Adding Psionics

Another "Friday Funday" post...which is to say, random musings that folks might check out later this weekend as Fridays are (notoriously) slack for reading.

I was considering writing about my current "house rules" (because there are so few these days), and skimming my last post on the subject was struck by something that has NOT changed since I posted it; namely, that I haven't yet added psionics to my game. And...as I have, more or less, gone back to "straight AD&D" I think it might be time (finally) to bite the bullet and just go ahead and do so.

Turns out I've written about psionics before, and reading back through these posts I see my thoughts on the topic haven't changed much since 2009. The main difference between then and now is that I was struggling to figure out a way to implement psionics into the B/X game system; now that I'm playing AD&D, the mechanics are already a part of the system.

So why haven't I implemented them?

Reflecting a bit on the question, I think the main reason has been a little intimidation (or laziness). I am already running AD&D very well, thank you, using the vast bulk of the Rules As Written. But adding psionics requires me becoming intimately familiar with a number of sub-systems that I have let fall by the wayside, left to gather dust for DECADES.  Jeez. I'd have to RE-READ (Heavens!) the Appendix A of the PHB, and familiarize myself with the psionics section of the DMG combat section, not to mention reviewing the psionic wandering encounters...and probably skimming the half dozen psionic monsters in the MM just to remember what I once knew.

Mm. That's not really all that much. I think this IS laziness on my part.

Of course, there's always the "fear" that psionics will "break" the game, even though I don't recall this ever having been the case. My own (vastly over-powered) character back in the day made LIBERAL use of his potent psionics...and still died more often than any other PC in the game. 

[yes, favorite characters still die in 1E games...sometimes MANY times. It's why it pays to have SOME friends who will do the work of reviving you]

Psionics (as others have pointed out) add "flavor" to the game...and complication...but they're not destructive, and they open new avenues of game play, adding richness and (possibly) depth. 

And it's not terribly difficult. I mean, we ran the game with psionics just fine back in the day, and we couldn't even drive then. Just a matter of re-familiarizing myself with rules I haven't used in (35!) years, that's all. And making all our new PCs check for psionic potential; hm, let's see:

• H Paladin (I13, W15, Cr17): 2% chance
• HE* Thief (I14, W12, Cr13): 0% chance
• E Magic-User (I16, W14, Cr14): 0% chance (because he's an elf)
• H Fighter** (I13, W16, Cr16): 1% chance
• G Illusionist/Thief (I16, W13, Cr11): 0% chance (because he a gnome)
• H Cleric (I14, W16, Cr 14): 1% chance

Those are pretty slim odds we'll see ANY psionic-wielders in our game at all. And, yet, I wouldn't put it past my players to roll a double-0 when checking (we have, after all, seen TWO characters with 18/00 strength since we started playing AD&D). 

Yeah, I'm kind of getting excited at the possibilities. Even though psionics DO add some extra "oomph" to a character, it just means they have A) extra survivability (always welcome at low levels), and B) some additional ways to approach challenges (one of the same reasons I like my house rules for magic-users). 

Yeah, time to get off my ass about psionics. Oo-oo...just the thought in implementing (re-implementing?) them has given me some ideas for my campaign! Now I'm getting excited!

; )

* I allow half-elves to gain psionics due to their partially human heritage (and we always played that way, back in the day). Yes, I still have ONE type of "half-human" left in my campaign (as noted before, my "half-orcs" are just orcs). This Friday fun post was almost a discussion on race in AD&D, because I have a lot of things I want to write/discuss on the subject, but I'll save that for another day.

** This is my son's "bard-in-training." Just wanted to note the funny bit: he's named the character "Landon Jr." after my old bard character. Very amusing. It'll be interesting to see if he inherited his "father's" psionic power.

KLOANE WAR KNIGHTS - C.1 P.4

TIER 1 TALENTS

Beast Mastery: character may soothe non-sentient creatures that are frightened or hostile, making them docile, possibly for use as a pet or riding mount. Hostile creatures receive a saving throw to resist.

Channel Darkside*: character harnesses the psychic power of her negative emotions (fear, rage, ambition) and focuses it on aggressive attack; for the duration of combat, the psychic adds her psychic defense bonus to her “to hit” rolls instead of her Armor Class. Unlike most psychic talents, channel darkside does NOT require a saving throw: it automatically works. Use of this talent always earns a corruption point.

Clear Mind: by taking one round of inaction to compose herself, the character may add +5 to a single die roll (skill check, saving throw, attack roll) in the following round.

Deflection: For duration of combat the character increases her Armor Class by +4 against all ranged attacks while wielding a beamrazor; any blaster attack that misses the psychic may be immediately reflected back upon the opponent (normal attack roll; maximum number of reflected attacks in a single round are limited by character’s tier). This talent may be used as a reaction against any attack in the round; if the character has already used her action for the round, her activation roll for the talent receives a -2 penalty to succeed.

Empathy: pick up surface thoughts of target in the character’s immediate vicinity (10m); individuals aware of character’s talent may hide thoughts with a PRE saving throw.

Mind Meld: mental communication with willing subject, regardless of language barriers; must touch target. Non-sentient life forms can only communicate feelings.

Move Many Objects: simultaneously move a number of objects equal to 1 plus tier plus PRE adjustment; all objects must be same relative size, and do damage based on size. Each object used to attack requires its own attack (PRE) roll (all at -2 penalties “to hit” if attacking more than one target). Psychic cannot move while using this talent, remaining the calm center in the eye of the storm.

