Introduction

Chapter Seven: Meditation and Research

Geryas drifted in the cloud realm of his own mind, contemplating the sun-like nexus of energy that glowed at the core of his being. He perceived his sentience as a shower of golden sparks that whirled and darted around the nexus, and the various disciplines of the Way as colorful spheres of light that danced and bobbed in the gray vapor. He selected a large scarlet orb—his psychokinetic powers—and concentrated on it.

Geryas’s body sat cross-legged on a rocky shelf overlooking the Sea of Silt. His eyes stared blankly ahead. As he touched the red sphere with his consciousness, his body began to levitate, rising from the rocky crag. Without stirring from his lotus position, Geryas began to imagine flight. The golden sparks surrounded the red sphere, exploring it.

When Geryas opened his eyes at last, he was far above the Sea of Silt, the air whistling past his ears as he flew forward. At last, he thought, telekinetic flight.

The psionicists of Athas are constantly searching for better ways to harness their psychic energies. In some cases, they seek to alter the way a familiar power is used. In others, they may try to identify entirely new manifestations. Psionicists attempting psionic research must spend months in deep reflection and meditation, exploring the potential of their minds.

There are several applications of this research The psionicist may attempt to improve some of his ability scores, improve or alter a power he already possesses, tutor himself as he rises in level, develop a new psionic power, or even refine an existing power into a High Science.

The Contemplative Life

A character who undertakes a prolonged meditation exiles himself for weeks or months on end. He seeks a setting where he will not be troubled by the affairs of the world, a place where existence is simple and easily understood. Natives of the city-states often isolate themselves in their homes or academies, avoiding all outside contact and adopting a spartan lifestyle of contemplation and discipline. Characters who grew up outside the walls of the cities of Athas often find their best results by journeying into the deserts of the Tablelands.

Students searching for enlightenment believe that meditation consists of several stages. First, the student must test his physical limits through fasting and the acclimatization to physical hardship. The character may subject himself to the full power of Athas’s sun or seek to deny himself comfort by resting on stone. There are almost as many ways to discipline the body as there are psionicists beneath the crimson sun.

Second, the student must perform the same kind of deprivation and test of endurance for his intellect. The character seeks to banish unnecessary thoughts, to deny himself the luxuries of conversation or daydreams. Some psionicists use a mantra to focus their minds, while others repeat series of mathematical calculations to bring order and discipline to their minds.

Last, the character must test his spirit. Most students engage in harsh self-examination, questioning their decisions and their morals to prepare themselves for inner study. This can be the most difficult aspect to confront.

When the psionicist is ready, he begins his meditations by withdrawing from the world around him. In an urban setting, he finds a quiet room or garden where he can concentrate, uninterrupted by the bustle of the city around him. Students meditating in the wilderness seek out an inaccessible area where they are unlikely to be intruded on by passers-by or eaten by the desert predators who haunt Athas’s wastes.

During the meditations, the psionicist keeps irregular hours, alternating silent contemplation with attention to the needs of human existence. A student involved in serious meditation may spend as much as 20 hours a day in his trance, sleeping for only two or three hours and pausing to eat and drink only when it becomes absolutely necessary.

Psionicists who meditate in homes or academies often make sure that friends or hirelings screen visitors to prevent interruptions. Characters seeking enlightenment in the deserts have no such luxury, but are rarely set upon by any of Athas’s predators—the psionicist’s harmony with his surroundings tends to discourage attacks by dangerous creatures.

Some masters have all but abandoned their outside existence’s and live in a world of contemplation. They seek to become one with the universe, to abandon the petty cares of humanity for enlightenment. These hermits can be encountered in the deserts, living simply and asking nothing of any person. In some cases, they have achieved a state of harmony resembling a druid’s attachment to his guarded lands. Travelers should be careful of disturbing their meditations.

Meditation Requirements

Psionicists require nothing more than time and concentration to unlock the secrets of their minds. Despite this, psionic research is still very difficult. A character must be wholly committed to the study of his mind to have any chance of success.

Time

The first requirement is time. Each of the various meditations has a basic time requirement, which may be shortened or lengthened by the psionicist’s abilities and dedication. The following guidelines apply to any psionic research:

- Any interruption of more than 1 day forces the psionicist to start over.

- Each failed progress check adds 10 days to the time of meditation.

