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*SanityMeter: The overflow gauge functions a bit like one. It fills as you use your powers, but extreme emotional stress and traumatic events can cause it to fill substantially. Overflow has to be carefully monitored.
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*DamageTyping: Damage is divided into melee, ranged, heat, lethal, and nonlethal subtypes.
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*CastFromHitPoints: With the exception of Biofeedback, using psitalents inflicts nonlethal damage on the user.
** If an esper is out of power points, they can pay the difference in extra nonlethal damage to use their psitalents.
** If an esper is out of power points, they can pay the difference in extra nonlethal damage to use their psitalents.
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* BerserkButton: Do not confront Tim about using his powers unethically.
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* BerserkButton: Do not confront Tim about using his powers unethically.unethically or remind him that Callie set him up for a cruel public rejection just for the fun of it.
** Psychokinetics are ''amazing'' at this. In game, a clever psychokinetic makes party survival much easier.
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* Disproportionate retribution: If you turn down a recruitment offer from The Shop, Escaton, Abraxis, Aleph, or The Red Orchestra, they will either kill you, forcibly abduct you, or ruin your life until you have no other choice but to change your mind.
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* Disproportionate retribution: DisproportionateRetribution: If you turn down a recruitment offer from The Shop, Escaton, Abraxis, Aleph, or The Red Orchestra, they will either kill you, forcibly abduct you, or ruin your life until you have no other choice but to change your mind.
*FunctionalMagic: Psionic powers are similar to the inherent gift variety. The potential to be an esper is genetic.
*GreenEyedMonster: Tim shows shades of this when Leona calls him out for using psychokinesis to get Callie to like him.
*ManaMeter: Using psionic talents consumes "power points", making the mechanic similar to casting spells from a mana pool.
* NoCelebritiesWereHarmed: If you are a fan of The World/Inferno Friendship Society, you'll probably notice that Lucky Wacker is basically psionic Jack Terricloth.
*PsychopathicManchild: Tim is an immature, entitled, nerdy, virgin with really strong psychokinesis. He throws a tantrum when Leona tries to talk to him about him misusing his powers.
*RegeneratingMana: Power points will replenish naturally if an esper rests for a while
** Espers with a high enough level of biofeedback recover power points more quickly.
** Espers with a high enough level of biofeedback recover power points more quickly.
*TattooedCrook: Leona's stepfather, Frank [[spoiler: who molested her.]]
*TeensAreMonsters: Callie and Chad are both pretty shitty people. The former was unnecessarily cruel to Tim upon finding out that he had a crush on her and the latter is a violent, racist, bully.
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* Telepathy: Even the weakest psychokinetics are capable of this.
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* Telepathy: {{Telepathy}}: Even the weakest psychokinetics are capable of this.
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* TheTrickster: Lucky Wacker.
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* TheTrickster: Lucky Wacker. From ''Tomorrow's Starlight'': "I feel absolutely naked unless I'm doing something illicit."
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* WhatTheHellHero: Leona calls Tim out for using his psychokinesis to con his way out of paying for things and to manipulate others for his personal gain. He doesn't take it well.
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[[http://www.rpgnow.com/product/151035/Psionics-The-Next-Stage-in-Human-Evolution Psionics: The Next Stage In Human Evolution]] is a tabletop RPG by End Transmission Games. Funded by a successful Kickstarter campaign in 2014, it was released on June 2nd 2015 and debuted at Origins Game Fair 2015. In addition to the setting and rules of the game, Psionics contains several short stories, written by the creator’s and some of the play testers. ''Tomorrow’s Starlight'', ''New World Water'', ''Broken Things'', ''The Kids From Yesterday'', and ''Captured'' illustrate the realities faced by new and seasoned espers , particularly members of The Zodiac Order. Set in the modern day, the in-game universe is superficially identical to our own. Underneath the veneer, however, things look very different. Pharmacological tampering by the US government, starting with Project MKUltra and advancing in the shadows ever since, has resulted in the creation of drugs that awaken psychic powers in the rare individuals that have the genetic potential for it. The children of these individuals also have a chance of developing psionic powers naturally. They can start fires, read minds, move objects, effect probability, stop hearts, see the future, and do a wide variety of other feats just by concentrating. What’s more, they’re physically and mentally superior to normal humans. These “espers” are the next stage in human evolution.
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[[http://www.rpgnow.com/product/151035/Psionics-The-Next-Stage-in-Human-Evolution Psionics: The Next Stage In Human Evolution]] is a tabletop RPG by End Transmission Games. Funded by a successful Kickstarter campaign in 2014, it was released on June 2nd 2015 and debuted at Origins Game Fair 2015. In addition to the setting and rules of the game, Psionics contains several short stories, written by the creator’s creators and some of the play testers. ''Tomorrow’s Starlight'', ''New World Water'', ''Broken Things'', ''The Kids From Yesterday'', and ''Captured'' illustrate the realities faced by new and seasoned espers , (humans with psychic powers), particularly members of The Zodiac Order. Set in the modern day, the in-game universe is superficially identical to our own. Underneath the veneer, however, things look very different. Pharmacological tampering by the US government, starting with Project MKUltra and advancing in the shadows ever since, has resulted in the creation of drugs that awaken psychic powers in the rare individuals that have the genetic potential for it. The children of these individuals also have a chance of developing psionic powers naturally. They can start fires, read minds, move objects, effect probability, stop hearts, see the future, and do a wide variety of other feats just by concentrating. What’s more, they’re physically and mentally superior to normal humans. These “espers” are the next stage in human evolution.
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* BlastingItOutOfTheirHands: The Trick Shot and Bull’s Eye techniques allow you to do this.
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* BlastingItOutOfTheirHands: The Trick Shot and Bull’s Eye techniques allow you to do this.this with firearms and thrown weapons, respectively.
** The telekinetic ability TK Disarm allows you to grab weapons from your enemy's hands.
** The telekinetic ability TK Disarm allows you to grab weapons from your enemy's hands.
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** The Prism archetype also qualifies, as it's specified that he's a former med student, in addition to having psionic powers.
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* AuthorityEqualsAsskicking: Jeremy Bright, the leader of The Zodiac Order, is the most powerful esper on the planet.
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* AuthorityEqualsAsskicking: AsskickingEqualsAuthority: Jeremy Bright, the leader of The Zodiac Order, is the most powerful esper on the planet.planet. Also, the more powerful an esper is, generally the more respect and power they'll have.
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[[http://www.rpgnow.com/product/151035/Psionics-The-Next-Stage-in-Human-Evolution Psionics: The Next Stage In Human Evolution]] is a tabletop RPG by End Transmission Games. Funded by a successful Kickstarted campign in 2014, it was released on June 2nd 2015 and debuted at Origins Game Fair 2015. In addition to the setting and rules of the game, Psionics contains several short stories, written by the creator’s and some of the play testers. ''Tomorrow’s Starlight'', ''New World Water'', ''Broken Things'', ''The Kids From Yesterday'', and ''Captured'' illustrate the realities faced by new and seasoned espers , particularly members of The Zodiac Order. Set in the modern day, the in-game universe is superficially identical to our own. Underneath the veneer, however, things look very different. Pharmacological tampering by the US government, starting with Project MKUltra and advancing in the shadows ever since, has resulted in the creation of drugs that awaken psychic powers in the rare individuals that have the genetic potential for it. The children of these individuals also have a chance of developing psionic powers naturally. They can start fires, read minds, move objects, effect probability, stop hearts, see the future, and do a wide variety of other feats just by concentrating. What’s more, they’re physically and mentally superior to normal humans. These “espers” are the next stage in human evolution.
to:
[[http://www.rpgnow.com/product/151035/Psionics-The-Next-Stage-in-Human-Evolution Psionics: The Next Stage In Human Evolution]] is a tabletop RPG by End Transmission Games. Funded by a successful Kickstarted campign Kickstarter campaign in 2014, it was released on June 2nd 2015 and debuted at Origins Game Fair 2015. In addition to the setting and rules of the game, Psionics contains several short stories, written by the creator’s and some of the play testers. ''Tomorrow’s Starlight'', ''New World Water'', ''Broken Things'', ''The Kids From Yesterday'', and ''Captured'' illustrate the realities faced by new and seasoned espers , particularly members of The Zodiac Order. Set in the modern day, the in-game universe is superficially identical to our own. Underneath the veneer, however, things look very different. Pharmacological tampering by the US government, starting with Project MKUltra and advancing in the shadows ever since, has resulted in the creation of drugs that awaken psychic powers in the rare individuals that have the genetic potential for it. The children of these individuals also have a chance of developing psionic powers naturally. They can start fires, read minds, move objects, effect probability, stop hearts, see the future, and do a wide variety of other feats just by concentrating. What’s more, they’re physically and mentally superior to normal humans. These “espers” are the next stage in human evolution.
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*EvenTheGirlsWantHer: The lead singer of Tomorrow's Starlight. Leona mentions how hot she is.
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*GlowingEyesOfDoom: Ian reports that eona has these while raising Lucky's temperature, but he may have been exaggerating.
**An image in the book of an esper scrying plays this straight.
**An image in the book of an esper scrying plays this straight.
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*MyBloodRunsHot: The pyrokinetic ability Temper, Temper, Temperature can be used to raise the body temperature of living things. Raise it enough and they'll die from boiling in their own skin.
** Leona does this to Lucky. Not fatally, just enough to get him to leave her alone.
** Leona does this to Lucky. Not fatally, just enough to get him to leave her alone.
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* Masquerade: All of the conspiracies work to keep knowledge of esper’s existence from the public and individual espers generally try to be discrete for their own safety.
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* Masquerade: {{Masquerade}}: All of the conspiracies work to keep knowledge of esper’s existence from the public and individual espers generally try to be discrete for their own safety.