Move Small Objects: mentally move small object within character’s sight. Used as a weapon, object does damage to opponent equal to D4 plus the psychic’s level of experience and requires a PHY saving throw to avoid being stunned for a round (a stunned character cannot move or attack); the psychic must succeed at a normal attack roll (PRE) to inflict injury with the moved object.

Premonition: detects danger to self and others in immediate vicinity (10m); for duration of a scene, the character cannot be surprised.

Reflex Pilot: for duration of engagement, character may add tier and PRE adjustment to both piloting and gunnery rolls in space combat. If deprived of computer, character can “manually” attempt interstellar jump navigation (trip takes D20 days).

Surge: character can make amazing leaps, covering several meters through the air, even from a standing position. Successful use of this talent allows a character to move up to double their normal movement (in a straight line) and make a single melee attack, all as one action. Characters can also use this talent to self-induce an adrenaline surge (as per the critical damage table in X-Plorers), without being reduced to 0 hit points; however, a character can never receive the benefit of more than one adrenaline surge in a single combat.

Sustain Life: through meditation and focus, character can resist extremes of temperature and environmental hardship, ignoring hunger, thirst, and fatigue, being sustained by the Star Force alone. The talent can be attempted once per day (and its effect lasts one day).

Telekinetic Shove: target opponent in melee range is knocked sprawling, taking D6 damage and losing next action (as if the opponent fumbled an attack roll; see optional rule 20’s and 1’s in the X-Plorers rulebook). Psychic characters can make a PRE saving throw to resist. Second and third tier psychics may activate this talent in place of their normal movement during a round, while still making a normal attack or action.

Visions: while in quiet meditation, character can gain glimpses of past, present, and future events pertaining to the character and her loved ones as determined by the Referee.

TIER 2 TALENTS

Destroy Machine: character can compromise or corrupt devices like borgs, blasters, etc. causing them to malfunction and break. Moving objects (like borgs) are allowed a saving throw, as are the possessions (weapons, cybernetic parts) of a sentient individual; the latter receives a PRE save to resist. Vehicles (like starships) have fail-safes and backup systems that render wholesale tampering ineffective with a single use of this talent; however, if on-board a ship the character can target an individual system with a successful roll (see the System Damage chart for ideas in Chapter 4).

Detoxify: remove all toxins or poisonous effects from a character (self or others).

Healing Trance: spend an hour in a meditative trance to heal D6 (plus tier) hit points of damage; talent can only be used once per day, but can be used in conjunction with other forms of healing, including natural rest. Talent will not heal grievous wounds (see Chapter 3).

Know Deception: can tell when a person is lying; range is sight.

Mask Presence: character can mask their own spiritual presence, preventing other psychics from detecting their power (see Chapter 5 regarding psychic sensing); non-sentient animals and creatures will tend to ignore the character as if she isn’t even present, and non-hostile NPCs will tend to overlook the character as well, her importance fading from thought.

Master Darkside*: character adds her psychic defense bonus to both “to hit” rolls AND Armor Class in combat engagements. Unlike channel darkside, this talent requires a normal PRE save to activate. Use of this talent always earns a corruption point.

Mind Over Matter: character can move and act normally, ignoring all penalties for damage (like incapacitation or grievous wounds), old age, or stunning and debilitating effects for the duration of a combat.

Mind Trick: character can implant simple suggestions (similar to hypnosis) in a target that fails a PRE saving throw to resist.

Move Object: mentally move and manipulate an object within sight no bigger than that of a large humanoid. Used as a weapon, the object does D8 damage plus the psychic’s level of experience, and requires a PHY save not to be stunned for D6 rounds (a stunned character cannot move or attack). The character must make a normal attack roll (PRE) to damage an opponent with the moved object.

Psychokinetic Storm*: as telekinetic attack, but applies indiscriminately to all individuals within 10m, as the psychic releases her rage and hatred on the world. In addition, the psychic herself suffers 1D4 damage for each round the talent is sustained. Use of this talent always earns a corruption point.

Psychometry*: psychic can “read” inanimate object touched to learn information about the object. Use of this talent to “read” the corpses of individuals killed by violence or “evil” objects/weapons requires the psychic to succeed at a PRE saving throw to avoid earning a corruption point.

Resist Death*: animates self with unnatural life, despite terrible wounds, through sheer force of will and hate. Character may use this talent when mortally wounded or otherwise in danger of death; success allows the character to survive indefinitely until such time as cybernetic reconstruction is possible (the character loses the ability to live normally). For every week kept alive with this talent alone, the character loses 1 point from one attribute (player’s choice), becoming weaker (PHY), slower (AGI), less sane (INT), or more horrifying (PRE); if any attribute score drops below three, the character’s animated corpse disintegrates. Using this talent earns a corruption point, plus one additional corruption point per week of animation by will alone.

Telekinetic Attack*: target within 10m must succeed at a PRE saving throw or be stunned and take D6 damage per round until released by the psychic (a stunned character can neither move nor attack). This talent does not work on psychic opponents of greater tier, nor does it work on creatures with more Hit Dice than the psychic has levels of experience. For a third tier psychic, the range of this talent is sight. Use of this talent earns a corruption point if used to kill a target.

Telekinetic Disarm: opponent within 10m must succeed at PRE saving throw or drop weapon held; if psychic has a free hand, she may summon the weapon to her own hand. This talent will not work on psychic opponents.

Telekinetic Slam: opponent within melee range is hurled up to 15m, suffering 2D6 and being stunned for D6 rounds (unable to move or attack). Psychic targets receive a PRE saving throw to resist.

