 points per rank value
Related Powers: mesmerism, mind control, psychic invisibility, sleep, telepathy.

An advanced form of mesmerism, crowd control can sway the actions of a large array of people simultaneously. When invoked, crowd control will prompt a Willpower ACTION roll against this ability's intensity upon everyone within Very Near range, save for exceptions of its wielder's choosing (such as allies or whatever). Those who fail this ACTION fall into a suggestive, hypnotized state immediately.

Once this state is achieved, the targets may be forced to do anything in regards to their immediate behavior (leave the building now), or instead suffer the implantation of a post-hypnotic suggestion (you want to vote for me this November).

If in the form of a command, crowd control will last only as long as it takes the targets to complete the chosen directive, at which point individuals so affected will resume control over their actions. A suggestion implanted by crowd control, on the other hand, will last for a number of days equal to this ability's rank value, and can even override the target's normal ethics and beliefs on a yellow ACTION roll.

Although victims of crowd control are usually zombie-like and unresponsive while under the influence of commands, they will behave perfectly normal while suffering from a suggestion - at least until they act on it. Afterwards, they will resume normality, though such controlled individuals may wonder just what got into them to make them act so out of character.

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Daydreams
Type: Mental Power
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 1 point per rank value
Related Powers: fugue, mesmerism, mind lock, sleep, telepathy.

Wielding this useful power, one may drop the mind of his or her target into a relatively blank, daydreaming state. If affected by this ability, an individual is not quite asleep, but isn't really awake, either. They may be thinking about nothing at all, or may give in to flights of fancy, possibly envisioning any number of pleasant fantasies to pass the time. In this state, a daydreamer won't be all that aware of their surroundings.

A character may inflict a daydreaming state on anyone within Near range who fails a Willpower ACTION against this power's rank value. Typically, this mental state will last for 1d10 turns, and unlike most telepathic influences, one does not gain an additional resistance ACTION each subsequent turn. This is because one can normally be 'snapped' out of a daydreaming state with a bit of effort - a good slap is usually sufficient.

Otherwise, one might spontaneously drop out of a daydream if assaulted by similar, intense sensory input - anything from bright lights to noxious odors will do.

Dream Projection
Type: Mental Power
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 1 point per rank value
Related Powers: astral projection, energy projection, illusion projection, mesmerism, mind walk, object projection, telepathy.

Dream projection is an ability which allows its possessor to send their consciousness into the dreaming mind of another being. Doing so allows the dream projector to interact with the subconscious mind of his or her target, avoiding conscious attempts at subterfuge while communicating with them, and lets them directly interact with the mindspace generated by a dreaming state.

When a character projects their mind into the dream of another, they behave as if astrally projecting; they must use Intellect in place of Brawn, Awareness in place of Coordination, and Willpower in place of Fortitude. This is because the dream projector can actually combat the consciousness of the dreamer while present in their mind, though said consciousness can indeed fight back in the same fashion.

While this is a potent ability in and of itself, dream projection can be particularly devastating when wielded with several related powers. In particular, illusion projection gives a dream projector control over the flow and content of a dream, as it directly overrides what the dreamer would otherwise experience. Furthermore, such imaginary threats can inflict actual psychic harm to a dreamer's mind, since they originate from within!

Which brings up the prospect of a dreamer's demise while a character's mind is projected into their dream. Such an occurrence will typically cause an amount of Karmic damage to a dream projector that is equal to the dreamer's Willpower value. This may or may not be enough to kill a dream projector outright, though if he or she has been tussling with a dreamer beforehand, this might bode ill for them.

Dream projecting is an action which must be maintained consciously, but this may be done for quite a while; dream projection has a maximum safe duration equal to its rank value in hours. For example, a projector with rank value 20 dream projection may send their consciousness into the dreams of another for almost a full day - assuming their target could actually dream for such an extended length of time.

This is because, while dream projecting, the character's body remains in a coma-like state, burning little energy (per the Trance skill). It must have air to breathe, but it is otherwise inert, and need not consume food or water until the projection is complete. At this point, the dream projector, if they've been 'out' for a good long time, may need to consume large amounts of food and water to recover.

Dream projection can send its wielder's mind into the dreams of anyone within Middle range of his or her location.

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Finding (Telelocation)
Type: Mental Power
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 1 point per rank value
Related Powers: clairvoyance, locational sense, mind link, psychometry, sensory link, sensory reception, summoning, teleportation / others.

Finding is the useful ability to locate something no matter where it is. This potent power allows one to use what they know about an object, no matter how little, to determine its position in 7D space-time, and does so within a distance as determined on the Far range table. If an object is further away (or in a different universe or time frame) vague directions are provided instead.

A red ACTION is all that is required for things a body is intimately familiar with (anybody on his or her super-hero / villain team, or their favorite blaster). Blue ACTIONs are necessary when the character tries to locate something that isn't so familiar (such as the new janitor). A yellow ACTION is only needed if the wielder of this ability attempts to locate something they have only seen or otherwise sensed once.

This sense can't locate a person or object that its wielder is totally unfamiliar with.

Forgetfulness
Type: Mental Power
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 1 point per rank value
Related Powers: fugue, mind control, mind lock, mind wipe, psychic probe, telepathy.

The power to forget can be a good thing - and the power to make others forget even more so. Forgetfulness allows a character to selectively edit the memories of others, removing their ability to recall something. This works by simply passing a power ACTION against the Willpower of its target, unless he or she is explicitly willing (it happens).

The effects of forgetfulness are permanent, unless the victim is affected by the power of clarity, or perhaps psionic surgery of some sort. A small amount of memories may be edited by the forgetfulness power, equal in duration to its rank value in minutes. Thus, a body with rank value 30 forgetfulness could effectively erase to a half hour of his or her life - possibly sparing them from sanity-bending knowledge!

This is incredibly handy for protecting one's secret identity or for covering up one's activities, whether heroic or villainous. It's also great for sowing confusion, for in addition to permanently altering one's memories of a short period of time, forgetfulness may be used to temporarily block access to far-reaching memories, such as important skills, motivations, or even one's identity!

Using forgetfulness in this fashion causes memory loss for its power's rank value in minutes, but can completely block one's access to whatever they were made to forget during that time. While memory blocked, one could be duped into performing all manner of 'out of character' activities, including making a villain want to do heroic deeds or even the reverse. But when forgetfulness wears off... watch out!

However it is used, forgetfulness only functions within Very Near distance of its wielder.

Fugue
Type: Mental Power
Duration: maintenance + 1d10 turns
Cost: 1 point per rank value
Related Powers: daydreams, forgetfulness, mesmerism, mind wipe, telepathy.

The power of fugue allows its wielder to temporarily prevent others from acquiring long-term memories. How this works is that, once the target of fugue fails a Willpower ACTION roll against its power rank value, he or she will cease the creation of permanent memories. This state will persist for as long as the power is active on its target, plus an additional amount of time that is equal to 1d10 turns.

A fugued individual's mind otherwise works properly, and since short term memory is unaffected, they can still function - they simply won't remember what's taken place while they were fugued. This is similar to the powers of forgetfulness and mind wipe, but fugue is a more proactive power, in that it doesn't remove extant memories in one's mind so much as it stops them from being created to begin with.

Thus, even the power of mental repair cannot restore memories lost due to fugue, since there's nothing to restore in the first place!

Fugue only works within Very Near distance of its possessor.

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Illusion Projection
Type: Mental Power
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 2 points per rank value
Related Powers: dream projection, pain, psychic invisibility, sensory link, sensory attenuation, sensory distortion, sensory projection, static field, telepathy.

This potent ability allows its wielder to input false sensory data from his or her mind directly into that of another. This information is wholly imaginary, and invisible to the sensors of inanimate electronics. This data may come in the form of any of the target's senses, from sight to sound to taste to smell to touch - including imaginary information to waylay any superhuman senses they may possess.

Illusion projection itself functions within Near range, though effective use of the power is really limited to within six sectors of its wielder. Any further away and you run into limits of human vision, as well as unanticipated oddities of perspective, such as the curvature of the earth. For each further six sectors an illusion 'wanders' away from its creator, apply a -1 RS to the effective intensity of its believability.

