Introduction

Chapter Six: The Disciplines

Athasian psionicists recognize six distinct disciplines—Clairsentience, Metapsionics, Psychokinesis, Psychometabolism, Psychoportation, and Telepathy. Each psionicist selects a primary discipline to specialize in when first created. It is easy to master one discipline, but only the most powerful masters of the Way ever gain access to more than three or four.

In this chapter, each of the disciplines is discussed in detail. Characters specializing in each are examined, and potential uses of the trickier powers are dealt with. Each discipline also contains an NPC Psionicist Template which can be used to quickly generate NPC psionicists.

Clairsentience

Kerran knelt by Regalla’s body in the dark alleyway. The warren-like buildings to either side were crowded with people of the vilest descriptions. Whoever had slain Regalla was blocks away by now, lost in the slums of Urik’s Foreign Quarter.

Ignoring the eyes he could feel upon him, Kerran gently removed the knife that had taken Regalla’s life. “1 will avenge you, my friend, “ he whispered. Closing her eyes, he called upon the Way and focused upon the knife in his hand.

The jagged bone blade was dripping with Regalla’s blood. He looked past that, trying to visualize the hand that had held the blade. His mind’s eye cleared and he could see a thick, powerful hand with calluses and scars—a warrior’s hand. Concentrating further, he turned his sight, seeking the face of the killer. He saw the grinning face of a tattooed mul.

Kerren stumbled back in horror. “By the Dragon! Xochtel!” He couldn’t believe the gladiator was capable of such evil.

Clairsentience is not a powerful discipline, if one defines power as the ability to cause immediate harm to one’s foes. It is a subtle and patient art. The clairsentient may he the most capable information gatherer of Athas. He is rarely surprised by any turn of events. With powerful talents for precognition and location, the clairsentient can find almost anything and anticipate the onset of dangers.

The Role of Clairsentience

Clairsentient psionicists are in great demand throughout Athasian society. They are second only to telepaths in importance to everyday affairs. Nobles, merchant dynasties, templars, and sorcerer-kings use their talents to ferret out enemies and to help determine who to trust or betray.

Generally, any given NPC with sufficient wealth can hire a clairsentient. Powerful noble and sorcerer-monarchs often have a clairsentient psionicist as a permanent adviser.

This prevalence of psychic seers has serious implications. Object reading can be used on any piece of evidence left behind at the scene of a crime. Mastermind villains will take advantage of their psychic’s precognition to anticipate the PCs’ actions. Clairvoyance or environment can be used to spy on the PCs anywhere. An NPC who makes good use of clairsentient reconnaissance can be very difficult to defeat.

Of course, the reverse applies for PC psionicists who specialize in Clairsentience. If they are wise, they’ll keep tabs on their enemies and check out potential hirelings or employers. The DM may find it nearly impossible to sneak an evil NPC into the party if the PCs hit everyone they meet with aura sight.

In an adventuring party, the clairsentient is a tactical liability. He has little combat power and should be kept out of harm’s way. The clairsentient is at his best when using his powers to scout ahead of the party and to anticipate traps and ambushes. A well-played clairsentient may provide information of such importance that the party may never miss the extra firepower.

Clairsentients are also known as seers, psychics, mediums, fortune-tellers, and spirit-speakers.

Clairsentient Advancement

The clairsentient enjoys an easy advancement schedule with few prerequisites for his better powers. He can choose almost any power in the discipline early on and select freely from the others as he advances. When the clairsentient psionicist is first created, he should choose clairvoyance or clairaudience as his first science. These are the reconnaissance powers of the discipline, and the most useful to a low-level adventurer.

The clairsentient has access to navigation powers (know direction, know location, and know course) that can guarantee that he’ll never be lost in the wastes of Athas. Other useful powers include combat mind, danger sense, see sound, environment, and feel moisture. The new science of detection is a potent addition to the clairsentient’s arsenal, as well.

Clairsentient Powers

It is important to remember that clairaudience and clairvoyance can only be used on areas the psionicist has knowledge of. He cannot target his power on “wherever Uldan the mul is at this moment”, or “on the sorcerer-king s throne room in Urik” if he has never been there.

Places the psionicist know include any place he has ever been to himself, any place within his sight now, or any place he can specify. He could use clairvoyance to peek behind a sand dune, since he can tell from where he is that the sand dune has another side. He could also scan a point “10 miles directly west” or “two miles north of the central square of Urik” if he had ever been to the square. Standing outside a tower, he can make a reasonable guess that there is a room or passageway behind any windows he can see, but he can’t know the layout of the tower and use his powers against interior rooms.

However, a psionicist with a lot of PSPs could “visit” an area with clairvoyance. Once inside the tower window with clairvoyance, he can see a small room with a door. Now he may look behind the door, since he knows it exists.

The devotions of see sound and feel light are of limited usefulness, but see sound negates darkness-based combat penalties for the psionicist, as long as his opponents are making any normal amount of noise. (Incorporeal opponents such as spectres or ghosts don’t make noise when they attack!)

The Clairsentient Template

The list of powers below describes a typical advancement scheme for a clairsentient psionicist. The DM can use this template to quickly generate a psionicist NPC specializing in clairsentience and players can use it as a guide for how they might develop their own characters. Sciences are noted by (S). Recommended secondary and tertiary disciplines are also included. The DM can substitute disciplines or individual powers, so long as the number of sciences and devotions in a discipline are not changed.

