Psiad in Aberrant

[yrtalien]

I am considering starting an Aberrant game and including Psiads as playable PCs. The Abberants start with 150 xp. How Much xp, if any, should I start the Psiads with to keep them competitive?

[IanWatson]

From context, I'm assuming you're asking about a 1e game, and not the new edition.

[Mateus Luz]

Some time ago there was a discussion about that and the suggestion to balance it was to give the Psiad Psi 6 and 10 dots of modes, one of them at 3 dots at least.

Not sure if it’s the best option, but it would balance Novas Tier and would give a good variety of powers while compensate the lack of scale.

[johntfs]

I am considering starting an Aberrant game and including Psiads as playable PCs. The Aberrants start with 150 xp. How Much xp, if any, should I start the Psiads with to keep them competitive?

It's kind of up to you. Up to the point where Template are added, Psiads and Novas are basically the same. The cost in XP for the "Psiad Template" is 54 (2 dots of Psi at 15 each; 3 dots in Primary Modes at 8 each). Novas also get a free Edge (Fame or Alternate ID) So, call it 98 XP to bring a Psiad "up to par." Or 106 XP since Psiads do not get the bonus Attribute point that Novas do.

Assuming you're doing this "rules as written" recall that Psiads during the Aberrant era do not get to learn Quantakineses beyond the basic powers. They can't even learn the "one dot" powers.

Also, Psiads can have a maximum of 6 in Psi which lets them buy Primary Modes up to 4 dots. Secondary modes are limited to 3 dots.

If they have the Strong Mode *** Edge then At Psi 6 they can have one Primary Mode at 5 Dots or one secondary mode at 4 dots.

Probably one consideration would be to have the Psiad make sure to focus some on Telepathy and Clairsentience to have them do things that Novas can't do.

[Bunyip]

It's kind of up to you. Up to the point where Template are added, Psiads and Novas are basically the same. The cost in XP for the "Psiad Template" is 56 (2 dots of Psi at 15 each; 2 dots in Primary Modes at 8 each, 1 dot in a Secondary Mode 10). Novas also get a free Edge (Fame or Alternate ID) So, call it 96 XP to bring a Psiad "up to par." Or 106 XP since Psiads do not get the bonus Attribute point that Novas do.

Assuming you're doing this "rules as written" recall that Psiads during the Aberrant era do not get to learn Quantakineses beyond the basic powers. They can't even learn the "one dot" powers.

Also, Psiads can have a maximum of 6 in Psi which lets them buy Primary Modes up to 4 dots. Secondary modes are limited to 3 dots.

If they have the Strong Mode *** Edge then At Psi 6 they can have one Primary Mode at 5 Dots or one secondary mode at 4 dots.

Probably one consideration would be to have the Psiad make sure to focus some on Telepathy and Clairsentience to have them do things that Novas can't do.

This seems like reasonable numbers and advice.

[Shepherdboi]

It's kind of up to you. Up to the point where Template are added, Psiads and Novas are basically the same. The cost in XP for the "Psiad Template" is 56 (2 dots of Psi at 15 each; 2 dots in Primary Modes at 8 each, 1 dot in a Secondary Mode 10). Novas also get a free Edge (Fame or Alternate ID) So, call it 96 XP to bring a Psiad "up to par." Or 106 XP since Psiads do not get the bonus Attribute point that Novas do.

One minor correction. Psiads don't start with any dots in their Secondary Aptitudes. They stick two dots in one Primary Aptitude and one dot in a second Primary Aptitude, so the xp total drops by two. Of course, the quantakinesis basic powers are free, so things may even out a bit there. OTOH Aberrants start by rolling at Difficulty 7, while Psiads only hit that target number at Psi 6, so buying your character up to Psi 6 would be a smart idea.

[Dataweaver]

Wasn't there something about the QK basic abilities being something new in the Æon era, and not something that Aberrant era psiads would have?

[IanWatson]

Wasn't there something about the QK basic abilities being something new in the Æon era, and not something that Aberrant era psiads would have?

As per Æon Æxpansion p. 86, "Psiads in official Trinity Continuum time periods before 2104 can’t develop more than the basic quantakinetic powers."

The basic QK abilities are always available to psiads, but nothing more than that until after 2104, and then quantakinesis can be learned by psions and psiads alike.

[Shalmaneser]

As per Æon Æxpansion p. 86, "Psiads in official Trinity Continuum time periods before 2104 can’t develop more than the basic quantakinetic powers."

The basic QK abilities are always available to psiads, but nothing more than that until after 2104, and then quantakinesis can be learned by psions and psiads alike.

Otherwise I suspect there wouldn't be much of a balance issue- that fifth dot of Fundamentals and a good Nova ally or two would solve many a conflict. Pity the nova who could throw a mountain only a moment ago?

[Shepherdboi]

A few additional thoughts on running a Psiad in an Aberrant game.

Novas don't get the character creation Step 6 four bonus edge dots, since those are rolled into the 150 xp they start with, but they do get one dot in Fame or Alternate Identity for free. They don't get a bonus Attribute dot in Step 6 either, but they do get one during Step 5, so that evens out. If you're building your Psiad, maybe just use the Aberrant character creation rules with the Psiad xp costs chart since 99.999% of everyone will be unable to tell the difference anyway.

