Creating "Realistic" Psionics for campaign settings.

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Giganotosaurus

Giganotosaurus

Dreaming of Electric Sheep
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So I've been working on this non-nuclear Post Apocalyptic campaign setting and I'm hitting a bit of a creative wall.
I want to have limited psionics Ala Fallout but I'm having a hard time justifying them. The whole radiation/mutation excuse feels too pseudoscientifc and wouldn't work well for the setting, which is a post bio-weapon apocalypse (I had this idea well before the current pandemic).
Does anyone have some suggestions on how to better integrate Psychicor Psychic-like powers? I'm thinking mostly telepathy, mind-control, image projection.
 
For ideas of a grittier take on low-power psionics Stephen King's Firestarter is very interesting.

Not the young girl and her powerful pyrotechnics obviously but the mother and father are low-power psionics and extended use leads to brain damage.

The book is also good for the cause of psionics: a MK-Ultra-like government experiment. That would fit well with a bio-weapon post-apocalptic setting, perhaps one being a side-effect of the other. The first third of King's The Stand would also be good inspiration for a bio-weapon apocalypse.
 
Well, mutation isn't as pseudo-scientific as all that, but I wouln't make radiation the cause, rather an actual evolutionary leap among some of the the new generation of humans, essentially a Saltation
 
Nanotechnology that is unknown but appears like psionics. That's how I was able to justify the Mideclorean (sp?) thing in Star Wars before I totally gave up on said dumpster fire of an IP. The midicloreans (sp?) were actually a civ that went grey goo long long longer ago and then stayed around to make sure it didn't happen again.
 
Giganotosaurus said:
So I've been working on this non-nuclear Post Apocalyptic campaign setting and I'm hitting a bit of a creative wall.
I want to have limited psionics Ala Fallout but I'm having a hard time justifying them. The whole radiation/mutation excuse feels too pseudoscientifc and wouldn't work well for the setting, which is a post bio-weapon apocalypse (I had this idea well before the current pandemic).
Does anyone have some suggestions on how to better integrate Psychicor Psychic-like powers? I'm thinking mostly telepathy, mind-control, image projection.
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You could postulate that this ability existed in a latent form all along and that our brains automagically generate random quantum entanglements with nanostructures in others' brains, allowing communication through telepathy once 'attuned'. Perhaps the new age hippies were right after all - if you're in touch with your inner quantum self you can communicate with others.

Through some research before the collapse (suppressed by a government conspiracy naturally) first steps were made into harnessing this capability by studying stuff written by ancient gurus on the subject (call this, say, Project Aquarius). After the collapse somebody found the research and figured out how to do it and then spread the word to the extent that some more-or-less significant number of people have the ability to do it now.
 
I suppose it depends on how realistic you want to be and what can be hand-waved.

You can always imagine some additional organ or structure in the brain that can send out and receive an Electromagnetic signal or similar. This organ was developed in a military lab or similar and its genetic instructions were put in a retrovirus. This accidentally (or not) spread after the apocalypse.

To keep it more mysterious than an EM signal it could always be that the brain is utilising physics poorly understood before the disaster. Entanglement is often used for this. Although in real life physics quantum entanglement doesn't actually mean things are communicating with or influencing each other¹, for game physics it has the right mystery science feel like Nobby has above.

¹ Real life entanglement is more like flipping two coins. When they're flipped they always land on the same side except when they're both flipped starting from tails up, in which case they always land on the opposite sides. The confusing thing is that we know they're not communicating and there's no way they could be "rigged" before set up to synchronise like this. So it's synchronised behaviour with not only no explanation but no possible explanation. You could summarise most of the work on Bell's theorem by saying however they're pulling this off it doesn't fit in human language or thought. The universe has humanly incomprehensible synchronicity/coincidences built in.
 
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Quantum computing works through entanglement between qubits. It sort of works more like a quantum version of logic circuits than a Von Neumann type computer that you've got on your desk. Unfortuntely, with curent technology the process of entangling qubits involves zapping them with microwaves, which means that it's not so easy to do large scale integration of qubits. They also have to be kept near absolute zero and the entanglement only lasts for short periods of time in the order of microseconds. The need for cryogenic cooling means that quantum computing devices also tend to be quite large.
 
Yeah they exploit the fact that when entanglement shows up there's no underlying "state of affairs" to sort of "bypass logic". So they can evaluate a full OR statement without evaluating any of the sub-predicates. Or they can find how many files contain a word without learning how many files there are. Basically speeding up a computation by skipping things that seem logically necessary. Another thing that hurts my head.
 
