This is supplemental homebrew material for the 3.5 edition Dungeons & Dragons psionics rules. The rules for this game can be found online at http://www.d20srd.org/index.htm.
The purpose of this essay was to address some key issues with the existing psionics rules. Namely, "what balances psions for not having to use somatic components and spellbooks?" and "what happens when a psicrystal is destroyed?"
Focus Stones
A focus stone is the locus of a psion's powers, a channel that projects the raw power he wields without damaging his mind and body. Most focus stones are smooth crystals the size of a nut. A psion can only manifest powers if he is touching a focus stone that he has attuned to. Becoming attuned to a focus stone takes 1 hour of meditation. Level 1 psions, psychic warriors, and wilders begin their careers with a free focus stone, usually as a gift from whoever trained them.
A focus stone must have line of effect to work, if a psion's focus stone is covered by clothing or armor, the psion can only manifest powers that target himself. Psionic feats and class features do not require a focus stone to use. Therefore, a soulknife does not require a focus stone.
If another character forcibly covers a psion's focus stone to block line of effect (for example, with a successful opposed grapple check) the psion may manifest powers on himself or that character.
Creating a focus stone requires 24 hours of meditation and a crystal or gem worth at least 1,000 gp per manifester level. The psion's focus stone becomes more flawless and grows as the psion gains levels, which is why its market price increases. If a focus stone is lost or destroyed, the psion must attune to a new one to manifest any powers.
If a focus stone is destroyed but the psion recovers the majority of its pieces, he can reassemble it for half the normal cost (fusing similar crystals into it to repair the damage.)
Because focus stones are so valuable, most psionic disciplines have their students' focus stones surgically implated under the skin, but not deep enough to prevent line of effect. Surgically removing or implanting a psion's focus stone is an application of the Heal skill, dealing 1d8 damage (or 1d3 damage with a DC 15 Heal check.) An implanted focus stone cannot be sundered or stolen, but can still be covered to block line of effect.
Other psionic disciplines have focus stones built into weapons or armor, worn as a diadem, swen into a glove, set into a bracelet or choker welded onto the psion's body, or in another manner. A player whose character is a psion may want to specify how he and those of his discipline use focus stones.
A psion may have any number of focus stones, but each must be created seperately. Only one focus stone may be attuned to the psion at a time. A focus stone that is not attuned does not grow with the psion, if a psion uses a weaker focus stone his manifester level is reduced to the level of that focus stone. A weak focus stone may be improved by fusing crystals into it to make up the price difference, and it will catch up at a rate of two manifester levels per level gained.
A psion may intentionally make a weak focus stone. This may be the only option of the psion does not have enough money to replace or fully repair his focus stone. A psion gains no benefit for using a focus stone whose manifester level is higher than his own, and such a focus stone does not grow until the psion reaches its manifester level.
Psicrystals
A psicrystal is merely a specialized type of focus stone. Many psions use their psicrystal as a backup focus stone. The first time a psion takes the Psicrystal Affinity feat, he can split his current focus stone into a focus stone and a psicrystal for no cost. To create a new psicrystal, a psion must take an attuned focus stone and spend 24 hours meditating with it. A psion may be simultaneously attuned to both his own focus stone and psicrystal.
Friday, December 17, 2010
Monday, December 6, 2010
Real
This short story was published October 11th on 365 Tomorrows, a science fiction website.
The neat thing about 365 Tomorrows is that they publish a short story every day, and have a 600 word count limit. Keeping a coherent story under 600 words is HARD.
The basic concept for the story is augmented reality, which is a fledgeling technology which I'm sure is going to make the Internet a whole lot cooler...
“Plip-plip!” beeped the lenses. Blue jumped up and ran to the bathroom to dry his hair, then stepped back into the living room and pressed his lenses to the bridge of his nose. Glowing green letters reading, “CONNECTING...” seemed to hover in the middle of the room for half a second.
“Blue! How was your day?” A few posters popped onto the walls, followed by a bed, a desk, a high-def console on the opposite wall slightly intersecting Blue's musty couch. He waited for the rest of the room to load, and then Spaz appeared, lying lazily on her bed. She was wearing a more simple t-shirt today, plain and peach-colored.
“Alright, Spaz. You know, you should clean your room,” he said, squinting at the dirty laundry. “My console took a good fifteen seconds to load all your socks.”
They both laughed. “You've already been my boyfriend for a year, you should be used to this by now.”
“Yeah, well, I wanted to talk about that...”
Spaz jumped off of her bed and walked across the room to Blue. “Uh, 'scuse me, closet.” She stepped around him, and walked through his couch and the wall. “We've gotta finish Quest of the Dragon-Tiger, Marissa wants to borrow it.”
Blue stared awkwardly at his dingy, peeling apartment wall. “Look, Spaz, I was wondering if, uh, you know, I could come visit you sometime.”
