Aura Sight

With this power, the user can detect auras (the normally invisible envelope of colored light that surrounds all living things). Each use of the power gives the user one piece of information—either the target’s alignment (one portion of it) or relative level of power, but not both simultaneously.

This power can be used twice per round (for two PSP costs and with two MTHAC0 rolls) to examine two different auras or the same aura twice. The user can be discreet, but he needs to gaze at the target. Using the power from a distance is less noticeable than using it up close.

The level (or Hit Dice) of the target character affects the MTHAC0 roll. The higher the level of the target, the tougher it is to interpret the aura. The power’s MAC should be improved by 1 for every three levels (or HD) the target has, rounded down. For example, an 8th-level target improves the power’s MAC by 2, making it MAC 5 (and therefore harder to roll against).

The DM should relate game-related information in a story sense, rather than in mechanical terms. In the case of alignment, the user sees colored light that represents an alignment: 1) blue (lawful); 2) gray (neutral); 3) red (chaotic), 4) white (good); or S) black (evil). Relative level of power can be described as follows 1) dim aura (a low level target, 1st to 5th level); 2) bright aura (a mid level target, 6th to 13th level); 3) dazzling aura (a high-level target, 14th to 20th level); and 4) blinding aura (a target above 20th level).

Fumble — The attempt not only fails, but the psionicist’s attempt becomes very conspicuous and suspicious.

This power seems most popular with blind psionicists. The psionicist can use her mindscape vision to "see" other psyches. Plants, animals, and psionic items can be seen with this power, and the psionicist will recognize any sentient psyche that that she has encountered before using this power. This vision does not show inanimate objects, only entities with psyches of some sort. She can initiate psychic combat without line-of-sight, even at long range.

One foot of stone, or one inch of obsidian or metal can block the use of this power. Because plant psyches appear in the mindscape, the effective range of vision is affected by the surrounding plant life:

The drawback is that ordinary vision interferes with the psychic combat aspect of this power, and the psionicist must pay the full psp cost, and avoid vision of any kind (except through psionics) for a full hour before this power comes into full effect.

This power allows the user to see images from a distant location. The user picks a spot he knows, makes an MTHAC0 roll, then looks at everything he would be able to see if he were standing in that spot. The user’s field of vision is the same as normal, and turning his head allows him to scan the area.

Clairvoyance doesn’t replace normal vision. The user still sees what’s around his physical location, with the distant scene superimposed. Closing one’s eyes blocks the double vision and leaves only the distant scene. This power doesn’t enhance vision, so hidden or invisible objects remain undetected. The distant scene is visual only; there is no sound.

The distance of the viewing spot modifies the power’s MAC, as shown in the Clairsentient distance table.

Detection is the art of finding substances or items by their psychic vibrations. It can be used to dowse for water, to find lost items, or to prospect for gold. To use this power to locate a substance, the psionicist must have a sample of what he is searching for. To locate an item, he must have see the item himself or successfully used object reading on its owner.

The initial area of detection is 30 yards, but by maintaining the power the psionicist can expand the radius of the search by 10 yards per round. At first, the character only detects the nearest location of what he is seeking, but by maintaining the power he can detect more sources at the rate of one per round, working from the nearest to the farthest.

Fumble—The character imagines a concentration of what he is looking for in a random direction.

Penetrating Sight

The psionicist using this power sees through matter dimly. One inch of obsidian or metal can block the use of this power.

Fumble—The psionicist locks the power on for 2d20 rounds, unless she runs out of PSPs. During this time, the psionicist is only able to see obsidian and metal objects; nothing else is visible.

The psionicist using this power perceives magically or psionically invisible creatures and objects, but not creatures using telepathic invisibility. She also sees through all sorts of illusions (except for those generated by a telepathic power). She may examine a particular object for illusion with no penalty if within 30 yards, at -2 from 30 to 60 yards, and at -5 up to 90 yards. Invisible creatures or objects may be searched for, within a 60% angle at short range (30 yards).

The psionicist using this power also sees into any planes that overlap with the area that she is in. While traveling through another plane (e.g. dimension travel), the psionicist may also use this power to observe the overlapping prime material plane.

Note that this power empowers sight only—only visual illusions and visual manifestations of planar phenomena are manifest.

Fumble — The psionicist thinks the power has worked, but mistakes a number of real objects for illusions and vice-versa. Any saving throws vs. Illusion are automatically failed.

Psionic Awareness Field

This science allows the psionicist to detect telepathic and Clairsentient harbingers crossing over into an area sealed off by a circular field.

The field is inexpensive to maintain, but extremely expensive to set up. Maintenance costs 1 psp per hour for each 50 yards radius. However, increasing the field size (or initiating the power) costs this amount squared. For example, to maintain a 500-yard radius field would cost 10 psp per hour, but to set it up would cost [10]2 or 100 psp. Fortunately this field can be set up incrementally.

While the initiation of this power is detectable by psionic sense, the maintenance is not. The field is a flattened bubble centered on the psionicist; its upward and lower radius equals 10% of its outward radius.

