It is the present, or just beyond, and in this time, psychics exist – individuals who have manifested controlled and considerable sixth sensory skill. Though their abilities stem from the mind, they vary greatly.
The community of psychics is small and fractious; the vast majority fight just to survive. Some members are noted for having exceptional depth of talent and to others they become beacons – some of light and some of darkness. In this they are no different from man, in their abilities they are light years beyond.

Consequently there is a notable minority who seek to stand on the shoulders of the human herd. They see themselves as the peak of the evolutionary chain while others fear their growing megalomania. Their skills justify their beliefs continually. This minority calls itself the Shepherds of Light.
There are those in the mundane community who, through perhaps fear or a realisation of the inevitable, have chosen to fight this force of nature. They dedicate themselves not only to understanding psychic phenomena but also to controlling it. The Echo Institute is a powerful multinational organisation that uses nefarious means to this end and is very successful in doing so. They have pioneered mechanical means to suppress and manipulate the minds of psychics even employing their own kind against them. They believe they are working the best interests of humanity.

Echo Institute technology involves android human replicas (usually of people known to already-identified psychics who are then replaced). The purpose of which is to actively suppress the abilities of the target whilst remaining in their presence undetected. There are larger models that do not have human appearances but can create a dampening field so that only a psychic, through advanced perception, will actually see them. These are 'sentinel' models which Echo would like to see on full-scale patrol (Echo lacks the requisite political clout); their function is to deal with groups through force. They are combat machines and they are very effective; some even contain holding cells within for capture purposes. Many are also capable of powered flight.

The Underground is the active network of psychics who are caught between the extremes of the Shepherds and any like them and the efforts of organisations such as Echo. They try to find newly manifest psychics to offer help and support

Interesting so far, have you read Gurps Psionics (which has some interesting takes in the back of settings--at least for 3E), and or Psi Worlds, "Psi underground" setting?


Tell me more of this though

The Underground (replace with cool mythological name or whatever) is the active secret network of psychics who are caught between the extremes of the Shepherds and any like them and the efforts of organisations such as Echo. They find newly manifest psychics to offer help and support. Like all the players on the world’s stage they suspect that a change is coming to the world. Unlike the others their agenda, if at all, is more benevolent; primarily they are looking to survive. They want to find somewhere they can live peacefully and where they can explore their powers without hurting anyone else. Their founders have adopted a code of ethics that members are supposed to promote which advocates peaceful co-existence with non-psychics, open-mindedness, fairness and above all non violence (at least ideally).

Competent members of the Underground share a unique ‘thought space’ they call ‘Akasha’; here they can communicate and improve their abilities. On deeper levels some liken it to a genetic memory, a connection to the human collective unconscious. Rumour within the psychic community is that the first true psychics exist only within akasha, surviving long beyond the life of their bodies. Akasha is technically something – somewhere (an easier way to relate to it) – that all psychics can enter, but it’s a secret kept by the Underground.

Strangers are the term Echo uses for the key figures within the life of a target psychic. Strangers are people that have undergone immense surgery augmenting and replacing significant portions of their brains with technology designed to suppress the psi ability of the target. So long as the target remains within the stranger’s field of suppression they cannot activate or realise any potential. The program is so successful that it stops potential psychics from ever manifesting or believing they are different. Echo has become very successful at finding burgeoning psychics that it can put strangers into place before the target becomes suspicious and without interrupting their routine or that of the stranger (or anyone else connected). Echo is careful about the amount of internal manipulation it performs on a subject stranger; the stranger is unaware of what it is doing and suffers no memory impairment. They function as ordinary humans, not machines (unlike the ‘sentinel’ (replace with non-marvel ripoff name) units).

Sentinel units are cutting edge technology and just as controversial. These are large 20’ high machines that are intentionally invisible to all but those with psychic ability. This is due to manipulation of visual spectra beneath those generally perceptible only to psychics (some psychics cannot see them either). Their function is to patrol a designated area and target psychics within, this usually results in an order to eliminate the targets or capture them; some units have a facility within for storage of a subdued target. These machines are powerful; they are armed and are constructed with toughened metal army; their software cores are state of the art allowing them to adapt and coordinate their efforts. Sentinels are co coordinated locally from a core base which monitors the activities of all within the area. The moment communication with a unit is lost a backup is usually sent in, where possible. While they are deadly they are also exceptionally expensive and politically dangerous; no government openly sanctions their use even though Echo has the influence to get what it wants.

