Introduction

Chapter Five: Mental Combat

Turek knelt before Master Sandovas, the instructor who taught students how to defend themselves against the Way. The master was an ageless man with a seamed face and leathery skin . His eyes were cold flecks of granite. “Your studies have gone well, Turek,” he said quietly. “You have learned the basics of psychic defense. It is time to practice your lessons.”

Turek nodded, his palms wet with sweat. He had known this was coming; he was one of the older students and it was time to begin his final studies before leaving the academy.

Sandovas watched him without expression. Suddenly Turek found his attention ripped away from the patio and the master’s physical form, being drawn inward. In his mind’s eye a glowing sword appeared, poised to strike. “I am the sword,” Sandovas whispered. “I pierce barriers and rend armor.”

Turek swallowed nervously and summoned his defense. “I am the Void, “ he thought over and over again. “I cannot be found, I cannot be harmed.”

The sword lunged forward, driving through the heart of the nothingness that cloaked Turek’s presence…

Psionic combat is not just a matter of exchanging mind thrusts until a person falls. It’s a delicate dance in which the attacker strives to pierce his opponent’s defenses. On Athas, this dance has been codified with a set of constructs with which the combatants arm themselves, like gladiators before a match.

The battle occurs in the defender’s mindscape, and the various attacks and defenses have tangible forms in this realm. Insinuative attacks seek a point to begin spreading their poison; psychic barrages batter down the victim’s defenses with irresistible forces. Psionic combat occurs in a realm of virtual reality; the human mind is incapable of grasping the abstract play of the forces involved and assigns a landscape and symbols to represent the battleground and the weapons used.

The Complete Psionics Handbook

The rules for psionic combat in The Complete Psionics Handbook are the accepted rules for the Dark Sun campaign. The use of the material in this chapter is optional.

Constructs and Harbingers

In mental combat, attacker and defender strive to find forms to best their opponent’s. The defender assumes the form of an impregnable tower; the attacker takes the shape of a so-ut, a beast that can destroy any building. The defender responds by changing into a forest in which his psyche cannot be found; the attacker becomes a withering flame to burn the trees away. The various forms are known as harbingers, for attack modes, and constructs, for defenses.

The use of harbingers and constructs is voluntary. The psionicist need not trouble with the symbology of combat. However, the images are excellent for focusing the mind and can provide significant advantages to those who use them well. If a character uses a construct or harbinger in combat against a foe who does not, the character using the imagery receives a +1 modifier to power score checks in addition to the normal modifiers provided by the Attack Mode vs. Defense Mode Table.

Attack Mode vs. Defense Mode Table

Attacks | Defenses
M— | TS | MB | IF | TW
MT | +5 | –2 | –4 | –4 | –5
EW | +5 | 0 | –3 | –4 | –3
II | –3 | +2 | +4 | –1 | –3
PsC | +1 | –3 | –1 | –3 | –4
PB | +2 | +3 | 0 | –1 | –2

MT: | Mind Thrust |  | M—: | Mind Blank
EW: | Ego Whip | TS: | Thought Shield
II: | Id Insinuation | MB: | Mental Barrier
PsC: | Psychic Crush | IF: | Intellect Fortress
PB: | Psionic Blast | TW: | Tower of Iron Will

In addition, harbingers and constructs make for a colorful mental battle. Instead of simply rolling dice, the players can imagine their characters taking he forms of unique variations on the standard attacks and defenses.

The tradition of Tarandas recognizes 10 psionic combat modes: mind thrust, ego whip, id insinuation, psychic crush, and psionic blast for attack; and mind blank, thought shield, mental barrier, intellect fortress, and tower of iron will for defense. Each of these modes possesses four common harbingers or constructs, for a total of 40 symbols. Dozens of variations exist, and almost every master of the Way will customize his symbology to reflect his own tastes and strengths and his unique set of abilities.

The Harbingers vs. Constructs Table sums up the combat effects of the various symbols. Cross-index the attacker’s harbinger with the defender’s construct to find the modifier to the attacker’s power score check. These modifiers replace the modifiers from Table 14 of The Complete Psionics Handbook, Attack vs. Defense Modes. (Table 14 is reprinted on page

* for your convenience.)

