Elemental Psionics

Rules AD&D 2nd Edition
1

Branching off from the Genasi topic, this is going to be me playing around with some ideas for an elemental system… nominally psionic, I’m teetering on how much it will owe to the base psionics system. If I go too far, is it still a psionics system?

A couple different ideas:

Power Score is Constitution + Element-defined attribute. Subtract difficulty of the power (between 5 and 25), and roll under.

Power Score is Constitution + Element-specific skill (i.e. water or air or fire). Subtract difficulty of power, and roll under.

First sets the numbers a lot higher; in DS, you might be looking at a base of 43, meaning your most difficult of powers are trivial (“roll under a 19!”). Second, we need some distance from, but maybe something like a NWP? I want people widely competent at level 9, but have to keep in mind the level 20 and 30 game, since we’re talking about Dark Sun.

Gonna hit enter on this. Think I have some basics laid down in my head.

2

So, some design constraints:

  1. This should work for Dark Sun and non-Dark Sun 2e games. Dark Sun will have it easier, because of higher attributes, but that’s always been true of psionics.

  2. This has to work at multiple levels; 1st level characters shouldn’t be useless, 9th level characters shouldn’t be too amazing, doing things at 20th level shouldn’t be effortless, but shouldn’t be impossible.

  3. Shouldn’t make it pointless to be a psionicist. These guys won’t be terribly good at things usually handled by Telepaths, regardless, but it shouldn’t be that they make Psychokinetics or Psychometabolics pointless, either.

I think I have it.

All power checks are attribute-based, attribute determined by element, then modified by the difficulty of the effect. Total PSP cost comes from Concentration, Range, AoE, Duration, and Effect difficulty.

Earth: Constitution
Air: Intelligence
Water: Wisdom
Fire: Charisma

Concentration Time (Modifier)
20 minutes (1)
10 Minutes (2)
1 minute (3)
10 seconds (4)
1 Second (5)

Range (Modifier)
Personal (1)
Touch (2)
Close (3) (10’)
Medium (4) (60’)
Long (5) (300’)

Duration (Modifier)
1 second (1)
10 seconds (2)
1 minute/Momentary/Concentration (3)
10 minutes (4)
20 minutes (5)

Duration needs modification; it was designed for a roundless system, and needs to be converted to rounds again.

Area of Effect (Modifier)
Each Individual Affected (1)

AoE needs modification; we’re not dealing with people so much as chunks of elements.

Then we need specifics based on each element; those will determine difficulty, and round out the cost. Going to have to switch desks in a few minutes.

3

New Duration
*Instant (1)
*1 round (2)
*1 Turn/Momentary/Concentration (3)
*20 minutes (4)
*60 minutes (5)

Instant effects are one and done; I throw a thing, and the influence is gone. Momentary, however, is something that will have a lasting effect on what is changed. The Psychokinetic “Ballistic Attack” is instant… the rock is thrown, without being changed. Stone Shape would be Momentary… the rock is changed, and then it sticks in its new form.

New Area of Effect:
Tiny (1)
Small (2)
Medium (3)
Large (4)
Huge (5)
Gargantuan (6)

A mote of flame is Tiny; a passage through stone is Medium (maybe more), a room full of fire is Gargantuan.

4

Missed that Concentration was also going to need modification. Dur.

Concentration
1 Hour (0)
20 Minutes (1)
10 Minutes (2)
5 minutes (3)
1 round (4)
Action (5)

So, if you take 5 minutes to think about it, you add a 3 to the total cost. If you’re preparing it for the next round, it will be 4. If you’re just wanting to do it as your action this round, it’s 5.

5

Aerokinesis

Aerokinesis involves the movement of air. Quick and agile, Air is governed by Intelligence, and those who use Air must be able to think of the many ways that the air will interact with the air around it; the proverbial butterfly that can set off a storm.

Air is frequently used for pressure or pushing. The difficulty of an effect is set either by its strength or its complexity.

Attacks with pure air are always 1d2 if Tiny, d3 if Small, d4 if Medium, d6 if Large, d8 if Huge, and d10 if Gargantuan, plus the equivalent strength.

1 - Push something with a gust of wind. Strength of 10.
2 - Direct air up or down, lifting or shoving it downward. Strength of 13.
3 - Surround something with air; spin it, move it, protect it with air. Strength of 16
4 - Remove the air from a place. Strength of 18/50.
5 - Create solid objects with air. Strength of 18/00
6 - Strength of 21
7 - Strength of 24

So, pushing something (say, an aerokinetic punch across the room) is only 1 in complexity, and would be 1d3 damage if Small… it if you increase it to a difficulty 7, you punch with the strength of 24, doing 1d3+12. If you wish to lift a small object, it requires a strength of 10, but it has a complexity, and thus difficulty, of 2.