(Poss: change Sentinel to Hunter, or even Wolf, or perhaps Giraffe )

I think the feel of this should be spooky twilight zone vibe (as opposed to supernatural terror or cosmic horror) where wierd science ('Strangers'?) meets superpower (well psi power, though there isn't much difference). If you want to get artsy fartsy you could argue this discusses issues of self identity and alienation...in a world where giant invisible robots terrorise psychics, though I don't wish to be too flippant (games should have some depth after all, otherwise why bother).

Psychic Power rules - does this make sense:

As the focus of the game, the rules for using psychic powers work a little differently. Essentially the difficulty for a task is rated on 3 levels, simple, normal, difficult, however the player must resolve the attempt by guessing (or using his own psychic ability). The player rolls as many dice as his character wishes to expend Psi points (the amount of effort he expends to use the power). To succeed he must correctly predict whether each dice rolled will produce either an odd or even result. If he gets at least as many predictions as the difficulty level before he runs out of dice to roll (paid for with his psi points) his effort succeeds. Of course this means he must have enough available psi power left. Psi replenishes naturally, but characters do not have an inexhaustible supply of energy, though their limits increase as they develop.

For example; David has 8 Psi remaining and needs to read Cathy’s mind, this is a difficulty 2 action (normal). He expends 3 Psi and thus will get 3 rolls, guessing the outcome before each is rolled. He only needs to guess correctly twice so the odds are slightly in his favour: before the first he guesses odd, it rolls 1 – that’s one. The next he incorrectly guesses as odd again, but going for the hatrick he guesses odd for the final result and is correct as it rolls 5. He is successful.

Of course the system can and probably will feature all sorts of other wrinkles for increases tension and drama (and realism!). Perhaps for every successful guess above the minimum required the player replenishes a point of Psi.

Some parts of that remind me of an old  Robert Silverberg novel.

- Ed C.

In a good way I hope; i've ne'er read any of his works.

Silverlion: thanks!

The origin of psychics is rooted in the extraterrestrial; a dying race of aliens visited earth to find a way to preserve their culture. They experimented on a number of humans during the chaos of the Second World War, which provided a cover for their efforts. These humans were implanted with the memories of an alien culture so that it might survive through history; these implants were designed to pass down through the generations until mankind was socially and technologically ready to process them. In the meantime the subconscious possession of these memories, while too deep to properly recall, has triggered psychic power in many – and madness in others. In dreams many experience not only the psychic world of Akasha, but they begin to ‘hear’ the alien memories – processed though their human experience. This, to say the least, is unsettling.

Those who have actual psychic power are known as Aces, while the unfortunate ones driven mad by the songs of a lost world are Jokers!

The purpose of adding a layer of SF of this kind is to broaden the scope a bit, whilst trying to keep it as unobtrusive as possible. Certainly at least the aliens should not feature at all themselves. Although some kind of modern day lensman setting might be plausible; humans ‘uplifted’ by benevolent mentor aliens to fight their enemies in a cross between the Great and Secret Show and Lensman! Inconceivable! Have I gone too far?

Some suggestions: Your riffing on a lot of stuff. I'd call them Aces and Eights (rather than Jokers)--with a nod to "Section 8' being where the mad get locked away or experimented on, so not to seem too blatant (and Aces and Eights is a deadman's hand--suggesting power dangerous and terrible to everyone)

I'd also change the sentinels to "Wardens" and make them big tentacle things with tripods--mechanical but with a spooky techno-organic look to those who see them (perhaps due to being powered by nervous systems of captured/lobotomized psychics) --a bit of a nod to Babylon 5's Shadow Ships there as well as War of the Worlds.

Anyway, its very good but I like to "hide" my sources a little bit.

I'd also make the symbol for the underground an old alien symbol: a pyramid with three eyes-- one in each corner with the Illuminati Pyramid being a warped version taken from memories of the aliens and use by people not a part of the true Underground/Psionic Society

wardens doesn't work for me, it's not aggressive enough. They are purposefully mechanical because they are the machine versus the man (ie the psychic's - the players). They are the cold hard fist of oppression. Tripods is fine, except they need to be agile and not likely to fall over at the first bit of trouble.

the aces and jokers thing is a nod to the Wild Cards novel, it wasn't intended to be taken seriosly, not really

Quote from: signoftheserpentwardens doesn't work for me, it's not aggressive enough. They are purposefully mechanical because they are the machine versus the man (ie the psychic's - the players). They are the cold hard fist of oppression. Tripods is fine, except they need to be agile and not likely to fall over at the first bit of trouble.

the aces and jokers thing is a nod to the Wild Cards novel, it wasn't intended to be taken seriosly, not really

Heh, still.
What about Crusaders? or even Furies? (and yeah bio-mimetic/techno organic tripods could be as agile as a two legged robot if you want them to be..)