Figured I'd finish up the rest of the psionics in one post:)

5th Level Psionics

Basic Force Field lasts 8 melees per level and costs 12 ISP.  Creates a 20 SDC AR 18 force field around the psionic.  Can be strengthened (SDC) by one point per point of ISP spent.

Cure Insanity- psionic can cure any insanity except some organic ones listed.  Target has a 10% chance of having insanity return every week.  Uses standard psi-saves and costs 40 ISP.

Cause Insanity causes targets who fail a psi-save to gain one insanity.  Roll each month to see if insanity goes away.  Costs 20 ISP.

Dispel Spirits has a 120 foot range and costs 1o ISP.  Spirits of the dead are forced to go back to the spirit world.

Extended Telekinesis is a beefed up version of Telekinesis.  !20 foot range, lasts 10 melees per level and costs 16 ISP.  40 pounds per level.

Mentally Posses Others lets the psionic take over the mind of a target that fails their save.  Lasts 10 melees and costs 18 ISP.

Negate Poison lets the psionic negate any poison in their body.  Cost 12 ISP and takes about an hour of intense concentration.

Water Walk alters the surface of water, letting the psionic walk on it.  Holds 70 pounds per level, lasts one hour per level and costs 10 ISP.

End of 5th level.  6th level next.

6th level psionic powers.

Create Illusion with Sound-90 foot range and costs 24 ISP.  Creates a very believable illusion of power name.  Psionics are allowed a standard save.

Heal Others restores 3d6 hit points.  Costs 18 ISP.

Mass Hypnotic Suggestion causes targets who fail their save to follow the suggestion of the psionic.  It has a range of 90 feet and costs 2 ISP per target.  Save versus psionics.

Mind Bond creates an instant mental link between the psionic and target.  Psionic and target then know everything about the other.  Insanities possible as well as skills one know becoming known to the other.  Effects can fade over a month, become permanent or the switching of minds possible.  Percentile chart with chances listed.  Costs 24 ISP.

Psychic Surgery is a mish mash of telekinesis, bio-regeneration and object reading.  Perform invasive medical procedures without tools.  Costs 19 ISP.

Resist Vacuum for 10 melees.  Costs 12 ISP.

Teleport Self up to 500 feet for 24 ISP.

End of 6th level psionics.  Next is 7th level.

7th Level Psionics.

Generate Personal Aura creates a false aura for screening when detections are made.  Psionic able to choose what alignment, level, ect to be projected.  Lasts until cancelled and costs 32 ISP.  Could be a particularly useful power for GM's.

Induced Catatonic State puts the target in a catatonic coma.  Uses standard psi-saves for non-psionics.  Those with psionics only need half of normal saving throw to pass.  Small chance to come out of coma in first couple of days.  Possible death if you don't awaken.  Costs 40 ISP.

Induced Nightmares lasts 1d6 hours, has a 60 foot range and costs 24 ISP.  Bring terrifying nightmares to targets.  While dreaming, they will not wake up and there's a chance that nightmares become reoccurring.  Saves made at half.

Reoccurring Nightmares- as mentioned above.  High chance of having these each time you sleep.  Must roll on effective disorders and psychosis chart under insanity tables.  Effects last 24 hours.  Chance of becoming permanent if nightmares persist.  Uses standard psi-saves.  Cost 32 ISP.

Multiple Phantoms has a range of 120 feet and costs 32 ISP.    This power enables the psionic to create multiple realistic illusions in every way but touch and manipulate them.  Only psionics can save against them.

End of 7th level.  Next 8th level.

8th level psionics.

Advanced Trance State lasts until it's dispelled and costs 48 ISP.  Enter this state and regain 3d6 hit points and 6 ISP per hour.  While in state you are still able to use psionics.  

Group Mind Block, same as Mind Block except affects a group.    120 foot range, lasts 8 melees per level and costs 32 ISP.

Insert Memories lets the psionic implant false memories into a targets mind.  If target disbelieves memory, it still remains.  No save and costs 48 ISP.

End of 8th level psionics.

9th level psionics

Alter Personality permanently changes a basic dimension of a target's personality.  Think alignment, emotional and personality traits.  If polar opposite of original personality, there's a chance the old one can come out of remission.  Costs 64 ISP.

