SM Psionic System

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PSISYS Preface
Psionics is the catch-all description for individually-projected non-magical phenomena. For clarification or disambiguation, please refer to the Psionic FAQ.

Speculation introduces the concept of “Spectral Neural Sensitivity” (SNS), a metric that quantifies the brain's capacity to attune, transmit and receive energy over a wide spectrum of frequencies.

In the Speculation implementation, SNS is an overall operational skill. Individual talents and capacities are quantified as sub-skills.

Psionics/SNS is less flexible and usually less powerful than magic overall, but in what it does, can be comparable or greater in power. PSI/SNS skill progression faces a steeper learning curve, and is more taxing per effect, but is infinitely more forgiving during learning and experimentation. Entry-level psions (especially those who aren't even aware) are more wide-ranging, while PSI/SNS is infinitely more personal.

Who Can Use Psionics?

 * You can.


 * According to our research, and the system that came out of that, anybody could become SNS-active. Actual capacity will vary depending on the person.

Where Does One Learn to Use Psionics?

 * This depends entirely on the campaign. Check with the Ref to determine if your character would be SNS-active going in – or whether learning is part of the objective.
 * Unlike the obscure arcane activation harmonic, the energy of SNS is already an integral part of the human experience. However, the SNS portion of those experiences are largely "metadata" in daily life. Activating SNS is learning how to consciously rewire the brain to take control of those processes. Somewhat akin to retuning a quartz radio crystal, it can be a challenge for the average person to tune a crystal in the first place, much less retune it from the inside while they're using it.

Psionics vs Telepathy

 * Psionics is the SNS category of field operations skills.
 * Psionics/Spectral Neural Sensitivity (Psi/SNS) is the blanket term for the capacity to learn the individual sub-skills. Every telepath is a psion, but not every psion is a telepath.

Other forms of SNS

 * If the human mind is a battery, base SNS is attaching leads to allow that battery to power another process. There are a few inherent SNS abilities but for many naturals, the process is so subtle that there is little recognition of their own expanded capacity. Often, that's connected with a very particular manifestation of SNS that may be difficult to grow beyond.
 * Conscious work to expand SNS activation beyond the basic requires epic effort (when performed from scratch), but each of the specialties gives a life-changing paradigm shift of perspective and capacity.
 * The specialties include telepathy, astral projection, psychokinesis, pyrokinesis, systems medicine and more.

Magic vs Psionics

 * In campaigns where both exist, there would inevitably be some rivalry. Some might come from newer or younger practitioners of each, but most of that rivalry will be driven by outsiders. The biggest ticket in town would be outsiders taking bets of who would win in a fight.
 * From the inside, they'd be largely complementary, cooperative and wary of the other's capacity.
 * Once magic exists in a campaign, it's likely a high-magic world due to the nature of the system. In a campaign where both exist, due to ease of magical access once it's known, there would likely be far more moderately powered magicians than mentalists (counting conscious users of each).
 * With the relationship of SNS/PSI to thought, there is hazy rumor of psionics actually tapping into people's souls... and from certain points of view, there may be some truth to that. Because of that, there is sometimes a wary distance given to psionic practitioners.
 * The low-level psions (usually the entry-level empaths), would likely cross-train in both and keep their psionic capacity quiet as an occasional advantage.
 * Moderate-to-high level practitioners of either are unlikely to learn the other. There's no technical interference pattern between them, but there is a substantial time commitment to each.
 * A dual, high-level practitioner is going to be extremely rare. They are also likely to be an unintentional celebrity and very likely a high-value target.

