Psionic Classes in Celegia
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Psionic Classes in Celegia
The Empire of Celegia has a definite bias aginst users of psionics. The origin of this bias is complex and has several parts.
One of the major things is the Celegian mania with privacy. Invisibility and mind control spells are tightly regulated for this reason, and the astounding number of bead curtains in practically every doorway is one expression of this cultural fear of the loss of privacy. Psionics, by their very nature, is difficult to regulate and subject to abuse of privacy violations. The simple existence of the Psionic Prestige class “Thrallherd” is enough to get the Philiates of Lurain worked up into a frenzy and word of a Thrallherd at work will bring Revellers from five provinces away to investigate.
Another huge issue with psionics is history. Possibly the worst dark age in Celegian history is the Time of Night, when the Undead very nearly destroyed the entire Empire, and almost exterminated humans and humanoids completely. In the darkest years of the Time of Night, the only Celegian god who was not driven off the Prime Material was the Mad God Puellor, whose Ravers positively thrived in the days of horror. One of the most effective weapons Puellor used to battle the Undead was the mind witchery of the Celegians of the day, and the mind witches of the Time of Night were creatures of vast and dark power. It can be honestly said that without the insane strength of will of the mad god Puellor, the Empire would have perished in the Time of Night. Once Domana burst back into the Prime Material and smashed the undead in a single stroke with the Dawn, Puellor expected to receive high praise and his just due. Instead, Domana cast Puellor down, spurning his might and freeing the human race from the yoke of the mad god. Puellor in his petulant rage laid a taint upon all mind powers in the Empire. Every time a psionic user has used 100 power points, she must make a Will save vs DC 15 or succumb to insanity. This is not an especially difficult save to make, but everyone rolls a “1” eventually. This taint can be avoided through methods and mechanisms the Ceremancers Guild teaches and provides to members, but unlicensed psykers all go mad sooner or later. The actions of those rebel mind witches maintain the cultural bias against psionics.
Third, psionics is suppressed for political reasons. The mage guilds have enormous power in the Empire and have no interest in sharing it. They constantly spread propaganda about “mind witches” and it is a testament to the effectiveness of psionics that psi users exist at all. In addition, the mage guilds have developed many special spells solely to destroy psionic users, with an eye to keeping psionics users as second-class power users.
As a result of all these factors and others besides, psionic characters in Celegia have many challenges. All psi users must register with the Ceremancy Guild, and receive a shielding amulet to protect against the taint. This amulet nust be tuned to each users exact powers, so that every use of power points can be protected from the taint of Puellor. This means that the Guild has an exact record of every psi users powers and abilities, and this must be kept up to date at all times, or else the psi user risks insanity and destruction. That information, of course, goes to the Imperial Beauracacy as well. In game terms, this means that every time a psionic power user goes up a level, they may or may not declare their powers to the Empire. Secrecy brings risks.
Aside from that, psionics are freely usable in the Empire, but psi users should maintain a low profile or be prepared to defend themselves against all manner of wild accusations. There are two main Psionic organizations in the Empire in the current time, the Ceremancers Guild and the Guild of Cerebrates. The Ceremancers Guild is the “official” psionic organization and provides the protective amulets described above.
The Guild of Cerebrates is underground and hunted, having been discredited in the Psyche Wars with the Mage Guilds shortly after the Time of Night. The Guild of Cerebrates can also provide some protection against the Mad God’s Psionic taint, but this comes at the price of breaking an Imperial Edict, which carries an automatic death sentence if discovered. The Ceremancer’s Guild can provide an amulet that shields your power points if used for any number of Psionic Powers. The Guild of Cerebrates can provide mental exercises that totally shield up to 4 powers from Puellors taint and raises the number of points you can spend unshielded between saves from 100 to 150.
All the psionic classes and prestige classes listed in the SRD are available. See below for details:
Psion: Psions in Celegia are widely portrayed as the worst of a bad lot, the baby-eating, sneering, mind witches of legend. Particular horror is attached to the psi-crystals, which are painted as abominations against the Celectial Cascade, and are rumored to make the psionic character into a soulless monster. Of course, none of this is true, but the perception persists. Psions almost all belong to the Guild of Cerebrates, as a powerful Psion NEEDS the full protection available against the taint. A Psion can easily expend enoough power to require multiple saves against insanity every day. Most Psions bear their revilement with dignity, and are scrupulously careful to avoid the taint at all costs, and a Psion who succumbs is likely to find more Psions as the first people after him, to keep the mages with their Mindburns, Brainspikes, and Psychesturms at bay.
Psychic Warrior: Psychic Warriors in Celegia are the most accepted of the various psionic classes, as long as they maintain a low profile. If they happen to have a dispute with someone in a passage of arms, and their status as a Psychic Warrior comes out, they can expect to be accused of cheating, no matter the outcome. Psychic Warriors are quite commonly members of the CeremancersGuild, as their small number of powers can be handily dealt with. Many Psychic Warriors get along just fine, never revealing their eldritch mental powers to the world.
