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Message no. 1
From: Darth Vader <j07c@***.UNI-BREMEN.DE>
Subject: The revised whole PROPOSAL V3.0 (trying to get things going again
Date: Tue, 9 Aug 1994 16:15:30 +0100
Its been a long time since the last Psi osting aint it :)
this T$R thingy sure managed to get our undivided attention. But its
time to liven things up a bit, so I present you with another PROPOSAL V3.0 :)

Concepts: It is evident that each one of us has his own mental picture
of Psis, this will hopefully give our system a wonderfull diversity and many
roleplaying opportunities. However to achieve our goal we must understand all
those diffent ideas, only then can we throw them into the big melting pot and
turn them into a glorious Psi system. In the following paragraps I will try
to explain my ideas and make them as understandable as possible.

o Independence: The most important aspect of psionics is for me their
inherent independence. Psis unlike every other power wielding 'class' can fuel
their own 'spells', they are no lackeys of some totem/god and they sure dont
need to depend on the flow of some sort of mystical force. This gives them
unique opportunities roleplaying/- as well as gamemechanicswise.

o Flexibility: A consequence of the Psis independence is their
flexibility. Human beings have many physical and mental abilities, which they
use in many wondrous and imaginative ways to overcome various kinds of
obstacles. Mental-powers being just another sort of human abilities should
enjoy the same degree of freedom and flexibility. I feel that the rules should
emphasise this particular point by granting Psis unrestrained use of their
mind's powers (always within reason).

Rules:

o Character Generation: Players should have to choose what kind of Psi
they want to play from the start. We have all agreed on one thing, namely that
we should have different 'degrees' of Psis acording to the priority they wish
to sacrifice during char gen. So we have decide on the following options
Full Psi - A Priority - Should have access to all the disciplines.
Adept Psi - B Priority - Should have access to only one discipline.
Wild Psi - c Priority - Some good stuff, but I aint sure yet.
We have also agreed on the fact that Psis should 'buy' their categories
(disciplines) by means of tech points. At this point I'd like to recommend
a rather high cost to encourage specialisation and to avoid the - lets buy
them all and kick some ass - effect. How about rating X 2 ???
Disciplines that are not bought are considered latent, can be accessed
through the expenditure of large summs of karma. How about 10-20, we could
even make it a Mastery(Initiation) power ???

o Disciplines (Categories): They represent talent, raw power, psionic
potential, and thus should be the primary force behind Psi 'spells' (in the
beginning). I agree that training should play a major role, but only later on.

o Powers: They are 'skills' (they too will have to be bought with tech
points, but the use of the term 'skills' is much more apropriate) Psis aquire
through training and the everyday use of their powers. These skills help
them to efficiently use their potential minimising waste of power and therefore
executing specialised tasks with greater accuracy, confiderably less effort
and greater results. Lets take Ambrosius Q. Samplelf the TK Adept for example,
he has a Psionic Pool of 9 (Telekinesis 6 and Willpower 6 see Pool) and the
Power 'Rain Shield' at Force 4. He decides that his new clothes are far too
expensive to get all wet and mucked up and so he uses his good'ol TK to
protect himself. He rolls 4+5 dice and keeps 4 for the drain roll, he could
roll the whole 4+9 to cover his chummers freezing in the Seatle rain, but they
pissed him off last night with their sly remarks.
About the thing some of our list-comrades call 'hacking', I suggest
that we simply let Psis use their Pool to 'cast' anything they want within
their discipline(s). With a force NOT greater than half the discipline rating.
Our next test subject Alloysius Q. Knowitall is an extremely gifted Psi, he
has a rating in all the disciplines. Now Ambrosius and Al go out for a walk
and our first subject (Ambrosius) decides to shield himself from the wrath
of the elements, Alloysious however does not have the power of 'Rain Shield'
and so tries to use his pure TK to stop the rain from destroying his tre chick
outfit. He has a Pool of 6 (Willpower 6 and Maximum rating of 3 - Telepathy),
this gives him 6 dice in all. He 'casts' Rain Shield with 3 dice and keeps
3 dice for the drain - the 'spells' force however is 1, as his Telekinesis
rating is 2 - barely keeping him dry.
Psis will have to divide their dice between 'casting' and taking drain
(unless they want to fall unconsius) and they will always be weaker forcewise
when 'hacking' a power. This should be enough of a disadvantage to prevent
this from turning into a munchkins dream.

o Psionic Pool: The Psi Pool should reflect the characters, mental
fortitude, his raw power if you prefer. So How do you like this:

POOL = Willpower/2 + Rating of highest Discipline (category)

And now a novel idea....how about racial modifiers ?

Ok let me know what you think about it.......

--
Strong am I with the Force... but not that strong!
Twilight is upon me and soon night must fall.
That is the way of things ... the way of the Force.

GCS d>- H s+: !g p? !au a- w+ v-(?) C+++ UA++VS++L>++++ P-- (aren't we all?)
L+>+++ 3 E--- N++ K W(+)(---) M-- !V(--) -po+(---) Y+ t++ !5 !j(-) R+++(--)
!G tv(++) b+++ D++ B- e+ u++(-) h*(+) f+ r- n!(----) y?

Further Reading

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