Psionic
| Combat | Fire |
|---|---|
| Detection | Air |
| Health | Man |
| Illusion | Guidance |
| Manipulation | Task |
| Drain | WIL + INT |
| Note | This is a possession tradition |
This tradition believes that all power flows from the mind,
not a nebulous mana field that surrounds the world and
beyond. In fact, most practitioners of this tradition consider
the other schools misguided and overly superstitious.
This helps explain the rarity of the tradition, as it
is centered on extreme self-confidence and innate talent
rather than a formalized school curriculum like the Hermetic
tradition. Psionists appear to lack mentor spirits, as
they refuse to believe an outside force can provide any
useful power or guidance for their abilities.
Those of the tradition who conjure spirits refer to them
as thought constructs, believing them to be extensions of
the summoner’s own thoughts rather than separate sapient
beings. They use these summonings to empower
items or people. This is sometimes referred to as rewiring
the victim’s wetware to serve the needs of the psionic or
the superior mind, although they do not prepare the vessel
in the way more traditional practitioners do. The ability
to conjure is not universal through the tradition, as the
member’s internal thought processes control their confidence
to summon and deal with the result. The members
are generally able to perceive the astral and counterspell
as any other magician, but they frequently refer to such
abilities as “enhanced consciousness” and “squelching a
weaker mind.” What others believe are astral manifestations
of mana, they believe are visual manifestations of
mental power.
Paris hosts one outspoken member of the Psionic tradition, Pierre Dubois, a Quebec native who fled his homeland after the fall of Cross Technologies. Pierre has become a regular commentator on local Matrix shows, regularly attempting to debunk more traditional magical theory whenever possible during his interviews. He has also started a small after-school tutoring program to teach youth to “harness the power of the mind.” While this endeavor has not created any great prodigies of the tradition, it has taught Pierre a number of new instruction techniques to assist him in guiding other psionists to new discoveries.