High Sciences

As noted in The Will and The Way, High Sciences are the culmination of psionic power. Under WatW rules, only highly specialized single-class psionicists are capable of the discipline of learning a high science. Under House Rules, a multi-class character may learn a high science if they pay the charp costs in the optional Character Class setup rules; this will require the sacrifice of standard psionic benefits.

A character first becomes capable of learning a High Science at 10th Level. High Sciences do not require a science or devotion slot, but require extensive meditation time and effort, which under House Rules means spending Charps as if on a Non-Weapon Proficiency. The DM is advised to require steep charp requirements for learning High Sciences — analogous to a Warrior learning a High or Grand Mastery: 8-12 charps.

While multiple High Sciences exist in most of the disciplines, no character can learn more than one High Science. Psionic Items can never be Encharged with High Sciences, and no one under 27th Level can Empower a psionic item with a High Science. Such an item would certainly be considered an artifact, and possess an overwhelming personality!

Clairsentient High Sciences

Cosmic Awareness

	(Clairsentient High Science)
	MAC: 7
	PSP Cost: 12/r
	Range: 0
	Area of Effect: special

Prerequisites: Penetrating Sight, All-round vision, Detection

Cosmic awareness is the High Science of Clairsentience and can only be utilized by those powerful few that have dedicated themselves to being able to sense all that they can. It allows a psionicist to perceive all things that are occurring within the area of effect. The character is essentially gifted with X-ray vision. She sees all inanimate features within the area of effect; she can see what is on the other side of the hill, detect hidden caves, see secret doors and traps, and even detect lodes of unusual minerals or other geological phenomena. In addition to inanimate objects, the psionicist also perceives forces - winds, water currents, or spell effects such as glyphs of warding, areas of reversed gravity, and so forth. All living creatures larger than a microbe are perceived. Cosmic awareness detects invisibility, detects evil/good, and detects magic without fail.

Illusions are perceived for what they are. Creatures who are shapechanged or polymorphed are noted and their true forms understood. Ethereal, astral, phased, ectoplasmic, or gaseous creatures are seen as well. Details of the creature's equipment are detected down to the number of gold pieces in their purses. The character also hears all sounds and detects all smells within the area. On the first round that this power is used, the psionicist perceives everything within a 10-foot radius around her. For each additional round the power is maintained, she may extend her perception radius by another 10 feet. Before a psionicist can select this power, she must engage in research by intense meditation to gain a High Science, as described in The Will and The Way, Chapter Seven.

Psychometabolic High Sciences

Elemental Composition (High Science)

The High Science of Psychometabolism is elemental composition, the ability to transform oneself into any element. The psionicist can change his body into dense materials such as iron or obsidian, sand or earth, water, or even air. While he is in elemental form, the psionicist gains any natural immunities or vulnerabilities of that element. For example, a sword cut simply can't harm a watery or gaseous body, while iron bodies need not breathe but they can be rusted.

The psionicist retains his limbs and senses. Very dense bodies (stone or metal) reduce his Armor Class to 0 and give him an effective Strength of 21. Amorphous bodies give him the ability to slither under doors and elongate limbs. Gaseous bodies allow the psionicist to drift with the winds. Normal weapons may be unable to harm some forms, but magical weapons (and monsters capable of striking creatures hit only by magical weapons) can always harm the psionicist, regardless of his form. The psionicist may change his form once per round without being forced to use an action. If he changes his form a second time, he must forego any other actions for that round. In addition to the combat abilities of the various forms, the psionicist can always move in the element his body is composed of. For example, by changing to sand he gains the ability to burrow through sand at his normal movement rate. Some elemental bodies may he excellent camouflage; it's hard to see a character made out of nitrogen gas, for example.

Fumble—The psionicist botches the transformation and must make a system shock roll or suffer 3d10 points of damage.

Perpetual Healing (High Science)

This reflexive High Science forces the psychometabolist’s body to regenerate continually. In game terms, every time that the psychometabolist loses hit points, he automatically converts psps to hit points at a rate of 1 psp per round, unless he deliberately concentrates on not healing.

Of course, if the psychometabolist runs out of psps, then healing automatically stops.

Psychoportive High Sciences

Planar Transposition

(Psychoportive High Science)

Planar transposition is the High Science of Psychoportation. This powerful ability allows the psionicist to switch a portion of the Prime Material Plane for a portion of another plane. If the psionicist transposes his surroundings with the Black or the Grey, the initial cost is 90 PSPs. If he summons a portion of one of the Inner (Elemental) Planes the initial cost is 120 PSPs.

The psionicist may attempt to switch a larger area than the normal 30-foot by 30-foot cube. For each additional 30-foot cube he attempts to transfer, he suffers a -1 penalty to his power score. The psionicist may instead transpose a donut-shaped ring 10 feet in diameter on the inside and 10 feet wide. The transposed planes remain switched for as long as the psionicist pays the maintenance cost.

