Psionics Augmented Volume 1.pdf

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B y J e r e my S m i t h a n d A n d r e a s R ö n n q v i s t
Vo l u m e I
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Psionics Augmented
Volume I
Authors:
Andreas Rönnqvist, Jeremy Smith
Contributing Authors:
Eric Hindley
Interior Design:
Erik Nowak
Interior Layout:
Jeremy Smith
Interior Artwork:
Gordon Napier, Joe Shawcross, Rick Hershey, Lance Red, Brian Fajardo, Jacob Blackmon
Special thanks to our Kickstarter backers and the legions of fans who helped playtest the material in this book
and offered new and innovative ideas to include.
Psionics Augmented
requires the use of
Psionics Unleashed: Core Psionics System,
© 2010 Dreamscarred Press.
See http://dreamscarredpress.com for more information on
Psionics Unleashed.
Based on the original roleplaying game rules designed by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson and inspired by the
third edition of the game designed by Monte Cook, Jonathan Tweet, Skip Williams, Richard Baker, and Peter
Adkison.
Product Identity:
The following items are hereby identified as Product Identity, as defined in the Open Game
License version 1.0a, Section 1(e), and are not Open Content: All trademarks, registered trademarks, proper names
(characters, deities, etc.), dialogue, plots, storylines, locations, characters, artwork, and trade dress. (Elements
that have previously been designated as Open Game Content or are in the public domain are not included in this
declaration.)
Open Content:
Except for material designated as Product Identity (see above), the game mechanics of this game
product are Open Game Content, as defined in the Open Gaming License version 1.0a Section 1(d). No portion
of this work other than the material designated as Open Game Content may be reproduced in any form without
written permission.
Compatibility with the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game requires the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game from Paizo
Publishing, LLC. See http://paizo.com/pathfinderRPG for more information on the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game.
Paizo Publishing, LLC does not guarantee compatibility, and does not endorse this product.
Pathfinder is a registered trademark of Paizo Publishing, LLC, and the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game and the
Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Compatibility Logo are trademarks of Paizo Publishing, LLC, and are used under the
Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Compatibility License. See http://paizo.com/pathfinderRPG/compatibility for more
information on the compatibility license.
Psionics Augmented
is published by Dreamscarred Press under the Open Game License version 1.0a Copyright
2000 Wizards of the Coast, Inc.
© 2013 Dreamscarred Press
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Psionics Augmented
Introduction
Welcome to
Psionics Augmented,
a host of new options
for your psionic characters! Psionics come in all shapes
and sizes, and
Psionics Augmented
is meant to introduce
new ways to use psionics in your games, giving new and
alternate psionic race options, new archetypes, feats,
powers, and equipment.
All of the options presented in this book are just
that: options. You can still use the material in
Psionics
Unleashed
and
Psionics Expanded
as originally presented,
this book simply provides more ways to customize your
character to match your particular vision and provide
variety.
that beneath the blasted landscape of their civilization
lie enormous libraries preserved from before the psionic
battles that decimated the land, libraries where the
forgeborn store any new information they acquire.
Forgeborn benefit from longer lifespans than the
human bodies that most of them were made from, but
their inclination for combat means many never actually
reach middle age. Among the forgeborn, such a fate is
not mourned, for the fallen can sometimes be reclaimed
and rebuilt into a new member of the race, resulting in a
theology very similar to reincarnation.
Physical Description:
Forgeborn are a tall and thick
race, and stand a few inches taller than most humans,
with their bodies flowing from well-muscled flesh to
mineral components and back. The exact nature of the
forgeborn’s mineral varies between members of the
race, from crystal, to steel, to darkwood, or even mithral.
All forgeborn have small glowing orbs embedded within
their skull and chest, which are the psionic power source
that animates their form. Although both male and
female versions of forgeborn exist, such distinctions do
not matter in forgeborn society, since there is no need
for copulation. While most forgeborn come from human
bodies, members from other races are not uncommon.
Society:
The origins of the forgeborn have led them
to have a social structure not unlike an army, where
forgeborn tend to cluster based upon role, rather than
from a family or tribal structure, as other races prefer.
While the race tends to prefer combat over negotiations,
they are not vicious nor do they go out of their way to
start violence; they view combat as the best means to
victory, rather than as some sort of desired activity. All
members of forgeborn society are given a role to benefit
the civilization, although not all are given combat roles,
since weapons and armor must be crafted in order to be
used, and skill in their assigned role is what measures a
forgeborn’s worth among his peers. Since the forgeborn
do not require food or sleep, few worry about gathering
such resources, although there is an aesthetic element to
some forgeborn, particularly in artwork depicting great
battles, so forgeborn artisans are respected within their
society.
