Psionics

Psionics are going to be a major part of the game, but at the moment I’m not sure what combination of skills, stunts and aspects will model things the best. Here’s a list of the abilities and powers that I want to appear in the game.

The “trouble” with FATE is there’s always more than one way to do anything. My gut feeling is that I’m going to have a relatively small number of skills, with lesser powers being basic trappings of those skills, and the more potent ones being stunts. What I really want to do is to have something relatively free-form, and want to avoid a crunchy GURPS/Hero style powers-building meta-system at all costs.

My previous build was a Fudge-ified version of the GURPS psionics system, which had four power groups. I’m inclined to keep those groups in some shape or form. It allows the creation of characters who are strong in one power, and weaker in others.

Awareness

I’ve been calling this “The Way of Vision” in the existing game.

• Danger Sense – A passive ability triggered by the GM; a successful skill use just before something bad is going to happen places an aspect on the scene that the player can free-tag.
• Clairsentience. Enhanced senses (hearing/sight/tough) at distance, including through walls, although you need a high skill to sense though solid barriers.
• Precognition – Predict a (possible) future.  Either fleeting inages, prophesies or whatever. Probably works by creating aspects which go away once the prediction is either fulfilled, or made impossible.
• Psychometry – Gain information about an object or location’s history.
• Detect use of psionics – This is a passive skill use, allowing detection of any use of psionics in the vicinity. In the interest of game balance I want this to be a common ability.
• Locate people or things at a distance

Mind over Matter

In the existing game, I’ve called this The Way of the World. I think we need two different skills here, one for the amount of raw power, and one for the finesse.

• Psychokinesis - The power to move physical objects around with the power of the mind.
• Temperature Control – Can heat things up or make them cold with the power of the mind.
• Illusions – Can affect light sources to make believable-seeming illusions
• Matter Alteration – Can change the chemical or even the atomic structure of matter. Can see possible game-balance issues with this one; someone who can dissolve an opponent’s swords with a glance is probably too powerful; probably need to make it too slow to be able to use in a combat situation.
• Physical psionic attack – Extending one of the above powers to make ranged attacks which deal out physical damage. Possibly make this more than one power; a directed energy blast against which armour is a defence isn’t the same as using psychokinesis to heat up brains and make heads explode.

Telepathy

I’d split these into two different power groups called “The Way of Restoration” and “The Way of the Will”, but the division was a bit arbitrary.

• Mind-Reading – Detect surface thoughts or strong emotions in a target. An unwilling target can resist.
• Mind-Reaming – Can rifle though a a target’s mind, accessing memories and mental associations.  Requires you to have taken out your target first.
• Mental Attack – Can attack a target’s mind directly, as an attack doing mental damage. If you take your opponent out, they’re either knocked unconscious or rendered vulnerable to mind-reading, mind-control or mindwipe.
• Suggestion – Plants a suggestion in the target’s mind, placing an aspect on a target you can free-tag in the later round.
• Mind Control – Can control a target like a puppet; requires you to have taken your target out first.
• Mindwipe – Can delete a target’s memories, or plant false ones.
• Mindspeech – Can communicate with another (not necessarily a psionic themselves) at distance.
• Psionically-aided combat – Fight armed or unarmed using your psionic skill instead of your combat skill. Either you’re using mind-reading to detect what your about to do, mind control to make your opponent miss, or precognition to predict where the blows will fall.

Others

Random powers that don’t fit into any other category. Some of them should be more powerful stunts requiring other abilities as pre-requisites.

• Healing.
• Metabolism Control
• Shapeshifting.
• Mindswitch.