Buying Psi up from 2 to 5 costs 45 xp, then boosting it to 6 costs another 30 xp. Since getting your Psiad to Psi 6 isn't something that should happen overnight, you may want them to have developed their powers years before Novas started popping up, which implies xp spent on boosting at least one Path in addition to buying up Psi and Modes. Spending 18 xp on a second level of the Psiad Origin Path gets you enough Edge dots for either Favored Aptitude or Strong Mode (with one left over). You can take 7 dots in your Primary Aptitudes for 56 xp. That leaves you with 1 xp saved for the future.

I'm kind of partial to taking the Vitakinesis Augendis Mode to 4 dots and pairing it with the Strong Mode Edge. You basically get any reasonable Physical, Mental, or Social Edge you want, the ability to boost any Attribute you want to 7, the ability to boost any Skill with at least one dot to 5 (plus any Skill Tricks you want), roughly 6 levels of Soft Armor, and a bunch of useful bonus auxiliary effects. These boosts last up to 4 days at a time, and can be given to others as well. You may not be on par with a specialized Nova, but you're beyond peak human good at everything involving a Skill+Attribute roll, and all your buddies become that good as well. If pumping yourself up to Captain America levels isn't enough, doing so to your fifty closest friends may help.

Then spread your remaining three dots among two of your other Primary Aptitude Modes to prevent psionic dysfunction (unless you want to go the psionic dysfunction route). Two dots in the Clairsentience Psychocognition Mode boosts your Defense by 2, and gives you some nice precognitive perks.

[johntfs]

One minor correction. Psiads don't start with any dots in their Secondary Aptitudes. They stick two dots in one Primary Aptitude and one dot in a second Primary Aptitude, so the xp total drops by two. Of course, the quantakinesis basic powers are free, so things may even out a bit there. OTOH Aberrants start by rolling at Difficulty 7, while Psiads only hit that target number at Psi 6, so buying your character up to Psi 6 would be a smart idea.

Thanks for the correction. I will state that I don't think Psi 6 is in reach at character creation. You have to have at least 10 dots in your Primary Aptitude Modes and at least one Mode at 3 dots or greater (so, call it a minimum of 56 XP since three dots in Primary come free at character creation). Buying Psi up to 5 costs another 45 XP. And buying Psi to 6 would cost 30 XP. You can get close assuming you spend the extra XP on nothing but Psi and Modes but not all the way there.

[Shepherdboi]

You're right about the Psi 6 prerequisites. I didn't think about those. That means any starting Psiad would be working at the default Difficulty 8 while their Nova buddies roll versus Difficulty 7.

Adjusting my most recent post, dropping Psi to 5 frees up 30 points, which lets the starting character buy three more dots in their Primary Aptitudes (for a total of 10), with 7 xp unspent. If they hold onto the xp, they've now met the remaining prerequisites, and only need to earn 23 xp to hit Psi 6.

[johntfs]

You're right about the Psi 6 prerequisites. I didn't think about those. That means any starting Psiad would be working at the default Difficulty 8 while their Nova buddies roll versus Difficulty 7.

Adjusting my most recent post, dropping Psi to 5 frees up 30 points, which lets the starting character buy three more dots in their Primary Aptitudes (for a total of 10), with 7 xp unspent. If they hold onto the xp, they've now met the remaining prerequisites, and only need to earn 23 xp to hit Psi 6.

Though that means they're limited to base starting Path stuff in everything except Psi abilities.

[Shepherdboi]

Though that means they're limited to base starting Path stuff in everything except Psi abilities.

Actually, my build included a second level of one Path, since I was assuming the Psiad must have been around for awhile to be that strong. Without that, they're only 5 xp from hitting Psi 6, but that really seems like an excessive degree of min-maxing to me.

[johntfs]

Actually, my build included a second level of one Path, since I was assuming the Psiad must have been around for awhile to be that strong. Without that, they're only 5 xp from hitting Psi 6, but that really seems like an excessive degree of min-maxing to me.

Did you build include the 10 dots in Primary modes prerequisite to getting Psi 6? Because I don't see how that could be possible.

Plus we're both forgetting that Psiads do the "Step 6" while Novas skip that. Figure Psiads thus get effectively 8-12xp in their 4 dots worth of Edges from Step 6 so their "Extra XP" should be lessened as a result of that. Though yet again, it kind of evens out since Novas do get one dot of Quantum free. Figure Psiads should also get one dot of Psi free as well.

So, taking all that together, Novas get 152 XP 150 + 1 Free Edge in Fame or Alternate ID. Their free Attribute makes up for not getting an Attribute at Step 6.

Psiads get one additional Psi dot (15xp), three dots of Primary modes (24xp) and 4 dots of Edges (which need not be in their Path) (call it 12xp)) for effectively 49 xp. So, Psiads would need an additional 101xp to be "even" with Novas.

Meanwhile, they'd need 45xp for Psi 5, 56xp for 7 additional Primary Modes and then 30xp for Psi 6, so even with all of the above, they're 30 points away from Tier 3 if they spend all of their "extra" xp on Psi stuff and nothing on anything Path-related or other mundane.