Fun with Astral Projection

[MyDumpStatIsMA]

Per my usual experiments with the Mystic OCC's versatility, I made a concept which entails pairing the regular Mystic with a Rifts China origin. The goal is to give the character the Pao Chih mystic martial art, which creates the 'animus' that can control your body when you're sleeping, unconscious, or in this case, have left your body due to Astral Projection.

Astral Projection is an intriguing power with broad applications, but one I always felt afraid to use; chiefly because your body is totally undefended. Even if you are in a group where others protect you, they'd still have to move your body around if they came under attack while your mind is in the Astral plane. This makes the power exceedingly dangerous to use in combat or any place where your safety isn't guaranteed.

Pao Chih completely solves this problem. The animus has the ability to move your body around and defend itself. It can also use your psionic powers, which would include the Mystic's class ability to turn completely invisible when entering a trance.

As for the skill cost of learning Pao Chih, I treated it as the hand to hand martial art skill, which costs 3 OCC-related. If a GM wanted to be unreasonably punitive they could argue a mystic martial art should cost more than a hand to hand skill; but I would counter that Pao Chih is entirely mental and has no physical combat moves. Furthermore, there are several Geofront OCCs in China 2 that have identical skill selections as Coalition counterparts (special forces, rangers, etc), and get both a Chinese h-to-h martial art skill (far superior to the regular martial art skill) AND a mystic martial art.

The downside to Pao Chih is that it won't be very effective until mid-high level, 5-10. That's the range when several useful abilities are unlocked, such as a 30 MDC shield for the animus, a doubling of your ISP, etc.

[thorr-kan]

There is a Pao Chih Martial Art Form in the Mystic China sourcebook for Ninjas & Super-spies.

[MyDumpStatIsMA]

There is a Pao Chih Martial Art Form in the Mystic China sourcebook for Ninjas & Super-spies.

Yes, but it's a little different than the one in China 2 for Rifts. It's easier to just use the latter for a character generated in Rifts as opposed to converting it from N&S.

Another way of looking at it: a GM has less to object to if you can avoid using conversion rules. So pretty much anybody should be able to do this if they want.

I'd like to point out that having the animus also makes psionic powers like Telemechanics/Machine Ghost and Possession (of people or machines) less dangerous to the user; it's not just about Astral Projection. But the specific build I had in mind was going to exploit the Mystic OCC's natural psionic defenses, which makes it a better candidate for frequent use of Astral Projection. Somebody like a Mind Melter would be better suited to specializing in possessing others.

[thorr-kan]

Fair enough. I mention it simply because the conversion rules in N&SS give ways for a psychic to acquire an MAF.

[ShadowLogan]

There are ways to defend the body, though you still lose the mobility aspect, such as:
-Protection Circle: Simple (pg130 BoME), reusable (4PPE) and potentially useful for Psychics who can muster up 4PPE (somehow) and find one
-Time Hole (pg114 BoM), possibly if you know there is an entity(s) to take advantage of the vulnerable body and have sufficient level. This is arguably the best protective option you can get AFAIK, the body is removed to another plane (might make Material Plane AP impossible, but popping off to the Astral Plane itself shouldn't be hard to do from here)
-Exorcism (psi or magic, pg119 BoM) might also be useful to combat possessing entities that slip in while one is APing
-TW Psionic Mind Shield (RUE pg136) might also be helpful in blocking possessing entities if they work via a psychic attack
-Restraints (tech, magical) could also be useful in combating a possessing entity
-A TW (or other enchanter) might also be able to create devices/items to give proper protection to the body for a mage or psychic (IINM there are items to protect against possession)
-Item/devices, even non-magical ones could provide a source of protection to the body from "regular" plane stuff (EBA is still EBA, auto-pilot vehicles, robot servants, etc).