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* {{Nerd}}: Ian, Tim, and Chance were unpopular, uncool, and frequently bullied before being awakened. They still are, to varying degrees.
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* {{Nerd}}: Ian, Tim, and Chance were unpopular, uncool, and frequently bullied before being awakened. They still are, to varying degrees.
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** Callie qualifies as well. Everyone except Tim is very tepid towards her.
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* Biopunk
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* Biopunk{{Biopunk}}
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* Cyberpunk: Less prominent than biopunk, but there are elements of it.
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* Cyberpunk: {{Cyberpunk}}: Less prominent than biopunk, but there are elements of it.
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* Cyberunk: Less prominent than biopunk, but there are elements of it.
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* Cyberunk: Cyberpunk: Less prominent than biopunk, but there are elements of it.
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*Biopunk
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*Cyberunk: Less prominent than biopunk, but there are elements of it.
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*TwentyMinutesIntoTheFuture: The game is set either here or in present day.
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* AnIceGuy: Pyrokinetics can choose to lower temperature instead of raise it. Under the right conditions and at a high enough level, it’s possible to freeze people and objects.
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* AnIceGuy: AnIcePerson: Pyrokinetics can choose to lower temperature instead of raise it. Under the right conditions and at a high enough level, it’s possible to freeze people and objects.
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* Abyss, which affects all psionic talents, is black.
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* Combatpragmatist: The book stats damage from such things as bar stools, broken bottles, telekinetically thrown manhole covers and exploding cars.
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* Combatpragmatist: CombatPragmatist: The book stats damage from such things as bar stools, broken bottles, telekinetically thrown manhole covers and exploding cars.
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* ConcertClimax: The second part of ‘’Tomorrow’s Starlight’’ ends at a show by the titular band. [[spoiler: version A.]]
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* ConcertClimax: The second part of ‘’Tomorrow’s Starlight’’ ''Tomorrow’s Starlight'' ends at a show by the titular band. [[spoiler: version A.]]
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* CovertGroupWithMundaneFront: The Shop disguises itself as the police, CIA, DEA, etc. In ‘’Tomorrow’s Starlight’’ [[spoiler: a Shop raid is disguised as a team of exterminators.]]
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* CovertGroupWithMundaneFront: The Shop disguises itself as the police, CIA, DEA, etc. In ‘’Tomorrow’s Starlight’’ ''Tomorrow’s Starlight'' [[spoiler: a Shop raid is disguised as a team of exterminators.]]
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* CrypticBackgroundReference: Rose Klein (AKA Mama Bear) gets one in ‘’Tomorrow’s Starlight’’. It’s never explained what the “Albuquerque Incident” was, but it was apparently enough to get her a maximum threat rating from The Shop.
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* CrypticBackgroundReference: Rose Klein (AKA Mama Bear) gets one in ‘’Tomorrow’s Starlight’’.''Tomorrow’s Starlight''. It’s never explained what the “Albuquerque Incident” was, but it was apparently enough to get her a maximum threat rating from The Shop.
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* Delinquents: The Zodiac Order has this general image and for good reason.
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* Delinquents: {{Delinquents}}: The Zodiac Order has this general image and for good reason.
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* DistressCall: [[spoiler: Mama Bear sends one of the warning beacon variety out in ‘’Tomorrow’s Starlight’’.]]
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* DistressCall: [[spoiler: Mama Bear sends one of the warning beacon variety out in ‘’Tomorrow’s Starlight’’.''Tomorrow’s Starlight''.]]
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* TheDogBitesBack: [[spoiler: Harry]] in ‘’Broken Things’’.
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* TheDogBitesBack: [[spoiler: Harry]] in ‘’Broken Things’’.''Broken Things''.
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* Fainting: Peregrine suffers one. Probably a combination of the emotional and exhaustion types.
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* Fainting: {{Fainting}}: Peregrine suffers one. Probably a combination of the emotional and exhaustion types.
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* TheFanatic: Members of Escaton. They’re deeply religious and rabidly devoted to eradicating espers.
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*PPECs and PPICs unlock and suppress psionic power, respectively.
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* Flight: Sufficiently powerful telekinetics and magnekinetics can fly by picking themselves up or by riding wind currents, respectively.
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* Flight: {{Flight}}: Sufficiently powerful telekinetics and magnekinetics can fly by picking themselves up or by riding wind currents, respectively.
* TheFundamentalist: Members of Eschaton. They’re deeply religious and rabidly devoted to eradicating espers.
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* GoodLuckCharm: Well, good luck ‘’person’’. Espers with a high enough level of synchronicity can extend their good luck to others, if they choose to do so.
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* GoodLuckCharm: Well, good luck ‘’person’’.''person''. Espers with a high enough level of synchronicity can extend their good luck to others, if they choose to do so.
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* Espers with a high enough strength score can heal from grievous bodily harm in a matter of days.
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* An Ice Guy: Pyrokinetics can choose to lower temperature instead of raise it. Under the right conditions and at a high enough level, it’s possible to freeze people and objects.
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* An Ice Guy: AnIceGuy: Pyrokinetics can choose to lower temperature instead of raise it. Under the right conditions and at a high enough level, it’s possible to freeze people and objects.
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** ISeeDeadPeople: Lucky Wacker’s dead friend, Scott, is his constant companion in Tomorrow’s Starlight.
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* Kneecapping: One of the techniques allows you to do this. It wrecks the target’s movement speed if it hits.
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* Kneecapping: {{Kneecapping}}: One of the techniques allows you to do this. It wrecks the target’s movement speed if it hits.
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* LovableJock: Tony in ‘’Broken Things’’ is friendly, considerate, and helpful, in addition to being a star athlete and somakinetic.
* LoveMakesYouDumb: In ‘’Tomorrow’s Starlight’’ [[spoiler: Tim uses psychokinesis to get a Green from Mama Bear, which he gives to Callie. Keep in mind, he doesn’t know about the drug’s potential side effects, doesn’t bother to check to see if there are any, and doesn’t take the hint that if Mama Bear, a drug dealer, won’t part with it without the use of powerful psychokinetic talents that maybe it’s kind of a dangerous drug.]]
* LoveMakesYouDumb: In ‘’Tomorrow’s Starlight’’ [[spoiler: Tim uses psychokinesis to get a Green from Mama Bear, which he gives to Callie. Keep in mind, he doesn’t know about the drug’s potential side effects, doesn’t bother to check to see if there are any, and doesn’t take the hint that if Mama Bear, a drug dealer, won’t part with it without the use of powerful psychokinetic talents that maybe it’s kind of a dangerous drug.]]
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* LovableJock: Tony in ‘’Broken Things’’ ''Broken Things'' is friendly, considerate, and helpful, in addition to being a star athlete and somakinetic.
* LoveMakesYouDumb: In‘’Tomorrow’s Starlight’’ ''Tomorrow’s Starlight'' [[spoiler: Tim uses psychokinesis to get a Green from Mama Bear, which he gives to Callie. Keep in mind, he doesn’t know about the drug’s potential side effects, doesn’t bother to check to see if there are any, and doesn’t take the hint that if Mama Bear, a drug dealer, won’t part with it without the use of powerful psychokinetic talents that maybe it’s kind of a dangerous drug.]]
* LoveMakesYouDumb: In
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* MeaningfulName: Rose has a very thorny personality. Her code name is Mama Bear. Both ‘’Tomorrow’s Starlight’’ and ‘’Captured’’ establish that she’s highly dangerous and capable of being extremely violent, especially if she feels that her friends are being threatened.
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* MeaningfulName: Rose has a very thorny personality. Her code name is Mama Bear. Both ‘’Tomorrow’s Starlight’’ ''Tomorrow’s Starlight'' and ‘’Captured’’ ''Captured'' establish that she’s highly dangerous and capable of being extremely violent, especially if she feels that her friends are being threatened.
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** Happens to someone in ‘’New World Water’’.
* OneHitKill: Most psytalents can accomplish this at maximum level, due to the sheer damage they can potentially do, but there are necrokinesis and etropy talents that ‘’will’’ do this if the target fails a stat check.
* OneHitKill: Most psytalents can accomplish this at maximum level, due to the sheer damage they can potentially do, but there are necrokinesis and etropy talents that ‘’will’’ do this if the target fails a stat check.
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** Happens to someone in ‘’New ''New World Water’’.
Water''.
* OneHitKill: Most psytalents can accomplish this at maximum level, due to the sheer damage they can potentially do, but there are necrokinesis and etropy talentsthat ‘’will’’ that''will'' do this if the target fails a stat check.
* OneHitKill: Most psytalents can accomplish this at maximum level, due to the sheer damage they can potentially do, but there are necrokinesis and etropy talents
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** In ‘’Tomorrow’s Starlight’’, she makes a point of getting medication to help Leona cope with the emotional trauma of her awakening and [[spoiler: prioritizes saving the main characters over escaping a Shop raid.]]
** In ‘’Captured’’ [[spoiler: she expresses hope that the kids from ‘’Tomorrow’s Starlight’’ escaped, implying that she does care about them.]]
** In ‘’Captured’’ [[spoiler: she expresses hope that the kids from ‘’Tomorrow’s Starlight’’ escaped, implying that she does care about them.]]
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** In ‘’Tomorrow’s Starlight’’, ''Tomorrow’s Starlight'', she makes a point of getting medication to help Leona cope with the emotional trauma of her awakening and [[spoiler: prioritizes saving the main characters over escaping a Shop raid.]]
** In‘’Captured’’ ''Captured'' [[spoiler: she expresses hope that the kids from ‘’Tomorrow’s Starlight’’ escaped, implying that she does care about them.]]
** In
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* PsychoLesbian: Mama Bear displays some shades of this in Captured but that might be due to the fact that [[spoiler: she’s being detained and tortured by The Shop.]]
