A human in leather armor lifts their hands in the air as if conducting an orchestra. As a blood vessel bursts in their eyes and their nose begins to bleed, the human ignores the pain to cause three orbs of swirling energy to appear in orbit around them. With the orbs forming a protective barrier, the human strides toward a charging gnoll pack, their jaw set in grim determination.
Two monarchs sit at a table and negotiate a treaty while a robed elf stands watch over the proceedings. The elf puts one finger to their temple, quieting their mind and reading the leaders' thoughts in turn to weed out any lies before the monarchs' signatures are inked.
Roaring in anger, a ruby dragonborn raises a gloved fist at an oncoming owlbear. With a sudden rush of heat, a column of flame erupts from the ground to char flesh, feathers, and fur, causing the owlbear to flee. The dragonborn then collapses on the ground, fighting to breathing against the strain wrought by the power that saved their life.
The psion is a master of psionics—a source of incredible power created through sheer force of will. A psion can move and change matter, time, gravity, the laws of physics, or another creature's mind. In rare occurrences, a creature is born with the potential to harness psionic power, but only those who experience an awakening, an event that activates a psion's abilities, can tap into the mind's full strength.
Mind Powers
Through exerting their will, psions can send telepathic messages across the land, control fire, shoot forth beams of psychic energy, and more. While psionics and magic share similarities and can sometimes achieve the same results, they have different sources of power. Spellcasters draw magic from the tides of magic that permeate the world around them or draw it directly from the gods to create divine effects. Psionic heroes manifest their powers from a heightened force of will and mental fortitude. This strength allows a talent to harness their personal energy and project it into the world, letting them manipulate the environment, objects, and other creatures.
Though mages have a limited reserve of spell slots they can use, the talent is limited only by their own energy. Powerful psionic heroes can have multiple active powers at once and change reality at will. However, this limitless potential is built on a gamble. Every manifestation has a chance of harming the psion—and psions who use too many powers too quickly can very easily die from exertion.
Awakening
A psion's latent psionic power activates when they experience some kind of awakening. Many of these events occur when a psionic creature uses a power in the presence of the nascent psion. A psion might also discover their power while in a heightened emotional state or a moment of need. Most psions manifest their powers for the first time to defend the ones they love, or to survive a dangerous situation.
Few Exist
Magic permeates the world, and even the most uneducated commoner can tell you what wizards and clerics are. Psions, on the other hand, are exceptionally rare, and many commonfolk think them a simple myth, or simply believe them to be a wizard who is more secretive about their magic. Psionic potential among humanoids is exceptionally rare outside of very specific innately psionic races.
In different cultures, people will respond differently to the existence of psionics and their wielders. Botar, for example, is staunchly against the use of practice of psionics as they see it as a vile and tainted thing compared to magic. The Ryushin, on the other hand, appreciate the innate discipline and focus necessary to use psionics and see it as a form of worship toward the guardian dragons and their Dragon Emperor.
In some places, the powers and intellect of psions might make them respected advisors, leaders, spies, and tacticians. In others, the public might be wary of those who can read minds without so much as a word or flourish. In many areas, talents might be revered by some and mistrusted by others in equal measures.
Talent Academies
Though not every psion makes a formal study of psionics, groups of psions dedicated to specific psionic specialties and disciplines maintain academies that search the land for new students, inviting them to come study and learn to control and increase their power. The heads of these institutions send experienced members out on quests to recruit new students, seek and control psionic monsters, and recover important artifacts.
There are known talent academies for each psionic discipline, as well as alternate academies for other specialties such as chronopathy, prokinesis, metamorphosis, and resopathy. Because psions are rare, each academy has only a small number of members.
Maverick Psions
While most psions specialize in a particular psionic discipline, some are never driven to embrace such a focused approach to their power. These maverick psions always work outside the structure of the academies. They might learn from one or more tutors or train their powers alone, possibly unaware that different psionic disciplines even exist. Mavericks learn techniques that can enhance any power they manifest.
Variety of Powers
A psion who dedicates himself or herself to a single discipline or specialty has a chosen specialization build around that discipline. However, specialized psions also have access to powers from all other psionic disciplines. A psychokinetic psion might also be able to read the minds of others, just as a telepath might be able to make a carriage float into the air through sheer of force. Even talent academies, which focus on specific psionic disciplines, teach their students to be well rounded in the art of psionics, learning to manifest numerous powers so as to be able to wield a helpful tool in any situation.
Creating a Psion
When you create a talen, first start by thinking about the powers you want your character to manifest. Most psions can do a little bit of everything, but what does your character do best and most often? Do you read the minds of spies, hurl objects across the room with a thought, bend time and space, enhance your body for battle, or control the dancing flames of an inferno?
You should also determine the details of your awakening. What made your psionic power first activate? Was it an encounter with a psionic monster or another psion? Did a moment of danger trigger your mental strength, allowing you to defend or avenge someone you cared about? Perhaps it was an instance of embarrassment, passion, rage, or other overwhelming emotion. Were you able to control your powers from the start, or did you cause many accidents? In the aftermath of this awakening, how did your family and community react when your gift manifested?
Finally, you should determine if your character joined a talent academy for training. If you did, are you still part of that institution? Who are your friends, mentors, and rivals you made, and where are they now? Who do you still keep in touch with? If your character didn't join an academy, why not? How do you train to use your powers, if at all? How have your powers helped or hindered you while traveling your own path?
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