GENERIC PSIONIC TALENTS

These talents are available to all psionic characters, regardless of what disciplines they have access to.

• Body Control: You can add your Charisma modifier instead of your Constitution modifier to your Fortitude Defense.  Additionally, you can spend a Hero Point as a swift action to become immune to poison, radiation, and disease until the end of the encounter.  This functions via mental discipline, so you might suffer the effects of such conditions after the end of the encounter.
• Closed Mind: Whenever a creature uses a mind-affecting effect on you that targets your Will Defense, it must roll the attack roll or skill check twice. taking the lower result.
• Equilibrium: As a swift action, you can spend a Hero Point to remove all debilitating conditions affecting you and return to a normal state.
• Indomitable Will: You can spend a Hero Point as a standard action to become immune to all mind-affecting effects for 1 minute.
• Psionic Focus: As a full-round action, you may make a DC 15 Psionics check.  If the check succeeds, you regain one spent Psionic power of your choice.
• Psionic Harmony: Once per encounter, you can activate one Psionic talent that requires a Hero Point to use without spending a Hero Point.
• Psionic Perception: You can make a Psionics check instead of a Perception check to avoid surprise, notice enemies, sense deception, or sense influence (see the Perception skill, SECR 70).  You are considered trained in the Perception.  If you are entitled to a Perception check reroll, you may reroll your Psionics check instead (subject to the same circumstances and limitations).
• Psionic Pilot: You can use your Psionics check modifier instead of your Pilot check modifier when making Pilot checks.  You are considered trained in the Pilot skill.  If you are entitled to a Pilot check reroll, you may reroll your Psionics check instead (subject to the same circumstances and limitations).
• Psion-Scholar: Whenever you take the Psionic Training feat, you may select one additional power, as though your Charisma score were two points higher. This bonus is retroactive, so you may select another power to add to your Power Suite for each time you have taken the Psionic Training Feat. In addition, when making Knowledge checks to recall knowledge about anything, you may re-roll the check if you are not satisfied. You must use the result of the re-roll, even if it is lower.
  • Prerequisites: Psionics as a trained skill, at least one Knowledge as a trained skill
• Psionic Thesis: When taking this talent, select a specific power. When using this spell, you gain one free Hero Point, which must be used to augment that use of the power, either through features of the spell itself or Psionic Techniques and Psionic Secrets. This ability does not let you exceed the limit of using only one Hero Point per turn. In addition, you gain one extra use of this power per encounter.
  • Prerequisites: Psion-Scholar, Skill Focus (Psionics), Psionic Training
• Sense Psionically-Resonant Location: When you come within (10 x Your Heroic Level) kilometers of a location with a strong psychic presence, you get a vague impression of it’s direction and distance from you. You may receive a short vision or other knowledge of the site, at your GM’s discretion.
  • Prerequisites: Psion-Scholar
• Swift Manipulator: You may make a Deception check as a swift action (instead of a standard action) when attempting to feint in combat.
• The Will To Resist: Once per turn, as a reaction to being targeted by an effect that targets your Will Defense, you can make a Psionics check and replace your Will Defense with the result of the Psionics check.  After you make this check, until the end of your next turn, you take a -5 penalty on all Psionics checks.
• Transfer Self: In the quest for power, some psions have found it necessary to extend their lifespans unnaturally. One way of doing this is to transfer one’s self into another, ostensibly healthier body. The process of doing this is rather gruesome, as it effectively consumes one life to lengthen another. In order to use this power, you must spend a Hero point as a full round action and be within 5 squares of your intended target, who must be at the “helpless” stage on the condition track, willing, or otherwise unconscious.  The target cannot be immune to Psionics.  Make a Psionics check and compare it to your target’s Will Defense (including any bonuses versus Psionics). If you succeed, you take possession of the new body, forcing the original consciousness out. If your target is a cloned body or has been specially prepared for this procedure (such as through brainwashing or indoctrination) you automatically succeed on this check. You gain the physical attributes (Constitution, Dexterity and Strength) of the new body, but you retain all your mental attributes and skills. You also retain your original amount of hit points, modified by the differential between your old Constitution score and your new one. You gain no proficiencies or skills from the new body. Be aware that using this may have unforseen consequences on your sanity as elements of the old consciousness may rise up from time to time, or you may just become increasingly unhinged as you become increasingly more and more amoral.
  • Prerequisites: Psion-Scholar, Heroic Level 15+

INFLUENCE PSIONIC TALENTS

The discipline of Influence covers offensive uses of psionics, mind control, and illusions.

