Psionics in 4th, My player really wants one Options

[Kesendeja]

One of the player's in my group insists on playing a psychic as a full mage complete with spirits. I have no idea where to start on creating the tradition.

For those that know, he wants one based off of a Space Marine Librarian from Warhammer 40K.

Can anyone help?

[Draco18s]

Steal the Buddhist tradition out of Street Magic.

You will, however, probably want a Spirit of Man in there somewhere. Probably combat.

[Sephiroth]

Steal the Buddhist tradition out of Street Magic.

Not necessary. Digital Grimoire actually has a psionic tradition written up. It's a possession tradition.

[Draco18s]

Not necessary. Digital Grimoire actually has a psionic tradition written up. It's a possession tradition.

I thought it was around somewhere, but I guess I don't have that book.

[Yerameyahu]

All traditions are the same thing. Choose possession/materialization, choose your drain stat, choose your spirits.

[Sephiroth]

It's a PDF-only, it's just like 13 pages or so. It gives a couple new traditions, some new spells and adept powers, some tips for GM's on preventing possession abuse, and a couple other miscellaneous magic rules.

EDIT:For the OP's benefit:

THE PSIONIC TRADITION
Concept: Psionics is the ability to tap the latent powers of
the metahuman mind and psyche and use them to directly effect
change in the world through concentrated force of will. The
psionic is a mentalist with the talent to manipulate the external
world through the innate powers of the metahuman mind.
Combat: Fire
Detection: Air
Health: Man
Illusion: Guide
Manipulation: Task
Drain: Willpower + Intuition
Note: Psionics is a Possession tradition
Awakened characters who believe their abilities to be purely
psionic in nature are rare in the Sixth World, however, they pose
a unique perspective on the nature of magic and may provide interesting
roleplaying opportunities for players and gamemasters
alike (p. 45, Street Magic). Most psionics consider the belief in
magic and the supernatural as mere superstition and mystoreligious
nonsense dressed up as pseudo-science and fueled by
yet-to-be-explained psychic and natural phenomena. For instance,
Conjuring is considered the shaping of autonomous psychic constructs
known as “thought forms.” To a psionic it is only natural
that mystics perceive them as spirits and attribute magical correspondences
to them since these are believed to distill aspects of
a psionic’s own psychic abilities (i.e. fire is linked to pyrokinesis,
air is linked to clairvoyance, etc.). Psionics, too, are capable of
“imprinting” and commanding such thought forms on the astral
plane—though depending on concentration and willpower of the
psionic, the thought form may be more or less capable of independent
action. In game terms, these incorporeal “thought forms”
are normal spirits that interact with the physical world through
possession (p. 101, Street Magic)—though psionics do not believe
in preparing vessels through enchanting.
Psionic characters are able to astrally perceive and project
(even to the metaplanes), use Counterspelling, create wards
(“mental shields,”) and may even use appropriate foci (i.e. crystals
to focus their mental energies, etc). The gamemaster and player
should discuss what spells are appropriate for the psionic character
given the character’s understanding of the forces at work.
Because a psionic believes that all of his energies are fueled from
within, these characters may not choose to take a Mentor Spirit.
As a guideline, spells should be restricted to abilities that could be
ascribed to “the power of the mind” and para-scientific paradigm
of psionic abilities. Note that traditionally, psionics encompasses
a wide range of abilities (such as telepathy, empathy, clairsentience,
telekinetics, pyrokinetics, cryokinetics, vitakinetics, to name but
a few), and this limitation can be as restrictive or flexible as necessary
to fit the style and setting of the game.
Alternatively, players wishing to create a psionic character
conforming to a more “classic” conception of mentalist—focusing
on his spell-like abilities and disregarding conjuring—have only
to create a magician character of the psionic tradition and take
the Aspected Magician (Sorcerer) Quality (p. 26, Street Magic)
to represent the limitations imposed by the character’s own beliefs.

Mechanical stuff is bolded.

[phlapjack77]

Not sure if this helps, but there's a little blurb about Psionics in SM, pg 45.

My initial take on a tradition:
Possession-based
Drain Stat: Logic
Spirits: Man, Task, Guidance, ?, ?
Mentor spirits:
Id: +2 combat spells, mage must role Will+Chr(3) to avoid entering a fight
Ego: +2 detection spells, +1 dodge rolls
Superego: +2 spirit of man, +2 personal health spells, -2 health spell on anyone else

[Kesendeja]

Not necessary. Digital Grimoire actually has a psionic tradition written up. It's a possession tradition.

Looks like I'll have to go buy it. Thanks for the heads up.

[TheOOB]

Tell the character to be prepared to be ostracized and ridiculed. As mentioned in street magics, psionics are wrong. A tradition is a set of beliefs on how magic powers work, and psionics fail to explain the nature of the awakened world, and the effects of magical power. Corps have spent billions on testing, and have found that awakened parties do not have different brain chemistry or abilities from the non-awakened. In order to be a psionic, the character basically needs to ignore all the research and empirical data that has been discovered in favor of their flawed belief set that only exists because the character wants to feel different.