Touch Mind: project thoughts and feelings to a known individual; ascended masters (see the third tier talents) can actually speak from beyond the grave using this talent.

TIER 3 TALENTS

Ascension: psychic retains consciousness even beyond death, and can have some limited effect on the living (whether that effect is benevolent or not depends on the character’s temperament in life). The character can, at any time, choose to dissolve her physical form and become “one” with the Universe; most will choose not to do this until the moment of death. Possible effects of this “living ghost” are left to the Referee to adjudicate; those with the touch mind ability can certainly act as helpful NPCs offering advice and wisdom for those companions left behind. This talent does not require a die roll to activate; however, once activated, there’s no “going back.”

Attunement: the psychic allows her conscious mind to be guided by “the will of the Star Force,” generally for the duration of a combat or single die related action. While attuned, the character simply adds a +3 bonus to any roll, check, or save that would normally allow an attribute (PHY, AGI, PRE, INT) adjustment. The attunement bonus replaces the character’s normal attribute that would be associated with the die roll.

Battle Mind: this rare talent allows a character to coordinate the actions of all ship captains on their side in a pitched space battle. Every round the talent is successfully activated, the ships on the side of the psychic receive a +1 bonus to AC, “to hit” rolls, and all skill rolls (this bonus replaces any such bonus conferred by a flight coordinator; see Chapter 4). The psychic using the battle mind can take no other action during the space engagement, but must remain still in quiet meditation. The roll to activate the talent is made during the psychic’s side’s turn before any of “four phases” of the turn.

Dark Lightning*: the psychic channels her contempt and spite to spew forth bolts of dark electricity from her body. Activation of this talent strikes an opponent within 15m with terrible force, doing 2D6 damage and stunning the target for D4 rounds. Such is the pain of the dark current that psychic victims suffer a -2 penalty on any attempt to activate their own psychic talents while stunned. A psychic opponent armed with a beamrazor or possessing the disrupt energy talent is allowed a PRE saving throw to resist a dark lightning attack, but may make no other action in any round they do so. Using this talent always earns the psychic a point of corruption.

Disrupt Energy: by activating this talent a character harmlessly deflects any single ranged attack with her bare hands. This talent may be used as a reaction against any attack in the round; if the character has already used her action for the round, her activation roll for the talent receives a penalty of -2 to succeed. The psychic can disrupt no more than three attacks per round.

Farsight: as per the visions talent, but with a greater degree of control. The psychic can extend her perception to events and people outside of her immediate knowledge.

Mind Rape*: rips the deepest thoughts and darkest secrets from the target’s mind with neither subtlety nor mercy. Target’s PRE saving throw to resist suffers a -2 penalty. Use of this talent always earns a corruption point.

Mind Warp: implants false memories in a target that fails a PRE saving throw (-2 penalty); talent may also be used to project false images into a target’s mind (illusions).

Mind Wipe: erases memories in a target that fails a PRE saving throw. Each use of this talent requires the target to be restrained for D20 minutes while the erasure occurs. Talent can be used to remove a level of experience from the character (one level per use), including the associated milestone, if appropriate; doing so also removes D4 points of psychic corruption. Rarely used by Star Knights except as a stern punishment.

Move Any Object: move any size object at a range of sight. If used to injure an opponent, most large objects do D20 damage plus the psychic’s level of experience and require a PHY saving throw to avoid being knocked unconscious for a number of minutes equal to the damage inflicted; such an attack requires a successful attack roll (PRE) to have any effect. Especially huge objects cannot be wielded effectively for attack, but can be made to fall on and crush opponents; in this case, no attack roll is necessary, though an AGI save is allowed to escape being pulped (failure requires the victim to roll on the critical damage chart in Chapter 3, using only a D4 instead of a D8, though PHY adjustment still applies). This talent is difficult even for masters to use; the psychic receives a -2 penalty to the PRE saving throw to activate it.

Razor Throw: character can attack an opponent up to 10m away with her beamrazor by hurling the weapon and guiding it with her mind. No attack roll is needed if the talent is activated successfully (damage is standard as per ‘razors: 2D8 plus level of experience).

Rend Space*: uses the negative power of the void of deep space to tear herself apart in a massive explosion of dark energy, capable of destroying even dreadnought class ships. Psychics within four SUs of the suicidal Shadow Lord may make a PRE saving throw to save themselves and their ships, but even those who succeed take 4D8 damage from psychic backlash and suffer D4 system damage rolls (see Chapter 4). Use of this talent destroys the psychic and she may use neither the ascension nor resist death talents.

Shatterstrike*: doubles the damage of a single successful attack. As this psychic talent must be activated in the same round as the attack action, both rolls (to activate the talent and the attack roll) are made at a -2 penalty. If a sentient target is killed in the use of this talent, the psychic earns a corruption point.

Vitality Transfer: the psychic can transfer any number of hit points from herself to another individual, including one who has been mortally wounded (requires at least six hit points be transferred to stave off death). If this expenditure would reduce the psychic’s own HPs below zero, then she gives her own life in exchange for the injured individual.