[MyDumpStatIsMA]

-Time Hole (pg114 BoM), possibly if you know there is an entity(s) to take advantage of the vulnerable body and have sufficient level. This is arguably the best protective option you can get AFAIK, the body is removed to another plane (might make Material Plane AP impossible, but popping off to the Astral Plane itself shouldn't be hard to do from here)

Unfortunately, using AP in the material plane is exactly what I wanted to emphasize with the Pao Chih concept. Expanding the possibilities of AP usage in the material plane is what separates it from a niche ability rarely used, into something potentially much more practical. You can even interact with the material plane while in astral form, by using telepathy, telekinesis, etc.

Pao Chih covers everything in terms of defense: it protects you both from being possessed and from being attacked by physical threats. There's nothing else that can match it in both respects.

[ShadowLogan]

-Time Hole (pg114 BoM), possibly if you know there is an entity(s) to take advantage of the vulnerable body and have sufficient level. This is arguably the best protective option you can get AFAIK, the body is removed to another plane (might make Material Plane AP impossible, but popping off to the Astral Plane itself shouldn't be hard to do from here)

Unfortunately, using AP in the material plane is exactly what I wanted to emphasize with the Pao Chih concept. Expanding the possibilities of AP usage in the material plane is what separates it from a niche ability rarely used, into something potentially much more practical. You can even interact with the material plane while in astral form, by using telepathy, telekinesis, etc.

Pao Chih covers everything in terms of defense: it protects you both from being possessed and from being attacked by physical threats. There's nothing else that can match it in both respects.

Well there are a few options:
1. Techno-Wizard device built to use Time Hole as its primary spell, either set a delay after activation or someone else in the party to protect the body.
2. The Ecto-Traveler OCC in SB3 (and IIRC the Splugorth do something similar) offers up the idea of accessing the Astral Plane to travel vast distances in the Material Plane. So one could TH, then pop to the AP and use it to access the MP in theory, it just adds an extra step.

[MyDumpStatIsMA]

2. The Ecto-Traveler OCC in SB3 (and IIRC the Splugorth do something similar) offers up the idea of accessing the Astral Plane to travel vast distances in the Material Plane. So one could TH, then pop to the AP and use it to access the MP in theory, it just adds an extra step.

If someone in a Time Hole can enter the Astral Plane and eventually reach the Material Plane, then the process should work in reverse, correct?

Just going by the description of TH, you really shouldn't be able to leave it by any means. So I think that'd require a special GM ruling in itself. If the GM says you can't leave, then it's useless for this purpose. If the GM says you can leave, then logically anyone else can enter via AP, and we're right back to square one in terms of being vulnerable to possession.

As for using Time Hole on our body after we vacate it (to enter AP), the same problem applies. If we're totally isolated in the TH, then we can't get back to our bodies from the Astral Plane. And if we're not totally isolated and can find our bodies, then so can everyone else using AP.

Beyond all that, the Ecto-Traveler gets a 20% bonus to finding its body. So it can afford to mess around in the Astral Plane with less worry. For everyone else, it's dangerous to use the AP for any length of time. It's much safer statistically to avoid the AP entirely, and just use your astral projection in the MP alone.

[Aermas]

Why not take some power armor, give it an A.I. that can fight & react to danger, & just sleep in the suit while it walks around?

[ShadowLogan]

While the reverse is certainly possible, I think there are likely going to be two factors that contribute to it being a positive for the Projector:
1. There are going to be numerous other dimensions (physical, astral, etc) that could be accessed this way, the chance of finding this small pocket dimension seems exceedingly small.
2. The TH pocket is extremely small, so a possessing entity isn't going to have as much to do and might pass on THs for this, even if it knew a body was available it doesn't have that much to do.

It's also possible that like you said, TH might prevent AP in the first place (it could come down to a GM call, which could vary). Its also possible that APing to the Material Plane via Astral Plane might not be possible normally (AIs might follow their own rules, and the Ectro-Traveler aspect might be an OCC ability for practical purposes given the approach is absent in the description suggesting normally one might have to choose).

