The Old School Psionics Handbook

The Planar Compass series of fanzines takes Dungeons & Dragons and the Old School Renaissance out where it rarely goes—onto the Astral Realm and out between the planes. Of course, the option for travel in this liminal space has always been there in Dungeons & Dragons, most notably from Manual of the Planes all the way up to Spelljammer: Adventures in Space and the Planescape Campaign Setting. Whilst those supplements were for Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, First Edition and Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, Second Edition, the Planar Compass series is written for use with Old School Essentials, and it not only introduces the Astral Realm, but adds new Classes and rules for one very contentious aspect of Advanced Dungeons & Dragons—psionics! These new races and rules are collected in the Planar Compass Player’s Booklet.

The Planar Compass Player’s Booklet does not detail the Astral Realm or the setting’s central location, the port of Dreamhaven. Instead it details the four new Classes found in Dreamhaven and out on the Astral Realm and gives rules for psionics, all without any spoilers for the setting itself. The latter lack is not with its consequences. This is because as in Old School Essentials, in the Planar Compass series, Race is treated as a Class. Since each of the four new Classes in the Planar Compass Player’s Booklet is as much a race as a Class, and the Planar Compass Player’s Booklet is avoiding spoilers, their descriptions do lack context and do feel underwritten in terms of background rather than in terms of their mechanics. Nevertheless, all four Classes are very well presented and nicely adhere to the two-page layout of Old School Essentials which makes them accessible and easy to use.

The first Class in the Planar Compass Player’s Booklet is the Aldhesi, pale, slender, fey demihumans with pointed ear who are psionic warriors. In addition to their psionic powers, they have Planar Resistance, a bonus to saving throws versus effects of any plane they are on; a bonus to saving throws versus Charm and immunity to ghouls’ paralysis; and have an inherent chance of locating a planar portal. They are in effect, ‘space elves’, whereas the Astral Sailor is a swashbuckling or even piratical crewman aboard a vessel sailing the Astral Realm. The Astral Sailor has Swashbuckler, so can fight on uneven surfaces and has a bonus when duelling with a sword against an enemy also wielding a sword; gains a bonus to saving throws versus effects of any plane they are on; and can find safe Harbour, somewhere to sleep and occasionally someone to find information from. In addition, the Astral Sailor has several skills—Astral Navigation, Cartography, Fortune Telling, Heraldry, Looting, Signalling, and Shipwright. These are treated like the Thief Class skills in Old School Essentials.

If Aldhesi are ‘space elves’, then the Onauk look like ‘space orks’ or ‘space ogres’, as they are are tall, blue- or purple-skinned, have horns, enlarged lower canines, and long ears, but are really ‘space barbarians’. Their alien nature means that they suffer a Reaction check penalty, but can go Berserk and gain temporary bonuses to attack, magic resistance, and Hit Points when they attack a single target. They also have the skills of Astral Navigation, Looting, and Shipwright like the Astral Sailor. The last Class is the Psion, which simply specialises in the use of psionics.

What is interesting with two new Classes which use psionics—the Alhesi and the Psion, is that as written the Referee selects their psionic powers rather then the player. The Referee may allow the player to choose, but if not, it does allow her some leeway as what powers a Player Character has and can perhaps tailor them to her scenario or campaign.

Psionics in Dungeons & Dragons has always been a contentious ruleset, since they were either too powerful, not powerful enough, and if neither of those, often too complex to use with ease. The rules for psionics in Advanced Dungeons & Dragons were often regarded as game breakers. Now whilst anyone who has seen or played the psionics rules of Advanced Dungeons & Dragons will recognise much of them in the Planar Compass Player’s Booklet, the rules presented here for use with Old School Essentials are clearer, simpler, and easier to use. The Planar Compass Player’s Booklet devotes more than half of its pages to psionics, psionic abilities, and psionic combat.