Example

: Koren is psionically attacked by a gith! Quickly he decides to throw up his mental barrier defense and chooses a construct of pure Will. The gith is attempting to ego whip him, using a harbinger of the Slave. The Will is strong against the Slave’s despair, and the gith suffers a –5 penalty to his attack instead of the normal –3 penalty for using ego whip against mental barrier.

A Dark Sun game psionicist begins play as a 3rd-level character with two defense modes. He is allowed to select three constructs between the two defense modes. Each time the character gains a level, he may learn a new construct. If he gains a new defense mode, he automatically gains one construct from that mode in addition to the construct he gains for increasing in level.

When a character learns an attack mode, he automatically gains one harbinger in that mode. He may also learn a new harbinger each time he advances in level, so it is possible to learn two harbingers in one level increase. A character cannot learn a harbinger or a construct for an attack or defense mode he does not know.

The Harbingers

Each symbol used in mental combat is selected for a specific quality of strength that the psionicist wishes to emulate. For example, harbingers of the mind thrust attack are weapons. Harbingers of the ego whip attack are symbolic personalities that signify emotion. Id Insinuation harbingers are horribly venomous creatures, while those representing psychic crush are powerful, irresistible forces. The harbingers of psionic blast are strong, savage animals renowned for their ferocious fighting abilities.

The 20 commonly recognized harbingers used by psionicists on Athas are presented below.

The Sword (Swd)

: Strong and flexible, the Sword pierces defenses and slashes away deceit.

The Chatkcha (Cht)

: Swift and graceful, the Chatkcha circumvents defenses to strike its targets.

The Incantation (Inc)

: The power of the Incantation overwhelms resistance and erodes the will.

The Flame (Fla)

: Defenses are seared to ash by the pure touch of the Flame.

The Templar (Tmp)

: Signifying betrayal, the templar can destroy the most powerful mind from within.

The Noble (Nob)

: Scorn is the noble’s weapon, exposing weakness to harsh scrutiny.

The Slave (Sla)

: Utter despair can defeat those who are too strong to overcome otherwise.

The Dragon (Drg):

Grief and horror follow in the Dragon’s wake, swallowing the weak and defenseless.

The Wyvern (Wyv)

: Fierce and dangerous, the wyvern attacks with rage and blinding speed.

The Scorpion (Scp)

: Relentless in its pursuit of its prey, the scorpion never gives up the attack.

The Crystal Spider (Cry)

: Beautiful but deadly, the spider’s mystic poison can destroy defenses easily.

The Silk Wyrm (Slk)

: The Silk Wyrm is stealth personified, slithering past defenses to attack.

Sand (San)

: The crushing weight of Sand has covered the green jungles and blue oceans of Athas.

The Mekillot (Mek)

: Strong and relentless, the mekillot cannot be stopped.

The Silt Horror (Hor)

: Powerful tentacles can drag even the strongest defender into death and madness.

The Boulder (Bdr)

: Shattering walls and crushing the weak, the Boulder cannot be stopped.

The So-Ut (Sot)

: The insane rage of the Rampager sweeps frail human minds before it like dust.

The Sloth (Slt)

: Slashing claws and relentless tenacity can carve a defense to pieces.

The Kirre (Kir)

: Graceful and strong, the Kirre fights with honor and skill.

The Tembo (Tem)

: Malice and guile can defeat skill and honor with ease.

The Constructs

Like harbingers, constructs are images that allow a psionicist to concentrate on his mental defense. Mind blank constructs are landscapes in which the psyche can hide. Thought shield constructs are arms that can parry or confuse blows. Mental barrier constructs are concepts that can fill the mind, while those of intellect fortress are living fortresses. Lastly, tower of iron will constructs are strong places in which the mind can hide.

The 20 common constructs are presented below.

The Void (Voi)

: Empty of substance, the Void is unassailable and cannot be harmed.