Level | Powers Gained
1 | Clairvoyance (S), danger sense, know direction, see magic
2 | Know location, safe path
3 | Detection (S), see sound; Psychometabolism: Displacement
4 | All-round vision; Psychometabolism: Chameleon power
5 | Object reading (S), know course
6 | Telepathy: Contact
7 | Aura sight (S), feel sound
8 | Telepathy: ESP
9 | Telepathy: Mindlink (S), id insinuation
10 | Psychoportation: Dimensional door
11 | True sight (S), sensitivity to observation
12 | Telepathy: Incarnation awareness
13 | Feel light; Telepathy: Probe (S)
14 | Radial navigation
15 | Precognition (S); Psychoporation: Astral projection
16 | Psychometabolism: Cell adjustment
17 | Spirit sense; Psychoporation: Teleport (S)
18 | METAPSIONICS: Intensify
19 | Poison sense; Psychometabolism: Metamorphosis (S)
20 | Telepathy: Ego whip

Psychokinesis

Drasna needed a distraction. The templar patrol was beating its way down the alley, and in moments they would find her. Shrinking into the shadows, she concentrated on a bone-handled short sword thrust into a half-giant’s hip sheath. Summoning the Way, she drew the blade from its scabbard with a rasping hiss. While the half-giant gaped in amazement, she sent the sword spinning through the templars’ ranks, slashing and thrusting indiscriminately.

The orderly patrol erupted in chaos as the templars ducked and dodged out of the sword’s path, cursing and screaming. Drasna permitted herself a cold, small smile. It was working. Then the blade came to a sudden halt, hanging suspended in midair as another mind sought to control its flight. Drasna found herself locked in a battle of will with the templar standing at the back of the patrol. The sword was the prize.

If Clairsentience is the most subtle of the disciplines, then Psychokinesis is the most overt. A wide range of potent attacks make Psychokinesis the most combat-oriented of the six disciplines. Only Psychometabolism rivals it in terms of the ability to deal out physical damage.

The Role of Psychokinesis

Psychokineticists are battlefield psionicists who are actively sought out as military auxiliaries. They can be found serving as elite guards for noble houses or merchant dynasties, assisting templar patrols, or as the heavy artillery for savage desert raiders. A powerful psychokineticist is almost as good as a wizard for creating mayhem in a fight.

In Athasian society, psychokineticists are widely recognized for their firepower. Like the clairsentient, the psychokineticist will never lack for work. However, they rarely are used as advisors; instead, they are enforcers and bodyguards expected to use their talents to destroy the enemies of their employers.

Most noble estates or merchant dynasties have a psychokineticist among their guards. Many nomadic tribes also possess one or more psychokineticists among their number—the potent combat abilities of the psychokineticist can often spell the difference between life and death in the desert wastes.

A psychokineticist can be a great addition to an adventuring party. Much like a wizard, he commands formidable offensive and good defensive abilities. A psychokineticist in a low-level party can literally blow away the opposition. At middle or higher levels, the psychokineticist’s abilities are not so powerful compared to other characters. At this point, the character should begin to concentrate on acquiring a broad variety of skills from the other disciplines to keep himself useful.

Psychokinetic Advancement

It is essential that the psychokineticist selects telekinesis as his first science. Most of this discipline’s sciences and devotions list telekinesis as a prerequisite, and the character will dead-end if he cannot choose these powers until later in his career.

The psychokineticist character should select a good mix of offensive, defensive, and diversionary powers as he advances. While direct-attack powers such as disintegrate, detonate, and ballistic attack are attractive, less offensive powers like create object and levitate can be enormously useful.

The most powerful sciences in this discipline have a large PSP cost and have power scores based on a variety of abilities. The psychokineticist should take a look at his chances to successfully initiate a power and how much of his psionic strength it would consume before selecting it.

Psychokinetic Powers

Special Note

: Two psionic powers appearing in Dragon Kings were placed in the wrong disciplines. Teleport object is not a Psychokinetic power; it’s a Psychoportive devotion with teleport as a prerequisite. Return flight is not a Psychometabolic devotion; it belongs in the discipline of Psychokinesis.

If existing characters have selected these powers, the DM can either ignore this retraction and allow the character to continue play as is or he may allow the psionicist to discard teleport object or return flight and select another power.

You may own a copy of The Complete Psionics Handbook that has several important pieces of errata in it. The following Psychokinetic devotions do not require telekinesis as a prerequisite: animate shadow, control light, control sound, molecular agitation, and soften.

Other difficult powers include the following.

Detonate

: If used against an opponent’s weapons or armor, it is reasonable to assign combat penalties to partially destroyed equipment. A –1 to attack rolls or Armor Class for each 10% destroyed is appropriate. If the item targeted by the psionicist is magical, it gains a saving throw versus disintegration to resist the detonation effect.

Monsters composed of magically animated material, such as golems, are allowed a saving throw versus spells to resist being detonated. If they fail, they lose a percentage of their hit points equal to the percentage of their mass that was destroyed by the attack. Creatures that don’t get a saving throw (zombies, skeletons, and plant monsters, for example) against this attack take damage in the same way.

Disintegrate

: Some Athasian monsters are so huge that they can lose 8 cubic feet of their mass to disintegration and survive. These include the cloud ray, all drakes, the dune trapper, the megapede, and the sand vortex. If these monsters fail their save versus death magic, they are not killed outright but instead sustain 10d10+20 points of damage.

Project Force

: No attack roll (other than the power check) is required with this power.

Telekinesis

: It is possible to use telekinesis for very fine work such as sewing, writing, or picking a lock. The character attempting to perform the task must be capable of doing the work himself—sewing telekinetically doesn’t help if you know nothing about sewing. The psionicist should make a second power check to successfully complete any fine work. In the case of picking a lock, this gives the character an opportunity to roll against his Open Locks percentage.

If a character wants to engage in a tug-o’-war with someone (for example, trying to yank a sword out of a guard’s hand) resolve the situation with the normal psychic contest rules, using the defender’s Strength score against the psychokineticist’s power score.

Inertial Barrier

: The barrier affects missile fire and movement in both directions. It can stop a spell such as fireball or some breath weapons (a red dragon’s flames, for example), causing the effect to splash off the surface of the barrier, but does nothing against pure energy attacks like a blue dragon’s lightning breath or a magic missile spell. The inertial barrier protects against all forms of disintegration, not just psionic disintegration.

Molecular Agitation

: Items are not required to make saving throws until they could actually be damaged. For example, a steel sword is not threatened until the fourth round of agitation, but a scroll must make a saving throw after only one round of molecular agitation.