TH post AP release might not be an issue that you make it out to be, in order to use it this way is going to require a TW Device (or similar magic item) to cast the spell as it can not be cast on another person. Which means as a TW device the short comings can be worked around, maybe the Device remains in the real world and not the TH-world even when active, maybe it has a timer, maybe it has MP-Astral controls that can be manipulated, etc.

Why not take some power armor, give it an A.I. that can fight & react to danger, & just sleep in the suit while it walks around?

Likely because NOT ALL Astral Projection characters can take the skills required, then there is the cost of customizing a suit to do this. You'd probably be better off getting Skelebot-type 'bot (Triax and NG both have them) or Golem and have them carry the psychic around on their back (in a protective enclosure).

[Curbludgeon]

I haven't counted things out yet, but wonder how such a character might look if built as a slightly-variant Blind Mystic. They get access to a Mystic Martial Art, and while the animus style isn't listed in the class description the wording suggests other options aren't impossible. They end up with a few special abilities, better psionics, and worse magic. A lot of those specials could be swapped out to have the character not be blind, depending on the table.

Alternatively I'd consider lifting some stuff from Nightbane's Astral Lord/Mage. If nothing else the book's Astral powers (Astral Transference/Bolts/Navigation, Ethereal Mirage) and spells (Astral Portal, Summon and Control Astral Being) are worth a look-see.

[Aermas]

Likely because NOT ALL Astral Projection characters can take the skills required, then there is the cost of customizing a suit to do this. You'd probably be better off getting Skelebot-type 'bot (Triax and NG both have them) or Golem and have them carry the psychic around on their back (in a protective enclosure).

Who says you need skill to sit in a modified pilots compartment & let the A.I. do the rest? The difference between a robot & a robot vehicle is space for a person.

[thorr-kan]

As an aside, Astral Projection makes being a tourist on a budget much more feasible. Not interested in paying the fee to climb Mount Everest? There's a solution for that...

[MyDumpStatIsMA]

Likely because NOT ALL Astral Projection characters can take the skills required, then there is the cost of customizing a suit to do this. You'd probably be better off getting Skelebot-type 'bot (Triax and NG both have them) or Golem and have them carry the psychic around on their back (in a protective enclosure).

Who says you need skill to sit in a modified pilots compartment & let the A.I. do the rest? The difference between a robot & a robot vehicle is space for a person.

Who's going to place the unconscious body of the astral projector into the vehicle? You can't initiate AP while in armor/vehicles, correct? Can power armor load a person into itself?

In any case, I feel like people are missing the point of Pao Chih, which is that it doesn't require having a special suit of AI-driven power armor with you at all times, or anything else.

The whole point of using Pao Chih was to be self-contained and to allow the user to do things without help/assistance/backup. This could be useful in solo situations or in group scenarios where everybody has a job to do and no one's free to babysit the astral projector's body.

The more steps/costly items you need to take to make Astral Projection usable, the less desirable it is. Pao Chih is simple because it doesn't require anything beyond giving a character a Chinese origin. Or you could even say they just trained in China for a while but were from somewhere else entirely.

[Aermas]

There is no reason you can't astrally project from anywhere given that you are going from your body, to the Astral plane. What barriers exist in power armor that don't exist in say, the trunk of a car? I don't care about Pao Chih directly, I was merely saying that an Astral Projector could be safe inside an A.I. suit. Personally a character who wears some stealth power armor from NG1-2 & uses Astral projection/Clairvoyance/remote viewing/etc to infiltrate while also reserving the ability to manifest a psychic body as well as have A.I. command the physical body would be cool as hell. Imagine some tech ninja suit sneaks into a place & a psychic energy warrior manifests out the back of it only for the armor & the energy form to both face off with you & kick your ass. That's cool.

[MyDumpStatIsMA]

There is no reason you can't astrally project from anywhere given that you are going from your body, to the Astral plane. What barriers exist in power armor that don't exist in say, the trunk of a car?

