Telepathic Combat (CPsiH)

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Before a psionicist can use a telepathic power, he must establish contact with the recipient's mind. "Contact" is a telepathic devotion which paves the way for other telepathic powers. Usually, a single use of this devotion is all that's required; the psionicist uses contact first, then follows up with another telepathic power. Beings with little or no psionic talent, including wild talents, can be contacted in this way. So can psionicists and psionic creatures, provided they cooperate.
The contact devotion never works against a psionicist (or psionic creature) who does not allow it to work. This is true even when he's sleeping or unconscious. Psionicists normally have closed minds. Before the contact power can work against them, they must intentionally open their minds. They can be selective, allowing contact with a friendly power while closing their minds to hostile characters or strangers.
When a subject's mind is closed, he can only be contacted through telepathic combat. The text below describes five telepathic assaults, or attack modes, that are used to establish contact with a closed mind. It also describes five telepathic defenses, which can help prevent such attacks from succeeding. Lastly, it explains what happens when these opposing powers clash.
==Telepathic Attack Modes==
There are five attack modes: mind thrust, ego whip, id insinuation, psychic crush, and psionic blast (see Chapter 7, "Telepathy," for a complete description of each). Against a mind that is open to contact, each of these powers has specific effects. For example, ego whip can make a character feel so worthless that he suffers a penalty to all of this die rolls. None of these effects occur unless the subject's mind is open to contact, however. If the subject's mind is closed, an attack mode only serves to erode his resistance. If he is repeatedly struck with an attack mode, his mind can be forced to open, and contact will be established (see "Tangents" below for details).
Learning Attack Modes: A psionicist learns attack modes in the same way he learns other powers. The character must first have access to the telepathy discipline. Then he must allot one of his devotion slots to the power (only psionic blast is a science). A character could devote himself completely to learning the attack modes, and know all five by 2nd level. Or he could learn dozens of telepathic powers without ever picking up a single attack mode. This is the player's option.
The One-Two Punch: Attack modes differ from most other psionic powers in one key regard: a character using an attack mode gets one bonus attack with that power each round (an attack mode packs a one-two punch). The player rolls two power checks. Each of these rolls constitutes a separate attack and, if opposed, is conducted as a separate psychic contest. Both attacks must be directed against the same target. The initial cost of an attack mode includes this double attack.
==Telepathic Defense Modes==
A character with psionic powers is not defenseless against telepathic attack modes. Five telepathic powers, known as defense modes, help protect characters from unwanted contact. These powers are mind blank, thought shield, mental barrier, intellect fortress, and tower of iron will (see Chapter 7 for a description of each). Although these powers belong to the telepathy discipline, they are common to all members of the psionicist class. Psionicists develop these powers naturally as they gain experience levels, regardless of whether they have access to the telepathy discipline (see "Defense Modes" in Chapter 1 for an explanation).
When a character activates a telepathic defense mode, it becomes effective at the beginning of the round. The character conducts a psychic contest against every attack mode coming his way (the initial cost of the defense mode covers all attacks in the round). At any point during the round, if he rolls a number he likes, he can keep it for the rest of the round. Defense modes have no effect against any psionic powers other than attack modes.
==Attack Modifiers==
Each attack mode is more effective against some defense modes than others, and vice versa. This is represented by modifiers which apply to the attacker's power score. Table 14 lists these modifiers.
 Table 14: Attack Vs. Defense Modes
 	MindBlank	ThoughtShield	MentalBarrier	IntellectFortress	Tower ofIron Will
Mind Thrust 	+5 	-2 	-4 	-4 	-5
Ego Whip 	+5 	0 	-3 	-4 	-3
Id insinuation	-3 	+2 	+4 	-1 	-3
Psychic Crush 	+1 	-3 	-1 	-3 	-4
Psionic Blast 	+2 	+3 	0 	-1 	-2
When an attack mode clashes with a defense mode, cross-index the attack with the defense on Table 14. The resulting modifier is applied to the attacker's power score. Thus, positive modifiers are bonuses and negative modifiers are penalties.
==Tangents==
Each time an attack mode overcomes a defense mode (or an attack mode succeeds against someone who was not using a defense mode), the attacker has established a partial contact called a tangent. Three tangents equal full contact. Thus, establishing contact with someone's mind through combat requires three successful attacks (in common parlance, a single tangent is often called "one-finger contact" and two tangents "two-finger contact"). Remember that an attack mode allows two attacks per round, so it is possible to establish two tangents per round.
A tangent has no direct effects in and of itself, no matter which attack mode helps to establish it. It is only a "foot in the door." When the door is open - i.e., when three tangents have succeeded - full contact is established. This contact is the same condition that is achieved when the contact power is used successfully against a nonpsionicist (in other words, the three effective attacks simply take the place of one successful use of contact). The tangents no longer apply when contact is established (that's why there's no such thing as "three-finger contact").
When full contact is established, the attacker can make no more attacks against the defender that round. In the next round, he can use any telepathic power against the defender that he chooses - provided he's within range and pays the power cost, of course. Having contact does not make the use of another telepathic power automatic; it only makes it possible. Still, the subject is incredibly vulnerable once contacted. His only means of protection is an overwhelming counterattack (probably a nontelepathic attack) or ejection, which is quite risky. A contacted mind can be dominated, mindwiped, affected by any number of other telepathic devotions, or crippled by another assault.
Maintaining Tangents: Maintaining tangents (one or two) costs 1 PSP per round. A psionicist can maintain tangents with only one mind at any time. He can maintain full contact with any number of minds, however. A tangent is broken only when 1) the attacker voluntarily breaks it by simply announcing he is doing so; 2) the attacker fails to pay the maintenance cost of 1 PSP per round; 3) the attacker uses an attack mode against a different target, or; 4) the attacker is incapacitated.