Speaking of believability, characters subject to a projected illusion have no real reason to disbelieve what they experience unless something tips them off to the fact that what they're perceiving isn't, in fact, real. This is no issue with non-realistic illusions, but if something looks right (say, a brick wall), there's no reason to assume it's fake unless something rings false (such as someone walking through said illusory wall).

Disbelieving an illusion requires an Awareness ACTION roll against the rank value of this ability, which may be easier with long distance illusions (as stated earlier). If this ACTION is successful, the target can successfully shake off the illusion, while a failure indicates the illusionist was able to maintain the charade somehow. Mind you, having mixed things up once, it's possible that other illusory phenomenon may be disbelieved as well.

It's important to note that illusions are just that - not real. They have no direct effect on the environment, and cannot actually cause characters damage... which is sort of the point. Projected illusions can be used to trick others into hurting themselves (walking over a cliff while believing a bridge was there), or to steer people in a direction of the illusionist's choosing, but the images themselves are not harmful.

Unless combined with other abilities. Of course, one can be made to believe that they have been injured by an illusion. This is something of a psychosomatic response to a perceived attack, and is especially tricky for an illusionist to pull off. Each instance of illusory damage offers the possibility of disbelief, and no one can die from imaginary damage; anyone passing out or 'dying' from such will simply awaken in 1d10 turns.

A projected illusion lasts for as long as its creator concentrates on it - no more, no less. Full concentration on one's illusion is required to maintain a sense of believability (if this is, in fact, the intent). If this concentration wavers, subtle errors will creep into the illusion temporarily, possibly prompting Awareness checks to verify whether or not the charade is maintained.

Illusion projection is similar in function to image projection, but has a much more difficult time affecting a large group of people. For every doubling of people the illusionist tries to affect simultaneously, apply a -1 RS penalty to the power ACTION, as well as the intensity required to disbelieve an illusion. This reflects the difficulty of mentally keeping tabs on what so many people are perceiving at a given moment.

Image Animation
Type: Mental Power
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 1 point per rank value
Related Powers: fluid animation, object animation, solid animation, reanimation, vapor animation.

The power of image animation allows its wielder to seemingly imbue two-dimensional images with life! These images may be of any type, ranging from stick figure drawings to comic book line art to photography to television frames. When the power is activated, the image seemingly steps off whatever surface it was affixed to, and quickly swells in size to become a lifelike representation of its former, two-dimensional self!

This is done thanks to the amazing properties of the imaginary form of matter known as psychoplasm. How image animation works is that its possessor subconsciously draws forth a mass of psychoplasm from higher planes of existence, and uses their mind to shape it into the form of the drawing. The drawing will generally 'live' at an appropriate size; a stick figure man will usually manifest as approximately man-sized.

Furthermore, details from the animated image that are missing or obscured in its original form will be filled in when it is given a semblance of life. This is how historical figures can 'step out' of an old photograph, even if their legs are outside the area captured by the image, and so on. These may not resemble the 'actual' version of the image so animated, as absent details are supplied by the subconscious mind of the image animator.

When so animated by this power, an image will behave as directed by its wielder. These images will possess effective Melee, Coordination, and Health traits that are equal to this power rank value, along with whatever 'special' abilities the image possesses. For instance, an animated image of a dragon might have flight, claws, and fire generation, all of which would function at the image animation power's value.

An animated image will last in a 'living' state for 1d10 turns, unless one specifically concentrates on maintaining it further. Generally, an image animator can only keep one image 'alive' at a time, due to the mental strain of dynamically animating the summoned psychoplasm. Of course, animated images last a shorter amount of time if destroyed, immediately returning them to wherever their animator 'borrowed' them from.

This power can function at a +1 RS if the image so animated is something its possessor created themselves. Similarly, the power is considered strongly limited (costs two points less, or improved by +2 RS) if it is constrained to a small class of images to animate. This can include only television images, or photos from mail order catalogs, or even the tattoos one has had inked onto their own body.

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Jumbling
Type: Mental Power
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 1 point per rank value
Related Powers: mind control, mind lock, psi bolt, sensory attenuation, telepathy.

Jumbling is the process of removing someone's ability to communicate coherently. While the character affected by jumbling seems to make perfect sense, at least within the confines of their own mind, the meaning of information they try to convey is butchered beyond understanding. Words come out in the wrong order, when they even come out as the intended words, and sometimes are mangled syllable by syllable.

The effect of jumbling is not limited to speech, either. It similarly confounds sign language, keystrokes, written words, facial expressions, and even more esoteric methods of communication the victim may possess, ranging from telepathy to strange chemical or photonic signals to anything else. One can almost sense a pattern in the output of a jumbled character's communications, but such order can never be determined.

Characters can be affected by jumbling if they fail a Willpower ACTION roll against its power rank value. If they fall prey to the power, victims of jumbling will have their communications scrambled until they can pass the ACTION roll they initially failed, allowed again each subsequent turn. While the initial roll might be considered impossible, one should always have at least a chance to eventually shake off jumbling, no matter how slim.

Though poor dice rolling may mean the character is jumbled for quite a while - at least until they can eventually pass that yellow resistance roll.

One must be within Near distance of his or her foes to wield jumbling against them.

K

Knowledge
Type: Mental Power
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 1 point per rank value
Related Powers: group link, linguistics, ultimate skill, variable skill, xenoglossy.

The power of knowledge embodies the very heart of technology - the skills and talents developed since the human race first achieved sentience! Knowledge is power, or so they say, and when invoking this ability one can make use of any applied know-how that anyone anywhere has ever evinced. This know-how is transient in nature, however, only staying resident in one's mind as long as the knowledge ability is active.

How it works is that, when a character needs to know how to do something, he or she simply activates their knowledge power. When doing this, the character may develop one skill for each rank value in knowledge they possess. For example, an adventurer with rank value 20 knowledge finds herself in a bind she can't talk her way out of. With knowledge, she can immediately manifest five (5) fighting skills!

Any skill in the Edition 13 of the 4C System may be adopted, however temporarily, by the use of this power. It readily lends itself to skill stacking, allowing a character to gain up to +3 RS on an ACTION roll if they can manifest enough skills applicable to the ACTION in question. This works great whether the character with knowledge intends to build something or to deliver an unholy beat-down on an opponent!

Alternately, a character might want to wield an 'enhanced' version of an ordinary skill. Adopting a level 2 skill (for an additional +1 RS on a given ACTION) may be done by counting it as two separate skills for the purposes of skill adoption, and a level 3 skill (for an additional +2 RS on the ACTION du jour) may be adopted by counting it as four distinct skills (minimum rank value of 10 knowledge to do this, then).

Furthermore, knowledge is a great avenue for characters to learn skills in the normal fashion. By training extensively in the use of a skill over time, one can use this self-education to master the skill in question. This may or may not be cheaper than simply adding a +1 RS to the operating value of the knowledge power through Fortune rewards, but 'normal' skills don't count against the skills knowledge can grant a character.

Thus, the more skills a character with knowledge possesses normally, the more they're capable of when they actually bring this ability to bear!

L

Lie Detection
Type: Mental Power
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 1 point per rank value
Related Powers: auscultation, danger sense, telepathy.

As one can guess from the name of this ability, lie detection involves determining whether or not someone is lying in the course of a conversation. This ability works similar in nature to auscultation, in that it is an entirely passive affair, picking up on the ambient thoughts emitted by the individual being checked for falsehoods. As such, if such a person is not guarding their thoughts, no ACTION roll is required.

However, if the target is in fact aware they're speaking to someone who has this ability (or perhaps just suspects such), he or she may attempt to protect their falsehoods, and may resist lie detection if they can pass a Willpower ACTION roll against this ability's rank value. If the target can succeed in this ACTION roll, the wielder of lie detection cannot determine whether or not a given statement is the truth or a lie.

At least, not through the use of this ability.

As is the case with auscultation, lie detection only works on targets within Very Near distance of its wielder.

M

Mental Doubles
Type: Mental Power
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 2 points per rank value
Related Powers: body doubles, energy doubles, imaginary doubles, mind duplication, mind transfer, telepathy.

Mental doubles are mirror duplicates of one's own mind that the wielder of this power can produce - inside his or her own head! The practical benefit of this is that one can lend their concentration to more than one matter at a time. Being of literally two (or more) minds, the mental doubler can usually get a lot more done at once, despite having to share a single body amongst their many selves.

