WIP new psychic power rules

[MarcoSkoll]

Given all the talk of psychic powers recently, I've spent the last couple of hours drafting an alternative set of psychic power rules.

They're not yet complete, I don't pretend there's any balancing or play testing, but it's designed to combine bits of the old Inquisitor system with stuff rather brazenly stolen from Dark Heresy. This should hopefully put some separation between a psyker's power level and their control.

Either way, here's more of my witterings:

~~~~~

Psychic powers are no longer treated as risky actions, but there are now two stages to a psychic test – power and control.

The power to reject reality and replace it with your own:

All psykers now have a Psy Rating. This can be compared to the Assignment table below for roughly appropriate values.

Assignment:   Psy Rating:
Lambda/Kappa   1
Iota   2
Theta   3
Eta   4
Zeta   5
Epsilon   6
Delta   7
Gamma   8
Beta and above:   GM discretion only

It will be rare for any non-dedicated psyker to be over approximately Theta/Eta level, as beyond this level, it would be something of a waste of their talents to spend time training them in other areas.

Taking the power roll:
A psyker may roll a number of D6 up to their psy rating in an attempt to beat the power's threshold. Each concentration action prior to "casting" adds a further +1 to the result of this roll.
Because, to an extent, a more skilled psyker can channel the power they can summon with greater efficiency, psykers may add their current Wp bonus to the result of their their power roll.

Each power has its own threshold. For many powers, this will be a defined value, but it is not unknown for powers to have a variable threshold, usually affected by range to the target.
A ranged power's threshold is increased by +1 for each:
Short range: Each full yard to the target
Medium: Each full 2 yards
Long: Each full 5 yards
Extreme: Each full 10 yards

In some cases, there may be an Overbleed bonus for putting extra energy into the power.

Sustaining powers:

At the end of each turn, a psyker must take a Wp test to keep their focus and continue to sustain their powers.
This is a single test for all powers currently used by the psyker. There is a cumulative penalty of -5% per extra power. On failure, one power (chosen at random) ends, with each degree of failure ending one further power. If the test rolls a 96-00, and this is not enough to end all the psyker's powers, roll a D100+100 roll to determine if any further powers are ended.

If any powers are being sustained, half the basic threshold (rounding down) of these powers is added to the required score on any new power tests, as the psyker begins to put a greater and greater drain on their talents.

Perils of the Warp:

While powers are no longer risky actions, like with a risky action, compare the number of 1s rolled on the power dice to the number of 6s rolled. If there are a greater number of 1s to 6s, the psyker has fallen foul of the fickle nature of the warp.
(In other words failure is decided as per a Risky action, but on the power dice, not on the action dice.)

See the below section.

Characters with the "Favoured by the Warp" talent may re-roll a single 1 on their power dice.
Characters with the "Unstable" talent, roll one extra die for any psychic roll. This dice should be of a different colour (or similar), because it does not count towards reaching the power threshold but any 1s rolled will count towards Perils of the Warp.
If a character is Unstable (2+), then add the appropriate number of dice instead.

When it all goes wrong:

The degree of failure is determined as the number of 1s rolled on the psyker's power roll (unmodified by the number of 6s) – a number that will be called N for this section.

The character takes ND10 Wp loss (which may be recovered, as per the Wp recovery rules.)

Additionally, they must roll ND6 on the Perils of the Warp table below.

Roll:   Effect
1-3:   Someone must have been smiling upon you. Your power automatically fails, but you take no other side effect.
4   
5   The psyker takes D6 injury total as psychic energies surge through their mind.
6   The psyker is stunned for D3 turns.
7   
8   A sorcerous blast throws the psyker 2D6 yards from their location. Roll a scatter dice to determine direction. If it comes up as a hit, they have been thrown vertically upwards and will take falling damage as a result.
9   A instant's loss of concentration lets the energies fly wild. The power affects a different nearby target (who may be the psyker themselves) chosen by the GM. In the case that it is a persistent power, it lasts until a 4+ is rolled on a D6 in the recovery phase.
10   The veil between worlds grows diaphanous. For the next D6 turns, all psychic power Thresholds are reduced by 2 points, but all psykers gain Unstable (2) (or increase their instability by 2 points) while this lasts.
11   Scorching their soul, the psyker's powers are temporarily weakened. The psyker loses 2 points from their psy rating for the remainder of the game. (This penalty may occur several times)
12   
13   The psyker is at the epicentre of a psychic explosion, throwing fragments of solidified energy that exists neither fully in reality nor fully in the warp. Treat as a frag grenade, except that damage is never reduced by armour or fields.
14   Arcs of eldritch lightning and balefire fly wildly from the psyker's location. All characters within 3D10 yards (including the psyker) take 2D10 injury total.
15   
16   Shades of the immaterium begin to show through, and evils from the other side prey on any minds in the vicinity. For the next D6 turns, all the characters on the board must take a Wp test or be overwhelmed by its unreal nature (Stunned for the turn).
17   Reality bends, and for the next D6 turns, use the "East of Eden" rules from the "Twist in the Tale" Dark Magenta article.
18+   Something unpleasant happens to the psyker that incapacitates them fully for the remainder of the game. Depending on the exact nature of their power and the degree of failure, the GM is encouraged to describe the effects and how it affects the other characters in a gleefully evil manner. Suggestions include combining effects such as 14 with reality warping effects like 10, 14 or 17 lasting the remainder of the game.

Control test:

Assuming the psyker successfully channels sufficient psychic energy for their power and doesn't cause Perils of the Warp, they must now test to actually shape the energies into the desired effect.

The Control test is a Wp test, modified by the power's difficulty rating and any concentration actions.
Additionally, if they have used more dice than half their psy rating (rounding up), they suffer a further -5% penalty to their Wp test for each extra die, as working closer to their limit requires greater focus to control.

In some cases, there may be a "Mastery" effect, where the psyker's talent at shaping their power provides additional bonuses.

When it goes less wrong:
However, the Control test is Hazardous(2)* (i.e. if the units die is a 5 or 6).
*Hazardous (1) (units die is a 5) for "Favoured" psykers, Hazardous (2+degrees of Instability) for Unstable psykers.

On failure, roll a D100 on the psychic phenomena table.

Table is a work in progress, but will include some "trivialities" that don't do much but basically give away the presence of a psyker, as well as occasional degrees Wp loss and such. (Yes, psykers can now lose Wp while their powers WORK.)

In the case of a failed Control test, the value rolled for the power roll is added to the D100 roll on the table as a modifier – the more power the psyker doesn't keep total control of, the more likely odder things will happen.

Nullification:

Psykers may attempt to nullify psychic powers if they are sufficiently close to either its user or its target.*
*An exception is psychic bolts, which may only be nullified if they are close to the user. By the time a bolt has reached its target, it's already formed into fire/lightning/ice shards and is no longer psychic energy that can be dispelled.

Nullifications can be made either as a free reaction or as a dedicated action (As a dedicated action, they may concentrate first.)
In either case, it first requires a successful Wp test (modified for concentration) on the part of the nullifier, in order to correctly focus their talents for the dispel.

Nullifications will be made against power rolls, not the control roll. I'm still working on the exact details (whether they have to beat the psyker's power roll, or whether they reduce it...), and how they might go wrong, but it is on the way.

Psy-negatives:
Psy negatives have an anti psy rating.

*Insert table here of Assignment versus anti-psy rating*.

They must automatically attempt to nullify any power within range (and will not need to take a Wp test in order to nullify, it happens automatically).

Equipment:
*Insert new rules for psychic hoods and force rod type thingies*

Sample power:

Fireball
Threshold: 6
Difficulty: 0
Psychic bolt
Range: C/ Single/ Acc:0 Damage: 3D6

Overbleed: Each two points the Threshold is beaten by add a further +1 damage.