Molecular Manipulation

and Soften can be used against body weaponry or flesh armor. However, the subject can negate the effects by allowing the power to drop and then re-initiating it later in the combat.

Compact (from Dragon Kings)

: Most creatures can easily tell if something they are about to eat or drink has been compacted. Even water is obvious, because it weighs 10 times what it should. Most animals will refuse to eat compacted material, since it doesn’t feel right, but if they are extremely hungry they may let their appetite overcome their judgment. Sentient creatures may realize that “something’s wrong with this pear,” but the DM should be the judge of whether or not an NPC views it as a potential hazard.

The Psychokineticist Template

The powers listed below are recommended selections for a character of that level. The DM is free to substitute sciences or devotions as he or she sees fit, but should be careful to observe the rules of acquiring psionic powers. First off, no discipline may have as many sciences or devotions as the character’s primary discipline, and second, the character must have at least twice as many devotions as sciences in any given psionic discipline.

Level | Powers Gained
1 | Telekinesis (S), control light, levitation, molecular agitation
2 | Psychometabolism: Adrenalin control, reduction
3 | Detonate (S), ballistic attack, inertial barrier
4 | Psychometabolism: Body equilibrium, chemical simulation
5 | Control wind; Psychometabolism: Life draining (S)
6 | Pschoportation: Phase
7 | Disintegrate (S), soften
8 | Pschoportation: Dimension walk
9 | Control flames; Psychometabolism: Energy containment (S)
10 | METAPSIONICS: Magnify
11 | Psychometabolism: Teleport (S), teleport trigger
12 | Psychometabolism: Double pain
13 | Create object (S); Psychometabolism: Cell adjustment
14 | Clairsentience: Radial navigation
15 | Metapsionics: Ultrablast (S), stasis field
16 | Molecular manipulation
17 | Psychometabolism: Metamorphosis (S); Pschoportation: Dimensional door
18 | TELEPATHY: Contact
19 | Control body; Pschoportation: Probability travel (S)
20 | Clairsentience: Danger sense

Psychometabolism

Durago waited in the dusty circle, sweat running down his back in a warm trickle. The sun stood at noon; it was time. Around him, the silent villagers parted to admit their champion into the ring. Looking up, Durago measured his opponent with a penetrating stare.

The villager was a hulking mul, standing a full head higher than Durago’s own six feet and outweighing him by a hundred pounds or more. He could see the cicatrices and scars of the arena rippling on the warrior’s oiled skin. The mul advanced with easy confidence, veteran of hundreds of fights to the death. Durago frowned—this would not be easy.

“You should not have challenged me, stranger,” the mul hissed. “This is my village, and I make the rules. Leave or die.” He drew a glossy, obsidian-bladed short sword and waited.

Durago closed his eyes and called upon the Way. First he armored himself, hardening his skin until it was as dense as braxat hide. Then he flooded his body with primal strength. Lastly, he poured his will into his hands, making them into steely talons capable of splitting stone. The villagers—and their champion—did not detect Durago’s new strength.

Opening his eyes, he smiled and said, “l’m ready.“

Psychometabolism offers a wide range of useful powers. With them, a psionic character can fight as well as a fighter, become stealthier than a thief, heal like a cleric, or change shape like a wizard. A well-played psychometabolist may be the most dangerous character of the Dark Sun campaign.

The Role of Psychometabolism

Like Psychokinesis, Psychometabolism is often regarded as a good fighting discipline. Like the psychokineticist, psychometabolists ore sought out as bodyguards and agents by the great merchant dynasties and the nobility of Athas.

The psychometabolist takes more personal assignments than a psychokineticist does. Psychometabolism is a good combat discipline, but its powers augment the user’s own abilities rather than directly damaging several opponents at once. A psychometabolist must settle for dispatching his foes one by one. They are more valued as bodyguards than artillery pieces.

If not employed as a bodyguard, a psychometabolist may find work as an assassin, scout or spy. His powers can duplicate or surpass a thief’s stealthy abilities. Many psychometabolists remain free of any patrons or employers, working as freelancers.

As an adventurer, the psychometabolist is a powerful and flexible addition to a party. He can stand in as a warrior, a thief, or a cleric for a brief time. However, he is best used as an advance scout. His capabilities for hidden movement and observation are unsurpassed, and he can fight well in a pinch.

Psychometabolic Advancement

Few of the psychometabolist’s powers have prerequisites, and he is largely free to advance as he sees fit. He should maintain a mix of offensive, defensive, and other powers as he advances. Because his devotions are so useful, the psychometabolist is under little pressure to select offensive secondary disciplines.

Metamorphosis and animal affinity are excellent sciences to learn early in the psionicist’s career, since they combine offense, defense, and movement powers in one selection. Death field is best saved for higher levels when the psionicist can afford to lose enough hit points to seriously damage his enemies.

Adrenalin control, body weaponry, cause decay, double pain, and rigidity are all excellent attack powers and should be considered early on. Catfall, chameleon power, displacement, ectoplasmic form, and flesh armor are all very good defenses. The psionicist also has access to the useful powers of body equilibrium, cell adjustment, heightened senses, mind over body, and reduction.

Psychometabolic Powers

Note

: In the Dragon Kings hard cover game accessory, the devotion return flight is listed as a Psychometabolic power. It should be considered Psychokinetic. If a character has selected return flight as a Psychometabolic power, the DM may allow it to stand or let the player exchange it for another devotion.

Some powers worth discussing are presented below.

Animal Affinity

: Many of the creatures listed in the table that appears in The Complete Psionics Handbook (page 50) do not exist on Athas. Use the following table when rolling for an Athasian character’s animal affinity.