Mental doubles all possess the same mental traits - that of their creator. The only metric of mental might that differs will be one's Mental Health, which is split amongst the many doubles one has created. This can be a double-edged sword if one is subject to psionic assault; while one of one's minds can be knocked out rather easily, there's usually one or more doubles handy to pick up the slack.

For every value in this power one possesses, they can add an additional mental double inside their mind, if they wish. For instance, a character with rank value 40 mental doubles could have up to seven additional versions of their mind in their head. While all the doubles one has active must share the physical body of their creator between them, they each have their own 'copy' of their mental or skill-equivalent abilities.

When apportioning out the number of concentration-based powers one can maintain at any given time (such as spells or psionics that require maintenance), divide them up equally between the many mental doubles, though each individual double is allowed a minimum of one power. This allows the mental doubler to potentially increase the number of such abilities they can effectively wield simultaneously, which is quite a boon.

Each mind inside the head of a mental doubler is allowed one action per turn, though the physical body is bound to the number of actions it is normally allotted. That rank value 40 mental doubler, above, could manage eight actions, though most folks cannot do this without super speed, and thus only some of their doubles could wield their body each turn - the rest would need to utilize skill-equivalent powers instead.

Though if they had access to, say, telekinesis, they could do a whole lot at once!

Mental Repair
Type: Mental Power
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 1 point per rank value
Related Powers: clarity, cure disease, detoxification, healing / others, mind lock, mind wipe, psychic probe, recovery, resurrection, resuscitation, telepathy, transfixture.

Mental repair is a healing power of a sort, working to mend damage inflicted upon the mind. While mental repair in and of itself doesn't deal in numbers, like the ordinary healing powers do, this ability can be used to right any number of things going wrong within the mind of a sentient being. Anything from mental illness to deleterious quirks to the damage wrought by psionic powers can ultimately be healed by this ability.

When invoked, mental repair must pass a power ACTION against the Willpower of its intended target. If this ACTION is successful, the character with this ability may attempt to undo any psychic damage the target suffers from. If the damage was inflicted by a psionic power, it can be undone with a second ACTION roll, this time against the intensity of the original power if known. If the original power rank is unknown, a red ACTION will do.

Such damage may come in the form of suggestions wrought by mesmerism, mind control, or crowd control, a loss of memory caused by forgetfulness or mind wipe, or any deleterious quirks acquired as a result of catastrophic Karmic damage (such as from psi bolts) - and so on. Once repaired, the target's mind will show immediate results of this, possibly resuming normal behavior or ability within moments of the fix.

Alternately, mental repair can be used to treat more traditional, psychiatric problems. The main question when bringing mental repair to bear in this fashion is the nature of the problem to be fixed - namely because a lot of mental problems can be traced back to physical imperfections in the 'hardware' housing a mind.

Anything from chemical imbalances to brain damage to surgical procedures can impair one's mind, and if this is the root of a mental problem, mental repair can only fix the error in a transient fashion (usually for 1d100 turns). After this time, the target will resume operation under their normal parameters, though they might be appreciative of the moment(s) of clarity this ability can provide.

Mental repair can be used to bypass some physical limitations of the mind, though such therapy takes quite some time. Problems of a purely psychological nature can be treated in this manner as well. The difference between the two is that purely psychological problems, no matter how severe, can ultimately be fixed in most cases, while a physical problem can only be resolved so much.

And if such problems come in the form of quirks, one must work with their Gamemaster to resolve how such issues are dealt with permanently.

Mesmerism
Type: Mental Power
Duration: special
Cost: 1 point per rank value
Related Powers: charm, crowd control, daydreams, dream projection, fugue, mind control, mind duplication, possession, sleep, telepathy.

Mesmerism is an advanced form of the hypnotism skill. Instead of being made manifest through simple training, mesmerism is an actual super-human capability, both in the speed and power of its effects. For one thing, normal hypnotism usually cannot affect a body who is unwilling to be hypnotized in the first place, but mesmerism can inflict a hypnotic state if the target fails a Willpower ACTION against the mesmerism rank value.

Bear in mind that one must be within Very Near distance of their target to mesmerize them.

Once this state is achieved, the target can be forced to do something in regards to their immediate behavior (put out that cigarette) or have a post-hypnotic suggestion implanted (give up smoking altogether). If in the form of a command, mesmerism will last only as long as it takes its target to complete their action (bleary eyed, the victim tries to remember why he put his freshly lit cigarette out in the first place).

On the other hand, the effects of a mesmerism-delivered suggestion will last for a number of days equal to its rank value, and can even override the target's ethics on a yellow mesmerism ACTION roll (the target, having stopped smoking for a full month thanks to a rank value 30 mesmerism suggestion, may resume his habit if he chooses at this point - or continue to enjoy his extra pocket change).

Mind Control
Type: Mental Power
Duration: special
Cost: 1 point per rank value
Related Powers: body control, crowd control, jumbling, mesmerism, mind duplication, mind lock, mind wipe, mood swings, pain, possession, psychic invisibility, summoning, telepathy.

Mind control is a means by which one can take direct control over the actions of another. While mesmerism is somewhat subtle in nature, mind control allows for a granular manipulation of the target's activities. When the power is activated, its target immediately gains a Willpower ACTION to resist the effect, rolled against the intensity of the mind control ability. If this ACTION fails, the target is in the mind controller's thrall.

While the victim of mind control must initially be within Very Near distance, the range at which he or she can still be controlled is increased to Middle distance once domination of their mind has been achieved. A mind controller must deliver commands directly for them to be obeyed, either verbally (in person or by telephone) or telepathically (if the mind controller also has that power).

Once control is established, the victim may not attempt to resist again, unless ordered to do something diametrically opposed to their moral structure. While so controlled, the victim of this power may not spend Fortune on any ACTION roll, unless their own existence is in direct jeopardy (which allows another resistance ACTION). Similarly, Fortune gains or losses incurred while mind controlled are passed onto the controller.

Repute losses for actions taken while mind controlled are entirely the problem of the victim, though!

Mind control lasts for a number of minutes equal to its rank value, or until control of the target is given up (voluntarily or otherwise). While under the effects of this ability, the victim may or may not be aware of what is going on - this is entirely up to the mind controller. Similarly, whether or not the target remembers anything done while under mind control depends on the whims of the wielder of this power.

Mind Duplication
Type: Mental Power
Duration: instantaneous or maintenance, depending
Cost: 1 point per rank value
Related Powers: mental doubles, mesmerism, mind control, mind wipe, psychic probe, summoning, telepathy.

Mind Duplication is the process of copying the consciousness of another person into oneself. To duplicate someone's mind, the possessor of this power must be close to them, as the ability only functions within Very Near distance of its target. Luckily for the subject of this power, mind duplication doesn't actually take anything from its targets - it just copies the contents of their heads.

The quality of a mental copy depends on the ACTION roll made when it is used on its subject. A black ACTION roll will only duplicate the target's personality, while a red ACTION adds most major memories. A blue power ACTION roll involves a comprehensive memory duplication, along with any skills the subject possesses. A yellow ACTION even adds in any skill-equivalent powers (psionics, spells) the subject knows.

So once you've got a copy of someone's mind, then what?

While the subject of this ability isn't affected by this power, and may not even know it was used, the copy of his or her mind inside the mind duplicator's head will. Whether it thinks it has been the target of mind transfer or some other psionic agency, this copied mind will lash out against the mind duplicator, and will usually try to take control of their body for itself (assuming no voluntary copying was involved).

This sort of activity requires a contest of wills between the duplicated mind and the mind duplicator. Of course, lacking the animating spirit of the original, the duplicate is at something of a disadvantage, and suffers a -2 RS to its 'real' Willpower for this purpose. If the duplicate fails, its mind is subordinate to the will of its creator, and can be picked at for information and such at one's leisure.

If this Willpower contest is a tie, the duplicate mind will merge with that of the mind duplicator for the duration of the power. While in this state, the character with this power should have mental traits that are the average of theirs and that of the consciousness they copied. The combined personality should be a perfect blending of the two, but if each mind is at diametric purposes, it may war with itself.

Should the mind duplicator lose a contest of will against a copied consciousness, its personality will take over their body while the power is active. It has access to any knowledge and skill-equivalent powers that were copied with it, along with the physical traits and powers of its 'host'. What actions it will take at this point ultimately depend on its relationship with the mind duplicator in the first place.

