Permanent Adjustments: for every +1 added to the Base Effect Value, Base Range or Base Duration (when applicable) a +1 is added to the Activation Difficulty or to the Psi Strain.Share Power: This enhancement allows another person to benefit from the effects of a power that is normally limited to the psychic, though the psychic remains in control of the power. This adds +7 to the Base Difficulty.
Example: by sharing Precognition, a psychic's vision of the future could be seen by someone else as if they were the one with the power. But the psychic is in control of the vision since he is the one using the power.Reduced Psi Strain: The power produces less Psi Strain than normal. For every point that the Psi Strain Rating is reduced, either increase the Activation Difficulty by +2 or subtract two points from any of Base Effect Value, Base Range or Base Duration (when applicable.) The points can be split up however the player wishes.Example: a player picks a power for his character which has a Psi Strain Rating of "8 + Effect Value". The player decides to reduce the Psi Strain of a power by six points, down to "2 + Effect Value". That gives him twelve points of modification he must make to the other aspects of the power.Improved Control: The character has greater control over the effects of the power than normal. The exact details are up to the player and gamemaster to determine based on the normal effects of the power. The more extra control the character wants, the more the Activation Difficulty or Psi Strain Rating will increase. In general the smallest modifier should be +2 with significant improvements being worth as much as +15. The points can be split between the Activation Difficulty and Psi Strain Rating however the player wishes.
The Effect Value is "variable" so he cannot modify that aspect. He elects to add eight points to the Activation Difficulty and then subtracts two points each from the Base Range and Base Duration.
Example: the power Psi Static normally interferes with all telepathic powers used within its area of effect. With Improved Control the character could choose which targets within the area of effect were affected by the power and which ones were not affected. The gamemaster decides that this is a fairly large increase in control and assigns a +7 modifier. The player decides to increase the Activation Difficulty by +5 and the Psi Strain by +2.
Area Effect: Powers which normally only affect one target at a time gain the ability to affect all eligible targets within a radius determined by the player. The centerpoint of the area of effect can be anywhere within the Base Range of the power. The diameter (twice the radius) of this area of effect cannot be greater than the Base Range of the power. To determine the modifier find the value of the radius on the Torg value chart and multiply by three. The points may be split between Activation Difficulty and Psi Strain Rating as the player desires.
Example: adding an Area Effect with a radius of four meters (value 3) is a +9 modifier. If the Power has a Base Range of six meters the radius of the Area Effect would have to be dropped to 3 meters (still a value of 3) so that the area of effect's diameter does not exceed the Base Range.Weak Trace/No Trace: While most psychic abilities do not produce any physical signs of their use, they all leave traces behind in the Akashic Record. Characters with the Sense Trace power are able to detect this psychic residue in the Record and use it to identify and possibly even track the psychic who left the trace. These two Enhancements either make it more difficult for someone to read the traces left behind when the associated power is used or makes it such that the power doesn't leave any trace at all in the Record when it is used.
With Weak Trace the character imposes a +1 Difficulty Modifier to any Sense Trace use for every +1 that he adds to the Activation Difficulty or Psi Strain Rating of his own power. No Trace completely eliminates any chance of Sense Trace working and imposes a +15 modifier to the Activation Difficulty or Psi Strain Rating of his own power. The player may split up the points between the two aspects of the power as he desires.Selective Efficiency: The power is more effective against a certain class of targets. For every two points that the Base Effect Value is increased against a particular type of target the Actuivation Difficulty is increased by one point. At the gamemaster's discretion this can be modified by how narrowly the player defines the target type. This Enhancement could also represent the power being more effective under certain conditions rather than against a certain type of target.
Example: a player wants his character's power to be more effective when used on members of the opposite sex. The player decides to take a +6 to the Base Effect Value which increases the Activation Difficulty by +3.
Permanent Adjustments: The player may lower the Activation Difficulty or Psi Strain Rating by one point for every point that the Base Effect Value, Base Range and Base Duration (when applicable) are reduced.Requires Extra Concentration: This is similar to the option of spending extra concentration time on activating a power but it becomes mandatory for the character to spend more than one round to do it. Use the rules given for extra concentration time and apply it as a permanent modifier to the Activation Difficulty. Be sure to note in the power writeup the new activation time!