Animal Affinity Table

1 | Ankheg | 11 | Rasclinn
2 | Cha’thrang | 12 | Razorwing
3 | Erdland | 13 | Scorpion, Giant
4 | Flailer | 14 | Silk Wyrm
5 | Inix | 15 | Snake, Giant*
6 | Kirre | 16 | Spider, Giant
7 | Lizard, Minotaur | 17 | Tembo
8 | Mekillot | 18 | Tigone
9 | Pterrax | 19 | Wyvern
10 | Pulp Bee | 20 | Lion, spotted

* Constrictor or Poison, player’s choice

These monsters can all be found in the Dark Sun boxed set, Dark Sun Monstrous Compendium, or in the Monstrous Manual.

Energy Containment

: This science is reflexive. Whenever subjected to an energy attack, the psionicist may try to make a power check to avoid the damage. He need not state that he is initiating the power before a round begins. If the psionicist has not yet taken his action in a round when he uses this power, he must abort his intended action to initiate this power.

Metamorphosis

: Nonmagical movement powers are included, so a character who changes into a bird can fly, and one who changes into a thri-kreen can leap or dodge missiles. It doesn’t confer special powers such as poison, gaze attacks, or weapon immunities. If a character metamorphs into another character race, he uses the generic monster description for that race.

Some forms the character selects may have intrinsic advantages. Changing into a fish or a rock renders the character immune to drowning. The character does not retain any senses not normally associated with his new form, so if he changes into a rock, he won’t be able to see or hear. (The character can always feel.) He can decide to keep eyes or ears when he transforms, so that he will be able to know what’s going on around him. Of course, eyes or ears on a rock may give away the psionicist’s position and may be vulnerable to attacks.

Adrenalin Control

: If used to enhance Constitution, the character may gain temporary bonus hit points. Any damage he suffers is subtracted from these extra hit points first.

When enhancing Strength, count each category of 18 as a point gained. A psionicist with a 16 Strength who rolls a 5 would increase to 17, 18, 18/01, 18/51, and 18/76—not to 21.

A character may exceed his racial maximums with this power, but takes a risk of injuring himself. When he stops maintaining adrenalin control, he must make a system shock check if he operated beyond the normal maximum for his race in any ability. If he fails, he suffers 1d6 damage from stress and fatigue.

Body Control

: Use of this power allows a character to survive in a sandstorm or the Sea of Silt without damage.

Body Equilibrium

: The psionicist can walk on silt.

Cause Decay

: This can be used against an opponent’s weapons or armor by making a touch attack roll.

Ectoplasmic Form

: A character using this devotion can be struck by magical weapons of a +1 or better enchantment, and by any monster of 4+1 Hit Dice or more. The psionicist’s equipment must remain ectoplasmic as long as he does. An ectoplasmic character falls as if affected by a feather fall spell.

Enhanced Strength

: A psionicist may enhance his Strength score to his racial maximum.

Flesh Armor

: The base Armor Class granted by this power is not cumulative with armor worn—instead, use the better base Armor Class. Dexterity bonuses contribute to the character’s new AC, as well as any magical protection that works in conjunction with regular armor, such as a ring of protection.

Heightened Senses

: A character using this ability may reduce any darkness-based combat modifiers by 2.

Reduction

: The psionicist’s gear is not affected

Forced Symmetry

: Generally, any character who has been injured has sustained 10 to 100% of that damage (d10x10) to one side of his body. For example, Frenla has 30 hit points and has taken 12 points of damage. A d10 roll shows she has sustained 80% to one side and 20% to the other, or 9 points and 3 points respectively. Her total damage can be increased to 18 or decreased to 6 with forced symmetry.

The Psychometabolist Template

The powers listed by each level are the recommended progression for an NPC psionicist. They can also be used as a model for player characters mapping out their advancement from level to level.

As noted before, the DM should feel free to substitute as he or she sees fit. Remember, a character must have twice as many devotions as sciences in any given discipline, and may not have as many sciences or devotions in a secondary or tertiary discipline as he has in his primary discipline.

Level | Powers Gained
1 | Animal affinity (S), accelerate, body equilibrium, chameleon power
2 | Cell adjustment; Telepathy: Contact
3 | Metamorphosis (S), reduction; Telepathy: mind bar
4 | Adrenalin control, ectoplasmic form
5 | Telepathy: Mindlink (S), ego whip
6 | Psychoporation: Dimensional door
7 | Energy containment (S); Telepathy: ESP
8 | Psychoporation: Pocket dimension
9 | Cause decay; Psychoporation: Teleport (S)
10 | Metapsionics: Gird
11 | Poison simulation (S); Metapsionics: Prolong
12 | Spider touch
13 | Telepathy: Domination (S), id insinuation
14 | Clairsentience: Know location
15 | Photosynthesis; Metapsionics: Empower (S)
16 | Clairsentience: Danger sense
17 | Regenerate (S); Telepathy: Post-hypnotic suggestion
18 | Psychokinesis: Control sound
19 | Mind over body; Clairsentience: Clairvoyance (S)
20 | Metapsionics: Convergence

Psychoportation

Arlik crouched behind the boulder, peering down the rocky slope at the raider camp below. Watchfires and sentries surrounded the bandits’ home; they were experienced marauders and guarded against any reprisals by their victims. In the center he could see the mekillot-bone cages the captive lay in.

Beside Arlik, a dark figure cleared his throat. “Can you let us in?” asked Sorennok. The mul nervously gripped his sword’s hilt and waited for an answer.

Arlik frowned. “It’s about 400 yards from here to the supply tents.” He paused. “I can do it.”

Sorennok nodded and turned to whisper to his warriors. “The mindbender can get us in. Everyone, form a line behind Zaros, there.” The slave warriors quietly rose and moved into position, waiting with weapons bared

When Arlik thought the warriors were ready, he closed his eyes and called upon the Way. Directly before him, a dim blue portal appeared in midair. Through it he could see the darkened interior of a tent. “Go swiftly,” he whispered to Sorennok. “I can’t maintain the doorway for long.”

The mul clapped his hand on Arlik’s shoulder and leaped through, his men following in quiet, deadly succession.

Psychoportation is not often chosen as a primary discipline, but it often comes second. The psychoporter possesses an array of valuable powers that can bypass almost any obstacle and confound any enemies. The psychoporter works with the very fabric of space, time, and reality itself to achieve her goals.

