Neo-Astropaths

The Neo-Astropaths and their counterparts the Neo-Astropathic Receivers are the elite Psykers who maintain the Imperial Trust's interstellar communication network. These Psykers, generally just referred to as Neo-Astropaths as a group, are selected from among those major Psyker trainees who show a talent for long range telepathy or divination and trained to entirely focus on their field. Between this training and several rituals to bind them together a Neo-Astropath can send a message though the vast distances that separate stars. While the range, speed and bandwidth of Neo-Astropaths is far less then that of the Astropaths of the Old Imperium they are still sufficient for a polity the size of the Imperial Trust, especially when formed into Choirs. For all their skill and power this is a dangerous task, and there are many dire fates awaiting a Neo-Astopath whose will or concentration wavers for just a second, of which the kindest is death.

### Skill Levels

After graduating a Neo-Astropath is assigned to one of the major Neo-Astropathic Choirs where they will learn under the supervision of their superiors, and further develop their ability to project their minds or hear them over the whispers of the Warp. Most psykers spend the first thirty to forty years in these positions before their skills are developed enough to progress.

Veteran Neo-Astropaths can be assigned to the smaller Neo-Astropathic Choirs where they can be trusted to act with little supervision, though they will most often still be working under the command of a more experienced psyker. These veterans often have over a centuries experience at their tasks, though with time most Neo-Astropaths can work up to a higher level of skill.

Elite Neo-Astropaths are those given command over the smaller Neo-Astropathic Choirs or tasked to operate by themselves on naval vessels. Their skill has developed enough to mange the minds of their juniors, or to listen and speak through the void by themselves. These Psykers are generally well into their second century at the youngest, and many Neo-Astropaths never reach beyond this level.

Master Neo-Astropaths are the ancient veterans given control over Choirs at strategically vital locations, where their voice can be the first word of warning of invasion, or send out the fleets to war. They command their choirs with the touch that only experience can provide, and work to compensate for the mistakes of those under them. A Master Neo-Astropath is generally well into his third century of life, and has honed his mind into a instrument of both incredible precision and power.

Grandmaster Neo-Astropaths are those who combine both incredible natural talent and centuries of experience at a profession that kill most before their first century has ended. These Psykers are given control over the Neo-Astropathic Choirs at the most important locations of the Imperial Trust, worlds that see more traffic in a year then most worlds see in a century, and upon whose words the Imperial Trust will march. Grandmaster Neo-Astropaths have unbending will and the sheer force of personality to be felt across the stars, and are among the few humans able to star unblinking into the Warp without fear.

### Range

Neo-Astropaths basic ranges are recorded below.

 Epsilon
 Delta
 Gamma
 Beta
 Alpha

Neo-Astropathic Receivers are able to receive a message from a greater distance then a Neo-Astropath boosting range as recordec below.

 Epsilon
 Delta
 Gamma
 Beta
 Alpha

More experienced Psykers can project greater distances and receive from greater distances as below.

 Elite
 Master
 Grandmaster

These ranges are further boosted by working in choirs, with a second psyker increasing the range by half his range, the third by a third their range and so on.

### Research Projects

#### A Poor Man’s Astropath

Headmaster Ridcully has finished training his Neo-Astropaths and has determined that they are able to easily send a message four light years away, five with difficulty. Psykers more powerful than the Epsilon-level he is currently using will be able to send further, and Zeta-levels less far. He is not sure how likely they are to die, but informs you that the more messages they send and the further, the greater their chances of death. He estimates that if he used them to replace Astropaths on a single connection, around 5% would die per year which is unacceptably high. Instead, Headmaster Ridcully suggests keeping their use for emergencies and other urgent matters which should increase their survivability threefold.

#### Research (Siren Telepathy)

This year Xavier made a major breakthrough in cracking the secrets of Siren Telepathy and managed to use his discovery to greatly improve the range that human Psykers can Telepathically communicate. In fact he has managed to boost the safe range at which Psykers can communicate by 25%, which will greatly increase the effectiveness of the Neo-Astropaths.

#### Neo-Astropaths: Receivers

This year Headmaster Ridcully finished training some of his better Diviners to act as receivers for Neo-Astropaths. He has found that a Diviner needs to be at least Zeta-level to act as a receiver and that Diviners can receive messages from slightly further then the current Neo-Astropaths. Each Diviner needs to spend several years training with a Neo-Astropath before he is capable of receiving messages from him which means that you will have to be careful in the stationing of your Psykers. Currently a Zeta-level can receive a message from one light year further then a telepath can with this distance doubling for each category higher the Diviner is. This greatly increases the percentage of your Neo-Astropaths that are capable of projecting a message a useful distance.

#### Retry: Astropathic Rituals

Four years ago Headmaster Ridcully finished his second attempt at creating a ritual to boost the similarity of Neo-Astropaths, and therefore their range. This time he was successful, and reports that Neo-Astropaths who have been though the ritual multiple time have an approximately 25% increase in their effective range. Given that this can boost the range of an Epsilon-level Neo-Astropath, Neo-Astropathic Receiver team to around ten light years, which is enough for almost all adjacent systems to make contact this increase is very significant.

#### Research: Neo-Astropathic Choirs

After seven year of research High Grandmaster Ridcully and Grandmaster Jameson managed to create Neo-Astropathic Choirs of the most basic type. As well as reducing the risk of sending a message these Choirs can boost the range of a Neo-Astropath significantly, though the returns start diminishing quickly as more Psykers are added to the choir. From what they can tell the second Neo-Astropath in the Choir adds half his total range, the third add a third and so on. While not massive this will allow a choir of four Zeta-level Neo-Astropaths to reach a Neo-Astropathic Receiver nine Light-Years away, which would allow them to cover a quarter of all basic routes in the Imperial Trust. While they could not make it work just jet High Grandmaster Ridcully and Grandmaster Jameson believe that it is possible to create choirs of Neo-Astropathic Receivers, and hope to continue their efforts in this task.

#### Research: Neo-Astropathic Receiver Choirs

It took three years of intense study for High Grandmaster Ridcully and Grandmaster Jameson to figure out how to create a choir for Neo-Astropathic Receivers but they eventually succeeded. These choirs are as effective as those for Neo-Astropaths, and while they have a smaller impact every improvement helps. Of particular import is that now allows groups of weaker psyker to cover seven more of the routes in the Imperial Trust, freeing up some of the more powerful Neo-Astropaths.

#### Ritual Creation (Astropathic ritual)

Increase Neo-Astropathic range by 50%

Tamia's new ritual for Neo-Astropaths takes into account everything that she has learned since the first ritual was made all those centuries ago. This ritual will now tie those who go through it far closer together, increasing the range at which they can communicate by a full half, massively reducing the number of Neo-Astropaths required to cover the Imperial Trust.