Psionic Powers and the People Who Use Them

Psionics Rules

Psionic characters are created as normal, with the following Advantages and Disadvantages either required of, or available to them.

• All psionic ability requires a 10 point Unusual Background (Psi) Advantage, and gives access to Antipsi.
• Each Psychic Power is an Unusual Background (Power) that costs as much as .3 of that Power (the actual Power is bought per below).
• Psionic psiberware requires a 15 point Unusual Background (Corporate Psi) Advantage (psiberware itself is purchased with story tokens or money).
• For non-corporate psis, there is an additional Disadvantage, Enemy, all governments and corporations: -30 points, where the frequency of appearance depends on how obvious and well-known the psi is (beginning characters can select this).
• Governments don't much care for you, because you're a loose cannon. If you're Zeroed, which is normally an advantage, it's a Disadvantage worth 5 points: if you're not in the system, and you're picked up by the police, or corpsec, you're toast.

There is one more notable difference: Power is severely reduced. Each point of Power costs 10 times as much as listed in the rule books. However, it is possible to have fractions of Power: each .1 Power costs as much as for 1 Power is listed in the books. For Antipsi, ESP, and Telepathy, fractional Power is rounded up for effect, but is rounded down for Healing, Psychokinesis, and Teleportation. Psychic Vampirism is rounded down when whole numbers are required, but for most effects is not rounded at all.

Since skills are acquired during game play by trading in story tokens, it is not possible to have one-skill Powers at reduced cost; likewise, Empathy and Danger Sense are not available.

Psionics are also an intensive affair (relative to typical GURPS psionics); the cost for Extra Effort is 4 Fatigue.

Psiberware

Psiberware works in two ways: energy boosting and neural restructuring.

Energy Boosters

Quite simply, these are batteries connected to the neural pathways. Delicate circuit tracings monitor the energy usage of the neurons and scale their output as this usage goes up. In the brain of a deadhead, the circuits would never kick in - but in the brain of a psi, as the energy spikes to levels that would fry the deadhead, the Boosters pump the energy level up even further.

The result is a boost in Power level at the cost of subtlety and skill. For all boosters, whenever Fatigue is spent on psi (such as for Critical Failures or Extra Effort), the Fatigue cost is increased, as below. Energy Boosters are available in a number of varieties, and can increase a specific Power by up to ten times. If you're corpsi you can get them with story tokens, and if you're not a corpsi you can get them with... well, you can't get them.

Take note: although having one of these fellas might be great in a bind, a corpsi might also decide that they'd be better off without the wiring of a not-exactly-benevolent corporation in their heads. Easy come, easy go.

• Mark I: Doubles Power to a maximum of 10 and gives a -1 to skill. Although this does not increase the power level by much (compared to what is possible), it can be used over and over with few ill effects, costing 1 extra Fatigue after an hour of extended use. Because it is only doubling the output, much of the complicated programming, customizing, and high-speed power controllers are not needed, making this the cheapest solution available. For critical failures and Extra Effort, Fatigue cost in increased by 1. Costs are as follows (preserved because it's good info for other campaigns):
  Astral Projection: $300,000
  ESP: $600,000
  Healing: $600,000
  Psychokinesis: $1,000,000
  Telepathy: $1,500,000
  Teleportation: $1,000,000
  
• Mark II: Pentuples Power (to a maximum of 25) and gives a -2 to skill. Unfortunately, a Booster of this strength fatigues and stresses the neural system, and using it costs 1 Fatigue per 5 minutes. These are considerably more expensive, as they increase neural output far beyond its normal limits, and require many more safeguards to keep even a psi's brain from frying. Despite these safeguards, when a psi is required to spend Fatigue independant of the operation of his psiberware, these Boosters add 2 to the cost. However, a psion can use a Mark II Booster as a Mark I Booster by flipping a mental switch, and the additional Fatigue costs do no apply for extended use, or normal psionic Fatigue costs. Costs are as follows:
  Astral Projection: $500,000
  ESP: $1,000,000
  Healing: $1,500,000
  Psychokinesis: $2,500,000
  Telepathy: $4,000,000
  Teleportation: $2,500,000
  
• Mark III: 10x the Power, 10x the fun (to a maximum of 50; some restrictions may apply; consult your local nationcorp for eligibility requirements). There is a -3 Skill penalty while using this Booster. Use of these Boosters costs 1 Fatigue per 10 seconds, and in addition to the Fatigue cost of critical failures and Extra Effort, the psion takes 1d6 hit points of damage (and toughness, etc. do NOT apply). These cost an arm and a leg anyway, because of the difficulties in building them. A Mark III Booster can be used as a Mark II Booster with the same associated Fatigue costs, or as a Mark I Booster for no Fatigue cost. Costs are as follows:
  Astral Projection: $3,000,000
  ESP: $3,000,000
  Healing: $3,500,000
  Psychokinesis: $6,000,000
  Telepathy: $7,500,000
  Teleportation: $7,500,000
  

Neural Restructuring

The human neural pathways are fairly efficient, but they could be built to be far more efficient using nanites and advanced materials. For most people, this could provide a slight increase in reaction times... for a psion, it represents a tremendous boost in psionic ability!

