Encyclopaedia Psionica - World Shapers - The Secret Revolution

In the minds of all sentient creatures lies the potential to change the world. Every thought, every action resonates throughout reality. Actions and thoughts intersect, collide, contradict, and merge together to form the fabric of cause and effect that make up 'reality' as people understand it.

Most people express their power to change the world though their bodies. They take up swords to fight or tools to make. They craft words to convince others about the rightness of their cause. Others posses the gift of expressing primal emotions in paint or sound or stone or clay, creating what others call art. A handful finds they wield incredible arcane or divine powers, changing all of creation by moving forces they barely understand about.

A rare cursed few do not suffer the limits that constrain mortal men. They alter the shape of the universe by will alone. They move mountains, light fires, transport themselves though time and space without drawing on anything but themselves. They have what many would consider the ultimate gift: to transform though into definite action unbound by the constraints of the physical world.

That ultimate gift brings with it a terrible curse. Each world shaper must maintain constant focus, constant control over the power within. A stray thought could become a bird. A flare of anger may ignite an inferno that destroys a town. Unbridled by the buffer of physical action these gifted individuals must struggle constantly to establish boundaries on their own desires. Even a moment's failure can bring ruin to everyone they hold dear.

They are the world shapers, world breakers, dreamers, and destroyers. Where they walk reality itself bows down.

Do you dare to face them?

Welcome to World Shapers the first in the Encyclopaedia Psionica series. The Encyclopaedia Psionica line presents new rules, new approaches, and new powers for D20 players and Games Masters interested in adding psionic powers to a campaign. The design of each book allows for easy integration of the rules and powers into fantasy, horror, or science fiction D20 systems. Like the other Encyclopaedia lines the Encyclopaedia Psionica presents a complete, integrated package that a player or Games Master can insert whole cloth or piecemeal into a game.

This volume of the Encyclopaedia Psionica addresses the three 'world shaping' psionic disciplines: metacreativity, psychokinesis, and psychoportation. It expands upon the existing base of psionic powers, adds feats for non-psionic and psionic characters, and explores the relationship between psionic powers and various character classes.

In addition to the requisite prestige classes and world shaping items this volume also includes rules for the creation of psionic ghosts. These ghosts represent the stray thoughts of a character with world shaping powers, manifesting outside of that character's control. Each ghost represents a unique thought or moment in time preserved by the animating force of the character's power.

This volume also attempts to address some of the complexities of adding psionic powers to existing campaigns. The emergence of world shaping could devastate entire countries if the Games Master so desired. Alternately these powers could slowly emerge in a single person, a manifestation of some great change occurring within him.

The rules in this volume alter the dynamic of the world shaping powers as revealed in the Psionics Handbook. World shaping is not a variant magical system; it is a unique way of approaching power in the world of D20 games with its own drawbacks and bonuses. In return for its power the character must accept limitations not placed on arcane or divine magicians. At the same time he also has flexibility that they can only dream of.

Blessed and cursed, chosen and damned by the power that dwells within them. Such is the fate of the world shaper.