Not Maintainable: The power cannot be maintained and the character must generate a new activation total every time its Duration expires in order to keep the power running. The Activation Difficulty is reduced by three.
Range: Reducing the Base Range value is handled with a Permanent Adjustment, this Limitation refers to changing the type of range category of the Power. The four ranks of range are Skill Measure, Skill Value, Skill Adds and Touch/Self. Each rank by which the range is reduced will modify the Activation Difficulty or the Psi Strain Rating by seven.
Example: reducing a power's Base Range from Skill Measure to Skill Adds will give a player 14 points by which to modify the Activation Difficulty and Psi Strain rating.Increased Psi Strain: The power produces more Psi Strain than normal. For every one point of Psi Strain Rating increase, two points can be subtracted from the Activation Difficulty or added to the Base Effect Value, Base Range or Base Duration (when applicable).
Reduced Control: The character has less control over the effects of the power than normal. The exact details are up to the player and gamemaster to determine based on the normal effects of the Power. The less control the character wants, the more the Activation Difficulty or Psi Strain Rating will decrease. In general minor losses of control should be worth a -2 while a character with only marginal control over a power could receive a -10 to -15 modifier. The points can be split between the Activation Difficulty and Psi Strain Rating however the player wishes.
Example: a player decides that his character cannot use his Telekinesis (Minor) for fine, delicate tasks like manipulating a set of tools. This is fairly restrictive for the power so the gamemaster assigns a -7 modifier. The player reduces the Activation Difficulty by four and he reduces the Psi Strain Rating by three.Reduced Area Effect: Powers which normally have an area of effect either have a reduced area of effect or can only affect one target at a time with this restriction. If the power has a flat radius value for its area of effect every point that it's value is reduced by will reduce the Activation Difficulty or Psi Strain Rating by three points. Reducing the radius value to zero will eliminate the area of effect and the power can only affect one target at a time.Example: a power which normally has a radius value of 3 (six meters) would have its Activation Difficulty or Psi Strain Rating modified by -6 if the radius value was reduced to 1 (1.5 meters).Strong Trace: While most psychic abilities do not produce any physical signs of their use they all leave traces behind in the Akashic Record when used. Characters with the Sense Trace power are able to detect this psychic residue and use it to identify and possibly even track the psychic who left the trace. This Limitation makes it easier for someone to locate the trace left behind when the power is used. For every -1 modifier the character takes to the Activation Difficulty or Psi Strain Rating of his own power, the difficulty for someone using Sense Trace is also reduced by -1.Selective Weakness: The power is less effective against a certain class of targets. For every two points that the Base Effect Value is decreased against a particular type of target the Activation Difficulty is decreased by one point. At the gamemaster's discretion this can be modified by how narrowly the player defines the target type. This Limitation could also represent the power being less effective under certain conditions rather than against a certain type of target. If the Base Effect Value is reduced to zero against a certain class of target then the power is considered to be completely ineffective against that target type and will have no effect.
Set Duration: Normally psychics can stop using a power at will, ending it before it's Duration period expires naturally. With this Limitation that's no longer possible, once a character starts using a power it will run for the full length of its Duration. If applied to Shift Sense for example, the character would not be able to revert back to his normal senses until the power's Duration had expired.
This Limitation will reduce the Activation Difficulty by -4.
Eye Contact Required: This is a classic Limitation for many of the Telepathy Group Powers. The modifier amount is -4 if the power has a Base Range of Skill Adds. If the Base Range of the power is Skill Value, this Limitation is worth -11. If the Base Range of the power is Skill Measure, this Limitation is worth -18. The modifier can be applied between the Activation Difficulty and the Psi Strain Rating as the player desires.