Fantasy Experience creates an illusionary fantasy experience for a group of targets.  Seems completely real and no way out until the effect is dispelled.  Only psionics can save.    Costs 64 ISP and has a range of 120 feet.

End of 9th level psionics.

10th level psionics.

Death Trap is the highest level of psionic power one can get and can only be performed right before one's imminent death.  It allows the psionic to leave their physical body permanently (body is subsumed into energy form) and become a being comprised totally out of psychic energy.  While in this state the being can then possess other bodies.  Roll a d20 and if you roll under 5, you are dead- forever.  Costs 180 ISP.

This ends all of the powers of the psionic.

Next, we'll get to the Alchemist.

Sorry this took a while.  Things have gotten busy, so I'll make these posts as I can.

Before we get started, I just wanted to mention one thing about how TPRPG1ER is arranged that might make it easier to find things within it.  Certain rules of the game are shown in the section where the OCCs that would use those rules the most occur.  So combat rules are listed in the Men At Arms OCC section.  Magic and Magical Combat is listed in the Men Of Magic Section and ect, ect.  

The Alchemist NPC is where we find the magic items of the game and how we may create them.  This is not a long section, but it is a dense one.

Alchemists are not available as an OCC- rather it is an GM NPC class.  They can be of any alignment, and their weapons/HTH combat and armor are the same as wizards.  Alchemists are important in the game because this is where the players are going to be able to purchase and sell all things magic.  It is also one of the few places that wizards can go to seek new spells or get scrolls converted.

Here we have prices listed for Alchemists selling wards (alarms, colors, protection from "", and protection by infliction).  Costs for circles are also listed here.   The prices for the circles can range from 3,000 to over 250,000 (and up) in gold.

The next part gets pretty interesting.  There's a paragraph stating that while magic (and magical items) are part and parcel to the Palladium world, there are still rare and wondrous items not to be doled out like candy on Halloween night.  Most magical treasure should be procured through great deed and adventure.

The Palladium RPG doesn't list many actual magic items.  Instead, they give you the tools to make your own.  First example of this is magical armor.  Here we have prices for color (making your armor a unique color and the cost of doing so), invisible armor, lightweight ect- can all be created if you have the gold.  Magical weapon properties and associated costs are also listed.  These entail things such as indestructible, demon/devil slayer, spitting lightning and returning to the wielder once thrown.  

Moving right along we get to Holy Weapon construction- usually they have two or more (depending on whether it is a simple or greater holy weapon) magic weapon abilities in addition to a few new ones listed.  Holy weapons are not items found on the open market, but rather given, stolen or sold on the black market.

Next we get to the game's most powerful magical weapons- Rune weapons.  These are creations from a bygone era, magical artifacts whose secrets of creation have been forever lost.  It is said that no more than 200 hundred (possibly much less than that) exist anymore.  

All rune weapons share similar qualities.  They have distinct personalities and have high IQs.   They communicate through telepathy, are indestructible, forever sharp (when applicable), either black, grey or shades of red in color and covered with runes, never do less than 4d6 points of damage, form a bond with the wielder over time, and can only be used by those of similar alignment, otherwise the wielder takes damage.  In addition, some rune weapons may cast elemental magic, cast clerical magic and have psionic powers.  The most powerful rune weapons sustain themselves by drinking souls (save 14 or higher or lose soul).

As an aside- I really like the way they set up rune weapons in the book.  Exceedingly rare weapons of eldritch might that nations would go to war over.   If you like that set up, go no further than the book.  The supplements tend to have multiple rune weapons scattered about which deflates the mystery that surrounds them.  When this "Let's read..." is finished, I may do a "Let's read..." of a couple of Palladium RPG1st supplements.  

Next we have rings, charms, medallions and talismans as well as a full list of what magical properties (as well as cost) that they can be enchanted with.

Potions and potion  types are then gone over, along with poisons, natural potions, powders and drugs and their symptoms, effects, and durations.    Lastly, this section is rounded out with miscellaneous magical items and ingredients used in spells and ritual- dragons tongues, elf bones, hydra tooth....  All in all, the section is brief, but seems complete.


Next up, the Clergy.

