Psychic Powers as Power Source

Continuing to describe the magical power sources… When I was arranging the entries on the table in order from abstract to concrete and impersonal to personal, I probably had the roughest time with Psychic Power versus Spirit Binding, but Psychic Power eventually won out. Psychic Power refers to an internal magical power source, anything from pure force of will all the way to the magician’s soul. The power may be something everyone has: physical energy or life force. Or it may be an extra power source only born mages have, or something mages acquire during initiation into the art. It may be easy to recharge, or it may be limited, aging the magician rapidly as they use up their lifeforce.

Prep for spells powered by psychic energy is thus mostly internal, a matter of uninterrupted concentration, but may involve external activities and objects to focus the magician’s attention, either sitting quietly while staring at a mandala, or chanting a mantra, ringing a bell at intervals, or exhausting oneself through ritual dance or other physical activities. Because the magician is raising power internally and tapping into it, it takes a little longer than Invocation or Words of Power: half an hour minimum, then roll 1d6, with no extra time needed if the result is 5+, otherwise it takes an extra 10 minutes x the die result (if the prep is being done entirely during downtime with no pressing need to hurry, the die roll can be ignored.)

All psychic prep is essentially meditation, but purer, more limiting forms of psychic power require extended mediation, a minimum of 1 hour. Roll 1d6: on 5+, the meditation lasts exactly 1 hour, otherwise add 1 to the die result for the number of hours. Unlike chanting words of power or praying for extended periods of time, meditation can be broken up into 1-hour sessions, so a psychic magician may meditate one hour a day for several days, or try to do it all in one sitting. However, any session that is interrupted before the time ends is spoiled and must be redone.

The extreme form of meditation is a trance requiring three times as long and the assistance of mind-altering techniques and substances. Again, the trance sessions can be split into 3 hour time blocks spread across several days. Each session requires 10 x 1d6 coins worth of supplies to initiate the trance. Unlike simple meditation, trance states cannot be interrupted; the magician is vulnerable during the trance, but may be allowed a save to partially recover if attacked.

Magical Power Source Articles

1. Astrology
2. Words of Power
3. Invocation
4. Occult Forces
5. Psychic Powers
6. Spirit Binding (TBD)

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