More Cinematic Psionics for Pathfinder

[Thy Dungeonman]

I'm thinking the movie Scanners, but also stuff like The Dead Zone, Firestarter, and TV stuff like The X Files, Millennium, and various anime I can't remember the names of. (Am I dating myself much here?) I like stealing plot elements from movies for RPGs - players and I have enjoyed this many times in the past, and as a game is unlikely to be published, creative integrity and copyright aren't issues.

But to make that work, you need to find a way for it to feel at least a little like the movie. Automatically, you can't succeed because in this world many people have supernatural powers and they are not secret or mysterious. But there are ways to get partway there.

The fact core Pathfinder doesn't have psionics makes the Dreamscarred press stuff something you have to make some editorial decisions about anyhow. To make it more mysterioso, I'd have it be rare and poorly understood. My campaign takes place out of Absalom, so people in it will associate psychic powers with aboleths and their victims.

The Scanners plot involved a sheisty corporation trying to use psychics for defense contracts and getting played by a powerful evil psychic dude. Then the morally dubious cipher protagonist does psychic battle with him, the end. Heads explode along the way.

My notion is that there's a psychic guild that comes to town and is all, like, "Psionics - it's not just for aberrations anymore!" But the demonstration goes awry (see the scene that launched a thousand animated gifs) and playas have to investigate. I like the idea of a character getting their head exploded in the scene. It'd be the first time the party needed a resurrection and would kick things up a notch. Then in the investigation they meet a psychic hobo who holds the key to finding le bad guy.

But. It's easy to see psionics as written just producing situations that don't have the same feel as the movie stuff. It ends up being more like spells and superpowers. How can I convey a feeling of these powers as the external manifestation of superfunky brainz? Of being less about points and powergaming, and more about these broken guys having powers almost beyond their control?

One thing that will help is the PCs not seeing the character sheet and not being the kind of people to google the source info to annoy me. That means the exposure to system stuff is all on their end, like "make a Fort save, dude" and whatnot. But I'd like to hear if anyone else has suggestions to make psionic powers more cinematic.

[JusticeZero]

Putting it into a system makes it less cinematic, but you have to do it. It really isn't a reconcilable problem, because it's a bit like saying "I want this food I am cooking to be cinematic" - you're trying to translate a feel from one medium into a radically different medium, so you would need to break what "cinematic" MEANS down into itty bitty pieces and then try to reconcile them with the need to have a stable system for the actual game aspect - because game systems are absolutely horrid at doing "unpredictable, mysterious" stuff well.

[Feint's End]

Of being less about points and powergaming, and more about these broken guys having powers almost beyond their control?

Are you implying that psionics encourage powergaming or that everybody using psionics is powergaming? Both are insulting in one way or another.

Generally you'd need to go into homebrew to accomplish what you want (finding a way to give these random effects). A gaming system shouldn't involve such extreme random odds because they would make those classes almost unplayable (lets just put it this way: Blowing up random heads sounds fun until it hits one of your teammates).

Other than that a game being "cinematic" comes mainly from setting the right mood and immersing your players into the world. A game is only as cinematic as players feel everything around them.

Last but not least I do hope you don't mean cinematic "cinematic" because D&D/PF are both RPGs and shouldn't feel in any way like they are movies. Because if they do then you good sir are railroading and therefor breaking the holy DM codex.

[Milo v3]

I'm gonna leave this (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?122103-Xenotheurgy-Far-Realms-magic-system)here.

[Psyren]

There's a "your head asplode" power in CPsi that you can bring over pretty easily called Cranial Deluge.

Beyond that I'll echo Feint and JusticeZero's thoughts on the idea in general - you really have to define what you mean by "cinematic" a bit better. About the only way to stop your players from researching something you're throwing at them (if they are determined to do so) is to ask them not to.

[Thy Dungeonman]

Are you implying that psionics encourage powergaming or that everybody using psionics is powergaming? Both are insulting in one way or another. Fair enough. Poorly chosen words. I mean a lot of aspects seem less occult and more like some kind of weird superhero stuff or that they are systems about systems - but looking over the power list for examples that support my recollection, I couldn't even find any. So I think I was mistaken all over the place. Actually taken as is and presented without game jargon, many powers do emulate those used in movies.


Generally you'd need to go into homebrew to accomplish what you want (finding a way to give these random effects). A gaming system shouldn't involve such extreme random odds because they would make those classes almost unplayable (lets just put it this way: Blowing up random heads sounds fun until it hits one of your teammates). In a world with resurrection, blowing up heads is alarming but not overwhelming. I wouldn't do it at random either. The scenario, roughly: Bad guy blows up a head, PC group tries to stop him on the way out, bad guy uses that power he has. Next time they fight him, they'll be more careful. And good times were had by all.


Other than that a game being "cinematic" comes mainly from setting the right mood and immersing your players into the world. A game is only as cinematic as players feel everything around them. I feel like I do a decent job of that. No complaints yet, at least, and people come back.