Working with the motion of the wind always reduces the difficulty by 1; going directly against it increases the difficulty by 1.

Some Aerokinetic powers:

Aerokinetic Flight: 5 minute concentration (3), Personal Range (1), Concentration duration (3), Medium AoE (3, just your Medium-sized self), Difficulty of 5 (only 3 to move someone, but that’s also a strength of 16 and… that’s not gonna move me). Total cost of 15 (3+1+3+3+5), succeeds on a Int-5 check.

Wind Punch: Action Concentration (5), Touch Range (2), Instant Duration (1), Tiny AoE (1, just the surface of your fist), complexity 7 (because I want to hit like a half-giant). 5+2+1+1+7, 16 PSPs, Int-7 check.

Bubble of Air: 1 round concentration (4), Personal range (1), 1 turn duration (3), Large AoE (4; me and my friends), 3 Complexity (surround us with clean air). 4+1+3+4+3, or 15 PSPs, and Int-3 check.

6

Hydrokinesis

While air is quick and agile, water mixes its agility with a sense of solidity. It must be felt, and responds best to those with powerful wills; Wisdom guides the hydrokinetic.

Like Air, water is used for pushing, and difficulties are set by complexity or strength. Unlike air, however, hydrokinesis is often limited by the availability of water; creating effects above Tiny size without an available source of water is exceedingly difficult. The hydrokineticist must identify their source of water (if it’s not obvious), and the AoE will be increased by two or three levels to find the water in the area.

Damage from Water is d3 if Tiny, d4 if small, d6 if Medium, d8 if Large, d10 if huge, and d12 if Gargantuan. Remember, larger than tiny is difficult.

1 - Move water itself; move it through the air in three dimensions, or along the ground. Strength of 11.
2 - Manipulate objects in the water; Strength of 14
3 - Dissipate bodies of water. Strength of 17
4 - Concentrate water from the air, freeze water. Strength of 18/51
5 - Remove water from a body or object, Strength of 18/00
6 - Strength of 21
7 - Strength 24

Sample Hydrokinetic powers:
Dessication: Action Concentration (5), Touch Range (2), Instant Duration (1), Medium AoE (3, that durn elf), Complexity 5 (Remove water from his body). Does d6+6 damage (equivalent strength). 5+2+1+3+5. 16 PSPs, Wisdom -5 check

Water Walking: 5 minute concentration (3), Personal Range (1), 10 minute duration (3), Medium AoE (3 just you), Complexity 2 (walk on top of the water) . 3+1+3+3+2, 12 PSPs, Wisdom -2 check

Call Water: 1 hour concentration (0), Medium Range (4; determined by the DM, based on the terrain), Momentary duration (3), Large AoE (6; calling about 50 gallons of water, but 2 extra because you don’t have a ready body of water), 4 Complexity (calling water from the air): 0+4+3+6+4. 17 PSPs, Wisdom -4 difficulty. The DM might determine that you need more range, if you’re in something like a salt flat.

7

Pyrokinesis

Fire is fast and hungry; it consumes what it touches, and only the charismatic can burn as hotly and keep it at bay. Charisma guides the Pyrokinetic.

Pyrokinesis, unlike the other elements, lacks force; fire burns, but it does not push or pull. Like water, it can also be difficult to produce, because fire does not usually burn upon the land. However, heat is something Athas has in abundance, so it is easier to find the source of fire. Complexity and/or AoE’s without a ready fire are usually only 1 higher, except in odd circumstances.

Fire consumes; even without force, it does significant damage. At tiny, it does 1d4+1 damage. At small, it does 2d4+2, 3d4+3 at Medium, 4d4+4 at Large, 5d4+5 at Huge, and 6d4+6 at Gargantuan. Fire does damage based on its own size, or the size of the target, whichever is lower; a tiny mote of flame will do 1d4+1 damage even to a giant, but a conflagration that consume the Huge giant will do 5d4+5. However, increasing the complexity can increase the damage above the size limit.

1 - Move fire from place to place; throw bolts, move it in a certain direction.
2 - Keep fire away from a place or person. Intensify a fire to a minimum of 2d4+2 damage.
3 - Extinguish fire. Intensify a fire to a minimum of 3d4+3 damage.
4 - Intensify a fire to a minimum of 4d4+4 damage.
5 - Intensify a fire to a minimum of 5d4+5 damage.
6 - Intensify a fire to 6d4+6 damage.