This Limitation sets an effective maximum range of three meters on the power. If the power has a Base Range of Skill Adds, range is figured normally until the character has more than three adds in psionic manipulation, at which point the maximum range of three meters takes effect If the power has a Range of Touch or Self then this Limitation may not be taken.Fickle: Sometimes the Power just doesn't work! Whenever the character wishes to activate the power the gamemaster makes a secret die roll to see if it will work or not. The odds of the power not working determine the size of the modifier to the Activation Difficulty. The gamemaster rolls a d20 (he does not reroll on 10's or 20's) and if he rolls less than the selected number the attempt to activate automatically fails regardless of the character's psionic manipulation skill check.. The character may attempt to use the power again in the following round with the normal chance of it being fickle again.
Die roll
to workModifier 2+ -2 5+ -4 9+ -5 13+ -7 16+ -10 18+ -14 20 -17 Example: a player decides that his power is Fickle on a roll of less than 9, which gives him a -5 modifiers to the Activation Difficulty. Whenever he wants to use the power, the gamemaster has to roll a 9 or better on his die in order for the activation attempt to even have a chance of success. If the gamemaster rolls between 1-8, then that attempt to activate the power will automatically fail.Recharge: After every use of the power a certain amount of time must pass before the character can activate it again. The minimum time to recharge between uses is one minute. For the purposes of recharging, a use of a power ends when the Duration expires or the character terminates the power usage. To determine the modifier find the time value of the recharge time and subtract eight. This modifier may be applied to the Activation Difficulty and Psi Strain Rating as the player desires.
Example: a player decides that his character must wait an hour between uses of his Remote Viewing power. An hour has a time value of 18 so he gets a -10 modifier to apply to the Activation Difficulty and the Psi Strain Rating of the power.
Unreliable: This is like a combination of Fickle and Recharge; the power will sometimes not work for the character for a random period of time. As with Fickle, the gamemaster makes a secret die roll whenever the character wishes to activate the power to see if it will even work or not. If the gamemaster rolls less than the selected number on his d20, the power automatically fails and remains unusable for a number of minutes equal to the amount by which the roll failed. The player is not told how long the power will be unavailable. To determine the modifier to the Activation Difficulty, use the table under Fickle and increase the modifier by three.
Example: a player decides that his power is Unreliable on a roll of less than 9. The modifier listed under Fickle is -5 so Unreliable's modifier is -8. The character attempts to use the power and the GM rolls his d20, getting a 4. The Power fails and will remain unusable for the next (9-4=5) five minutes.Difficult: The more often the character uses the power, the more difficult it becomes each time to activate the power. The player reduces the Activation Difficulty by any amount up to a maximum of -10. The first time he activates the power he uses this modified value for his Difficulty Number. The second time he uses the power, this number is increased by +2. This repeats with each additional use until the Activation Difficulty has been increased to an amount above the Base Activation Difficulty by the same amount it was initially reduced, after which it remains at that level for the rest of that day. The next day (defined as being after a normal night's sleep) it resets back to the lowered Difficulty Number.Example: a player picks a power for his character with an Activation Difficulty of 12. He decides to make it Difficult and chooses to reduce it by -5, lowering the Difficulty Number for the first use each day to 7. The second time he uses it in a day the DN is 9, on his third use the DN increases to 11, on the fourth use the DN will be 13, the fifth use will have a DN of 15 and the sixth use will have a DN of 17. Since this is equal to the Base Activation Difficulty plus the initial five point modifier, all subsequent uses during the rest of the day will use DN 17. After a night's rest, activating the power will start over with DN 7.Side Effect: Use of the power causes some kind of annoying inconvenience that affects the character or the environment around him. The effect must produce some kind of negative situation otherwise it is not worth any points. Useful or potentially valuable effects may not be taken! The gamemaster must approve any Side Effect and determine its modifier to the Activation Difficulty depending on the nature of the effect. If the Side Effect does not limit the usefulness of the Power in some way then the gamemaster should not allow it. In general a minor Side Effect should be worth a -2 modifier with a seriously limiting Side Effect worth as much as -10.Example: a player decides that the eyes of his character glow as a Side Effect whenever he uses Thought Scan. This could be somewhat inconvenient but can easily be concealed so the gamemaster decides it is only worth a -2 to the Activation Difficulty.
