Psionics, Super Powers, and Other Topics

Created by Brett Hegr
[ Return to the Psionic Section ]

[ Mixing Powers | Mutant/Psychic Characters | Mega- Psychics ]
[ Minor Psionics | Major Psionics | Master Psionics ]

Psionic Powers and Super Abilities:

To make things fair, I've compared the average psychic and mutant from Heroes Unlimited^tm. Master psychics get three super psionic powers and ten minor psionic powers. The average mutant with super abilities has one major ability and three minors. This translates to:

One major super ability equals approximately three minor super abilities
One super psionic power equals approximately three minor psionic powers

Three super psionic abilities equal approximately one major super ability
Three minor psionic abilities equal approximately one minor super ability
One super psionic ability equals approximately one minor super ability

One super psionic ability equals approximately two Phase powers (page 32 of Phase World^tm)
One minor super ability equals approximately two Phase powers

Mutants with super abilities can acquire psionic powers by sacrificing their option to roll/ select super abilities. When they do this, they do not suffer any skill reductions since their character classes usually take into account the time needed to develop their special powers.

The drawback for mutants selecting psychic powers is that the powers do not increase with time like those of a psychic character class. If the GM chooses to allow them to increase, it should be related to the powers initially selected (both psychic and mutant) and the increase should be limited (not more than one power per additional level). This in itself could be the goal of an adventure or two - where the climax is the development and use of their new psychic ability.

On the flip side, psychic characters should also be allowed to select mutant super abilities. They too do not suffer skill penalties when selecting these powers. Their limitation is different than those of mutants. Depending on the P.C.C., they will gain additional psionic powers at each new level but these cannot be used to 'buy' super abilities unless the equivalent psionic abilities are sacrificed (which usually means one super psionic power per minor super ability). Second, to pick super abilities they not only have to sacrifice psionic power selections but they have to burn off I.S.P.^tm! This reflects the focusing of psychic energy to develop biological powers that do not require additional energy - the necessary energy was provided during the development process.

  Copied from Palladiums web site. HU2, page 190, gives the Latent Psionic the
 same base I.S.P. as the Natural or Master Psionic. This is a mistake. It should
 read as follows:

  The Latent Psychic's base I.S.P. is his Mental Endurance (M.E.) attribute
 number x2, plus the roll of 1D4x10. The total is the character's starting level
 of raw mental power. As the psychic grows in experience, so too does his I.S.P.,
 adding 1D6+1 I.S.P. per each level of experience, starting with level one.

  The Natural or Master Psionic (HU2 should read as follows): The Master Psychic's
 base I.S.P. is his Mental Endurance (M.E.) attribute number x2, plus the roll of
 2D6x10 (not 1D6x10 as listed). The total is the character's starting level of
 raw mental power.

  The Mutant Psionic has psionic powers in addition to one or more super
 abilities. The character does not gain new psionic abilities like the normal
 Latent Psychic (unless the G.M. thinks it is okay, and allows it, but be
 careful not to imbalance the game). However, I.S.P. do increase at a rate
 of 1D6+1 I.S.P. per each level of experience, starting with level one. Base
 (starting) I.S.P. is the M.E. number, plus the roll of 1D6x10.

The site owner (me, Brett Hegr) has different ideas on this subject.

Mixing Powers:

Mutant Acquiring Minor Psionic Powers: Must sacrifice one minor super ability to select:

One Phase power and one minor psychic power.
One super psionic power.
Three minor psychic powers.

The I.S.P.^tm base is the M.E. plus 2d6 and add another 1d6 per level of experience. A fourth or fifth minor power could be developed, if the GM allows it, and the character would still be considered a minor psionic.

Mutant Acquiring Major Psionic Powers: Must sacrifice two minor super abilities to select:

Four Phase powers.
Three Phase powers and two minor psionic powers from one category.
Two Phase powers, one super psionic power, and one minor psionic power.
Two super psionic powers and one minor psionic power.
Three minor psychic powers and one super psionic power.
Six minor psychic powers from among all three minor categories.
Eight minor psychic powers from a single minor category.

The I.S.P.^tm base is the M.E. plus 4d6 and add another 1d6+1 per level of experience. An extra minor power or two could be developed, if the GM allows it, and the character would still be considered a major psionic.

