Psychic Wars

[allen]

Opening this thread to field questions for the upcoming (2006 sometime) Hero Games product, Psychic Wars.

Concerning the nature of the product:


As one poster put it, Scanners meets X-Files is a good way of putting it, I think.

In a nutshell: Scientists prove the existence of psionic powers, leading to an increased understanding of human consciousness. Psionics establish themselves as the next step in human evolution, break up into various camps, and pursue various agendas.

It's for Star Hero, although I'll be begging, borrowing, and stealing from Dark Champions since Psychic Wars will have a near future setting (couple of decades from now, I think). It has a near future setting for a couple of reasons, one of which is I want to introduce psionic technology.

It'll have a detailed discussion of rules for psionics, but I need to take a look at the Ultimate Mentalist before nailing anything down.

First, from this thread: http://www.herogames.com/forums/showthread.php?p=627148#post627148


Hmm... what is meant by "psionics" here? And what is the rough power level? As in, how powerful are the psionics going to be? Is this mostly mind control and telepathy or can these guy deflect bullets and crush cars with their minds?

All of this is subject to change when I start working on it, especially once I sit down with Steve to hash out an outline, so with that disclaimer....

PCs will be something 200 or 250 points. Definitely more than just telepathy and mind control -- using your own examples, deflecting bullets sounds reasonable, crushing cars sounds a bit much, but whatever the specifics telekinesis (and other "kinesises"... maybe "kineses" is more correct....) will definitely be more than bending spoons.

The goal with the project is to formulate a plausible, or at least not implausible, theory of psionics, and then build power-sets based on that in a logical and rational manner. So for instance: if the theory goes something like 'the map is not the territory,' the nerves aren't the whole of the nervous system. Some people can project their consciousness outside the body to perform various feats. A telekinetic can extend his consciousness to occupy objects and control them. Mind control works by grafting one's consciouness onto someone else. ESP works by projecting one's consciousness far, far away while retaining sense-related functions. And so on.

Also, I'd love to get some recommendations, so let me know your recommendations for novels, short stories, comics, movies, manga, anime, and whatever with psionic/psychic themes. Non-fiction recommendations are especially welcome -- I have some stuff around here somewhere, but for the most part too much crystal, not enough science (or psuedo-science, if one prefers ;))

[allen]

To answer some questions:


Oooo ... basically Psi World Hero then? ;)

You mean the FGU game, right?

Errr... if so, I've actually never seen the game. That being said, I don't honestly think I've ever heard anything good about the game either -- do you like it? Recommend it?


Here's one to answer (please), if you don't mind:

Will this be a part of the official Champions/Hero Universe? If so, in what approximate time frame?

No.

[Sketchpad]

You mean the FGU game, right?

Errr... if so, I've actually never seen the game. That being said, I don't honestly think I've ever heard anything good about the game either -- do you like it? Recommend it?

That'd be the one. The system was "eh" but the idea behind it was pretty cool :) I'd recommend taking a look at that just as a parallel to what you've described. Beyond the Scanners movies I'd also recommend
Psi Man (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0441007058/qid=1109104882/sr=8-2/ref=sr_8_xs_ap_i2_xgl14/002-7133236-6433600?v=glance&s=books&n=507846) by Peter David. Interesting idea of a man with massive psychic powers on the run from a shadow corporation. I'd also recommend Akira (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B00005MAM2/qid=1109105065/sr=8-1/ref=pd_csp_1/002-7133236-6433600?v=glance&s=dvd&n=507846) (Though the manga (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/1569714983/qid=1109105065/sr=8-2/ref=pd_csp_2/002-7133236-6433600?v=glance&s=books&n=507846) is much more interesting IMHO), Galaerians (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B0001I2BZ8/qid=1109105139/sr=8-2/ref=pd_csp_2/002-7133236-6433600?v=glance&s=dvd&n=507846) is also kind of interesting (I'd also recommend the PS1 Game (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B00004LN2V/qid=1109105139/sr=8-1/ref=pd_csp_1/002-7133236-6433600?v=glance&s=videogames&n=507846) and the PS2 Sequel (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B00008BR9Y/qid=1109105139/sr=8-3/ref=pd_csp_3/002-7133236-6433600?v=glance&s=videogames&n=507846), as they both inspired the movie), and ,if you can find the old comic Espers (http://www.milehighcomics.com/cgi-bin/backissue.cgi?action=list&title=29817478092&snumber=1) I think it could be useful :) There's a TON of comics that I could list ... but off the top of my head, the obvious ones are X-Men, Legion of Superheroes and Rising Stars (just for the feel of the world). Babylon 5 has some nice ideas on the whole psi conspiricy and, if you want powerful psi villains, I'd easily recommend Spriggan (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B000767QRW/qid=1109105743/sr=8-1/ref=pd_csp_1/002-7133236-6433600?v=glance&s=dvd&n=507846). I have some other recommendations that I've used in my past Psi campaigns that I'll post a bit later as well :)

[Susano]

Also, I'd love to get some recommendations, so let me know your recommendations for novels, short stories, comics, movies, manga, anime, and whatever with psionic/psychic themes. Non-fiction recommendations are especially welcome -- I have some stuff around here somewhere, but for the most part too much crystal, not enough science (or psuedo-science, if one prefers)

Well... some of what you're describing sounds a lot like what I did do/am doing with the KAZEI 5 setting. The setting uses psychokinetics (called espers or esper weapons), and was inspired by a host of anime with similar themes. Granted, my espers are anime epsers, and hit 500-900 points in several cases. So I'm not sure if that will fit your needs. As for the sources I used (or recommend):

AKIRA, BLUE SONNET, DOMU, KIMAGURE ORANGE ROAD, MAI THE PSYCHIC GIRL, SERAPHIC FEATHER, SILENT MOBIUS, STRIKER

GHOST IN THE SHELL mentions espers, and features one in MAN-MACHINE INTERFACE but I have no idea what she does.

[Chuk]

Also, I'd love to get some recommendations, so let me know your recommendations for novels, short stories, comics, movies, manga, anime, and whatever with psionic/psychic themes. Non-fiction recommendations are especially welcome -- I have some stuff around here somewhere, but for the most part too much crystal, not enough science (or psuedo-science, if one prefers ;))

At one point I was seriously considering a career as a parapsychologist (luckily, my undergrad degree steered me out of it.) Still, there's a lot of academic stuff out there. A good layman's intro is Richard Broughton's Parapsychology : the controversial science. And you can always check out the Rhine Research Center ("http://www.rhine.org/) for a scientific(ish) look at the stuff. If you take their research totally unsalted and maybe build it up with some more cinematic results, it'd be great gamefodder.

