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| The Disciplines |
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Clairsentience · Psychokinesis Psychometabolism · Psychoportation Telepathy · Metapsionics |
The two masters faced each other on the salt flat, taking each other's measure. For miles around, the landscape was a desolate plain of blinding white. Many men and women would have been hard-pressed to remain standing beneath the unendurable heat, but both of the masters were inured to physical hardship—the result of years of meditation and psionic study.
"There will be no peace between us, Eyal, "said the first psionicist. He was a stocky man with a clean-shaven head. A Balicite toga of white linen hung from his shoulder. "Seranda was my student, and you murdered her."
The other master shrugged. She was a half-elf with arched eyebrows and pale skin. She dressed as a Urikite merchant, although she had been born a slave in Raam. "Seranda was weak. She shouldn't have tried herself against me. If you've come to seek vengeance, get on with it. I'm tired of waiting."
The two locked gazes. Their eyes flashed as their powerful minds engaged in a fierce battle of unseen forces and indomitable wills. For minutes they struggled as the sun crept across the sky and the heat flooded the plain around them. Exhaustion brought a slump to their shoulders. Eyal sagged to one bent knee, while Rethistes' knees weakened. Inside their locked minds, the Balicite's ebon tiger clawed and snapped at Eyal's brazen gladiator. They were too closely matched.
Becoming desperate. Rethistes drew upon a deep reserve of strength and split his mind in to two halves. One continued to fight in the tiger; shape, while the other launched a second attack, streaking into Eyal's mind like a golden comet. Unable to fend off both attacks at once, the Raamite shrieked and collapsed.
Emerging from his trance. Rethistes advanced cautiously on his fallen opponent. Eyal lay sprawled on the ground. her limbs moving feebly, glazed eyes staring into the crimson sun. "Didn't know. . . that could be done." she gasped weakly. "Have . . . mercy."
"You will receive as much mercy as you showed Seranda," Rethistes said darkly. his Will reaching out again.
The study of metapsionics is the rarest and most esoteric of the mental arts. Even on Athas, a world where society is based on psionic powers, metapsiorlics are poorly-understood. Each of the other five disciplines boasts grand masters who have explored every possible power within that field, but metapsionics has no students who specialize in its mysterious ways. It may be the only discipline that can surprise an Athasian psionicist or strike fear into his heart.
The Role of Metapsionics[]
Unlike other disciplines, Metapsionics has no preconceived role in Athasian society. DARK SUN game NPCs know that they can expect telekinetic punches from a psychokineticist, but they have no idea what a mindbender versed in Metapsionics may be capable of. Only the most powerful masters—sorcerer-kings, leaders of psionic schools, or members of the Order—can grasp the full implications of Metapsionic powers.
Metapsionics are usually left alone by lower-level psionicists, regardless of their calling. A typical practitioner of the Way will desire access to powers with more immediate and tangible effects. Most NPCs begin to study Metapsionics only after they have learned the "best" powers from several disciplines to complement their command of their primary discipline.
The psionic academies of the city-states are probably the most common practitioners of Metapsionic powers. The most skillful and learned of the academy masters take up the study of Metapsionics for the sake of knowledge. In some city-states, research into Metapsionics is barred by the sorcerer-king for fear of potential rivals unlocking powers the tyrant can't control. It is rumored that some greater realm of power or stage of existence lies beyond psionics, and that the key to this unimaginable power lies somewhere in the Metapsionic arts.
From an adventuring standpoint, Metapsionics is usually a luxury that a low-level psionicist cannot afford. However, they can drastically multiply the power of certain disciplines. Psychokinesis and Telepathy are particularly dangerous disciplines when augmented by Metapsionic enhancements. The only constant advice that a Metapsionic character should keep in mind is to be creative and imaginative in the use of his special powers.
Metapsionic Advancement[]
To date, no student of the Way has managed to begin his learning by choosing Metapsionics as his or her primary discipline. It is possible that with the additional powers described later in this book, a character could begin to study Metapsionics. This is not recommended.
Metapsionic Powers[]
Several of the Metapsionic powers described in The Complete Psionics Handbook list "Telepathy" as a prerequisite. Mindlink fills this requirement.
Empower: It is possible to magically enchant a psionically empowered item. The item's creator must perform both actions, so a dual—or multiclassed psionicist/wizard of at least 10th/12th level is required. Sorcerer-kings and avangions would certainly qualify. The empowering and enchantment are completely independent of each other, so if one fails the other may still take effect.
Psychic Surgery: Some powers that can be permanently implanted in a character are: domination, fate link, attraction, aversion, awe, daydream, false sensory input, inflict pain, invincible foes, phobia amplification, post-hypnotic suggestion, repugnance, sight link, sound link, taste link, telempathic projection, acceptance, alignment stabilization, beast mastery, focus forgiveness, impossible task, hallucination, suppress fear, sensory suppression, amnesia, and passive contact.
Note that some of these are major game effects—a permanent domination or acceptance is a serious problem for the victim, and PCs should never be allowed to use these on other PCs. The DM should watch for characters who abuse this power and apply appropriate alignment penalties.
Split Personality: If a psionicist has the PSPs to do it, his personalities can split again by initiating this power. This is handled separately for each personality. If the psionicist was maintaining a power or had a girded or spliced power in effect, he decides if one or both personalities inherit its effects.
If a personality uses switch personality, the initiating personality will be transferred to the victim, taking full control, while the victim's personality becomes the second half of the psionicist's mind. They are in contact with each other. The victim can try to assert control over his new body, but must win a psychic contest against the psionicist. The psionicist uses his split personality power score, and the victim uses his level.
Cannibalize: A psionicist can cannibalize the body of a victim he has used switch personality on.
Psychic Drain: A victim of this power must have a combined Intelligence, Wisdom, and Constitution of 30 or greater. Subtract 30 from the combined scores to determine the psionic potential. The percentages described in The Complete Psionics Handbook apply to the victim's psionic potential loss. For example. a slave named Serak has an Intelligence of 13. a Wisdom of 15, and a Constitution of 14 The total is 42, so his psionic potential is a 12. Up to 6 points (a total of 60 PSPs) can be drained from Serak with no ill effects.
The psionicist does not have to stop when he exhausts the creature's psionic potential. He can continue until his victim's scores are reduced to 0. The victim must save versus death each time a score is drained to 2 or less or die. Serak can be drained for 33 points, which exhausts 100% of his psionic potential and forces a saving throw versus death. Nine more points can be drained, but each point that reduces an ability to 2 or less forces Serak to make another saving throw. Humanoid creatures without scores may be drained at the DM's discretion. Good examples are gith, jozhal, silt runners, or b'rohgs. A monster's psionic potential equals its numerical Intelligence score -10, so a gith of average Intelligence (9-11, average 10) has a psionic potential of 0 and can't be drained.
Receptacle: The psionicist's potential is equal to the number of PSP he began with as a 1st-level character. Take note: an empowered receptacle can hold an enormous number of PSPs! Many high-level psionicists such as members of the Order or sorcerer-kings probably have receptacles of this nature on their person.
Metapsionicist Template[]
Since psionicists cannot select metapsionics as their primary discipline, no template is needed.