Activation

 * Technically, every human is a latent psion – and many experience spontaneous partial activation from either a conscious decision to be aware or some event (usually traumatic) that induces massive neurological cascade (such as a near-death experience).
 * Spontaneous activation rarely fades, but is also rarely recognized, much less developed.
 * There are three classes of activation based teaching tools and learning environment.
 * Unguided activation, teaching ones self by intuition, may take 10-30 years to achieve, and will rarely take the self-taught practitioner beyond a few points of skill. For many, that's enough.
 * Guided activation, having a teacher, will narrow the activation to between 6 months and 2 years. Higher MA and MS will usually result in a faster breakthrough, though cognitive preconceptions (i.e.; skepticism) can greatly hamper activation (as certain mindsets tend toward self-fulfilling prophecy).
 * Assisted activation, teaching aids available in a per-campaign basis, may accelerate this from near-instant activation to just a few weeks of enhanced study. Refs will share that technique if it is an option for a particular campaign.
 * Base activation is a role-played condition and begins characters with the skill of SNS Capacity, at a rating of 1 point. The rare few who take a pure-discipline activation route, such as a Tibetan Monk (or somebody trained by one), will remain within that pure discipline until a conscious decision is made to attempt other skills.
 * Most others, and especially those experiencing spontaneous activation, will have an immediate, associated sub-skill.
 * The most common sub-skill is Empath, and the most common level is one (1) skill point. Without technical training, this is unlikely to advance. Common use and a heavy focus on it could increase it as much as one (1) point per year, but the sub-skill rating can not exceed the primary SNS Cap rating.
 * Without technical training, which includes assisted self-training (RTFM), SNS Cap and sub-skills are generally capped at 5 points.

Training and Development

 * Once a character achieves their SNS Capacity skill, plus one sub-skill, it takes focused practiced and challenged use to actually advance those skills. Most psions, including and especially those who enter low-level commercialization of their talents, don't actually advance their skill beyond the 5 point cap.
 * This 5-point cap assumes regular employment of the skill by the practitioner, but no high-stress deployment that would accelerate learning or open new avenues of learning.
 * A professional empath at the end of a 25-year career might still only have 5 points and will have helped authorities on a hundred missing-person cases.
 * One of the surest ways to challenge the cap is opposed use: a psychic fight of sorts that directly goes against a phenomenological challenge to that sub-skill. Enduring a psionic attack will directly challenge their prime SNS Capacity skill.
 * If it is available in the campaign, specialized training could also significantly advance psionic students. Academies, trade schools, colleges, secret societies, military or intelligence training courses or whatever is appropriate for that setting.
 * A psion could take the initiative to expand their sub-skill set. The empath could train into remote viewing, telekinetics and so on.
 * Untrained expansion has a target value of #x.
 * Successful sub-skill understanding (first skill point):
 * Mental Awareness (MA) + Mental Strength (MS) + SNS Cap skill.
 * Every day of at least 8-hours exploratory practice would add a point.
 * Every 10 days of 8-hour exploratory practice would earn 1 point of SNS Cap skill. Up to 10 SNS Cap skill points can be earned at that rate.
 * When MA + MS + SNS Cap skill + days/practice ≥ #x, the student understands the basics worth one point of skill level. They may then utilize the skill at low levels and grow from there.
 * Common (relative term there) SNS sub-skills and their learning target value below. Note: some training institutions may utilize techniques to lower the #x and/or accelerate the process.
 * Telepathy: 200
 * Remote Viewing: 210
 * Psychokinesis: 225
 * Pyrokinesis: 240

Empathics

 * Awareness of close-proximity energy sources, starting with those like the practitioner.
 * The first skill point is presence within five feet unobstructed.
 * The second skill point is potential energy behind that presence (generally revealing intention and/or mood, if otherwise hidden).
 * Increased skill may increase sensitivity (extending range), as well as broaden the spectrum of sensitivity.

Telepathy

 * Sending and receiving thoughts

Remote Viewing

 * Under several versions, includes astral projection, clairvoyance and clairaudience.

Psychokinesis

 * Remote movement of physical objects.

Pyrokinesis

 * The projection of energy, which will usually manifest as heat.

OTHER>>>

 * [Specify metrics for skill capabilities and limits. Fill in other sub-skill possibilities here. Final sort will go in order of learning difficulty]