Oh, and don't forget Stephen King's Firestarter. (The Dead Zone was okay, but Firestarter's more fun.)

[shadowcat1313]

as far as Psi World goes, Cheron was working on a new edition last year, I dont know for sure if thats going anywhere, but I know how to reach her, and I can check on it, the system wasnt that great, but it had some interesting ideas

[Curufea]

There was actually a good book I was reading for research in doing a comic - the book was called Psychic Wars, and went into the various covert uses for psychics (mainly remote viewing). And recently hearing of the declassified US psychic soldier program where they were training people to kill with their thoughts by practicing on goats, and walking through walls had me in stitches for a while imagining crack psychich commandos invading hostile countries and devastating local goat farmers - "My God! They just came straight through the wall! It was horrible! Goats falling to the floor all over the place!"

Anyhow, back to the slightly more fictional world-

Energy. Where does the energy come from to do all these feats, and where does it go when it isn't used? Are the psychics using their own energy or manipulating forces they don't fully comprehend. Is it Force-like?

Will normals be able to have defenses or are they the playthings of every psychic?

Hmm, Necroscope by Brian Lumley was also an interesting book about covert use of psychics..

Then there is the question of visibility - will the be throbing veins and bloody noses from Scanners, will there be complex abstract geometric shapes visible only to psychics from Babylon 5, or will it be totally invisible?

That reminds me of the Pliestocene Epoch and Galactic Mileau series by Julian May - great stuff on psychics there too, where they even classified power levels and used devices for defence and control (torcs)

[GreyGuardian]

Fiction recommendations:

The Demolished Man
by ALFRED BESTER

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0679767819/qid=1109108063/sr=8-1/ref=pd_csp_1/002-4677822-7845669?v=glance&s=books&n=507846

and probably Bester's short stories and other novels.

The following might have some relevance - I read them many years ago -

all by Ron Goulart

Barnum System : Ben Jolsen (as I recall it was about a shape shifting detective but if that fits in with psychic powers (projecting images that you are someone else, stealing identities) then these might be relevant.)

The Sword Swallower (1968)
Flux (1974)
Starpirate's Brain (1987)

These I think might have been about a psychic detective -

Odd Jobs, Inc.

Hail Hibbler (1980)
Big Bang (1982)
Brainz, Inc. (1985)

I probably read most of these stories in old pulp magazines like fantasy and science fiction. So I have a really distinct memory that Goulart wrote about psychic type stuff I am not exactly sure which books and amazon and the web have been a bit less than helpful in reviving old memory.

[Chuk]

Hmm, Necroscope by Brian Lumley was also an interesting book about covert use of psychics.

Yeah, Necroscope was cool, but probably wouldn't really fit into this setting (it sounds like). You should check out GURPS Psionics, though (for 3rd edition).

[Susano]

Allan, go here:
Phenomena Department Psi Powers (http://surbrook.devermore.net/pdepartment/pdpowers.html) and scroll down to the psi powers section. The powers I mention were derived from various sources on "real" psychic powers.

[humantorch101]

Picking up some supplements for the Conspiracy X game might be worth doing as the game had an excellent and detailed system for psychic powers and great background to go with it.

rgds
Torch

[sinanju]

Fiction recommendations:

Patternmaster, Mind of My Mind, and Wild Seed -- all by Octavia Butler. They're written in reverse chronological order. Patternmaster is in the future, MoMM is present day, and Wild Seed covers about 4000 years up to about the US Civil War. They all involve individuals with psychic abilities of frighting power.

They also have a good rationale for the existence of psychic powers. Short version: there's a psychic predator (Doro, who is an immortal critter who jumps from body to body, feeding on the life energy thereof) who long ago noticed that humans with marginal psychic powers tasted better. So he started breeding them. At first it was just for food, but it also became a project that filled his (endless) existence, and produced the closest thing to family he'd ever know.

He produced phenomenally powerful telepaths, telekinetics, healers, etc. But they don't get along--left to their own devices, they'd scatter and all that work would be wasted (that's why most humans have little or no psychic ability). It's only Doro policing them that prevents that.

[Nyrath]

And playing in the background is that song (http://www.guntheranderson.com/v/data/veterano.htm) from the movie Heavy Metal.

[Stephen Mann]

Pegasus by Anne Macaffrey.

[Captain Obvious]

And playing in the background is that song (http://www.guntheranderson.com/v/data/veterano.htm) from the movie Heavy Metal.

Hmm...I tend to think of that song as the one on that Blue Oyster Cult CD....

Anyway, in Manly Wade Wellman's book The Hanging Stones, there was a theory that werewolves changed shape by accreting ectoplasm to their normal bodies...basically shapeshifting in this manner is a psychic phenomenon. I don't know if this is a real-world theory (Wellman used a lot of historical beliefs and actual parapsychological ideas in his writing), but it may be worth stealing anyway. Depending on how well it fits with the rest of the Psi system.

[Sketchpad]

And playing in the background is that song (http://www.guntheranderson.com/v/data/veterano.htm) from the movie Heavy Metal.
One of the BEST songs BOC ever made ;) Rep pour toi :)

[Curufea]

Well, the dark-superhero novel series Wildcards bases all superpowers on psychic energy.

[Crimson King]

I can't recommend the world of the Necroscope books enough. I ran a campaign under Hero that was close to those books, but had more to do with Call of Cthulhu.

I've wanted this type of genre book since... well... since Champions II.

I'll buy two copies.

[TheQuestionMan]

Definitely draw from Babylon 5 and Anime/Manga resources, but don't ingnore previously published Role Playing Games. They are what kept the idea alive. It's up to you to make it fresh and exciting.

I look forward to seeing it intergrated into the Offical Star Hero setting. My favourite resources for Menatist/Psionics are;

Surbrook's Stuff - Silent Mobius Zeta
GURPS 3E Psionics
AEG's Spycraft Psi Section - IIRC
Travller - Socio-Political & Legal remifications
Babylon 5 - same reasons as above


More later

QM

[Lord Mhoram]

Good source would be books by Geo W Proctor - especially Esper Transfer - most of his books deal with psi in a modern / near future setting.

[shadowcat1313]

for Traveller Psionics, the Psionics Institutes book for Marc Millers Traveller should prove useful, its Out of Print, but copies can be had at reasonable prices

[BoneDaddy]

Hmm...I tend to think of that song as the one on that Blue Oyster Cult CD....
Woo-Hoo! One Oldmanship! I tend to think of it as song three, side A, from the album. Got it on Vinyl, baby. My first album.