Once the field is set up, it detects any attempt to psionically or magically scry, transport or communicate across the boundary of the field. The Clairsentient can scan the trespasser for empathy, aura, provided she has these powers, or identify their psychic signature (see the Psionic Sense description for details). This window of opportunity lasts only d4 rounds beyond the duration of the attempted power.

Retrospection is a kind of psionic seance. It allows psionicists to delve into the past and locate memories that have been loosed from other minds. A psionicist must join at least two other psionicists in a convergence before he can use this power. He--or one of the other participants in the convergence--then pose a question regarding a specific event in the past. To find the answer, the psionicist must make a successful power check.

When retrospection succeeds, the characters tap into a universal, pervasive memory. They have access to any information that ever existed in anyone's memory regarding the incident they are investigating. The amount of detail that comes to mind depends on die result:

Memories bear the mark of the personalities who created them. The DM should role-play the memories accordingly, not just recite information. If the psionicists' alignments differ significantly from the Memories' alignments, reaction rolls are in order. Memories can be polite and helpful, or they can be cantankerous and downright rude. Memories that have lain undisturbed for centuries may be angered by the intrusion, or they may be delighted for the chance to air themselves out and bring the truth to light.

With this power, a psionicist gains a sense of history. He perceives the residue of powerful emotions that were experienced in a given area. These impressions offer him a picture of the location’s past.

Battles and betrayals, marriages and murders, childbirth and great pain—only events that elicited strong emotional or psychic energy leave their impression on an area. Everyday occurrences leave no residue for the psionicist to detect.

To determine how far into the past a psionicist can delve, subtract the successful MTHAC0 roll from 22, and divide by two, rounding down. This is the number of strong events that he can sense. Only one event can be noted per round, however, beginning with the most recent and proceeding backward through time.

For example, Barych the seer has an MTHAC0 of 19, and rolls an 11 on his barely making the MAC check of 8. 22 - 11 = 11, and 11/2 is 5.5, so rounding down to 5, we see that Barych can perceive up to five events in the area, one per round.

The character’s understanding of these events is vague and shadowy, as if he were viewing a dream. The dominant emotion involved—anger, hate, fear, love, etc.— comes through very clearly.

Fumble—An angry ghost comes forward and attempts to use magic jar against the psionicist.

Belief is a powerful thing. With this power, the psionicist can ignore the reality of an object or category of objects, and make them have no existence for him. He could convince himself that an enemy’s sword could not harm him—and the sword would simply pass through his body without effect.

The psionicist can only disbelieve inanimate objects or effects with this power, since he finds it impossible to ignore living creatures. Some possible uses of this power include:

• Disbelieving a substance such as stone, metal, etc. The psionicist ceases to be affected by anything made of these substances.

• Disbelieving a class of weapons, such as hand-held weapons, missile weapons, etc. No weapon of that type can harm the psionicist.

• Disbelieving the manifestations of an element, e.g. a bonfire.

• Disbelieve in one object, e.g. an enemy’s armor, a magical item in the enemy’s possession, etc.

• Disbelieve in a type of magic, i.e. wizardly or priestly magic.

• Disbelieve in a branch of psionics such as telepathy or psychokinetics. Note that if the psionicist disbelieves psionics or Clairsentience, then this power shuts down!

• Disbelieve in light (i.e. light visible to the psionicist): the psionicist becomes invisible, since light passes through her as if she was not there, but also blinder than a bat!

This is a quirky power whose exact effects are subject to the whims of the DM!

Fumble — The psionicist tricks himself into believing that he is successful. For example, if he disbelieves a sword, he does not believe that it can harm him, and is not aware of the wounds the sword inflicts on him, until he discontinues the power. Even after the power is discontinued, he will deny that the wounds were made by the sword. Each day that elapses the psionicist receives a saving throw vs. spells (no wisdom bonus) to see if he overcomes his sense of denial.

This power allows the psionicist to cast his psychic presence to a distant location. This presence is invisible to all detectors except for those that detect scrying or psionics. This presence alone does not allow the psionicist to act or to perceive in any fashion, except to trigger one of the following Clairsentient powers, which, through telesentience, may be used at a distance.

All-round vision (f/h light), Analyze, Aura Sight, Black Sense, Blindscape, Cognitive Trance, Cosmic Awareness, Danger sense, Detect life, Detection, Empathy, Feel Moisture, Grey Sense, Primesight, Psionic Sense, See Magic, Sense Sound, Subjective Reality, Suppress Magic, Sensitivity to, Observation, Superior Estimation, Trail of Destruction, True Worship, Truthear, UltraSentience

No other powers may be used through telesentient projection. Meanwhile, the physical body of the psionicist is reduced to a turnip.

The psychic presence can be affected by mental or psionic attack; the psionicist’s psychic defenses function through telesentience, but his attacks do not. The telesentient presence cannot move from the location that the psionicist originally "projects it" to, but the psionicist can easily end the telesentience, and re-project it anywhere else. All supplementary powers would have to be re-initiated, though.

Fumble — The psionicist believes that the power is being used successfully, and spends psps accordingly. His unconscious mind makes up a believable scenario to play along with the self-deception, but nothing the psionicist does has any bearing on real life.