Example: a player decides that every time his character uses Beacon all insect life within range of the power dies as a Side Effect. The gamemaster disallows this because it is a potentially useful effect.
Uncontrollable: The character does not have complete control over the power and it may sometimes activate on its own. The character must make willpower skill checks whenever the character is under stress or in an agitated emotional state to avoid losing control of the power. The difficulty of the willpower check determines the modifier to the power's Activation Difficulty or Psi Strain Rating.
If the willpower check fails, the power activates on its own and its effects are under the gamemaster's control. Depending on the nature of the power, the gamemaster should have its effects lash out in a hostile or at least negative manner. The character must still deal with the psi strain from use of the power even if he is not in control of it.Example: a character with Uncontrollable Telekinesis fails his willpower check. Suddenly, objects in the room begin flinging themselves at the other people in the room, and even at the psychic himself!
Example: a character with Uncontrollable Precognition fails a willpower check during a stressful moment. He receives a vision of a future event that he'd rather not see, perhaps the death of a loved one, and because he's not in control of it he does not have any indication of when the event might occur.
Characters who have lost control of a power are allowed to make a willpower check every subsequent round against the assigned Difficulty Number to regain control of their power. The power may also stop on its own if the gamemaster determines that the stressful situation that triggered the outbreak has resolved itself. If the character is rendered unconscious by psi strain damage, the power will shut down.
This Limitation does not represent powers that the character has no conscious control over, it is for powers that the character can use but has limited control over. Powers which characters have absolutely no control over are discussed later in the section on Psychic phenomena.
willpower
DNModifier 8 -2 10 -4 12 -5 15 -7 18 -10 22 -14 25 -17 Usable only unconscious/in a trance: This is a classic Limitation for powers like Channel, Remote Viewing and Precognition. The character must either be unconscious, hypnotized, drugged or make use of the meditation skill before the power can be activated.
The amount by which the Activation Difficulty is modified depends on how far under the character needs to be before the power can be used:In either kind of trance the character has normal control over the power and can automatically bring himself out of the trance once he is done using the power.
- light trance: the character remains aware of his surroundings and can bring himself out of the trance in one round in response to something that occurs or is said in his presence (see the extra concentration rules for guidelines on ignoring distractions while in a light trance.) Activation Difficulty modifier is -2.
- deep trance: the character is vaguely aware of his surroundings and can bring himself out of a trance in two rounds in response to strong stimuli. Activation Difficulty modifier is -4.
While asleep, the character has only nominal control over the power and may not even even get to attempt to use it. Before going to sleep the character makes a willpower skill check against a Difficulty Number of 10. If the willpower check fails, the character neglects to activate the power while he is asleep.
- light sleep: the character usually requires fifteen minutes to fall asleep, adjusted as the gamemaster sees fit depending on the circumstances. The character can be awakened by strong stimuli in one round but will be disoriented for the next two rounds and has a -2 modifier on all actions. Use of the power does not occur immediately upon falling asleep; up to half an hour may pass before the power activates, if it does at all. Activation Difficulty modifier is -8.
- deep sleep: the character usually requires an hour to reach the appropriate level of sleep, adjusted as the gamemaster sees fit depending on the circumstances. The character can be awakened with strong stimuli but it takes two rounds for him to fully regain consciousness and he will be disoriented for the next minute (six rounds) and has a -2 modifier on all actions. Use of the power does not occur immediately upon entering deep sleep, the character may have to get a full night's sleep (8 hours) to achieve any results from the power. Activation Difficulty modifier is -12.
With a Minimal to Good success, characters may use the power but cannot spend a Possibility Point or Drama Deck cards to modifiy the results. On a Superior or Spectacular success, a Possibility Point and/or cards may be used. Whether or not the character gets to use the power, he will not normally awaken immediately after the attempt is made, he will remain asleep for at least another fifteen minutes or may stay asleep all night (i.e., eight hours) at the gamemaster's discretion.