Central Intelligence Agency Feasibility Study - the following report is labelled TOP SECRET.
Here at the Institute for Advanced Studies of the Mind, we have undertaken a categorization of the various psychic abilities we have encountered among our Subjects. Some of our more romantically inclined scientists have endeavored to classify Subject's abilities according to "spheres of influence" in four broadly ranging areas: Time, Space, Mind, and Matter. It has been shown in our studies that Subject's proficiency in one area is inversely related to their proficiency in its opposing area, according to this diagram.
We present the abilities below in order of rarity among our subjects - the more powerful (and thus, rarer) abilities are discussed last, and the more common ones are listed first.
In the following power descriptions several terms are used quite commonly to explain their function. In each, the term "Subject" refers to the user of the psychic power, the term "Object" refers to all things affected by the power (sometimes including the Subject herself), and the term "Target" is used in relation to the physical presence of the Object or objects affected. In other words, if a Subject wishes to bend a spoon, the spoon is both Object and Target. However, if they wish to throw the spoon at someone with their mind, the spoon is the Object, and the someone is the Target. Both tasks are valid uses of the Psychokinesis power, as explained below.
So, without further adieu, our results...
Gaming note: Solar-ka spells like the ones below are cast on a similar basis to "normal" Nephilim magic - first, a skill roll is made, then a solar-ka check is thrown. Solar magic functions in the same way Nephilim magic does - you can initiate as many spells as you like, as long as you have the energy to do it. In the following lists of powers, the first four are considered to be cast at SolarX3, the next three at SolarX2, and the final three at SolarX1. You'll also note that there are some words in each explanation that are in all caps... these are the 9 Factors: DURATION, RANGE TO OBJECT, RANGE TO TARGET, RADIUS, RESISTANCE, SPEED, NUMBER OF OBJECTS, NUMBER OF TARGETS, and ACCURACY. They are further explained here.
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You may have noticed that some of these power descriptions appear vague, or perhaps contradictory, or repetitive. The sole reason for that is that we as researchers do not fully understand the nature of these powers at this time - there may very well be some powers that we have not observed that exist, or that there are as yet untapped applications of these powers that we have not discovered. Invariably our Subjects do not understand these things themselves; they describe the use of their powers as a kind of "click" in the mind, or a simple extension of their natural abilities, something that just "comes to them."
Our Subjects also invariably appear to concentrate on a primary sphere, then choose a secondary sphere of proficiency, leaving them a minor opposing, and major opposing sphere. For example:
Madame Blavatsky, fortune teller extraordinaire, takes Time for her major Sphere, and Mind for her secondary Sphere, leaving her with a minor opposing Sphere of Matter, and a major opposing Sphere of Space. Difficulties in creating effects from each Sphere will be adjusted accordingly.
Strength of a subject's ability is related to a sense of scale - it is much harder to lift a boulder than to lift a pebble. Psychic ability apparently relates to the amount of willpower the subject has, though there is also something to be said for experience and training in their various abilities.
Another note: Skill modifier distributions for Spheres will be adjusted on this basis - 100% primary, 75% secondary, 50% minor opp., 25% major opp. Players may place modifiers to any amount in any power they choose up to those totals.
Here we have two arbitrary tables that seem to relate difficulty to various scales of various tasks, along with the strength of the subject's ability:
Here's how to use the charts:
EXAMPLE:
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1) First, determine your Subject's psychic strength 15
[Note: This character is in her primary sphere, thus she
is able to use 100% solar-ka. if she was attempting an
action in her secondary, she would use 75% solar-ka
rounded _off_ (not up or down), or 12]
2) Next, determine the Factors in your Subject's task,
according to the power descriptions we provide.
Psychokinesis -
ex. Subject A, an unusually powerful psychic talent,
will attempt to lift a chair and hurl it against
a wall, hopefully breaking the chair.
Let us say that the chair weighs 15 lbs. (typical
office chair). The Subject is standing next to it,
so distance from it is 0. He wishes to move it a
distance of 10 ft. at a rate of say, 45 mph.
3) One now determines a difficulty potential according 17
to those numbers. [Now this is where that Factor
Chart comes in. You use it to determine a Passive
number on the Resistance Table to oppose Active
Solar-ka. Adding together all the Factors in the
action, you arrive at a Difficulty Potential number
(refer to later section on Determining Difficulty
Potentials)]
DISTANCE FROM OBJECT: 0 (about +1 per 5 ft.)