So how long does mind duplication last? This is determined by a second mind duplication ACTION, made after an initial success. A black ACTION allows it to last for only 1d10 turns. Red ACTION rolls extend this to a number of turns equal to the power rank value, a blue ACTION extends this to a number of minutes equal to the power rank value, and a yellow ACTION roll extends this to a number of hours equal to the power rank value.

These periods of time, of course, assume that the possessor of mind duplication isn't specifically concentrating on maintaining a duplicate consciousness inside their own head. At the same time, the temporary nature of mind duplication ensures that if some critical mishap occurs with the power, its wielder will not be forever beholden to any consciousness it has duplicated, in the event that it takes over and runs rampant.

A curious side effect of mind duplication is that, even after a copied consciousness has faded, it sometimes leaves a psychic echo. This is because information is nigh-impossible to remove from one's mind once it has been implanted, no matter how hard one tries - in fact, trying usually makes it stick harder. These echoes are generally harmless for the most part, but can clutter up one's subconscious a bit.

Luckily, they tend to lack actual skills and skill-like powers they may've possessed, but their personality will usually shine through, along with vague memories of their past (usually what the mind duplicator knows about them). But this can lead to particularly vivid dreams starring one or more personality echoes. Or, should the mind duplicator lose all of their Mental Health, they may rarely come to the fore.

Which might be something of a surprise to everyone around the mind duplicator - particularly whoever it is that knocked them out!

Mind Lock
Type: Mental Power
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 1 point per rank value
Related Powers: daydreams, jumbling, mental repair, mind control, mind wipe, telepathy.

Mind lock allows its wielder to pause a target's conscious mind in a precise and instantaneous fashion. If the victim fails a Willpower ACTION roll against this power's rank value, he or she will stop cold - right where they stand. No matter what they were doing at the time a mind lock was applied, the victim will simply cease their actions and freeze in place, unable to move or think in the slightest.

The mind locked may roll an additional ACTION to resist this ability each turn. Upon breaking free from a mind lock, the target will continue to act as they originally planned, though they'll realize something has changed after resuming their course of action (if it hasn't already been obviated by events occurring while their mind was on hold), and may resume normal activity on their next turn.

A mind lock may be applied in an instantaneous or maintained fashion. The former frees the wielder of this ability to do other things, while the latter allows them to constantly hold the target in place. If the target breaks free from an instantaneous mind lock, they are free to do whatever they like, though if they emerge from a maintained mind lock, they must resist on each subsequent turn or said lock will resume while maintained.

Mind lock only functions within Very Near distance of its target.

Mind Transfer
Type: Mental Power
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 2 points per rank value
Related Powers: finding, mind duplication, mind link, possession, summoning, telepathy.

This dangerous ability allows its user to swap the very minds of two separate individuals. When activated, mind transfer prompts an immediate Willpower ACTION roll against its power rank value to resist, unless the targets of the power are explicitly willing subjects. If all unwilling individuals involved fail this ACTION roll, then their minds are transplanted from their original locations into their counterparts' bodies.

Note that the wielder of this ability need not be one of the minds so transferred, though this can make for a good limitation.

When uprooted, the mind of a character transferred into another body retains their Intellect, Awareness, and Willpower traits, as well as their Fortune total, mental quirks, and knowledge-based powers. They can make use of the physical characteristics of their new body just fine, whether mundane or fantastic, as well as the Lifestyle, Repute, and contacts of their new form - at least, until people realize just what has happened.

A mind transfer can be enacted between any two minds, whether sapient or not, organic or not. One could swap the minds of two humans, a human and a robot, a robot and a dog, a dog and a human - whatever, really. Plopping a mind into a body that it's ill-equipped to handle may involve considerable difficulty in restoring even basic mobility, much less the use of its considerable capabilities (if any).

The duration of a mind transferal is dependent on variables present when the ability is put to use. A black ACTION causes a mind transfer to last but 1d10 turns. Red ACTIONs allow a mind transfer to endure for a number of turns equal to its power rank value, while a blue ACTION extends its duration to a like number of minutes. Finally, yellow mind transfers last for a number of hours equal to this power rank value.

Alternately, a mind transfer may be made permanent if both recipients of the power's use are willing. On the other hand, a permanent mind transfer may occur when one of the power's targets physically dies before the effect wears off. In the event of such a catastrophe, the remaining body has nowhere else to put the mind it's currently housing, so it hangs onto it in perpetuity.

A character wielding this power to hop from body to body is considerably difficult to track down, particularly if they make multiple transfers in short order. By the time everyone's minds are back where they belong, the consciousness of the character with mind transfer is long, long gone. It might be just as difficult to put such a person down for good, if they have various empty bodies ready to house their mind.

Mind transfer functions within Very Near range of its user.

Mind Wipe
Type: Mental Power
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 2 points per rank value
Related Powers: forgetfulness, fugue, mental repair, mind control, mind duplication, mind lock, psychic probe, telepathy.

A mind wipe is the blocking of large swathes of memory and/or knowledge. Above and beyond mere forgetfulness, mind wipe can excise more than just a few minutes of memory from its target - it can selectively remove access to data relating to any number of subjects. Such information can come in the form of a useful skill, a knowledge-based power, or even something as simple as details about the guy living upstairs.

Performing a mind wipe takes a bit of time, but then it involves a serious rewiring of someone's head. Such operations typically take at least one turn, but may take a minute or longer depending on the depth of information removed from the target's mind. Speaking of which, would-be victims of this power may resist it if they can pass a Willpower ACTION roll against the intensity of the mind wipe ability.

Or if they can stay away; mind wipe only functions on targets within Very Near range of its wielder.

Those who cannot resist are subject to semi-permanent memory loss, whether they've been forced to forget their ex-girlfriend, how to play baseball, their spellcasting potential, or even everything they know. Losing chunks of one's self will have ripple effects on their personality, ranging from a sinking feeling that they're missing something in their life to incurring a general (or severe) blandness in their demeanor.

Memory loss caused by mind wipe cannot be reversed by clarity. However, mental repair can do so, since mind wipe does not remove memories from a body's mind (which is essentially impossible), so much as remove one's access to them. Keep in mind that such a reversal often requires passing an ACTION roll with that ability against the intensity of the mind wipe that caused the damage to begin with.

O

Object Projection
Type: Mental Power
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 1 point per rank value
Related Powers: astral projection, clone projection, dream projection, energy projection, object animation, object sympathy, platforming, reformation, spectral freedom, technical intuition, topological control.

The curious ability of object projection allows its wielder to separate his or her consciousness from their body. This consciousness then moves into any one item the character is currently in physical contact with. Such objects may be of any nature, whether comprised of a single piece, many mechanical components, or even electronic circuitry - as long as the item is solid inanimate matter, it may be used by object projection.

While inhabiting an item, the consciousness of the character using this ability may control it as if they were using rank value object animation. In other words, if inside a gun they can fire or hop around, if inside a chair they can walk or be exceptionally comfortable, and so on. If the item is of a higher material value or mass than similarly valued object animation could control, it cannot be manipulated - but may still be inhabited.

The character inhabiting an object possesses all their normal sensory abilities; despite being disembodied, they can sense whatever is going on around them. This makes object projection a great ability for espionage or other clandestine activities. They may also 'speak', and can use any knowledge-based abilities available to them, though some abilities may or may not be applicable to the character's current state.

When an object projector is inhabiting an item, their consciousness may only move into other inanimate objects that it is in contact with. Via this ability alone, an object projector cannot inhabit or manipulate a sentient object or living being. A consciousness projected by this ability can move though solid matter (like a stretch of highway) at a respectable pace, doing so with a velocity as determined by the space speed table.

Object projecting is an action which must be maintained consciously, but it may be done for quite a while; object projection has a maximum safe duration equal to its rank value in hours. For example, a character with rank value 50 object projection may shed their consciousness and let it wander around in nearby objects for just over two days at a time. Food and water become an issue after several days, however.

This is because, while object projecting, the character's body remains in a coma-like state, burning little energy (per the Trance skill). It must have air to breathe, but it is otherwise inert, and need not consume food or water until the projection is complete. At this point the object projector, if they've been gone for a good long time, may need to consume large amounts of food and water to recover.