[to be continued]

[Kloane War Knights is copyright 2013 by Jonathan Becker and Running Beagle Games. The X-Plorers rpg is copyright 2009, Dave Bezio & Grey Area Games. The X-Plorers trademark is used under the X-Plorers Trademark License]

Land of Ice (Psychic Powers)

[unlike B/X, Land of Ice does not use the typical Vancian spell system; the following rules replace the normal magic rules and spell lists]

[***EDIT: Upon reflection, I decided the rules as written are a bit too fiddly for my taste...also they skew PC choices in a way I don't like (I want players to always feel there's an option to use their psychic powers, rather than having a "two-strikes-you're-out" rule). As such, I now have a psychic corruption table with mixed effects/disorders, not all of which are terribly debilitating. Yay!***]

Seidhr is the name given to the practice and use of psychic talents, the powers of the mind developed centuries ago by the alfar and the ancestors of the northmen, mainly the vanir. In the current age, these powers are little understood and often regarded with suspicion; those who study the seidhr discipline are viewed as “sorcerers” by many northmen.

Psychic talent is genetically inherited, but unless developed through training it remains little more than a "lucky" or magic talent, one passed along certain bloodlines from parent to child (though sometimes skipping generations). Characters of the magician class are those who have undertaken the training to develop their natural ability; characters with an Intelligence of 14 or better have natural psychic talent that will manifest even without training. Dvergar never possess or develop psychic ability.

In LAND OF ICE, psychic ability is measured in points. Any character with Intelligence greater than 13 has 1 point of psychic ability; magicians and alfar have 1 point per level of experience, in addition to that received from high Intelligence (if applicable). Points are assigned to specific psychic talents (power categories), with more points indicating a higher chance of success. Non-psychic character classes (fighters, huntsmen, skalds, and thieves) are limited in how these points are applied; magicians and alfar are not.

All psychic talents have three levels of power, called stages. To use a psychic ability, the player chooses the stage he is attempting and rolls two dice; the type of dice rolled depends on the number of points assigned to the ability:

1 Point – Roll 2D4
2 Points – Roll 2D6
3 Points – Roll 2D8
4 Points – Roll 2D10
5 Points – Roll 2D12

Each die is reviewed separately. In order for a psychic ability to take effect, the number on each die must exceed the stage of effect the character is attempting to use. For example, if a character with 2 points in a talent wants to attempt a stage 2 power, the player rolls two six-sided dice and needs to roll a 3 or better on both dice for the power to take effect.

Using the powers of the mind is physically draining to the character: a successful roll does D4-1 points of damage to the character, representing fatigue. If this reduces a character’s hit points below 0, damage is applied to the character’s Constitution, causing nose bleeds, brain hemorrhaging, aneurisms, and stroke.

Failing on a psychic roll does not cause damage to the character, but the character runs the risk of psychic corruption. If the dice roll results in “snake-eyes” (i.e. a double roll of “1”), then the character gains 1 point of corruption (see below).

When a character fails a psychic roll but does NOT roll snake-eyes, the player can choose to gain a point of corruption in order to change the failure to a success. The character takes the usual damage (as if the dice roll had succeeded), and the power succeeds. When exchanging failure for success in this way the stage of the power cannot be higher than the character’s level of experience (for example, a 1st or 2nd level character could not choose corruption to succeed at a stage 3 power).

Psychic Corruption: Harnessing the power of seidhr can be dangerous for the undisciplined mind. Whenever a character gains a point of corruption he must make a saving throw with a target number equal to the character’s total number of corruption points. Failure indicates the psychic must make a roll on the Corruption Table found in Chapter 5: The Encounter.


Non-Psychic Characters

Fighters, Huntsmen, Skalds, and Thieves can possess psychic ability, though ONLY those with an Intelligence of 13 or greater. However, even those characters that do have psychic talent tend to be focused in specific areas, determined by class. This may be due to psychic manifestation being appropriate to temperament (temperament leading to certain classes), or it’s possible that certain bloodlines of psychic talent are drawn to specific classes.

Regardless, each non-psychic class is associated with a specific talent. Only 1 in 6 classes have a different talent than that associated with it; players that wish their character to have a different class must roll D6 (with a 1-5 meaning they get the normal talent) OR receive the DM’s permission to choose a different talent. The natural psychic talents associated with non-psychic classes are:

Fighter – Adrenal Stimulation (“Berserk”)
Huntsmen – Animal Empathy (“Beast Ken”)
Skald – Emotional Projection (“Enchantment”)
Thief – Mental Obfuscation (“Wraith”)


Psychic Characters

Alfar and magicians may distribute points to any of the psychic abilities listed below. Every time a psychic character earns an additional level of experience, a new point may be invested in a new psychic talent or an existing one (making the character more proficient in a particular specialty). The following is the complete list of psychic talents available:

Adrenal Stimulation (“Berserk”)
Animal Empathy (“Beast Ken”)
Atmospheric Field Manipulation (“Weather Magic”)
Cellular Reconstruction (“Healing”)
Emotional Projection (“Enchantment”)
Genetic Re-Pattering (“Shifting”)
Mental Obfuscation (“Wraith”)
Molecular Agitation (“Pyromancy”)
Probability Tracking (“Divination”)
Structural Manipulation (“Shaping”)
Telekinesis (“Moving”)
Telepathic Manipulation (“Mentalism”)


PSYCHIC TALENTS

Adrenal Stimulation (“Berserk”)

Range: Self Only
Stage 1 – For one combat encounter, character receives +2 bonus to melee attacks and +D8 extra hit points; character can fight even after suffering a major wound. These benefits fade when the fight is over.
Stage 2 – As stage 1, but character receives one extra melee attack per round and adds an additional +D8 extra hit points (total of +2D8).
Stage 3 – As stage 2, but character does double damage with successful attacks and adds an additional +D8 extra hit points (total of +3D8).

Animal Empathy (“Beast Ken”)

Range: Sight
Stage 1 – Can “communicate” with unintelligent animals via emotion/feeling. Communication is two-way; check standard reaction roll.
Stage 2 – As stage 1, but can compel animal to do simple favors for the character.
Stage 3 – As stage 2, but can assume control of animal, controlling its actions and sensing through its senses.

