Psychic Powers (Psykers)

Psychic Powers come about from mutant Psykers tapping into their abnormal awareness of the other-realm known as the Warp and channeling its energies to alter reality at their whim. Feared and distrusted, they are bound as virtual slaves to the Imperium and taught Rotes to focus their minds on achieving a particular outcome such as blasts of devastating energy, reading the possibilities of the future, altering minds or reknitting flesh. The fear they are treated with, however, is justified for their powers come with the dangers of mutation, madness and worse.

Psychic Power Tests

All sources of power in Death Unto Darkness are associated with a mental, physical or spiritual danger for doing so. Power, no matter how convinced you are that you can control it, always comes with inherent dangers for doing so. Psychic powers more so for the stirred up state of the Prosperitas Sector means that few things flow accordingly to plan these days, whereas most tests in DUD are taken against a 25% chance of failure, psychic powers are taken with a 25% chance of success.

These dangers are represented by a system of random tests to determine if a consequence of wielding power has occurred. These ‘Power Tests’ are modified depending on the potency or ‘tier’ of the powers used in a scene, each name for a tier varies from power to power but they will always use one of the three following keywords Lesser, Major or Greater.

All power checks are taken at the end of the scene in which they used it or when a Ref instructs you to do so, It is suggested you use a bead-draw bag, but any randomisation method is acceptable;

• If the user only used a Lesser power in a scene they DO NOT take a Test.

• If the user only used a Major power in a scene they make a Test for each time it was used, with a 25% chance of success.

• If the user used a Greater power in a scene then they make Two Tests for each time it was used, each with a 25% chance of success, and take all failed results.

If a Psyker fails a check they may expend Willpower to succeed it instead, representing their mastery over their will enabling them to buck the eddies of the warp as well as the slow sapping effect it has on theril will. If they do not spend will however they draw from the Warp Phenomena deck.

Biomancers using major powers that rely on the Biomantic Healing deck do not test, as the risk for those powers is built into those decks.

Warp Phenomena

The infinite power offered from the Warp is not without consequence even Psykers, with their innate ability to manipulate it, are vulnerable to the fickle nature of its energies which can demand a horrendous price from their minds and bodies to channel its eldritch power.

This risk is represented by the Warp Phenomena Deck. This deck consists of;

• 50% of cards are Phenomena side effects that represent a successful use of a power but with unusual side effects,

• 25% of cards are Perils of the Warp that represent a horrendous consequence for tapping into these chaotic energies, these are usually affects personal to the psyker.

• 25% of cards are Major Perils that represent a cataclysmic consequence for tapping into these chaotic energies, these are usually affects with consequences to the entire party.

A psyker can expend Willpower to redraw one card per scene.

Vulnerable Minds are Doorways

When a psyker runs out of Will there are far more consequences then for a standard human being, as conduits of warp energies psykers are taught the importance of strong willpower to protect them from predation by the predatory creatures that lurk within the warp, and rely heavily on their strength of will to protect them and shape their abilities.

To this end there are two consequences that occur when a psyker runs out of willpower;

• They must inform a member of the Game Team, there may be severe consequences depending on the situation.

• They can no longer safely call upon the warp, they must draw when they use Minor Powers and when they use Major powers they must remove all but the Perils of the Warp from the deck and draw directly from those.

Witchbane

Null weaponry was originally created as a lethal method to disrupt the abilities of renegade Witches - while to normal humans these slugs are no more lethal than standard munitions, but to a Psyker, these weapons unleash disruptive bound anti-psyker energies. The result on a psyker is excruciating full-body spasms resulting in multiple blood vessels rupturing.

The call Null cannot be defended against by any psychic defence, and cause Psykers endurance to immediately drop to zero and enter the Bloodied condition.

Psychic Powers

Because of differing aptitudes Psykers learn a system of Rotes categorised into various Disciplines. Psykers know only one of the major Disciplines:

• Biomancy
• Divination
• Telekinesis
• Telepathy

Characters with the Astropath Trait can, in addition to their other disciplines, utilise powers from the Astropathy discipline.

• Astropathy