I like the quantum angle, part of the setting involves Quantum computers being invented in the 70's.
I got ideas now:
1. An experimental military developed device that uses some unknown aspect of Quantum mechanics that can project and read images and thoughts into others.
2. A sudden mutation in certain lab animals that were used in testing of said device. They can't control their powers and sort of have an Aura around them that when they think one thing, non psychics automatically think another. Like the creature thinks "hungery" and a person would think "Lay down and get eaten".
TristramEvans said:
Well, mutation isn't as pseudo-scientific as all that, but I wouln't make radiation the cause, rather an actual evolutionary leap among some of the the new generation of humans, essentially a Saltation
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I wasn't trying to say that mutation itself was psuedoscientific, just how it was typically aproached in Post Apocalyptic fiction. Radiation turning everything giant, etc.
 
Radiation was the magic pixy dust of the 60s....

Remember in the mid 90s when suddenly nanobots were the magic pixy dust of the future? Then Hollywood and TV seemed to forget all about them...
 
I might suggest deciding the scope of your powers first. Specifically, your example of image projection - is it an actual physical image, or is it a controlled hallucination? The latter lines up very nicely with telepathy and mind control as direct mind to mind communication and no dealing with physicalities. The former requires you to now define that it can affect something outside of perception, thus opens the door to telekinesis, pyrokinesis, and others.

with the bio-weapon, it could be that it altered hormone regulation and its exploited, or that pheromones are now a thing that can be controlled, or the bio-weapon created a symbiotic relationship inside of us, and the symbionts actually does the work and provides the conduit.
 
I'm definitely limiting the abilities to only effecting the mind as i don't want it to become crazy like in Childhood's End with mental moon movement, so I'll say controlled hallucinations and manipulation of the 5 senses.
The biggest abilities I've been toying with are:
A Psychic bomb that erased the minds of an entire city and has residual effects of causing hallucinations, paranoia and insanity within the blast radius.
And the starting adventure I have involves a monstrous entity like the Master from the original Fallout mind controlling an entire town to bring it food in its sewer lair.
 
So what I've got so far is:
Infrasound
Altered Hormone regulation
Quantum SCIENCE!tm
Electromagnetic Signals
 
Genetic Engineering might trigger psionics, especially if the purpose is to do so.

It's possible that we've had very inconsequential psychic abilities for a chunk of human life but they only work in certain instances and is then so minor we've ascribed it to something else, deja vu, luck, or other minor things we dismiss, and that the need for such abilities drives them to be more notable but still minor. After all, there are people who when in danger describe the "hair standing up on the back of the neck." It could just be a normal sense we don't notice the use of, but it might just be psionics.
 
I've got some pretty extensive discussion on psionic realism levels in Galaxies In Shadow that might be helpful.
 
Giganotosaurus said:
I don't get it.
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Pundit is the admin of a certain RPG forum (with heaviy rightwing leanings, but that's not a topic for the Pub). He also claims he's a wizard IRL.
I can't tell about that part*, but his OSR system has one of the three best treatments that wizards and clerics have ever gotten in any TSR-D&D-related product, on par** with DCC and Crimson Blades.
Anyway, my point was if we want psionics to be "realistic", we should really ask someone who already believes similar phenomena exist and can be mastered, shouldn't we:thumbsup:?
OTOH, many of us left his site because the rightwing leanings were getting too much and kinda getting in the way of RPG discussions, just - though not nearly to the same degree - as the left-wing leanings of The Big Purple are*** getting in the way of RPG discussions there. So we probably wouldn't mind him posting here, but he might clash with the "no politics" rule of The Pub.

As all jokes, it's funnier when you don't explain it.

*I can tell he has some well-informed opinions on yoga, though for the most part he refuses to discuss the topic, probably assuming - rightfully, IMO - that it might attract the attention of people who are more interested in yoga than in RPGs:grin:!
**I really can't tell which one of the three is better, though I admit I have a slight preference towards Pundit's Lion&Dragon. But that's because to me "based on real-world beliefs" is a bonus in itself (and because I like his approach to advancement). In comparisonDCC makes wizards get a Patron, which comes with a host of other shenanigans, while Crimson Blades has them doing demon summoning...almost Elric-style:shade:.
***Or were, I haven't visited the place in years...though I still have an account with about 20k posts there. But knowing the state when I left the site, it's probably "are", and I have no desire to subject myself to it once again:devil:.
 