The Forest (For)

: A wealth of life misdirects the attacker, leading him astray.

The Mudflat (Mud)

: Liquid mud frustrates the attacker, miring him in featureless terrain.

The Ruins (Rns)

: Utter anarchy and destruction surrounds the mind with a pathless barrier.

The Shield (Shd)

: Swiftly moving to block any blow, the Shield is unbreakable.

The Rune (Run)

: Mystic defense halts the most determined attack with but a word.

The Armor (Arm)

: Impenetrable protection surrounds the psyche, defeating all assaults.

The Wall (Wal)

: An endless barrier that is continuously renewed as it is destroyed.

The Truth (Tru)

: Lies and deceit cannot withstand the pure light of the Truth.

The Will (Wll)

: Nothing can overcome one whose Will is truly unbreakable.

Acceptance (Acc)

: Embracing the attack can often defeat it.

Denial (Den)

: If the attack does not exist, it cannot harm.

The Cha’thrang (Cha)

: Bristling with chitinous spikes, the cha’thrang is impervious to attack.

The Beetle (Btl)

: A rock-hard carapace surrounds the psyche, deflecting even the strongest blows.

The Drake (Dra)

: Sheer strength and mass shrug off the most dire wounds.

The Bramble (Bra)

: Razor-sharp thorns bar the passage of any attacker, guarding the psyche.

The Tower (Tow)

: Strong and tall, the Tower is unassailable.

The Rampart (Ram)

: Layers of defense upon defense can trap and destroy any attack.

The Gate (Gat)

: The path to the mind is barred with locks of steel and gates of stone.

The Crag (Cra)

: Lonely and strong, the crag resists all attacks.

Harbingers vs. Constructs Table

Cross-index the harbinger against the construct. The result is the modifier to the attacker’s power initiation check for that round.

Psionics in Combat

Note

: You may wish to review the rules for telepathic combat in The Complete Psionics Handbook, pages 25 through 27.

In telepathic combat, a psionicist uses a psionic attack mode to attack another. The attacker and defender must make power checks to initiate their respective attacks or defenses. Whoever makes his power check with the highest roll wins the psychic contest. If the attacker wins, he gains a tangent on the defender. If the defender wins, the attack is foiled.

Remember, a character can use a psionic defense while taking another action in the round—attacking physically, casting a spell, using a magical item, or initiating a psionic power or attack mode of his own. There can be two simultaneous telepathic combats occurring between two characters!

An overmatched psionicist may decide to defend himself while using his other action to shoot his crossbow at his tormentor, hoping to disrupt his concentration. If a character chooses to attack via the telepathic attack modes, he may make two mental attacks per round.

Another reminder: maintaining a power of any kind does not count as taking an action.

How Do the Defenses Work?

When a psionicist comes under psionic attack, he can defend by raising one of the five psionic defenses. In most cases, this can only be done at the beginning of a combat round. There is one exception—the defense mind blank. Mind blank does not need to he initiated, since it costs 0 PSPs to use.

This means that a psionicist who was not expecting a psychic attack can always defend with mind blank, regardless of what he has already done during the current round and without affecting whatever he was planning to do.

To raise any other defense in the middle of a round, the psionicist must abort his intended action. If he has already done something else, he can’t raise any defense except mind blank until the beginning of the next round.

Psionicists should strongly consider taking mind blank as their first defense, as it is the only defense that will operate at any time. If a psionicist is hit with a mental attack and doesn’t have a defense available, the attacker automatically gains a tangent if he succeeds in his power check.

The Combat Round

When psionics are part of the melee round, things can get confusing. The correct sequence of play should be:

1. Players announce what actions their characters intend to take.
If a psionicist has not yet come under psionic attack, he need not raise a defense. The psionicist may choose to initiate a power. If he chooses to attack psionically, he states which power he is going to use and selects a harbinger to convey it. If the psionicist is under telepathic attack at the beginning of a round, he must also declare what construct he intends to use.