[megaplayboy]

will psychic powers be significantly more effective against those who lack them? i.e., will there be any campaign "house rules" which improve the effectiveness of some/most/all BOECV powers vs. normals?

[allen]

will psychic powers be significantly more effective against those who lack them? i.e., will there be any campaign "house rules" which improve the effectiveness of some/most/all BOECV powers vs. normals?

Well... this is something I still need to work out. Ideally, the rules will allow those with psychic powers to easily control "the guy on the street," while at the same time a player can play a non-psychic and still be useful. But I'm not sure how that'll work at this point.

[allen]

Thanks for all the recommendations, guys; keep 'em coming.

I took a trip down to the used bookstore last night and picked up Psi-Man by Peter David (David Peters, actually -- gotta love having two first and last names, surely a sign of a superior person too... haha...). Sadly it's Volume Five of the series, but I figured what the heck. So, Sketchpad, anything I need to know before diving into this?

I looked at a Lumley book... Blood Wars, I think, or maybe Blood Kingdom. Whichever it was, it was the third in a trilogy. Judging by the back cover text, it wasn't really appropriate. Are the other Necroscope books less Wampyri (I think that's how it was spelled), more psychic stuff?

Some other stuff I picked up, which I don't think have been recommended yet:

Psychic Warrior by Robert Doherty. Old Soviet psi-project (remote viewing/aportation) leads to creation of evil super psychic. It falls to a hastily assembled team of Green Berets with cursory training in psychic warfare methods to stop the evil psychic. I'm about fifty pages into it -- the writing's kind of bland, but the plot is a good one for [/i]Psychic Wars[/i].

Mindhopper by James B. Johnson. I haven't started reading this one yet. From the back cover: "THE MIND MASTER-- Manuel was a small boy gifted with mental powers that just might be the next step in human evolution. And now, Special Security, the secret arm of the government of what had once been the United States of America, wanted Manny and the secrets his brain contained."

A couple of recommendations of my own that I haven't seen mentioned:

More Than Human by Theodore Sturgeon. Easily one of my favorite science fiction novels. Thematically it fits pretty well into what I conceive going on in Psychic Wars. The novel To Marry Medusa has some good hive mind stuff.

Someone already mentioned The Demolished Man by Alfred Bester. The Stars My Destination is also well worth reading (although, as I recall, it's too far future for Psychic Wars -- I need to re-read it).

The Three Stigmate of Palmer Eldritch by Philip K. Dick. It's probably too surreal for (most) roleplaying games, but the use the corporation has for precogs is interesting.

Some random comments concerning other people's posts:

Accreting ectoplasm to change shape is an interesting idea. I'll have to look into the Manly Wade Wellman stuff -- I've only read some of the John the Balladeer stories.

I do plan to look at other RPGs eventually, QuestionMan, but I prefer to look at that stuff when I'm further along in a project and have a more concrete idea about what I'm doing. I also prefer to rely on "primary texts" than roleplaying games for information.

[Nyrath]

There was an interesting merger of psychic power with quantum mechanics in Jack Williamson's DARKER THAN YOU THINK.

Example: the evil protagonist and his consort have to assasinate a scientist. They know by Heisenberg's uncertanty principle that their power will be higher when the scientist is in a dangerous situation. They wait until he is driving his car along side a cliff. In their astral forms, they take the shape of savage beasts. When they feel their power at its height, they tear out the scientist's throat.

On the material plane, the scientist loses control of his car, goes off the cliff, and the shattered edge of the windshield cuts out his throat.

[SAVeira]

Try the works of Julian May.

THE SAGA OF PLIOCENE EXILE
Volume I: The Many-Colored Land
Volume II: The Golden Torc
Volume III: The Nonborn King
Volume IV: The Adversary

PLIOCENE COMPANION: A reader's guide to books of the Saga of Plioncene Exile.

INTERVENTION
Volume I: Surveillance
Volume II: Metaconcert

GALACTIC MILIEU TRILOGY
Volume I: Jack the Bodiless
Volume II: Diamond Mask
Volume III: Magnificat

All these series are connected and share the same universe, plus some characters.

[Lord Mhoram]

I can't believe anyone hasn't mentioned the Gil the Arm collection by Niven. Some very nice use of limited telekensis.

[Eosin]

Thanks for all the recommendations, guys; keep 'em coming.


More Than Human by Theodore Sturgeon. Easily one of my favorite science fiction novels. Thematically it fits pretty well into what I conceive going on in Psychic Wars. The novel To Marry Medusa has some good hive mind stuff.

Fantastic book.

I am really looking forward to this - Ideally, I would hope that the setting would port easily into a Starwars like game vis-a-vis a fantasy game set in space (dark themed or light themed matters not a wit to me).

[Susano]

I can't believe anyone hasn't mentioned the Gil the Arm collection by Niven. Some very nice use of limited telekensis.

DOH! :doi:

And here is one version of Gil:

http://surbrook.devermore.net/adaptionsbook/gilhamilton.html

[TheQuestionMan]

Psi Wars: Bodyguard of Lies 1
http://www.conspiracyx.com/htmldocuments/products/bol1.html

Psi Wars
http://www.qedcorp.com/pcr/pcr/psiwguid.html

Psi Wars
//www.imprint.co.uk/books/psi.html

Psychic Wars
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/psychic_wars/

Psi Ops: The Mind Gate Conspiracy
http://www.psiopsgame.com/
http://www.thesupernaturalworld.co.uk/index.php?code=02&file=psi_ops_review.php&title=Psi-Ops%20Review&cat=reviews/psi_ops

Psionics - Google Search :)
http://www.futurehorizons.net/psi.htm

Psionics Institute
http://www.kalyr.com/psionics.htm

The Psion Guild Home Page
http://www.thepsionguild.net/coverpage.html

Traveller Psionics
http://www.tip.net.au/~davidjw/libdata/ALPHABET/P/psionics.htm

PSI Factor: "Chronicles of the Paranormal"
http://www.geocities.com/dreampsi/psi_factor_en.htm
http://www.blackhatstation.com/PsiFactor/pf.htm

ESP (extrasensory perception)
http://www.themystica.com/mystica/default.html
http://www.themystica.com/mystica/articles/e/esp_extrasensory_perception.html

Remote Viewing
http://www.learnremoteviewing.com/?sr=1&ct=11

PSI Tech
http://www.psitech.net/main.htm

The Skeptics Dictionary
http://skepdic.com/kinesis.html

Psychic Ops
http://www.newyorkmetro.com/nymetro/news/sept11/features/5615/

Movie "Pyrokinesis (2000)"
http://www.tohokingdom.com/web_pages/m_reviews/anthony_r/pyrokinesis.htm

Unsolved Mysteries: Psychics
???

