[Let’s Study: Dark Heresy] Adeptus Mechanicus: Psyker Powers

Today’s article is a continuation of Dulio‘s Adeptus Mechanicus series, with an analysis of the various Psyker Powers and how to best use them.

—-

“These are not the droids you’re looking for.” –Obi-Wan Kenobi

The Warp is undeniably a hostile place, a roiling mass of unbound energy churned by the universe’s collective Id and inhabited by some of the most malevolent entities to ever come into existence. Yet the Warp also represents power that can be muzzled and bent to one’s purposes by sheer force of will to accomplish feats beyond both mortal skill and artifice, even bending the laws of reality itself.  Psychic Powers is the catchall term for such feats, covering a wide array of abilities that can be benign as lighting a flame on one’s finger to dominating an entire planet’s population, but uniformly all tap into the warp as a power source with commensurate risk.

A person who can use such powers is called a Psyker and their capacity to channel the powers of the warp is measured by a Psy Rating.  Mechanically, the Psy Rating grants a number of dice he can roll when manifesting powers with a bonus derived from his Willpower stat and other modifiers like Psychic Foci. If the character’s roll meets the power’s threshold value the power manifests successfully, and if he exceeds it he may go into Overbleed which denotes the power manifesting with far greater efficacy (more targets hit, more damage dealt, etc) than normal because of his above average roll. Most powers are usually instantaneous in duration but a number can be sustained across several turns.

Generally the higher a Psyker’s Psy Rating the more power he has at his disposal but correspondingly the more of the warp he lets into the physical plane and the greater the risk of things going awry. Statistically speaking every die rolled represents a 10% chance of triggering a warp tainted phenomena, each additional die adds 100% to that probability and the effects are cumulative, meaning that a bad roll can trigger multiple simultaneous phenomena. In most cases this phenomenon is fairly harmless if mildly disconcerting,  such as sudden temperature drops or objects floating off, etc, but there is also a 25% chance of it becoming something truly dangerous like a daemon suddenly being pulled into the immediate vicinity or the psyker himself being sucked into the Warp.

Given the above, players should always measure how much of their psychic power they throw into a given manifestation roll, balancing the potential for warp phenomena with the power’s threshold or the need to roll high for Overbleed. Luckily the system allows them to roll less than their full Psy Rating dice if they so chose thereby mitigating unnecessary risks when manifesting lesser powers. Corollary to this a high Willpower bonus coupled with psychic foci means greater control over probability, assuring the player of a minimum value per roll to meet threshold ergo the higher your base bonuses the less you have to rely on the vagaries of Psy Rating dice to manifest powers.

It is also worth noting that the study of psychic powers is nonlinear, a player can select any power as long as he can afford the appropriate talent with the only real limitation being his ability to meet the power’s threshold. Players should take care to know their capabilities and not give in to the temptation to reach for flashy powers that they would not be able to manifest safely and reliably.

Moving on, Psychic Powers are divided into two categories; Minor Powers and Disciplines. Contrary to their appellation Minor Powers do not connote a lack of potency, though they tend to be easier to invoke than Disciplines, but rather encompass an array of one off effects that cannot be catalogued under a unified field of study. In contrast Disciplines represent a set of interrelated powers following a particular theme. The Imperium recognizes five such fields; Biomancy, control of the physical body, Divination, the ability to predict fates, Pyromancy, control of heat and flame, Telekinesis, the ability to translate thought to physical force, and Telepathy, the art of reading and controlling minds.

Mechanically speaking Minor Powers and Disciplines are functionally identical to one another however what sets them apart is the capacity of Disciplines to pay off over time. Whereas Minor Powers can only benefit from general power boosting talents, Disciplines benefit from further collective augmentations which improve all such powers under a given Discipline set with a single talent purchase. Furthermore learning ten powers under a particular Discipline awards a substantial Mastery bonus for manifestation rolls. This means that a psyker will be able to manifest Discipline powers with potential 25-50% more potency before the dice are rolled than he would a Minor Power assuming he focused on perfecting one discipline along with all the relevant talent purchases.

In closing Psychic Powers represent a wild card advantage in any conflict as these introduce a whole new level of capability that most mundane opponents cannot account for. Whereas it would be relatively simple to plan against a soldier’s arsenal it’s another matter entirely when said soldier suddenly manifests the ability to hijack your mind. Of course with such great power come great costs as psykers skirt the lightning every time they make a manifestation roll for even the simplest of powers. A well trained and tactically schooled psyker who knows to deploy his capabilities wisely is a war winning asset while one who shoots from the hip and lobs his powers willy-nilly is deadlier than keeping an unpinned grenade in one’s hand.

Odd Gaming Tips:

1. As stated above, psykers should endeavor to raise their static bonus to manifestation rolls using Willpower, talents and foci, to as high as possible. This will allow them to get away with using fewer Psy Rating dice and exponentially limit the chances of Psychic Phenomena. The high Willpower also helps when resisting the inevitable madness that is a psyker’s ever present occupational hazard.
2. Attempt to minimize the use of psychic powers in non-combat low urgency situations. If a task can be accomplished through mundane means that should be preferred. While the use of psychic powers may make things easier it also calls down unnecessary risks on the user. Over and above risking warp phenomena, it leaves a signature in the local area that can be tracked using the Psyniscience skill, tipping off the psyker’s enemies as to his presence thereby obviating the surprise factor of his powers.
3. Psychic Powers in most instances will never equal good old fashioned firearms in terms of damage dealing capability. Most psykers will struggle to even manifest something equivalent to a laspistol and even the most powerful psykers would be hard pressed to match the destructive power of a Melta-Gun or a Lascanon. Rather than trying to compete Psykers would be better served purchasing statistics and powers that augment their efficacy with firearms, allowing them to deal more damage overall rather than wasting valuable xp on something that can be otherwise done with a few hundred throne gelt.
4. Psykers are best served by purchasing a wide plethora of utility effects that allow them new approaches to problems confronting them rather than focusing solely on combat powers. Considering that the vast arsenals of the 41st Millennium have the death dealing well in hand, the ability peer into the future or mind control that crucial person is infinitely more precious than just having a fancier way of generating an entry wound on the opposing meatbag.
5. Of course the aforementioned does not apply when said Psyker routinely finds himself in situations where he is not allowed to bear arms, like say a noble’s court or a deep cover mission, in which case the ability to project a holocaust or summon a force shield on command is a massive advantage .
6. Don’t be afraid to armor up, Power Armor is not overkill its prudence in a world as lethal as Warhammer 40k, case and point Space Marine Librarians and Grey Knights. While most prominent psyker characters in Warhammer 40k literature seem to prefer style over protection, psykers should endeavor to put much as armor between them and incoming fire as they essentially become priority one on the enemy’s list once they reveal their powers.