- Note: Contact, Passive Contact, & Mass Contact are replaced with Contact (Proficiency) in the Revised Psionic System used in Skills & Powers.
Contact must be established before virtually any telepathic power can be used on another character or creature. It is just what its name implies contact between the minds of the telepath and another character or creature. Contact does not allow communication by itself; it is merely the conduit for other telepathic exchanges.
Many telepathic powers list " contact" as their initial cost. That means contact must be established in a previous round before those powers can be used. As long as contact is maintained, the psionicist can use other powers which require it, and can even switch (using attraction and then mindlink on the same subject after contact was established, for example).
A psionicist can maintain contact with more than one subject at a time, but he must contact each one individually, and pay a maintenance cost for each use of the power. For example, if a psionicist wishes to inspire awe in two subjects, he must establish and maintain contact with each one separately.
Once contact is established, it costs 1 PSP per round to maintain. The psionicist can perform any other action while maintaining contact. If he uses another telepathic power on the same subject while maintaining contact, the contact power is " free" (the cost of maintaining contact is covered by the other power's cost).
Establishing Contact: The initial cost of contact is based on the target's level or hit dice, as shown below.
| 1-5 levels or hit dice | 3 PSPs/round |
| 6-10 levels or hit dice | 8 PSPs/round |
| 11-15 levels or hit dice | 13 PSPs/round |
| 16-20 levels or hit dice | 18 PSPs/round |
A psionicist cannot contact a subject that he knows nothing about. In other words, he can't use this power to scan around and " see what's out there." He must either have his subject in sight or know specifically who or what he is looking for. He cannot, for example, try to contact any random orc which may or may not be standing behind a closed door. However, he can try to contact a particular orc which he has seen before.
If a psionicist fails to establish contact, he can try again the next round. Failure doesn't necessarily mean the target's mind cannot be contacted. Rather, it means the target has not been found yet. The psionicist can continue searching.
Several factors can make telepathic contact difficult to establish:
- how far the target is (distance)
- resistance by the target-especially if the target is a psionicist
- whether or not the target is an intelligent mammal
Each factor is described below.
Distance: The greater the distance between the two minds, the more difficult it usually becomes to make contact. If the psionicist can see the target either with normal vision or by using psionic powers -distance is not a factor. If the psionicist cannot see his target, normal range modifiers apply. Simply knowing where to look does not constitute seeing the target.
| Separation Distance |
Power Score Modifier |
|---|---|
| Line-of-sight | 0 |
| 1 mile | -1 |
| 10 miles | -3 |
| 100 miles | -5 |
| 1,000 miles | -7 |
| 10,000 miles | -9 |
The maximum range for establishing contact is 10,000 miles when a psionicist cannot view his subject. Contact can be maintained across any distance, however; it is not broken if a contacted subject moves out of range. There is one exception: contact cannot be extended beyond a crystal sphere.
Resistance: An untrained character - i.e., a nonpsionicist - can actively resist intrusion, resulting in a -2 modifier to the psionicist's power score. To resist, the character fills his mind with a barrage of thoughts and emotions much as a child avoids a lecture by plugging his ears and yelling. For example, a character might repeat a poem ad nauseam, or scream battle cries. However, even these efforts won't work unless 1) the character is specifically resisting psychic intrusion, and 2) resisting intrusion is his sole activity. If the character tries to fight or cast a spell, for example, his psychic defense has too many "holes" to be useful. Unless a wild talent knows a telepathic defense mode, he is as vulnerable to contact as any nonpsionicist.
Psionicists (and psionic creatures) are much better at resisting contact. In fact, this power won't work against them unless they intentionally drop their natural defenses. They must allow another psionicist to use contact on them, and can exclude some contacts while remaining open to others. If a psionicist resists, contact can only be established through mental attacks: psychic crush, ego whip, id insinuation, mind thrust, or psionic blast. See Chapter 2, " Psionic Combat" for more information.
Unusual Subjects: Contact can also be established with nonhuman minds, even plants. The further the subject is removed from mammals, the more difficult it becomes to establish contact. Modifiers that affect power scores are listed on the following page.
| Life Order | Contact Score Modifier |
|---|---|
| Mammal (except marsupial) | -1 |
| Marsupial | -2 |
| Bird | -3 |
| Reptile, amphibian | -4 |
| Fish | -5 |
| Arachnid, insect | -6 |
| Monster | -7 |
| Plant | -8 |
These modifiers are in addition to any distance modifiers that may apply. That means contacting a distant plant or monster is an uncertain proposition at best.
Breaking Contact: Contact is not severed until the psionicist breaks it off (fails to maintain it). If the person contacted is a psionicist, he may also do something to sever it. A psionicist often can eject an unwanted intruder (see "ejection").
Optional Rule: The minds of very intelligent beings are more difficult to latch onto. Increase the cost of contact by adding the creature's "# of Languages" minus two, as shown on Table 4 in Chapter 1 of the Player's Handbook. For example, a creature with intelligence 17 knows six languages. The cost of contacting this creature's mind is increased by four.
Power Score - The contact is maintained for four rounds for free.
20 - Further contact with this mind is impossible at this experience level.
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