The Role of Psychoportation

True psychoporters are rare. They lack the combat abilities of a psychokineticist or a psychometabolist and are not as good at information gathering as the others. While their powers are expanded considerably in this book, they are basically good for one thing only: going places.

On Athas, psychoporters mostly work as scouts, messengers, or couriers. Their ability to cover distance fast and avoid trouble makes them very valuable to commanders and merchants. Most large merchant houses have a psychoporter agent who can carry small, valuable parcels without fear of interception. The psychoporter’s ability to bypass any normal defense also makes her useful in espionage, burglary, or covert strikes.

A psychoporter can be a valuable addition to an adventuring party. While she won’t inflict great amounts of damage, she is fairly safe in a fight, as she is able to get out of harm’s way. She’s especially useful when used as a long-range scout or to get the party to places they could not reach otherwise. In a melee, the psychoporter should look for an opportunity to attack the enemy from the rear with a teleport or dimensional door.

Psychoportive Advancement

The psychoporter is flexible in her advancement, but should take teleport as her first science since many powers list it as a prerequisite. It’s possible to advance without it, but not far.

Almost all psychoportive powers are defensive, but the psionicist should use both tactical and strategic defenses. Dimensional door and teleport are strategic; they get the character out of the fight. Defenses like blink and dimension screen are tactical, since they give one an improved defense.

Attack powers are rare, but several powers can be used creatively to defeat opponents. Teleport object can be used to disarm an enemy, as can phase object. Time shift is also a useful means of attack. Of course, the true utility of a psychoporter lies in her ability to go anywhere at anytime. She is most effective when she uses her powers to bypass fights.

Psychoportive Powers

Many psychoportive powers can be difficult to adjudicate. In most cases, the DM will simply have to make the best call he can. Some of the specific powers include:

Summon Planar Creature

: If the DM does not have access to MC 8, The Outer Planes Appendix, he is perfectly within his rights to require the psionicist to summon creatures from the elemental planes only. Possible elemental creature summoning would include:

Air

: Elemental (lesser, standard, or greater), invisible stalker, aerial servant, genie (djinn), sylph.

Earth

: Elemental, xorn, genie (dao), pech, sandling.

Fire

: Elemental, fire snake, salamander, genie (efreet).

Water

: Elemental, water weird, genie (marid).

It’s assumed that if the psionicist reaches one of the Outer Planes, he contacts either the Abyss, Baator (the Nine Hells), Limbo, a generic Lower Plane, or a generic Upper Plane. Note that planar powers can’t be summoned with this science.

An asterisk (*) indicates a Monstrous Manual entry.

The Abyss

: Bebilith, bodak, tanar’ri (alu-fiend, babau, balor*, bar-igura, cambion, chasme, dretch, glabrezu, hezrou, manes, marilith*, molydeus, nabassu, nalfeshnee, rutterkin, succubus, vrock).

Baator: Baatezu (abishai*, amnizu, barbazu, cornugon, erinyes, gelugon, hamatula, lemure, nupperibo, osyluth, pit fiend*, spinagon).

Limbo

: Githzerai*, slaad (red*, blue*, green, gray).

Upper Planes

: Aasimon (agathinon, astral deva, monadic deva, movanic deva, light, planetar), air sentinel, archon (hound, warden, sword, tome), bariaur, lammasu*, adamantite dragon, enheriar, marut, moon dog, noctral, per, phoenix*, warden beast, zoveri.

Lower Planes

: Gehreleth (farastu, kelubar, shator), hordling, maelephant, night hag*, nightmare*, vaporighu, yugoloth (arcanaloth, dergholoth, mezzoloth, nycaloth, piscoloth, ultroloth, yagnoloth).

Astral Plane

: Githyanki*, aasimon (astral deva, movanic deva), slaad (gray), tanar’ri (nabassu, succubus, glabrezu, vrock), baatezu (amnizu, erinye), githzerai*, lammasu,* shedu*, rakshasa*.

Ethereal Plane

: Aasimon (monadic deva), gloomwing*, tenebrous worm*, lammasu*, shedu*, rakshasa*, any elemental or genie.

There are no guarantees with this power. The summoned creature is under no obligation to obey the psionicist and will probably be quite angry with him. The psionicist uses this power at his own risk.

Dimensional Door

: One of the two portals created must appear in front of the psionicist, one to four feet from his body. The portal by the psionicist is oriented to his body, so that if he is lying on his back, the door is actually a horizontal plane hovering above him. If the psionicist is so close to something that the door must appear in a solid object, the power fails.

A psionicist can only maintain one dimensional door at a time, so one character can’t cage an opponent with such doors. However, two or more psionicists can cooperate to place their portals very close together. Remember, one of the portals will have to be right next to the initiating psionicist, so placing one next to an enemy may simply bring him right to you.

If a psionicist tries to place a dimensional door in a position that will force another character to fall or step through it unwillingly, the victim gets a saving throw versus paralyzation to step around the portal and avoid the trip.

The portal of a dimensional door has only one side. It has no thickness, and from its “back” side it does not exist. This means that a psionicist can’t use the dimensional portal in front of him to screen missile attacks or to force an enemy in melee with him to be transported. The doorway works in both directions, but each portal only exists on one side.

If the dimensional door is maintained over several rounds, both portals must remain in the exact spot where they first appeared. The psionicist can create a set of portals and then move away from the nearer one, as long as he continues to pay the maintenance cost. In a combat situation, up to five characters per round can pass through the door; if the party prepares by lining people up and going in order, as many as 10 per round can use the door.

The Psychoporter Template

The powers listed below are the recommended progression by level for an NPC psionicist. The DM should feel free to substitute as he or she sees fit. As always, a character must have twice as many devotions as sciences in any given discipline, and may not have as many sciences or devotions in a secondary or tertiary discipline as he has in his primary discipline.