AsenRG said:
Anyway, my point was if we want psionics to be "realistic", we should really ask someone who already believes similar phenomena exist and can be mastered, shouldn't we:thumbsup:?
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snark about other sites aside, this is a good point. You have to construct a paradigm for psychic powers and have it interface with the world in some fashion. How does it transmit? Does it have energy? Is it quantum entanglement? Can it be measured? Does it merely affect neurochemical receptors?
 
A podcast I listen to about "Fun"(I.e. Aliens and ghosts not politics) Conspiracy theories talked about this guy who was convinced that if enough people thought the same thing at the same time, it would contact aliens. So he placed a bunch of ads in UFO magazines basically asking everyone to recite this long akward speech he had written so that the aliens would come and say hi.
 
Raleel said:
snark about other sites aside, this is a good point. You have to construct a paradigm for psychic powers and have it interface with the world in some fashion. How does it transmit? Does it have energy? Is it quantum entanglement? Can it be measured? Does it merely affect neurochemical receptors?
Click to expand...
Yeah, this. At some point a GM is going to need that.

Also, I tried to keep the post snark-free, as much as possible, but please PM me if you've noticed anything that might be read that way!
 
Dossiar on Psionics:
Psionic Phenomena are created when a specialized device, called a Mental Interface Device (MID), generates a Quantum Projection via a poorly understood Quantum Mechanic to remotely manipulate an organisms nervous system by altering its Hormone Regulation and using Electromagnetic Interference and Infrasound generation. The first MID was developed at the St. Helens facility of the Ring of Fire complex. Early MID's were large, bulky and not practical for field use, but later iterations involved installing smaller MID's into Trucks, Bulky Helmets, Briefcases, Backpacks and in one case an ICBM Payload.
MID's were used extensively by USA Intelligence agencies to a varying degrees of success and it is rumored that the Communist Block had developed their own for deployment against US interests in the South China Republic.
The science behind the Quantum Mechanic that allows for the remote manipulation of nervous systems is poorly understood and most MID's were developed to create a specific effect.
Psionic's Can:
  • Cause Hallucinations of varying degrees of vividness
  • Influence Emotions
  • Erase or Implant Memories
  • Read or Implant active thoughts
  • Mind Control (Special Cases)
  • Causing Coma's
Psionic's Can't:
  • Move Objects
  • Conjuring Fire/Electricity/Objects/etc
  • Predicting or seeing the future
  • Astral Project or anything that could be considered Spiritual
  • Teleportation
  • Causing Instant Death (You can force someone into a coma, where they will presumably die from starvation, but you can't kill someone outright)
Psionic Limits:
  • Energy requirements: MID's require electricity to run and larger/more powerful ones require more juice and need to be recharged.
  • Physical size: More powerful MID's that can project over larger distances or effect more people can get pretty big, a 10,000 sq ft MID can cover roughly an area and population the size of Portland, Oregon.
  • Material Cost: Every MID requires a specially modified Quantum Computer and a single device can cost a minimum of $1,000,000.
Health Concerns:
  • Short Term exposure to Psychic powers/Anomalies can cause:
    • Headaches
    • Fevers
    • Short Term Memory loss
    • Short Term/Mild Paranoia
    • Minor Hallucination episodes anywhere from a week to a month
    • Temporary loss of Taste/Touch/Sight/Hearing/Smell
    • Temporary Fixation/Intrusive Thoughts
  • Long Term exposure to Psychic powers/Anomalies can cause:
    • Brain Tumors
    • Neurological degradation
    • Long Term Memory loss
    • Long Term/Homicidal Paranoia
    • Permanent Fixation/Intrusive Thoughts
    • Extensive Detailed Hallucinations/Delusions that can last for years or even permenantly
    • Coma's
    • Hemorrhaging
    • Permanent loss of Taste/Touch/Sight/Hearing/Smell
Due to an unknown phenomenon related to Quantum Projection's, areas that have seen extensive usage of MID's can become "saturated" with some form of background energy that can cause bizarre Psionic Phenomena even when a MID is no longer present. These can range from affecting the mood of someone in the area to persistent mass hallucinations by any who enter the area.
Psionic Phenomena are created by MDI's with one exception, the offspring of certain Lab Animals that were used repeatedly in Psionic Experimentation started to develop the ability to create very minor Quantum Projections (causing Headaches/Intrusive Thoughts) that is currently under investigation.
 