Police Psychics
http://www.csicop.org/specialarticles/police-psychics.html

Telepath Wars - Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telepath_War

The Shop [Threat Book] (Spycraft/Shadow Force Archer) by Alderac Entertainment Group
http://www.spycraftrpg.com/rpg/products.html

Hmmm... more and better Links later

QM

[megaplayboy]

How about a list of films that deal with espers?
Scanners et al
The Fury
Firestarter

There was some 60s/70s movie dealing with espers that predated Scanners, but the name escapes me...

[TheQuestionMan]

Unsolved Mysteries: Psychics
???

Police Psychics
http://www.csicop.org/specialarticles/police-psychics.html

Paranormal Movies and TV
http://www.network54.com/Forum/280812

ABC World of Discovery - Powers of the Russian Psychics (1992)
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/abc_world_of_discovery_powers_of_the_russian_psych ics/

Movie - Minority Report
http://www.fandango.com/reviews_fullreview.asp?mv=39804&from=&review=la

Psychic Investigator
http://psychicinvestigator.com/




Strange the Boards must be having trouble. I couldn't post these huh?

Weird

QM

[AmadanNaBriona]

This is a GREAT genre for gaming in... one of my all time favorites. I remember way back in the day we HAD a "Psi World Hero" campaign just shortly after the FGU game came out. Like a lot of folk, we decided that the system was broken, but the setting was good. For my .02, I want to add in my voice in support of the Julian May books. Her classification of psychic powers is one of the best and most "gameable" I have ever encountered. For most campaigns, I'd actually recommend starting with the Intervention series (which is basically a modern setting), followed by the Milieu series(more the sci-fi setting).The Saga of Pilocene Exile is a bit less smooth in its writing, and is a time travel/crossworlds semi fantasy-sci-fi blend (its still wonderful, and another of my ATF's). Her classification system (nonmetas, latents, semi operant 'wild talents' and operant metapsychics) works into HERO beautifully, as do her descriptions of the disciplines of psychic powers. she breaks them down as follows...
Coercion - the ability to overwhelm anothers will (mind contol, mainly)
Redaction - healing or long term manipultion (Transforms, mostly, as well as Healing and some forms of Aid)
Farsensing - Remote viewing, seeking, and mind to mind contact (Mind scan, mind link, telepathy, some detects)
Telekenetics - pretty straightforeward TK.. strength at range (TK, flight, some defences, etc..)
Creativity - psychic extension of the more common ability to imagine something then create it. ranges from illusion spinning to actual matter transformation. Also seems to include many of the "kenesis" forms that involve particle physics as the breaking point seems to be the ability to perceive the subject. For example... setting something on fire usually involves creativity, as most Psi's would simply "imagine" the target bursting into flames. To perform tha same act with TK, one would need to be able to "see" the molecules(using deep sensing farsight) and then deliberately speed their motion with TK (This is the biggest catch all power set, and can be covered by a WIDE assortment of powers)

A few other disciplines are discussed, including Prolepsis (precog/retrocog) and Teleportation, but they are considered unpredictable, hard to quantify, and rare abilities.
Additionally, she discusses many techniques and technologies for enhancing the effects of meta abilities.
Its a system that lend itself VERY well to a Talent and Power skill based VPP psi system.

I pretty much ganked this system lock stock and barrel for my Star Hero campaign when we went into a story arc that involved actual elite trained government backed Psi's. Which also involved the introduction of a NPC, code named Fenris, who was a former elite Black ops psi who was suffering from major post traumatic stress disorder, and who had fried his neurocircutry with long term use of Psi drugs and mechanical enhancers (built into his power armor). and yes, he had a bad case of the shakes... I had waited YEARS to base a character on Veteran of the Psychic Wars (Yes Bonedaddy, I too have Fire of Unknown Origin on vinyl, and remember BOC playing at the Keystone Palo Alto as Soft White Underbelly).
To make a campaign off this sort work out, I'd probably add a global X1 1/2 vunerablity to mental powers, possibly with a "Strong willed" talent available to remove it. In our 4th ed campaign, I handled the extra power levels with Aid powers to get the appropriate OOMPH.

Needless to say, I'll be keeping my eyes open for this one.

[Susano]

If you can afford it, look into buying the entire 6-volume set of AKIRA. It's far more coherent than the anime and gives a great look at different esper/psi powers. HERO wise, characters demonstrate: Telekinesis, Flight, Teleportation, Force Field, Force Wall, Healing, Regeneration, Life Support, Telepathy, Precognition, Energy Blast, Missile Deflection, and Entangle (using the landscape). I may have missed a few. :)

[Sketchpad]

I took a trip down to the used bookstore last night and picked up Psi-Man by Peter David (David Peters, actually -- gotta love having two first and last names, surely a sign of a superior person too... haha...). Sadly it's Volume Five of the series, but I figured what the heck. So, Sketchpad, anything I need to know before diving into this?


Wow ... where to start on this one. Lemme try and take a stop by the used bookstore this week and see if they have any copies of v1-4 for ya ;)

[Chuk]

Steven Gould's novel Jumper is an example of a kid in the "real world" who learns to teleport. There's also Alan Dean Foster's Slipt, about an old guy with kind of a TK attack that wrecks things (his granddaughter (or maybe niece, I don't remember) has limited telepathy, too).

[Ghost who Walks]

So far as how the society reacts, something like the old marvel comic DP:7 would be ideal. The theme would be normal-guy-gets-powers. Most characters would be built around a single power, easy to do if you disable power frameworks.

If set a couple decades in the future, the government/corporation/authorities might use robots to hunt for psionics...ones that would be mostly invulnerable to mental powers. That gets you the man vs. machine component.

I remember reading a newspaper article about 10 years ago where the (US) military was sending peopel to these new age places to experience Out-of-body experiences.

A drug which causes psionic powers, as long as you take it could be interesting.

I'll try to recommend some different stuff:
~The movie, Anna to the Infinite power: Interesting concept movie, deals with clones seperated at birth who are very aware of each other...and inclined towards the life they once had. Shows how a small group can perform a secret science project, over years. While the acting can be a bit off at times, something about this movie always intrigued me.

~Books: Deathstalker series, Simon Green: Had an interesting idea that if you wanted to create an anti-psionic device, you needed to cut up a psionics brain, put it in a box, and run electrical current to it. Hooray! You've just invented Mental Defense(tm)!