~~~~~

All in all, while it's been fun to write, I doubt this is going to be really worth developing, as I can't see enough people wanting to use it - and it's obviously a lot of work in the respect that it requires rewriting every single psychic power you wish to use with the new system.

And anyway, I'm supposed to be writing Dark Heresy adventures. But maybe it'll give the rest of you ideas.

[Flinty]

I doubt this is going to be really worth developing, as I can't see enough people wanting to use it - and it's obviously a lot of work in the respect that it requires rewriting every single psychic power you wish to use with the new system.

Whoa, steady... I am very interetsed in this as I always thought Inq. 1.0 was too sketchy when it came to the mental stuff. I appreciate this will involve a fair amount of thought to get off the ground, but it maybe the sort of thing that would make a good community project. Alternatively, maybe this is something Mr Jenkins would be interested in amalgamating/ammending into Inq 2.0?

[MarcoSkoll]

While, yes, I obviously think that Inq 1.0 was very sketchy on the mental stuff, and many others feel the same way, I still can't see this becoming commonplace.

Because it involves replacing an entire section of the ruleset with something not compatible with the old system, it requires all the players around any table to have "upgraded". So perhaps feasible as house rules for regular groups, but with Inq2 on the way at some point, I can't see everyone being fussed to upgrade to a system that's unlikely to have more than a few months of life in it - so it wouldn't take at Conclave events, for example.

