The Transcendent Mind

 

The mind holds many secrets. Some known to conscious man, others still locked away. A rare few are blessed with a mind that can warp the physical boundaries of space, time, and spirit if only in short bursts. To the Harkanians, these men are mystics, both feared and revered. Some communities seek them out as spiritual leaders, prophets, and saviors. Out of fear or religious custom, many slay the gifted as soon as the transcendent mind manifests during early adolescence.

Psychic Characters

Every newly created 1st-level character with an Intelligence score of 15 or more may check to see if he possess the gift of the transcendental mind. The percentage chance a character possesses any psychic ability is equal to the sum of the character's Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma scores. 

Powers Granted

A character blessed with the transcendent mind begins with the power to Control Self, which is always the first ability to manifest in budding psychic. Each time the character rises in level, he has a similar chance to develop the use of a new power. If successful, the player rolls an eight-sided die and compares the result to the table below. If the character would gain the same power twice, no additional power develops.

1 - Astral Sight

2 - Dimensional Step

3 - Mind Blast

4 - Mind Control

5 - Precognition

6 - Telekinesis

7 - Telepathy

8 - Player's Choice

Using Psychic Powers

After a psychic mind uses a power, the player must rolls 2 six-sided dice. The number of psychic powers the character possesses is then added to the total. If the result is less than 7, the psychic must rest his mind overnight before he can regain the use of his abilities.

Psychic Powers

Astral Sight

Too see past the barriers of the physical world is no mean feat. Yet to the transcendent mind, it is as simple as shifting one's attention away from a daydream back to reality. Walls seemingly fall away. Containers display their contents. Vaults reveal themselves.

This power allows the psychic to see through physical objects for as long as the psychic continues to concentrate. Fighting, running, using another psychic ability, or any similarly complex action breaks the user's focus. As does sustaining even a single point of damage. Range 3".

Control Self

Before it can manipulate time and space, the transcendent mind must first master itself. Fear, pain, and uncertainty; balance, grip, heart-rate; the need for food, drink, and air; vulnerability to heat and cold - they can all be shaped as a potter forms a bowl. Cultivating pristine self-control is the first step along the path of the transcendent mind.

This power grants the psychic precise and complete control over his bodily functions. The psychic can sustain this power for as long as desired (up to 1 week) but must rest for an equal amount of time immediately after.

Dimensional Step

Space can be bent with a glance. Two creases in the fabric of reality kiss. A simple step forward stretches beyond ordinary comprehension, seeming transporting the transcendent mind across vast space in a single instant.

This power teleports the psychic the specified distance in a chosen direction. A jump of 12" can be made without any chance of misstep. Out to a distance of 48", there is a 10% chance the psychic arrives 1-3" away from his intended destination. Roll a six-sided die to determine the direction (1 = North, 2 = South, 3 = West, 4 = East, 5 = Up, 6 = Down).

Mind Blast

The body is weak. The mind is fragile. To rupture the ego is to exterminate the soul. The transcendent mind wields psychic energy like a knife, a knife so sharp a single sweep can sever the link between the mind and body.

Blasts one victim with raw psychic energy. The attack inflicts 3 six-sided dice of damage unless the character can make a successful saving throw vs. spells. Psychic characters add +3 to their saving throw to resist this power.

Mind Control

The soul is a deep wellspring. The mind comprehends only the small stream of awareness that passes from the depths of the spirit into consciousness. With practice, the transcendent mind can break into another's soul, manipulating thought and action alike, utterly dominating the victim.

Unless the victim can make its saving throw vs. spells, it falls under the psychics's complete control. The influence lasts as long as the psychic continues to concentrate. Fighting, running, using another psychic ability, or any similarly complex action breaks the user's focus. As does sustaining even a single point of damage. Psychic characters add +3 to their saving throw to resist this power. Range: 6".

 

Precognition

The transcendent mind focuses on the trajectories and relative positions of all matter, seen and unseen, in the immediate area. The eyes close. The imagination acts. The mind simulates a illusory reality and glimpses into the future.