A psionic-using Class, like the Alhesi and the Psion has a pool of psionic energy, equal to his Wisdom, modified by his Constitution and Intelligence. This pool will increase with each new Level. Every psionic power—of which there are forty-four listed in the Planar Compass Player’s Booklet—has a range, Power Score, Initial Cost, and Maintenance Cost. The Power Score is the modified attribute—either Intelligence, Wisdom, or Constitution—under which the player must roll to activate the psionic power. The Initial Cost is the psionic energy cost to start it, and the Maintenance Cost the amount to keep it going from one Round to the next. For example, Body Equilibrium, which allows a Player Character to adjust his weight so that he can walk on water or quicksand, has a Range of Self, a Power Score of Con -3 (meaning that the player must roll under his character’s Constitution score after it has been reduced by three), an Initial Cost of two psionic energy, and a Maintenance Cost of two psionic energy per Round. Some psionic powers require the user to make contact with the target and this increases the psionic energy cost. Overall, the list and abilities of the psionic powers is straightforward and easy to use.

Psionic combat involves Attack Modes and Defence Modes. The former includes Ego Whip, Id Insinuation, Mind Thrust, Psionic Blast and Psychic Crush, whilst the latter includes Intellect Fortress, Mental Barrier, Mind Blank, Thought Shield, and Tower of Iron Will. Psionic combat does require psionic contact with the target and rather than rolling against an Armour Class or similar factor as in normal combat, opposed rolls are made by those involved in the combat. The roll is modified by the attack mode used against the defence mode, so Ego Whip has a -4 modifier against Intellect Fortress, but a +5 modifier against Mind Blank. Apart from Psychic Crush, none of the attack modes actually do damage. Rather they inflict an emotional state, like Ego Whip making the target feel insignificant, or even believing that they have lost almost all of their Hit Points, as with Mind Blast. The various defence modes also allow a psionicist to use or maintain another power in addition to the defence mode.

The rules for psionics presented in Planar Compass Player’s Booklet are neither rule breaking nor game breaking. The combat rules are specifically designed for psychic duels between psionic Classes and psionic monsters, rather than using on the non-psionic, and whilst their effects can be devastating, they are not about blasting enemies with mental power to reduce mere Hit Points. They have a much more mental effect than that. Similarly, few of the psionic powers are designed to be offensive—telekinesis and body weaponry being amongst the few exceptions, but rather useful abilities. This does not means that an inventive player could not find a potential offensive use for some of them, but that is not how they are necessarily written. Overall, these really are a solid set of rules with which to introduce psionics to Old School Essentials.

Of course, the Planar Compass Player’s Booklet is designed to be used with the Planar Compass setting. If however, the contents of the Planar Compass Player’s Booklet are added to an existing game—and they can be, they will change a game. They introduce new powers and abilities which require new rules and a new level of complexity—not necessarily all that much, but some—and having psionic Player Characters means having psionic NPCs and monsters and so on. That said, the rules for psionics are specific to the two Classes—the Alhesi and the Psion—and there is no means of other Classes gaining them presented in the Planar Compass Player’s Booklet. Which means no sudden power rush or increase in complexity because everyone has them, and ultimately, it means that they remain specific and special. That said, it is not difficult to look at the psionics rules in the Planar Compass Player’s Booklet and wonder just a little, about an Old School Renaissance version of Dark Sun—or something very like it.

Physically, the Planar Compass Player’s Booklet is well written and nicely presented. The artwork is excellent throughout and everything is very readable and easy to grasp.

Ultimately, the Planar Compass Player’s Booklet needs the Planar Compass series of fanzines to come into its own. As a companion volume to that series, it does exactly what it should, present four Classes and a major rules addition associated with two of the new Classes in an accessible fashion. As a supplement on its own, it is understandably less useful, but for the Game Master and group who want to add psionics to their game, the Planar Compass Player’s Booklet is a good choice. The rules are clearly explained and do not overpower play because psionics are limited to the two new Classes. For the Game Master and her group who want to take their game onto a cosmic level, the Planar Compass Player’s Booklet is a handy little start.