Psionics

Psionics was an extreme mental power first developed by githzerai monks in the Stygian Lands. It was also known as the Invisible Art, extrasensory perception (ESP) or mind magic. A person who trained in the use of psionics was usually called a psion, esper, or psychic.

Nature of Psionics

Psionic power was fueled by mental, rather than arcane, energy. As such, it did not tap into the Weave of magic, and it did not require access to the Weave to function. This characteristic notably gave espers a way to sidestep an antimagic field, including the dampening effects of the Null during the Dark Age.

Since psionics did not rely on an external power, its effects were variegated and difficult to categorize. However, four main disciplines of psionics were generally understood: telepathy, telekinesis, metacreativity, and psychometabolism.

Advantages and Disadvantages

Psionics, with the exception of metacreative projections, were invisible to natural or magical detection. An esper was able to operate discreetly, achieving the effects of conventional magic spells (such as mage hand) without drawing attention to themselves. Psionic power was restricted by the mental discipline of the user, which often made for unpredictable encounters.

A major drawback of psionics to conventional magic was that, unlike magic, psionic energy could not be imbued into any object or location. Another significant disadvantage was the danger of the Fugue, a catatonic state caused by significant psychological trauma, or by invasion or overexertion of a person's mind. The Fugue was characterized by a stasis-like rigidity of the body, unresponsiveness, and mental exhaustion. Some espers overtaxed their minds so much that they could not exit the Fugue, and essentially became brain-dead.

Disciplines

Psionics fell into four generally-accepted disciplines.

Telepathy

Telepathy was used to influence another person (or creature's) mind. It involved a direct projection of mental force into a target's mind. The effects could be uninvasive or even benign, but most of the time, telepaths used their skills to read a target's thoughts. Those who would have scored high on the Chimorian Esper Scale had the ability to probe a mind even deeper, uncovering locked-away secrets beyond surface-level thoughts. Because psionics did not manipulate the Weave, it was difficult to detect a mind probe (and even harder to resist) unless one had specialized psychic training.

Telepaths were sometimes employed to help other psychics overcome the Fugue by repairing the mental pathways in a target's brain.

Telekinesis

The ability to move objects with one's mind without magic was called telekinesis. Telekinetics could project brain waves strong enough to manipulate physical spaces; generally, this meant lifting objects. However, some telekinetics were so powerful that they could use their psionics to "deconstruct" an object at the molecular level. Such a feat was very dangerous, and would usually result in the telekinetic entering the Fugue.

Metacreativity

Metacreativity involved the power to form solid psionic constructs or semi-tangible projections. It was a challenging discipline to practice and difficult to master. Metacreations usually had utility purposes, such as those achieved with the magic spells magic mouth, project image, or fog cloud. High-level metacreatives could use their projections and constructs to interact with the physical world, similar to spells like web or cloudkill. These projections acted more like Animated Armor or other homunculi.

Psychometabolism

The abilities to alter one's bodily functions, achieve temporary feats of strength and speed, or protect oneself from physical danger were all classified under the psychometabolism discipline. A broad-ranging category, psychometabolism involved things like slowing down one's heart rate to near-stillness, increasing one's pain tolerance, or "overcharging" one's nervous system. All these powers were used for various purposes. Some abilities were passive, including projecting one's mental fortitude into the body to combat illness. Others were more active, such as temporarily "shutting off" the brain limiters on a person's own muscles to allow for near-impossible levels of physical exertion.