This power tells the psychic what would happen if he were to take a particular course of action. This ability to functions perfectly when glimpsing up to 5 minutes into the future. A psychic can look ahead up to 10 minutes, but with only 75% accuracy. When glimpsing up to 30 minutes into the future, the psychic's prediction will be accurate only 50% of the time.

Telekinesis

Gravity is the life-preserving force that prevents all matter from dispersing into the empty and endless void. It a force to be reckoned with and a force to manipulate. To move matter, the transcendent mind simply redirects the flow of gravity. Precision requires years to perfect.

This power allows the psychic to move matter with metal power alone. The psychic can lift up to 20 pounds per level at one time. The telekinetic force continues for as long as the psychic remains concentrated. Fighting, running, using another psychic ability, or any similarly complex action breaks the user's focus. Range: 6".

Telepathy

The mouth is but a crude imitation of true, unbound communication. Telepathy, directed by the transcendent mind, allows an unparalleled and intimate connection to blossom: a sincere confession of the heart's every desire, perfect transmission of ideas and memories.

Directly connects the psychic's mind with that of another intelligent creature. In this state, communication transcends language and the psychic can read the creature's surface thoughts. The psychic can attempt to dive deeper and access the creature's memories. Though when the psychic does so, the victim is allowed a saving throw vs. spells to push the psychic out of his mind. (Psychic characters add +3 to their saving throw.) The telepathic connection remains as long as the psychic continues to concentrate. Fighting, running, using another psychic ability, or any similarly complex action breaks the user's focus. As does sustaining even a single point of damage. Range: 6".

Life on a Broken World

The word privation best characterizes life on the ancient and doomed world of Harkanis. Survival is uncertain and childhood non-existent. Even those who survive to adulthood rarely live to 35. Forty is considered venerable. The food is bland and tasteless at best. The dry mountains and deserts that cover the land forbid agriculture. The poisonous jungles and slime-filled swamps are filled with clouds of insects that shred crops before they can reach maturity. Thus hunting and gathering are the norm, and much of daily life is spent in the pursuit of sustenance. Shelters are crude. In the deserts, villages consist of stone and mud-brick huts. Mountain-dwellers live in shallow caves. In the swamps and jungles simple structures are erected from wood, sometimes built in the treetops or in the middle of lakes to prevent attack. Clothing is rudimentary, little more than roughly spun robes and animal skins. Evening entertainment includes song, storytelling, dance, and athletic pursuits. With the exception of family heirlooms, weapons are limited to clubs and stone axes, daggers, and spears. Where wood is available, some learn to hunt with bow and arrow.

Nomads
Nomads roam the empty wastes. Since the beasts of Harkanis are too large and vicious to tame, nomads must carry what they can upon their shoulders. Everything else must be left behind. Nomads never stay in any one place long. Hidden oases make the best resting places, but more often, nomads must be content living in caves and ruins or simply lying down under the stars at night. Nomads tend to be more  accepting of outsiders than Harkanians. Some even fashion themselves as traders. Others consider outsiders prey that can can be captured and worked as beasts of burden or enjoyed as concubines.

Savages
Savages live by the sword and die by the axe. Conflict is both a way of life and means of survival; for  savages prey on other men as if they both were beasts. These vicious marauders are led by their strongest warrior or most cunning tactician. While some savages fight with honor, most favor surprise attacks initiative beneath the stars or else during mealtimes or celebrations. Between battles, savages live in the dwellings of their massacred victims, only moving on to the next village when resources dwindle. Savages possess deadlier weapons than destitute villagers or nomads. Their swords and axes are often crafted from iron and steel, trophies claimed from fallen adversaries.

Scavengers
Ruined cities and monuments of bygone ages and fallen civilizations dot the landscape. Time is the unrelenting devouter of all great men. Covered by desert sands, overgrown with vines, or sinking into the slime-filled bogs, much that once was has since been lost to it. Still, small bands of resourceful scavengers are able to live off the relics of the past. They dwell in the corpses of ruined cities and outposts. Whereas savages live standing above a pool of blood, scavengers scamper below the weight of ages. Ancient technology is the scavengers' lifeblood, though their understanding of it is rudimentary. Little, however, can be said of scavengers as a whole, for their bands are small, secretive, and scattered. Many live underground, inside the skeletal superstructure of superhuman construction, only returning to the surface in desperation when their life-giving technology fails. 