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* PsychoLesbian: Mama Bear displays some shades of this in Captured ''Captured'' but that might be due to the fact that [[spoiler: she’s being detained and tortured by The Shop.]]
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* ScaryBlackMan: The bouncer outside of the White Hart in ‘’Tomorrow’s Starlight’’.
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* ScaryBlackMan: The bouncer outside of the White Hart in ‘’Tomorrow’s Starlight’’.''Tomorrow’s Starlight''.
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** Colette in ‘’New World Water’’ cancels a swim team’s practice by informing them that she has purchased the lease on the building.
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** Colette in ‘’New ''New World Water’’ Water'' cancels a swim team’s practice by informing them that she has purchased the lease on the building.
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* Seers: Espers that have a certain level of scrying talent will occasionally have prophetic dreams.
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* Seers: {{Seers}}: Espers that have a certain level of scrying talent will occasionally have prophetic dreams.
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* ShockandAwe: Magenikinetics can summon and direct lightning strikes.
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* ShockandAwe: Magenikinetics Magenekinetics can summon and direct lightning strikes.
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** Espers with osmosis can use their power like this.
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** Espers with osmosis osmoses can use their power like this.
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* Ubermensch: Esper attributes are built on 50% more points than normal humans are.
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* Ubermensch: {{Ubermensch}}: Esper attributes are built on 50% more points than normal humans are.
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** [[Spoiler: Peregrine is overwhelmed by voices when his psychokinesis manifests.]]
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** [[Spoiler: [[spoiler: Peregrine is overwhelmed by voices when his psychokinesis manifests.]]
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* Overloading can easily do this.
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** In ‘’Tomorrow’s Starlight’’, she makes a point of getting medication to help Leona cope with the emotional trauma of her awakening and [[spoiler: prioritizes saving the main characters over escaping a Shop raid.)
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** In ‘’Tomorrow’s Starlight’’, she makes a point of getting medication to help Leona cope with the emotional trauma of her awakening and [[spoiler: prioritizes saving the main characters over escaping a Shop raid.)]]
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* NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast: Mama Bear, The Scream, The Shop, Witch Hunter, and Mindf*cker, and Mindbender.
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* NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast: Mama Bear, The Scream, The Shop, Witch Hunter, and Mindf*cker, and Mindbender.
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* NiceJobBreakingItHero: In ’’Tomorrow’s Starlight’’, the only reason Callie is even there is because [[spoiler: Tim convinced Cyrus to bring her along.]]
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* NiceJobBreakingItHero: In ’’Tomorrow’s Starlight’’, ''Tomorrow’s Starlight'', the only reason Callie is even there is because [[spoiler: Tim convinced Cyrus to bring her along.]]
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* Nerd: Ian, Tim, and Chance were unpopular, uncool, and frequently bullied before being awakened. They still are, to varying degrees.
** The Juggernaut and Wizard archetypes are this. The Wizard is even depicted levitating a set of dice. It’s worth mentioning that Ian ‘’is’’ the esper in the Juggernaut’s picture.
** The Juggernaut and Wizard archetypes are this. The Wizard is even depicted levitating a set of dice. It’s worth mentioning that Ian ‘’is’’ the esper in the Juggernaut’s picture.
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* Nerd: {{Nerd}}: Ian, Tim, and Chance were unpopular, uncool, and frequently bullied before being awakened. They still are, to varying degrees.
** The Juggernaut and Wizard archetypes are this. The Wizard is even depicted levitating a set of dice. It’s worth mentioning that Ian‘’is’’ is the esper in the Juggernaut’s picture.
** The Juggernaut and Wizard archetypes are this. The Wizard is even depicted levitating a set of dice. It’s worth mentioning that Ian
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[[quoteright:221:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/97c6ec451ec4d0ea0ec93e4e64cfde55.png]]
[[caption-width-right:221:"It's a pleasure to burn."]]
[[caption-width-right:221:"It's a pleasure to burn."]]
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* CassandraTruth: The truth of what’s going on in the world is so off the wall that it’s this.
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* CassandraTruth: The truth of what’s going on in the world is so off the wall that it’s this.
* CatchAndReturn: Telekinetics can use their powers to grab projectiles and throw them back at people. Depending on how strong they are, this can be used on something as small as a kitchen knife or as large as a school bus.
* CheshireCatGrin: Lucky Wacker has this.
* ChildSoldier: Psionic powers often manifest in adolescence and young adulthood, but can occur in childhood. Just because you’re 7, it doesn’t mean you’re too young to join, be press-ganged, or sold into a conspiracy.
* ColorCodedForYourConvenience: PPECs and PPICs are color coded based on what psionic powers they affect. Red is pyrokinesis, blue is telekinesis, and green is psychokinesis.
* Abyss, which affects all psionic talents, is black.
* CombatClairvoyance: Master level scryers get a passive bonus to their defense because they can innately sense incoming attacks.
* Combatpragmatist: The book stats damage from such things as bar stools, broken bottles, telekinetically thrown manhole covers and exploding cars.
** There’s also a table of melting points for various objects.
* CommonalityConnection: It’s blatantly obvious that several characters in the book’s short stories would never have hung out with each other if not for the whole “esper on the run from the government” thing.
*ConMan: Tim uses psychokinesis to get things for free, mostly to impress Callie.
*ConcertClimax: The second part of ‘’Tomorrow’s Starlight’’ ends at a show by the titular band. [[spoiler: version A.]]
* ConvectionSchmonvection: Played with. Pyrokinetics instinctively lower the temperature around their bodies, making them extremely resistant to being damaged by heat.
* CovertGroupWithMundaneFront: The Shop disguises itself as the police, CIA, DEA, etc. In ‘’Tomorrow’s Starlight’’ [[spoiler: a Shop raid is disguised as a team of exterminators.]]
**Tomorrow’s Starlight and Ayn Sof are fronts for The Zodiac Order.
**Abraxis is officially an investment company.
** Eschaton is fronted by the major monotheistic religions.
** Aleph is fronted by several Asian corporations.
* CriticalFailure: Rolling a 12 on a skill or talent check is an automatic failure.
** This can be averted if a player has synchronicity talents.
* CorneredRattleSnake: [[spoiler: Rose in ‘’Captured’’.]]
** [[spoiler: Harry in ‘’Broken Things’’.]]
** Ian’s power first manifested after being assaulted by bullies one too many times.
* TheCracker: The Phreak archetype was this, even before developing technokinesis.
*CrypticBackgroundReference: Rose Klein (AKA Mama Bear) gets one in ‘’Tomorrow’s Starlight’’. It’s never explained what the “Albuquerque Incident” was, but it was apparently enough to get her a maximum threat rating from The Shop.
* DarkAndTroubledPast: The book states that there is a correlation between manifestation of psionic talent and childhood trauma, although no causal link has been established.
* DeadlyNosebleed: Espers who overuse their powers often get these. It’s also depicted in some of the book’s artwork.
*DefiantToTheEnd: [[spoiler: Mama Bear, twice.]]
* Delinquents: The Zodiac Order has this general image and for good reason.
* DelinquentHair: Members of The Zodiac Order often have this.
* TheDevTeamThinksOfEverything: Are you trying to melt a metal door? There’s a table of melting points in the book.
** There are rules for scoring drugs.
** Did you run someone over with a car? The damage done is included in the book.
*** Were you standing too close to a car that exploded? That damage is also in the book.
*** Did you just hit someone with a car that you telekinetically threw? That damage is also in the book.
* DemonicPossession: Escaton interprets psionic powers as demonic influence.
* DisintegratorRay: Well, disintegrator touch or stare, really. Entropists can make most materials decay to dust extremely quickly.
** At high enough levels, entropists can atomize living beings.
* Disproportionate retribution: If you turn down a recruitment offer from The Shop, Escaton, Abraxis, Aleph, or The Red Orchestra, they will either kill you, forcibly abduct you, or ruin your life until you have no other choice but to change your mind.
*DistressCall: [[spoiler: Mama Bear sends one of the warning beacon variety out in ‘’Tomorrow’s Starlight’’.]]
* DodgeTheBullet: The Dodge technique allows you to attempt this.
* TheDogBitesBack: [[spoiler: Harry]] in ‘’Broken Things’’.
* DrugsAreBad: Occasionally this is played straight. Becoming addicted to a drug or overdosing has nasty (and potentially fatal) side effects.
** PPECs unlock psypotential, but they pose a risk of overloading or killing the user.
* DrugsAreGood: With a few notable exceptions, drugs either have positive effects on espers or at least have benefits that outweigh the costs.
** The Zodiac Order also has this outlook on drugs in general.
** Breaks in the book’s text often have little pictures of pills in them.
* DuelToTheDeath: Two telekinetics or two psychokinetics with near-to-equal talent levels and a bone to pick can initiate psychic duels. They are highly dangerous for both parties and anyone else nearby.
* DualWielding: A technique of the same name allows you to do this.
* Fainting: Peregrine suffers one. Probably a combination of the emotional and exhaustion types.
*FakeBand: Tomorrow’s Starlight. Every single other band mentioned in the book is real. This includes a band called Bedpan Fight.
* TheFanatic: Members of Escaton. They’re deeply religious and rabidly devoted to eradicating espers.
* FantasticDrug: Some of the drugs are either supposed to be highly classified, military-grade drugs used to keep soldiers up and fighting or are specifically designed to affect espers. In either case, no one outside of the conspiracies (or at least not employed by one) has any business knowing about or possessing them.
*PPECs and PPICs unlock and suppress psionic power, respectively.
* FemmeFatale: Colette in ''New World Water'' definitely has shades of this.
** The Heartstopper archetype is described as this.
* FieryRedhead: Leona. Literally and figuratively. The Firestarter archetype is even paired with a picture of her.