Deactivating object projection (whether willingly or because of the destruction of something the power is being used on) will immediately recall the mind of its wielder - even if no solid objects are readily available to conduct it back to its point of origin. This recall mechanism works no matter how far an object projector's mind has wandered from its point of origin with the use of this ability (it has no effective range limits).

P

Possession
Type: Mental Power
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 2 points per rank value
Related Powers: astral projection, mesmerism, mind control, mind transfer, telepathy.

A more invasive form of mind control, possession allows its wielder to project his or her very consciousness into the mind of another. Targets of this ability automatically gain a Willpower ACTION roll to resist, attempted against the intensity of its power rank value. If this ACTION roll succeeds, the would-be possessor's consciousness is deflected back into their own mind, possibly giving them a migraine in the process.

If the target's resistance roll fails, however, the possessor's consciousness literally 'moves in' to his or her victim's mind. While possessing another, the wielder of this ability will be completely unaware of anything happening to their own body - unless they can perceive it through their thrall. In other words, they may merely sense whatever their 'new' body can detect, with whatever senses it has access to.

While possessing a target, the wielder of this power may live vicariously through him or her, doing anything they like with the appropriated body. They may spend their Fortune to influence actions taken while in the possessed body, though not the victim's own Fortune reserves. Similarly, a possessed person does not lose Fortune for actions a possessor takes while controlling them, but Repute is another matter entirely.

Once possessed, the target may not actively resist the power - unless its wielder places them in a life-threatening situation. Other than that, though, they're helpless against their tormentor, forced to watch as the possessor does what he or she likes with their body, their very life. Of course, knocking a possessor unconscious is one way to end body-hopping shenanigans, regardless of its victim's inability to resist.

Like mind control, possession must be initiated within Very Near distance of its wielder. But, after that point, it can be maintained wherever its target wanders, for as long as the possessor can concentrate on keeping this ability active.

Postcognition
Type: Mental Power
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 1 point per rank value
Related Powers: history control, precognition, psychic probe, psychometry, quintessential variation, time travel.

Postcognition is the ability to vicariously relive the past in relation to a person, place, or thing. This requires physical contact with the subject, and may investigate a number of years of its history equal to the postcognition power rank value squared. For example, a postcognitive bearing this ability at rank value 40 can directly examine and relive the history of a subject up to 1,600 years into the past!

A postcognitive vision mainly gives information relevant to the subject. If something important happened in the area that the postcog's subject was unaware of and didn't affect it directly, postcognition might not pick up on it (Gamemaster's discretion). Similarly, coaxing the desired amount of detail out of a subject with this ability can be tricky; the color result of the postcognition ACTION roll determines how useful the offered data is.

A black ACTION roll typically won't give anything useful, and may in fact be counter-productive to the postcog's goals. A red ACTION roll will provide accurate, if minimalistic information. Blue ACTION rolls provide accurate and somewhat thorough details about the period of time being examined. Yellow ACTIONs can provide all of this and more, sometimes gleaning extra information that isn't otherwise apparent.

The kicker is that for a player to not know they're getting bum (or excellent) information, they don't get to roll the ACTION required when using postcognition - that's left to the Gamemaster. A player may declare they're adding Fortune to the roll, but he or she won't know how much they need; they can shout out a number and be bound to that expenditure, but may not even need all of it if the Gamemaster rolls high enough.

This all assumes that postcognition is used on an unfamiliar target. When wielding this ability on familiar persons or items, a postcog may add a +1 RS to the ACTION roll, a +2 RS when used on their property, or close friends and relatives, and a +3 RS when used on themselves. The latter is useful when trying to determine what might have happened to oneself while unconscious (or dead!) for any long period of time.

Precognition
Type: Mental Power
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 3 points per rank value
Related Powers: danger sense, postcognition, psychometry, time travel.

Perhaps one of the most difficult abilities to possess, precognition allows its wielder to see the future! This works by peeling back the veil of time, and looking upon events before they unfold. Characters with this capability have the power to shape the very nature of their reality, for they can conceivably bring events to pass that otherwise would not happen - or prevent seemingly certain eventualities from occurring at all.

This works because while a timeline is immutable, the precognitive character is not necessarily viewing their own, eventual fate. You see, there are an infinite number of variant timelines, and every second an infinity more branch out from our own, depending on the outcome of events large and small. By nudging things in one direction or another, a precognitive person can steer their future towards a certain path, for good or ill.

Precognition can look ahead a number of hours equal to its power rank value; rank value 20 gives a body about a day's worth of notice regarding impending events (great for winning the lottery), while rank value 150 can see almost a week into the future. This allows a precog to monitor future events while working to bring about one specific outcome or another, to see if their actions are helping (or not).

Whether or not the precognitive individual wishes to change anything is another matter entirely.

The trick with precognition is that the success or failure of an action with the ability is unknown. The dice are not rolled by the player - instead, the Gamemaster makes precognition ACTIONs in secret, and the player may not add Fortune to this roll. The validity of a precognitive reading is dependent on the results of this ACTION, and the Gamemaster is encouraged have a blast with any failed precognition ACTION rolls.

On the other hand, something useful should be gleaned upon precognition's success, in relation to the color result. A red ACTION, for instance, will give accurate but vague information in the vision. A blue ACTION roll will provide ample data about a future occurrence, making it easier to determine what the context is. A yellow ACTION may even give additional information about the situation that isn't readily apparent.

As one can guess, precognition is extremely powerful, and as a result a character who possesses it must take at least one potent limitation to hold it in check - which does not add to its power level (or reduce its cost). Said character can take more, of course, and subsequent limitations will in fact benefit their precognition's power to cost ratio, but at least one is mandatory. Such limitations can include the following:

• The precognition is out of the character's control - he or she sees visions when the Gamemaster decides it's time.
• The precognition only affects a single class of subjects, such as living beings, inanimate objects, or locations.
• The precognition can only work on something its wielder is touching (or within six sectors of them).
• The precognition only occurs in dreams, lending a whole new definition to promnesia (déjà vu).
• The precognition is the only vision the character can see, until it comes to pass or is prevented.

Precognition itself is only at its maximum effectiveness the first time it is used on a given day. Each subsequent use of the ability reduces its effective rank value (both for the resolution of ACTIONs and the range with which it can peer into the future) by -1 RS. The limit to this is rank value 0, at which point a character can only use the power to peer into the immediate future of those in their vicinity.

When a precog's daily prognostications are all 'used up', he or she may only peer one turn into the future - and then, only in relation to the actions of others within six sectors of them. If this ACTION (which must be blue or better) is successful, a precog may act with this foreknowledge, and if he or she wins the initiative, they may even share his knowledge of the next few seconds with allies.

This use of precognition doesn't 'drain' the rank value of the power if it hasn't already reached rank value 0 levels, and may be used indefinitely.

Psi Bolt
Type: Mental Power
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 1 point per rank value
Related Powers: empathic hammer, illusion projection, jumbling, telepathy, thought projection.

A direct attack upon the mind of another, a psi bolt is the focused offensive will of its wielder. A psi bolt may be turned upon any sentient being within Near range, and will inflict its power rank value in Karmic damage should the target fail a Willpower ACTION versus its rank value. Psi bolts are ineffective against anything without a Fortune trait, whether it be a dog, a plant, or a non-sapient robot.

Those affected by a psi bolt will usually feel exquisite pain, and demonstrate minor physical hints of the attack (nose or ear bleeds, and so forth). Generally, the harm inflicted by a psi bolt is never permanent in nature (it will readily heal in time), but it's possible that particularly grievous attacks can inflict serious mental damage, which may potentially result in the development of a variety of deleterious quirks.

The nature of such quirks, should any manifest as a result of devastating psychic harm, are the province of the Gamemaster.

Psi Web
Type: Mental Power
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 1 point per rank value
Related Powers: force field, telekinesis.

A psi web is a telekinetic weave that its creator can use to ensnare others entering a specific area of space. A psi web will manifest as a two-dimensional object, but may be oriented with any horizontal or vertical inclination desired. It can overlay any amount of space within Very Near distance of its creator, whether spread across a narrow opening or covering every available inch within its area of effect.