• Juicing: This is the simplest method, and the cheapest. Chemical induction is enhanced, doubling Power for all psi abilities and giving a +1 bonus to initiative rolls. This is a delicate operation, and the nanite programming must be very precise to avoid overdoses that can cause seizures. Cost is $10,000,000.
• Bad Juicing: Cost is reduced to $1,000,000 for a non-fatal, but nonetheless poor Juice job (fatal Juice will be thrown in for free!). Using Power at all costs 1 Fatigue per 10 seconds (rounded up), there is no bonus to initiative, and you gain the Epilepsy Disadvantage. Congratulations - you only spent $1,000,000 to be hosed. (be careful of spending story tokens on Juicing...)
• Cellular Rebuild: The parts of the brain which are used for a particular power are completely rebuilt, replacing each neuron with a far more efficient vat-grown version, pentupling Power. These neurons replicate the individual functions exactly, but process more energy faster. Scientists haven't got a clue what patterns of neurons create the psi powers, which is why they replace each neuron as close to exactly as they can, rather than design a more efficient system (it's also theorized that sentience develops from this inefficiency, and so relatively few scientists even explore the possibility). This is a lengthy, involved process lasting several months; cost varies by the following:
  Astral Projection: $10,000,000
  ESP: $12,500,000
  Healing: $15,000,000
  Psychokinesis: $20,000,000
  Telepathy: $25,000,000
  Teleportation: $20,000,000
  

Combining Psiberware

Energy Boosters can be combined with either Juicing or Cellular Rebuilds, for a benefit up to the maximum of the Booster (there are more safeguards to keep the hardware from frying, than from keeping your brain from frying: let's face it, when you die, what do you think they're going to do with the hardware?). However, Juicing is not in effect any time a Cellular Rebuild is: the Cellular Rebuild reflects the maximum efficiency possible with these methods (the +1 bonus to initiative still applies, though).

Psionic Characters

Below are a few uses of psionics in the corporate world; players are welcome to adapt them to their own situations.

Astral Projection

Although Astral Projection has been studied and developed for the past 10 years, it is not the wild success the intelligence industry hoped for it; for the most secure environs, there are ways of protecting against astral snooping. However, those psions with a talent for Astral Projection have found it useful; there are widely accepted rumors of astral 'meeting grounds' where psions discuss matters away from deadhead influence. Over the past 5 years, corpsis have managed to effectively lobby for access to Astral Projection psiberware in their contracts, regardless of corporate utility...

ESP

Empaths are extremely useful for team-building, helping to maximize productivity for short-term projects and teams. They are also very effective in determining the real feelings of focus groups and customers, which is invaluable to marketing.

On a more sinister note, Clairvoyance and Clairaudience has proved to be much more effective for spying than has Astral Projection, and market prediction is very popular (if not well-regarded — what's the difference, to the layman, between a precog market analyst and a regular one? not much) role for precognitives.

Precognitive tacticians have also shown some utility, although typically not when they're actually on the battlefield, since the level of Power and Skill necessary is seldom seen.

Healing

Despite amazing advances in medicine, psionic healers are still the best thing for a bullet-riddled gut since Band-Aids. Such people are frequently very popular both with corporate execs trying to hang onto their prime, as well as part of a comprehensive health plan. These healers are typically paid extremely well, and provided a life of luxury for the duration of their services.

Psychic Vampirism

Psychokinesis

For some purposes, low-level psychokinesis is good enough that psibered psychokinesis isn't even necessary, letting psychokinetics have possibly the widest range of possible corporations for which to be a lapdog. With a touch of clairvoyance, they can do minor surgery completely non-invasively, fix computer hardware without getting dusty, etc. This is most valuable in places where it is extremely difficult for a machine to apply physical pressure.

Combat tweaking has been attempted, but is largely less cost-effective than loading up on an extra handful of bullets.

Telepathy

Ask yourself: what aren't they good for? Corporate spying, loyalty engineering, and privacy nullification are all big items in the new corporate budget.

Of course, in the modern corporation where loyalty is only to one's own paycheck, telepaths are some of the most closely watched psions around. As a result, they lead very expensive, very dangerous lives.

Teleportation

Generally speaking, teleportation is good for two things: hand-to-hand combat, and spying. Since no one is employed as hand-to-hand combat specialists in the modern day, teleporters are largely employed to break into places where astral projectors were once expected to go. Nowhere near as easy to detect by astral guardians as projection, and much better at escape, teleporters make the ideal intrusion specialists. Of course, many of them go ahead and become relatively skilled fighters, leading to assassins who disappear without a trace.