We are now just over halfway through the books.  Thank you for reading.  Let's move on.

We are now at the tail end of the OCCs in the book. There are three types of clergy listed- Priests, Druids and Shaman.  

The first is the Priest.

The Priest OCC begins with a small paragraph concerning priests in general.  It states that most do not have spell casting capabilities, nor are they armored warrior monks.  Most priests are just normal folk preaching to the faithful and doing their best to be good stewards of the faith.  The role of a priest can vary however according to the tenants of their religion.  The book then reminds the player that all priests must choose a god, gods or pantheon in which to devote their lives to (of which are listed later).  While players do not have to strictly adhere to the alignment of their chosen faith, they should be at least in the same ballpark.

Next we are introduced to the clergy of the Gods of Light.  This starts of with the knowledge and abilities of this clergy, starting off with spell casting.  It is important to note (of which my typing fingers are thankful) that priest spells are identical to wizards spells.  Instead of learning spells, they are granted to them by their deity.  Indeed most clergy don't have a clue how magic works.

Priests can cast only a certain number of spells per day.  Starting priests begin play with one first level spell, and are allowed to choose an additional spell for each new level gained.  The choice of spells available is limited by the knowledge of the deity in question- indeed later on in the book it is mentioned that some weaker gods/would be gods are tail hangers of more powerful gods just so they can siphon off their power to their faithful.  Magic combat follows the same precepts as detailed under the wizard.

Priests have several abilities in addition to their spellcasting.  They can resist thirst for 2 days per level and hunger for 3 days per level (called penance and sacrifice).  Remove curse (percentage chance per level), Resurrect (5th level ability- can only be used in accordance to the limitations presented afterwards), Exorcism/Turning the Dead (again, complete with rules for performing exorcisms.  Quite involved- taking 1d6 hours and requiring 2d4 assistants) and Healing Touch (restores 1d8 hit points, 2nd level ability).

Priests also have access to Prayers, and there are three listed.  Prayers of Strength (bonuses to saves, turning, spell strength and damage), Communion (possibility of divining the future), and Prayers of Intervention (gaining divine power for a limited time to for things such as scroll creation to casting any spell).

Selling spell magic, creating and selling scrolls, circles and symbols are all the same as the wizard.  Weapon use is determined by the god(s) worshipped.   Hand to Hand varies as well depending on how the priest was trained, with it looking like priests can have any type of hand to hand training (depending on their faith).  Armor restrictions state a base of wizard, though again, this can vary according to how the priest was trained.

The last bit goes over what alignments are available to the clergy of light- principled, scrupulous, and unprincipled.  Anarchists might pass as long as they watch themselves.

Then the section ends with the recap of the clergy of light occ, with requirements (IQ 7), skills, experience level chart and spell and magic combat chart.

Next up is the clergy of darkness.

This one was short, since it is so similar.  I figured I'd post again.

The clergy of darkness are similar to the clergy of light, but with a few tweaks.  Instead of turning dead, they animate/control dead (2 dead per level).  They have the ability to inflict three curses- Pox (covered with painful sores), the Fever (reducing IQ due to high fever) and Ill Luck.  All three have the potential to be long lasting-1 month up to a full year depending on the curse.

Many of the other abilities are similar.  Healing touch, penance and remove curse/exorcism are identical to the CoL, with the chief difference being that the CoD cannot perform remove curse/exorcisms as well as their benevolent counterparts.  Resurrection and prayers are mostly the same, with exception that instead of intervention, CoD can summon minions of darkenss.  They also share the same details for hand to hand, armor, selling spell magic, ect.  Alignments of course must be anarchist, miscreant, aberrant, or diabolic.  It is noted that followers can be of any alignment.  The Clergy of Darkness OCC ends with the same recap that the other OCCs have.

Druids here are presented as those priests who believe that everything from dust, to creatures and even the gods themselves, are all a part of nature.  While druids detest civilization, they do not reside in no man's land, preferring instead to live near communities on the fringe of the wild.  Unlike the clergy, druids do not have a structured church or order.  Druids are not restricted in choosing their alignment.

One of the biggest departures of druids from priests is that druids are unable to cast spells, although they do get 4 druidic abilities.

