The little bird

Psychokinesis

Psychokineses (also called "telekinesis") is a powerful and potent psychic ability. The ability to move things without touching them has endless possible uses. Though few psychokinectics possess the strength to do more than manipulate small objects, a skilled psychic can remotely exert terrific force or delicately perform various operations. (Unskilled psychics, like those with certain Flaws, may not be so lucky...)

If she has sufficient strength to lift a living creature, the target can (if it's aware of the psychic's intent to liftt it) hold onto something sturdy to anchor itself and then roll Strength versus mental strength. If the target has nothing to grab, it cannot resist.

A psychokinetic must be able to see the object she wishes to manipulate and must use a modicum of concentration to manipulate an object. However, she can split her attention and lift multiple objects, so long as she dedicates an action for each object lifted (see multiple-action penalties on page 215 of Mage Revised). The total weight lifted cannot exceed the psychic's usual lifting capacity. If the psychokinetic attempts to wrest an object from someone's grasp, make a contested roll pitting psychokinetic strength versus the target's physical Strength (difficulty 6). On a tie, both hold onto the object but neither has control enough to wrest it away from the other. If the psychic attempts to manipulate the object in a specific way, use Wits for purposes of accuracy or fine manipulation. Thus, a psychokinetic who remotely fires a gun uses Wits + Empathy to pick up and manipulate the gun, then Wits + Firearms to fire it.

Roll: Wits + Empathy

• The psychic has an effective mental Strength of 0. She can lift only a few pounds. She can move the object 5 + Wits yards/round.

Pyrokinesis

Pyrokinesis is, quite simply, the ability to start fires with one's mind. The talent may well be an extention of psychokinesis - some ability to finely accelerate huge masses of molecules - or perhaps some sort of energy-transfer power. The pyrokinetic simply concentrates, and the temperature goes up...and up...and up...until the object melts or burst into flames. Pyrokinetics are not immune to their own flames and burn as easily as anyone else. Botches with Pyrokinesis tend to be singularly spectacular, as the psychic self-immolates or sends flame shooting wildly about.

Roll: Manipulation + Meditation

• Matches: The psychic can produce tiny sparks of flame, generally enough only to light highly flammable items (paper, dry wood, gasoline, etc.). These sparks of flame tend to come from the psychic's fingers, though some pyros create the sparks in different manners. The sparks light anything the psychic could physically reach, though the psychic does not have to actually touch the flammable material. The sparks are not hot enough to seriously burn people, though having spark of flame appear can startle people. If a pyrokinetic wishes to startle someone with a spark, the player rolls Dexterity + Athletics (difficulty 6) to fling the sparks at the target. The target must be in hand-to-hand combat range. This effect can be dodged by a Dexterity + Dodge (difficulty 6) roll. If the pyro hits the target, the player rolls Willpower (difficulty 6) or else the victim loses his next action from surprise. The target can spend a Willpower point to avoid this reflexive aversion to being burned.

Psychic Healing

Pyschic healers are a rare breed, even among the gifted. The ability to heal is both a blessing and a curse. These powers can become a problem for the psychic, though, as she becomes a target to people seeking her miraculous aid or become hunted by the medical establishment for practicing medicine without a licence.

Still, psychic healing accomplish incredible feats; with contact, the psychic banishes pain and directs the body to speed its recovery or even to fight off infections or disease with intelligent direction. Many psychics with this talent have a great deal of medical skill, though rarely via formal training, Most also have a strong empathy with other humans and a tendency to feel the pain and suffering of others.

Should the player botch while the psychic heals someone, the character may heal the wound improperly (infusing bones out of alignment, requireing that they be re-broken) or may inadvertently transfer the injury or disease to himself. The victim might even suffer a worse condition brought on by the psychic misdirecting the body's healing properties and cause cancerous or poisonous results.

Roll: Percerption + Empathy

• Diagnosis: Though unable to heal at this talent, psychics with this power posses the ability to instantly diagnose disease and injury in a person. This ability to sense what is wrong does not give him the ability to cure the problem, but it does allow psychics with medical training (formal or otherwise) to suggest the most efficient cures. A psychic healer without medical training finds it difficult to explain to doctors what the problem is; for instance, he might see AIDS as "the body doesn't want to fight the sickness anymore." Roll Perception + Empathy (difficulty 6). The number of successes determines the accuracy of the diagnosis. If the psychic has medical training, the player may add any Diagnosis successes to the dice pool of the subsequent Medical roll.

Ectoplasmic Generation

Among the more freakish psychic phenomena, Ectoplasmic Generation coalesces the stuff of spirits - plasm - into a tangible form. Through force of will and personality, the psychic tugs on ghostly energies and makes them solid. Most often, this manifests as a mucusy gel, though skilled psychics can disperse it or concentrate it to make oddly glistening webs, sticky vapors and the like. Such creations are rather disturbing and correspond to no known physical chemistry; indeed, ectoplasm tends to "dissove" into the nothingness of the Underworld after a short time and defies scientific analysis.

For wraiths, all ectoplasmic creations are solid. They cannot pass through ectoplasmic mists. Psychics who attack wraiths with ectoplamic entities do full damage to the ghosts, although they would need some way of preceiving the dead in their "Shadowlands."

Roll: Charisma + Occult

• The Big Sneeze: The psychic can summon up some strands of snotty material. The ectoplasm created by this power wells out of the psychic's orifices or follows in the wake of her touch, leaving slimy, glistening trails. Each success scored causes the psychic to leave a slime trail that lasts for one turn. This goo is disturbing and nasty but has no deleterious effects. Summoning up this goo only has a difficulty of 5. The psychic can also vaguely summon ectoplasmic fog. The thick white mist boils out of the psychic's eyes, nose and mouth. This cloud generated is vaguely spherical and has a diameter of about 5 feet, plus one foot in diameter per success rolled in generating it. The cloud hangs in midair in front of the psychic and does not move. The cloud slowly dissovles, leaving oily, viscous goo behind. In still air, the cloud last two turns, plus one turn per success rolled. A stiff wind will disperse the cloud in half the time. The difficulty to raise such a cloud is only 6.

Channeling

Some psychics have the ability to draw upon the knowledge of those who have passed on. Channelers tap the knowledge and experience of the dead, briefly obtaining skills that they personnally lack. Some pyschics have a repertoire of spirits they can call on for help and assistance. Others claim that they tap the collective unconscious.

While the source of knowledge varies, the effects remain the same. The player rolls the Channeling pool (difficulty 7); every success gives the character one dot of the talent, Skill or Knowledge desired for the remainer of the scene. On a botch, the channeler has opened herself up too widely to the spirit planes; she may summon a malevolent entity that tries to control her actions, lose some of her usual Abilities as her personality is lost in the influx or simply find herself unable to reach her usual channeling talents for a day, sometimes more. Note that only one personality may be channeled at a time. thus, a channeler cannot "stack" additional dots by channeling multiple personalities at a time.

Roll: Perception + Awareness

• The character can channel once per day. She has a vague sense of other personalities floating about and of the existence of some sort of consciousness beyond the body, but that's about all.