- If the psionicist is interrupted for any reason on two consecutive days, he must start over.

Interruptions do not include routine activities such as eating, sleeping, or brief conversations. However, any kind of combat, important meeting, or confrontation would be an interruption. For example, if a templar patrol comes to the character’s home and interrogates him, it is an interruption. A single templar having a conversation with the character is not.

Progress Checks

Every 10 days, the meditating character must make a progress check to see if she is still on the right track. This is treated as a saving throw versus spells. The psionicist’s +2 bonus versus mind-affecting spells does not apply to this saving throw. However, a character may add ability modifiers for high Wisdom, Constitution, or Intelligence scores.

Ability Score Modifier to Progress Checks Table

Ability Score | Bonus
16 | +1
17 | +2
18 | +3
19 | +4
20 | +5
21 | +6
22 | +7

The character may also gain bonuses to his progress check saving throw for any of the following:

- +2 bonus if the character has any of the following nonweapon proficiencies: meditative focus, power manipulation, psionic lore, or rejuvenation.

- +2 bonus if the character is instructed by another psionicist who has developed the power the character is studying.

- –2 penalty if the character has suffered an interruption during the time of the check.

Any bonuses to the progress check are cumulative. If a character fails a progress check, she must add 10 days to the time of meditation—in effect, she found a dead end and must restudy that portion of her research. If a character fails three consecutive progress checks, she has found the effect she is seeking to be beyond her skills and must wait until she has gained a level until she can try to study that particular effect again.

If the psionicist rolls the exact number required for the progress check (after adjustments) she has an inspiration and cuts 10 days from the meditation time.

Location

The psionicist must find a good place to meditate or risk failure due to distractions. Wilderness is good, as long as the psionicist can be certain no creatures will make a snack out of her. Natural predators tend to ignore a meditating psionicist—the character keeps such a low profile that animals don’t notice her. The DM should decide if the circumstances warrant any lessening in the chance of encounters.

If a psionicist can’t escape to the wilderness, then the quiet halls of a psionic academy will suffice for prolonged meditation. The masters of the school will usually screen out visitors and actively discourage any outside interruptions for a psionicist meditating in their midst. In addition, the character may be able to ask for guidance from some of the school’s masters.

Level Training by Meditation

Psionicists can train themselves to rise in level without the assistance of a higher-level character as an instructor. A character may only attempt this kind of meditation when eligible to rise in level (she has gathered enough experience points to advance to the next level) and is seeking to train herself.

Self-training for level advancement takes a total of 20 days. If the character has access to a tutor who specializes in the same discipline and is at least two levels higher in level then herself, she need not make any progress checks. Otherwise, she can train herself hut must make progress checks as normal.

Training to advance a level is the easiest of the meditations, since the character has already accumulated many of the skills she will need later on. After all, she already earned the necessary experience points for the next level. Because of this, she need not start over if she is interrupted and suffers no ill effects from missing three progress checks in a row.

Self-Improvement by Meditation

The wind hissed and curled across the sand, raising eddies of dust that stung Trevana’s legs and left a patina of grit on her skin and clothes. Squinting, she looked out over the dunes and then drew a ragged scrap of cloth over her nose and mouth.

“The Sand Wastes are no place for a human, Trevana,”s aid her companion, a mul named Zerik. The warrior had to shout to make herself heard above the wind. “I wouldn’t wish a journey across that on a baazrag.”

Trevana nodded. “ln hardship it is possible to grow strong,” she replied. “For months now l have felt that it was time to return, to re-examine my self and my life.”

Zerik snorted. “Well, be careful,” she said, her brow furrowing. “Our tribe will miss your wisdom and skill.”

Trevana smiled and turned away. “l’ll be back,” she said, and then set off into the dusty wasteland.

A psionicist can meditate to explore her own potential and limitations, seeking to become a stronger individual. In game terms, this allows the character to improve an ability score for psionic purposes, possibly increasing her reserve of PSPs and affecting any power scores based on that ability.

Self-improvement meditation is a slow and uncertain process. The base time is 50 days. A character seeking self-improvement will often have to leave a campaign for several adventures.

When the character successfully completes her meditations, she gains one ability point that may be applied to Wisdom, Constitution, or Intelligence for psionic purposes only. The psionicist recalculates her PSP total based on the higher score and may refigure any power scores based on that ability. The character’s original score is used for all other game purposes.