Upon entering a space warded by a psi web, one must pass a Brawn ACTION against its power rank value to proceed. If this ACTION fails, the person who sprung the trap is held within, and must attempt to escape as if grappled at the psi web's rank value. If successful, the character may continue to move through the area that turn, but if still present on the next, he or she must repeat the above Brawn ACTION.

Psionic Vampirism
Type: Mental Power
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 2 points per rank value
Related Powers: biological vampirism, decontamination, energy vampirism, psi sense, spectral vampirism, super vampirism, thaumaturgical vampirism, vampirism.

A variation on standard vampirism, this power allows its wielder to feed upon the consciousnesses of other sentient beings to recover his or her own, lost Health. As do other forms of this ability, psionic vampirism requires contact with the would-be victim. Upon touching the target, a psionic vampire may drain an amount of their Intellect, Awareness, and psionic power values (if any) equal to this power rank value.

This assumes the target is unable to resist. Psionic vampirism can be fought off by passing a Willpower ACTION roll against its rank value. If this ACTION fails, the psionic vampire may drain their victim of as much or as little consciousness as they wish, up to their rank value, each turn. Every additional turn they do so, the target is allowed another ACTION roll to resist the wielder of psionic vampirism.

If this resistance ACTION is successful at any point during the feeding process, the target will immediately repulse the psionic vampire, gaining immunity from further assaults with this power from this psionic vampire (though not from other characters with this ability or any other vampiric powers the assailant may possess). Upon managing this, the target should note this resistance in the event of future assaults (just in case).

A psionic vampire that is at full Health when they drain their rank value in consciousness from a victim receives a +1 RS to their Brawn, Fortitude, Willpower, and all their power values save for this one (additional drains do not enhance them further). This boost lasts for 1d100 turns, after which point the character with psionic vampirism will return to their normal capability. Gaining another, like boost requires another feeding.

The danger in using this ability is twofold. First off, there's the risk of contagion. Draining someone of their mind completely is considered a lethal attack. If the victim of such an attack fails their Kill check, they will begin to lose Fortitude rank values until either first aid is administered or they die. If such an individual dies, they will rise again as an undead creature, a psionic vampire that feeds on the minds of others to survive.

Secondly, if a psionic vampire kills with this ability (whether accidentally or on purpose), they must pass a Willpower ACTION against the intensity of their own psionic vampirism. If this ACTION fails, the psionic vampire will become addicted to the mental energies of others, and will require it to function as well. While addicted, the character with psionic vampirism suffers a loss of power each day they do not feed upon others' minds.

This loss comes in the form of a -1 RS to their Brawn, Fortitude, and Willpower traits, as well as all their power rank values (save for this one). To avoid this loss, the addicted psionic vampire must drain an amount of mental energy equal to their psionic vampirism value each day, and if at a penalty, a like amount to recover each -1 RS lost. The only way to shake this addiction is to go cold turkey - and that's not easy.

Withdrawal from the mental energy of others causes the RS penalties to mount, until the character's indicated traits and power rank values reach rank value 0. This prompts a Fortitude ACTION roll, per a Kill result. If this ACTION fails, the character immediately dies, and will eventually rise as a psionic vampire themselves. If it succeeds, they may attempt a Willpower ACTION roll to overcome their addiction.

If this Willpower ACTION succeeds, the character is 'cured', and may begin to recover lost trait and power rank values at a rate of +1 RS per day. If the Willpower ACTION fails, however, the character must wait another day, and repeat the Fortitude ACTION to see if they live long enough to attempt another Willpower ACTION to beat the urge. This continues until the character either dies or manages to defeat their addiction.

If a psionic vampire has ever been addicted to the mental energies of others, using the ability again may cause a relapse - even if they've physically recovered from the ordeal. Every time the character uses psionic vampirism afterwards, they must pass a Willpower ACTION roll, the failure of which indicates an immediate relapse into addiction. If they pass this ACTION roll they'll be fine - at least, until the next use of the power.

Naturally, an undead creature dependent on the minds of others to live cannot shake this requirement. This process only applies to still-living wielders of psionic vampirism, and not its many victims.

Psychic Invisibility
Type: Mental Power
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 1 point per rank value
Related Powers: crowd control, fortuity, illusion projection, mental invisibility, mind control, telepathy.

A means of achieving effective invisibility, this ability lets its wielder force others to disregard the sensory input that would reveal his or her presence. Psychic invisibility functions within Near range of its wielder, and everyone within this area of effect (unless an exception is made) must pass a Willpower ACTION roll against this power's rank value or be unable to directly perceive its user.

Their minds thus clouded, people in the character's vicinity will not react to their presence, and won't even know they were there. Of course, unliving instruments are not affected by this power, and the character wielding it can still be readily be recorded by video cameras and the like. This means that one may be observed remotely and alarms triggered as a result, even if the security guards sent to investigate cannot find them.

As is the case with regular invisibility, one is at a -4 RS to hit someone shielded by psychic invisibility.

The user of psychic invisibility may wield this ability on more than themselves, if desired. He or she may add any number of individuals to the 'umbrella' of stealth that psychic invisibility provides, but each additional person so added applies a -1 RS to the effective rank value of psychic invisibility, both for the range at which it works and the intensity that others must roll against to resist its effects.

Psychic Probe
Type: Mental Power
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 1 point per rank value
Related Powers: mental repair, mind duplication, mind wipe, postcognition, telepathy.

While telepathy can only be used to sense the surface thoughts of a sentient being, a psychic probe may delve further into their mind - much further. The target of a psychic probe automatically gains a Willpower ACTION against the psychic probe intensity to resist it, even if they're unaware of its use beforehand. If this ACTION is successful, the target cannot be probed (by this particular psychic prober) for twenty-four hours.

If this ACTION fails, the prober may seek out whatever information he or she wishes from the target. This power cannot be used to randomly root around in something's mind - the wielder must have a basic idea what they're looking for. Those probed can only reveal knowledge they actually know, but it's possible that they have secrets locked up in the back of their mind that they're not even aware of in the first place.

Once the use of psychic probe is complete (whether successful or not), the target must attempt a second Willpower ACTION roll. If this ACTION fails, he or she will suffer a -1 RS to their Willpower rank value for 24 hours, due to the extreme strain that a psychic probe causes. This may make the target more susceptible to other people with the psychic probe power - or any other psionic powers, for that matter.

Psychic probe functions on the Near range table.

Psychometry
Type: Mental Power
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 1 point per rank value
Related Powers: finding, postcognition, precognition, super tracking, time travel.

Psychometry is the ability to read the psychic impressions left on an inanimate object. This can be any sort of item, whether digital, mechanical, organic, or inert, as long as it is not currently alive. Upon a successful power ACTION roll, the psychometrist can hold an active conversation with an item, interpreting the residual psychic energies left upon it to learn anything desired about the object.

The item will readily give up information about how it works and how it was made (if applicable), who its current or most recent owner is/was, as well as various important (to it, at least) things that have occurred in its past. Psychometry can also be used to reveal information about others who have previously touched the item, and what they did (or did not do) with it while touching it.

Using this information, a psychometrist can wield other abilities which allow him or her to learn more about those who have handled the item, such as finding or postcognition. This makes psychometry a 'gateway' of sorts for digging up information about a wide variety of individuals, some of which may not seem relevant when psychometry is first used, but give additional clues upon being probed with these other powers.

A -1 RS is applied for each subsequent individual back in time that handled the item, at least until this power dips below rank value zero. After this point, this particular psychometrist can't make further sense of lingering impressions. Other than this, there is no temporal limits on psychometry; if an item has been left idle in a crypt for ten thousand years, psychometry doesn't care, treating this period as if it were but a fleeting moment.

Psychoplasm Animation
Type: Mental Power
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 2 points per rank value
Related Powers: clone projection, fluid animation, image animation, object animation, reanimation, solid animation, vapor animation.

Psychoplasm is a form of imaginary matter that is generally resident in higher dimensions - the seventh, to be precise. It's a material that is highly subject to the mental impulses of others, and typically does not occur naturally in our plane of existence. By using this ability, however, one can allow some psychoplasm to seep into our universe, and then shape it however they desire!

Essentially, one can use psychoplasm animation to emulate the effects of the various matter generation powers. One can shape the summoned psychoplasm into raw matter, specific objects, or even seemingly living beings. The only stipulation on the items created through psychoplasm is that they are limited in effect by this ability's power rank value - in every possible aspect of their existence.

