Psychic Powers

Basic Information

Psychic Powers are amazing powers of the mind. Possibilities run the gamut from the subtle enough to be doubted to the superheroically blatant. Psychic powers are surrounded by a pseudo-scientific air that allows them to be used in settings where magic or generic superpowers would be inappropriate.

They may also exist in parallel with magic (for kitchen sink settings¹) or 'explain' it². Where used in parrallel they have a nasty tendency to end up as "different but the same" as the magic system - or to introduce another completely different system of complexity, both of which have their disadvantages.

Psychic powers also become conflated with spiritualism in many cases with mediums often being referred to as 'psychics'.

Stock Psychic Powers

Where psychic powers exist, abilities are typically chosen from among the following:

• Astral Projection - the ability for the mind to leave the body and wander around on its own; may include time- and dimension travel
• Extra-Sensory Perception - seeing or otherwise sensing faraway things
• Precognition - the ability to see or otherwise predict the future
• Postcognition - similarly for the past
• Psychometabolism - psionic control over the users own body, usually for purposes of enhancement.
• Empathy
• Telepathy, including
  • Mental communication
  • Mind Control - may or may not work on animals. In some settings you need an empath instead on account of animals working on an emotional rather than an intellectual level.
  • Mind Reading
• Telekinesis/Psychokinesis - generally the ability to move physical objects, but also including
  • Pyrokinesis - heating things and setting them on fire
  • Cryokinesis - the converse
  • Electrokinesis - generating and controlling electricity
    • Machine Empathy
  • Bio-Psychokinesis - control over living things. May include powers of psychic surgery or similar healing disciplines.
  • Other variations made by adding "-kinesis" to something.
• Teleportation

See Also

• Brain Mine
• Psionics
• Mind over Manners
• Magic and Powers
• Paranormal Tropes
• Psychic Surgery
• Psychotron
• Stock Superpowers

Sources

Bibliography

1. TV Tropes Wiki entry

Game and Story Use

• These are really common in science fantasy and more fantastical sci-fi genres: anything involving The Greys is almost legally obliged to include them.
• Sort of cheesy and out of place in fantasy, although your mileage may vary on this one.

Footnotes

1. They were egregiously bolted onto 1ed AD&D (for example) but the most obvious example of (intentional) kitchen sinking is probably the Palladium series games.

2. As, for example in Conspiracy X