[Wanderer]

I want to add in my voice in support of the Julian May books. Her classification of psychic powers is one of the best and most "gameable" I have ever encountered. For most campaigns, I'd actually recommend starting with the Intervention series (which is basically a modern setting), followed by the Milieu series(more the sci-fi setting).The Saga of Pilocene Exile is a bit less smooth in its writing, and is a time travel/crossworlds semi fantasy-sci-fi blend (its still wonderful, and another of my ATF's). Her classification system (nonmetas, latents, semi operant 'wild talents' and operant metapsychics) works into HERO beautifully, as do her descriptions of the disciplines of psychic powers. she breaks them down as follows...
Coercion - the ability to overwhelm anothers will (mind contol, mainly)
Redaction - healing or long term manipultion (Transforms, mostly, as well as Healing and some forms of Aid)
Farsensing - Remote viewing, seeking, and mind to mind contact (Mind scan, mind link, telepathy, some detects)
Telekenetics - pretty straightforeward TK.. strength at range (TK, flight, some defences, etc..)
Creativity - psychic extension of the more common ability to imagine something then create it. ranges from illusion spinning to actual matter transformation. Also seems to include many of the "kenesis" forms that involve particle physics as the breaking point seems to be the ability to perceive the subject. For example... setting something on fire usually involves creativity, as most Psi's would simply "imagine" the target bursting into flames. To perform tha same act with TK, one would need to be able to "see" the molecules(using deep sensing farsight) and then deliberately speed their motion with TK (This is the biggest catch all power set, and can be covered by a WIDE assortment of powers)

A few other disciplines are discussed, including Prolepsis (precog/retrocog) and Teleportation, but they are considered unpredictable, hard to quantify, and rare abilities.
Additionally, she discusses many techniques and technologies for enhancing the effects of meta abilities.
Its a system that lend itself VERY well to a Talent and Power skill based VPP psi system.


I pretty much ganked this system lock stock and barrel for my Star Hero campaign when we went into a story arc that involved actual elite trained government backed Psi's. Which also involved the introduction of a NPC, code named Fenris, who was a former elite Black ops psi who was suffering from major post traumatic stress disorder, and who had fried his neurocircutry with long term use of Psi drugs and mechanical enhancers (built into his power armor). and yes, he had a bad case of the shakes... I had waited YEARS to base a character on Veteran of the Psychic Wars (Yes Bonedaddy, I too have Fire of Unknown Origin on vinyl, and remember BOC playing at the Keystone Palo Alto as Soft White Underbelly).
To make a campaign off this sort work out, I'd probably add a global X1 1/2 vunerablity to mental powers, possibly with a "Strong willed" talent available to remove it. In our 4th ed campaign, I handled the extra power levels with Aid powers to get the appropriate OOMPH.

Needless to say, I'll be keeping my eyes open for this one.

I would add that the Julian May classification system for Psi powers works equally well for giving a unified origin to super or magical powers in high-powered super or high fantasy systems, since the most powerful psis in the cycle look and feel rather like cosmic supers or high fantasy magicians, routinely pulling out feats like blowing up mountainsides, cross-planet teleportations, and the like. It gives a pretty much extensive SFX set for most typical "super" feats:

Standard Powers

Cohercion ("Mental Control":Ego Attack, Mind Control, Mental Illusions)
Redaction ("Biokinesis and Psychic Surgery": Aid, Healing, EB or RKA NND, Drain, Life Support, living matter Transform)
Farsensing (Detects, Clairsentience, Mind scan, Mind Link, Telepathy)
Telekinesis ("Force Control": TK, Flight, PD EB/RKA, Entangle, Defense Powers)
Creativity ("Energy Control": inanimate matter Transform, ED EB/RKA, Defense Powers, Images, Change Environment, Flash, Darkness, Life Support, Invisibility).
Teleportation (this actually a halfway case between standard and "oddball")

Several other powers, such as Shape Shift (a combination of Redaction and Creativity) would be possible by combining multiple "basic" powers.
In the series, Life Support: Immortality appears to be genetically linked to really-powerful Psi potential.

More rare, unreliable and less understood Powers:
Luck (a subcategory of Cohercion, strange as it seems: apparently, you get probabilities in your favour by gently mind-controlling the Universe)
Prolepsis: (Precognition/Retrocognition)
Teleportation (see above)

The series gives a lot of insight and ideas about the genetic basis of Psis, the impact of powerful psi/superpowers on both "fantasy" and starfaring societies, the genetics and physical science bases of psi/superpowers, technological and tecnique means of enhancing psi powers, and the mindset and impact on society of very powerful superpowered individuals (and their assorted psychological flaws).

Due to the power level and flexibility of use psi powers get in the series, psi are best modeled by large VPPs with Limitations like Activation Roll, RSR, Concentration, Endurance Limitations, Limited related to psychological states, No Conscious Control, Side Effects, and Visible. Most powerful psis (Marc Remillard, Aiken Drum, Jack the Bodiless, Diamond Mask, Felice Landry) look rather like cosmic supers, anime martial artists, and high fantasy wizards, so I think they should be with Superheroic rules (but using NCM), with 600-800+ pts.

I cannot but recommend the series for anyone interested in powerful psi as a basis for "powers" in fantasy, sci-fi or modern "superhero" (if you can stomach the Theilard de Chardain-slanted Catholic preachy bias and overtones of the author, who really tries to give you the feeling that ultimate subsumation in the pacifistic, goodey-good, God-like Cosmic Mass Overmind is desirable: myself, I kept seriously rooting for Aiken Drum and Marc Remillard and their elitist or anarchist individualistic Luciferian rebellion to transcendant subsummation in the God-Mind and Marc's crusade for individual transhumanist Singularity psychic godlike Transcendance as an alternative).

[Curufea]

Sorry to be picky, but to coerce, and coercion don't have an 'h' in them. From the Latin - coercere "to control, restrain". Although the medieval French did spell it with an 'h' - "cohercer"

And I should also add - I loved Aiken Drum from the Many Coloured Lands series - so much so that I designed the banner for my wargaming army to be his...
Purple with a gold "the finger" :)

[katal3]

You could also look at the Anime s-CRY-ed, I've only seen the first 5 episodes or so, but it looks pretty good. it takes it from more of a Matter manipulation end. Essentially the psychics or "Alters" as their called in the series blow chunks out of their surrounding environment and use the accumulated matter to build, in many cases, Mecha like constructions which they then use to beat the snot out of each other. The main character in the story creates a "Powered Armor" Arm with a STR of about 50 (he uses the thing to perform almost hulk like jumps) and three "Bullets" on the same shoulder which look like spike/fin things. And every time he uses one breaks down and produces about a 6 second burst of jet propulsion velocity and a really hefty punch with that arm.