Level | Powers Gained
1 | Teleport (S), duo dimension, dimensional door, dimension blade
2 | Astral projection, time shift
3 | Teleport other (S), teleport object;Telepathy: Contact
4 | Ethereal traveler; Telepathy: Life detection
5 | Telepathy: Mindlink (S), psychic crush
6 | Clairsentience: Radial navigation
7 | Summon planar creature (S); Telepathy: ESP
8 | Time dilation
9 | Summon planar energies (S), phase
10 | Psychometabolism: Cell adjustment
11 | Clairsentience: Clairvoyance (S), know location
12 | Pocket dimension
13 | Telepathy: Domination (S); Psychometabolism: Chameleon power
14 | Pschokinesis: Control light
15 | Spatial distortion; Psychometabolism: Metamorphosis (S)
16 | Telepathy: Post-hypnotic suggestion
17 | Time travel (S); Pschokinesis: Soften
18 | Metapsionics: Prolong
19 | Telepathy: Probe (S), ego whip
20 | Time/space anchor

Telepathy

Varsha waited in the shadows of the tavern, her hood drawn to hide her features. She sipped deliberately at a tankard of cool ale, watching everyone who entered the dusty common room. She was just about to give up her vigil and try to find her mark later when she noticed a tall man with a shaven head enter the room. He wore the black robes of a templar, but his insignia and ceremonial headgear were not in sight.

That must be Teristes, she thought. The templar glanced around nervously, and moved to a back table across the room from her.

The templar would be meeting with the rogue defiler Rigante in a few minutes, but it was vital to the Alliance that the package that Teristes carried not fall into Rigante’s hands. At the same time, the templar was not to be killed or even to know that the Veiled Alliance was interfering with his business.

Staring intently at Teristes, Varsha sank back into the shadows and called upon the Way. She reached out and touched the templar’s mind tentatively, seeking any sign of a defense. There was none. Like a carrion bird settling onto its meal, Varsha allowed her consciousness to sink into the templar’s mind.

Varsha began to whisper in the templar’s thoughts.

You do not have the package, she told him. It was not safe to bring it here. You’d better arrange another meeting for tomorrow.

Teristes’ mind believed the suggestion instantly. Varsha detected the templar’s concern. He was already thinking of a better place to meet! Smiling, Varsha withdrew from his mind.

No secrets are safe from a telepath’s attention. Even other psionicists can be overcome by the telepath’s mental attacks and defenses. Some consider telepathy to be the psionicist’s greatest weapon. Most Athasians are terrified of the telepath’s ability to manipulate their very thoughts.

The Role of Telepathy

Telepaths are common in Athasian society. Almost every powerful person employs one or more telepaths to guard against any hostile influences or attacks that may be directed at him. The telepath functions as a bodyguard and a valued adviser who is often the client’s right-hand man. Even the sorcerer-monarchs employ telepaths to watch over their other minions and ensure their continued loyalty to the crown.

Slavery creates an enormous demand for psionic guards capable of quelling any uprising with but a thought. Templar patrols often include a telepath to interrogate witnesses and suspects. The great merchant caravans often require telepathic assistance to keep the mekillots docile and direct them in their work. A telepath will never lack for work, as long as he is willing to perform tasks of overseeing, domination, or animal control.

Telepaths are also the finest communicators in Athas. With mindlink, a character can instantly contact any person he knows. Merchants make extensive use of this ability, and the master psionicist of the house is introduced to every caravan captain or outpost agent in the dynasty.

Diplomacy is another arena in which rapid communications are important. Most city-states don’t trust their neighbors enough to make a high-ranking psionicist available for direct contact, but the city-states do maintain embassies with each other. Usually, at least one member of the embassy is a skilled psionicist who can report news quickly to his sorcerer-king.

In an adventuring party, the telepath is useful. He can eliminate one foe at a time with his mental attacks. However, he’s best used to circumvent or confuse defenses by distracting sentries, controlling guards, and so forth. The telepath’s most important duty is to guard against enemy telepaths.

Telepathic Advancement

It is critical for the telepath to have mindlink and contact. These are prerequisites for the majority of his abilities. Since one of the telepath’s primary duties is to suppress other psionicists, he should learn a telepathic attack mode early, too.

The telepath can hold his own in combat with foes subject to his powers, but should select a secondary discipline that will provide him better physical combat abilities. Even at his best, a telepath can be in serious trouble in a brawl against several opponents at the same time. Psychometabolism or Psychoportation are good choices, since they include excellent defenses.

Good powers to learn early on include aversion, ESP, false sensory input, post-hypnotic suggestion, and truthear. Id insinuation and ego whip are useful psionic attack modes, since they inflict serious physical penalties upon their targets.

Telepathic Powers

The first printing of The Complete Psionic Handbook contained errata in the Telepathy chapter. First, none of the telepathic defense modes have a prerequisite. Second, mindlink is not a prerequisite for the following powers: empathy, ESP, identity penetration, incarnation awareness, psychic impersonation, and send thoughts. Psychic crush is actually a devotion, and psionic blast is a science. On page 75, the heading for Fate Link is missing. And lastly, ego whip and mind thrust both require contact as a prerequisite.

Any telepathic power listing contact as a prerequisite or an initial cost will only work on a contacted mind. Remember, there are two ways to establish contact: by using the contact power directly or by getting three tangents with one of the telepathic attacks. Psionicists are immune to direct contact, and the attacks must be used to force contact with their minds.

The telepathic attack modes can force contact with a nonpsionicist’s mind, but it still requires three tangents. It is easier and more efficient to simply use contact on these foes instead.

Mindless undead such as zombies or skeletons are immune to telepathic powers. On worlds other than Athas, all undead are immune to telepathic attacks, an extension of their immunity to sleep and charm effects. However, the unique undead of Athas are not immune to telepathic attacks unless it is specifically stated so. Many Athasian undead command formidable psionic powers and can defend themselves anyway.

