- The Will and the Way Article
- Zeranna looked over the new class of students with an angry scowl. As the school's Master of Psychokinesis, she should have been exempt from such basic instructional duties. She enjoyed working with the advanced students who had selected her discipline as their own, but these children had not even been taught the most basic modes of concentration!
- Spoiled young nobles and wealthy merchants, she thought to herself: Well, one must begin somewhere. And their parents' tuition kept the school open. "Good morning, students," she began. "I am Master Zeranna. You will address me as such. Do any of you know why you are here today?"
- The class fell silent. The children fidgeted under her gaze. "You are here to learn how to harness the power of your mind through the Way," Zeranna continued. "All creatures possess the Will—the potential for psionic power—but without schooling in the Way, they will never be able to use their hidden gifts. Some of you will listen and learn. Others of you will spend months here without comprehending a thing I say. The decision is up to you. Now, shall we begin?"
The Will and the Way explores psionics and psionicist characters in the DARK SUN campaign setting. In this book you'll find psionicist character kits, an expanded psionic combat system. and guidelines for developing new psionic abilities. Dungeon Masters (DMs) will find information about psionics and Athasian society, NPC psionicist templates. and discussions of character advancement and research. This book also features more than 60 new psionic powers, with updated power listings and wild talent tables.
Although this product is part of the DARK SUN setting, it is suitable for any campaign with psionics. If this material will be used in game worlds besides Athas, the DM should review the new powers and guidelines before allowing their use.
The Will and the Way refers to material that appears in The Complete Psionics Handbook. If you do not have a copy,
you should obtain one before you try to incorporate this material into your campaign. This book also assumes the reader has a copy of Dragon Kings. If you're not using the psionic powers and rules for advancement from Dragon Kings, some charts and listings may refer to powers unavailable in your campaign.
Psionics on Athas[]
Psionics are prevalent everywhere in the DARK SUN campaign. Every living creature on Athas will have contact with psionics during its lifetime. Creatures may possess talents that help them to hunt or survive, people with natural talents fill the cities, and even nonpsionic creatures and characters must deal with their psionic counterparts. Those who can't adapt to these conditions will not survive beneath the crimson sun.
All living things are blessed with some psionic potential, even if they do not develop mental powers. This potential is the summation of three characteristics: physical strength, mental strength, and spiritual strength. Only by using all three aspects together can a creature call upon its psionic energies.
Physical strength does not refer to muscle mass or hardiness; a more accurate term would be physical self-awareness. Students of the Way strive to understand their bodies, their limits, and their strengths. Many people are not paragons of physical prowess, but still enjoy an aptitude for psionics simply by recognizing their weaknesses and compensating for them.
Mental strength refers to the one's intellectual strength and mental quickness. As with physical strength, it's not how much the characters possess but how well they use it. People of only average intelligence have achieved mastery of the Way by compensating for their lack of brilliance with perseverance and determination.
Spiritual strength is the summation of strength of will and character. While it is possible for physically weak or mentally weak characters to use psionics, it is very difficult for a weak-willed person to ever proceed far in the study of the Way.
When people learn to use psionics, they're taught to create a nexus—a point in the center of their beings where physical, mental, and spiritual energy can be harnessed. It is the union of these powers that allows psionicists to perform the remarkable feats they're capable of.
The Will[]
Athasians use the term "Will" to refer to someone's innate ability for psionics. A nomad with a wild talent is said to have the Will, while a noble who studies at an academy of the Way but never learns more than the theory of psionics clearly lacks the Will. Without the desire to push oneself, to master the forces within, a person can never learn to use the Way.
To psionicists, Will also refers to reserves of mental strength. Using psionic powers can be strenuous, and the limit of a character's endurance is his Will. Eventually, even the most powerful of masters becomes exhausted and must rest to replenish his strength. When wounds and exhaustion cloud the vision and the mind swims in delirium, only the greatest masters still possess the Will to continue using their powers.
In game terms, Will is represented by a character's psionic strength points (PSPs). With time and self-study (rising in level), a character's psionic strength increases. As psionic strength points are expended, the Will diminishes. Use of psionic powers becomes harder and harder, until finally the energies can't be summoned again until the character rests.
The Way[]
The Way is the study of the psionic sciences. Many people may possess the Will, but unless they are schooled in the Way they will never do more than scratch the surface of their potential. The study of the Way is difficult and demanding; not every creature with the Will can learn the Way, but every master of the Way must possess a strong measure of Will.
The Way is very similar to the study of magic. Just as wizards strive to master more advanced and difficult spells, psionicists seek to unlock new and more powerful abilities. Unlike wizardry, there is no single formula that will reproduce an effect of the Way that will work the same for each individual. Students must independently develop the command of their powers.
While many beings can discover the strength of the Will within themselves, most who go on to study the Way require
guidance from a teacher. There are schools of the Way in every city of Athas, and merchant houses and noble families often pay dearly to have their scions educated by the best. Rarely, the academies waive tuition for a promising student of the free classes. Slaves are never formally instructed in the Way.
In addition to the formal schools, there are wandering teachers or tribal elders who take it upon themselves to instruct those who show promise. Even field slaves may be instructed by an older, wiser slave in secret sessions. Most of these tutors can't provide the quality of training that a formal curriculum can, but some wandering masters are very capable and can provide an unrivalled education in the psionic arts.
Tarandas of Raam[]
Psionics have been a part of Athasian society for thousands of years. It is almost certain that use of mental power predates the founding of most of the city-states of the Tyr region. The modern culture's understanding of psionics dates back almost 900 years to a woman known as Tarandas, the Gray Lady.
Tarandas was a member of the Raam's nobility who displayed potent psionic talents at a very early age. At that time, no formal psionic schools existed. All psionic learning was passed on by the efforts of individual masters who often banded into orders to pursue their own goals. As a young woman, Tarandas quickly rose past the teachings of the masters her family hired and began to develop her own methods of accessing psionic power.
Over the course of her lifetime, Tarandas codified the six disciplines and created the basic structure of learning that is still used by instructors throughout the Tyr region. She rejected the various orders that monopolized psionic power, and she opened an academy where people could study the Way without the mystery and deceit that had been fostered by the orders, who sought to preserve their own power.
It is said that Tarandas ventured beyond mastery of the Way into realms unseen by lesser beings. She vanished 800 years ago, her fate unknown.
Although thousands of Athasians command a unique talent, true masters of the Way—or "mindbenders"—are still rare. It takes exceptional ability and dedication to take up the study of the Way, and many do not progress far. Less than one person in one hundred can be considered a true psionicist.
Because trained psionicists are scarce, they are highly valued by many elements of Athasian society. Unlike defilers and preservers, psionicists are free of the taint of magic and need not disguise their calling. They owe no loyalty to the sorcerer-kings, unlike the templars. Even clerics and druids have elemental powers and guarded lands that they must place before all other considerations. Psionicists are free of these patrons and responsibilities and may employ their powers as they see fit.
Any psionicist willing to sell his services will find there is great demand for someone skilled in the mental arts. Merchant houses, psionic schools, nobles, and templars routinely employ psionicists to help them against their enemies. In fact, it is unusual to encounter a psionicist who has no patron or employer. They are often seen as troublemakers.