Biopsionics

> "The discipline of Biopsionics is one aptly suited to the medical profession, and one that the PsyProt Division endorses fully. While nothing can truly beat the effectiveness of a trained doctor, Biopsions make for excellent medics, and with extensive training, can become even better doctors" - Dr O'Hara, Lead Psychic Researcher, Psychic Protection Division
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The Biopsionics discipline focuses on repairing and augmenting, and in rare instances, damaging living creatures. Most biopsionic powers require a touch in order to work, however there are a few that do not. Resistance against the touch will provide some difficulty when attempting to apply the powers.

Many of the curative biospionic powers cause a certain level of biological distress in the creature, thus Biopsionics is somewhat limited in how effective it can be to a creature at any given time. This distress can be reduced with extended periods of rest, however.

## Psychic Techniques

### Core Technique - Psychic Succor

The first technique a biopsion learns is the ability to stabilise critically-wounded organisms.

By committing a point of Effort for the day, a biospion can perform the following action for the rest of the scene:

***Level-0:*** The psychic's touch can automatically stabilise a mortally-wounded target as a Main Action. This power must be used within six rounds of the target's collapse, and cannot function on targets that have been decapitated or killed by Heavy weaponry.

***Level-1***: As level-0, and heal the target for 1d6+1 hit points. If used on a mortally-wounded target, they revive with the rolled number of hit points and can act normally on the next round.

***Level-2:*** As level-1, but healing 2d6+2 hit points instead

***Level-3:*** As level-2, but healing 2d6+6 hit points instead

***Level-4:*** As level-3, but healing 3d6+8 hit points instead

### Level-1 Techniques

> "The first techniques you will learn as a Biopsion focus on the augmentation of the core technique, *Psychic Succor*. This technique is an invaluable asset both as a medic, or as a more focused medical professional, and understanding its intricacies will greatly benefit your understanding of the discipline as a whole." - Excerpt from the Biopsionics 101 Handbook.
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#### Mastered Succor

With this technique, the psychic no longer needs to commit Effort to activate *Psychic Succor,* and may use it whenever they wish. However, techniques that augment *Psychic Succor* may still require the commitment of Effort.

#### Organic Purification Protocols

With this technique, the psychic can augment *Psychic Succor* to allow it to cure any poisons or diseases the subject may be suffering. This augmentation requires committing Effort for the day, in addition to the normal cost of activating *Psychic Succor*.

Exceptionally harmful diseases, bio-warfare organisms and TL5 toxins may resist this curing, requiring a Wis/Biopsionics check at a difficulty of 10+. Failure means that the psychic cannot cure the target's disease. This technique cannot cure hereditary illnesses.

#### Remote Repair

With this technique, the psychic no longer requires touch contact to use biopsionic powers. Provided that a psychic can see the target, they may use techniques that would normally require touch at a distance of up to 100 metres. Hostile powers that would normally require a hit roll instead hit automatically.

However, an additional commitment of Effort is required in order to do this, along with the normal cost of activating the power to be used.

### Level-2 Techniques

> "These advanced techniques show you how to further augment the core technique, allowing for even greater regenerative and sustentative abilities. Mastery of these techniques will make you an invaluable asset, regardless of which field of work you wish to pursue." - Excerpt from the Advanced Biopsionics Handbook
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#### Invincible Stand

With this technique, the psychic can keep themselves, or a target of their choosing that they can touch, active even after they have sustained damage that would leave them in mortal peril. This technique can be used as an Instant action, and requires the psychic to commit Effort for the scene.

However, this technique does not restore health to its target, and so must be used once every round on the target, otherwise, the target will collapse at the end of the round. Should the target sustain hit point damage, the biopsion must immediately commit Effort for the scene, or the target will go down with a mortal wound.

Targets hit by Heavy weaponry or physical dismemberment will always die from those wounds, regardless of this technique.

#### Major Organ Restoration

With this technique, the psychic can augment *Psychic Succor* to allow it to cure hereditary illnesses and regrow missing limbs and organs. It can also be used to stabilise targets killed by Heavy weaponry, decapitation, or other forms of severe dismemberment, provided that the technique is applied within one round per Biopsionics skill level.

However, the best that can be done for such badly-mangled targets is stabilisation, after which they must rest for 24 hours before any further hit points can be regained.

#### Tissue Integrity Field

With this technique, the psychic can augment *Psychic Succor* so that it affects all allies within 10 metres of the target. Allies that do not require healing, or do not wish to take on the System Strain can refuse the healing.

However, the use of this technique requires the psychic to commit Effort for the day, in addition to the normal cost of activating *Psychic Succor*

## O'Hara's Notes

**Warning:** The following documents are classified under CODE PSYPROT. Only members with the necessary clearance have the authority to access these files. Dissemination of these files will result in severe disciplinary action.

