Building Psionic Content

Psionics is a branch of magic (Mana Level, 05) with its own flavor and defenses — component-free, armor-ignoring, and subtle. It needs no bespoke file type; it lives in the rules (06) and in how you tag characters and gear. Build within those rails and it stays distinct from hurling fireballs without turning into a second system.

Where psionic mechanics come from

Psionics has no visible tell and no item requirement, so two things never apply:

• No magicRarity means "no sorcery." Psionics is not a gear enchantment. A psion's power does not live in an item's magicRarity/manaCost fields — it lives in the character's attributes and the Master's call under 06. Reserve equipment tags for actual enchanted objects.
• Mana still fuels it. Even though psionics needs no focus, it still draws on MA and is still bent by the world's Mana Level (05). It is magic, just a quieter lane.

Calling it out on a character

Psionics keys off mental attributes — IN, PE, CH, with EN as the guard. When you design a psionic character or NPC:

• Note the primary attribute per power (Telepathy–IN, Empathy–CH, Clairvoyance–PE, …) from the 06 table, and a secondary that colors it.
• Use the Master's trigger words so the engine notices: psionic, telepathy, telekinesis, clairvoyance, empathy, mental, mind-control, precognition. Write them in the character's traits, not buried.

The two things that make it read as psionic

1. Armor is irrelevant. In a scene, psionic harm bypasses mundane AC; only Mental Defense (4d6 + IN opposed), resistance, or will holds. Don't accidentally port armor math onto it.
2. It is quiet. Reward the player's restrained, hidden framing — a silence, a glance — with the surprise it earns. Do not re-tell it as a glowing-casting moment; that erases the branch.

Checklist

• Psionic abilities are described as powers with a primary/secondary attribute (06), not as gear magicRarity.
• Mana cost and Mana Level influence still apply, as with any magic branch.
• Hostile uses face Mental Defense and can trigger a Psionic Cascade — never "free" willpower wins.