Psychic Defense (Proficiency)

==The Will and the Way==
Some people are able to develop a rudimentary psionic defense, although they are not psionicists. They may be born with exceptionally strong Wills, or they may have met a teacher who instructed them in the basics of psionic self-defense.
When a character with this proficiency is attacked by contact or one of the five telepathic attack modes, he may attempt to defend himself mentally. This must be declared after the attacker has announced his attack, but before he resolves it— the defending character can't wait to see if the attack succeeds.
If the defender makes a successful proficiency check, he manages to prevent contact for that one attack. Each subsequent mental attack provides a cumulative -4 penalty to the proficiency check, so a character who has been attacked three times in one encounter makes his check with a -12 penalty. Unlike a psionicist, whose attackers need three tangents to force contact, the general defender is bested the first time his attacker succeeds and he fails his psychic defense roll.
While a character is defending himself psionically, he may move and defend himself normally. However, he may not cast spells or initiate any wild talents. The psychic defender can make melee or missile attacks, but he suffers a -4 penalty to any attack rolls he makes since his attention is divided between his physical surroundings and the mental assault.
Category:The Will and the Way Proficiencies