The first of these is selecting an animal totem.  There are five totem types- rodent, fowl, hooved, feline and canine.  A totem must be chosen at first level and by second level, certain powers of that totem animal manifest in the druid- mostly in the form of bonuses to skills, damage, dodge, attack ect.  Choose your totem well as the choice is permanent and can never be changed.

The second ability is an empathetic rapport with animals.  This ability breaks down into four sub abilities befriend, calm, control and summon totem.  Success ratios are listed in a table that follows, with higher level druids being able to more successfully complete these tasks.

The final ability allows the druid to summon any totem animal type within a 3 mile radius to the druid's location.  Availability of said totem type can be restricted by area.  The rules give an example of rodent totem summoning squirrels and bunnies in certain locales.  Summoning can drain a druid's PE for each attempt.

The next ability is metamorphosis, allowing the druid to transform themselves into any animal from their totem type.  It is interesting that there is a delay before the cognizant mind of the character takes over.  Until then, it's the animal side that is in control, and a slim chance of permanently becoming an animal.  There is a table listing the chances of this according to level and animal type.

Druids can gain a familiar, same as the 4th level wizards spell.  They are not trained in weapons (hand to hand non men at arms), and disdain the use of metals, although it is stated that they can become proficient in a small list of simpler weapons.  Armors are limited to the lighter cloth and leather types, and very rarely chain mail.  Heavier armors are restricted.

Hooray! You're continuing it!

Here's the Shaman

There are two types of Shamans listed- regular shamans and wandering shamans.  Regular shamans are the spiritual leaders of their community, often serve as counselors to the chief and can and often do, pass judgement in tribal matters.  Wandering shamans are considered to be prophets of their faith, akin more to druids and healers, performing healings and miracles during their travels.  My guess is that the player would be expected to be the wandering type.

Being considered a "backwoods minister", shamans choose a patron god(s) or pantheon to worship- their practices being unique unto themselves.  They can be of any alignment, cast spells as the clergy, gain spells as the clergy, and their magical combat is the same as the clergy (clergy of light is noted for all of this).

The clerical abilities of the shaman depend on the alignment and god(s) worshipped.  Good alignments use the clergy of light, while the evil ones use the clergy of darkness.  It is noted that prayers constitute a separate category.

There are two prayers listed, the first of which is Prayers of Divination.  This spell grants the shaman a brief glimpse into the future.  Think small and simple, such as "what's on the other side of this door?" and so forth.  It can also be used to sense the approach of good, evil, danger and treachery within the next 48 hours.  The spell lasts 1d6 melees and has a 12% success per level.

The second prayer is Vision of Granduer.  This spell creates a vision for the shaman showing a positive outcome.  The net effect is making the shaman positive and giving them a good attitude, granting a +1 bonus to all saves and a bonus to divinations during the next six hours.

The rest of the text goes on to describing things such as shamans and scrolls, selling magic and so forth.  Mostly they use clergy, but some things, such as circles and symbols are the same as wizards.  

The next part is interesting.  It is a section on shamans and insanity.  Shamans are described as less than mentally stable people.  Because of this, they are required to roll on the insanity table.

Shamans are not restricted in what arms they may use, in fact, they use the hand to hand – mercenary fighter chart.  Neither are they restricted in their armor use.  The shaman OCC ends with the standard OCC encapsulation that every OCC has used.  Shamans are required to have an IQ of 9 or higher and a PE of 10 or higher.

I don't dig it as a Druid so much, but the Palladium Druid seems like it has the potential to make for a cool Beastmaster/Manimal type class.

Quote from: Planet Algol;656725I don't dig it as a Druid so much, but the Palladium Druid seems like it has the potential to make for a cool Beastmaster/Manimal type class.

I think they did that in the Yin Sloth Jungles book, but I'm not 100% sure.

Nice to see this thread resurrected. It's a good read!

Next up- the Healer.

Now we get to the final clerical OCC, and the final OCC to boot- the Healer.

The Healer is bit of an odd duck being listed under the clergy.  Healers do not gain their power from deity worship (though they are believed to be), but rather through their own inner strength.  While similar to psionics, their powers are not psion based.  Rather, the powers of healing are tied to their PE, so all healers must have a minimum of 15 in the stat.  