[Susano]

Also look for DOMU, from Dark Horse comics. It's the story of a very young and a very old esper who do battle in a Tokyo apartment complex -- with highly destructive results.

Espers powers include: Flight, Teleportation, Telekinesis, Energy Blast, RKA, Mind Control, Telepathy, Desolidification, Mental Illusions, and others I am missing.

[AlHazred]

Many psionic characters from fiction come from unusual settings.

Per Hiero (that is, "Father" Hiero) is a priest in a pair of books by Sterling E. Lanier - Hiero's Journey and The Unforsaken Hiero. I've been waiting for book three for coming on twenty years. The main character gains vast psionic powers by tangling with an evil psionic conspiracy in post-holocaust USA. While many setting elements will be wildly inappropriate, the psionics is interestingly conceived. I also think the book was one of the bases for Gamma World.

Aside from Gil Hamilton, Larry Niven wrote a few other books with psionic characters. One of my favorites, A Gift from Earth, concerns Matt Keller, who turns out to have the power of psionic invisibility - Niven justifies it in a convincing and interesting fashion. Another book, World of Ptaavs, concerns Larry Greenberg, a low-level telepath who manages to achieve a high power level after an accidental contact with a much more potent alien psion. Both books are highly recommended, although the technology level might be too high.

There was at one time a burgeoning subgenre of science fiction that dealt with psionics. Many of the books concerned themselves with a psionic underground either working with or against government agencies to fight some sort of covert war. One classic novel from this period is A.E. van Vogt's Slan. If you read no other van Vogt, read this one.

Another science fiction series with psionics is Alan Dean Foster (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alan_Dean_Foster)'s Flinx series. Phillip Lynx (Flinx for short) is an orphan with psionic powers. As the books progress, he manages to be trained in a wide variety of psionic disciplines by a couple of aliens; you get the sense that they are training him for some grand purpose which remains obscure. The Flinx books are a subset of his Humanx Commonwealth (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Humanx_Commonwealth) novels.

Finally, another author who makes extensive use of psionics is Katherine Kurtz (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Katherine_Kurtz) in her Deryni novels (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deryni_novels). These are historical fantasy, about the Deryni race - nearly identical to humans, but capable of intense psionic development.

[NuSoardGraphite]

Anime is actually a great source for Psychic inspiration.

Aside from the oft-mentioned Akira there is a whole host of Psychic-based anime. So much so it can almost be considered a subgenre all its own.

Some of the one's I've seen include:

Dangaio (note: Not Great Dangaio...but the original)
A classic Giant Robot Anime. The pilots of Dangaio are all Psionic and Dangaio itself feeds off their psionic energies. The characters Psychic powers are quite powerful (all of them are Telepathic and Clairsentient to varying degrees) with each one having their own special ability. Those special powers are multiplied a thousandfold when they pilot their Psionic mecha: Dangaio. Its main "Special Attack" is called the Psychic Wave!.

Harmageddon:
A rare and hard-to-find anime these days (though it was recently released on DVD I do believe) this movie consists of a cast of mostly teens with vast psychic potential who are gathered together to save the world from total destruction.

Angel Cop:
Starts off kinda Cyberpunky. By the end ESPer powers fly back and forth like bullets in a Swartzennegger movie. This one is damned good and highly recommended, even if only to show just how brutal Psychic powers can be when used unchecked...

Hyper Psychic Geo: Garaga:
A very cool anime film. A ship crash lands on the planet Garaga. The crew fights to stay alive and gets caught in a war between a race of Ape-men and a race of Psychic humans. Then it gets nasty.

Birdy the Mighty:
Birdy is a space cop sent to earth to track down interstellar drug dealers. In the process of her investigation, she nearly kills an earthling by accident. In order to save his life, she fuses his body to hers (they share the same body) until repairs to his body are complete. (they change back and forth between Birdy and Tsutomu, which makes for interesting social situations)
How is this related to Psychics? The Interstellar drug dealers I mentioned earler...remember them? It turns out that the drugs they were designing turned humans into psychotic uber-Telekinetics. The resulting battles are quite spectacular.

There's a bunch more. I just need to delve into the mental hardrive and remember them...

[FenrisUlf]

Anyway, in Manly Wade Wellman's book The Hanging Stones, there was a theory that werewolves changed shape by accreting ectoplasm to their normal bodies...basically shapeshifting in this manner is a psychic phenomenon. I don't know if this is a real-world theory (Wellman used a lot of historical beliefs and actual parapsychological ideas in his writing), but it may be worth stealing anyway. Depending on how well it fits with the rest of the Psi system.

I believe that was a 'real' occult theory of the time. I remember something like it in a reprint of Elliot O'Donnell's book Werewolves, anyway.

He did the same thing in his Judge Pursuivant story 'The Hairy Ones Shall Dance', and something like that showed up in the first John story, 'Oh Ugly Bird!'.

[Mentor]

One of the BEST songs BOC ever made ;) Rep pour toi :)
Yepper from another fan.

[AlHazred]

There was at one time a burgeoning subgenre of science fiction that dealt with psionics. Many of the books concerned themselves with a psionic underground either working with or against government agencies to fight some sort of covert war. One classic novel from this period is A.E. van Vogt's Slan. If you read no other van Vogt, read this one.I didn't give a cite - there's a good review of Slan here (http://www.scifi.com/sfw/issue65/classic.html).

It occurred to me that a number of other van Vogt books also have psionic characters. He wrote a series of books about the world of Null-A (http://www.sfsite.com/04a/wn149.htm) (short for "Non-Aristotelian thinking"); the supermen of this setting have telepathic powers as the result of mastering the principles of General Semantics (a real-world philosophy similar to Dianetics in some ways). A good review of that used to be online; I found an archive of it here (http://web.archive.org/web/20041024152337/http://vanvogt.www4.mmedia.is/intronul.htm). Three books make up this series: The World of Null-A (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0765300974/qid=1126808893/sr=8-1/ref=pd_bbs_1/103-4685518-8556603?v=glance&s=books&n=507846), The Players of Null-A (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0425025594/qid=1126809122/sr=8-1/ref=sr_8_xs_ap_i1_xgl14/103-4685518-8556603?v=glance&s=books&n=507846), and Null-A 3 (http://www.home.earthlink.net/%7Eicshi2/Covers/Three85-02Sphere.jpg) (sorry, no review of the last one).