Sample Pyrokinetic Powers:
Protection from Fire: Action concentration (5), Personal Range (1), 10 minute duration (3), Medium AoE (3), Complexity 2; 5+1+3+3+2; 14 PSPs, Charisma -2 check

Firehose: Action concentration (5), Close range (3), 10 minute duration (3), Small AoE (2), Throw Fire (1; there is a campfire nearby). 5+3+3+2+1; 14 PSPs, Charisma -1 check. For 10 minutes, you can direct fire at anyone within 10 feet of you, doing 2d4+2 damage if they are Small or bigger.

Redirect Fire: 1 Round concentration (4), Personal Range (1), Concentration Duration (3), Gargantuan AoE (6), 1 Complexity (move a fire in a given direction): 4+1+3+6+1. 15 PSPs, Charisma -1 check. Lets you move a house-sized fire away from a place.

8

Terrakinesis is going to take too long; we close in 30 minutes, and there’s pick-up stuff to do. But, some thoughts on the Elemental Psionicist.

Requires a 15 in their primary ability, depending on their first element. Must also have a 12 in two other elemental attributes, and at least a 9 in the fourth.

At level 1, choose a single element. PSPs equal to that element’s attribute on PsiHandbook’s Table 5: Inherent Potential (or the Inherent Potential chart in DS Campaign Setting) plus 10. At each level, 10 PSPs plus those based on that attribute (so, a pyrokineticist with a 16 Charisma gets 11 PSPs each level after 1st).

At level 7, choose either a second element, or a -1 to complexity (and PSP costs) for your primary element. You henceforth gain PSPs based on your Primary and Secondary element bonuses (so, if our 16 Charisma pyro has a 17 Intelligence and chooses Air, they will now get 10 + 1 +2, or 13 PSPs per level). You may now do para-elemental effects if your two elements border each other; Use the more expensive complexity, and add 1.

At level 13, you may either choose a new element, or reduce complexity in your primary element by 1 more (minimum 0). If you add a new element, its attribute is now added to subsequent PSP gains (starting at this level). You may now do quasi-elemental effects of your primary element (but not secondary or tertiary elements). Quasi-elemental effects add 2 to the complexity (though, a single-element elemental psychic will be rolling at the base level).

I’ll admit, there’s more than a little bit of Pathfinder’s Kineticist in here, but more freeform, and aligned with D&D’s cosmology.

9

Terrakinesis

Earth is solid; earth abides. Movement is not its way, but when it moves, it is a force beyond what water or wind can hope to exert, and though it can be consumed by fire, it can also smother it with its simple immensity. Earth includes dirt, stone, and sand, but not, by itself, silt, mud, metals, or gems. Constitution is the attribute of the Terrakinetic.

Damage from Terrakinesis is d3 if Tiny, d4 if Small, d6 if Medium, d8 if Large, d10 if Huge, and d12 if Gargantuan. Sand imposes a -2 penalty to damage, dirt a -1.

1 - Change the type of earth; sand to earth, earth to stone or sand, stone to earth. Mud or Silt requires access to para-elemental effects. Shape earth, without moving it from place to place. Strength of 14
2 - Move Earth, in contact with earth. Cause a pillar of earth to rise from the ground, roll a boulder. Strength of 18.
3 - Hurl Earth. Move Earth through Water. Strength of 18/00
4 - Move Earth through the air. Strength of 22.
5 - Strength of 23
6 - Strength of 24
7 - Strength of 25

Some Terrakinetic Powers

Earthen Grasp 1 round concentration (4), Close Range (3), 1 turn duration (3), Medium AoE (3; one medium-sized target), Difficulty 1 (stone hands grab the target’s feet; earth doesn’t have to move, just shape itself). 4+3+3+3+1, 14 PSP, Con -1 Check

Stone Vault: 20 minute concentration (1), Touch Range (2), Momentary duration (3), Huge AoE (5), Difficulty 2 (moving stone around). 1+2+3+5+2 13 PSPs, Create a huge space in earth or stone that will last until it is destroyed (momentary duration). (You can make it in sand with this, but, well, it’s a bit space in sand)

Clobbering Time: 1 Round concentration (4), Close range (3),1 turn duration (3), Large AoE (4), Difficulty 5 (Strength 23). 4+3+3+4+5 19 PSPs, Con-5 difficulty. Create an arm of stone that will strike at targets in reach (about as if it were a Large creature), with a damage of d8+11.

10

I think that is a very interesting start! I’ll have to reread it a few times to fully grasp the details, but the overall patterns seem consistent and useful.

11

Ok, a bit more formal a write-up.

Kinda want to write more about elemental psionicists on Athas… throw stuff in about different cities and tribes and the like, but about to leave for the day. Also thinking about alternate elemental schemes, which might include Metal (Strength based) and Wood (Dex based, just to round everything out). But that will be later.