Healers are believed to be holy men by most, and tend to travel throughout the land offering their services.  Because of this, most peoples will allow them to travel through their lands unscathed.  The fees healers can charge for their services vary according to what the healer wants to charge.  

While not psionics, healers do use ISP to use their abilities.  The base ISP being their PE stat doubled, with an additional 10 ISP being awarded each level.  There are three levels of healer abilities.

1st level Healer

All level one abilities only affect the healer (self).  All of the first level abilities function just like their spell counter parts listed earlier, although costs might be different.  Bio Regeneration 6 ISP, Death Trance 4 ISP, Meditation/trance 0, Resist Cold 2 ISP, Resist Thirst 2 ISP, Resist Fire 2 ISP, Resist Hunger 4 ISP.

2nd level Healer

Healing Touch is similar to previous healing spells.  Heals 2d6 points and costs 8 ISP.

Lust for Life allows the target three rolls for save versus coma.  Can only be cast on a target that "appears to be dying", so I suppose that's meant to be a broad descriptor.  For each level that the healer has, a 6% bonus to the roll is made.  It is also stated under this ability that the healer is consider an expert in medical treatment.  Costs 10 ISP.

Negate toxins lets the healer nullify toxins and the effects for 10 ISP.  Does not heal any damage taken from a toxin's effect.

Soothing Touch relieves, but not heals, pain.  This can reduce penalties caused by pain to strike, parry and dodge by half.  The effect lasts 1d4 days and costs 15 ISP.

3rd level Healer abilities

Exorcism is the same as the clergy of light rite.    Costs 10 ISP, has a 20' radius and lasts a minimum of six months.

Resurrection similar to the priest spell, although can be tried repeatedly if unsuccessful.  This spell permanently consumes 10 ISP per try.  12% chance of success per level.

Lastly, healers have a form of super immunity that manifests when advancing to third level, represented by bonuses to their saving throws.  These bonuses can stack with other bonuses from high stats or magic items.

Healers are not restricted in what they can use for weapons and armor, although by default they use the non Man at Arms list and armors inflict penalties to speed, prowl, strike, dodge, and parry rolls.

The OCC ends with the standard encapsulation of abilities, skills, and experience chart.

This ends the list of OCC's for the game.  Next part will deal with the religions of the Palladium world.

As mentioned previously, we are now onto the religion section of the book which clocks in around 30 pages.  To quote the author, this section is "to set up a very basic understanding and system to identify and develop a particular religion or type of religion."   I like how it's written that the peoples of the Palladium world are not grounded in science to explain the unexplainable, but rather religion and myth.  The wind, rain, sun, moon, stars, ect- all are the workings of the divine in the view of most folk.

There are six categories of gods listed- Demons, Devils, Demi-Gods, Godlings, Gods and the Old Ones all.  This is not including those who have accrued power enough to be considered a god by their underlings, such as powerful wizards or giants.  I get the impression that the first seeds of Rifts are present here.  There is mention that most beings who claim they are gods are dimensional travelers who have come to the Palladium world.  Some stayed, some moved on, some might even be dead, but still worshipped in the world.  It is the faith of their worshippers that keeps the dimensional door open to siphon off some of their power for their spells and miracles.

Each god type is given a brief outline on what alignments they generally are, who their followers tend to be, and how their religion operates (restrictive, passive ect.)  Demons and Devils are what most people would think of- miscreant beings dedicated to their own evil schemes.  Demi-gods are those mortals who have attained a sort of quasi-godhood through their actions.  Godlings are a sort of lower caste of Gods, and are described as the gods most likely to inhabit the mortal world (god of a river, god of a tree, mountain, ect..)  Gods are the most powerful of beings, only surpassed by the Old Ones.  Gods are divided into two categories- Gods of Light and Gods of Darkness.  Lastly, the Old Ones are the embodiment of all evil and once ruled the universe, but are now slumbering.

There are four types of religions- deistic, monotheistic, pantheistic, and polytheistic.  The text goes on to list different heathen types, church structure, religious hierarchy and religious direction.  Religious direction types broadly define how the religion operates.  These are expansive- non-expansive, exclusive- non exclusive, and restrictive-open.

