The following system is my answer to a psionics system, inspired by the random acts of psychic ability found in Edgar Rice Burroughs' Barsoom novels. At least early on in the series, John Carter mentions the Martians' natural psychic ability, as well as his own, and his resistance to same said powers. Other than that and Thuvia's later ability with animals, the psychic angle kind of fades away to other elements of Barsoom.
With that as my inspiration, I propose the following rules (in draft form) as an alternate system. I have stolen ideas here from what I have read of McKinney's systems in Carcosa, as well as from Goblinoid Games' Mutant Future. This system a variant of the Athanoran variant magic system I have posted earlier.
I'm not sure whether to recommend this as an added system, or as a replacement for magic. I certainly wrote it as the former.
If a character has psychic abilities, roll 1d6 on the Number of Psychic Powers Table to determine the number of psychic abilities the character has:
To determine psychic abilities, roll on the Psychic Abilities Table. Duplicate rolls will allow the character to avoid burnout more over the course of the day.
The character can speak with and understand animals and try to charm them into doing his or her will. This has a range of 90 feet.
Body Control
The character may either boost a physical attribute by 2d6, heal him or herself of 2d6 damage, or enter a trance that mimics death for 2d6 hours.
ESP
The character can extend his sense of sight or hearing outside of his body by entering a trance. The character can project his or her senses past walls, doors or barriers, but only to a distance of 30 feet.
Know Direction
The character will not be able to be lost for 2d6 rounds, and will have a clear sense of the cardinal directions.
Mental Illusions
The character is able to create a mental reality for an opponent. If the opponent fails a saving throw, the illusion will seem real to every sense but touch. Once the victim touches the illusion, it will fade away.
Mesmerism
The character is able to charm a single target if the target fails a saving throw. This effect will last 2d6 rounds.
Mind Shield
This ability permanently grants the character a +4 bonus to saves vs. psychic powers.
Psychometry
The character will be able to get psychic impressions off items he touches, learning who has held or possessed the item.
Telekinesis
The character is able to manipulate objects at a distance of up to 50 feet weighing up to WIS x 10 pounds. The character cannot lift him or herself and thus fly or levitate. This is tiring, thus the power can only be maintained for 5 rounds. Using the power requires concentration, and takes the place of the character's attacks while it is used.
Telepathy
Using this power, the character can directly contact another's mind, removing the necessity for shared language. This has a range of 50 feet.
With that as my inspiration, I propose the following rules (in draft form) as an alternate system. I have stolen ideas here from what I have read of McKinney's systems in Carcosa, as well as from Goblinoid Games' Mutant Future. This system a variant of the Athanoran variant magic system I have posted earlier.
I'm not sure whether to recommend this as an added system, or as a replacement for magic. I certainly wrote it as the former.
Determining Psychic Powers
The chance of a character having psychic abilities is equal to 1% per point of Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma above 15. Thus, a character with 16 INT, 17 WIS, and 14 CHA has a 3% chance of having psychic powers. If using the gonzo races option, Zamorans get a 5% bonus to this chance.If a character has psychic abilities, roll 1d6 on the Number of Psychic Powers Table to determine the number of psychic abilities the character has:
| 1d6 | Number of Abilities |
|---|---|
| 1-3 | 1 |
| 4-5 | 2 |
| 6 | 3 |
To determine psychic abilities, roll on the Psychic Abilities Table. Duplicate rolls will allow the character to avoid burnout more over the course of the day.
| 1d20 | Power |
|---|---|
| 1 | Animal Communication |
| 2-3 | Body Control |
| 4-5 | ESP |
| 6-7 | Know Direction |
| 8 | Mental Illusions |
| 9 | Mesmerism |
| 10-11 | Mind Shield |
| 12-13 | Psychometry |
| 14-15 | Telekinesis |
| 16-17 | Telempathy |
| 18-20 | Telepathy |
The Powers
Animal CommunicationThe character can speak with and understand animals and try to charm them into doing his or her will. This has a range of 90 feet.
Body Control
The character may either boost a physical attribute by 2d6, heal him or herself of 2d6 damage, or enter a trance that mimics death for 2d6 hours.
ESP
The character can extend his sense of sight or hearing outside of his body by entering a trance. The character can project his or her senses past walls, doors or barriers, but only to a distance of 30 feet.
Know Direction
The character will not be able to be lost for 2d6 rounds, and will have a clear sense of the cardinal directions.