Relations:
Most races are uncomfortable with the
unnatural form of the forgeborn, while the forgeborn
view other races as inferior due to their reliance on
sustenance and rest. Most members of the elan race,
however, view the forgeborn as abominations that are a
disgusting perversion of the elan transformation process.
Alignment and Religion:
Forgeborn view victory as
the most important outcome and honorable combat is
something they view as a paradox. They fight to win,
not to be honorable, although they do accept surrender.
The structure of command is integral to the proper
functioning of an army, so few forgeborn go against the
defined chain of command. Most forgeborn are lawful
neutral.
Adventurers:
Those forgeborn who choose to visit
new lands are often seeking to find new potential
New Races
While
Psionics Unleashed
presented a variety of
different psionic races for use as characters in your
game, there are certainly other psionic race concepts
suitable to serve as characters. Presented below are two
new psionic races, the forgeborn and noral. The first is
a part-construct, part-humanoid race of beings that uses
psionic energy to fuse inorganic material to the bodies
of creatures, while the latter is a symbiotic race with a
tendency to strive for peaceful negotiations and study of
other races and cultures, their symbiote providing them
with enhanced mental prowess.
Forgeborn
Believed to have been created centuries ago during a
great war between psionic nations, the race of creatures
referred to as the forgeborn were left to their own
devices within the barren wasteland the war left behind.
A hybridization of flesh and minerals, the forgeborn are
varied in appearance and form, but were all created
by merging psionically-empowered materials with the
body of a humanoid to fashion a new creature.
Since their creation, the race has learned the creation
process and seeks out humanoids to transform, in
order to increase their numbers and some say resume
the conflict for which they were created. Although
little is known about the creation process by non-
forgeborn, rumors say that they take those critically
wounded in combat and repair their bodies, wiping
the new forgeborn’s memories and giving new life to
the otherwise-fallen. Some darker rumors say that the
race has learned not only how to alter the living, but
potentially the recently-deceased, but there has been
little proof of this happening.
Although they may appear as some sort of bizarre
construct, the forgeborn are intelligent and capable of
thought, emotion, and reasoning. While much of their
time is spent working out combat strategies and ways to
harness the psionic energy that powers their forms, they
are avid students of history and some outsiders believe
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Psionics Augmented
recruits for the ranks or want to study new combat
tactics and the war histories of other nations. With little
in the way of familial ties, few forgeborn get homesick,
but feel an urge to return to share new information they
have learned.
Names:
Because forgeborn are built from members of
other races, the names of forgeborn are varied and do
not have common traditional names. Forgeborn names
are drawn from any of the cultures around them, giving
them a wide spectrum of possible names.
Languages:
Forgeborn begin play speaking Common
and Forgeborn. Forgeborn with high Intelligence scores
can choose from the following: Dwarven, Elven, Mae-
nad, Ophiduan, Xeph.
Noral
Forgeborn Racial Traits
+2 Strength, +2 Intelligence, –4 Charisma:
Forge-
born are strong and have quick minds, but are mon-
strous in appearance and have difficulty relating to
other races.
Medium:
Forgeborn are Medium creatures and have
no bonuses or penalties due to their size.
Half-Construct:
Forgeborn are of the humanoid type,
with the half-construct and forgeborn subtypes.
Slow and Steady:
Forgeborn have a base speed of
20 feet, but their speed is never modified by armor or
encumbrance.
Fearless:
Forgeborn gain a +2 bonus against fear
effects.
Natural Armor:
Forgeborn are sturdier than other
races and gain a +1 natural armor bonus to their AC.
Source Crystal:
Unlike most half-constructs, forge-
born can be raised and resurrected.
Naturally Psionic:
Forgeborn gain the Wild Talent
feat as a bonus feat at 1st level. If a forgeborn takes
levels in a psionic class, he instead gains the Psionic
Talent feat.
Psionic Aptitude:
When a forgeborn takes a level
in a favored class, he can choose to gain an additional
power point instead of a hit point or skill point.