Spaz leaned out of the wall with a few games in her hand. “What?”
“You know, like in real life. In person.”
She laughed. “Now why would you want to do that? If you'd just quit being so cheap and bought some decent VR equipment, you wouldn't have to. The new models are like you're wearing nothing at all.”
She teased Blue with a quick kiss on the cheek before pushing right through him to sit down on her bed. He couldn't feel it of course.
“But I just want it to feel real.”
“Ah, well, you could always go rent some time at a V-lounge.”
“No, Spaz! I mean really real. This whole time, we've never met each other. It feels so strange, but it's like this relationship isn't... I want us to have something that's going to last, something more substantial.”
“What, you want us to have a kid?”
“No! I mean yes, but not now! I'm not like a seventy-something year old having a midlife crisis. I...”
“Okay, Blue. Spit it out. What do you want to tell me?”
He sighed as he felt his cheeks turn flush. “I... I was walking home through the rain today, and thought, 'this is the most real thing that's happened to me this week.' It made me sad, I don't want the cold and wet to feel more real than you.”
Spaz grinned, and leaned forward with interest. Her shirt had changed colors as they talked, it was red now. “Go on.”
“See, I haven't bought a VR suit or new games because I've been saving up money for...” Blue took a small box out of his pocket. “See, I got you this...”
Blue knelt down so that he was at eye level with Spaz, and opened the box.
“Blue, is that... gzz... you... bzz... ring...”
Spaz froze, purple and yellow cubes popped in the air around her. Socks started jumping around. Then everything in the room disappeared, and “CONNECTION LOST” flashed in front of Spaz's eyes in foot-tall green letters.
“Dammit!”
The neat thing about 365 Tomorrows is that they publish a short story every day, and have a 600 word count limit. Keeping a coherent story under 600 words is HARD.
The basic concept for the story is augmented reality, which is a fledgeling technology which I'm sure is going to make the Internet a whole lot cooler...
“Plip-plip!” beeped the lenses. Blue jumped up and ran to the bathroom to dry his hair, then stepped back into the living room and pressed his lenses to the bridge of his nose. Glowing green letters reading, “CONNECTING...” seemed to hover in the middle of the room for half a second.
“Blue! How was your day?” A few posters popped onto the walls, followed by a bed, a desk, a high-def console on the opposite wall slightly intersecting Blue's musty couch. He waited for the rest of the room to load, and then Spaz appeared, lying lazily on her bed. She was wearing a more simple t-shirt today, plain and peach-colored.
“Alright, Spaz. You know, you should clean your room,” he said, squinting at the dirty laundry. “My console took a good fifteen seconds to load all your socks.”
They both laughed. “You've already been my boyfriend for a year, you should be used to this by now.”
“Yeah, well, I wanted to talk about that...”
Spaz jumped off of her bed and walked across the room to Blue. “Uh, 'scuse me, closet.” She stepped around him, and walked through his couch and the wall. “We've gotta finish Quest of the Dragon-Tiger, Marissa wants to borrow it.”
Blue stared awkwardly at his dingy, peeling apartment wall. “Look, Spaz, I was wondering if, uh, you know, I could come visit you sometime.”
Spaz leaned out of the wall with a few games in her hand. “What?”
“You know, like in real life. In person.”
She laughed. “Now why would you want to do that? If you'd just quit being so cheap and bought some decent VR equipment, you wouldn't have to. The new models are like you're wearing nothing at all.”
She teased Blue with a quick kiss on the cheek before pushing right through him to sit down on her bed. He couldn't feel it of course.
“But I just want it to feel real.”
“Ah, well, you could always go rent some time at a V-lounge.”
“No, Spaz! I mean really real. This whole time, we've never met each other. It feels so strange, but it's like this relationship isn't... I want us to have something that's going to last, something more substantial.”
“What, you want us to have a kid?”
“No! I mean yes, but not now! I'm not like a seventy-something year old having a midlife crisis. I...”
“Okay, Blue. Spit it out. What do you want to tell me?”
He sighed as he felt his cheeks turn flush. “I... I was walking home through the rain today, and thought, 'this is the most real thing that's happened to me this week.' It made me sad, I don't want the cold and wet to feel more real than you.”
Spaz grinned, and leaned forward with interest. Her shirt had changed colors as they talked, it was red now. “Go on.”
“See, I haven't bought a VR suit or new games because I've been saving up money for...” Blue took a small box out of his pocket. “See, I got you this...”
Blue knelt down so that he was at eye level with Spaz, and opened the box.
“Blue, is that... gzz... you... bzz... ring...”
Spaz froze, purple and yellow cubes popped in the air around her. Socks started jumping around. Then everything in the room disappeared, and “CONNECTION LOST” flashed in front of Spaz's eyes in foot-tall green letters.
“Dammit!”
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