Atmospheric Field Manipulation (“Weather Magic”)

Rage: Sight
Stage 1 – Sense and detect weather patterns before they occur (a day in advance).
Stage 2 – As stage 1 but can perform minor weather manipulations (starting/stopping rain, making it snow in winter, etc.).
Stage 3 – As stage 3, but can perform extreme weather manipulations (conjure lightning from a cloudless sky, summon tornadoes and hurricanes).

Cellular Reconstruction (“Healing”)

Range: Touch
Stage 1 – Heal character of 2D6 damage
Stage 2 – Cure disease and poison
Stage 3 – Revive a mortally wounded character if used within a few minutes

Emotional Projection (“Enchantment”)

Range: Sight
Stage 1 – Character can instill emotions/feelings in a target, moving the individual to laughter or tears. Characters of level higher than the psychic are allowed a saving throw to resist. Ability has no affect on unintelligent beasts.
Stage 2 – As stage 1, but power can affect all individuals in sight of the psychic.
Stage 3 – As stage 2, but can instill intense emotions causing extreme reactions: orgiastic lust, angry rioting, suicidal depression, etc.

Genetic Re-Pattering (“Shifting”)

Range: Self
Stage 1 – Character can alter form to that of a small animal (bird, fish, wolf, etc.) or alter appearance to become uglier or more attractive; effect lasts until character chooses to return to his original form.
Stage 2 – As stage 1, but character can alter form to that of a creature of equal hit dice (or fewer) or alter appearance to that of a specific individual.
Stage 3 – As stage 2, but character can alter form to that of a creature of up to double the character’s level in hit dice.

Mental Obfuscation (“Wraith”)

Range: Self
Stage 1 – By remaining still and quiet, character becomes undetectable (i.e. ignored by those who pass by) as if the character wasn’t even present. Animals are unaffected. Dvergar receive a saving throw to detect the character. Effect lasts until character moves, makes noise.
Stage 2 – As stage 1, but character can move (quietly) amongst people without being detected. Effect lasts until character chooses to end it or until character makes an attack on someone.
Stage 3 – As stage 3, but character can “vanish” from plain sight.

Molecular Agitation (“Pyromancy”)

Range: Sight
Stage 1 – Character can create small fires, doing 2D4 damage and setting flammables alight (doing additional damage of 2D4 per round until extinguished). Side effects of this power can be exceptionally dangerous, especially when used inside wooden structures.
Stage 2 – Character can create large fires, doing 4D6 damage, ruining metal goods, and causing nearby combustibles to burst into flame.
Stage 3 – Character can create huge fires, setting the air aflame and incinerating most targets (6D8 damage). The character is unaffected by her own flame (except when suffering the effects of corruption), though may be deprived of oxygen if used underground or in closed/cramped spaces.

Probability Tracking (“Divination”)

Range: Self
Stage 1 – Character gains flashes of future occurrence of events that directly the psychic. The future is always in motion, and may be influenced by the characters actions so specific visions may not come to pass (for example, a character may see his own death at the hands of an assassin; though the attack might occur, actual death might not due to knowledge of the attack).
Stage 2 – As stage 1, but character can see future events that affect friends, loved ones, or even acquaintances.
Stage 3 – As stage 2, but character can see future events that affect places and objects to which the character has a connection, not just people.

Structural Manipulation (“Shaping”)

Range: Touch
Stage 1 – Character can sense and manipulate the molecular structure of solid, inanimate objects, shaping them as desired; items as hard as wood or bone can be manipulated.
Stage 2 – As stage 1, but character can manipulate items as hard as stone.
Stage 3 – As stage 2, but character can manipulate hard metals and alloys.

Telekinesis (“Moving”)

Range: Sight
Stage 1 – Character can move light objects with the mind alone; used as a weapon, character can do D6 damage (no attack roll necessary).
Stage 2 – As stage 1 but characters can move larger objects (up to the size of a horse), doing up to 2D6 damage if desired.
Stage 3 – As stage 2 but character can move huge objects or crush opponents for 4D6 damage.

Telepathic Manipulation (“Mentalism”)

Range: Sight
Stage 1 – Character can project his own thoughts, and read the surface thoughts of others. Characters are allowed a saving throw to resist. This ability does not work on unintelligent creatures/animals.
Stage 2 – As stage 1, but character can read a target’s deeper hidden or secret thoughts or access memories in the subject’s subconscious.
Stage 3 – As stage 2, but character can warp and/or erase the subject’s memories, freely tinkering with the target’s mind.

Oh, Yeah...Almost Forgot...

Did some work on one of the three projects I'm working on (they all have names, I'm just not sharing them yet). Today I figured out how to do psionics in B/X; this will be in one of the new books.

No, it doesn't involve "psionic strength points."

No, it doesn't work like a spell caster's spell list..."except psionic!" Don't drag me down in THAT stinky mess.

You folks have to remember that I'm from that 1980's school of thought, a la Steven King and Scanners. Hmmm...didn't I blog about Scanners awhile back? Maybe...I'll have to check that out later.

Now I AM going to bed.

; )

Fire Up the Hookah

I quit smoking close to ten years ago. Cold turkey. Zip, nada, nothing.

Actually, it would be more accurate to say I quit smoking January 1st 1998, but then started again around the time I met my wife (who was a smoker). Then, when she was ready to kick the habit (close to ten years ago), I had no problem going back to my life as a non-smoker. After all, I'd already decided I preferred to live and breath (nominally) clean air rather than cigarette smoke.