Example

: Trevana is a 6th-level psychokinetic with an Intelligence score of 14, a Wisdom of 17, and a Constitution of 16. She requires 50 days to meditate. When she finishes, she decides to increase her Intelligence to 15, improving all Intelligence-based power scores by one.

A psionicist may not perform this meditation more than once every other experience level, and may not increase an ability by more than 3 points above its normal score.

Modifying Powers by Meditation

Urdan studied the stone wall, his dark eyes impassive. He knew that he could create a small breach by disintegrating a portion of the wall, but the hole would be too small to allow his allies to storm the desert fort quickly. The dwarf frowned, trying to think of a better way to bring the wall down.

The raiders behind him began to shift and mutter restlessly. “Silence, “ he ordered. “l’m thinking.” The men fell quiet again. Urdan considered the wall again, and it occurred to him that it was heavy enough to collapse under its own weight.

The base, he thought. Instead of blasting a hole through the wall, l’II destroy a narrow strip along the bottom. The wall will topple over by itself. Closing his eyes, he summoned the Way, hoping that he had accurately judged the wall’s strength…

Many Athasian psionicists seek to increase their understanding of powers they have already learned. A familiar devotion can be tailored to create unexpected results or augmented to a higher level of effectiveness. A psionicist can modify existing powers through meditation, and even develop new ones.

Modifying powers is difficult and the results are often uncertain. The base meditation time is 80 days.

Before the character attempts to modify an existing power, the player must state what result the character is seeking. The possibilities include: decreasing the power’s PSP cost; increasing its range or area of effect; increasing the effect itself; increasing the power score; or altering the way the power works.

Once the player has decided what effect his character is attempting, the DM should assign a difficulty to the task. For example, modifying ballistic attack to increase its range is not very difficult—the character is not tampering with the essential nature of the power. However, modifying molecular manipulation or detonate to affect living tissue is a major enhancement and very hard to do. Difficult modifications entail a penalty of –2 to –8 on each progress check, depending on how difficult the DM decides the modification is.

Decreasing the PSP Cost.

A power’s initial cost or maintenance cost can be cut by 25% with an easy modification, or both can be cut with a moderate modification Decreasing the PSP cost of any given power by 50% is a very difficult modification.

Example

: Urdan wants to be able to disintegrate things more easily, so he researches to cut the initial cost from 40 to 30. This is relatively easy and suffers no progress check penalties.

Increasing Range or Area of Effect.

A power’s range or area of effect can be increased by 50% with an easy modification, or by 100% with a difficult check. A power with a range of self can be increased to a range of touch (to affect another person) with a difficult check, and a power with a range of touch can be given a range of 10 to 30 yards with a very difficult check.

Example:

Urdan wants to share the joys of levitation with his friends. He wants to be able to use it on others. The DM rules that this must be initiated by touch, and after that maintained as long as Urdan can keep the target in sight. This is a difficult research with a –2 penalty to progress checks.

Increasing the Effect.

The general effect of a power can be increased, too. This could apply to damage inflicted, penalties inflicted on the victim, or duration. For example, a character increasing the effect of ballistic attack could increase the damage inflicted by a projectile to 2d6 instead of 1d6, while a character enhancing ego whip could increase the victim’s attack and save penalties from –5 to –8.

It’s also possible to increase the power of a devotion’s effect. A power such as phobia amplification could be enhanced to the level of a fear spell, while post-hypnotic suggestion could be increased to the power level of a suggestion spell.

Example

: Urdan wants to make his disintegration nastier. Unfortunately, disintegration is disintegration—it can’t get any worse than that. He settles for researching his project force attack to increase the damage to 2d6+AC.

Increasing the Power Score.

A psionicist can attempt to enhance his abilities by raising a particular power score. He can attempt to raise his power score 1, 2, or 3 points with an easy, hard, or very difficult meditation respectively.

The character also gains a special benefit with his modified power: the power score results now apply to both his original and his new power score. If a character had a power score of 14 and then raised it to a 16, he would achieve the results listed under “Power Score” with a power check roll of 14, 15, or 16.

Altering the Way a Power Works.

A character may also attempt to change the way one of his psionic talents operates. This requires the DM to make some judgment calls.

Some possibilities might be expanding the uses of a power (for example, allowing chemical simulation to produce bases, oils, or glues as well as acid), altering the sphere of a power’s effects (allowing soften to affect a living creature’s carapace or bones), or splicing two powers together (perhaps combining detonate and ballistic attack to make exploding missiles).