Characters asleep or unconscious can be affected by telepathic powers. A sleeping psionicist can defend himself with mind blank and will awaken within one round of the attack. Nonpsionicists awaken only if their attacker takes some action to make them wake up, such as dominating them and commanding them to wakefulness. Attacking characters in their sleep creates a unique role-playing opportunity, since the attacking telepathist will appear in his victim’s dreamscape.

In general, the telepath can decide if his target is aware of his contact. Powers such as invisibility or daydream would be useless if the victim realized his mind was being tampered with. If the psionicist chooses to announce his presence, the target realizes that someone is trying to reach him psionically.

Each psionicist’s mind has a distinct announcement that other psionicists can recognize, if they have been contacted by that psionicist before. A telepath cannot falsify his signature unless he uses psychic impersonation to mask his identity and win unguarded contact with his victim’s mind. Nonpsionicists cannot distinguish between contacts of any kind.

Specific abilities and explanations include the following.

Fate Link

: The only two damaging effects that can pass through a fate link are the direct loss of hit points and death. Effects such as poisoning, paralyzation, stoning, disease, or unconsciousness cannot. However, if the effect causes a loss of hit points (poison that inflicted 20 points of damage, for example) the hit point loss would be conveyed to the other person.

The fate link power is excellent as an insurance policy. If the psionicist wants to make sure that an NPC isn’t sending him to his death, he can use fate link to take the NPC hostage.

Mindwipe

: The telepath may use this power to seal off memories, instead of Intelligence or Wisdom. Memories are lost from most recent to most distant. The first round seals off the previous day, the second round the previous week, the third the previous month, the fourth the previous year, and the fifth and subsequent rounds 10 years each. The victim still loses one experience level for each round.

At the psionicist’s option, he can try to bar a specific memory or skill (like picking locks or a specific spell). Work of this precision requires a second power check. If the psionicist fails this precision power check, he blots out a month surrounding the event or the most recent use of the skill in question.

Switch Personality

: Should one of the two bodies he killed, the personalities don’t automatically switch back—the personality that is inhabiting the body which has died dies as well. The second personality will be doomed to eventual death as it weakens in the body that is not its own. Neither personality understands what is happening to its original body.

This science is an excellent tool for espionage and infiltration, but the psionicist should take steps to prevent the possible abuse of his original body while he is inhabiting another.

Contact

: As noted above, a telepath may state whether his target is aware or unaware of his contact. Psionicist targets are always aware of the fact that someone is trying to contact them.

As insects, thri-kreen psionicists use a revised contact table based on life orders. A thri-kreen psionicist’s modifiers are:

Thri-kreen Contact Table

Life Order | Contact Score Modifier
Insect | –1
Other arthropod | –2
Fish | –3
Reptile, amphibian | –4
Bird | –5
Mammal (including human) | –6
Monster | –7
Plant | –8

Id Insinuation

: Victims of this power can still defend themselves against physical attacks and suffer no Armor Class penalties while doing so. However, they can’t move, cast spells, take cover, attack with a weapon, or initiate psionic powers.

Post-Hypnotic Suggestion

: The effects of this psionic devotion are far less powerful than those of the 3rd-level wizard spell suggestion. The victim can’t be convinced that her sword is a snake, or that her armor is covered with stinging scorpions. She can be convinced that a particular battle is very dangerous and that she should try to withdraw, or that she will require lots of water on her next journey. How the victim responds to an effective suggestion is up to the DM, but this shouldn’t be an instant-kill power.

Psychic impersonation

: The telepath who uses this power must have met or contacted his borrowed identity in order to be able to portray it realistically. He can use this ability when contacting another psionicist to announce himself as someone else and possibly trick his victim into lowering his mental defenses.

The Telepath Template

The template presented below provides the DM with the complete advancement schedule for a NPC psionicist specializing in telepathy. The DM may substitute powers at his or her discretion. Remember, no other discipline can have as many sciences or devotions as telepathy, and there must be twice as many devotions as sciences in each discipline.

Level | Powers Gained
1 | Mindlink (S), contact, ESP, id insinuation
2 | Invisibility; Psychometabolism: Ectoplasmic form
3 | Domination (S), phobia amplification; Psychometabolism: Adrenalin control
4 | Ego whip; Psychometabolism: Flesh armor
5 | Mindwipe (S); Psychometabolism: Cell adjustment
6 | Psychokinesis: Magnetize
7 | Invincible foes; Psychometabolism: Energy containment (S)
8 | Psychokinesis: Static discharge
9 | Sensory suppression; Psychokinesis: Telekinesis (S)
10 | Psychoportation: Dimensional door
11 | Ejection (5), psychic crush
12 | Psychokinesis Levitation
13 | Hallucination (S), aversion
14 | Metapsionics: Martial trance
15 | Psychometabolism: Animal affinity (S); Metapsionics: Convergence
16 | Psychokinesis: Inertial barrier
17 | Metapsionics: Psychic surgery (S), splice
18 | Sight link
19 | Mindflame(S), mind thrust
20 | Clairsentience: Know location

Metapsionics

The two masters faced each other on the salt flat, taking each other’s measure. For miles around, the landscape was a desolate plain of blinding white. Many men and women would have been hard-pressed to remain standing beneath the unendurable heat, but both of the masters were injured to physical hardship—the result of years of meditation and psionic study.

“There will be no peace between us, Eyal,” said the first psionicist. He was a stocky man with a clean-shaven head. A Balicite toga of white linen hung from his shoulder. “Seranda was my student, and you murdered her.”

The other master shrugged. She was a half-elf with arched eyebrows and pale skin. She dressed as a Urikite merchant, although she had been born a slave in Raam. “Seranda was weak. She shouldn’t have tried herself against me. If you’ve come to seek vengeance, get on with it. I’m tired of waiting.”

The two locked gazes. Their eyes flashed as their powerful minds engaged in a fierce battle of unseen forces and indomitable wills. For long minutes they struggled as the sun crept across the sky and the heat flooded the plain around them. Exhaustion brought a slump to their shoulders. Eyal sagged on one bent knee, while Rethistes’ knees weakened. Inside their locked minds, the Balicite’s ebon tiger clawed and snapped at Eyal’s brazen gladiator. They were too closely matched.

