The Nature and Development of Psionic Powers
Amongst the mortal races, many have some degree of psionic power, some species going so far as being completely psychic (such as the Emirin of the Palladium World, the Noro of the Three Galaxies, and the Agogwe of Earth). The minds of the mortal races can be divided into several groups, each largely distinct to itself. Unlike the categorization of magic-users, there is little confusion as to which psychic fits into which category (providing, of course, that the full compliment of the psychic's powers are known), and most individuals fall completely into one of these categories at any given time.
Non-psychics are just that, unable to use any psychic powers without drastic alterations in their constitution (such as exposure to the other-dimensional energies at the Asylum in Atlantis). This can result from species (some, such as the Trolls and Orcs, are completely without psychic abilities), heredity (certainly lineages in humans are congenitally non-psychic), or simple fate (the elusive "psychic gene" seems to follow an erratic hereditary path).
Latent psychics can, with training, develop psychic powers, but they have no quantifiable abilities at the current time. Some of the most powerful psionic minds in history lived most of their lives as latent psychics. An estimated 30% of the total population of humanity (including both psychics and apparent non-psychics) is latently psychic, and a similar percentage could be assumed amongst other races with psychic abilities.
Minor psychics generally possess one to four abilities from one (or, rarely, two) of the "lesser" categories. While psionically small fish, many innovations on psychic powers arise from these individuals, as their focus is devoted to only a few abilities.
Major psychics possess as many as ten minor powers, or six major powers and one "Super" psionic power. Often, these powers are arranged around a certain theme, falling into one category and any "super" powers being related to their minor abilities in some way.
Master psychics have no conventional limits on their power, and are the hardest to actually define. They fall into two broad sub-categories, the Focused (exemplified by psi-healers, Bursters and 'Kinetics) and the Generalists (as exemplified by the Mind Masters/Melters/Mages). Often, these individuals are very proud of their abilities, feeling themselves above normal mortals.
Defending against Psychic powers
Since psychic abilities work within nature rather than seeking to alter it (as magic does), they are often much more difficult to resist. While training and natural talent help, the average mortal has only a 20% chance of resisting psychic probes and assaults. On average, a human can expect the following success rates:
-Latent or Non-psychics succeed only one time out of five.
-Minor psychics succeed only 3 out of 10 times
-Major psychics succeed 2 out of 5 times
-Master psychics succeed half of the time.
These numbers cannot be completely accurate, of course, but I have endeavored to account for unusual mental fortitude or special training in mental defense.
Gaining New Abilities
Some mortals, especially amongst master psychics, naturally learn new powers as they gain in experience. Most, however, remain static throughout their lives, content to advance only in their non-psychic disciplines, accepting the solely incremental increases in their abilities.
Those who wish to advance in their non-psychic disciplines can still learn a handful of new powers, however. To a psionic mind, new abilities are as natural as new skills are to non-psychics.
Most minor abilities come in the form of "Eureka!"'s, in that the psionic comes out of his meditations with new insight and abilities. However, if the psychic so chooses, he can study to learn how to use a power, which generally grants him more facility with its use.
"Super" abilities are never spontaneous, however, and require more than simple will to learn. Firstly, the ability must be studied, sometimes for several years in order to learn how to unlock the desired effect. Often, these powers will follow a similar focus to the minor abilities that are possessed, but I suspect that is more of a psychological attribute than an actual requirement. Also, these abilities require a certain base of power to work from, so a character must have three lesser powers in order to take his first "super" power.
-Ellegon
Well, now that we've listened to Ellegon spew on in-character about psionics, let's see if we two poor mortals can actually frame all of his shit into rules, hmmm?
By and large, his divisions don't need much explanation, except for the part about latent psychics. Basically, the table in step four of creating a character should be altered to look like this:
01-09 Major Psionics
10-25 Minor Psionics
26-55 Latent Psychic (not as the BTS PCC, though)
56-00 Non-Psychic
Note that one doesn't have to take what the table says... they can always trade down, taking minor psionics instead of major, or latent instead of minor.
We never really liked that minor and major psychics had the same saving throws. After all, a major is at least twice a powerful, sometimes even more (Compare, on a psionics level only, a cyber-knight and a crazy and you get the idea). So, I altered the save tables to reflect this.
Latent and non-psychics: roll greater than 15 (e.g. 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
Minor psychics: roll greater than 13
Major psychics: roll greater than 11 (same as always)
Master psychics: roll greater than 9
Of course, this is before all your bonuses are factored in.
Learning new powers works just like learning new skills. Whenever you have the option to learn new skills, you can instead (not always also) pick up a psionic power. This can even be done at first level, though we don't recommend it.
To get a minor psionic power (anything from the lesser categories), you just spend one skill. If its a secondary skill, you get that power at first level ability. If its an OCC related skill, it is assumed that you studied the power, so you get it at your actual level.
To get a "Super" power, you first need to have 3 minor psionic abilities. You then must spend 2 skills to master the power. If both are secondary, you get that power at first level, if both are OCC Related you get it at your own level, and if one is secondary and the other is OCC Related, you get the power at one-half your own level. Note that the rule about 3 minor powers to get a super power is just for the first one. If someone were crazy enough, they could have 3 minor powers and all the super powers.
Moving up in power levels is something Ellegon only touched on obliquely, but we'll actually talk about it. Basically, once you exceed the limits for your current level of power, you start acting like the next higher one. Once a latent psychic learns his first power, he gains his M.E. as an I.S.P. base. Before that time, they have no ISP and register as non-psionic to most probes, but a See Aura will show that they have psionic potential. Once that minor psychic picks up his fifth power or his first super power, he becomes a major psychic, with all the saving throw advantages that carries. Also, starting at the next level (not the one that they just got), they start gaining ISP like a member of that power level. So, if I became a master psychic by picking up some more powers at level five, I roll my 1d6+1 like all major psychics at level 5. Then, at level six, I gain 10 ISP, just like the master psychic I am.
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