The Revised Armoury was different, because it's compatible with the old stuff and doesn't need the pre-consent of all the players - although, I think it's likely that the next update (if there is one), will probably be the last, because Inq2 will basically invalidate all of it, and I'm not going to keep updating it when it's not got long to live.
(And it may not get a rewrite. A lot of it really isn't compatible with  some of the Dark Heresy-esque shooting rules.

If INQ2 is going to become something of a new standard, it basically writes off any large development projects for Inq1, particularly those which are never likely to be accepted en masse anyway.

~~~~~

On the note of INQ2, as far as I know, Robey is intending to build in a system a lot like the Dark Heresy system.

While I agree that the DH system is certainly less rough around the edges, my concern is that it still hasn't yet really managed to separate a psyker's control and power - maybe Robey has modified it, but I don't know.

~~~~~

Still, if there are enough people interested, then I can invest more time and effort. However, if not, there are probably better ways in which I can try and support the game than working on rules which won't get used.

[Joeval]

Those look nice, I'll certainly have a closer look and see if I can test them out at all.


I've been out of the loop for the last four or five years (just getting back into Inq, what a godsend that pack of Inquisitor PDF's is!), what's this talk of an Inq2?


Cheers
Joe

[MarcoSkoll]

Those look nice, I'll certainly have a closer look and see if I can test them out at all.

There are still a lot of missing chunks, so they're not exactly easily playable yet. But feel free to contribute further ideas.

If you want to add missing Perils of the Warp, get suggesting. But as a general rule, I'm looking to try and keep the bands on the Perils table so that the 1-6 results are fairly minor, the 7-12 are more serious and 13 upwards are where it starts getting really unpleasant. This is basically so that 1 or 2 di(c)e fails don't rip reality open.

Obviously, they aren't as nasty as they CAN be, but as I said in another thread, a legion of daemons suddenly marching onto the table would rather derail the scenario. So basically, they're dangers and inconveniences, rather than things that will distract players from their actual objectives.

Nullification also needs work. I have yet to decide whether it will be like WHFB dispels (at least in the older editions) where the dispeller must beat the caster's score, or whether their success will reduce the power roll, reducing its power and hopefully cancelling it (a bit like how a nullification works now, except on a power roll, not a Wp roll)... or perhaps even something quite different.

In either case, I need to choose the right modifiers and such to try and sort it so that nullification has a fair (but not excessive) chance of stopping a power - although, obviously affected by how powerful each psyker is relative to each other.

I've been out of the loop for the last four or five years (just getting back into Inq, what a godsend that pack of Inquisitor PDF's is!), what's this talk of an Inq2?

Firstly, good to know you found the pack, and found it useful...

Now, as far as Inquisitor 2.0, it's a project that Robey Jenkins (PrecinctOmega) has been working on.

In the absence of any game updates from Games Workshop, it's basically a new version of Inquisitor that takes in the lessons learned over the last ten years, as well as adapting some ideas from Dark Heresy.
There was once talk of it being officially GW sanctioned, but unfortunately, GW have since effectively vetoed that idea, so it will prove an "Unofficial update". Whether it becomes the forum standard will remain to be seen...

[Aurelius 12]

Some intriguing ideas, but I can't help but feel that the additional phases make things overly complicated, also the more you deviate away from the standard rules, the more things need to be remembered or looked up, and that makes my brain hurt and slows the game down.

My own idea runs as follows;

Psychic tests are still risky actions. They are still rolled for as normal. Even if the risky action is failed, there's still a chance your power works- its just that it does bad things to you in the process, so assuming you roll sufficient actions to reach the test, you attempt to use the power regardless.

If you pass your Wp test (with modifiers etc.) the power works, even if it was risky. Psychic overloads still use the same rules (though I really like the Wp recovery idea, as it seems gobsmackingly obvious!)

However, if the action was risky but you successfully 'cast' the power you roll D6 on SpanielBear's table or an adaptation thereof. Furthermore, if the casting was risky AND you failed to cast the power then you roll D10 on the same table.

Quick and simple.

[MarcoSkoll]

I can't help but feel that the additional phases make things overly complicated. Also the more you deviate away from the standard rules, the more things need to be remembered or looked up, and that makes my brain hurt and slows the game down.

The suggestion that it is overcomplicated assumes that the current system isn't oversimplified. It's not that big a jump - the additional stage adds in rolling just one set of dice to most psychic powers - you add in a Power roll as well as taking a Wp test as you currently do.

In essence, it isn't that far removed from a mix of old edition Fantasy - largely what DH is based on - and Inquisitor's current system. It's new now, but I think it'd be something you could get used to quickly enough.