• Adept Negotiator: As a standard action, you can weaken the resolve of one enemy with your words.  The enemy must have an Intelligence of 3 or higher, and it must be able to see,  hear, and understand you.  Make a Persuasion check; if the result equals or exceeds the target’s Will Defense, it moves -1 step along the condition track.  The target gets a +5 bonus to its Will Defense if it is higher level than you.  If the target reaches the end of the track, it does not fall unconscious; instead, it cannot attack you or your allies for the remainder of the encounter unless you or one of your allies attacks it or one of its allies first.  This is a mind-affecting effect.
• Aversion: As a swift action, you can spend a Hero Point to radiate an invisible aura that makes other beings want to avoid you.  Until the end of the encounter, all squares within 2 squares of you are considered difficult terrain for your enemies.  This is a mind-affecting effect.
• Beast Trick: You can use the mind trick Psionic power on creatures of Intelligence 2 and  lower.  However, a beast with an Intelligence of 2 or less still cannot perform any complex action or understand complex commands it wouldn’t otherwise be able to understand; an affected beast might understand “Attack those troopers!” but it would not comprehend, “Break into the command center and disable the communications array.”
• Charm Beast: You may make a Psionics check in place of a Persuasion check when attempting to change the attitude of an undomesticated creature with an Intelligence of 2 or less.  Additionally, you do not take the normal -5 penalty on the check if the creature can’t speak or understand your language.
• Influence Natural:  You possess a natural affinity for using psionics to influence others. Once per encounter, you may spend a Hero point as a free action to place any Psionic power with the [mind-affecting] descriptor into your Power Suite, even if you do not normally have that power. If the power is not used before the end of the encounter, it is lost. You may select this talent multiple times. Each time you select it, you may use this talent one additional time per encounter.
• Influence Savant: Once per encounter as a swift action, you can return one Psionic power with the [mind-affecting] descriptor to your Psionic power suite without spending a Hero Point.  You can select this talent multiple times.  Each time you select it, you can use it one additional time per encounter.
• Master Negotiator: If you successfully use the Adept Negotiator talent (see above), your target moves an additional -1 step along the condition track (-2 steps total).  This is a mind-affecting effect.
  • Prerequisite: Adept Negotiator.
• Psionic Persuasion: You can use your Psionics check modifier instead of your Persuasion check modifier when making Persuasion checks.  You are considered trained in the Persuasion skill.  If you are entitled to a Persuasion check reroll, you may reroll your Psionics check instead (subject to the same circumstances and limitations).
  • Prerequisite: Adept Negotiator.

     

ILLUSION TALENT TREE [INFLUENCE DISCIPLINE]

You have mastered the art of making people see – or not see – what you want them to.