DISTANCE TO TARGET: 3 (about +1 per 5 ft.)
RESISTANCE: 4 (about +1 per 5 lbs.)
SPEED: 10 (about +1 per 5 mph)
4) Cross reference the Subject's Active strength with 40%
the Object's Passive difficulty potential to achieve
the base percent chance of success.
5) Add or subtract whatever skill or difficulty modifiers
you feel necessary.
Subject A has a +15% Skill Modifier. There is
no distraction, so his final percent is: 55%
High stress situations, such as combat, can have
Difficulty Modifiers anywhere up to -25%.
Here's another example:
The Amazing Kreskin is being chased by mysterious Men in Black. He feels that the only way he can escape is to face his opponents and attempt to dissuade them with his Mind skills. He lets himself get cornered in an alleyway as the MIB approach.
"Wait, can't we talk this over?" says Kreskin, as he starts using his Charm ability.
There are three MIB, and they are all very hostile. Kreskin only wants to distract them for a short time, long enough for him to get away. In general, in determining Difficulty Potentials, there is a "Rule of Five" based on a scale of 1 to 20, from least to most difficult. In this case, we have +3 (+1 per NUMBER OF TARGET), +15 for RESISTANCE (they don't want to kill him, they just want to capture him _very_ badly), +2 for RANGE, and +2 for DURATION (Kreskin needs a few seconds to escape), giving a grand total of +22 - this is a nigh impossible action.
Kreskin is not without hope. His will is strong, a 16 - leaving him with a base chance of 20% to convince his captors to let him go. Unfortunately, he's a little stressed out at this time, giving him a -15% Difficulty Modifier. But, his Charm skill is very impressive - a +20% modifier - leaving him with a total of 25%.
So Kreskin concentrates with all of his might... and rolls a 28. Not quite enough to convince all of them... but one of them is convinced, and starts trying to convince the others to let Kreskin go. A fight ensues, Men in Black being the brutish fellows they are, and Kreskin gets a chance to escape - but the Men in Black soon realize their error and begin pursuit again.
In this example, Kreskin also rolled a Critical Success on his Ka roll. Critical Success is 10% or less of the solar-ka roll, so Kreskin rolled a 03 or 04. Critical Success (in my mind) lets you look over little things like being a few skill points off on the initial roll, and gives you some measure of success (like the one MIB being charmed). Of course, the opposite is true of Critical Failure - effects from that may include temporary loss of power, terrible debilitating headaches, or even more unexpected effects than usual.
Finally, here is a GM example:
Roderick has a 16 solar-ka, and has a primary in Time. He wants to use Anchor, which is a Middle level Space discipline. His skill roll here is going to be tough - he only gets a 4 on the Universal Modifier, but he figures it won't be all that difficult. He challenges anyone in the room to pick him up, and a somewhat burly gentleman comes along (RESISTANCE 6 or 7). He's not stressed, and he only wants a short DURATION, so his Difficulty potential is 10. He's got a 20% base chance. But he happens to have poured all his skill points into Anchor, so he gets an extra 25%. He rolls under 55% for the skill check, and now has to roll under 32% for the ka check. Miraculously, he makes it, subtracts 3 Aura (round it _off_), and the burly gentleman is confused as to why he can't pick up such a small guy.
Suppose Space was Rod's primary sphere. He would then have a base chance of 80%, +25% to make a total of 105%, an automatic success. But, he would still have to roll under 32% to make the action...
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To determine the physical effect of the psychic action on the Subject, one simply takes the Difficulty potential and divides it by 4, rounded up. Subtract this amount from the Subject's starting Aura - Aura is a measure of "psychic stamina" that our Subjects use to determine their current strength and is initially equal to their CON, regainable at one point per hour. They use the word Aura to also describe their perception of the unseen world around them read: Ka fields and Ka-vision. A Subject can only perform as many tasks as his Aura allows... thereafter, physical damage to the body may ensue, if they choose to push their limits. GM choice
In conclusion, it is difficult to truly determine whether the appearance of these abilities is an indication of the next step in human evolution - I will endeavor however to name the new species of mankind that is enabled with these psychic abilities - Homo Psychobilus. Though most of our group realizes that it is unlikely that the majority of this report will be believed, it is our hope that studies in this area will continue, as there seems to be a very good chance that
Report ends here; the remainder of the document appears to have been destroyed in a fire. A Tower Pyrim maybe...?