Last but not least I do hope you don't mean cinematic "cinematic" because D&D/PF are both RPGs and shouldn't feel in any way like they are movies. Because if they do then you good sir are railroading and therefor breaking the holy DM codex. This may be a reference to something I'm unfamiliar with. To me, cinema is the language of contemporary storytelling - so much so that it affects our dreams. Games have similar power, but they're distinct. Anyway, if it's narrative art - even art created through collaboration with players controlling the main characters - it can feel cinematic. Meaning that you're feeling the senses and emotions of the story instead of the mechanics.

& Yeah, D&D is far from the best system for that type of play, but it's what I'm working with at the moment. We ended up with Pathfinder due to wacky circumstances. Wacky and there's no going backy. Though I like a lot about Pathfinder. The simplification of skills and effort to remove dead or flavorless levels from core classes, for example.



I'm gonna leave this (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?122103-Xenotheurgy-Far-Realms-magic-system)here. Old school Cronenberg styles?



There's a "your head asplode" power in CPsi that you can bring over pretty easily called Cranial Deluge.

Beyond that I'll echo Feint and JusticeZero's thoughts on the idea in general - you really have to define what you mean by "cinematic" a bit better. About the only way to stop your players from researching something you're throwing at them (if they are determined to do so) is to ask them not to. I hope I clarified that a bit in response to them. Meanwhile, my players don't have enough interest in the system aspect of gaming to bother looking stuff up. I know them well enough to be fairly sure that won't be an issue.

[Feint's End]

Good answers. I'll try to think up some cinematic (as in memorable) situations for powers. What I have so far:

-A wilder wild surging telekinesis at full power , glowing with psionic energy and screaming.

-The exploding brain power psyren described (potentially used by a wilder too)

-a brutal disruptor cryptic using his disrupt pattern to intimidate and damage people

-dreads work perfectly well for this kind of setting .... maybe nightmare constructor for the incarnations of dreams. Make the dread not aware of it's own powers and you are good to go

-for high level play microcosm and assimilate can both be pretty scary

Maybe I can come up with some more

+
-melee novaing natural weapon psywar using form of doom and expansion

-wilder blasting (using emotions to fuel destruction)

-telepath psion ... good for all kinds of flavour

-vitalist for different flavours of allies and/or enemies ... miasmic can make people sick for example

[Thy Dungeonman]

I'll mos def have to look up some of that stuff - don't have enough of the psionics material memorized to know what half of it is. :smallredface: Thanks for the suggestions, though!

[Feint's End]

I'll mos def have to look up some of that stuff - don't have enough of the psionics material memorized to know what half of it is. :smallredface: Thanks for the suggestions, though!

As I see it a lot of the cinematics come from the right classes. Wilders generally have more spectacular effects due to wild surge. Just imagine the air getting blurry as if under extreme heat around them. Then their eyes glow and white fire bursts out of them (or they turn black). Then they scream an unearthly scream and white fire bursts out their mouths. Then a ripple of psionic energy breaks up the ground in front of them raining destruction on everybody unlucky enough to stand there (cinematic application of upheaval this would be but works for a lot of powers).

On the other side Teleplath Psions work very well for this silent enemy ... not fighting himself but letting his minions take care of you. Maybe you don't know who he (or she?) is until it is too late.

Cryptics just have a lot of flavour with their tattoos and Brutal Disruptor can be scary as Kenders. Black energy of universe disrupting fabric. Maybe add the archetype that actually has seen the void behind the pattern (forgot name).

Dread is perfect for this kind of game. Especially nightmare constructor. Just say they form the dreams of their enemies into physical manifestations.

Aberrant Aegis can be very scary.

Psychic WArrior with Form of Doom and Expansion up is basically a 12+ foot monster with claws, a bite and tentacles of pure shadow growing from the back. If that is not cinematic I don't know what is.

Vitalist has so many options I can't count them all here. Just go through the archetype section and regular section and you'll find some great ones. You could even make a neutral villainish character who focuses on appeasing enemies.

Astral Construct can also do a lot of cool stuff.

These are just a few things I wanted to add and which came of the top of my mind. I hope it helped getting a better general idea

[Thy Dungeonman]

As I see it a lot of the cinematics come from the right classes. Wilders generally have more spectacular effects due to wild surge. Just imagine the air getting blurry as if under extreme heat around them. Then their eyes glow and white fire bursts out of them (or they turn black). Then they scream an unearthly scream and white fire bursts out their mouths. Then a ripple of psionic energy breaks up the ground in front of them raining destruction on everybody unlucky enough to stand there (cinematic application of upheaval this would be but works for a lot of powers).

Right on.

http://ia.media-imdb.com/images/M/MV5BMTQ2NjM4Njc1OF5BMl5BanBnXkFtZTYwMjY0MTA5._V1_S Y317_CR3,0,214,317_AL_.jpg

[Eox]

Dreamscarred actually has a really nice list of suggestions for power displays in Psionics Expanded, which is available on the SRD. (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/psionics-unleashed/psionic-alternate-rules)

[Thy Dungeonman]

Dreamscarred actually has a really nice list of suggestions for power displays in Psionics Expanded, which is available on the SRD. (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/psionics-unleashed/psionic-alternate-rules)

Cool! I like how the displays lean spooky, but they put in sparkles and rose petals for peeps who wanna play magical princesses. :smallbiggrin: