Psychic abilities, combat and mysteries of the Warp

“Mistakes are the portals to discovery.”

– Magnus the Red, primarch of the XV Legion

Among many mysteries and achievements of the Imperium, Psychic Powers are by far the most outstanding. Primitive societies of the ancient Terra and some of the extraterrestrial survivors of the Old Night saw them simply as “magic”. Religious zealots from before the Unification Wars claimed, that they are either miracles or devilish possessions. Tyrants of techno-barbaric era used them only as tools to enslave their subjects, amplifying them by crude technology. After their defeat from the hands of the Emperor, humanity began to see the true meaning of Psychic Powers as the natural, inner potential, that – given enough time, work and contemplation – can be unleashed by those most unique in their dedication and abilities.

The Emperor himself claims so, patiently explaining that even though he is a singular example of psychic potential and mastery over it, there is nothing supernatural about skills shown by Astropaths, Navigators or so called “sanctioned psychers”. Even amon Legiones Astartes there are some warriors capable of manipulating the powers of the Warp. And speaking of the Warp…

A riddle within a riddle, that’s what this weird, unwelcoming dimension is in lame man’s terms. Scientifically, there is no dominant theory about the nature of the Immaterium, as it’s called by Astra Telepathica, although members of the Mechanicum claim that it’s either a kind of a wormhole tunnel through the galaxy or even a transit way through parallel Universe. For common citizens of the Imperium, the only important truth about the Warp is that it is traversable for imperial fleets. Marvellous technology of Mars, improved by Emperor’s genius, allows mankind to thrive among the stars, reaching the furthest corners of the galaxy in the manners of weeks or months, a feat impossible for any other kind of technology. Yet again, nothing about Warp-travel can be taken for granted, as the time and distance within it are often fluid beyond any measurements and estimations, even those made by the highest adepts of Mechanicum.

In strange tides of the Warp entire fleets were lost, ships vanished for months or years, appearing much later than they should or in entirely different sector than intended. Magnus the Red, primarch of XV Legion, describes it as the Great Ocean, picturing in slightly more poetic manner its unpredictable, elemental nature, seeing Warp-travellers as daring sailors on still undiscovered waters. Second only to Emperor himself in his psychic might and prowess, Magnus claims that humanity’s connection to the Warp should be taught and pondered upon with the same care and importance, as the void and Warp-faring of imperial fleets.

Rogue psychers, as those unregistered and untrained by imperial officials are called, can present grave danger to themselves and those around them, as they ability to control and understand their connection to the Warp are extremely limited. Tapping to powers of the Great Ocean can result in flood of destructive, limitless torment of psychic energies, manifesting in variety of forms. Even now, at the brink of humanity’s domination over the galaxy, Psychic Powers are still a mistery yet to be fully discovered, just as the true nature of the Warp itself.

Obviously, taking a sip of those inscrutable waters can be used not only to sail through their wayward tides, but also as a weapon of conquest, wielded by servants of the Imperium. Just as if one would try to tilt the door in a submarine to let only as much water in as they need, tapping to the Warp itself is extremely dangerous and demanding endeavour. Rules and schools of using Psychic Powers can be very different in their approaches to “what” and “how”. One sees the Warp in more technical, scientific way, that should be operated through set of routines, mental codes and discipline of will. Descendants of Fenris or Chogoris believe those powers to be reflections of more spiritual, tribal, even animalistic understanding of forces strictly related to their world of origin, that should be sought out through the same heuristics on any other world. Members and disciples of Thousands Sons Legion connect in-depth studies of ancient cultures and rituals with scholarship, meditations and cosmological philosophy, allowing them to see the Great Ocean as en environment of forces and beings that can be analysed, understood and harnessed through sheer willpower and knowledge.

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Whichever approach will you choose for your usage of Psychic Powers, it will always be a struggle against a quasi-elemental force that tries to resist you in nearly conscious, purposeful way. Each time you need to perform several steps to be able to conjure a psychic effect of your design: tap into the Warp for a start, check how much of its potential can you and will you use, describe the specific result you wish to manifest and, finally, resist the pushback from the Warp itself, when you try to “steal” its might from this raging vortex of primordial chaos.

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There are 2 decks of cards – one used by the player (Psychic Powers deck), the other – by the GM (Warp Powers deck).

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There are 4 types of powers represented by the cards:

• Life&Death (green) – healing, growth, endurance, decay, weakness, disease etc.
• Knowledge&Power (blue) – arcane magic, elemental forces, transcendent experiences, willpower & soul
• Mind&Heart (purple) – emotions, desires, fears, thoughts, temptation & motivation
• War&Blood (red) – physical potency & destruction, wrath & glory, combat rage, enhancing weapons etc.

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Each card, despite of its colour, bears a number of Essence symbols (dots), representing their corruptive or illuminating potential. Either one of those should be considered by the psycher while they’re trying to conjure a specific effect of their powers:

• Corruption (black) – chaotic, destructive, primordial forces, suitable for dark rituals, forbidden knowledge and annihilation
• Illumination (white) – mystical, arcane, often constructive or empowering forces, expanding mind, awareness and understanding of complex matters

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In the mechanical terms, each Psychic Power use consists of 3 phases, each made of specific steps in which two decks of cards are involved. Those are representing resources available to the player and the nature of opposite forces they have to deal with.

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SETUP PHASE

0. Meditation test (if performed at least 1 hour before the usage of Psychic Powers) – success = +Xk6 to Psyche test

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1. Psyche test – TN dependant on situational conditions (combat engagement, proximity to danger, environmental pressure) – success = reveal X cards from player’s Psychic Powers deck (X = Psyche level) +1 for each Extra success.

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EXAMPLE:

Our psycher finds himself in the middle of the city invaded by Greenskins. He’s running down the narrow alley, while out of a sudden one big, bloodthirsty Orc jumps out of nowhere straight at him, swinging his crooked, enormous axe.

Our psycher instinctively connects with the Warp. He tests his Psyche (2), rolling 2d6 + 1d12. TN for this test is set high, at 18, as the character is unprepared and in extremely stressful, dangerous situation. He scores 2,6 and 10 – success with one Extra (6 on d6) level. He reveals a number of Psychic Powers cards equal to his Psyche level (2) +1 for each Extra success in Psche test (+1).

The revealed cards are 1 Knowledge&Power (2 Corruption Essence points), 1 Mind&Heart (2 Illumination points) and 1 Life&Death (2 Corruption)

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2. Player chooses as many of the revealed cards as they need to use for desired effect of their Psychic Powers usage.

Unused cards are tapped (turned sideways) and are ignored in further steps of Psychic Powers tests.

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EXAMPLE:

Our psycher decides to dominate the feeble mind of his physically indomitable opponent. He wishes to subdue the Orc and at the same time, if the first idea wouldn’t work, he tries to telekinetically deflect the giant axe swinging towards him. As powers of Life&Death do not appeal to him at the moment, he ignores them, tapping out the unused card.

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*The player may exchange tapped cards for their spare ones, should they own any. Exchanged cards are treated as used, adding Essence points to player’s Temporal pool and getting included in the powers conjuring the effect.

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EXAMPLE:

If our psycher would have a spare card, saved from his previous use of Psychic Powers, he could exchange the unwanted one for another Mind&Heart power card. That would greatly increase the potential of his effect, possibly extending both the time and the level of control he tries to gain over the Orc, making psycher’s safety the highest priority and desire in the pathetic life of the Greenskin.

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The player adds a number of Temporal Corruption / Illumination points to their character sheet equal to the sum of Essence dots on the used cards

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3. Psychic Prowess test for TN set by GM (based on the difficulty and complexity of an effect desired by the player). The player may add +X to the final result of they roll, where X = number of Essence dots from the used cards.

X success levels = X actions the player may use in Control Phase

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EXAMPLE:

Our psycher has just 1 level in Special Secondary Skill – Psychic Prowess. However, GN decides that both pieces of effect he tries to conjure are quite simple – psychic deflection of a inanimate object and short-term confusion of an idiotic mind to present himself as an ally. The GM sets TN for 14. The player rolls 1d6 + 1d12, scoring 4 and 8. 12 is less than 14, yet both cards used for the effect have total Essence value of 4. Our psycher adds that 4 to his test result, scoring 16 in the end. One, basic level of success, grants them 1 action to make in the next phase.

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CONTROL PHASE

1.GM reveals the same number of cards from his Warp Powers deck as the player did in their Psyche test.

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GM chooses only the cards of the same colour (type of power) as those used by the player and taps the rest. Then summarises the number of Essence dots chosen cards have.

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EXAMPLE:

It seems that our psycher is quite lucky or the wild torrents of the Warp are temporarily benevolent to him. The GM revealed 3 cards out of which only 1 matches any power used by the psycher. To conjure the effect, the player needs to have total value of Essence points equal or higher than the cards revealed from the Warp deck. Right now the psycher wins 4 to 1.

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ACTIONS IN CONTROL PHASE

The player may take as many actions from those listed below, as the result of his Psychic Prowess test allows. The GM may use the same actions for the cost of 1 Ruin Point for each of them. In the Control Phase, the player and GM exchange the turn of actions, starting with the player, until no one is able or willing to make another action.

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a) the player spends a number of Temporal Corruption / Illumination Points equal to the number of Essence dots on GM’s cards to discard those cards (they are put at the bottom of GM’s deck). If they do, the GM looks at X cards from the top of his deck, where X = Essence of the discarded card. GM chooses one of those cards and replaces the discarded one with it, putting the rest on the bottom of their deck.

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b) the player discards one of their revealed cards (including the tapped ones) and replaces it with the first card from the top of their deck. This card is treated as used, adding Essence points to their Temporal pool and potentially activating any of the GM’s tapped cards

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c) the player spends a number of Temporal Corruption / Illumination Points equal to the number of Essence dots on their own used cards and discards it. They keep that card for future use of Psychic Powers, so they can exchange it for any tapped cards in Setup Phase (point 2).

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d) the player spends a number of Temporal Corruption / Illumination Points equal to the number of Essence dots on their own used card and discards it. Then they look at X cards from the top of their deck, where X = Essence of the discarded card. The player chooses one of those cards and replaces the discarded one with it, putting the rest on the bottom of their deck.

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e) the player spends an Astronomicon Point to make any of the aforementioned actions without paying any other costs.

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OUTCOME PHASE

After making all tests and actions, the final summaries of cards Essences are compared between GM and the player.

Player’s Essence >/= GM’s Essence = full control over the Warp (effect as intended)

GM’s Essence > Players’s Essence = GM rolls d20 for Warp Rift effect and number of permanent Corruption Points the player gets as a result of their failure in controlling their Psychic effect.

When the final result is established, the player adds as many Permanent Corruption / Illumination points to his Dichotomy score, as he has unused Temporal points of a kind.

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Engulfing yourself in the essence of Immaterium always leaves a mark. Whatever that other reality truly is, it isn’t ours and the elements of it aren’t meant to be in our world. While exercising your Psychic Powers upon the Warp, you change, bend or violate natural laws or the “material” world, which in turn checks, how much changed you’ve emerged from that psychic struggle.

Low levels in either Corruption or Illumination will be barely noticeable by anyone, yourself included. With just a few points in the former, you may be more prone to anger, a little disorganised in your actions and thoughts. Point or two in former will attune your mind and instincts to more ephemeral, transcendent truths, finding meaning in things that once were mysteries and better understanding of unspoken thoughts of those around you.

The further you’ll go on the path of Illumination, you’ll be able to gaze further in the tissue of the Universe, beyond the reach of your first sight. Precognition, ease in wielding psychic, mystical forces, prodigious, almost syntactical analysis of the Warp and its torrents will come at cost of distancing yourself from mundane matters and material world. You may become an inspirational figure, as well as aloof, irritatingly ambiguous companion. For men of flesh and blood transcendence towards illumination may be a journey without return.

Corruption, on the other hand, tends to offer the same fruits on much more appealing and reachable soil. Not only your deepest desires become clearer, you also feel more empowered than ever before to realise them, no matter the cost. Anything or anyone standing between it and you become obstacles, however means to overcome them present themselves to you, if only you’ll dare to reach for them. The closer you are in heart in mind to the darkest core of the Immaterium, the less reservations you’ll have before doing absolutely anything against your foes, if only you can harness the strength to do it. Desires become obsessions. Animosities become raging storms of hatred and rivalry. Secrets become irresistible temptations, the power – addiction. Soon you barely can handle simplest human interactions, because the Warp has so much more to offer and things that dwell in it require so much more of you…

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Cleansing yourself from excessive influence of one or the other Essence is a hygienic routine, a habit any sentient, skilled and disciplined psycher should establish as soon as possible. Meditations, rituals, exercises, discussions with Iterators – anything that balances you back to your default state of mind will suffice, if only you do it regularly and purposefully. On the other hand, delving deeper in one or the other well of mysteries, allows you to see and reach much further, while you submerge yourself in primordial waves of the Great Ocean. No solutions seems more valid than the other, yet – sooner or later – you’ll have to find your own.

Should the player keep any of their cards during Control Phase (action “c”), the number of Essence dots on the kept cards set minimum level in respective Dichotomy. Until those cards are discarded, that level cannot be lowered beneath that score.

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