* FirstPersonSmartass: Mama Bear, Ian, Lucky, Leona, Chance, and the author of the book at tomes.
* Flight: Sufficiently powerful telekinetics and magnekinetics can fly by picking themselves up or by riding wind currents, respectively.
*TheFriendNobodyLikes: Mama Bear. Ian, Tim, and Callie only associate with her out of proximity, necessity, and probably fear.
*GallowsHumor: Even when faced with imminent grievous bodily harm, Lucky refuses to stop quipping.
** Mama Bear makes light of PTSD, citing that it’s very common in The Zodiac Order.
*GeniusBruiser: The amount of psionic talents you start with is based on your wits score. Additionally, an esper of average intelligence would be considered just shy of being a genius by the standards of normal humans.
**This goes double for somakinetics.
** Tony, whose picture is used to demonstrate the Bruiser archetype.
* GoodLuckCharm: Well, good luck ‘’person’’. Espers with a high enough level of synchronicity can extend their good luck to others, if they choose to do so.
* GovernmentConspiracy: The Shop. They abduct and indoctrinate espers, have absolute authority in the US, control the government, and their goal is to ensure that America stays the world’s only superpower.
* GrandTheftMe: High level psychokinetics can hijack people’s bodies and remotely control them.
* GreatDetective: The Seer archetype is this.
* GunsAkimbo: The John Wu Special technique allows players to wield two guns at the same time.
** The TK Gunslinger talent allows you to hold, fire, and reload extra guns with telekinesis.
* GunsAreWorthless: Averted so very, very hard.
* HealingFactor: Espers with the biofeedback power can heal themselves from life-threatening wounds in seconds.
* Espers with a high enough strength score can heal from grievous bodily harm in a matter of days.
* HealingHands: Depending on their talent build, espers with biofeedback may be able to do this.
** The Painkiller archetype is depicted doing this.
* An Ice Guy: Pyrokinetics can choose to lower temperature instead of raise it. Under the right conditions and at a high enough level, it’s possible to freeze people and objects.
* HideYourLesbians: Averted. Mama Bear and Sasha are openly in a gay relationship.
* HigherUnderstandingThroughDrugs: A select few of the normal humans with psypotential gain access to their talents through PPECs.
** An esper that doesn’t have any natural ability for a talent tree can gain access to it by taking the appropriate PPED. They can also increase a character’s affinity for an existing talent tree.
*IHaveBoobsYouMustObey: Callie pulls this on Tim because she wants to get dessert instead of [[spoiler: responding to a distress signal.]] It works.
*IJustWantToBeNormal: Tim tries to distance himself from the other “freaks”, as he calls them, so that Callie will like him.
* IJustWantToBeSpecial: Callie is jealous of the rest of the gang’s powers. [[spoiler: It ends up getting her killed.]]
** ISeeDeadPeople: Lucky Wacker’s dead friend, Scott, is his constant companion in Tomorrow’s Starlight.
* ImprobableAimingSkills: Trick Shot and Bull’s Eye allow you to hit small, specific targets and Long Shot doubles your shooting range.
* IronWoobie: Espers are tough, clever, and have a variety of powers, but you can bet that they’ve been through some nasty stuff to be where they are, no matter what conspiracy they’re with. Even espers that voluntarily joined one had to endure some pretty severe trauma through training, forcible indoctrination, or both. They also tend to have a lot of emotional problems.
** Because espers tend to have high will scores, they can cope with trauma, fear, addiction, and stress more easily than normal people.
* JackOfAllStats: The Prism archetype has some basic ability with telekinesis, pyrokinesis, and psychokinesis and decent stats and skills, but doesn’t excel or lag in any particular area.
* JediMindTrick: The Pusher archetype specializes in this.
** The psychokinetic ability Push allows you to do this.
* JerkassWithAHeartOfGold: Mama Bear and Lucky aren’t very nice people, but they care about members of The Zodiac Order and do their best to protect them, in their own ways.
* JerkJock: Chad Hutchins. His bullying Ian one too many times results in The Shop discovering that Ian is an esper.
** They’re also stated as a type of enemy.
* Kneecapping: One of the techniques allows you to do this. It wrecks the target’s movement speed if it hits.
* LaResistance: The Zodiac Order views itself this way. It helps that their main enemy is The Shop.
* LethalHarmlessPowers: Technokinetics can make technology short out. That’s annoying, but not so fatal, what with there being fail safes and dead switches and so on, right? Oh, it also works on cranial cybernetic implants…which explode when they short.
* LovableJock: Tony in ‘’Broken Things’’ is friendly, considerate, and helpful, in addition to being a star athlete and somakinetic.
* LoveMakesYouDumb: In ‘’Tomorrow’s Starlight’’ [[spoiler: Tim uses psychokinesis to get a Green from Mama Bear, which he gives to Callie. Keep in mind, he doesn’t know about the drug’s potential side effects, doesn’t bother to check to see if there are any, and doesn’t take the hint that if Mama Bear, a drug dealer, won’t part with it without the use of powerful psychokinetic talents that maybe it’s kind of a dangerous drug.]]
**[[spoiler: Earlier in the story, Tim uses his powers to make The Zodiac Order abduct Callie with the rest of them, even though she herself was not in danger. Leona Calls him out on this.]]
* LudicrousGibs: Espers with osmosis at level 2 or higher can make espers’s heads explode.
** Overloading psychokinetics make people’s heads explode.
** Overloading telekinetics will involuntarily rip apart anyone and anything too close to them.
*** Sufficiently powerful telekinetics can also rip people and objects apart voluntarily.
* LuckManipulationMechanic: Synchronicity talents allow you to, among other things, reroll failed checks.
** The Bump Of Luck ability allows you to just have things go your way in general.
* MaliciousSlander: This tends to happen to espers who turn down or resist a recruitment offer. Did you refuse an offer from The Shop and manage to escape from their agents? In the process, did some of their stray bullets hit passers-by? Now your face, name, and whereabouts are plastered all over the news and you’re wanted by the FBI in connection with a terrorist attack.
** Pretty much every conspiracy does this to all of the other conspiracies.
** Eschaton paints all espers as demon-possessed abominations. Their own espers are no exception.
* MamaBear: Rose, hence the nickname.
* Masquerade: All of the conspiracies work to keep knowledge of esper’s existence from the public and individual espers generally try to be discrete for their own safety.
** More so than the others, the Zodiac Order wants to end the masquerade.
*MeaningfulName: Rose has a very thorny personality. Her code name is Mama Bear. Both ‘’Tomorrow’s Starlight’’ and ‘’Captured’’ establish that she’s highly dangerous and capable of being extremely violent, especially if she feels that her friends are being threatened.
** Lucky Wacker is a fortuitous jerkass.
* TheMenInBlack: Agents of The Shop fit this image to a t.
* MindOverMatter: Teleknetics and, to a lesser extent, technokinetics. The more powerful they are, the more weight and objects they can manipulate.
* MindProbe: Psychokinetics can read people’s memories.
** Tim does this to Callie to figure out how to make her like him.
** Lucky does this to throw off a liquor store clerk.
*MindRape: Powerful psychokinetics are capable of adding, removing, and altering memories, altering personalities, and implanting hypnotic triggers.
** The Mindf*cker archetype is a bit of an expert at this.
* MundaneUtility: One piece of the book’s artwork depicts Rose levitating a beer to herself.
* MysticalWhiteHair: The esper representing the Stormbringer archetype has this. It is probably not a coincidence that magnekinesis is highly symbolically important to The Zodiac Order.
* NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast: Mama Bear, The Scream, The Shop, Witch Hunter, and Mindf*cker, and Mindbender.
* Nerd: Ian, Tim, and Chance were unpopular, uncool, and frequently bullied before being awakened. They still are, to varying degrees.
** The Juggernaut and Wizard archetypes are this. The Wizard is even depicted levitating a set of dice. It’s worth mentioning that Ian ‘’is’’ the esper in the Juggernaut’s picture.
* NeverMyFault: Tim uses his powers to manipulate people for his own personal gain from the word go and always has a justification for it.
* NiceJobBreakingItHero: In ’’Tomorrow’s Starlight’’, the only reason Callie is even there is because [[spoiler: Tim convinced Cyrus to bring her along.]]
* NoBodyLeftBehind: One of the entropy skills allows you to atomize an opponent.
** Pyrokinetics that die from overloading burn up.
* NoSuchAgency: The Shop does not officially exist.
* NoodleIncident: In Captured, Mama Bear expresses remorse for an incident in Germany. She doesn’t go into detail, but says that she “didn’t mean to hurt all those people.”
*ObnoxiousSnarker: Lucky Wacker in spades.
* AnOfferYouCantRefuse: Often how espers join a conspiracy.
** Happens to someone in ‘’New World Water’’.
* OneHitKill: Most psytalents can accomplish this at maximum level, due to the sheer damage they can potentially do, but there are necrokinesis and etropy talents that ‘’will’’ do this if the target fails a stat check.
* OneHitPolyKill: Several max level psytalents can do this, either because they target an area or multiple individual targets.
* Overloading can easily do this.
* TheParalyzer: Necrokinetics can choose to paralyze people instead of killing them.
** Psychokinetics can make people fall asleep or stop moving.
** Being picked up by a master of telekinesis totally immobilizes the target, as long as they’re the only person grabbed.
*PetTheDog: Mama Bear gets a few.
** In ‘’Tomorrow’s Starlight’’, she makes a point of getting medication to help Leona cope with the emotional trauma of her awakening and [[spoiler: prioritizes saving the main characters over escaping a Shop raid.)
** In ‘’Captured’’ [[spoiler: she expresses hope that the kids from ‘’Tomorrow’s Starlight’’ escaped, implying that she does care about them.]]
* PlayingPossum: A necrokinetic talent allows you to mimic being dead to a highly realistic degree.