[Major Tom]

There's a couple of movies that you could check out for ideas: first of all,
there's Dark City (Rufus Sewell's character of John Murdock is the
prototypical esper hero, and the Strangers are typical of esper villains in
both film and anime). This film has one of the better mind-war scenes of
the genre (Murdock's duel with Mr. Book near the end of the film).

To a lesser extent, you could also use The Shadow for ideas. Lamont
Cranston's use of telekinetic powers to defeat Shiwan Khan is a decent ex-
ample of psychic power use (the scene in the film where Cranston shatters
the mirrors in the room where Khan is hiding out, and then uses one of the
mirror shards to take out Khan's mind-control powers).


Major Tom :cool:

[Susano]

I've never seen it, but does SCANNERS qualify?

[Enforcer84]

Yepper from another fan.
I too concur.
Don't let these shakes go on.

[Sketchpad]

I've never seen it, but does SCANNERS qualify?
I would say that'd be a prerequiste to any Psi campaign ;)

[Major Tom]

I've never seen it, but does SCANNERS qualify?


Oh, yeah. Scanners should definitely be a mandatory part of the film-
ography of any psi-war campaign.

BTW, limit your viewing to the original movie. The subsequent sequels really
suck big-time.


Major Tom :cool:

[Sketchpad]

Oh, yeah. Scanners should definitely be a mandatory part of the film-
ography of any psi-war campaign.

BTW, limit your viewing to the original movie. The subsequent sequels really
suck big-time.


Major Tom :cool:
I dunno ... I liked the 3rd one ... had some neat ideas in it ;)

[ParitySoul]

Okay a bit more of anime info:

Sc-ry-ed - The "alters" are actualy mentaly controled constructs from another dimention. What happened was that years ago an accident happened and the part of Japan called the "Raised Ground" fluxed upwards due to expanding extra dimentional matters entering it. Children born around this time developed a mental defence/reaction that allowed them to summon and adapt to the alien energies. The first Alter users were born.

Btw: As the series progresses, the various Alter uses learn to tap more and more into this other world. It's not healthy for human life but they encase themselves in physical manfestions of their mental energy. (Really out there.)

Gundam - Universal Centry is a perfect example of highpowered precogs duking it out over long ranges in space. Pilots who just are natruals are 'New Types', due to their evolution to space.

[Susano]

Silent Mobius has "Ylpers" (ESP & Esper is obsolete). Ylpers are capable of telekinesis, telepathy, precongition, telekinetic energy blasts and RKAs, teleportation (useable as an attack), and similar anime esper powers.

[lemming]

Woo-Hoo! One Oldmanship! I tend to think of it as song three, side A, from the album. Got it on Vinyl, baby. My first album.
Ha! It was my first wax cylinder!

Oh wait, cassette. (Along with a few others.)

So when is Blue Oyster Cult Hero coming out?

[ParitySoul]

Locke: The Superman- Basicaly a cosmic scale psion.

Babel 3rd- More of the same. But good source. It's all earth local.

Giant Robo- OVA not the TV series. The "Defenders of Justice" are a fun mix of super martial artists and psis.

[ThothAmon]

Other fiction worth examining (and I'm surprised it hasn't yet been mentioned given its winning of the Bram Stoker Award) would be Dan Simmons excellent psi-oriented Carrion Comfort, featuring many intriguing uses of Mind Control and Telepathy.

A slightly lesser known oldie-but-goodie that provided my teen years with a mind-blowing take on psis and psi-tech is the 50's classic Jack Of Eagles by James Blish. This deals directly with a Psi War and provides intriguing looks at psi powers, power levels and simple methods of countering the same. It's one of the earliest SF examinations of the psi genre and well worth the effort.

I'll echo the positive comments for Alfred Bester. Likewise for Brian Lumley but for the first three Necroscope novels only and none of the later ones. Then I'd suggest Lumley's Psychomech / Psychosphere / Psychoamok trilogy which deal directly with a specific Psi Wars genre. Their depictions of machine-augmented psionics are rather vivid.

Moviewise I'd suggest Scanners (first one only), The Dead Zone, Firestarter, The Fury, Carrie and I can think of an original Star Trek episode that fits the bill too.

[Admiral C]

I'll echo the positive comments for Alfred Bester. Likewise for Brian Lumley but for the first three Necroscope novels only and none of the later ones. Then I'd suggest Lumley's Psychomech / Psychosphere / Psychoamok trilogy which deal directly with a specific Psi Wars genre. Their depictions of machine-augmented psionics are rather vivid.


I'd second the Psychomech series. Your right about not bothering with Necroscope after the first three novels (for pis abilities) but it is a point a Psi HERO style book should cover. What happens when a psi dies? If he leaves a pyshic loop or imprint on the RW can other pis's sense it? I seem to remember the "Hunters Hunted" book for WoD had a Necropsi background in it that allowed you sense/comunicate/ and finally trap spirits. BTW there is a Necroscope RPG out there somewhere, I think WEG made it for their Masterbook series.

If it's a near future setting as well having some far future recomendations could good to. A HERO version of a GHOST (?) from Starcraft, or invading alien intelligences. Maybe samples on how to create "undecipherable alien mind" powers.

As for books and movies I'm really suprised nobody's suggested E.E. Doc Smiths "Lenseman" series. Definetly high powered though, and hard to find.

And of course a verse from the BOC song at the beginning of at least on chapter.

Adm

[Major Tom]

I've got a volume of the first Lensmen stories, so I'm slightly embarassed that
I didn't suggest it myself. The first generation of Lensmen (Virgil Samms, Rod
Kinnison, Conway Costigan, etc.) are tough hombres in their own right, but
come several centuries later (it's never specified exactly how many centuries
in the stories), here comes Kimball Kinnison, a Grey Lensman of such power
that not only can he take control of someone else's mind, but he can also
kill a criminal with his own guilty conscience.

Now, if that isn't an example of a guy not to frell with, I don't
know what is.


Major Tom :eg:

[ParitySoul]

Lensmen was a bit over the top. The Greylensman was the plot breaker who ended the war, etc. But if you work it from say a Triplanetary level, fine! :D

[Major Tom]

Lensmen was a bit over the top. The Greylensman was the plot breaker who ended the war, etc. But if you work it from say a Triplanetary level, fine! :D


They mentioned in GURPS Lensman that the Lensman series was
far from being finished at the time of E.E. Smith's death, and that he had
shown the story that he had begun work on to Robert Heinlein, but that it
wasn't yet ready for publication. From what was said, the plot of this un-
finished book was supposed to develop from clues that were in the last
couple of stories, and the implication was was that the war wasn't quite
over.