> "The following techniques are ones we have discovered through the research obtained from the Feral Psychics. Whilst I would normally frown on such excessive human experimentation, I find it necessary for us to be able to understand the dangers of what Class Three and Class Four psychics are capable of, should they be left uncontrolled." - Dr O'Hara, Lead Psychic Researcher, Psychic Protection Division.
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### Level-3 Techniques

#### Accelerated Succor

> "A few of the Ferals we have captured have shown a mastery of *Psychic Succor* that not even our best instructors could replicate. These Ferals can accelerate the process of *Psychic Succor* to such a degree that they can regenerate instantly from damage they suffer. While these Ferals have not shown the ability to be able to do this more than once at a single time, the speed at which they can perform their core technique frees them to be able to keep attacking our forces"
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With this technique, a psychic can augment *Psychic Succor* so that it can be used as an On Turn power, rather than a Main Action. By committing Effort for the day with each use, the psychic may use *Psychic Succor* as an Instant Action.

However, *Psychic Succor* may only be used once per round, and any additional costs from augmenting *Psychic Succor* apply normally.

#### Metamorph

> "We have noticed several Ferals with odd appendages and carapaces when engaged with suppression forces. At first, we thought this to be some kind of mutation, however, after experimentation, we realised that these were naturally grown over the Feral's own body, leaving the theory that these Ferals can change their shape at will."
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With this technique, the psychic gains the ability to shape their own, or another willing target's physical form as a Main Action, transforming the touched target into any humanoid form within 50% of their own mass.

Claws and other body armaments can be fashioned equivalent to Light or Medium melee weapons and innate armour equivalent to AC 13. Gills and other environmental-survival alterations are also viable at the GM's discretion, but flight is impossible with this power.

A person can be impersonated down to the DNA level, provided a blood or hair sample is available.

Applying *Metamorph* requires the biopsion to commit Effort for as long as the change is to be maintained, and adds one System Strain point to the target that does not recover so long as the change is in effect. If applied to a target other than the psychic, the power automatically ends if the target gets more than 100km away from the psychic.

#### Teratic Overload

> "A few Ferals, the most dangerous ones, have the ability to cause severe cellular damage with a simple touch. Upon being touched by one of these Ferals, the touched begins to suffer effects similar to those of stage 4 cancers, a few cases of which become severe health risks that require immediate treatment. Cancer in the 33rd century. It seems that some diseases just refuse to die out."
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With this technique, the psychic can inflict potentially lethal damage on a touched target as a Main Action, and requires the psychic to commit Effort for the scene.

The target suffers 1d6 damage per level of the psychic's Biopsionics skill, and must make a Physical saving throw. On a failure, the damage is tripled, and the target is now affected by an obvious, lethal cancer that will kill them within 1d6 months. The cancer can be treated by a TL4 hospital or ship's sick bay after a month of treatment.

If the psychic commits Effort for the day, instead of the scene, they can instead control the power to deal no hit point damage and instead create very subtle tumors, leaving the cancer undetectable without a TL4 medical examination. Such victims won't even know that they have been attacked by this power.

Whether a success or a failure, this power cannot be used on the same target more than once per scene.

### Level-4 Techniques

#### Holistic Optimisation Pattern

> "Class 4 Biopsions are dangerous for a number of reasons, one of the most prominent being their uncanny ability to be able to improve their own physical abilities, or the abilities of others past that of a normal human being. When suppression teams go against a Class 4 Biopsion, they bring all of the heavy-duty gear, not because they want to, but because it's the only way we'll know for sure that they'll have a fighting chance."
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With this technique, the psychic gains the ability to drastically augment their own or a touched ally's physical abilities as an On Turn action.

This boost lasts for the rest of the scene, adds two points of System Strain to the target, and gives them a +2 bonus to all Strength and Dexterity skill checks, hit rolls and damage rolls. In addition, they also receive 20 temporary hit points.

Damage taken is removed from these temporary hit points first, and all bonuses and temporary hit points above the target's maximum are lost at the end of the scene.

Each invocation of this power requires the psychic to commit Effort for the day, and this power cannot be used on a given target more than once per scene.

#### Quintessential Reconstruction

> "In all my years of research, I have never seen anything like what happens when a Class 4 Biopsion dies. Well, I say "dies", but really, they somehow regenerate from death. Yes! You heard that right! Class 4 Biopsions can cheat death, and I have no idea how they possibly do it!"
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With this technique, the biopsion becomes extremely difficult to kill, encoding their mind in a coherent pattern of MES energy that covers the same area as their bodies do.

If killed, the psychic will regenerate from the largest remaining fragment of their body over 24 hours. This process maximises their System Strain for one week. During this week, the psychic will immediately and permanently die if brought to zero hit points.

The psychic retains a vague awareness of their surroundings while "dead" and can postpone their regeneration for up to a week in order to avoid notice, but burial or entombment may make for a short second life.

Each use of this power inflicts one point of permanent attribute loss in an attribute of the biopsion's choice.