Telekinesis Spell

By Tom Cruise, in Genesys

I made this for my Dark Heresy conversion, but it's generic enough that it could be used in any setting, so I thought I might as well post it up here. It's heavily based on Move and Bind from FFG's Star Wars games. Let me know if you think the balance is alright.

I intentionally avoided including offensive options with this because I thought it should stay distinct and separate from Attack.

If it's not obvious, A = Advantage, D = Difficulty Die.

Quote

Manipulate
Concentration: No
Skills: Arcana, Primal
The character can call on his powers to reach out farther than his reach can extend, using magic to grasp objects with eldritch hands. The caster selects one Silhouette 1 or smaller target within short range, and makes an Easy ( D ) Telekinesis check. If the check is successful, the psyker may move the target anywhere within short range. Before making a Manipulate check, choose any number of additional effects listed on the table below.

Additional Effects

Difficulty

Additional Target: The power affects one additional target within range. In addition, after casting the spell, you may spend AA to affect one additional target within range of the power (and may trigger this multiple times, spending AA each time).

+ D

Control: The caster can use this spell to affect objects which are secured in place or held in a character’s grasp.

+ D

Precision Telekinesis: The caster can perform fine manipulation with this spell, allowing him to do whatever he could with his hands to a held item.

+ D

Range : Increase the range of this spell by one range band. This may be added multiple times, increasing the range band each time.

+ D

Strength : Increase the Silhouette the spell can target once. This may be added multiple times, increasing the Silhouette each time.

+ D

Stasis : The target is held in place until the beginning of the psyker’s next turn, possibly in mid-air. If the target is a character, they are Immobilised and receive a setback die on all checks. You may spend AA to increase the duration of this effect by one round.

+ D D

Enhanced Stasis: The target is frozen in place, utterly unable to move. If the target is a character, they are unable to act until the beginning of the caster's next turn. You may spend AAA to increase the duration of this effect by one round.

+ D D D

Edited by Tom Cruise

Zoink! Thanks dude.

This is very good. Telekinesis was something I was debating a bit, as simple telekinesis could easily fall under "Utility" while the Manipulative effect of Attack covers larger applications. Stasis and Enhanced Stasis really help set this apart though.

Yeah, it's something that could be governed by other powers quite handily, but considering telekinesis is the subject of a whole discipline in Dark Heresy, I figured it deserved some special attention.

Very nice. Very well thought out.

Other than starting at Silhouette 1, I like it. Comparatively, letting someone use a spell to pick up a semi at only Hard difficulty seems to break the spirit of the Genesys magic system. Especially if you could drop said semi on someone’s head.

Edited by Simon Retold
1 hour ago, Simon Retold said:

Other than starting at Silhouette 1, I like it. Comparatively, letting someone use a spell to pick up a semi at only Hard difficulty seems to break the spirit of the Genesys magic system. Especially if you could drop said semi on so,eone’s head.

I agree with this. I would have the base effect affect Silhouette 0 items. I might also include some text to control the speed and/or force of the movement to prevent characters from "shooting" bullets or smashing people into walls. Maybe something like "...as if moving it by hand".

2 hours ago, TheSapient said:

I agree with this. I would have the base effect affect Silhouette 0 items. I might also include some text to control the speed and/or force of the movement to prevent characters from "shooting" bullets or smashing people into walls. Maybe something like "...as if moving it by hand".

I feel like it needs some mass-related restriction. "As if moving it by hand" might be enough, but perhaps add that they're replacing Brawn with Willpower (or perhaps with their magic skill's characteristic) to determine how much they can move.

Eh, rather than making it more complicated with mass rules, just say the GM should add boost or setback dice to the pool if the object is exceptionally light or heavy for its silhouette.