Sunday, August 19, 2012

Psychic Power List Part I

I've been working on a psychic power list for a while now. I didn't want to publish any part of it until it was complete and checked and such, but then I thought, why not? After all, it might give me the motivation to finalise the list itself.
So, first of all, a couple of restrictions I gave myself when composing this list:

  1. No flashy powers like pyrokinesis, especially not ones where you throw flames and fart around on firebursts like a rocket. This includes no powers that allow flight or some such as well as all kinds of magic missiles.
  2. Must adhere to at least some basic science and not be just miraculous 'magic', so no teleporting and no creating something from nothing.
  3. At the same time, the power should be one that can be used to emulate gothic and lovecraftian witches and other supernatural creatures to some extent. Controlling animals and weather and even time.
  4. The powers themselves should be broad and easily combined. Most psychic rules disappoint me in that they are mostly lists of effects rather than powerful tools and that you can hardly ever combine the effects of two different powers in a meaningful way. Psychic powers are not spells.
I haven't written a lot of specific rules in these powers, as I'm still deciding what ruleset I want to use them with. But here are the basic rules that are common to all the powers:
  • Unless noted, all powers that affect another require that you touch or see the target for them to work. You are always counted as able to touch yourself and anything you touch by proxy of astral projection or possession. The proxy also works backwards. A psychic link also counts as a proxy.
  • Note also that the provided combinations are just examples and only the limit of the players’ imagination and common sense limits the possible effects of combined psychic powers. Pretty much any two powers will have some kind of overlap or combinatory effects.
  • Nightmare creatures may have limited or expanded versions or otherwise just different versions of the powers in this list.
  • Nightmare creatures are resistant to mind-affecting psychic powers, unless the power itself says it affects them fully.
  • Psychics are also resistant to psychic effects and get an opposing roll, but mortals are usually automatically affected.
  • The trappings are not necessarily required to use a power but include side-effects or foci that increase or focus the power’s effects.
I'll start showing the actual powers in the next update, as this one is already getting a bit on the long side.

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