And while I don't have "cravings" for cigarettes, it wouldn't be accurate to say I don't sometimes miss it. I always loved smoking. I haven't had much of a sense of smell since age 12 or so (don't ask) so that part never bothered me. In fact, if the damn things didn't completely F you up and kill you, I might still be smoking today. The one thing that made me want to become a non-smoker again was just that...I wanted to live, and wanted to live to a ripe old age. Smoking was not in the game plan for that kind of goal.

But they DO kill you, and so I have cut them out of my life (and good thing, too, now that their prices are soaring). I don't put anything into my lungs anymore if I can help it; but sometimes I wish I did, so that I could have the chance to fire up a hookah at smoke some Turkish tobacco.

No, I am not talking about bongs or even water pipes, I mean real honest-to-goodness hookahs. Seattle has a fair number of hookah bars in town, where one can rent and smoke and commune with others in a real Old School Arabic fashion. Even though smoking indoors has been banned in Washington State for several years, hookah establishments can get away with this by being "private clubs" (membership is cheap) after a certain hour of the day. Some are simply gyro shops for lunch and hookah clubs at night. Plus, who doesn't enjoy coffee in which you can stand up your spoon?

However, the hookah scene didn't really get going till after I gave up the habit (or rather, replaced it with the breathing habit), so I never got to sample this particular branch of Seattle night life. Which is kind of a shame...since a hookah would seem to go quite well with my recent acquisitions from Gary's Games in Greenwood:

- The Complete Psionics Handbook (2nd Edition)

- The Dark Sun boxed set (2nd edition AD&D)

Now, I'm sure many of you are thinking, JB must be smoking something to blow his hard earned dough on 2nd edition junk which he hates-hates-hates. But as I said, I don't smoke anything anymore...and no I haven't been drinking either.

What I have been doing is fighting a "summer cold" the last two-three days...and most of the time it's felt like I've been losing the fight. My head is stuffed to the gills, I haven't been thinking clearly, I haven't been sleeping well...hell, I've even voyaged into the land of feverish dreams once or twice (probably not helped by a recent viewing of Inception at the theater).

And when everything starts to lose cohesion, or become surreal, and when I'm bored and frustrated and want to lash out like a half-giant gladiator (sorry, I don't like being sick very much) my half-baked brain tends to come up with half-baked schemes. Like writing a 64 page setting book for B/X play, modeled on a certain sorcery ravaged setting. Including weird-ass psionics and strange dweomers of the kind only Vance (or a guy hopped-up on sudafed) could ever imagine.

See, I've mentioned before that Dark Sun has always held a strange and terrible fascination for me. First off, you're reading the writings of a dude who loves psionics and gladiators (which right there might be a warning you should STOP reading). Second off, I don't find the setting terribly original, as my old AD&D group did something similar years before TSR ever published Dark Sun.

At least, according to wikipedia, Dark Sun was first published in 1991. Well in 1988 my long-running game group had decided to scrap our existing campaign and start anew from scratch, in a world ravaged and left barren by ancient sorcery, a post-apocalyptic fantasy world modeled much on the imagery of the ancient Roman Empire (especially the gladiatorial games), where strength of arms was as important as the powers of the mind. Oh, yeah...and half-ogres were used as a standard race.

Well, unfortunately this was our last campaign together as a group, and we only ran one or two sessions before a falling out that sent us all on our separate ways. Which was unfortunate for a variety of reasons (we had all been quite close friends), but had the additional loss of never seeing where our cool campaign setting would take us. And I always thought it had a ton of potential (and no, it wasn't my brain-child anyway...I was just a player, not a DM).

Of course, now I don't even play AD&D, let alone 2nd edition AD&D, so it would be quite a challenge to see how hard it would be create a similar setting using the B/X rules. Personally, I don't think it's nearly as ambitious as the other couple things I've been considering with my fuzzy brain: B/X De-Constructed and a little space opera RPG that finally has a name and is NOTHING like B/X nor Star Wars (still 64 pages, though).

We'll see which of these ideas (if any) bear fruit. Right now, it's nap time.

Eldritch Psionics

Anyone know where I can find a copy of the psionics rules from Eldritch Wizardry? Preferably on-line or as part of an already published retro-clone?

If possible, I'd also like a list of the psionic monsters present in EW.

Thanks, folks.

: )

Psionics, Power Gaming, and Death

I was a pre-teen power gamer.

I admit it. Much to my everlasting shame I was horrible, horrible! I was rampantly abusive! I made life miserable for other players at the table with my grandstanding and diva-like behavior. My character was a one-man wrecking crew…and he wasn’t even a Cavalier or a 3rd Edition Fighter! Just thinking about it makes me feel dirty and guilty...though as a Roman Catholic, guilt and I have a long and semi-healthy relationship.
; )

Not that that my character didn’t DIE many times…as with all our D&D characters back then, he faced the same high mortality rate as any other character. In fact he probably died MORE often than others (probably a half dozen times if not more) due in part to his many solo adventures. Fortunately, we were playing Advanced Dungeons & Dragons where death is simply a minor set-back…my character was wished back to life so many times, it became a bit of a running joke in our gaming group.

