Power Groups

    The Power Groups are the general categories of psionic abilities.  In the Space Gods sourcebook there were seven Groups; four General Groups available in any reality that supports psionics and three Aligned Groups available only in the Star Sphere.  In this revision there are six Groups, all of which are General Groups.

This section covers the following areas:

  1. Missing Power Groups - Aka, Zinatt and Coar
  2. New rules for Power Groups
  3. New Power Group - Body Control
  4. Kinesis Power Group
  5. Psionic Defense Power Group
  6. Psychic Senses Power Group
  7. Telepathy Power Group
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Missing Power Groups - Aka, Zinatt and Coar

    Twenty-one of the psionic powers in the Space Gods sourcebook were only available to Akashan characters due to being linked to one of the cosm's World Laws, the alignments of the Way of Zinatt.  But several of those powers are pretty standard abilities in the genre, and for Torg in particular Katrina Tovarish was shown using two of these Aligned Powers (the Reality Probe power and a far-reaching variant of Clairvoyance) in the first Torg novel, Storm Knights, and possibly a third power (Psychic Assault) in the third novel, The Nightmare Realm, to defend herself against a techno-demon.
    Therefore, the Aligned Power Groups have been dropped in this revision and those twenty-one Powers have been reassigned to the other Power Groups.   The Way of Zinatt will still influence the use of psionic abilities in the Star Sphere but it will do it in the same manner that it affects all other skills - skill uses which are appropriate to a character's chosen alignment receive a +3 bonus modifier.  See p51-52 of the Space Gods sourcebook for more details on the Way of Zinatt.

The Aligned Powers have been reassigned  to the other Power Groups as follows:

Aka Powers

Coar Powers

Zinatt Powers

New rules for Power Groups

    As can be seen above, some powers are now found in more than one Power Group.  This represents different approaches to creating the same effect.  Psi Scrambler, for example, might derive from creating a defensive field of psychic "noise" around the character generating the power, or it might be a telepathic ability to interfere with the minds of other psychics within range to keep them from using their powers.  The difference might seem minor, but the latter ability would not interfere with psi-tech devices since they have no minds to affect.
    In some cases a power that falls under more than one Power Group may be more effective when handled one way than the other. The Body Control version of Accelerate Healing, for example, can only be used on the psychic herself while the Psionic Defenses version of the power can also be used on others.  In cases like these, the differences between duplicate versions of a power will be spelled out in the individual power descriptions.
    Characters may attempt to use any of the non-contradictory powers within the Power Groups they know, even ones that they have not purchased yet.  It's not easy though;  a -5 modifier is applied to the bonus number the character generates and the character is considered to be Unskilled in regard to reroll opportunities (i.e., ords will not get any rerolls and Possibility-Rated psychics will only get to reroll on 10's instead of on both 10's and 20's.)  Additionally, the power's psi strain rating is increased by +5.
    If the power is contradictory to the character's reality then the modifier becomes a -10 to the bonus value, the character is considered Unskilled in regard to reroll opportunities, the psi strain modifier is +10 and the character naturally runs the risk (or increased risk) of disconnection.
    Characters cannot attempt to maintain a power that they have not purchased.  If the unpurchased power has a Duration, a negative bonus value will reduce the Duration instead of being ignored (see Power Writeups section).  If the Duration is reduced to below four seconds (a value of 3) the attempt to use the Power fails even if the character's psionic manipulation skill check was successful. (This is why the penalty is applied to the bonus number instead of to the Difficulty Number of the power.)

New Power Group - Body Control

    The Body Control powers represent the psychic ability to induce changes within a character's own body and mind through force of will.  Most of these Powers involve very little in the way of social or physical interaction with the world and so tend to have some of the lowest axiom requirements of all the Powers.
        New Powers introduced in this revision are in boldface.  Powers which have been renamed will have their name from the Space Gods sourcebook in brackets.

Body Control group

Kinesis Power Group

    The Kinesis Powers are those that produce observable effects on the physical world around the psychic, such as being able to move objects, persons and even energies with the power of the mind. Telekinesis is probably the most recognized ability out of this Group.  Because they operate on the physical world to such a great extent, the Kinesis Powers have a higher reliance on the Tech axiom than other psionic abilities.
    Most of the Kinesis Powers are simple applications of "mind over matter", but some like Teleportation involve manipulating the Record to produce physical changes in the environment. In essence the character "rewrites" data in the Akashic Record and this is reflected by a change in the physical world.
    New Powers introduced in this revision are in boldface.  Powers which have been renamed will have their name from the Space Gods sourcebook in brackets.

Kinesis group

Psionic Defense Power Group

    The Psionic Defense Powers allow the psychic to increase the defenses of his own mind and in some cases the minds of others against intrusion, control and detection by outside psychic influences.  It also possesses a limited ability to treat and heal mental damage.
    New Powers introduced in this revision are in boldface.  Powers which have been renamed will have their name from the Space Gods sourcebook in brackets.

Psionic Defense group

Psychic Senses Power Group

    Much of what might be called "real world psionics" are found in this Group; predicting the future, heightened awareness of one's surroundings, viewing remote locations with the mind's eye, etc.  All of these Powers in one way or another are simply variations of the same ability, accessing the Akashic Record to gather information.
    New Powers introduced in this revision are in boldface.  Powers which have been renamed will have their name from the Space Gods sourcebook in brackets.

Psychic Senses group

Telepathy Power Group

    Telepathy is the ability to communicate with the minds of others directly.  It is not just a form of communication but also serves as a means of information gathering and for controlling the actions of others.  New Powers introduced in this revision are in boldface.

Telepathy group

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