* PlayingWithFire: Pyrokinetics can conjure fireballs, raise ambient temperature, are heat resistant and can melt incoming projectiles.
* PointBuildSystem: Players allocate a set number of points into strength, speed, wits, and will.
* PoorCommunicationKills: People who are being Pushed or Dominated by a psychokinetic can find wiggle room in their commands if the psychokinetic in question didn’t use specific enough wording and they have the presence of mind to come up with loopholes. Example: “Drop your weapon” could result in a Dominated soldier dropping their gun, picking it back up, and shooting the psychokinetic in the head.
* PowerIncontinence: Espers suffer this during an overload.
** An esper’s first manifestation of their talents is often accidental and the result of a surge of emotion. For example, Ian inadvertently TK Pushes bullies that are about the beat him up.
** [[Spoiler: Peregrine is overwhelmed by voices when his psychokinesis manifests.]]
* PsychicNosebleed: Depicted in some of the book’s artwork. Damage incurred from using psytalents often manifests as bleeding from the nose, eyes, or ears, and headaches.
* PsychicPowers: Duh.
* PsychicStrangle: Telekinetics can do this to render an opponent unconscious.
* PsychicSurgery: Subverted. The power by the same name doesn’t heal physical damage, it allows the user to add and remove memories from someone else’s mind.
* PsychoLesbian: Mama Bear displays some shades of this in Captured but that might be due to the fact that [[spoiler: she’s being detained and tortured by The Shop.]]
* PurelyAestheticGender: Sex and gender have no bearing on a character’s build or available talents.
* RagingStiffie: Peregrine gets one. Made extra inconvenient by the fact that he’s only wearing a speedo.
* RandomNumberGod: It IS a tabletop RPG.
* RequiredSecondaryPowers: Pyrokinetics are resistant to heat damage.
* TheResenter: The Juggernaut archetype is described as this.
* TheRevolutionWillNotBeCivilized: The Eternal Storm will result in espers being able to live free, but will also result in massive depopulation and espers being instated as the master race.
*ScaryBlackMan: The bouncer outside of the White Hart in ‘’Tomorrow’s Starlight’’.
* ScrewTheRulesIHaveMoney: Abraxis pretty much runs on this.
** Colette in ‘’New World Water’’ cancels a swim team’s practice by informing them that she has purchased the lease on the building.
* ScrewTheRulesIMakeThem: The Shop acts with absolute authority in the United States, so they don’t have to worry about things like the constitutional rights or personal freedoms of espers they detain.
* ScrewTheRulesIHaveSupernaturalPowers: Espers tend to fall into this trope, especially members of The Zodiac Order.
* Seers: Espers that have a certain level of scrying talent will occasionally have prophetic dreams.
**They can also remotely view places they’ve visited previously, as long as their within a certain range.
** There is a Seer archetype.
* SelfMadeOrphan: [[spoiler: Leona]]
* ShockandAwe: Magenikinetics can summon and direct lightning strikes.
* TheStoner: Mama Bear and likely everyone that stays in her safe house.
* SuperpowerLottery: Psionic talents can vary widely in scope, function, and power between espers. This is especially true of Zodiac Order espers.
* SuperPowerMeltdown: Overloading. In the case of pyrokinetics, the meltdown can be literal.
* SuperSerum: PPECs awaken psionic talents in people with psypotential and strengthen them in people who are already espers.
*SuperSoldier: Shop espers are highly trained special forces members.
** The Red Orchestra is essentially the KGB with psionic talents.
* TechTree: Each primary talent has three subtalents. You need a certain level in a primary talent before you can unlock subtalents. Each time you advance a psionic talent; you also gain new skills and/or improve existing ones.
*TeethClenchedTeamwork: Ian does not enjoy working with Mama Bear or Lucky and boy does his internal monologue show it.
* Telepathy: Even the weakest psychokinetics are capable of this.
* TouchOfDeath: Necrokinetics can stop people’s hearts by touching them.
** Espers with osmosis can use their power like this.
* TheTrickster: Lucky Wacker.
* Ubermensch: Esper attributes are built on 50% more points than normal humans are.
** Members of The Zodiac Order view espers as this.
* VillainHasAPoint: No matter which conspiracy acts as your primary enemy in a given campaign, none of them are completely amoral and wrong.
* WallSlump: Happens to Chad.
* WeatherManipulation: Magnekinetics. The degree to which they can manipulate the weather and how long it takes are dependent on their talent level. At the highest level they can summon tornadoes in a minute.
* WellIntentionedExtremist: Every single conspiracy has these in them, but Eschaton stands out. Members of Eschaton genuinely believe that, by committing genocide against espers, they’re saving humanity and bringing about the second coming.
* WindsOfDestinyChange: The synchronicity talents allow espers to affect luck.
**The Wizard archetype can do this.
* WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds: Popping is excruciatingly painful and is always brought on by intense negative emotions, overexertion, or through using certain drugs and can easily kill the esper popping and everyone around them. As destructive as it is, it’s hard to not feel sorry for an esper that’s popped.
* YourHeadASplode: If an esper’s power points are completely drained by osmosis, this happens to them.
** Overloading psychokinetics do this to others and, if they’re killed by the overload, themselves.
** If a cybernetic implant shorts or explodes, this will likely happen.
** With the right technique, you can also accomplish this with guns.
* YourTerroristsAreOurFreedomFighters: The Zodiac Order. They’re the only conspiracy with the goal of espers living openly and freely, but their methods involve an awful lot of collateral damage, kidnapping, drug trafficking, and murdered cops.
* CatchAndReturn: Telekinetics can use their powers to grab projectiles and throw them back at people. Depending on how strong they are, this can be used on something as small as a kitchen knife or as large as a school bus.
* CheshireCatGrin: Lucky Wacker has this.
* ChildSoldier: Psionic powers often manifest in adolescence and young adulthood, but can occur in childhood. Just because you’re 7, it doesn’t mean you’re too young to join, be press-ganged, or sold into a conspiracy.
* ColorCodedForYourConvenience: PPECs and PPICs are color coded based on what psionic powers they affect. Red is pyrokinesis, blue is telekinesis, and green is psychokinesis.
* Abyss, which affects all psionic talents, is black.
* CombatClairvoyance: Master level scryers get a passive bonus to their defense because they can innately sense incoming attacks.
* Combatpragmatist: The book stats damage from such things as bar stools, broken bottles, telekinetically thrown manhole covers and exploding cars.
** There’s also a table of melting points for various objects.
* CommonalityConnection: It’s blatantly obvious that several characters in the book’s short stories would never have hung out with each other if not for the whole “esper on the run from the government” thing.
*ConMan: Tim uses psychokinesis to get things for free, mostly to impress Callie.
*ConcertClimax: The second part of ‘’Tomorrow’s Starlight’’ ends at a show by the titular band. [[spoiler: version A.]]
* ConvectionSchmonvection: Played with. Pyrokinetics instinctively lower the temperature around their bodies, making them extremely resistant to being damaged by heat.
* CovertGroupWithMundaneFront: The Shop disguises itself as the police, CIA, DEA, etc. In ‘’Tomorrow’s Starlight’’ [[spoiler: a Shop raid is disguised as a team of exterminators.]]
**Tomorrow’s Starlight and Ayn Sof are fronts for The Zodiac Order.
**Abraxis is officially an investment company.
** Eschaton is fronted by the major monotheistic religions.
** Aleph is fronted by several Asian corporations.
* CriticalFailure: Rolling a 12 on a skill or talent check is an automatic failure.
** This can be averted if a player has synchronicity talents.
* CorneredRattleSnake: [[spoiler: Rose in ‘’Captured’’.]]
** [[spoiler: Harry in ‘’Broken Things’’.]]
** Ian’s power first manifested after being assaulted by bullies one too many times.
* TheCracker: The Phreak archetype was this, even before developing technokinesis.
*CrypticBackgroundReference: Rose Klein (AKA Mama Bear) gets one in ‘’Tomorrow’s Starlight’’. It’s never explained what the “Albuquerque Incident” was, but it was apparently enough to get her a maximum threat rating from The Shop.
* DarkAndTroubledPast: The book states that there is a correlation between manifestation of psionic talent and childhood trauma, although no causal link has been established.
* DeadlyNosebleed: Espers who overuse their powers often get these. It’s also depicted in some of the book’s artwork.
*DefiantToTheEnd: [[spoiler: Mama Bear, twice.]]
* Delinquents: The Zodiac Order has this general image and for good reason.
* DelinquentHair: Members of The Zodiac Order often have this.
* TheDevTeamThinksOfEverything: Are you trying to melt a metal door? There’s a table of melting points in the book.
** There are rules for scoring drugs.
** Did you run someone over with a car? The damage done is included in the book.
*** Were you standing too close to a car that exploded? That damage is also in the book.
*** Did you just hit someone with a car that you telekinetically threw? That damage is also in the book.
* DemonicPossession: Escaton interprets psionic powers as demonic influence.
* DisintegratorRay: Well, disintegrator touch or stare, really. Entropists can make most materials decay to dust extremely quickly.
** At high enough levels, entropists can atomize living beings.
* Disproportionate retribution: If you turn down a recruitment offer from The Shop, Escaton, Abraxis, Aleph, or The Red Orchestra, they will either kill you, forcibly abduct you, or ruin your life until you have no other choice but to change your mind.
*DistressCall: [[spoiler: Mama Bear sends one of the warning beacon variety out in ‘’Tomorrow’s Starlight’’.]]
* DodgeTheBullet: The Dodge technique allows you to attempt this.
* TheDogBitesBack: [[spoiler: Harry]] in ‘’Broken Things’’.
* DrugsAreBad: Occasionally this is played straight. Becoming addicted to a drug or overdosing has nasty (and potentially fatal) side effects.