The exact effects of this power are left to the DM, but some guidelines apply. Inanimate objects can be partially transposed, so a castle may be half in the Prime Material Plane with the psionicist and half in the Elemental Plane of Fire. However, living creatures are either all in or all out. If a creature wanders away from its transposed area into the new surroundings, it doesn't return when the psionicist drops the power. Note that the psionicist may accidentally transpose an extraplanar creature when he grabs a chunk of its home plane and brings it to Athas.

The planes are not interrupted by their transposition; a piece of the Elemental Plane of Fire remains a roaring source of heat, transposing the base of a tower will not cause its top to fall, and so on. However, the new surroundings may affect the transposed areas eventually. A portion of Athas sent to the Plane of Magma would return a scorched wasteland. Some possibilities with planar transposition include: creating a temporary oasis by transposing bare desert for a piece of the Elemental Plane of Water, opening a passage through a mountain by transposing a portion of the Ethereal Plane; sending a tower filled with enemy soldiers to the Abyss for a time (no telling what'll he in it when the tower comes back ...); or hiding by surrounding oneself with a donut-shaped area of the Demiplane of Shadow or the Quasielemental Plane of Steam.

As noted above, planar transposition is a High Science. The psionicist cannot select this power as part of his normal advancement.

Fumble: The psionicist blasts himself into the plane he was trying to transpose.

Teleport

(Psychoportive High Science)

This power allows ridiculously convenient instantaneous transportation across distances, as noted in the CPH.

Time Travel

(Psychoportive High Science )

IMC this power is simply not taught anymore. Those interested may adjust these WatW stats as you wish--I have no interest in throwing my campaign into this sort of unnavigable chaos. I find Time Travel tough enough to deal with on an extremely limited basis, and have no intentions of putting this power into player hands.

Wormhole

(Psychoportive High Science)

With this power, a psionicist can open a door between two points, no matter how far apart they may happen to be (at least theoretically). It resembles the devotion dimensional door, but on a much larger scale. The psionicist must open one end within 20 yards of himself, although the portal may have any orientation and be any size up to 10 feet by 10 feet square. If the psionicist wishes to, he can try to make the wormhole larger; each doubling in portal size adds an additional -2 penalty to the power check. The other end of the wormhole will he of identical size and can be placed at any point the psionicist has ever seen. It can also he positioned at any place he can reference from here he currently is - for example, "10 miles east of where I am now" - whether or not he has ever actually been there. The distance spanned by the wormhole will affect its PSP cost as shown below.

Once created, the wormhole's entrances remain motionless. Anything can pass through, to he instantly transported to the other side. The psionicist could conceivably transport an entire army or a Mekillot wagon by spending enough PSPs. if an object cannot fit entirely within the wormhole's mouth, it cannot be transported.

If the psionicist tries to use this power to transport an unwilling creature, the victim gains a saving throw versus spells to avoid being affected.

Fumble—The psionicist creates a dimensional vortex that transports him 10 to 100 miles in a random (horizontal) direction if he fails a saving throw versus spells.

Telepathic High Sciences

Cathexis

(Telepathic High Science)

This power allows a group of converged psionicists to enable instant up to hundreds of willing discursants within a three mile radius of the psionicists This is the method used by the Veiled Alliance for major meetings and votes.

Only one of the psionicists effecting the Cathexis needs to know the Cathexis power; the others must only possess the MindLink and Convergence powers. At least one of the converged psionicists needs to have previously contacted each of the subjects of the Cathexis.

Up to 25 individuals per converged psionicist may be brought into the Cathexis discussion; each of these individuals must be willing to be contacted. At least one of the converged psionicists must contact each of the individuals via MindLink, and invite that person to join the cathexis. If the invited person consents, the mindlinked psionicist may "bring the person over" to the growing Cathexis.

To those in Cathexis, the physical world disappears, and they see themselves floating in a brightly lit space. All others who have joined the Cathexis appear as globes of light. In Cathexis words may be "spoken" to the whole group; "whispering" is only possible if members use some sort of telepathic power to communicate privately.

Some psionicists claim that the Cathexis arena is actually a colorized version of the mindscape. The physical location or distance between people in Cathexis is irrelevant to the communication. While in Cathexis, members may use Psychic Attacks and Defenses and any Telepathic and Clairsentient powers that are not associated with the physical. For example, someone in Cathexis could use Aura Sight on another member of the group, but could not use Environment

Time in Cathexis seems to slow down: A Cathexis may seem to last hours, but in fact Cathexis lasts d12 rounds of real-world time. Unfortunately, the psp cost is calculated according to the duration of the Cathexis discussion. Each "round" of Cathexis costs the group of supporting psionicists 100 psps — not each, fortunately; the 100 psp cost is taken from the group psp pool.

Mass Contact

(Telepathic High Science)

This High Science allows the psionicist to simultaneously attempt to contact as many creatures as are in range, as long as the psionicist has enough psps. This single burst of attacks takes the place of a psionicist's multiple psychic attacks. If the psionicist successfully contacts multiple targets, he may simultaneously affect each with the same telepathic power (using one MTHACO roll), but must pay the psp cost for each target affected.