Psi and Psi-like Abilities

The genetics of psi abilities
Psi abilities of Minor Families

NORMAL: A person without psionic abilities beyond erratic, rudimentary telepathy or precognition.

PARANORMAL: One with psionic abilities that are measurable, reliable and genetically inherited.


ABSOLUTE DIRECTION: Unerring directional sense, mainfested as a homing instinct, or as a sense of framework (i.e. always knowing the way North).

ASTRAL PROJECTION: Ability to project a visible or invisible body across distance. The original body is usually comatose during an astral projection.

AUGMENTATION: Ability to increase the effect of other psi powers.

BILOCATION: Ability to be in two or more places at the same time.

CLAIRVOYANCE: The ability to sense present events, regardless of distance, size, or intervening barriers. Gross Clairvoyance deals with the macroscopic world and is limited in resolution; Micro-clairvoyance has nearly unlimited resolution.

FOREVER DREAMS: Alternate state of consciousness in which the Daamin live most of their lives. Characterized by nonlinear causality.

HOISTER PSI ABILITIES: Hoister Family Paranormals possess excellent micro-clairvoyance and micro-psychokinesis (easily able to watch and manipulate objects from atomic-scale up to human-scale), fuzzy macro-clairvoyance, and weak macro-psychokinesis. Occasional precognition and teleportation abilities also occur.

INNER VOICE: Form of mental communication used by the Hlutr.

KEDANKAT: Lorecanist mental state akin to the Forever Dreams of the Daamin.

LEVINE PSI ABILITIES: Levine Family Paranormals possess excellent macro-clairvoyance and macro-psychokinesis (easily able to watch and manipulate objects from human-scale up to large mountains; collectively, there is no limit to Levine Family psychokinesis), fuzzy micro-clairvoyance, and erratic micro-psychokinesis. Occasional teleportation abilities also occur.

LINGUISTIC SENSE: Possibly a type of telepathy, which allows one to communicate easily, even with unfamiliar languages.

LOCATION: A form of clairvoyance that manifests as a tracking ability, enabling one to sense the location of an object, person, etc.

PATTERN FORMATION: Ability to recognize/impose patterns on chaotic data/events. A Pattern Former is excellent, for example, at finding paths through labyrinths, trackless forests, etc.

PERSONALITY PROJECTION: Ability to project portions of one's personality (i.e. moods, emotions, etc.) onto inanimate objects or places, so that others who contact them will feel the same.

POSTCOGNITION: The ability to sense events of the past. A form of clairvoyance.

PRECOGNITION: The ability to sense events before they occur.

PSIAMINE: First of a class of drugs known as "telepathic dampers." Psiamine and its derivatives are primarily used in infancy and adolescence to dampen psi powers so as to protect paranormals from inadverdant harm that they might cause themselves in exercising their abilities.

PSI-BLOCK: A simple machine which serves to block psi influences. In the First Empire and much of the Interregnum, psi-block technology is in its infancy and effectiveness is low.

PSYCHOKINESIS ("pk"): The ability to influence matter by means other than physical contact. Gross psychokinesis deals with the macroscopic world and is nearly unlimited in power; Micro-psychokinesis has sharp distance, mass, and force limits.

PSYCHOMETRY: Ability to read the history of an object by physical contact.

PSYCHON: Hypothetical exchange particle for psi; a tachyon.

PYROKINESIS: Ability to produce fire.

SONG OF THE HLUTR: The total concert of Hlutr communication in the Inner Voice.

STASIS FORMATION: Ability to create a zone of stasis, in which time passes at a different rate than outside the zone.

TELEPATHIC PROJECTION: Ability to impose throughts & feelings on others.

TELEPATHINET: A network of telepaths.

TELEPATHY: The ability to directly communicate mind-to-mind; also can include the ability to sense, read, or influence the thoughts of another. The drug psiamine is one of a class of drugs called telepathic dampers; they can deaden a telepath's sensitivity and are often used in raising young telepaths.

TELEPORTATION: Rare psionic ability to move from one point to another in negligible time, without crossing intervening distance. "Zap" is slang for "teleport."

TEMPORAL TELEPATHIC RESONANCE: Ability to link to similar minds in the past or future.

WATCHERS (OF THE STONES): Cadre of telepathic-sensitive volunteers on Nephestal, who attempt to divine meaning from the music of the Singing Stones.


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