** PPECs unlock psypotential, but they pose a risk of overloading or killing the user.
* DrugsAreGood: With a few notable exceptions, drugs either have positive effects on espers or at least have benefits that outweigh the costs.
** The Zodiac Order also has this outlook on drugs in general.
** Breaks in the book’s text often have little pictures of pills in them.
* DuelToTheDeath: Two telekinetics or two psychokinetics with near-to-equal talent levels and a bone to pick can initiate psychic duels. They are highly dangerous for both parties and anyone else nearby.
* DualWielding: A technique of the same name allows you to do this.
* Fainting: Peregrine suffers one. Probably a combination of the emotional and exhaustion types.
*FakeBand: Tomorrow’s Starlight. Every single other band mentioned in the book is real. This includes a band called Bedpan Fight.
* TheFanatic: Members of Escaton. They’re deeply religious and rabidly devoted to eradicating espers.
* FantasticDrug: Some of the drugs are either supposed to be highly classified, military-grade drugs used to keep soldiers up and fighting or are specifically designed to affect espers. In either case, no one outside of the conspiracies (or at least not employed by one) has any business knowing about or possessing them.
*PPECs and PPICs unlock and suppress psionic power, respectively.
* FemmeFatale: Colette in ''New World Water'' definitely has shades of this.
** The Heartstopper archetype is described as this.
* FieryRedhead: Leona. Literally and figuratively. The Firestarter archetype is even paired with a picture of her.
* FirstPersonSmartass: Mama Bear, Ian, Lucky, Leona, Chance, and the author of the book at tomes.
* Flight: Sufficiently powerful telekinetics and magnekinetics can fly by picking themselves up or by riding wind currents, respectively.
*TheFriendNobodyLikes: Mama Bear. Ian, Tim, and Callie only associate with her out of proximity, necessity, and probably fear.
*GallowsHumor: Even when faced with imminent grievous bodily harm, Lucky refuses to stop quipping.
** Mama Bear makes light of PTSD, citing that it’s very common in The Zodiac Order.
*GeniusBruiser: The amount of psionic talents you start with is based on your wits score. Additionally, an esper of average intelligence would be considered just shy of being a genius by the standards of normal humans.
**This goes double for somakinetics.
** Tony, whose picture is used to demonstrate the Bruiser archetype.
* GoodLuckCharm: Well, good luck ‘’person’’. Espers with a high enough level of synchronicity can extend their good luck to others, if they choose to do so.
* GovernmentConspiracy: The Shop. They abduct and indoctrinate espers, have absolute authority in the US, control the government, and their goal is to ensure that America stays the world’s only superpower.
* GrandTheftMe: High level psychokinetics can hijack people’s bodies and remotely control them.
* GreatDetective: The Seer archetype is this.
* GunsAkimbo: The John Wu Special technique allows players to wield two guns at the same time.
** The TK Gunslinger talent allows you to hold, fire, and reload extra guns with telekinesis.
* GunsAreWorthless: Averted so very, very hard.
* HealingFactor: Espers with the biofeedback power can heal themselves from life-threatening wounds in seconds.
* Espers with a high enough strength score can heal from grievous bodily harm in a matter of days.
* HealingHands: Depending on their talent build, espers with biofeedback may be able to do this.
** The Painkiller archetype is depicted doing this.
* An Ice Guy: Pyrokinetics can choose to lower temperature instead of raise it. Under the right conditions and at a high enough level, it’s possible to freeze people and objects.
* HideYourLesbians: Averted. Mama Bear and Sasha are openly in a gay relationship.
* HigherUnderstandingThroughDrugs: A select few of the normal humans with psypotential gain access to their talents through PPECs.
** An esper that doesn’t have any natural ability for a talent tree can gain access to it by taking the appropriate PPED. They can also increase a character’s affinity for an existing talent tree.
*IHaveBoobsYouMustObey: Callie pulls this on Tim because she wants to get dessert instead of [[spoiler: responding to a distress signal.]] It works.
*IJustWantToBeNormal: Tim tries to distance himself from the other “freaks”, as he calls them, so that Callie will like him.
* IJustWantToBeSpecial: Callie is jealous of the rest of the gang’s powers. [[spoiler: It ends up getting her killed.]]
** ISeeDeadPeople: Lucky Wacker’s dead friend, Scott, is his constant companion in Tomorrow’s Starlight.
* ImprobableAimingSkills: Trick Shot and Bull’s Eye allow you to hit small, specific targets and Long Shot doubles your shooting range.
* IronWoobie: Espers are tough, clever, and have a variety of powers, but you can bet that they’ve been through some nasty stuff to be where they are, no matter what conspiracy they’re with. Even espers that voluntarily joined one had to endure some pretty severe trauma through training, forcible indoctrination, or both. They also tend to have a lot of emotional problems.
** Because espers tend to have high will scores, they can cope with trauma, fear, addiction, and stress more easily than normal people.
* JackOfAllStats: The Prism archetype has some basic ability with telekinesis, pyrokinesis, and psychokinesis and decent stats and skills, but doesn’t excel or lag in any particular area.
* JediMindTrick: The Pusher archetype specializes in this.
** The psychokinetic ability Push allows you to do this.
* JerkassWithAHeartOfGold: Mama Bear and Lucky aren’t very nice people, but they care about members of The Zodiac Order and do their best to protect them, in their own ways.
* JerkJock: Chad Hutchins. His bullying Ian one too many times results in The Shop discovering that Ian is an esper.
** They’re also stated as a type of enemy.
* Kneecapping: One of the techniques allows you to do this. It wrecks the target’s movement speed if it hits.
* LaResistance: The Zodiac Order views itself this way. It helps that their main enemy is The Shop.
* LethalHarmlessPowers: Technokinetics can make technology short out. That’s annoying, but not so fatal, what with there being fail safes and dead switches and so on, right? Oh, it also works on cranial cybernetic implants…which explode when they short.
* LovableJock: Tony in ‘’Broken Things’’ is friendly, considerate, and helpful, in addition to being a star athlete and somakinetic.
* LoveMakesYouDumb: In ‘’Tomorrow’s Starlight’’ [[spoiler: Tim uses psychokinesis to get a Green from Mama Bear, which he gives to Callie. Keep in mind, he doesn’t know about the drug’s potential side effects, doesn’t bother to check to see if there are any, and doesn’t take the hint that if Mama Bear, a drug dealer, won’t part with it without the use of powerful psychokinetic talents that maybe it’s kind of a dangerous drug.]]
**[[spoiler: Earlier in the story, Tim uses his powers to make The Zodiac Order abduct Callie with the rest of them, even though she herself was not in danger. Leona Calls him out on this.]]
* LudicrousGibs: Espers with osmosis at level 2 or higher can make espers’s heads explode.
** Overloading psychokinetics make people’s heads explode.
** Overloading telekinetics will involuntarily rip apart anyone and anything too close to them.
*** Sufficiently powerful telekinetics can also rip people and objects apart voluntarily.
* LuckManipulationMechanic: Synchronicity talents allow you to, among other things, reroll failed checks.
** The Bump Of Luck ability allows you to just have things go your way in general.
* MaliciousSlander: This tends to happen to espers who turn down or resist a recruitment offer. Did you refuse an offer from The Shop and manage to escape from their agents? In the process, did some of their stray bullets hit passers-by? Now your face, name, and whereabouts are plastered all over the news and you’re wanted by the FBI in connection with a terrorist attack.
** Pretty much every conspiracy does this to all of the other conspiracies.
** Eschaton paints all espers as demon-possessed abominations. Their own espers are no exception.
* MamaBear: Rose, hence the nickname.
* Masquerade: All of the conspiracies work to keep knowledge of esper’s existence from the public and individual espers generally try to be discrete for their own safety.
** More so than the others, the Zodiac Order wants to end the masquerade.
*MeaningfulName: Rose has a very thorny personality. Her code name is Mama Bear. Both ‘’Tomorrow’s Starlight’’ and ‘’Captured’’ establish that she’s highly dangerous and capable of being extremely violent, especially if she feels that her friends are being threatened.
** Lucky Wacker is a fortuitous jerkass.
* TheMenInBlack: Agents of The Shop fit this image to a t.
* MindOverMatter: Teleknetics and, to a lesser extent, technokinetics. The more powerful they are, the more weight and objects they can manipulate.
* MindProbe: Psychokinetics can read people’s memories.
** Tim does this to Callie to figure out how to make her like him.
** Lucky does this to throw off a liquor store clerk.
*MindRape: Powerful psychokinetics are capable of adding, removing, and altering memories, altering personalities, and implanting hypnotic triggers.
** The Mindf*cker archetype is a bit of an expert at this.
* MundaneUtility: One piece of the book’s artwork depicts Rose levitating a beer to herself.
* MysticalWhiteHair: The esper representing the Stormbringer archetype has this. It is probably not a coincidence that magnekinesis is highly symbolically important to The Zodiac Order.
* NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast: Mama Bear, The Scream, The Shop, Witch Hunter, and Mindf*cker, and Mindbender.
* Nerd: Ian, Tim, and Chance were unpopular, uncool, and frequently bullied before being awakened. They still are, to varying degrees.
** The Juggernaut and Wizard archetypes are this. The Wizard is even depicted levitating a set of dice. It’s worth mentioning that Ian ‘’is’’ the esper in the Juggernaut’s picture.
* NeverMyFault: Tim uses his powers to manipulate people for his own personal gain from the word go and always has a justification for it.
* NiceJobBreakingItHero: In ’’Tomorrow’s Starlight’’, the only reason Callie is even there is because [[spoiler: Tim convinced Cyrus to bring her along.]]
* NoBodyLeftBehind: One of the entropy skills allows you to atomize an opponent.
