Draft: Simpler AD&D Psionics Rules

Previously on this blog, I've expressed some fascination with the AD&D psionics rules. They're an unintuitive mess, technically playable, but doing so in practice requires automated spreadsheet technology not available in the 1980s. It's a side of the rules that the system seems not to want you to use, and it makes you go through a whole lotta hoops in order to even have psionics in the first place. 

Yet it calls to me. The evocative ability names, the implication of a weirder, sci-fi edge to what has become an ossified fantasy genre, this strange, lopsided addition of a whole new subsystem to characters nearly at random. Even though I haven't used psionics in my AD&D campaign yet, they're deep in the bedrock of my worldbuilding, and the House of Pestilence, which is gearing up for another round of playtesting, has multiple psionic-capable encounters in strict adherence to the AD&D rules. There's even a psionic pregen!

I managed to get through the playtest one shot without having to use the psionics rules, but this next round is going to (hopefully) run through the module from the beginning, so I can't be as confident that this will remain the case. Plus, I'm running this for my home group, which does not have prior AD&D experience, and I'm not prepared to saddle one or more of the players with this subsystem on top of learning how to run high level characters. 

So after dragging my feet for... Jesus, four years... I have to figure out how I'm actually implementing psionics in my campaign. 

So I threw basically all my prior notes and made something up on the spot. Here goes.

So You Want To Be Psionic?

Any character that rolled a 15 or higher (before species or age modification) on any one of Int, Wis, or Cha has a chance to be a psionic. 

If they meet this minimum threshold, they have a 5% chance to be psionic. 

For every point in each ability above 15 (not including 15), add another 5%. Thus, a character with all 18s in Int, Wis, and Cha would have a 50% chance to be psionic. 

 If the percentile roll succeeds, this PC is now psionic. Players may elect to forgo this roll. 

Next, we calculate psionic power and abilities. This section is unchanged from AD&D (not because the rules are good, just because they're not the objectionable parts I prioritize changing). You'll get some amount of psionic points between 1 and 172, probably on the lower end. You will also get some number of minor and major abilities. 

Note: the psionic points are calculated using current ability scores, not those originally rolled. The number of psionic points can thus grow or drop as ability scores change, including thanks to magical effects. A feebleminded psionic isn't going to do much, and a circlet of intelligence is going to help! 

Do not roll for attack and defense modes: these no longer exist. There is, consequently, no longer a distinction between psionic ability and psionic strength. You only have to track one new number. 

A psionic character now has: Their mental ability scores (which already existed), their psionic ability points (the new number) and their minor and major abilities (new toys).  

Citadel Mentalist, by Psycha Durmont

Psionic Conflict

What is psionics, really? I think psionics is the development of an inner world. 

We all have inner worlds. At least, that's a term we use to describe our subjective experiences. For psionics, this is a much more literal expression. 

In my setting, every sentient being is connected to a subjective world, located in the astral realm. The comparatively larger subjectivities of humans and other sapients roll across the astral sea, the foam of which is comprised of the innumerable micro-subjectivities of animals, plants, and even microbes. But even the most creative, intelligent human only has a really, really tiny one: if you were sailing across the astral sea and picked one up, it would be smaller than your fingernail. 

Psionics are the exception. While regular sentiences visit these worlds in their dreams, psionics can do so at will: moreover, they can mold and change them, and expand them. The lifetime work of a psionic is to develop this inner world, transforming an ethereal and ghostly existence into a solid and pliable one. A psionic's ability points are a numeric expression of this world's mass. At will, a psionic can change its appearance and form, spread it out into a landscape or crush it into a dense core, and back again. 

But the key ability of a psionic is to make their inner world influence the outside. Whenever a psionic uses any of their abilities (devotions and sciences, in AD&D parlance), this is what they are doing: they are reshaping their inner world and using it like a tool, to manipulate the outside. 

At the same time, a psionic can interact with the inner worlds of other psionics. This is a great way to learn about another person, but it requires a great deal of trust: it's a two way street. 

Psionic conflict involves one psionic using their subtle, miraculous subjectivity in much the same way they might use an especially sharp rock. By overlapping their worlds, a psionic can:

• destroy another's inner world, by leveraging the inconsistencies and flaws in its construction to tear it apart at the seams
• dominate another's inner world, by forcing it into submission through fear and intimidation
• change another's inner world, by molding it oneself into a form that seems more real

These three modes of interaction are associated with Int, Wis, and Cha respectively. 

A psionic can declare a psychic battle with another psionic at any time. These occur in regular combat rounds, though always on segment 0 regardless of rolled initiative. 

Each round, the psionic may choose to attack with one of their attributes. They must roll 1d20 equal to or under that attribute, and if they succeed, they may deal 1d6 psionic damage to their target. 

Psionic damage can be soaked up on a 5:1 basis by psionic ability points. If I deal 2 psionic damage to you, you lose 10 psionic ability points. These are regained over time, more quickly by resting or meditating, as in AD&D. 

However, if there are no psionic ability points remaining, or if the target has used one of their psionic abilities this round, that damage instead goes directly to the same ability score used to make the attack. If I used Int and dealt 4 points of psychic damage, you lose 4 points of Intelligence. 

If an ability score drops to 3 or lower, the target experiences an effect depending on which method was used:

Intelligence puts the target in a coma for 1d4 hours

Wisdom dominates the target for 1d4 days

Charisma charms the target for 1d4 weeks

If any ability score drops to 0 or lower, the target dies. 

Note that whenever a psionic engages in combat, the target psionic may retaliate as well. Reduction in power points and ability scores occurs at the end of segment 0, and their turns occur simultaneously. 

Psionic Advancement

Each level, the psionic can improve one minor ability by 1 level. Every 2 levels, they can improve one major ability by 1 level. A level 1 psionic can choose one minor ability to start with at first level, and the others are at level 0. 

It should probably be possible to increase psionic power points, but I don't know how to do this yet. 

A psionic can choose to suppress their psionics, becoming, for all intents and purposes, a non-psionic. However, this comes at a cost. So long as their psionics are suppressed, they act as if they are 1 level lower than actual, for all purposes including hit points, class abilities, spells, etc. They can continue to advance, but will always be a level lower than they would otherwise be. 

They can undo the suppression to unleash their abilities and regain their lost level at any time, but the lost level takes a week to come back (though psionics are back online immediately). 

Design Notes

Why did I make things this way?

For one, I want the rules to be simpler, the sort of system you can hold 100% in your head, without needing to reference tiered cross-tables. 

I also want to minimize the number of new mechanics a psionic PC has to deal with. We're adding just one new 'ability score' and a few spell-like abilities, everything else runs through existing mechanics. 

This is super hacky and simple, and yet untested. Some problems with the system as written include:

Why would a psionic not just spam their highest ability score in combat? Wouldn't this get extremely boring very quickly?

Why is damage always 1d6? Is there no way to change this, on either end?

What happens if the relevant ability gets so high they can't miss? Is there no way for a target to resist?

I don't have good answers for these right now. Maybe, since psionic combat occurs in tandem with regular combat, this super-simple system is actually fine and we don't want to make it more complex. Anyway, there's no substitute for playtesting. 

Until next time, have an excellent week.