The norals are a race of humanoids with a symbiotic
bond with the erliss, a psionic creature also referred to
as a dreamscar. Norals that have bonded with an erliss
no longer dream, giving the creature its nickname, as
well as giving the bonded norals the nickname of the
dreamscarred. The symbiotic joining process has left the
noral race open to the benefit of other creatures on their
society, making them more likely to seek out information
on other cultures and talented at social interactions.
Known for being physically clumsier than most, some
surmise that norals lack agility because the bonding
The half-construct subtype is from the
Advanced
Race Guide
and is detailed below.
A half-construct race is a group of creatures that
are artificially enhanced or have parts replaced
by constructed mechanisms, be they magical or
mechanical. A half-construct race has the following
features.
• Half-constructs gain a +2 racial bonus on saving
throws against disease, mind-affecting effects, poison,
and effects that cause either exhaustion or fatigue.
• Half-constructs cannot be raised or resurrected.
• Half-constructs do not breathe, eat, or sleep, unless
they want to gain some beneficial effect from one of
these activities. This means that a half-construct can
drink potions to benefit from their effects and can
sleep in order to regain spells, but neither of these
activities is required for the construct to survive or
stay in good health.
HALF-CONSTRUCTS
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Psionics Augmented
process has impacted their natural reflexes. Others
argue it is because the race has a naturally stocky
frame that simply does not lend itself well to precise
movements. Despite this, the natural resiliency of their
mental and physical forms has helped them overcome
what is otherwise a liability for surviving the harsh
lands near their settlements. However, their ability to
block such assaults, combined with their natural ability
to assault the minds of others, has given some a fear of
the race as a potential subjugator of free will, a notion
the norals find ludicrous for their views on free will as
something to be nurtured and never to be threatened.
While some norals choose not to bond with an erliss,
this is the exception, rather than the rule. The bonding
process itself is done as a ceremony once a noral has
reached adulthood and is considered an important step
in the maturation of their younger generations. This
ceremony is typically done in private, usually with only
the noral’s parents in attendance. Upon completion, the
newly-dreamscarred noral is considered an adult and
afforded all privileges as such.
Physical Description:
Norals stand about as tall as
humans, but are typically stockier in form. They have
skin tones, eye color, and hair pigments of a similar
range as humans, but a noral who has undergone the
bonding process to become dreamscarred loses all skin
and hair pigmentation, becoming an albino with pure
white hair. A dreamscarred noral’s eyes turn pure black,
and the erliss at the base of their neck rapidly grows into
its mature form, with four tentacles coming out of the
base of the noral’s neck, usually draping over the noral’s
shoulders. In addition, a dreamscarred noral’s forehead
and skull takes on a ridged and plated look, rather than
the typical humanoid appearance.
Society:
The societal structure of the norals is one of
a democratic republic. In their society, only norals who
have gone through the bonding process may vote for the
Ruling Council, which then governs. Unbonded norals do
not get to vote, as they are seen as still being children or
outcasts, causing most young norals to seek to complete
the bonding ritual or to leave for lands where such a
distinction does not matter. The resistance that norals
have against mental intrusion gives them a strong sense
of morality when it comes to the use of compulsions or
domination – be it mental or physical. This leads few to
seek the use of such tactics, although those who work as
mediators push the envelope by using powers that only
read thoughts, arguing that since they are not compelling
the subject, it is simply a better way to achieve amicable
solutions, while their natural ability to attack the minds
of others is viewed as a to be used only in self-defense
and never as a means to impose their will.
Relations:
The benefits the noral race derive from
the erliss make them naturally inclined to seek out new
cultures that might grant them improvements to their
own. Their natural inclination to understand other
cultures and to easily interact with other races has
helped them to take on a role of mediator for conflicts,
while they try to maintain neutrality. When such
attempts are unsuccessful, or when the norals are cast
as favoring one side over another, the norals will instead
withdraw and allow the other races to resolve matters on
their own, even if it results in brutal combat. Among the
other races, the norals have the most difficulty working
with the psionocratic ophiduan race, for they see the
serpentine race’s ruling style as barbarism wrapped in a
supposed enlightened form of government. In addition,
some cultures, such as dwarves, view the norals’
preference to stay out of conflicts as passively condoning
the actions of their enemies, earning enmity on more
than one occasion. One area where norals dislike the
interactions with other races is in the proclivity of other
races to kiss in public. Kissing for the norals is their
means to breed more erliss, so they view such public
displays as unseemly.
Alignment and Religion:
Norals worship a pantheon
of deities which reflect the many facets of daily life.
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