Wherein your humble scribe presents a BRP character for a still non-existent 60s/70s style scifi setting. The Psychic Powers system from the Big Gold Book were used in the creation of this character.
Report On Psientific Findings Of Gate Survey C24359/D
I knelt for three days in fasting supplication before the ikon of the Grand Lexicographer, praying for her echoes to help me unravel the meaning of the pictographs our expedition captured holographically from the ruins on Khandax IV. The emanations from the toppled monoliths hinted at sickness and loss. A plague would explain the scenes evident within the ruins themselves, but the bi/psi scans reveal no trace of malignant organisms in the air, soil, or water of the planet. To be sure, if a virus was involved there is little reason to expect even a single specimen to have survived after having decimated its hosts so thoroughly. Yet even extinct microbes leave traces that can be observed by our instruments.
(General Koz, predictably, remains steadfast in his insistence that violence played no small part in the termination of the Khandaxian civilization. There is no evidence to support this belief, but that has never prevented military minds from seeing sentient hostility where none exists. Their belief blinds them; it shows them ghosts of war where none stand.)
I find that my core temperature has become elevated throughout my study of the pictographs and wonder if there is something to be discovered deep within the interplay of the writings and my biospionic feedback. There is no logical connection to be found in any of the artifacts or recordings that were brought back through the gate. Still somehow I feel in my feverish tissues that the answer lies within these images and items. Is it possible that travel through the gate has somehow erased a critical clue? I shall transmit these notes and the expedition’s data to the labs at Central University in advance of my own trip through to feelsee Khandax firsthand.
Djeyn Lar, Ailing Psientist
STR 10 CON 9 SIZ 11 DEX 12 INT 16 POW 18 APP 12 HP 10 MW 5 PP 18 DB none
Weapons: PsiPistol 30% (2d8)
Armor: PsiShield (10) *Requires POW vs Damage Total resistance roll to activate
Skills: Craft: Weaving 15%, Dodge 24%, Persuade 35%, Research 35%, Technical: Psitronic Computing Devices 25%, Knowledge: Anthropology 55%, Knowledge: Archaeology 55%, Science: Biology 55%, Science: Linguistics 45%, Science: Psychology 25%
Powers: Divination 38%, Eidetic Memory 38%, Psychometry 48%, Sensitivity 48%
‘Psychic Archaeology’ is still alive and well in future centuries, I see.
You’ve mentioned a PsiPistol before. What is it, exactly?
You always ask the hard questions, G. To be honest, so far I’ve never really bothered to think about what a PsiPistol really it. It’s just been set dressing to fit the concept.
My very loose conception of it to date has been that it might do damage to the target’s Power Points instead of, or in addition to, doing physical damage. But now that I think about it (thanks to you), I think I’d make it more like the “Mind Blast” ability in the BGB (POW vs POW to stun opponent) than an actual damaging attack. I’ll have to ponder this much more if I ever get around to running a game where PsiPistols are involved.
In other news, once I clear tonight I should actually have some time to read your new adventure over and provide feedback. With luck, I’ll have some actual feedback for you before the end of the weekend. Fingers crossed!
A PsiPistol sounds like a good option if you’re “psychically well-endowed” and/or up against an armored opponent. Maybe not so good against robots (unless they have organic gray matter!). It’s a cool concept–sounds like it draws on the innate abilities of the gunner (like those Weirding weapons in Dune).
No rush on the adventure, V.P.
Yeah, it’s definitely not for use against machines. And the Dune comparison is apt, as I do see it as essentially an amplifier of existing psi abilities.
I appreciate your patience on the adventure, G-Man. But I do hate to keep you waiting, so I’ll get cracking (if only to assuage my own guilt :))