Major Tom :cool:

[Mutant for Hire]

Well, the whole framing sequence of Children of the Lens implied that whoever was going through the record capsule was doing it because something had come up and they needed to be briefed on the situation.

And the reason the book was unpublishable back then was because it was strongly implied in Children of the Lens that Kit Kinnison would mate with his sisters to produce a new race of Guardians.

[ParitySoul]

And the reason the book was unpublishable back then was because it was strongly implied in Children of the Lens that Kit Kinnison would mate with his sisters to produce a new race of Guardians.

Ah. That old Chestnut eh?:D

[Major Tom]

Well, the whole framing sequence of Children of the Lens implied that whoever was going through the record capsule was doing it because something had come up and they needed to be briefed on the situation.

And the reason the book was unpublishable back then was because it was strongly implied in Children of the Lens that Kit Kinnison would mate with his sisters to produce a new race of Guardians.


TMI, man. TMI.


Major Tom :eek:

[Admiral C]

Something I wanted to ask about PW is how big is it going to be? Is it going to HU: Urban Abyss big or DC: The Animated series big?

And is there going be extensive background material like package deals, vehicles, and equipment? The HERO EQ Guide doesn't really cover the in-between tech from DC to Terran Empire.

Also will PW come out after the new Ultimate Mentalist book?

Adm

[Lucius]

I definitely reccomend the non-fiction book Real Magic by Isaac Bonewits - specifically, he has a whole chapter discussing psionics, EXTREMELY well thought out and logically presented. The chapter on the Laws of Magic may give some good ideas about how psi plays, too. Much of the book may not be relevant to what you are interested in here, but I strongly suggest that chapter discussing categories of psi abilities.

I know you mentioned wanting to avoid roleplaying sources, but if you can find Authentic Thaumaturgy by the same author, I think it will give you most if not all of the same relevant materiel, and less extraneous matter, specifically written for use in RPGs.

Lucius Alexander

The palindromedary wants to go look at that puppeteer thread again for some reason.....

[Susano]

I definitely reccomend the non-fiction book Real Magic by Isaac Bonewits - specifically, he has a whole chapter discussing psionics, EXTREMELY well thought out and logically presented. The chapter on the Laws of Magic may give some good ideas about how psi plays, too. Much of the book may not be relevant to what you are interested in here, but I strongly suggest that chapter discussing categories of psi abilities.

I know you mentioned wanting to avoid roleplaying sources, but if you can find Authentic Thaumaturgy by the same author, I think it will give you most if not all of the same relevant materiel, and less extraneous matter, specifically written for use in RPGs.

I found Authentic Thaumaturgy unreadable and not very useful myself. Hmm... my copy is in my "sale" pile, in fact.

[Captain Obvious]

Oh, it was readable. Aside from Bonewits' annoying sense of humor, it wasn't a bad read, overall.

It was absolutely unplayable, however. It looks good with a cursory examination, but completely falls apart the minute you try to actually use it.

[Mentor]

Well, the whole framing sequence of Children of the Lens implied that whoever was going through the record capsule was doing it because something had come up and they needed to be briefed on the situation.

And the reason the book was unpublishable back then was because it was strongly implied in Children of the Lens that Kit Kinnison would mate with his sisters to produce a new race of Guardians.
Sort of forshadows the whole Heinlein later obsession with incestuous sexual relationships.

[Chris Goodwin]

I definitely reccomend the non-fiction book Real Magic by Isaac Bonewits - specifically, he has a whole chapter discussing psionics, EXTREMELY well thought out and logically presented. The chapter on the Laws of Magic may give some good ideas about how psi plays, too. Much of the book may not be relevant to what you are interested in here, but I strongly suggest that chapter discussing categories of psi abilities.

I know you mentioned wanting to avoid roleplaying sources, but if you can find Authentic Thaumaturgy by the same author, I think it will give you most if not all of the same relevant materiel, and less extraneous matter, specifically written for use in RPGs.


I've gotten more gaming use out of Real Magic than Authentic Thaumaturgy.

[CSgeekHero]

Something I wanted to ask about PW is how big is it going to be? Is it going to HU: Urban Abyss big or DC: The Animated series big?

And is there going be extensive background material like package deals, vehicles, and equipment? The HERO EQ Guide doesn't really cover the in-between tech from DC to Terran Empire.

Also will PW come out after the new Ultimate Mentalist book?

Adm
I'm hoping its Hudson City size with some near future sci-fi tech.

I do recommend all of the Star Wars movies. The main reason to do so is for pitfalls. The importance of not contradicting yourself later in the campaign and the question, "Just how over-the-top do we go with this concept?"

When I first heard about Psychic Wars, I thought it might be mildly interesting. Now, however, it has come up in one-shots and I've read through the threads and the cash is just-a-burnin'-a-hole-in-me-pocket!
:D :cool:

[Lucius]

I found Authentic Thaumaturgy unreadable and not very useful myself. Hmm... my copy is in my "sale" pile, in fact.

So I assume you'll sell it to me cheap?

Lucius Alexander

How many laws of magick do you see applying to the palindromedary?

[Susano]

So I assume you'll sell it to me cheap?

Sure. I'd just have to dig it out.

[Sketchpad]

Is Allen still going to work on this? I know that I've been looking foward to it :)

[Steve Long]

No. Since PW is very much Allen's baby (it wasn't an idea of mine or Darren's, it was his 100%), it will be removed from the schedule for the time being. Perhaps in the future we'll be in a position to hire him to write it as a freelancer, but for now it'll have to wait.

[daeudi_454]

That sucks but family comes first.
You could frellance him now.....hint hint

[TheQuestionMan]

Well allen, we know there is an indefinite delay on this Product, but I decided to start my usual shtick and find more Resources.

Psychic Wars Resources



Role Playing Games Resources



Novels Resources



Movie Resources



Comic Resources



Links Resources
GURPS Traveller: Psionics Institutes
http://forum.rpg.net/showthread.php?t=242289

*Surbrook’s Stuff (Thanks Susano)


Hero Games Discussion Boards Resources
Ethics for Mentalists
http://herogame.dans.cust.servlets.net/forums/showthread.php?t=41050



More later

QM

[TheQuestionMan]

Added Babylon 5 Telepath Wars - Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telepath_War



Cheers

QM

[TheQuestionMan]

Added The Shop [Threat Book] (Spycraft/Shadow Force Archer) by Alderac Entertainment Group
http://www.spycraftrpg.com/rpg/products.html

Cheers

QM

P.S.: Keeping The Dream Alive