Psychoplasmic objects are limited to a MV equal to this rank value, as are abilities possessed by psychoplasmic beings shaped by this power - whether they be growth (to emulate raw size), speed (for flying entities), or anything else. One can draw forth an amount of psychoplasm equal to this power's value in 'pounds' each turn; making larger objects simply takes multiple turns, until all the necessary material has manifested.

The products of this power are very short-lived. Unless their continued existence is specifically maintained, psychoplasmic objects persist for a number of turns equal to this power rank value on a red ACTION, a like amount of minutes on a blue ACTION, and a similar number of hours with a yellow ACTION. This ability may not create permanent objects, as psychoplasm generally tries to return from whence it came as soon as possible.

Generally. However, due to the quirky nature of psychoplasm and the higher, mental realms it hails from, objects created with the material once it has been drawn into our universe will on rare occasions take on a life all their own. This is a double-edged sword, as the objects so created become permanent entities, but immediately slip from the grasp of their creator - whether animate or otherwise.

S

Sending
Type: Mental Power
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 1 point per rank value
Related Powers: sensory projection, telepathy, thought projection.

A sending is a psionic construct, a sort of semi-sentient package of mental energy that its creator can insert a message within. Once this message has been instilled within the sending, it will then make its way from its creator to the recipient of said message. After the message is delivered, the sending will dissipate, its purpose complete. In a way, sendings serve as a sort of one-way telepathic messaging system.

The difference between sending and telepathy, however, is the range involved. While telepathy itself has a respectable range (functioning on the Far range table), sending can operate over a much greater distance. You see, a sending has a sort of built-in version of finding, and can locate the recipient of its cargo anywhere in reality. Furthermore, it has the ability to get to its target no matter where he or she may be.

A sending can travel anywhere, its energies being self-sustaining while it's about its appointed task. Being comprised of mental energy, it can move at relativistic speeds, but it cannot teleport, dimensionally transit, or time travel. Instead, if it needs to do so, a sending will seek out the nearest rift in space and/or time to move from where it is to where it needs to be.

Sendings are immaterial by nature, able to pass through most objects with ease (unless they are strong enough to possess psi resistance), and usually the only way to stop one from doing its job is to wield power over the psionic energy that makes it up, or to douse it in antipsions (both of which must overcome the sending rank value). This is easier said than done, however, as the things do move at the speed of thought.

Sensory Projection
Type: Mental Power
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 1 point per rank value
Related Powers: illusion projection, mood swings, pain, sending, sensory attenuation, sensory distortion, sensory link, sensory reception, static field, telepathy, thought projection.

Similar to thought projection, sensory projection allows its wielder to rapidly disseminate information telepathically to a large number of people. Instead of broadcasting coherent thoughts, however, sensory projection transmits the sensory information its user is experiencing. This projection of sensory input is a one-way affair; while others can sense what the user of sensory projection can, they cannot share their own experiences.

To 'block out' such sensory data transmissions, individuals within range must pass a Willpower ACTION roll against this ability's rank value. A failure to do so means that they will experience whatever sensory information the character with sensory projection does, for as long as he or she broadcasts such data. If unwilling recipients of such data cannot directly resist, they can always seek out its source.

After all, sensory projection has a somewhat short range, functioning within Very Near distance of its user. This may allow unwilling recipients of such input the clues necessary to find its source, and subsequently take more aggressive steps to stop such transmissions into their brains.

Sensory Reception
Type: Mental Power
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 1 point per rank value
Related Powers: auscultation, finding, sensory link, sensory projection, telepathy.

Like unto auscultation in function, sensory reception allows its user to eavesdrop on the ambient mental radiation given off by those in his or her area. It differs in that conscious thoughts are not picked up by this ability, so much as whatever sensory input people in one's vicinity experience. This vicinity is defined as within Very Near range; it can't reach far, but this ability can choose from many potential sources.

By opening one's mind up in this fashion, the user of sensory reception can see, hear, feel, smell, or taste anything that anybody within its range can. This information is usually inadvertently transmitted freely by all beings, sentient or otherwise, who do not actively shield their thoughts. Doing so allows would-be sensory donors to attempt a Willpower ACTION roll to resist this ability, even if they don't know what they're resisting.

Sifting through all of this sensory data can be a lot of effort, but it has a variety of uses. One can use this ability to locate something someone in the area is looking at, someone who smells a particular scent, or people who feel a unique sensation - at least, compared to others in the area. Similarly, sensory reception can be used to live vicariously through anyone nearby - assuming one cares not for the privacy of others at all.

Soul Control
Type: Mental Power
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 1 point per rank value
Related Powers: astral projection, internal universe, spectral flame control, spectral freedom, spectral gestalt, spectral sense, telepathy.

The character with this ability may exert influence over any spectral entities in his or her vicinity. Such souls can consist of the spirits of the dead (whether they're freshly so or those that linger on), people with the astral projection or spectral freedom powers, or even random beings from higher dimensions who happen to have blundered into the area. This power can be used on such souls in a variety of fashions.

The first involves simply warding them off. This is useful when someone is the victim of a haunting, or any other nuisance caused by the dead. Soul control can be used to craft a zone that spectral entities cannot enter - unless they can pass a Willpower ACTION roll against this power rank value, that is. The size of such a forbidden zone is a sphere with a radius that extends out to Very Near distance.

If soul control is consciously maintained, this ability can protect its wielder from unseemly influence and possession by such entities, or even the 'threat' of conversation with such. However, it can also be used on a specific person, object, or location. If this is the case, the protection that soul control offers will last for a number of hours that is equal to its power rank value.

Secondly, soul control can be used to imprison a spectral entity. If such a being in one's vicinity fails a Willpower ACTION roll against this power rank value, they can be contained within the very body of this power's possessor. Once imprisoned, a soul cannot leave until they can succeed in a contest of will against either the soul control power rank value or its wielder's Willpower - whichever of the two is higher.

Such an effort is highly useful when trying to take a disembodied combatant out of the fight, even if only temporarily. Such an imprisonment can be made more permanent if used in conjunction with the internal universe power - which places the imprisoned soul there, instead. A soul so shunted into such a plane is then essentially stuck... unless they possess the ability to dimensionally transit, that is.

Finally, soul control can grab spectral entities in the vicinity and literally bond them to nearby objects or life forms. Such objects can be anything, whether a freshly built (or repaired) body, a dog, a tree, a robot, or a baseball bat, as long as it doesn't already possess a soul. If dumped into something inanimate, the soul inside cannot act unless said object has the ability to do so (as would, say, an automobile).

When one attempts to bind them in such a fashion, spectral entities may resist this ability, as well as ultimately attempt an escape from such a binding, as if being warded from an area - though the exact opposite has, in fact, occurred. The thing to keep in mind, however, is that a soul so bonded to an object, whether it is living or inanimate, might be perfectly all right with their new circumstances.

This is most often the case with the spirits of the dead, who see such a fate as being preferable to whatever reward - or punishment - they imagine is due to them in their afterlife!

Spectral Vampirism
Type: Mental Power
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 2 points per rank value
Related Powers: biological vampirism, decontamination, energy vampirism, psionic vampirism, spectral flame control, spectral flame generation, spectral sense, super vampirism, thaumaturgical vampirism, vampirism.

A variant on the standard ability, spectral vampirism allows its wielder to feed upon the souls of others, whether still living or existing free of a body, to recover lost Health. As do other forms of this ability, spectral vampirism requires contact with the would-be victim. Upon touching the target, a spectral vampire may drain an amount of their Awareness and Willpower equal to this power rank value.

This assumes the target is unable to resist; spectral vampirism can be fought off by passing a Willpower ACTION roll against its rank value. If this ACTION fails, the spectral vampire may drain his or her victim of as much or as little spirit as they wish, up to their power rank value. Every additional turn they do so, the target is allowed another ACTION roll to resist the wielder of spectral vampirism.

If this resistance ACTION is successful at any point during the feeding process, the target will immediately repulse the spectral vampire, gaining immunity from further assaults with this power from this spectral vampire (though not from other characters with this ability, or any other vampiric powers the assailant may possess). Upon managing this, the target should note this resistance in the event of future assaults (just in case).

