What is Psychic?

Technically a different type of Hedge magic . In the World of Darkness, psychics are mortals who possess one or more psychic powers (also referred to as psychic phenomena or simply psychic abilities).

Why do we have rules for this in a werewolf game?

While the Garou themselves rarely concern themselves with sorcery, many of their Kinfolk do in order to support their relatives in their protection of Gaia. 

How do garou view Hedge magic vs Psychic Abilities?

In general, most Garou tend to view sorcerers as being no different than Awakened while Kin with Psychic abilities are considered Kin first and foremost.

Kinfolk and Hedge Mages rules

Kinfolk with Hedge Magic may learn 2 paths without any restrictions. When they finish learning their second path, they must wait a year and a day to learn a third path. When their third path is completed, they must wait a year and a day to learn a fourth path. 

No paths may be learned beyond the fourth path without ST approval. 

Kinfolk with Psychic based Hedge Magic are limited to 1 path beyond their psychic abilities

Demi supernatural (hedge magic, psychic, etc) are not permitted gnosis on top of the hedge-magic

Re-Test

When chopping, your retest would be occult

Psychic Powers

Psychic phenomena are a category of numina: minor supernatural abilities that are available to mortals and Sleepers. In addition to the powers in this list, a number of Merits are common among psychics, most notably the Medium Merit.

Animal Psi

Animal Psi is the ability to contact animals. The more intelligent or trained the animal is, the easier it is to give commands. The psychic needs a clear line of sight to the animal in question and must make noises corresponding to the animal (i.e barking at a dog).

• *The psychic can read the basic intents and wants of the animal before them. The powers affect higher mammals.
• **The psychic can give the animal an easy command for it to fulfill. The animal is under no obligation to do so. The psychic also gains an understanding of the mental state of the animal. The powers affect lower mammals.
• ***The psychic gains an instinctive understanding of what the animal wants. They can communicate with several animals at once and or give a single animal a more complex command. The powers affect birds.
• **** The psychic can connect their mind with an animal, seeing through their eyes and using its senses as their own. They can see through their memories to witness past events and anticipate their instinctive reactions. Powers affect reptiles.
• ***** The psychic can gains total control over an animal, allowing their mind to follow them while it does the task given to it. Powers affect all animals, with difficulties remaining in regards to fish and insects.

Anti Psi

Anti Psi is the rare ability to shut down other psychic numina. While useless against Garou gifts or vampiric disciplines, for some reason it provides a limited protection against the Mind Sphere. Anti Psi is constantly active and actively surrounds the psychic at all time. A psychic with anti psi talents cannot possess any others.

• *The psychic suppresses other psychic abilities in a five meter radius around the user and subtracts one dice from any attempt to use psychic abilities.
• **The psychic suppresses other psychic abilities in a ten meter radius around the user and subtracts two dice from any attempt to use psychic abilities.
• *** The psychic suppresses other psychic abilities in a fifteen meter radius around the user and subtracts three dice from any attempt to use psychic abilities.
• ****The psychic suppresses other psychic abilities in a twenty meter radius around the user and subtracts four dice from any attempt to use psychic abilities.
• ***** The psychic suppresses other psychic abilities in a twenty-five meter radius around the user and subtracts five dice from any attempt to use psychic abilities.

Astral Projection

The psychic can split their spirit from their body and roam the astral realm. While unable to affect the real world in this state, they can still use psychic phenomena. Some have reported to hear the voices of other entities and several psychics that used this ability have been lost, their spirits wandering strange dimensions far away from the Gaian Realm. 

• * The psychic can shift their senses into astral space, perceiving the realm as overlapping over the mortal world.
• **The psychic can leave their body for a few minutes. Within the astral realm, they are limited to sight.
• *** The psychic can leave their body for several minutes. Within the astral realm, they can both hear and see and travel fast away from their body.
• **** The psychic can leave their body for hours, traveling at high speed away from it. They can also manifest themselves on the physical form in a translucent form, although they are unable to verbally communicate.
• *****The psychic can travel anywhere in the world while in astral space, use their whole array of senses and can speak while manifested.

Biocontrol

The psychic can command their own body. 

• * The psychic can control minor functions of their body, like holding their breath, by entering a trance.
• **The psychic can accelerate their own healing process through meditation.
• *** By taking control of their adrenalin glandes, the psychic can enter a period of enhanced strength and speed.
• **** The psychic can blot out pain from their consciousness.
• *****The psychic can command their own heartbeat to stop if necessary, directly regulate their immune system and contort their body into unnatural positions.