Not saying people like that don't exist, but thats the truth.

And psionics would NOT be a logic tradition, logical traditions care too much are metaphysics to believe in psionics. It would be intuition.

[phlapjack77]

Yeah, could be. I'd always seen logic-based traditions as "Lawful", and intuition-based traditions as "Chaotic", if I can borrow some terms. Psionics seems more about self-control, discipline, and the like, and so logic based.

[Elfenlied]

The Psionic tradition has been reprinted in the Anniversary edition Street Magic (the one with the orange cover). Spirits and Drain are exactly like Sephiroth's post, except that psionics are no longer bound by the bolded restrictions (they can, in fact, prepare vessels and take a mentor spirit).

[Ascalaphus]

Personally, I think a Psionic Tradition makes a lot of sense. As far as has been made clear, magic seems to be generated from life, channeled and controlled by the mind. Summoned spirits could very well just be energy imprinted by the summoner's psyche.

In a way, the Psionic Tradition is just a more hip, more crystals and less fantasy approach to the Hermetic Tradition.

[Brazilian_Shinob...]

Tell the character to be prepared to be ostracized and ridiculed. As mentioned in street magics, psionics are wrong. A tradition is a set of beliefs on how magic powers work, and psionics fail to explain the nature of the awakened world, and the effects of magical power. Corps have spent billions on testing, and have found that awakened parties do not have different brain chemistry or abilities from the non-awakened. In order to be a psionic, the character basically needs to ignore all the research and empirical data that has been discovered in favor of their flawed belief set that only exists because the character wants to feel different.

Not saying people like that don't exist, but thats the truth.

And psionics would NOT be a logic tradition, logical traditions care too much are metaphysics to believe in psionics. It would be intuition.

So, they are evolution denialists. Got it!

[ravensmuse]

Aw, I was going to say vaccine denialists, but yours is good too.

[Eratosthenes]

The Delusion negative quality (from Augmentation) might go hand-in-hand with the Psionic tradition, given their beliefs.

[Makki]

The Delusion negative quality (from Augmentation) might go hand-in-hand with the Psionic tradition, given their beliefs.

my GM would give me no BP for that quality, as it comes with the tradition...but I'm with you: "There's no such thing as magic!!!"

[Eratosthenes]

my GM would give me no BP for that quality, as it comes with the tradition...but I'm with you: "There's no such thing as magic!!!"

Harsh, considering his chosen stream comes with a built in penalty equivalent to the negative quality. Does being a Psionic mage still cost 15 BP in his game?

[Fortinbras]

Johnny Carson immediately dispels any attempt by your psionic to use the Bend Spoon spell.

[Ascalaphus]

Psionics doesn't deny magic, mana, spirits etcetera - they just think the hermetic paradigm takes a hopelessly medieval approach to it.

It's perfectly doable to make a sensible psionic paradigm that accurately reflects fluff and rule descriptions of how magic works. Why would that be delusional? It's just modern.

Just because they'll be considered atheists, heretics etcetera doesn't mean their techniques wouldn't work just as well or even better, because they don't bother with medieval superstitions - superstitions developed by villagers during a Low Mana Cycle. What could those backwards idiots possibly know that's worth knowing?

Psionics has a huge pile of concepts and techniques to work with. Jungian Archetypes (Mentor spirits), mindfulness training, scientific method approach to trying out techniques and discovering what works, systematic measurements, kirlian photography (Assensing), dieting and so forth.



Psionics isn't the scary weird Tradition. That would be Dianetics.

[Makki]

Harsh, considering his chosen stream comes with a built in penalty equivalent to the negative quality. Does being a Psionic mage still cost 15 BP in his game?

sure. actually we have a psionic mystic adept (which is probably the most useful and fitting)
what do you guys seem fitting for Initiation?

[Fortinbras]

Psionics isn't the scary weird Tradition. That would be Dianetics.

Are you saying I couldn't play an OT 8 Scientologist mage?
Or are you saying that I can, but that he'd just be crazy as as a long tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs and dynamite.

[Ascalaphus]

Are you saying I couldn't play an OT 8 Scientologist mage?
Or are you saying that I can, but that he'd just be crazy as as a long tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs and dynamite.

I think they have Intimidation as a Drain attribute (IMG:style_emoticons/default/nyahnyah.gif)

[Irion]

@Ascalaphus
The funny thing is, they are bound to work better over time.

[Sengir]

I think they have Intimidation as a Drain attribute (IMG:style_emoticons/default/nyahnyah.gif)

They don't take drain damage, Dianetics only drains credsticks (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

And if you need inspiration for psionics, in the Secrets of Power books Twist initially refuses to believe in magic and presents some explainations which sound psionic to me.

[Udoshi]

The Psionic tradition has been reprinted in the Anniversary edition Street Magic (the one with the orange cover). Spirits and Drain are exactly like Sephiroth's post, except that psionics are no longer bound by the bolded restrictions (they can, in fact, prepare vessels and take a mentor spirit).

You are kidding, right?

About the reprint, i mean.