** Pyrokinetics that die from overloading burn up.
* NoSuchAgency: The Shop does not officially exist.
* NoodleIncident: In Captured, Mama Bear expresses remorse for an incident in Germany. She doesn’t go into detail, but says that she “didn’t mean to hurt all those people.”
*ObnoxiousSnarker: Lucky Wacker in spades.
* AnOfferYouCantRefuse: Often how espers join a conspiracy.
** Happens to someone in ‘’New World Water’’.
* OneHitKill: Most psytalents can accomplish this at maximum level, due to the sheer damage they can potentially do, but there are necrokinesis and etropy talents that ‘’will’’ do this if the target fails a stat check.
* OneHitPolyKill: Several max level psytalents can do this, either because they target an area or multiple individual targets.
* Overloading can easily do this.
* TheParalyzer: Necrokinetics can choose to paralyze people instead of killing them.
** Psychokinetics can make people fall asleep or stop moving.
** Being picked up by a master of telekinesis totally immobilizes the target, as long as they’re the only person grabbed.
*PetTheDog: Mama Bear gets a few.
** In ‘’Tomorrow’s Starlight’’, she makes a point of getting medication to help Leona cope with the emotional trauma of her awakening and [[spoiler: prioritizes saving the main characters over escaping a Shop raid.)
** In ‘’Captured’’ [[spoiler: she expresses hope that the kids from ‘’Tomorrow’s Starlight’’ escaped, implying that she does care about them.]]
* PlayingPossum: A necrokinetic talent allows you to mimic being dead to a highly realistic degree.
* PlayingWithFire: Pyrokinetics can conjure fireballs, raise ambient temperature, are heat resistant and can melt incoming projectiles.
* PointBuildSystem: Players allocate a set number of points into strength, speed, wits, and will.
* PoorCommunicationKills: People who are being Pushed or Dominated by a psychokinetic can find wiggle room in their commands if the psychokinetic in question didn’t use specific enough wording and they have the presence of mind to come up with loopholes. Example: “Drop your weapon” could result in a Dominated soldier dropping their gun, picking it back up, and shooting the psychokinetic in the head.
* PowerIncontinence: Espers suffer this during an overload.
** An esper’s first manifestation of their talents is often accidental and the result of a surge of emotion. For example, Ian inadvertently TK Pushes bullies that are about the beat him up.
** [[Spoiler: Peregrine is overwhelmed by voices when his psychokinesis manifests.]]
* PsychicNosebleed: Depicted in some of the book’s artwork. Damage incurred from using psytalents often manifests as bleeding from the nose, eyes, or ears, and headaches.
* PsychicPowers: Duh.
* PsychicStrangle: Telekinetics can do this to render an opponent unconscious.
* PsychicSurgery: Subverted. The power by the same name doesn’t heal physical damage, it allows the user to add and remove memories from someone else’s mind.
* PsychoLesbian: Mama Bear displays some shades of this in Captured but that might be due to the fact that [[spoiler: she’s being detained and tortured by The Shop.]]
* PurelyAestheticGender: Sex and gender have no bearing on a character’s build or available talents.
* RagingStiffie: Peregrine gets one. Made extra inconvenient by the fact that he’s only wearing a speedo.
* RandomNumberGod: It IS a tabletop RPG.
* RequiredSecondaryPowers: Pyrokinetics are resistant to heat damage.
* TheResenter: The Juggernaut archetype is described as this.
* TheRevolutionWillNotBeCivilized: The Eternal Storm will result in espers being able to live free, but will also result in massive depopulation and espers being instated as the master race.
*ScaryBlackMan: The bouncer outside of the White Hart in ‘’Tomorrow’s Starlight’’.
* ScrewTheRulesIHaveMoney: Abraxis pretty much runs on this.
** Colette in ‘’New World Water’’ cancels a swim team’s practice by informing them that she has purchased the lease on the building.
* ScrewTheRulesIMakeThem: The Shop acts with absolute authority in the United States, so they don’t have to worry about things like the constitutional rights or personal freedoms of espers they detain.
* ScrewTheRulesIHaveSupernaturalPowers: Espers tend to fall into this trope, especially members of The Zodiac Order.
* Seers: Espers that have a certain level of scrying talent will occasionally have prophetic dreams.
**They can also remotely view places they’ve visited previously, as long as their within a certain range.
** There is a Seer archetype.
* SelfMadeOrphan: [[spoiler: Leona]]
* ShockandAwe: Magenikinetics can summon and direct lightning strikes.
* TheStoner: Mama Bear and likely everyone that stays in her safe house.
* SuperpowerLottery: Psionic talents can vary widely in scope, function, and power between espers. This is especially true of Zodiac Order espers.
* SuperPowerMeltdown: Overloading. In the case of pyrokinetics, the meltdown can be literal.
* SuperSerum: PPECs awaken psionic talents in people with psypotential and strengthen them in people who are already espers.
*SuperSoldier: Shop espers are highly trained special forces members.
** The Red Orchestra is essentially the KGB with psionic talents.
* TechTree: Each primary talent has three subtalents. You need a certain level in a primary talent before you can unlock subtalents. Each time you advance a psionic talent; you also gain new skills and/or improve existing ones.
*TeethClenchedTeamwork: Ian does not enjoy working with Mama Bear or Lucky and boy does his internal monologue show it.
* Telepathy: Even the weakest psychokinetics are capable of this.
* TouchOfDeath: Necrokinetics can stop people’s hearts by touching them.
** Espers with osmosis can use their power like this.
* TheTrickster: Lucky Wacker.
* Ubermensch: Esper attributes are built on 50% more points than normal humans are.
** Members of The Zodiac Order view espers as this.
* VillainHasAPoint: No matter which conspiracy acts as your primary enemy in a given campaign, none of them are completely amoral and wrong.
* WallSlump: Happens to Chad.
* WeatherManipulation: Magnekinetics. The degree to which they can manipulate the weather and how long it takes are dependent on their talent level. At the highest level they can summon tornadoes in a minute.
* WellIntentionedExtremist: Every single conspiracy has these in them, but Eschaton stands out. Members of Eschaton genuinely believe that, by committing genocide against espers, they’re saving humanity and bringing about the second coming.
* WindsOfDestinyChange: The synchronicity talents allow espers to affect luck.
**The Wizard archetype can do this.
* WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds: Popping is excruciatingly painful and is always brought on by intense negative emotions, overexertion, or through using certain drugs and can easily kill the esper popping and everyone around them. As destructive as it is, it’s hard to not feel sorry for an esper that’s popped.
* YourHeadASplode: If an esper’s power points are completely drained by osmosis, this happens to them.
** Overloading psychokinetics do this to others and, if they’re killed by the overload, themselves.
** If a cybernetic implant shorts or explodes, this will likely happen.
** With the right technique, you can also accomplish this with guns.
* YourTerroristsAreOurFreedomFighters: The Zodiac Order. They’re the only conspiracy with the goal of espers living openly and freely, but their methods involve an awful lot of collateral damage, kidnapping, drug trafficking, and murdered cops.
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* AlphaBitch: Callie in 'Tomorrow's Starlight''.
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* AlphaBitch: Callie in 'Tomorrow's ''Tomorrow's Starlight''.
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* Bouncer: There’s one at the White Hart. Both Tim and Lucky get past him with psychokinesis.
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* Cap: Stats for normal humans are capped at 6.
*Stats for espers and certain special humans are capped at 10.
**Espers with somakinesis have a base stat cap of 10, like any other esper, however, the passive bonus to speed and strength they receive means that their passive maximum speed and strength can go up to 14 and they can temporarily boost them up to 18. To put that in perspective, a boosting, max level somakinetic with a base speed of 10 can run three times faster than the fastest human to ever live.
*Stats for espers and certain special humans are capped at 10.
**Espers with somakinesis have a base stat cap of 10, like any other esper, however, the passive bonus to speed and strength they receive means that their passive maximum speed and strength can go up to 14 and they can temporarily boost them up to 18. To put that in perspective, a boosting, max level somakinetic with a base speed of 10 can run three times faster than the fastest human to ever live.
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* Cap: {{Cap}}: Stats for normal humans are capped at 6.
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**Espers ***Espers with somakinesis have a base stat cap of 10, like any other esper, however, the passive bonus to speed and strength they receive means that their passive maximum speed and strength can go up to 14 and they can temporarily boost them up to 18. To put that in perspective, a boosting, max level somakinetic with a base speed of 10 can run three times faster than the fastest human to ever live.
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[[http://www.rpgnow.com/product/151035/Psionics-The-Next-Stage-in-Human-Evolution Psionics: The Next Stage In Human Evolution]] is a tabletop RPG by End Transmission Games. Funded by a successful Kickstarted campign in 2014, it was released on June 2nd 2015 and debuted at Origins Game Fair 2015. In addition to the setting and rules of the game, Psionics contains several short stories, written by the creator’s and some of the play testers. ''Tomorrow’s Starlight'', ''New World Water'', ''Broken Things'', ''The Kids From Yesterday'', and ''Captured'' illustrate the realities faced by new and seasoned espers , particularly members of The Zodiac Order. Set in the modern day, the in-game universe is superficially identical to our own. Underneath the veneer, however, things look very different. Pharmacological tampering by the US government, starting with Project MKUltra and advancing in the shadows ever since, has resulted in the creation of drugs that awaken psychic powers in the rare individuals that have the genetic potential for it. The children of these individuals also have a chance of developing psionic powers naturally. They can start fires, read minds, move objects, effect probability, stop hearts, see the future, and do a wide variety of other feats just by concentrating. What’s more, they’re physically and mentally superior to normal humans. These “espers” are the next stage in human evolution.