[side note to folks wanting to be 1st edition power gamers…getting wished back is definitely the way to go. There’s no loss of Constitution as with Resurrection and as long as you’ve got a little elf blood in you, the extra aging is no big deal]

One of the things that made my character so all-fired powerful was his incredible psionic might. Yes, you know those “un-balanced” psionic powers you’ve read so much about. My character had psionic power for days, man…and the lax rules with regard to game balance (at least by 1st edition rules…we never owned Eldritch Wizardry) truly made him a god-like force in the campaign. It certainly didn’t hurt that he was a bard, and had sky-high attributes (as all 1e bards do), since this is the general determination of psionic ability in AD&D.

Although he had many psionic powers, plus most of the lettered Attack/Defense ranks, only two abilities really jump out in my memory as being his “bread & butter,” and they were really the ones that made him infamous within our campaign: Cell Adjustment and Telekinesis.

Cell Adjustment is basically “self-healing.” Every psionic point you spend (and my character almost certainly had a couple hundred banked) would heal a certain number of hit points. I don’t have my book in front of me, but I’m pretty sure it was a better than 1-to-1 basis (maybe 4 to 1? That sounds right). Since psionic points regenerated extremely fast with rest and “meditation” my character could enjoy extended solo delves relying on no one besides his own badass abilities. As a young fighter, just beginning his adventuring career, it all but ensured he would survive to the higher levels (which he did...boy, did he ever!).

[hmmm…I sure probably stop talking about the character in the 3rd person. After all, it was ME, all me, piloting this monster]

The other ability *I* made great use of was telekinesis. TK as a power is ill-defined in D&D. One can use it to “move things with your mind” like hitting people with big rocks and stuff. Okaaay…what about manipulating smaller things? There’s a maximum weight limit, but no minimum…can you use TK to, say, suck the air out of a person, creating a vacuum crushing your opponent from within? Can you manipulate the tumblers in a lock to open it without setting off traps yourself?

Basically, our campaign was run where, if you could imagine it (and explain it) the sky was the limit within the limits of your powers. There was no attempt at “game balance;” like comic book artists or horror novelists (Stephen King was a great inspiration for us in the 80s) if it sounded possible we’d allow it to happen. No one was interested in “keeping the game balance.” Neither were we attempting to destroy game balance or “break the system.” We (the DMs) thought it would be cool to have a dude in the game with crazy-ass telekinetic powers and there was no attempt at reining him (me) in.

Besides which, he still died. Often. Despite the -8 armor class and the hundreds of hit points and the periapt of protection against poison +4 (another must-have for the power gamer)...despite even the cell adjustment.

I can remember the last (or one of the last) times my guy ended up taking a “dirt nap.” He was solo-ing (again) this time through a classic module I’m sure I’ve mentioned before: Q1: Queen of the Demonweb Pits. He was round about 20th level at the time (bard level…he was maxed in his other classes) and carving up the ranks pretty good with his dual-wielded Hammer of Thunderbolts and Vorpal Shortsword.

[did I mention how ashamed I feel? Sorry folks…but really I HAVE matured since in the last 23 years…honestly!]

I got to Lolth’s “spider ship” and was pounding the opposition with a combination of invisibility, backstabbing, druid spells, and sheer combat firepower (javelins of lightning, etc.). Got to Lolth and had that bitch ON THE RUN…beat her down, forced her to move, found her again, beat her down some more. Eventually, we ended up in her “last stand” room…a chamber with several animated warrior statues that engaged me while the Queen beefed herself with healing and boosts.

It was somewhere around round two or three (I think) that she hit me with a Cone of Cold and I noticed I’d forgotten to use my Cell Adjustment ability during the running fight.

And I died…again.

But of course, tramping on the turf of a demon goddess as I had, you can probably guess that my character didn’t stay dead for long. Lolth herself brought me back to life…only so that she could torture me 24-7 in a kind of Zeus-Prometheus relationship (not that my character received anything so sweet and gentle as a griffon ripping out my liver daily). And no, I was allowed no rest or relaxation to regain (or use) psionic strength.

In fact, there wasn’t much of me that was kept alive, as I recall…a shapeless lump of flesh, deformed and brutalized and cut on, kept alive and animate only by Lolth’s will. Well, that and my ring of regeneration, which she allowed me to keep wearing if I remember correctly (so she wouldn’t have to spend so much energy on healing).

The story of my eventual escape from torment (after several game months) is a post for another time. Suffice is to say that it was NOT my own badass character that freed himself (he was too busy writhing and suffering torment to find his amulet of the planes).

[did I mention I was a poster child for the "munchkin class?"]

; )

Old School D&D = Ridiculous Headgear

If there was ANYthing that would interest me in buying Pathfinder (it won't happen, but hypothetically), the ONE thing that might would be the great artwork used to illustrate the character classes. Really, the "class art" is some of the coolest, most inspiring pieces I've ever seen.

Not all of them. Specifically, I like the barbarian, the cleric, the paladin, and (God help me) the halfling druid-chick. The bard looks like a gnome on crack and the wizard reminds me of the dudes I see at astrology conventions (though less bald) and the other class pictures (the anorexic rogue, the monk with the curved sickle, etc.) are fairly "eh" ...but those first four are totally dope.

[why is it the chick pictures that are so cool? hmmm...another post for another time]

I know that some "old schoolers" absolutely hate the "fantasy chic" of Pathfinder and D20 and 4th Edition...not medieval enough or too "fantastic" or "unrealistic." You know what I mean: Over The Top. "Cheesy." Etc.

I myself have said much the same. Hell, at least Elmore's artwork had some semblance of decorum, right?

Well, the last week I've revised my opinion. Oh, not enough to buy Pathfinder (or 4E) for the pretty Final Fantasy-esque pictures alone (it will be a cold day in Hell, my friends...), but I have come to the conclusion that D&D fantasy is waaay crazier than what I was previously picturing it.