2. Everyone rolls initiative.
If a psionicist is initiating a power, use the power’s Preparation Time as an initiative modifier, At the DM’s option, the character’s Intelligence functions as a “mental Dexterity.” He may use the reaction adjustments from the Dexterity Table for his Intelligence score. A character with an 18 Intelligence has a –3 initiative bonus with psionics.

3. Actions are resolved in initiative order.
Psionic powers are initiated whenever they fall in the combat round. If a psionicist without a raised defense comes under telepathic attack, he can raise mind blank and choose a construct. He does not know what attack mode is being used against him; he only knows that he is under attack. He may still take other actions as normal during the round. A character attacking telepathically may make two attacks in a round, but must use the same attack mode and may not change harbingers during the round.

An Example of Psionic Combat

The following example presents a scenario in which Koreth, a 6th-level telepath, and his friend Galek, a ranger, are ambushed by three gith and a 5th-level gith psionicist. Neither party was surprised, and the range is 30 feet.

Round One

: The DM decides that the three nonpsionic gith will use their leaping ability to spring into combat, while the psionicist hangs back to use project force on Galek, a big and dangerous-looking fellow. Koreth declares that he will attempt contact against one of the gith. He doesn’t realize one of them is psionic and randomly chooses a nonpsionic foe as his target. Galek sets his spear against a charge.

Initiative is rolled. Koreth gets a 4, Galek a 6 (–2 for set for charge, +6 for spear speed factor for a total of 10), and the gith roll an 8 (the chargers attack with claws, for a total of 11; the psionicist goes on 8).

Koreth goes first. His contact Power Score is 18, and he makes it with a roll of 12. The gith is now contacted. Next is the psionicist gith, who successfully tags Galek with his project force. Galek survives the blow, and he gets to go next. He impales a charging gith with his spear, killing it before it can attack. The two survivors of the charge split their attacks against Koreth and Galek. Although Koreth is grazed for minor damage, he has already initiated contact and the wound does not disrupt his concentration.

Round Two

: The DM decides that the two gith in melee with the adventurers will stay there, while the last recognizes Koreth as a fellow psionicist and decides to use ballistic attack in an attempt to keep him from initiating any new powers. Koreth also recognizes the psionic gith, but has an enemy in front of him and decides to remove him from the fight with aversion, since the gith’s been contacted already. Galek is happy to melee with his gith.

Initiative is rolled; Koreth gets a 5, Galek an 8 (modified to 14), and the gith roll a 4; the psionic gith will go on 4, while the others attack on 7.

The psionic gith goes first, successfully initiating ballistic attack, fortunately for Koreth, the gith fails his attack roll with the rock and misses. Kareth is next; he initiates aversion against his opponent with a Power Score result. The gith promptly turns and flees for his life! Galek and his opponent attack and miss each other.

Round Three

: The DM decides that the gith psionicist will try to attack Koreth, using ego whip with a Dragon harbinger. The monster also raises a mental barrier. The surviving nonpsionic gith continues to melee with Galek, who reciprocates. Koreth declares that he is attacking the gith psionicist with id insinuation, using a Scorpion harbinger.

For initiative, the gith roll a 1, Koreth a 7 and Galek a 9.

The psionic gith goes first. Koreth raises mind blank with the Void construct. The gith’s adjusted Power Score is a 20+, while Koreth has a 15 with mind blank. The gith rolls a 4, making his roll, but Koreth rolls an 11 and wins the psychic contest. The gith does not achieve a tangent. When Koreth’s turn comes, the gith throws up a mental barrier with he Denial construct. Koreth gains a +2 bonus to his Power Score, raising it to a 16. The gith defends with a 16, Koreth makes his roll with a 13, but the gith fails his defense roll with a 19. Koreth has one tangent on the gith.

Galek and the second gith continue their battle.

Since both the psionic gith and Koreth are using telepathic attacks, they gain a second attack with each. The gith goes first. Neither psionicist can change attacks, defenses, or harbingers at his point. The gith rolls a 13, while Koreth rolls a 9. The gith gets a tangent on Koreth.

In his own second attack, Koreth rolls a 7, the gith a 5—Koreth achieves his second tangent on the gith.