Mutant Acquiring Master Psionic Powers: The limit in psionic power acquisition, the mutant must give up approximately half his mutant powers to gain psychic ability. He must sacrifice either three minor super abilities or one major ability to select from the following:

Six Phase powers.
Four Phase powers and four minor psionic powers from one category.
Three Phase powers and five minor psionic powers.
Two Phase powers and six minor psionic powers.
Two Phase powers, one super psionic power, and three minor psionic powers.
One Phase power, two super psionic powers, and two minor psionic powers.
One super psionic powers and seven minor psionic powers.
Two super psionic powers and four minor psionic powers.
Three super psionic powers and two minor psionic powers from one category.
Eight minor psychic powers, plus Mind Block and See Aura.
Twelve minor psychic powers from a single minor category.

The I.S.P.^tm base is the M.E. times two plus 1d4x10+15. Add 1d6+4 per level of experience. Note that it is more worthwhile to select a master psychic character class and then sacrifice psychic powers in order to develop mutant powers - the character should acquire more powers and more I.S.P.^tm that way. I present this option for continuity and for the Mega- Heroes with powers to spare.

Psychic Acquiring Minor Super Abilities: To develop a minor super ability a psychic must sacrifice either one super psionic power or three minor psionic powers. They must also 'burn off' I.S.P.^tm - 6 per Extraordinary attribute, 8 for heightened senses and enhanced vision powers, 16 for any Energy Expulsion or Ranged Attack powers, Flight: Wingless, Radar, and Healing Factor, and 10 in general for any other power.

If a super psionic power is possessed that is related to the desired power (such as Bio- Regeneration: Super for Healing Factor, Pyrokinesis for Energy Expulsion: Fire, Bio- or Telekinesis: Super for Manipulate Kinetic Energy, Personal Force Field, Flight: Glide, or Flight: Wingless), then cut the amount of sacrificed I.S.P.^tm in half.

Psychic Acquiring Major Super Abilities: To develop a major super ability a psychic must sacrifice either three super psionic powers, ten minor psionic powers, two super and four minor, or one super and seven minor. They must also 'burn off' some I.S.P.^tm - 30 for any power that is much like a super psionic power or is highly mental in nature (such as Create Force Fields, Control Others, Mechano- Link, Divine Aura, Holographic Memory Projection, Karmic Power, Power Sphere, Transferal/ Possession), 50 for any Alter Physical Structure powers, Control powers (such as Inertia Manipulation, Natural Combat Ability, Immortality, and Invulnerability, and 40 in general for any other power.

If a super psionic power is possessed that is related to the desired power (such as Telekinesis: Super for Teleport, Sonic Flight, or Create Force Fields, Hypnotic Suggestion for Control Others, or Bio- Manipulation for Disruptive Touch), then reduce the amount of sacrificed I.S.P.^tm by 5.

Players should probably not be allowed to sacrifice all of the character's psionic powers to develop super abilities, to then acquire the psionic abilities with experience. This could result in a very powerful character later on in levels. If it were done, the additional psionic powers should be random like with the Latent Psychic and the character should be classed only as a major psychic and not a master.

Mutant/Psychic Characters:

To make it easier on GMs who have players that want exactly a half mutant, half psychic character, I've created this table to make rolling such a character easier. For all characters created with this table, they are considered major psychics (see the notes down below for info on I.S.P.^tm). They should gain one new minor psionic power at every odd numbered level (after the first) and one new super psionic power (or roll for a minor super ability if the GM allows it) at levels four, eight, and ten. This table is designed to create a character with an average power level.

01-10 Roll for four minor super abilities, plus choose either six minor psionic powers from among all three minor categories or choose eight from a single one.
11-20 Roll for three minor super abilities and select either ten minor psionic powers from among all three minor psionic categories or choose twelve from a single one.
21-30 Select three minor super abilities and select three super psionic powers. The character also gets the Mind Block psychic power and one other minor psychic power of choice. Add a +5 I.S.P.^tm bonus.
31-40 Select three Extraordinary attributes, select two Heightened Senses (Radar counts as both selections), select two super psionic powers, and choose either five minor psionic powers from among all three minor psionic categories or choose seven from a single one. Add a +10 I.S.P.^tm bonus.
41-50 Select one Energy Expulsion or Ranged Attack minor power, roll for three minor super abilities (none can be Energy Expulsion or Ranged Attack powers), plus select one super psionic power and choose either five minor psionic powers from among all three minor psionic categories or choose seven from a single one.
51-60 Roll for one major super ability, plus choose one super psionic power and choose either six minor psionic powers from among all three minor categories or choose eight from a single one.
61-70 Roll for one major super ability, plus choose two super psionic powers and choose either four minor psionic powers from among all three minor psionic categories or choose five from a single one. Add a +10 I.S.P.^tm bonus.
71-80 Roll for one major super ability and one minor super ability, plus choose one super psionic power and three minor psionic powers.
81-90 Roll for one major super ability and one minor super ability, plus choose two super psionic powers.
91-00 Roll for one major super ability and one minor super ability, plus choose either six minor psionic powers from among all three minor categories or choose eight from a single one.