Well, the rules on psionics say they can't penetrate 250+ MDC armor. Power, robot, whatever. So there is a difference between that and a car trunk.

If you can't psionically attack an enemy inside heavy power armor, then I'd argue you can't project psionics out of heavy armor either. While astral projection doesn't operate like usual psionics, I'd still say that heavy armor inhibits the use of psychic abilities. Remember that AP takes 4d4 minutes of meditation to initiate it. Can people meditate in power armor? Eh. Up to a GM to decide, ultimately.

Personally a character who wears some stealth power armor from NG1-2 & uses Astral projection/Clairvoyance/remote viewing/etc to infiltrate while also reserving the ability to manifest a psychic body as well as have A.I. command the physical body would be cool as hell. Imagine some tech ninja suit sneaks into a place & a psychic energy warrior manifests out the back of it only for the armor & the energy form to both face off with you & kick your ass. That's cool.

That's not really how AI works in Rifts. I've never heard of an empty suit of power armor with an AI driving it. You might have AI targeting assistance, but not an actual AI brain capable of decision making. That would require you to make a robot character. To say nothing of the fact that currently, only Archie is capable of making AI/NI robots on Rifts Earth. Anything else is going to be the product of aliens, more than likely. And accordingly extremely expensive/rare.

A better alternative would be some fluke involving transferred intelligence. That bypasses most common sense rules and allows a person's mind to be fused into anything robotic (including regular power armor). The body usually dies and the mind lives on in the machine. In this case you could say a mind got transferred into a conventional power armor during a freak ley line storm, or whatever, and then you could implement your idea. As long as the MDC of the armor was under 250, it would all be by the book.

*edit: to be clear, I mean the transferred intelligence (TI) would be a totally different character than the psychic. You'd have the power armor driven by the TI, and then a psychic inside of that power armor. Under 250 MDC, the psychic should be able to use most of his abilities through the armor.

[ShadowLogan]

Who says you need skill to sit in a modified pilots compartment & let the A.I. do the rest? The difference between a robot & a robot vehicle is space for a person.

There wouldn't be a need if it was a true robot (ala the Robot RCC, or Skelebot=style "androids"), but for a converted vehicle, piloted robot vehicle, or power armor those skills would be necessary if one had to take manual control (AI software crashes, damage to the AI hardware, the AI might situational defer to manual operator in certain situations, etc).

If you can't psionically attack an enemy inside heavy power armor, then I'd argue you can't project psionics out of heavy armor either. While astral projection doesn't operate like usual psionics, I'd still say that heavy armor inhibits the use of psychic abilities. Remember that AP takes 4d4 minutes of meditation to initiate it. Can people meditate in power armor? Eh. Up to a GM to decide, ultimately.

But one could argue that you could open up a suit of heavy power armor (or vehicle) which would allow AP/psionics. It could be as simple as popping a helmet off (or opening a visor) for PA, which reasonably would require an attacker to make a called shot (and at penalty to given the small size I would think).

I don't think there is anything to prevent meditation, while people might think of the meditation as occurring in the classic legs crossed/sitting/eyes closed/hands on knees posture that isn't actually required as you could meditate while on your back or standing, etc (the classic pose is supposed to be the "best" though, so you could argue outside of that posture it would take longer to achieve the right state of mind/body).

n any case, I feel like people are missing the point of Pao Chih, which is that it doesn't require having a special suit of AI-driven power armor with you at all times, or anything else.

Pao Chih though requires that you:
A. (meta) have access to the Rifts China Book(s)
B. have a character background who can learn it (which may not be an option depending on the GM)

There might be more practical ways to achieve the same effect of protecting the body while Astral Projecting. Becoming host to a Psymbiote (WB12) might be another option, off hand I'm not sure if there are similar options to the Psymbiote elsewhere (like BioWizardry or not). The Japanese MA Power of Two Minds might also work (its PPE driven, though IIRC ISP conversion is in RCB1r), but again this gets into easily region locked options.