The overwhelming majority of people don’t know that espers exist and for good reason. A number of massive, shadowy, conspiracies work behind the scenes to cover up their existence, and they will stop at nothing to manipulate, indoctrinate, and control espers to further their own goals. All of these conspiracies have their own agendas and see each other as competition that needs to be destroyed. As a newly awakened esper, you’ll be conscripted into a war that you never knew was happening. The life you knew is gone. Your present is confusing. Your future is uncertain. Your friends and loved ones are far away from you.
Now, shut up and keep running.
----
!!!Psionics contains examples of the following tropes:
* ActionGirl: The Pusher archetype is depicted firing an automatic weapon while using psychokinesis in the middle of a firefight.
** The Scream in ''Tomorrow’s Starlight''.
* AlphaBitch: Callie in 'Tomorrow's Starlight''.
* AlternateHistory: Psionics is set in a universe where Project MKUltra was successful, leading to the creation of espers and the various conspiracies.
* AngstNuke: Bursts of intense negative emotions can cause espers to “overload” (lose control of their powers in a way that’s spectacularly dangerous). Depending on their strongest talent, this will result in heads exploding, a massive fire, or everything around them being torn to shreds.
* ApocalypseCult: While not the apocalypse, per se, The Zodiac Order is a cult dedicated to ushering in an event called The Eternal Storm, which will result in massive depopulation and espers taking their rightful place as rulers of the humanity. They’re the nicest conspiracy, by the way.
* ArcWords: Shut up and keep running.
*ArsonMurderAndJaywalking: Things that Callie is upset about: Being the only non-esper in the group, being kidnapped, not being able to contact her family, living in a drug den, and having to hang out with Rose.
* AssholeVictim: In ''Tomorrow’s Starlight'' [[spoiler: Chad is hospitalized after bullying Ian, Sande is pushed off the top of a stage by Lucky, Bob is burned to death by Leona, and Callie dies from taking a Green.]]
** The Shop staff in ''Broken Things''. Especially the head doctor.
** An unnamed woman in ''Captured'' is [[spoiler: maimed by Rose after telling her that her friends are dead.]]
* AuthorityEqualsAsskicking: Jeremy Bright, the leader of The Zodiac Order, is the most powerful esper on the planet.
* AwesomeMcCoolname: Espers in The Zodiac Order tend to have these. Ian actually lampshades it in ''Tomorrow’s Starlight''.
** Some of the kickstarter backers and play testers credited in the book have them as well.
* BadDate: Tim and Callie go on one. It improves before it ends though.
* BadassBookworm: Espers with higher wits scores start off with more psionic talents.
** Peregrine in ''New World Water'' is highly intelligent, a competitive swimmer and [[spoiler: an esper.]]
* TheBeautifulElite: Abraxis espers tend to be fit, well-dressed, and rich, in addition to having formal training in psytalents and combat.
*BerserkButton: Do not confront Tim about using his powers unethically.
** Especially do not tell Mama Bear that [[spoiler: her friends are dead. She won’t believe you anyway.]]
* BigApplesauce: The bulk of ''Tomorrow’s Starlight'' is set in New York City.
* BigBrotherIsWatching: The conspiracies, especially The Shop, are experts at sniffing out espers. If you’ve manifested psionic talents, you’ll be found sooner or later, and probably the former.
* BizarreBabyBoom: Although still exceedingly rare, children who naturally develop psionic talents are being born at greater rates than ever.
* BlackAndGrayMorality: There are no unambiguously good guys in this universe.
* BlastingItOutOfTheirHands: The Trick Shot and Bull’s Eye techniques allow you to do this.
* BlowYouAway: Sufficiently powerful magnekinetics can generate high winds and tornadoes. They can also use these winds to fly.
*BodybagTrick: In ''Tomorrow’s Starlight'' [[spoiler: The Shop removed tranquilized espers from Mama Bear’s apartment by smuggling them in equipment bags.]]
* BoomHeadshot: A technique of the same name allows you to target the head for an attack penalty but does double damage if it hits.
*Bouncer: There’s one at the White Hart. Both Tim and Lucky get past him with psychokinesis.
* BroughtDownToBadass: Certain drugs will block espers from using their talents, but their baseline stats are still well above those of a normal human.
* BuffySpeak: Crops up a lot in the short stories.
* BullyingADragon: Being pushed around one too many times is listed as an example of common ways for espers to initially manifest their talents.
**This happens to Ian and Lucky in ''Tomorrow’s Starlight''.
* ButtMonkey: Ian and Tim.
* Cap: Stats for normal humans are capped at 6.
*Stats for espers and certain special humans are capped at 10.
**Espers with somakinesis have a base stat cap of 10, like any other esper, however, the passive bonus to speed and strength they receive means that their passive maximum speed and strength can go up to 14 and they can temporarily boost them up to 18. To put that in perspective, a boosting, max level somakinetic with a base speed of 10 can run three times faster than the fastest human to ever live.
* CassandraTruth: The truth of what’s going on in the world is so off the wall that it’s this.
The overwhelming majority of people don’t know that espers exist and for good reason. A number of massive, shadowy, conspiracies work behind the scenes to cover up their existence, and they will stop at nothing to manipulate, indoctrinate, and control espers to further their own goals. All of these conspiracies have their own agendas and see each other as competition that needs to be destroyed. As a newly awakened esper, you’ll be conscripted into a war that you never knew was happening. The life you knew is gone. Your present is confusing. Your future is uncertain. Your friends and loved ones are far away from you.
Now, shut up and keep running.
----
!!!Psionics contains examples of the following tropes:
* ActionGirl: The Pusher archetype is depicted firing an automatic weapon while using psychokinesis in the middle of a firefight.
** The Scream in ''Tomorrow’s Starlight''.
* AlphaBitch: Callie in 'Tomorrow's Starlight''.
* AlternateHistory: Psionics is set in a universe where Project MKUltra was successful, leading to the creation of espers and the various conspiracies.
* AngstNuke: Bursts of intense negative emotions can cause espers to “overload” (lose control of their powers in a way that’s spectacularly dangerous). Depending on their strongest talent, this will result in heads exploding, a massive fire, or everything around them being torn to shreds.
* ApocalypseCult: While not the apocalypse, per se, The Zodiac Order is a cult dedicated to ushering in an event called The Eternal Storm, which will result in massive depopulation and espers taking their rightful place as rulers of the humanity. They’re the nicest conspiracy, by the way.
* ArcWords: Shut up and keep running.
*ArsonMurderAndJaywalking: Things that Callie is upset about: Being the only non-esper in the group, being kidnapped, not being able to contact her family, living in a drug den, and having to hang out with Rose.
* AssholeVictim: In ''Tomorrow’s Starlight'' [[spoiler: Chad is hospitalized after bullying Ian, Sande is pushed off the top of a stage by Lucky, Bob is burned to death by Leona, and Callie dies from taking a Green.]]
** The Shop staff in ''Broken Things''. Especially the head doctor.
** An unnamed woman in ''Captured'' is [[spoiler: maimed by Rose after telling her that her friends are dead.]]
* AuthorityEqualsAsskicking: Jeremy Bright, the leader of The Zodiac Order, is the most powerful esper on the planet.
* AwesomeMcCoolname: Espers in The Zodiac Order tend to have these. Ian actually lampshades it in ''Tomorrow’s Starlight''.
** Some of the kickstarter backers and play testers credited in the book have them as well.
* BadDate: Tim and Callie go on one. It improves before it ends though.
* BadassBookworm: Espers with higher wits scores start off with more psionic talents.
** Peregrine in ''New World Water'' is highly intelligent, a competitive swimmer and [[spoiler: an esper.]]
* TheBeautifulElite: Abraxis espers tend to be fit, well-dressed, and rich, in addition to having formal training in psytalents and combat.
*BerserkButton: Do not confront Tim about using his powers unethically.
** Especially do not tell Mama Bear that [[spoiler: her friends are dead. She won’t believe you anyway.]]
* BigApplesauce: The bulk of ''Tomorrow’s Starlight'' is set in New York City.
* BigBrotherIsWatching: The conspiracies, especially The Shop, are experts at sniffing out espers. If you’ve manifested psionic talents, you’ll be found sooner or later, and probably the former.
* BizarreBabyBoom: Although still exceedingly rare, children who naturally develop psionic talents are being born at greater rates than ever.
* BlackAndGrayMorality: There are no unambiguously good guys in this universe.
* BlastingItOutOfTheirHands: The Trick Shot and Bull’s Eye techniques allow you to do this.
* BlowYouAway: Sufficiently powerful magnekinetics can generate high winds and tornadoes. They can also use these winds to fly.
*BodybagTrick: In ''Tomorrow’s Starlight'' [[spoiler: The Shop removed tranquilized espers from Mama Bear’s apartment by smuggling them in equipment bags.]]
* BoomHeadshot: A technique of the same name allows you to target the head for an attack penalty but does double damage if it hits.
*Bouncer: There’s one at the White Hart. Both Tim and Lucky get past him with psychokinesis.
* BroughtDownToBadass: Certain drugs will block espers from using their talents, but their baseline stats are still well above those of a normal human.
* BuffySpeak: Crops up a lot in the short stories.
* BullyingADragon: Being pushed around one too many times is listed as an example of common ways for espers to initially manifest their talents.
**This happens to Ian and Lucky in ''Tomorrow’s Starlight''.
* ButtMonkey: Ian and Tim.
* Cap: Stats for normal humans are capped at 6.
*Stats for espers and certain special humans are capped at 10.
**Espers with somakinesis have a base stat cap of 10, like any other esper, however, the passive bonus to speed and strength they receive means that their passive maximum speed and strength can go up to 14 and they can temporarily boost them up to 18. To put that in perspective, a boosting, max level somakinetic with a base speed of 10 can run three times faster than the fastest human to ever live.
* CassandraTruth: The truth of what’s going on in the world is so off the wall that it’s this.