The Enlightened Few
Few have managed to rise above privation. Those with the will, intellect, and opportunity to fully embraced sorcery and the mysteries of the ancients can be considered enlightened, at least for a time. They are the guardians of cyclopean temples and towers that pierce the sky. They are the keepers of lost knowledge and the practitioners of the sorcery that keep the Old Ones at bay. Many consider themselves the watchful protectors of men or even the future saviors of all Harkanis.

Decadents
Corruption and faction are the diseases that crumble empires from within. Few stay enlightened forever without falling into decadence, becoming jaded aristocrats, autocratic tyrants, corrupt priests and wicked sorcerers. Demon worship, human sacrifice, wanton sorcery, drug abuse, and wild sexual fancy become all too common. Yet many once-enlightened conclaves manage to stagger on for generations before finally falling into abject ruin.

Degenerates
The last survivors of decadent civilizations resort to feuding over dwindling resources or are driven away by beasts and savages. Fleeing into the wilderness or deep underground beneath their ruined cities, they sometimes start to inbreed and devolve into something no longer entirely human.

Men of Harkanis

Harkanis is much older than Earth. The planet's exotic and unforgiving biomes have led to the development of multitudes of bizarre creatures. Men are no exception. The men of Harkanis are very different from those living on Earth. Each of the nine races possesses an appearance that would be considered unnatural on our world. The origin of the nine races of Harkanian men is shrouded in mystery. Some sages infer from archaic texts and religious canon that the nine races were a product of a terrible or capricious experiment. Others say that they evolved naturally as a result of the vicious radiation that haunts this doomed world. Those are but two of many theories.

Black Men

Their jet-black skin glimmers like obsidian in moonlight. Their hair is pure white, their eyes gunmetal grey. They are strong and stoic, slow to anger, but also slow to cool. Black men are said to always keep their promises.

Blue Men

Their skin is cobalt blue like lapis lazuli. Their hair and eyes are a dusty shade of yellow. Blue men tend to be eccentric and creative. They favor the will of the individual over the needs of the group. They are said to be the most skilled at deciphering and repairing ancient technology.

Brown Men

Their skin is rough and sandy, like the deserts and mountains they inhabit. Their hair and eyes are several shades darker. Brown men can endure suffering like no other, making them excellent survivors and travelers. They are blunt, level-headed, and practical.

Green Men

Their skin is supple and moist like a frog's. Their hair is bronze, and their eyes a bright shade of amber. Green men are most at home in slime-filled swamps and bogs. Deserts and dry mountains make their skin scaly and itchy. Green men always keep their secrets.

Orange Men

Their skin is bright and radiant, though their hair is the color of copper. Their eyes are calm and brown. Orange men are wild, chaotic, and prone to mood swings. In battle, they are quick to fight, but also quick to flee.

Purple Men

Their skin is splotched like sodium hydroxide. Their hair and eyes the color of gold and shimmer in sunlight. Purple men are proud haughty, but conduct themselves with grace and honor. They can be offended easily and are slow to forget an insult.

Red Men

Their skin is red, flaked with brown like red jasper. Their hair and eyes are the color of stained mahogany wood. The red men are strong and agile. Their eyes are alert, and their tempers hot. Red men have the reputation of producing the greatest warriors.

White Men

Their milk-white skin is sensitive to direct sunlight. Their hair is inky black, as are their eyes. White men are most active under the light of the moon. They wear long robes that shield shield bodies from the sun's harsh rays. They are secretive and mysterious, most distrusting of outsiders.

Yellow Men

Their skin is bright, almost painful to perceive. Their hair is dark brown, almost black. Their are eyes sandy, curious, and piercing. Yellow men decorate their skins with wild black tattoos. They are cruel and merciless and have an inclination toward sorcery.