[MyDumpStatIsMA]

I don't think there is anything to prevent meditation, while people might think of the meditation as occurring in the classic legs crossed/sitting/eyes closed/hands on knees posture that isn't actually required as you could meditate while on your back or standing, etc (the classic pose is supposed to be the "best" though, so you could argue outside of that posture it would take longer to achieve the right state of mind/body).

I was thinking more of the artifice surrounding the character attempting to meditate in power armor. Is there whirring noise coming from anywhere? Beeping? Can you breathe deeply? Does the stale recirculated air bother you? Etc.

Pao Chih though requires that you:
A. (meta) have access to the Rifts China Book(s)
B. have a character background who can learn it (which may not be an option depending on the GM)

For the record, you only need China 2 to get access to all of this; China 1 is more about the setting and not usable OCCs.

I also previously addressed the issue of being able to learn these skills/abilities. As I said, the Chinese Geofront OCCs are essentially Coalition States OCCs modified with the addition of Chinese martial art skills and mystic martial art forms, above and beyond the base skills the equivalent Coalition OCC would have. Not only do they not have to subtract skills to learn these extra abilities (as you normally do when, for example, increasing basic combat skill to expert or beyond, and trading OCC-related skills to do so), they actually get extra China-specific skills too.

Using the Chi-Commando for an example: the book tells us to use the Coalition Commando OCC skill selection, but also adds some Chinese skills, and allows us to pick a martial art skill (like Shaolin Kung Fu, far better than the regular 'Martial Arts' generic skill), and a mystic martial art form (like Pao Chih).

That is a net gain to an established OCC, with no sacrifices in other skills or functionality. Thus, any OCC in China should be able to do the same. If your character can learn the generic 'Martial Arts' skill, then it should be able to learn any of the Chinese martial art skills. And learning a mystic martial art form doesn't seem to have any requirements at all, given that any Rifts China OCCs can use them; with the exception of tech-augmented characters, naturally.

As far as I'm concerned, the chief requirement for picking up Chinese martial art skills and mystic martial arts, is to have a character who is either from China or lived there for a while.

There's not much reason for a GM to object to the use of such characters. Barring obvious attempts at munchkinism, like saying your Paratrooper/Lord Magus/D-Bee with huge racial bonuses went to China for a while and acquired a mystic martial art form.

[Aermas]

Well, the rules on psionics say they can't penetrate 250+ MDC armor. Power, robot, whatever. So there is a difference between that and a car trunk.

This is the wrong way to approach this. If what you say is true then 250MDC of any material between your body & your Astral self would dump you out of projecting. You couldn't walk around 250 proof forts, someone kidnapping you in 250MDC vehicles would just break your connection instantly. If you were moved underground it would only take oh so much dirt to break your meditation. This is just the wrong way to look at it. Projecting takes you from the current world to the Astral plane. There is no barrier between the two. (Baring specific abilities that block Astral travel) the Astral space inside your vehicle/robot/power armor is the same as the Astral space outside it. Manifesting psychic abilities through meat space has a limit, but going from meat to Astral isn't a problem

As for Meditation, mystics in our real world train in a multitude of ways to keep a meditative state in a variety of conditions. From freezing waterfalls to getting hit with sticks. Meditating while in a power armor harness can't be that farfetched. GMs are welcome to give the Meditation role some negatives. You are also forgetting that the suit doesn't necessarily need to be traditionally shaped if you don't want to. You can have a dude in a traditional meditative pose in an egg shaped cavity in a robot.

That's not really how AI works in Rifts.

This is exactly how A.I. works via Sourcebook 1. Anything you can give to a robot character you can theoretically give to a suit of armor & vice versa. As for who creates such technology or how a character would gain such technology? That is not a part of my argument, only that an A.I./T.I./whatever can pilot the suit just fine as it is its body, which just happens to have a convenient person shaped hole inside.