Mental Illusions
The character is able to create a mental reality for an opponent. If the opponent fails a saving throw, the illusion will seem real to every sense but touch. Once the victim touches the illusion, it will fade away.
Mesmerism
The character is able to charm a single target if the target fails a saving throw. This effect will last 2d6 rounds.
Mind Shield
This ability permanently grants the character a +4 bonus to saves vs. psychic powers.
Psychometry
The character will be able to get psychic impressions off items he touches, learning who has held or possessed the item.
Telekinesis
The character is able to manipulate objects at a distance of up to 50 feet weighing up to WIS x 10 pounds. The character cannot lift him or herself and thus fly or levitate. This is tiring, thus the power can only be maintained for 5 rounds. Using the power requires concentration, and takes the place of the character's attacks while it is used.
Telepathy
Using this power, the character can directly contact another's mind, removing the necessity for shared language. This has a range of 50 feet.
Using Psychic Powers
Whenever a character uses psychic powers, have the player roll on the Psychic Success Table. The table has three possible results: success, delayed and failure. On a success, the power works immediately. On a delayed, the power may be used in 1d2 rounds. On a fail, the power fails and burns out, leaving the character unable to use the power until he or she rests a full night. If a character has multiple results of the same power, he or she can still use the power until all instances are burned out.| Level | Fail | Delayed | Immediate |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1-11 | 12-16 | 17+ |
| 2 | 1-10 | 11-15 | 16+ |
| 3 | 1-9 | 10-14 | 15+ |
| 4 | 1-8 | 9-13 | 14+ |
| 5 | 1-7 | 8-12 | 13+ |
| 6 | 1-6 | 7-11 | 12+ |
| 7 | 1-5 | 6-10 | 11+ |
| 8 | 1-4 | 5-9 | 10+ |
| 9 | 1-3 | 4-8 | 9+ |
| 10 | 1-2 | 3-9 | 8+ |
I'm enjoying Athanor so much. This is exactly the kind of world I want to play OD&D in.
ReplyDeleteBTW, have you check out A Paladin In Citadel's recent posts on a Psionicist class using CHA? I really like where he's going with it, and there might be something in it to mine for Athanor as well.
I saw several used John Carter of Mars books at my FLGS last weekend. The FLGS must have picked them up in an estate sale or some-such. By the time I returned, with the intention of buying them, they were gone. A pity. I think I have read several of them already, but the remembrance of those books eludes me. I am curious to see how they treat psionics.
ReplyDeleteIn A Princess of Mars, I think, Carter mentions his psychic abilities, limited to some limited telepathy and resistance to Martian telepathy. The Kaldanes are telepathic, Thuvia in Thuvia, Maid of Mars (among other bookss) has some psychic (?) rapport with animals, the Tarids in Swords of Mars have mental powers that make them invisible, and the Lotharans in Thuvia, maid of Mars are able to create tangible illusions by the power of their minds. Burroughs depictions of psychic powers are spotty and inconsistent in the Mars books, and Carter's telepathic proclivities sort of seem forgotten part way along the story pretty early on in the series, nor are they explained (just like Carter's mysterious longevity and physical prowess).
ReplyDeleteI think that the psychic powers were mostly to explain the single language of Barsoom.
ReplyDeleteI've been working on soemthign similar for Old-School Dark Sun (which i see as a very dark version of Barsoom). drop by the blog and see if anythign there is useful.
Thanks for that, I must check out JC of Mars.
ReplyDeleteI remember playing Dark Sun in the early 90's. It was a lot of fun, I understand 4e is resurrecting this setting.
The single language of Barsoom element is there, certainly. But there is a certain amount of 19th century popular spiritualism/mysticism that sneaks into many elements of Barsoom. Both John Carter and Ulysses Paxton seem to be transported to Barsoom by mystical means. Carter controls thoats by mental command, and mesmerism and illusions show up in some alien villains' repertoires. This seems intentional. After all, the racial historical beliefs of Mars seems on some levels to mimic and poke some fun at Theosophical racial beliefs, and ERB's take on religion in Gods of Mars seems to be a dig at various mystical belief systems, so I think some of the play with psychic phenomena in the books are both ERB playing with pop culture of his time and him taking a chance to make fun of its trappings as well with a knowing wink.
ReplyDeleteTheosophist/19th century occultism references are practically required in pulp fantasy, and they certainly are a big influence on contemporary fantasy/weird/genre media as well.
ReplyDelete