This inkling that has blossomed into a full-on epiphany started...oh, I don't know when. It's been bubbling along under the surface for months, I suppose, as I've blogged and read and researched the various books and trappings of the Old School...those pre-1983 works. After '83, Elmore and Easley and all the rest helped color the face of D&D turning out the art upon art upon art that made the game tame.

What the hell am I talking about? Jack Vance, folks. The Dying Earth. Michael Moorcock on acid. Psychedelic fever dreams, probably best illustrated by Erol Otus.

Here, go read this over at Axe and Hammer, if you haven't done so already. You see how weird-ass crazy those games were? How downright silly in some regards? It's like reading a Vance Dying Earth story, with pelgranes and demodands and bizarre incantations and fairly amoral treasure seekers. This isn't just "pulp fantasy." This is tripping balls on mushrooms.

And even if those early gamers were playing the game entirely straight, the adventures they wrote and published (things like Tomb of Horrors and White Plume Mountain) are cut from the same cloth. Yeah, they break the rules. Yeah, they are "un-balanced." Yeah, they are totally silly at times, completely illogical and resting on half-baked foundations.

But none of that gets in the way of them being a total blast to play...so long as you can go with the weirdness.

I think those early mid-western gamers, who gamed in so many different diverse styles, making up their own rules to fill in OD&D's blanks...I believe they were at a serious loss as far as understanding what the game was all about. Because the tone of the writing and the artwork that accompanied those first, Little Brown Books failed to convey the weirdness.

I think that the artwork by those late 70's early 80's artists (Otus, Roslov, Dee, etc.) were both closer to the spirit of the game as Gygax intended (in a true Vancian/weirdness style) and apt enough at their artistic chops that they could express it in the artwork of those early modules.

Sutherland? Too serious. He had the gritty, down-and-dirty, semi-medieval hardscrabble going, but Dungeons & Dragons is MORE than this. Hell, I think Gary may have had a hard time even getting it across in his writing of the AD&D books (damn his need to be so dry and clinical) except in his occasional "light humor" touches.

I think D&D is supposed to be Over The Top fantasy. The Vancian magic system only works in that environment. The idea of ancient cultures leaving behind their sprawling dungeons is totally post-apocalyptic (as another blogger recently mentioned...not that I can find the frigging link!), much as Vance uses it in his Dying Earth stories.

[this is yet another reason why I am totally at ease with psionics in D&D]

Hell, it's certainly more like the way I used to play as a kid. Man, if anything rubs me the wrong way, it's trying to put some sort of "sane" world culture/background on your D&D campaign (you know, like the Forgotten Realms, etc.). Commercializing Greyhawk may have been the biggest creative mis-steps Gygax made, assuming the world of Oerth grew OUT OF his original D&D campaign (similar to what Maliszewski has done with the world surrounding Dwimmermount). By codifying it and selling it he said: look this is what you do! Create a whole world with factions and nations and religions THEN try to figure out how "your heroes" fit in!

That's the worst and hardest thing ever. It's what makes my head swim as a DM. So much easier to create the world a piece at a time, as needed, as the weirdness allows. So much more satisfying (to me at least)...and dammit, easier!

Otherwise, you're taking the game...a fun game, a sometimes silly and ridiculous game...waaay too seriously. Which is what I think Pathfinder (and D20 and AD&D2 somewhat) does, I'm afraid. 4E does something different, of course...it just shits all over the entire scope of the D&D legacy. But those other editions, they miss the crazy-ass weirdness. The guy trying to get the giant spider/rot grub/green slime off his back while his buddies douse him with oil and try to burn it off with torches? That's just whacky, deadly, hilarious fun. Those dudes aren't worried about Eberron or whatnot...they are just trying to save their buddy (kind of) and keep the spider/slime/grubs from jumping them next. While searching for loot.

If you want to play D&D the way God and Gygax intended (I don't know enough about Arneson to even guess at his preferences...) it might behoove you to get a silly hat for your character. You'll notice none of those cool looking characters in Pathfinder are wearing a ridiculous hat (though many of them do appear to use some sort of "product" in their hair). Meanwhile look through any old copy of D&D product circa 1977-1982. How often are the depicted characters wearing some sort of head piece, hood, hat, or helmet? Most of 'em. That right there I would call Old School Aesthetic 101. It is very Vancian/Dying Earth to covet or blow money on something fancy for your noggin...hell, to worry about your character's features at all! Check out the pre-gen character descriptions in WG5:Mordenkainen's Fantastic Adventure:

"Bigby's attire is unassuming: a simple hooded dark grey robe. When this hood is thrown back from the usual covering of his face (for Bigby is a somewhat retiring and secretive man), his lean and healthy features will be exposed: studious brown eyes, light brown hair, and a laugh that precedes jokes on almost a forced level. To those who do not know him well, he might be viewed as oddly nervous (or paranoid), but this is nowhere near true..."

This for a module that might be considered pretty much a straight "dungeon crawl;" there's no over-arching theme or story after all, simply a fantastic adventure. Why give a rip what color a character's outfit, or how he wears his hair? Or what his personality is? Or how he talks. I know WotC/Hasbro wouldn't give a shit about such trivia.

I didn't get all that many comments of interest in my earlier tables for "customizing B/X characters with special features." Well, I'm not done with the tables yet, as part 2 of this post will show you (call it random week). Unfortunately, THAT will have to wait until the morning. Forgive the rants and typos...I'm a little sleepy...zzzzzz...