[ShadowLogan]

I was thinking more of the artifice surrounding the character attempting to meditate in power armor. Is there whirring noise coming from anywhere? Beeping? Can you breathe deeply? Does the stale recirculated air bother you? Etc.

Honestly I would say none of those are going to be an issue for someone who is trained in meditation (which IINM all psychics are). They could use the noise(s) as an aide, the suit will likely have to make allowances for breathing rates so I don't see it being an issue either, recirculated air is likely not an issue per say either (especially if done during early phase of being sealed).

As far as I'm concerned, the chief requirement for picking up Chinese martial art skills and mystic martial arts, is to have a character who is either from China or lived there for a while.

Which is fine, but how many people actually travel to/from China in the world of Rifts? Most of the Global Travelers are either oceanic (WB7) or established powers (CS, Triax, Splugorth) with limited intercontinental travel occurring otherwise. Your solution is at best a region locked, with it appearing to be super rare outside of it given the state of travel from China (so such a build might pass once or twice, but as a "regular" solution probably won't happen).

[MyDumpStatIsMA]

This is the wrong way to approach this. If what you say is true then 250MDC of any material between your body & your Astral self would dump you out of projecting. You couldn't walk around 250 proof forts, someone kidnapping you in 250MDC vehicles would just break your connection instantly.

I'm not saying the astral form can't pass through MDC material of whatever thickness; I'm saying a strict interpretation of the rules would imply that heavy power armor inhibits psychic abilities. I know it's nitpicking, but I'm saying it'd be more plausible to do the Astral Projection meditation outside of the suit, then get placed in the suit.

This is exactly how A.I. works via Sourcebook 1. Anything you can give to a robot character you can theoretically give to a suit of armor & vice versa. As for who creates such technology or how a character would gain such technology? That is not a part of my argument, only that an A.I./T.I./whatever can pilot the suit just fine as it is its body, which just happens to have a convenient person shaped hole inside.

I don't see a way to build what you describe. Maybe I just didn't look closely enough, but I checked SB1 and didn't find anything like that. Off the top of my head I assume the robot creation rules in Heroes Unlimited would actually be more flexible in that regard.

With GM permission you could do whatever you want, of course; I'm just saying that doing it by the book, I don't see a way to go about it.

Honestly I would say none of those are going to be an issue for someone who is trained in meditation (which IINM all psychics are). They could use the noise(s) as an aide, the suit will likely have to make allowances for breathing rates so I don't see it being an issue either, recirculated air is likely not an issue per say either (especially if done during early phase of being sealed).

The cutting room floor Q/A says psychics don't like to wear helmets from regular body armor. Doesn't even talk about PA. So, no, I don't agree that the average psychic is going to find whirring mechanical noises a good fit with intense concentration. It's like meditating in an MRI tube. I might be looking at this from the perspective of a Mystic OCC, who'd absolutely despise being in PA, but I think the average psychic isn't going to be totally at ease. With the exception of the Psi-Tech and maybe a few others. A good barometer might be if the OCC in question can even take PA piloting skills, and let that determine how comfortable they are in fully enclosed armor.

Which is fine, but how many people actually travel to/from China in the world of Rifts? Most of the Global Travelers are either oceanic (WB7) or established powers (CS, Triax, Splugorth) with limited intercontinental travel occurring otherwise. Your solution is at best a region locked, with it appearing to be super rare outside of it given the state of travel from China (so such a build might pass once or twice, but as a "regular" solution probably won't happen).

The Mystic Russia OCC, Slayer, is described as often being a mixed ethnic background of Russian, Mongolian, and/or Chinese. The OCC gets Russian and Chinese language skill by default. The land routes in and out of China must not be completely blocked off.

Beyond that, don't Shifters make world travel rather trivial? I get that they can't move large populations, but surely hopping around the globe in small groups can't be that rare?