Channeling

• * Once a day you can Channel to gain 2 levels of an ability you don't have.
• **You can now Channel twice a day to gain THREE traits in an ability you don't have, and can peer into the Shadowlands by throwing a static chop against the local Shroud. If you Channel for a second ability, you lose the abilities gained by the first Channeling. 
• *** You can channel 3 times a day, and you can now gain abilities to add to what you already have (Though you can only increase abilities you already have by one). Peeking into the shadowlands now lasts the whole scene. 
• **** No limit to the number of times you can Channel a day, though the number of abilities you can gain drops by one for each time you Channel beyond the third. You can now add up to 2 levels an an ability you already know per channel. You can also relent to Wraiths trying to possess you if you want, and can eject any wraith possessing you with a willpower challenge. 
• ***** You can Channel 2 abilities at the same time. When possessed by a wraith, you gain some of its memories and can sense its Nature, Demeanor and driving concerns with a social challenge.

Clairvoyance

The psychic can cast out their senses while still maintaining their consciousness inside their body. The more familiar the psychic is with the location or the person that is observed, the easier it becomes. 

• *The psychic sees things in the building they are in through a dream-like haze.
• **The psychic can see events in a fifty mile radius around them, with sounds being muffled and distorted.
•  ***The psychic can see and hear clearly at a distance, with gaining the ability to experience touch. The radius expands to 250 miles.
• ****The psychic can experience touch, sight and hearing, along with a vague sense of smell. The radius expands to 2000 miles.
• *****The psychic can use all five senses while theoretically projecting themselves all across the world.

Cyberkinesis

Cyberkinesis was first observed in the late 80s and some tie it to telekinesis. It allows a psychic to take control over electronic devices. 

• *The psychic can switch an electronic device on and off.
• **The psychic can activate a program on a computer, as long as they know that the program is installed. They can also operate a computer without touching a keyboard.
• ***The psychic can telepathically read, encrypt, and decrypt electronic communications, while also giving them the equivalent of an epileptic seizure.
• ****The psychic can override internal security programs and operate any electronical device in line of sight.
• *****The psychic can reprogram a computer to do something it is physically able to handle.

Cyberpathy

Cyberpathy, also called Cyber-Psi, is the ability to contact electronic devices. The psychic can read the data stored on an electronic device. They cannot operate it with this ability, merely gain information. ^[7]

• *The psychic can learn what kind of data is stored on a device.
• ** The psychic can read simple files stored on a device.
• *** The psychic can “copy” a file onto their mind and later reproduce it.
• ****The psychic can access additional electronic devices next to the one they are already connected to.
• *****The psychic can decrypt encrypted materials.

Ectoplasmic Generation

The psychic can create plasm as a sticky substance that evaporates after several minutes back into the Underworld. Plasm is solid to wraiths in the Shadowlands. 

• *The psychic creates a few strands of plasm from their orifices that they can apply manually.
• **The psychic can draw plasm into a fog-like form.
• ***The psychic can harden the ectoplasmic fog at will and shape it manually.
• **** The psychic can shape their ectoplasmic constructs with their mind at the moment of their creation.
• ****The psychic can create a rudimentary intelligent construct out of ectoplasm that obeys their will.

Empathic Healing

The psychic can establish an empathic link that allows them to influence the healing process of another person. This extends to psychic ailments as well. The psychic takes these injuries onto themself and has to cure them at a normal rate. 

• * The psychic can soothe grief and similar minor ailments.
• ** The psychic can mend surface injuries.
• *** The psychic can heal acute illnesses or mend broken bones.
• ****The psychic can mend internal injuries.
• *****The psychic can heal severe psychic damages, including derangements and harano.

Mind Shield

The psychic can erect mental defences against supernatural intrusion. This includes mage spells, vampiric disciplines, changeling cantrips and other mind-based abilities.  This power has no individual abilities. Instead, its levels just raise the difficulty for an intruder to penetrate the psychics mind.

Necro-Psi

Necro-Psi, also called Channeling, is an ability that allows a psychic to contact the ghosts of the dead. The dead are under no compulsion to react to this attempts of communication, and might indeed be hostile. The psychic may also draw on their abilities for themselves. 

• *The psychic can hear any ghosts nearby.
• ** The psychic can communicate with ghosts in the area.
• *** The psychic can see into the Shadowlands.
• ****The psychic becomes a beacon to spirits, who find themselves attracted to them. When a ghost possesses them, they might contest him for control.
• ***** The psychic can communicate freely with ghosts and channel two at once.

Precognition

The psychic can gain glimpses of the most probable turn of event and at times even see the future. 

• *The psychic’s prediction for random events, like a dice roll, becomes more accurate.
• **The psychic can meditate to receive visions of a possible future. These visions are vague and metaphoric and rely on a lot interpretation to be useful.
• *** The psychic can sense when they are in danger.
• ****The psychic can see what immediate reaction an action would have.
• ***** The psychic can see the most probable future at the moment.

Psychic Healing

The psychic can heal wounds and other injuries with the power of their mind. 

• * The psychic can sense what the patient lacks.
• **The psychic can accelerate the natural healing process of their patient, sending them into a sleep after which most minor illnesses are cured.
• ***The psychic can mend wounds and banish more obstinate illnesses.
• ****The psychic can mend broken bones and banish more serious illnesses.
• *****The psychic can remove cancer or infections.