Soulknife: The Soulknife has a staggering degree of enmity to overcome, possibly being even more reviled than the Psion. Their manifested mind blade is absolutely non-concealable, and thus they cannot follow the stealthy path of the Psychic Warrior. Since the blade is a part of themselves, they are seen in the Empire as fighting without weapons, and draw upon themselves all of those associated stigmas. Lastly, a Soulknife is quite powerful and capable, and draws challenges from more conventionally armed Stalwarts on a constant basis, as they seek to prove their superiority to the mind blade wielder. All this emnity is highly ironic, as the SoulKnife is the one Psionic character who is immune to Puellor’s Taint! A Soulknife never need expend a single power point, making the Mad God’s curse powerless over them. Many Soulknives in the Empire do everything in their power to educate the masses of the truth, but so far, this has been fruitless. Most Soulknives, knowing there is no way to conceal their powers when used, bow to the inevitable and register with the Guild of Cerebrates, even though they do not need their protection unless they choose to follow an alternate path.
Wilder: These wild, unpredictable psionics are nearly unknown in the Empire, as most of them are hunted down or run afoul of the Justiciars long before they can gain their first class level and thus begin to harnes their powerful but chaotic minds. Those few that do reach maturity seek refuge, mostly with the Ceremancer’s Guild, as their fairly small number of powers can be protected readily, and most Wilders multiclass to another, more conventional career soon. If a Wilder is exposed they are inevitably turned over to the Punishment Temples and executed. Those Wilders who survive childhood and register legally live lives of cautious adventure. Their huge power makes them valuable, and their rarity makes them less reviled than the more common Psions and Soulknives.
Prestige Classes:
Cerebremancer: The Cerebremancer presents a terrible quandary to everybody involved. They wind up being reviled by the Cerebrates and the Mages equally, and usually have considerable trouble getting any training from either. They combine the power of magic and the power of the mind together, causing tremendous stress for all. The only exception are the rare Cerebremancers who are secretly Psychic Warriors. Such characters are among the most fearsomely potent in the Empire.
Elocater: The Elocater is a psionic class whose powers are non-concealable, and thus are forced to acknowledge their powers to the Empire through the Guild of Cerebrates. Their powers are extremely weird and unsettling, as they routingly reach through impossible folds and twists of space to perform their actions. They have a very high level of scorn and fear due tot he odd appearance of their abilities. Their ability to vanish and reappear elsewhere also causes them enormous problems, and they frequently face accusations of peping, a very serious issue in Celegia.
Psionic Fist: While they theoretically exist in the Empire, there has been no credible sighting of a Psychic Fist in almost a century. They combine the rarity of Monks with the rarity of psionic users, and are even more rare that fallen Paladins. When a Psionic Fist does appear, they are oddities at first, then scorned for their use of the empty hand, then reviled as monstrous for their use of mind witchery on top of the taboo of their fighting style.
Slayer: In Celegia, the Slayer prestige Class arose during the Time of Night to combat the Undead. As a result, all of their powers have full effect upon undead as well as illithid. Slayers are actually common as psionic classes go, as they are often combined with hidden Psychic Warriors. If a Slayer happens to go mad, however, especially once they have achieved the ability to hide themselves, they are fearsomely dire foes, and many deaths from mad Slayers are reported each year. There is a small but vocal group within the Mage Guilds and the Imperial Factoriums which lobbies for the Slayer class to be more acknowledged, but so far, this effort has born no fruits.
Metamind is a very popular psionic prestige class in Celegia, as it allows you to manifest powers without spending power points! A power manifested for free does not count toward the limit for Puellor’s Taint. Thsi allows metaminds far more freedom in using their powers, even if in only and unaugmented state. Almost every member of the secretive Ceremancers Guild has at least one level of Metamind to enhance their native taint shielding.
Psion Uncarnate: Uncarnates are reviled in Celegia for their ability to sneak and disguise and generally invade anyones privacy. They are very rare due to the relentless persecution they receive. They may take their protective amulet with them in their mental form.
Pyrokineticist: While it would seem that this is a “safe” prestige class, since it does not expend power points and thus does not risk madness, that is not the case. In Celegia, the taboo against open flame is old and deeply ingrained, and to qualify for this class you must burn a building strictly for fun. Every pyrokineticist in the Empire is eventually hunted down and executed for breaking the Imperial Edicts. Of course, many of them have a fun run getting there.
Thrallherd: The mere existence of a Thrallherd is enough to get every Reveller of Corellan within an entire province on the hunt. If it is possible that a prestige class could be more reviled and more quickly expunged than a pyrokineticist, the Thrallherd is the one.
Warmind: The Warmind is possibly the most common and accepted psionic prestige class in the Empire. Their low number of powers, the non-flashy nature of said powers, and their obvious prowess in battle helps to partially offset the stigma of their mind witchery, and many Warminds actually live quite well.