• Clear Mind: You may reroll any opposed Psionics check made to avoid being detected by other Psionics users.  You must take the result of the reroll, even if it is worse.
• Illusion: As a standard action, you can spend a Hero Point to create an illusion that seems perfectly real to anyone who views it.  You designate the form and complexity of the illusion, as well as its size and location.  You must have line of sight to the creature viewing the illusion.  Make a Psionics check.  When a creature views the illusion, compare the result of your Psionics check to the creature’s Will Defense.  If your check result equals or exceeds its Will Defense, it believes the illusion to be real.  Any physical interaction with the illusion (such as touching it, passing through it, or shooting it) immediately reveals the true nature of the illusion to all who can see it, and the creature is no longer deceived.  The illusion lasts for a number of minutes equal to your heroic level.  The illusion’s size also affects your Psionics check, applying a penalty for exceptionally large illusions.  The penalties are -1 for Huge illusions, -2 for Gargantuan illusions, -5 for Colossal illusions, and -10 for Colossal (frigate) or larger illusions.  This is a mind-affecting effect and will not fool electronic sensors (which simply see nothing).
• Masquerade: You can use the Illusion talent to create a disguise for yourself.  You use the result of your Psionics check made to create the illusion for the purposes of creating a deceptive appearance, as per the application of the Deception skill.  All other rules and restrictions for using the Illusion talent still apply.  Electronic sensors see through this disguise automatically.
  • Prerequisite: Illusion.
• Phantasm: Whenever you successfully use a Psionic power with the [mind-affecting] descriptor against a target, any time before the end of the encounter you can spend a Hero Point as a swift action to create illusory phantoms around that target.  When you do this, you and all of your allies within the target’s line of sight have concealment from the target until the end of your next turn.
• Psionic Haze: You can spend a Hero Point as a standard action to create a “haze” that hides you and your allies from the perception of other living creatures.  You can hide a number of creatures in line of sight equal to your character level.  Make a Psionics check and compare the result to the Will Defense of any opponent that moves into line of sight of any creature hidden by your Psionic Haze.  If your check result beats the opponent’s Will Defense, all hidden creatures are treated as if they had total concealment against that opponent.  The Psionic Haze lasts up to 1 minute, but is dismissed instantly if anyone hidden by it makes an attack.
  • Prerequisite: Clear Mind.
• Vanish: You can make a single Psionics check as a swift action to vanish from the sight of a single target within line of sight.  If the result of your Psionics check exceeds the target’s Will Defense, you gain total concealment from that target until the beginning of your next turn, or until you make an attack roll or skill check against the target.

   

INVESTIGATION PSIONIC TALENTS

The discipline of Investigation covers knowledge, pulling information out of collective subconscious, and psychometry.

