Today I wanted to talk about how I've been thinking about updating Psionics to feel and behave differently than Astromancy.

As it currently stands, Astromancy is just a little more interesting than Psionics in 1e. This is because of the Corruption mechanic and how it allows for a lot of foreground growth from using your powers, and how that changes the PC. I want Psionics to have a similar arc for a character's development.

The way I envision their difference is inner vs outer. Psionic powers come from the mind's full (sci-fi) potential, and the user's inner capabilities. Whereas Astromancy is more like magic, or the force...where it comes from, how to control it, and really even what it is...these are mysteries beyond the comprehension of all but the most dedicated of mystics. 

With powers that come from outside the user, such as Astromancy, there's not a whole lot of throttling the controls. The user is opening up their body as a conduit to greater powers, and those powers just do their thing. Sometimes it work as expected, but sometimes it can alter the user irrevocably (via Corruption). So I wanted to give Psionics its own unique feel and voice aside from just adding fatigue after using. The idea here is to utilize the awesome GLOG magic hack Yochai built from GLOG magic for Cairn, along with another really cool supplement, GLOG Mystic Gifts rules for Vaarn (shoutout to Chaotic Goods) to make rules for Psionics that feel different than Astromancy. How I want it to be different is giving the psionic PC the ability to push themselves. Powers from within have more potential to be used lightly, or pushed past their limit. It's different than Astromancy in that regard--degrees of (attempted) control

PCs with Psionic Gifts have Mental Dice (MD) to use, and the more dice you roll with, the higher and better the results, but the faster you potentially burn through them for the day...or push your mind beyond its limits. The previous posts rules on stress also play into how players may organically evolve psionic abilities, or grow them, from experiencing stressful situations.

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Psionics Rules

Psionic Gifts

• Psionic abilities come from within. They are the awakening of an individual’s deeper potential. These powers are typically the result of evolution or genetic mutation, but can also come from other sources, such as extreme trauma, powerful insights, alien mushrooms, or extra-dimensional experiences.
• Psionic Gifts occupy 1 Body Socket unless otherwise specified.
• Acquire new psionic gifts through expanding your Glimmer, from traumatic or stressful situations, indulging in psychoactive fungi, etc. Psionic characters that take Critical Stress roll on the Psionic Resonance table.

Mental Dice

Players have 1 Mental Dice, or MD, in their dice pool for each Psionic Gift they possess (MD are d6). To use their gifts, do the following:

1. Choose one of your Psionic Gifts to use.
2. Choose how many MD you want to use (up to 4), and remove them from your pool.
3. Roll the selected MD. The ability takes effect. Follow the description for instructions.
   • Dice that show a result of 1-3 are returned to your dice pool. 
   • Dice that show a result of 4-6 add 1 fatigue (cannot gain more than 1 fatigue per casting) OR remove them from your dice pool (player choice).
   • Dice that show doubles result in a Glimmer save.

Glimmer

• Glimmer is your psychic glow, the degree to which a being resonates or is visible on the psychic plane, and thus visible to other psionic beings or resonant creatures. Players will start with 0, and that value will increase the more they use their gifts.
• Players that roll doubles make a WIL save vs Glimmer. If they fail, they roll on the Psionic Resonance table, adding any previously acquired Glimmer to the dice results. After getting their result, they will add +1 permanent Glimmer.
• This means PCs that only ever invest 1 MD will typically be safe from expanding their Glimmer, meaning they will likely never suffer possible consequences (unless they take Critical Stress), but they will also never grow their psionic abilities.

Psionic Resonance Table

Roll on the table, adding the current Glimmer score to the dice results. (1-30?)

1. You’re overwhelmed by the frequencies of the psionic plane. Take 1 fatigue
2. You glow faintly in the presence of other resonant beings that are within 100ft.
3. Awakening Mind: Roll for a new Psionic Gift and take 1 WIL damage.
4. Neural Feedback: Can't use Psionics for 1d6 hours.
5. Another psionic takes note of you, reaching out telepathically to communicate (use Reaction Roll).
6. Brain Glitch: Roll for a random psionic gift. Lasts 1d6 hours. Afterwards, make a WIL save to keep it permanently, or choose to reduce WIL by 1 permanently to keep it if you fail the WIL save.
7. MD are now expended (or cause fatigue) on a 3-6. Reverts to normal after a night's rest.
8. Psychic hunters are aware of your approximate location. You are becoming a known quantity on the psionic plane.
9.  Additional results are a work in progress...

An example Psionic Gift:
Telekinesis: [dice] objects of any size are pulled directly towards you or pushed directly away from you with the strength of [sum] men.