Becoming desperate, Rethistes drew upon a deep reserve of strength and split his mind into two halves. One continued to fight in the tiger’s shape, while the other launched a second attack, streaming in to Eyal’s mind like a golden comet. Unable to fend off both attacks at once, the Raamite shrieked and collapsed.

Emerging from his trance, Rethistes advanced cautiously on his fallen opponent. Eyal lay sprawled on the ground, her limbs moving feebly, glazed eyes staring into the crimson sun. “Didn’t know… that could be done, “she gasped weakly. “Have…mercy.”

“You will receive as much mercy as you showed Seranda,” Rethistes said darkly, his Will reaching out again.

The study of metapsionics is the rarest and most esoteric of the mental arts. Even on Athas, a world where society is based on psionic powers, metapsionics are poorly-understood. Each of the other five disciplines boasts grand masters who have explored every possible power within that field, but metapsionics has no students who specialize in its mysterious ways. It may be the only discipline that can surprise an Athasian psionicist or strike fear into his heart.

The Role of Metapsionics

Unlike other disciplines, Metapsionics has no preconceived role in Athasian society. Dark Sun game NPCs know that they can expect telekinetic punches from a psychokineticist, but they have no idea what a mindbender versed in Metapsionics may be capable of. Only the most powerful masters—sorcerer-kings, leaders of psionic schools, or members of the Order—can grasp the full implications of Metapsionic powers.

Metapsionics are usually left alone by lower-level psionicists, regardless of their calling. A typical practitioner of the Way will desire access to powers with more immediate and tangible effects. Most NPCs begin to study Metapsionics only after they have learned the “best” powers from several disciplines to complement their command of their primary discipline.

The psionic academies of the city-states are probably the most common practitioners of Metapsionic powers. The most skillful and learned of the academy masters take up the study of Metapsionics for the sake of knowledge. In some city-states, research into Metapsionics is barred by the sorcerer-king for fear of potential rivals unlocking powers the tyrant can’t control. It is rumored that some greater realm of power or stage of existence lies beyond psionics, and that the key to this unimaginable power lies somewhere in the Metapsionic arts.

From an adventuring standpoint, Metapsionics is usually a luxury that a low-level psionicist cannot afford. However, they can drastically multiply the power of certain disciplines. Psychokinesis and Telepathy are particularly dangerous disciplines when augmented by Metapsionic enhancements. The only constant advice that a Metapsionic character should keep in mind is to be creative and imaginative in the use of his special powers.

Metapsionic Advancement

To date, no student of the Way has managed to begin his learning by choosing Metapsionics as his or her primary discipline. It is possible that with the additional powers described later in this book, a character could begin to study Metapsionics. This is not recommended.

Metapsionic Powers

Several of the Metapsionic powers described in The Complete Psionics Handbook list “Telepathy” as a prerequisite. Mindlink fills this requirement.

Empower

: It is possible to magically enchant a psionically empowered item. The item’s creator must perform both actions, so a dual- or multiclassed psionicist/wizard of at least 10th/12th level is required. Sorcerer-kings and avangions would certainly qualify. The empowering and enchantment are completely independent of each other, so if one fails the other may still take effect.

Psychic Surgery

: Some powers that can be permanently implanted in a character are: domination, fate link, attraction, aversion, awe, daydream, false sensory input, inflict pain, invincible foes, phohia amplification, post-hypnotic suggestion, repugnance, sight link, sound link, taste link, telempathic projection, acceptance, alignment stabilization, beast mastery, focus forgiveness, impossible task, hallucination, suppress fear, sensory suppression, amnesia, and passive contact.

Note that some of these are major game effects—a permanent domination or acceptance is a serious problem for the victim, and PCs should never be allowed to use these on other PCs. The DM should watch for characters who abuse this power and apply appropriate alignment penalties.

Split Personality

: If a psionicist has the PSPs to do it, his personalities can split again by initiating this power. This is handled separately for each personality. If the psionicist was maintaining a power or had a girded or spliced power in effect, he decides if one or both personalities inherit its effects.

If a personality uses switch personality, the initiating personality will be transferred to the victim, taking full control, while the victim’s personality becomes the second half of the psionicist’s mind. They are in contact with each other. The victim can try to assert control over his new body, but must win a psychic contest against the psionicist. The psionicist uses his split personality power score, and the victim uses his level.

Cannibalize

: A psionicist can cannibalize the body of a victim he has used switch personality on.

Psychic Drain

: A victim of this power must have a combined Intelligence, Wisdom, and Constitution of 30 or greater. Subtract 30 from the combined scores to determine the psionic potential. The percentages described in The Complete Psionics Handbook apply to the victim’s psionic potential loss. For example, a slave named Serak has an lntelligence of 13, a Wisdom of 15, and a Constitution of 14. The total is 42, so his psionic potential is a 12. Up to 6 points (a total of 60 PSPs) can be drained from Serak with no ill effects.

The psionicist does not have to stop when he exhausts the creature’s psionic potential. He can continue until his victim’s scores are reduced to 0. The victim must save versus death each time a score is drained to 2 or less or die. Serak can be drained for 33 points, which exhausts 100% of his psionic potential and forces a saving throw versus death. Nine more points can be drained, but each point that reduces an ability to 2 or less forces Serak to make another saving throw.

Humanoid creatures without scores may he drained at the DM’s discretion. Good examples are gith, jozhal, silt runners, or b’rohgs. A monster’s psionic potential equals its numerical Intelligence score –10, so a gith of average Intelligence (9-11, average 10) has a psionic potential of 0 and can’t be drained.

Receptacle

: The psionicist’s potential is equal to the number of PSPs he began with as a 1st-level character. Take note: an empowered receptacle can old an enormous number of PSPs! Many high-level psionicists such as members of the Order or sorcerer-kings probably have receptacles of this nature on their person.

Metapsionicist Template

Since psionicists cannot select metapsionics as their primary discipline, no template is needed.