Fastasy Core RPG: The Psychic

FANTASY CORE RPG
(c) Jerry Harris, 2012
Published here as Open Game Content.

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The Psychic (or Spiritualist or Medium)

Level	Base Attack Bonus	Fort Save	Ref Save	Will Save	Psi Power Level Limit
1st	+0	+0	+0	+2	1
2nd	+1	+0	+0	+3	1
3rd	+1	+1	+1	+3	2
4th	+2	+1	+1	+4	2
5th	+2	+1	+1	+4	3
6th	+3	+2	+2	+5	3
7th	+3	+2	+2	+5	4
8th	+4	+2	+2	+6	4
9th	+4	+3	+3	+6	5
10th	+5	+3	+3	+7	5

Description: Most purporting to have special psychic powers are pure B.S. artists.  Besides, (using movie trailer voice-over voice) in a world with real working magic, who cares if you can talk to ghosts or bend spoons with your mind?  A few individuals have been blessed/cursed with special powers of the mind and a perception beyond the veil of this mortal world.  The good news is that they have a non-magic based skills set that duplicates several spells, along with some unique abilities.  The bad news is that uncontrolled psychic powers often drive their possessor mad.  A Player Character Psychic would be one of the few sane ones.  NPC’s should always be at least a bit eccentric. 

● The best Psychics are usually covertly employed by high government officials and rich nobles as Political Advisor/Personal Advisors.  They often go by the title of Spiritualist or Medium, hoping to claim more respectability by acting as specialized Wizards, which the Wizard Council does not find amusing if they find out about them.  (The Council does not acknowledge the existence of Psychics, thinking them odd Sorcerers.  Paladin Elders know better, as their Smite ability does not work on them, though they’ve kept quiet about them.)  Lower level Psychics sell their services independently, 50 gp/service x level.  They often live above their means, sponging off foolish rich patrons, and hanging out with their bohemian friends.

Hit Die: d6.

Prime Abilities: Int.

Subprime Abilities: Wis, Str, and Con.

Weapon and Armor Proficiency: Psychics are proficient with daggers and light crossbows. They might wear leather armor, but are not proficient with shields.  Realistically they will only ever be a liability in melee combat, which is why they try to avoid it, but sometimes they are required to be on site to use their special abilities.

Standard Starting Gear: 5+1d10 GP, pack, 3 days rations, waterskin, 2 useful items, Crystal Ball, Tarot Card Deck, dagger.

Occult Knowledge: Psychics gain quite a bit of Occult knowledge from talking to ghosts all the time.  Int Bonus + ½ level, DC 12 minor factoid, DC 18 very specific.  Please don't roll if the knowledge is somehow important to the story. 

Fearless: Psychics are immune to any sort of supernatural fright.

Detect Thoughts: 10’/level.  In fact, this ability is continuously on.  The Psychic has had to learn how to not be overwhelmed by it.  With concentration, they may refine their focus to pick out individual entities in a crowd.  Don’t bother trying to sneak up on (or sneak attack) a Psychic. 

Precognition: 1 turn Ceremony requiring Tarot Cards or some other divination tool.  This is more of a plot device than actual game mechanics.  (Ref’s here’s where you can drop vague hints and foreshadowing into your adventure.)  

Psi Powers

A Psychic begins play with all 0-level and 1st-level Psi Powers.  (See list below.)  With each new Psi Power level, they gain all of the powers of that level.  New powers must be practiced before being used in the field. Assume about a day.

Using Psi Powers

Psychics may cast any spell they know by making a Psi-check: Int bonus + ½ level vs. DC 12 + Psi Power Level. (0 Level powers are DC 10.)  With 3 cumulative failures in a turn/encounter, all Psi use is suspended pending 1 turn of rest. The Psi Power Level Limit is the highest spell level that a Psychic can cast.  A Psychic must roll to activate a power, even if their Psi-Check is greater than the power’s DC.  A Natural 1 is a Botch, meaning all Psi use is immediately suspended until the user has had 1 turn of rest.  A Saving Throw against a Psi Power has a DC of 12 + ½ Psychic level.

Psi Powers Beyond 10^th Level

10^th level Psychics may spend 10 XP to gain a +1 to their Psi-checks, up to +10 total for their level bonus.  Psychics with at least a +6 level bonus may attempt 6^th level Psi Powers.  (Optional: Failing to use a 6^th level power, immediately renders the user unconscious.  They must also make a DC 12 Will Sv or permanently lose 1 point of Wis, with the usual Magic User Insanity rules applying.  As fragile as Psychics are, this might not be a good rule to implement with Player Characters, only NPC’s.)

Notes: I can see Players actually wanting to try out this class, and Ref’s should let them.  Be warned though, some of these powers may be game-breaking.  Be further warned that this class may prove far too fragile for frequent, heavy combat.

Psychic Powers