The next section begins to get into some of the religions themselves (titled Specific Religions).  Interesting to note is that many of the religions are not restricted by alignment, although some will heavily skew towards one end of the spectrum over the other.
 
There are a good number of religions given, 26 all told, and they are as follows:

Cults of Chantico
Cult of Kalba
Cult of the Great One
Cult of the Undead
Cult of Set
Cult of Yin-Sloth the Terrible
Death Cults
Druidism
Church of Light
Church of Light and Dark
Church of the Seven Waters
Church of Taut
Demon/Devil worship
Elementalism/Warlocks
Kirgi the Rat God
Dragonwright
Northern Religion
Northern Sea God
Sect of Aco (and the Juggernaut)
Sect of Bes
Sect of Rurga
Southern Religions of Sloth
Sect of Pananth
Sect of the Spider God
The Red God
The Snake God

The next section details the gods themselves.  Much like Legends & Lore for D&D, the gods here are given full stats.  The gods of Palladium are a mish-mash of original gods, Egyptian gods, slightly renamed Norse gods, and a nod to the Cthulu mythos with the Old Ones.

I'll end this post here and next post, I'll get a little more in depth with the gods.

Hmm, been a while.  Time for an update.

First up are the gods from the pantheon of the Dragonwright.  In times of old the Dragonwright was pantheon of good that has been corrupted.  Now it is only known as an evil cult.  The original gods of this pantheon wish to see it's former glory restored. first of which is Kym-nark-mar, a frost dragon.  He is described as a symbol of wisdom, power and magical strength.  Kym-nark-mar's eyes are jade, magical and according to the description- worth a lot of money.  Each eye bestows a +2 to all saves in addition to the left eye granting the wielder all of Kym's natural abilities (teleport, dimensional teleport, see invisible, turn invisible, fly, metamorhasis, nightvision and knows every language) at half strength, while the right grants all of Kym's clerical abilities (exorcism, healing touch, remove curse, resurrection, turn dead and bio-regeneration) at half strength.  Each eye is worth 50,000gp.

Next up, within the Dragonwright is Zandragal the red dragon, goddess of war, cunning, duality and conflict.  

Kormath the white horned dragon is the symbol of peace, tranquility and law.  While she is known to be greedy, Kormath is smart, honorable and compassionate.  

Lastly we have  Styphon the Black, also known as Styphon the corruptor.  He is the god of death and pestilence.  He is rumored to be responsible for the Dragonwright's fall.  


Moving along, we come to the Cult of Chantico, which is home to the evil godling of vengeance- Chantico.  His form is that of a gigantic ebony dog- punishment for an unnamed crime against the gods of light.  Interestingly, he is for mankind's freedom from the interference of the gods.

The Pantheon of Rurga has five gods within in.  First is Rurga, warrior goddess of triumph in war, justice, retribution and honor.  Popular amongst palladins and knights.  She wears silver plate armor and wields several weapons, the most powerful being Vlaa the demon slayer.

Cirga the bowman is the warrior god of compassion, honor, loyalty and camaraderie.  Rurga's right hand man, and also deeply in love with her (love not returned), Cirga's uses an indestructible long bow that can really reach out and touch someone -2000' range.  The lightning arrows are a nice bonus.

Panath is the evil warrior god of assassins and treachery.  Described as cunning, intelligent and selfish.  

Kalba is the evil god of ghosts, wraiths and wandering spirits.  Once a great wizard, he was turned into an eternally wandering spirit by Panath (in collaboration with other gods), punishment for refusing to break an oath to Rurga.  Kalba is prone to possess the physical bodies of those he can, though he is honorable in any deals he strikes with them.  His overriding quest of is to find those gods who helped Panath curse him.

Lista is both a warrior goddess and sea goddess.  The daughter of Rurga who became the lover of Panath who used her and left her, she now lives in shame at the bottom of the sea.

Lista is a pretty cool goddess. Bit of a cold fish, but it isn't as if she doesn't have her reasons.

Quote from: Zachary The First;688350Lista is a pretty cool goddess. Bit of a cold fish, but it isn't as if she doesn't have her reasons.

I always thought Panath was cool; especially the description in Dragons and Gods.