Psychic Hypnosis

The psychic can implant orders and suggestions into their target by sending them into a trance and then hypnotizing them. 

• *The psychic can send a target into a hypnotic trance.
• ** The psychic can make a minor suggestion while the target is in trance.
• ***The psychic can make suggestions that remain even after the trance has ended.
• ****The psychic can send a target into a trance with a mere glance.
• ***** The psychic can deep-program a target while it is in trance, even affecting their memory.

Psychic Invisibility

Similar to the vampiric Discipline of Obfuscate, the psychic can mask their presence, not registrating in the eyes of onlookers. Some compare it to a kind of mass hypnosis. Video cameras still register their presence normally. 

• * The psychic is not noticed as long as they stand perfectly still.
• ** The psychic is not noticed as long as they move slowly enough.
• *** The psychic can become invisible and move as long as they are not looked at when they activate that power.
• **** The psychic can make certain persons see them while cloaked.
• *****The psychic can become invisible right in front of someone.

Psychic Vampirism

The Psychic can leech emotion and in some cases even lifeforce from a target for their own use. The resulting experience is one of exhilarating euphoria that can quickly make the psychic dependent. 

• *The psychic can drain strong emotions to experience them themself.
• ** The psychic can drain Willpower from a target to replenish their own.
• ***The psychic can drain lifeforce to heal minor injuries.
• ****The psychic can drain even more lifeforce to heal major injuries.
• *****The psychic can drain from more than one person.

Psychokinesis

Psychokinesis, also called telekinesis, allows a psychic to move objects without touching them. As long as they maintain control over the levitating object, the psychic may interact with them in any way they could do normally. 

• *The psychic can raise one-half kilogram.
• **The psychic can raise 10 kilograms.
• *** The psychic can raise 100 kilograms.
• ****The psychic can raise 250 kilograms.
• *****The psychic can raise 500 kilograms.

Psychometry

Through touch, the psychic can learn something about an object and the people that interacted with it in the past. The stronger the emotional resonance, the easier it is to read it. 

• * The psychic can read the general psychic resonance of an object to gain an approximate image.
• **The psychic can see events that occurred near the object in the past 24 hours.
• *** The psychic can discover and understand the complete history of the object or place.
• **** The psychic can attune herself to an object, allowing her to align her vision to the location of the owner of the object.
• *****The psychic gains a clear image of any resonating event that took place near the object and can follow its psychic trace.

Psychoportation

Using their mind, the psychic may teleport for a short distance. They can carry a small array of inanimate objects with them. 

• *The psychic can teleport for a short distance in eye sight.
• **The psychic can teleport across larger distances.
• ***The psychic can teleport across major distances.
• **** The psychic can teleport across even larger distances.
• ******The psychic no longer needs to see the destination for their teleportation.

Pyrokinesis

The psychic can summon forth fire. They have no control or immunity against the summoned fire and thus have to take great care of not getting burned themselves.

• *The psychic can produce a tiny flame that is enough to light a candle or cigarette.
• ** The psychic can cause flammable objects to burn.
• ***The psychic can produce small bouts of flame from thin air.
• ****The psychic can give the summoned flames a general direction.
• *****The psychic can cause larger sprouts of flame and direct them at will.

Soulstealing

Similar to psychic vampirism, soulstealing saps the essence of their target to strengthen the psychic. This power does work against supernaturals whose soul has a darker aspect, like a Shadow or a Beast, but that part will lash back and often damage the psyche of the offending psychic. 

• * The psychic can enter the dreamscape of a target.
• ** The psychic can steal temporary Willpower from the target.
• ***The psychic can steal life force from the target.
• **** The psychic can shift the stolen life force to another target.
• ***** The psychic can steal Gnosis from a target.

Synergy

An incredibly rare talent, Synergy allows a psychic to link themselves to other psychics to form a gestalt entity that combines several of their powers. Touch is necessary for forming that link. 

• *The psychic can sense other psychics.
• ** The psychic can establish a basic psychic link to share willpower with another psychic.
• *** The psychics within a synergetic link can combine their minds when attempting an action.
• ****The psychics within a synergetic link can use multiple psychic abilities at once.
• *****The psychics within a synergetic link can combine their psychic powers into a single shared power.

Telepathy

Telepathy is the talent of dominating another’s mind with the one of the psychic. 

• *The psychic can sense basic emotions of a target, send a minor impulse to it or cause it to twitch.
• **The psychic can read surface thoughts, transmit a single idea or cause one short notion.
• ***The psychic can read recent memories or future plans, transmit complex emotions or ideas or cause one unusual action.
• ****The psychic can read deep thoughts, send several sentences or temporarily seize control over the target’s body.
• ***** The psychic can read the deepest, subconscious secrets of a target, hold a conversation with them or take complete control of their body, including the rewriting of memories.