• Adversary Lore: As a standard action, you can peer into the collective unconscious and search for weaknesses in the defenses of your enemies.  Make a Psionics check against the Will Defense of a target creature within 12 squares of you and in your line of sight.  If the skill check equals or exceeds the target’s Will Defense, that target takes a -2 penalty to Reflex Defense against you and all allies who can hear and understand you until the end of your next turn.
• Enhanced Danger Sense: You gain a +10 bonus on Perception checks made to avoid being surprised.  Additionally, you can spend a Hero Point to act in the surprise round, even if you are surprised.  Once you unlock the Danger Sense ability that all Psionically-talented characters gain at level 7, you gain a +5 to your Psionics check made to use that ability as well.
• Echoes in the Subconscious: You can use the farseeing power on a location instead of on an individual creature, peering into the location’s past to view events that occurred there.  Unlike the normal use of the farseeing power, you are actually looking into the location’s past (at a time you designate), and you must be standing in the location being viewed.  The target DC for your Psionics check is 20, +1 for each day into the past that you are attempting to see.  When you look into the past, you need only specify a time in a number of days, as you can sense tremors in the universal subconscious that focus your visions on meaningful events that day.
  • Prerequisites: Farseeing
• Expanded Horizon: Whenever you use the Search Your Feelings application of the Psionics skill, you can sense the consequences of your actions out to 1 hour into the future (instead of the normal 10 minutes).  You can spend a Force Point when you do so to expand this window out to 8 hours, or a Destiny Point to expand this window out to 24 hours.
• Foresight: You may spend a Hero Point to reroll an Initiative check, keeping the better of the two rolls.  Additionally, if you roll a natural 20 on the Initiative check reroll, you immediately regain the Hero Point spent to activate this talent.
• Prerequisite: Psionic Perception.
• Greater Echoes: The target DC for your Psionics check to use the Echoes in the Subconscious talent changes to the following:
  Within the past year: DC 20; Within the past decade: DC 25; Within the past century: DC 30; Within the past millenium: DC 35; Farther back than 1000 years ago: DC 40
  • Prerequisite: Echoes in the Subconscious
• Heightened Awareness: You can spend a Hero Point to add your Charisma bonus to your Perception check.  You can select this talent multiple times.  Each time you select this talent, you add your Charisma bonus an additional time.
• Instinctive Navigation: You can substitute your Psionics check for any Use Computer check made to astrogate or operate sensors while you are the pilot or wirehead of a vehicle.
  • Prerequisite: Psionic Pilot
• Know Weakness: Whenever you use the Adversary Lore talent on a target successfully, that target also takes an additional 1d6 points of damage from any successful attack made against it by you or an ally who can hear and understand you until the end of your next turn.
  • Prerequisite: Adversary Lore.
• Motion of the Future: As a swift action, you can peer into the future in search of signs of danger, removing one use of the farseeing Psionic power from your active suite (as though you had just activated the power).  Any time before the end of your next turn when you are the target of an attack, spell, power, nanite ability, incantation, or nanospell, you can force your attacker to reroll the attack roll or skill check(s) against you, keeping the second result.  This counts as using the farseeing Psionic power against the attacker, but this talent replaces the normal rules and effect of that power.
  • Prerequisite: Psionic Perception.
• Psionic Intuition: You can use your Psionics check modifier instead of your Initiative modifier when making Initiative checks.  You are considered trained in the Initiative skill.  If you are entitled to an Initiative check reroll, you may reroll your Psionics check instead (subject to the same circumstances and limitations).  You may use this talent to determine the Initiative of a vehicle if you are the pilot.
• Psychometric Absorption: When you use the Psychometry talent on a weapon that has passed through at least one previous user you can absorb some of the lingering psychometric impressions of previous users’ skills. If you do not have proficiency with the weapon, you become proficient with it. If you are already proficient with it and do not have Weapon Focus with it, you instead gain the benefits of Weapon Focus with that weapon. If you already had Weapon Focus that the weapon benefits from, you instead gain the Weapon Specialization talent with that weapon. If you already have the Weapon Specialization talent with the weapon or the weapon group it belongs to, you instead gain the benefits of Crushing Assault, Impaling Assault, or Stinging Assault. If you already have the appropriate of those three talents, you instead gain a +1 bonus to attack and damage with the weapon. Aside from Psychometry, all the talents mentioned in this talent are from the Weapon Specialist tree available to Soldiers. Any benefit you gain from this talent lasts until you sleep next.
  • Prerequisites: Psychometry
• Psychometry: When you use the farseeing Power, you can choose to target an object you hold instead of a character or creature.  You can look into the targeted objects past, up to a maximum of 5 years per your character level.  Any information gained about the object’s past is based on the thoughts and emotions of the person holding or carrying the object at the time you perceive, which can skew the results of the vision.
  • Prerequisites: Psionic Perception, farseeing.
• Search The Records: You have a stronger tie to the collective unconscious than most, allowing you to basically pull knowledge out of nowhere.  Whenever you would need to make a Knowledge check with a Knowledge skill that you are not trained in, you may instead make a Psionics check.
• Skilled Advisor: You can spend a full-round action advising an ally, thereby granting them a +5 bonus on their next skill check.  If you spend a Hero Point, the bonus increases to +10.  The target must be able (and willing) to hear and understand your advice.  You cannot advise yourself.  This is a mind-affecting effect.
• Visions: Whenever you use the farseeing Psionic power, you can spend a Hero Point as a swift action to see into the target’s past or future instead of glimpsing the target in the present.  You declare how far into the target’s past or future you wish to look, up to a maximum of 1 year per your character level (when looking into the past) or 1 day per character level (when looking into the future).  Any information gained about the target’s future is incredibly vague and very subject to change.
  • Prerequisites: Psionic Perception, farseeing.

NETWORKING PSIONIC TALENTS

The discipline of Networking covers telepathy, group thought, and support meditation.