If a spectral vampire is at full Health when they drain their power value in spectral energy from a victim, they receive a +1 RS to their Brawn, Fortitude, Willpower, and all their power values save for this one (additional drains do not enhance them further). This boost lasts for 1d100 turns, after which point the character with spectral vampirism returns to their normal capability. Gaining another, like boost requires another feeding.

The risk in using this ability is twofold. First off, there's the danger of contagion. Draining someone of their soul completely is considered a lethal attack. If the victim of such an attack fails their Kill check, they will begin to lose Fortitude values until either first aid is administered or they die. If such an individual dies, they will rise again as an undead creature, a spectral vampire that feeds on the souls of others to survive.

Secondly, if a spectral vampire kills with this ability (accidentally or otherwise), they must pass a Willpower ACTION against the intensity of their own spectral vampirism. If this ACTION fails, they become addicted to the spiritual energies of others, and will require them to function as well. While addicted, the character with spectral vampirism suffers a loss of power each day they do not feed upon the souls of others.

This loss comes in the form of a -1 RS to their Brawn, Fortitude, Willpower, and all of their power values save for this one. To avoid this loss, the addicted spectral vampire must drain an amount of spiritual energy equal to their spectral vampirism rank value each day, and if at a penalty, a like amount to recover each -1 RS lost. The only way to shake this addiction is to go cold turkey - and that's not easy.

Withdrawal from the spiritual energy of others causes the RS penalties to mount, until the character's indicated trait and power values reach 0. This prompts a Fortitude ACTION roll, per a Kill result. If this ACTION fails, the character immediately dies, and will eventually rise as a spectral vampire themselves. If it succeeds, they may attempt a Willpower ACTION to overcome their addiction.

If this Willpower ACTION succeeds, the character is 'cured', and may begin to recover lost trait and power values at a rate of +1 RS per day. If the Willpower ACTION fails, however, the character must wait another day, and repeat the Fortitude ACTION to see if they live long enough to attempt another Willpower ACTION to beat the urge. This continues until the character either dies or overcomes their addiction.

If a character with spectral vampirism has ever been addicted to the spiritual energies of others, using the ability again may cause a relapse - even if they've physically recovered from the ordeal. Every time the character uses this power afterwards, they must pass a Willpower ACTION, the failure of which indicates an immediate relapse into addiction. If they pass this ACTION they'll be fine... until the next use of this power, at least.

Naturally, an undead creature dependent on the souls of others to persist cannot shake this requirement. This process only applies to still-living wielders of spectral vampirism, and not its many victims.

Static Field
Type: Mental Power
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 1 point per rank value
Related Powers: illusion projection, sensory projection, thought projection.

Telepathic powers generally work in a straight-forward manner: their initiator makes contact with one or more other minds, and then conveys whatever information they wish. However, this assumes that there isn't a lot of ambient psychic noise drowning out their mental signals. Psionic static is just that - a whole lot of gibberish and interference that stymies the use of telepathic powers.

Characters with the static field power can overwhelm the area within Very Near distance of their person with psionic hogwash. Either while within or targeting someone inside the radius of a static field, telepaths must pass a power ACTION against the intensity of the static field to operate their telepathic abilities. Failure means the information to be conveyed was 'lost' in the noise surrounding them.

As the source of the static field, the user of this ability cannot themselves wield any other telepathic powers while it is active. Similarly, the character gains rank value resistance to psychic influence while their static field is active. On the downside, there is no way to hide the fact that one is generating such a field from other telepaths in the vicinity, which readily allows them to retaliate for the inconvenience, if desired.

T

Telekinesis
Type: Mental Power
Duration: 1d10 turns + maintenance, if desired
Cost: 1 point per rank value
Related Powers: clairtouchence, cyclone, flaying, flight, force blast, force field, gliding, kinetic energy control, kinetic focus, levitation, object animation, object charge, object hardening, object sympathy, object weakening, platforming, propulsion, psi web, psychokinesis, telepathy, turnabout.

'Mind over matter', telekinesis is the ability to handle objects in the environment with the power of one's mind. Telekinesis is essentially Brawn at a distance, functioning at its rank value upon any external matter within Near distance that its wielder desires. This can involve a variety of feats, including heaving a Buick ™ at someone, holding back rushing water, or even suspending random matter in the air.

A telekinetic character may manipulate numerous objects simultaneously, but each doubling of items handled reduces its effective rank value, both for its effective range and total lifting strength, by -1 RS. For instance, a rank value 75 telekinetic could grab thirty-two objects and have them orbit their body, but doing so would reduce the total weight they could lift by -5 RS (limiting it to rank value 10 - or 400 pounds).

Telekinesis can be the basis for an immense variety of other powers, many of which are often learned as power stunts. Several telekinetics learn how to affect their own body in addition to external mass, to acquire flight. Others compress their telekinetic might into force blasts, and even more learn how to create protective force fields with the power of their minds alone.

And that is the real strength of telekinesis - its staggering versatility.

Telepathy
Type: Mental Power
Duration: 1d10 turns + maintenance, if desired
Cost: 1 point per rank value
Related Powers: astral projection, auscultation, charm, clarity, crowd control, danger sense, daydreams, dream projection, empathy, fugue, group link, illusion projection, jumbling, lie detection, linguistics, mental repair, mesmerism, mind control, mind link, mind duplication, mind lock, mind transfer, mind walk, mind wipe, possession, psi bolt, psychic invisibility, psychic probe, sending, sensory link, sensory projection, sensory reception, soul control, telekinesis, thought projection, translation.

Telepathy is the art of achieving direct, mind to mind contact with another sentient being. Achieving contact is automatic with a willing target, though the unwilling may resist telepathic contact by passing a Willpower (or any protective psionic, whichever is higher) ACTION roll against the rank value of the imposing telepathy. Telepathy functions with Far distance, giving its wielder a wide range within which they may contact others.

The basis for a vast array of mental powers, many of which are often learned as power stunts, telepathy in and of itself is somewhat limited in scope. This ability allows one to communicate with other sentients, whether linguistically or visually, once contact has been established. Those in telepathic contact are aware of each other's surface thoughts, but digging deeper requires the use of other psionic abilities.

Telepathy can achieve contact with numerous individuals, but each doubling of people linked via telepathy (not counting the telepath initiating the link) inflicts a -1 RS to both the effective rank value and range of telepathy. For instance, a rank value 100 telepath could conceivably link the minds of 128 individuals in their vicinity, but would do so at a -7 RS (or at rank value 6), and then 'only' with people within ten miles of them.

Thought Projection
Type: Mental Power
Duration: instantaneous effect
Cost: 1 point per rank value
Related Powers: auscultation, mood swings, psi bolt, sending, sensory projection, static field, telepathy.

While telepathy allows its wielder to engage in a meaningful, back and forth psionic conversation between two or more individuals, sometimes this isn't entirely necessary. On occasion, a body just wants to broadcast a telepathic message to as many people as possible, as fast as possible. Thought projection allows for exactly that, being a sort of one-way psionic communications mechanism.

When invoked, thought projection will deliver a message from its wielder to everyone within Very Near range, informing them of whatever it is they wish to convey. This can be a verbal or visual message, and when sent will automatically be received by anyone that isn't somehow shielding their thoughts. Anyone wishing to avoid the effects of thought projection must pass a Willpower ACTION against this power's rank value.

When received, the transmitted thoughts will play 'alongside' one's own, with as much intensity as is desired. Projecting 'FIRE!' will often get more direct attention than 'Mmm, Whopper ™...', but the latter can be more subtle and insidious, particularly if used in devious marketing schemes. These messages usually won't be confused with the recipients' own thoughts, unless of course they don't believe in psionics.

Translation
Type: Mental Power
Duration: maintenance
Cost: 1 point per rank value
Related Powers: linguistics, telepathy, xenoglossy.

Providing something akin to an instant common ground, translation generates a telepathic field which allows everyone within Near distance of its possessor to understand each other implicitly. The form of communication those affected utilize is irrelevant, as long as it is immediate; translation wouldn't work on written words, for example, unless said words were being written down in front of those affected by it.

Translation doesn't give its wielder the ability to communicate in other languages, so much as it simply allows others to comprehend whatever it is he or she is trying to convey to them. And vice versa.

Return to the Transnormality Treatise!

Questions or comments? Contact the author at your convenience!