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Giganotosaurus said:
Does anyone have some suggestions on how to better integrate Psychicor Psychic-like powers? I'm thinking mostly telepathy, mind-control, image projection.
Click to expand...
When I wanted something similar, the excuse was "we dicked with the Earth's magnetic field to get worldwide wireless internet and things have been strange since then".

That was for a setting where hackers can download kits to create artificial demons to transfer the spiritual burden of their sins to innocent third parties.
 
spittingimage said:
When I wanted something similar, the excuse was "we dicked with the Earth's magnetic field to get worldwide wireless internet and things have been strange since then".

That was for a setting where hackers can download kits to create artificial demons to transfer the spiritual burden of their sins to innocent third parties.
Click to expand...
So 6G might give you psychic powers:grin:?
 
I created a science fiction setting I called the Majestic Stars and I decided to include Psionics. But like the OP I wanted it be more grounded. So I decided it is a form of quantum entanglement. That nearly all species with a high nervous feel some type of empathy especially for members of the same species. While most of this is based on instinct and chemical cues, there is a psionic component. That one in a thousand chance that an individual, including humans, is born with this empathic connection enhanced. Most of the time is perceive as charisma by the standards of the species. But there is a further one in a thousand chance that is much more and actually manifest as effects within the observable world.

I wrote this for Green Ronin's AGE system. The general gist of the overall mechanic is that it take skill to use, you can use it as often as you like, but there is always a chance for a mental mishap. I attached a PDF of what I wrote.

Psionics
In the 22nd century a series of mental disciplines combined with an increased understanding how human consciousness work turned into the science of Psionics. It was discovered that human consciousness arises from how the neuron interact with each other at the quantum level. That in rare individuals their brain is structured to allow a form of quantum entanglement to occur between their mind and another.

Normally the only macro effect that it operates as a form of empathy. It is common with any creature with a higher nervous system and plays a small but important role in how two individuals of the same species interact with each other.

However in a sentient mind, like those possessed by humanity, rare individuals can consciously control how the quantum entanglement manifests. This allows for telepathy, limited healing, augmentation, and even mental control.
 

Attachments

  • Majestic Stars, AGE, Psionics, Rev 12.pdf
    123.9 KB · Views: 0
Why even tie it to the apocalypse. There has been a belief in mental powers for centuries, it features in tons of films. There have been real studies on ESP and other phenomena. Just come up with what you want it to do, and run with it. Maybe the occurrence of "gifted" people has increased since the end times, maybe it is just that now those with gifts have a higher survival rate.

AsenRG said:
Pundit is the admin of a certain RPG forum (with heaviy rightwing leanings, but that's not a topic for the Pub). He also claims he's a wizard IRL.
I can't tell about that part*, but his OSR system has one of the three best treatments that wizards and clerics have ever gotten in any TSR-D&D-related product, on par** with DCC and Crimson Blades.
Anyway, my point was if we want psionics to be "realistic", we should really ask someone who already believes similar phenomena exist and can be mastered, shouldn't we:thumbsup:?
OTOH, many of us left his site because the rightwing leanings were getting too much and kinda getting in the way of RPG discussions, just - though not nearly to the same degree - as the left-wing leanings of The Big Purple are*** getting in the way of RPG discussions there. So we probably wouldn't mind him posting here, but he might clash with the "no politics" rule of The Pub.

As all jokes, it's funnier when you don't explain it.

*I can tell he has some well-informed opinions on yoga, though for the most part he refuses to discuss the topic, probably assuming - rightfully, IMO - that it might attract the attention of people who are more interested in yoga than in RPGs:grin:!
**I really can't tell which one of the three is better, though I admit I have a slight preference towards Pundit's Lion&Dragon. But that's because to me "based on real-world beliefs" is a bonus in itself (and because I like his approach to advancement). In comparisonDCC makes wizards get a Patron, which comes with a host of other shenanigans, while Crimson Blades has them doing demon summoning...almost Elric-style:shade:.
***Or were, I haven't visited the place in years...though I still have an account with about 20k posts there. But knowing the state when I left the site, it's probably "are", and I have no desire to subject myself to it once again:devil:.
Click to expand...

Yeah, there was a pretty decent thread over there a few years ago on "real magik" (the k is important apparently). It got a little weird in places and some posters got personal, but overall it was a pretty good run down on historical magic and beliefs from those who believed they could practice it.
 
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