Round Four

: The DM decides that the psionic gith will change tactics, trying to use project force against Koreth. He intends to use the tower of iron will defense, with the Rampart construct. The other battles Galek. Koreth declares that he will switch to psionic blast and use his Kirre harbinger, while keeping his defense as mind blank with the Void (he’s running low on PSPs).

For initiative, the gith roll a 3, Koreth rolls a 6, and Galek a 7.

The psionic gith successfully initiates project force and pounds Koreth for 10 points of damage. Koreth’s attacks are spoiled by the telekinetic punch. He is able to maintain his two tangents on the gith, though.

Galek and the second gith are locked in a battle to the death.

Round Five

: All parties announce that they will repeat their actions of the previous round.

This time, Koreth wins the initiative by rolling a 1, while the gith roll a 6 and Galek a 3.

Koreth leads off. His Kirre against the Rampart suffers a –2 penalty, modifying his Power Score to 11. When he attacks, he rolls a 9; the gith rolls a 7. Koreth defeats him and achieves the third tangent. The psionic gith succeeds with his project force attack, pounding Koreth for 8 more points of damage. This successful attack spoils Koreth’s second telepathic attack for the round, but at least he’ll be ready to create havoc next round. Galek finally defeats his opponent, and the gith psionicist is left alone on the field of battle with his mind at Koreth’s mercy.

The battle concludes in the next round, as the psionic gith tries to flee. Koreth uses domination to subdue his enemy. It was close for a while, but the heroes prevailed!

The DM should take pains to keep up a colorful and exciting narrative to go along with the rolls of the dice and the use of the modifiers when refereeing a fight scene. Instead of saying, “Kirre vs. Rampart—that’s a –2 for the attacker,” the DM should try something more along the lines of this: “Koreth, in the gith’s mind a mighty Rampart looms before you, barring your way. Your Kirre is slowed by the search for a weakness, and you have a –2 penalty to your psionic blast attack.”

Using Psionic Power Cards

An easy way to run psionic combat is to use cards summarizing the powers. A full set is provided in the Deck of Psionic Powers accessory. If you do not own the official cards, you can easily make up your own using blank index cards.

Leave one side of each card blank, and on the other side record the power’s name, power score, PSP cost, and any other information you wish to include. When a player running a psionicist character declares that he is initiating a psionic power, he can simply pull out the card and place it face-down on he table. After all psionic powers have been placed on the table, the cards are turned over and combat resumes.

Harbingers and constructs can be handled with a deck of normal playing cards. Each harbinger or construct has a specific card that represents it. These, too, are played face down and revealed at the appropriate time in the round.

Sword: Ace of Hearts | Void : 6 of Hearts
Chatkcha : Ace of Spades | Forest : 6 of Spades
Incantation : Ace of Clubs | Mudflat : 6 of Clubs
Flame : Ace of Diamonds | Ruins : 6 of Diamonds
Templar : 2 of Hearts | Shield : 7 of Hearts
Noble : 2 of Spades | Rune : 7 of Spades
Slave : 2 of Clubs | Armor : 7 of Clubs
Dragon : 2 of Diamonds | Wall : 7 of Diamonds
Wyvern : 3 of Hearts | Truth : 8 of Hearts
Scorpion : 3 of Spades | Will : 8 of Spades
Crystal Spider: 3 of Clubs | Acceptance : 8 of Clubs
Silk Wyrm : 3 of Diamonds | Denial : 8 of Diamonds
Sand : 4 of Hearts | Cha’thrang : 9 of Hearts
Mekillot : 4 of Spades | Beetle : 9 of Spades
Silt Horror : 4 of Clubs | Drake : 9 of Clubs
Boulder : 4 of Diamonds | Bramble : 9 of Diamonds
So-ut : 5 of Hearts | Tower : 10 of Hearts
Sloth : 5 of Spades | Rampart : 10 of Spades
Kirre : 5 of Clubs | Gate : 10 of Clubs
Tembo : 5 of Diamonds | Crag : 10 of Diamonds