The DM should be careful about allowing extensive modifications. As a rule of thumb, the more spectacular the change, the harder it is to successfully research the altered power. If a player wants his character to forge an altered power that will completely unbalance the campaign, the DM should exercise his right to say no—or at least rule that the research is very difficult and assign an appropriate penalty to the attempt.

Creating New Psionic Powers

Jorana meditated before the dark waters of the oasis, her legs crossed before her in the lotus position, her shaven scalp gleaming in the midday sun. Three weeks ago she had realized that if she was capable of summoning creatures from the elemental planes, she might also be capable of summoning the element itself. Since that day she had been meditating constantly, exploring the possibilities of such an ability.

She concentrated on the water before her, feeling for the tenuous link that joined it to all water everywhere, the intangible connection to the elemental plane of water. Suddenly, she found it! Gasping in surprise, she felt her mind immersed in cool water that stretched in every direction! Hurriedly, she mentally grabbed a volume of the precious liquid and dragged her consciousness back to her own body.

Jorana awoke from her trance as gallons of water dropped out of nowhere in a sudden deluge, drenching her to the skin.

l’ll need a bucket next time, she thought with a weary smile.

Some psionicists search for new expressions of their abilities to create more useful effects or to overcome the shortcomings of existing powers. Characters may engage in meditation to develop new psionic powers. Inventing a new power is difficult, and many masters fail because of the time and hardship of such a challenging meditation. Creating a new psionic power has a base time of 120 days.

To create a new power, the player should first write up a description of it. Cost, preparation time, area of effect, and range should all he covered. The player should also decide which discipline the proposed power falls into and whether it should be a science or devotion.

Once the player has prepared a new power proposal, the DM should take a long look at it. Is it too powerful? Is there a spell with a similar effect, and if so, how do the two compare? Are there any hidden applications? Will it unbalance the campaign?

If the idea looks well thought out and balanced, the DM should then take it and edit it carefully. The PSP cost may be too low, or the range too great, for what the PC has in mind. Once the DM is satisfied with the power, he should tell the player that he’II allow the character to attempt the research. He should, of course, also point out and explain any modifications he made to the player’s proposed power description.

For a character to develop a new power, he or she must have a slot of the appropriate kind open. If the psionicist is trying to create a new Psychometabolic devotion, he must have an empty slot for a devotion, and he must be able to spend it on a Psychometabolic power without violating the normal rules for selecting new powers with level advancement.

In addition, the character suffers a –4 penalty to any progress checks he makes during the meditation if he attempts to develop a new power outside his primary discipline. It is far easier to be a pioneer in your own area of specialization.

The High Sciences

The most powerful psionics of Athas are the High Sciences, a group of abilities that far exceed the normal range of powers. Unlike a lesser science or devotion, the High Sciences cannot be selected by a character when he advances in level. Instead, they must he researched through extensive meditation.

Only single-classed psionicists may attempt to learn a High Science; multiclassed characters cannot achieve the single-minded discipline necessary to master these arts.

High Sciences can be researched as if the character was trying to create a new science, but require a base time of 200 days. The study of a High Science is always considered to be a difficult enterprise, and the psionicist suffers a –4 on his progress checks through the course of his meditation.

Characters must be at least 10th level to attempt to learn a High Science. No characters may ever learn more than one High Science; once they have mastered the High Science for their primary discipline, they cannot try to research another.

The High Sciences are described in detail in Appendix A: New Psionic Powers section of this book. They are presented below.

Cosmic Awareness

: The High Science of Clairsentience. The psionicist gains extraordinary powers of perception and detects any change in his surroundings.

Megakinesis

: The High Science of Psychokinesis. The character learns to amplify his telekinetic powers a hundred-fold, moving thousands of pounds at once.

Elemental Composition

: The High Science of Psychometabolism. The character can assume the form of any element.

Planar Transposition

: The High Science of Psychoportation. The psionicist gains complete control over the interfaces of other realities with the Prime Material Plane.

Mass Contact

: The High Science of Telepathy. The character learns how to affect dozens or even hundreds of minds at one time with his telepathic powers.

One final note: the High Sciences are completely optional. The DM can rule that such powerful abilities have no place in his or her campaign.