• Battle Commander: You are trained to direct people in pitched battles.  Your battle meditation grants a +2 insight bonus on attack rolls instead of the normal +1.
  • Prerequisite: Level 7+, Battle Meditation.
• Battle Meditation: The technique known as Battle Meditation allows you and your allies to work together seamlessly and with a level of precision that can only come from the use of psionics.  As a full-round action, you can spend a Hero Point to give you and all your allies within 6 squares of you a +1 insight bonus on attack rolls that lasts until the end of the encounter.  This bonus does not extend to allies outside the range of the effect, even if they move within 6 squares of you later on.  Allies who benefit from the Battle Meditation must remain within 6 squares of you to retain the insight bonus, and they lose it if you are knocked unconscious or killed.  This is a mind-affecting effect.  If used in a starship scale encounter, this affects all allied gunners within 6 squares of the vehicle you are in.
• Impart Knowledge: You can aid another on the Knowledge checks of any ally within 6 squares of you as a reaction for Knowledge skills you are trained in.
  • Prerequisite: Skilled Advisor
• Improved Battle Meditation: You may activate your Battle Meditation talent as a swift action instead of as a full-round action.  The range of Battle Meditation extends out to 12 squares.  Enemies within the radius of your Battle Meditation suffer a -1 penalty to all attack rolls.
  • Prerequisite: Battle Meditation.
• Link: You can lend your Psionic strength to another character, creating a bond between you through which your power can flow.  As a standard action, you can designate one willing ally within 12 squares of you and in your line of sight.  This ally must be trained in the Psionics skill.  As long as you remain within 12 squares of each other, you can aid each other on Psionics checks as a reaction.  However, the character using the aid another reaction takes a -5 penalty on all Psionics checks until the end of their next turn.  This link lasts until the end of the encounter, or until you or your ally ends the link (a free action).  You can have only one active link at a time.
• Psionic Warning: Allies within 12 squares can choose to reroll their Initiative checks at the start of combat but must take the second result, even if it is worse.  Furthermore, if any allies within 12 squares are surprised at the start of an encounter, but you are not, you can designate a number of those allies equal to your Charisma modifier (minimum 1); those allies are no longer considered surprised and can act normally on the surprise round.
  • Prerequisite: Level 7+

     

TELEPATH TALENT TREE [NETWORKING DISCIPLINE]

You have mastered the art of mental manipulation, using the Psionics to touch, read, and affect the minds of others with ease.

• Mind Probe: When you touch a living creature with an Intelligence of 3 or higher, you can use Psionics to probe its mind for secrets.  You must be adjacent to the target, and using the mind probe is a full-round action. If the target is unwilling, you must succeed on a Psionics check, equaling or exceeding the target’s Will Defense.  This ability otherwise functions exactly as the Gather Information skill’s Learn News and Rumors, Learn Secret Information, and Locate Individual applications.  Your Psionics check must still exceed the base Gather Information skill DCs in order to retrieve the information you seek, but you need not pay anything in bribes, and you retrieve the information as a part of the full-round action. Failing the skill check by 5 or more does not cause someone to notice that you are seeking the information.
• Perfect Telepathy: You can communicate in full sentences and complete thoughts when you use the Telepathy aspect of the Psionics skill, instead of just in basic phrases. However, the target of your telepathy can still only communicate in basic emotions or single thoughts. This talent is useless for Teuthidoids, who effectively have it as a racial ability.
• Psionic Warning: Allies within 12 squares can choose to reroll their Initiative checks at the start of combat, but must take the second result, even if it is worse.  Furthermore, if any allies within 12 squares are surprised at the start of an encounter, but you are not, you can designate a number of those allies equal to your Wisdom modifier (minimum 1); those allies are no longer considered surprised and can act normally on the surprise round.
  • Prerequisite: Level 7+.
• Psychic Defenses: Whenever another creature targets you with a Psionic power with the [mind-affecting] descriptor, it automatically takes Force damage equal to 1d6 x your Wisdom modifier (minimum 1d6).
  • Prerequisite: Psychic Citadel.
• Telepathic Influence: You naturally and unconsciously influence those who are regularly around you.  Whenever you roll a natural 20 on an attack roll or Psionics check, instead of regaining all your spent Psionic powers, you may instead choose to grant one ally within 12 squares a temporary Hero Point.  If your ally does not use this temporary Hero Point before the end of the encounter, it is lost.
  • Prerequisites: Telepathic Link, trained in Psionics.
• Telepathic Intruder: Whenever you use a Psionic power with the [mind-affecting] descriptor successfully against a target, until the end of your next turn you gain a +2 Force bonus on skill checks made to activate mind-affecting Psionic powers and talents against that same target.
• Telepathic Link: You form an enhanced telepathic link with a willing ally with Psionics as a trained skill as a swift action.  This link is maintained until you choose to remove it (no action required).  As long as you remain within one kilometer of your target, you can the target can communicate telepathically as though you were speaking.  Once per encounter, you may use a Psionic power from your target’s Power Suite (if the target consents), or you may allow the target to use one of your Psionic powers.  You may only have one telepathic link active at a time.
  • Prerequisite: Trained in Psionics.