Mega- Psychics:

To create the psychics with a vast arsenal of mental powers, one could forgo rolling on the 'Special Mega- Powers' table of page 81 in Heroes Unlimited^tm 2nd Edition (but should still roll for a vulnerability). Mega- Psychics get a bonus of +40 I.S.P.^tm, and in place of the special powers players can pick or roll for one of the following to enhance the standard psychic hero:

01-10 Roll for one major super ability and one minor super ability - these powers must be related to the overall psionic ability of the character.
11-25 Roll for one major super ability. Should be related to the psionic powers, but not necessary.
26-40 Roll for three minor super abilities. Should be related to the psionic powers, but not necessary.
41-45 Roll for two minor super abilities and select an additional super psionic power.
46-40 Roll for two minor super abilities and select an additional three minor psionic powers.
41-45 Roll for one minor super ability and select an additional two super psionic powers.
46-50 Roll for one minor super ability and select an additional six minor psionic powers.
51-65 Select three additional super psionic powers.
66-80 Select two additional super psionic powers and another four minor psionic powers.
81-85 Select one additional super psionic power and another eight minor psionic powers.
86-90 Select an additional ten minor psionic powers.
91-00 Select five Phase powers (or, if you don't have Phase World^tm handy, let the player choose something from the previous options).

Minor Psionic Powers:

Minor psychics have just a few psionic powers - any character with five or fewer minor psychic powers (with one super psionic power counting as three minor psi- powers). The powers of minor psychics usually lie within one area, either Physical, Sensitive, or Healer.

Minor psychics have an I.S.P.^tm base of the M.E. attribute plus 2d6. Add 1d6 per level of experience (starting at level one). I would change this slightly for minor psychic characters with more than three minor psi- powers. Anyone with four or five such powers would get an extra 1d6 added to their energy base at level one. To save vs psionic attack a minor psychic must roll a 12 or higher.

Non- psychic character classes that acquire three or fewer minor psionic powers do not suffer any skill cuts since their powers are so limited. Anyone with four or five should sacrifice three 'other' skills or half of their 'other' skills, whichever is less. Do not cut skills if the psionic powers are a part of the O.C.C. powers (such as the case with some magic character classes).

Major Psionic Powers:

In general, any character with six or more minor abilities (counting a super psionic power as three minor ones) is considered a major psychic. They have at least one minor psionic power and one major psionic power, or six minor psionic powers from the three categories, or eight minor psionic powers from one category.

Major psychics in an non- psychic character class have an I.S.P.^tm base of the M.E. attribute plus 4d6. Add 1d6+1 per level of experience (starting at level one). Major psychics that are following a P.C.C. have their I.S.P.^tm base listed with that character class. To save vs psionic attack a major psychic must roll a 12 or higher.

Non- psychic character classes that acquire major psionic powers must take a cut in skills to develop their psi- powers. Cut all their O.C.C. skill bonuses in half and also cut the number of 'other' skills by half. Again, do not cut skills if the psionic powers are a part of the O.C.C. powers.

Master Psionic Powers:

Master psychic powers are possible only when a psychic character class is chosen. They cannot be 'acquired at random' as is possible for minor and major psionic power. Since the abilities have to be extensively developed, and this usually varies between P.C.C.s, it is hard to define exactly what is considered 'master'. In general, a master psychic is any character with one or more super psionic power and at least either seven minor psionic powers from the three categories or ten minor psionic powers from one category. Of course some P.C.C.s have unique powers that also are a factor in the determination of 'master' psychic powers.

Master psychics usually have an I.S.P.^tm base of at least the M.E. times 5 or the M.E. plus a roll of 2d4x10. This again varies according to which P.C.C. is selected - parasitic classes like the Mind Bleeder^tm and Psi- Stalker^tm tend to have less than the more common master psychic classes. Nearly every master psychic adds 10 I.S.P.^tm per level of experience. To save vs psionic attack a master psychic must roll a 10 or higher, though many will have big M.E. bonuses to save with. In some cases, a P.C.C. class will state something like 'only a 6 or higher must be rolled to save vs psionic attack, but M.E. bonuses to save are not applicable.'

Since non- psychic character classes cannot acquire master psionic powers, there is no need to discuss how to restrict skills.