I don't see Pao Chih as region locking the character that learns it. I see somebody putting it in their character's background that maybe they were born in China or lived there for a few years, then starting the character at level one anywhere else in the world, and nobody really having any reason to care. Again, it's obvious when people are trying to make an OP character; but giving a Mystic or an average human psychic/mage access to Pao Chih is not overpowered. If I wanted to give them Shaolin plus Bok Pai, then there'd be cause to object. But if game balance isn't at risk, then it really doesn't/shouldn't matter.

Rather than confining this oddball stuff that never gets used, to regions nobody ever plays in, I would think more people would want to try stuff they never get exposed to.

[Aermas]

I'm not saying the astral form can't pass through MDC material of whatever thickness; I'm saying a strict interpretation of the rules would imply that heavy power armor inhibits psychic abilities. I know it's nitpicking, but I'm saying it'd be more plausible to do the Astral Projection meditation outside of the suit, then get placed in the suit.

There is zero MDC between the character & the Astral. Again, if MDC stopped your projecting then projecting yourself in or out of a heavily fortified location would be impossible. Astral space would be jagged with different layers all based on physical MDC barriers. A fortified castle, a closed room, a trunk, or pilot coccon have no effective difference. So if a psychic wanted to meditate in his fortress monastary & astrally project by your interpretation he would need to leave a door open. That's ridiculous.

I don't see a way to build what you describe.

The part where it gives stats for intelligence & the part where it gives skill packages. I don't know how you could miss it.

It's like meditating in an MRI tube.

Many people fall asleep in those. Doctors may even recommend falling asleep in them because it cuts down on body movement during the procedure. Again, this is also a fully customizable space, you can have it equipped with mood lighting, ocean noise, etc. but any Psychic that can meditate on a battlefield should be able to meditate in a pilot cocoon.

[MyDumpStatIsMA]

I don't see a way to build what you describe.

The part where it gives stats for intelligence & the part where it gives skill packages. I don't know how you could miss it.

I still don't see it. Power armor and robot vehicles are described as Robot Accessory Units, which are the lowest tier of robot. Then follows Skelebot-types, classified as drones. After that comes true AI. Then comes NI, which is even rarer. And finally there's TI.

Robots are either built to be piloted by people (in which case they're PA or robot vehicles), or they're built to be run by AI. The specific section you're talking about only deals in building AI/NI/TI robots. I don't see any mention of how to build a humanoid robot with passenger space and AI/NI/TI driving it.

Since you talk about a 'pilot cocoon' I assume you're thinking of a giant-sized humanoid robot. Otherwise a man-sized PA is going to put the pilot's arms and legs into the armor's arms and legs, and they all move together (which would also prevent meditation--the armor would have to stand still). There's no cocoon in a suit of PA. It's like Iron Man, it fits around your body and is barely larger than you.

I see a way to build a robot vehicle like KITT from Knight Rider, that has AI/NI/TI and passenger capacity. But I don't see how to do it with PA or giant-sized humanoid armor. I'm not saying it's impossible, I'm saying you'd have to invent some rules/stats to fill in the gaps because there's not a clear way to do it.

It's like meditating in an MRI tube.

Many people fall asleep in those. Doctors may even recommend falling asleep in them because it cuts down on body movement during the procedure. Again, this is also a fully customizable space, you can have it equipped with mood lighting, ocean noise, etc. but any Psychic that can meditate on a battlefield should be able to meditate in a pilot cocoon.

Ever been in one? Only way I can see somebody falling asleep in one is if they're half dead or drugged. They're loud enough to hear in another room. When you're inside one, it doesn't get any quieter.

Back to game lore. Coalition Manhunters gives details on the difference between the meditation skill that all psychics get, and the meditation psychic power that is selected like any other psionic power.

Since basic meditation is a skill, it should be done with a penalty in armor. That has been my point all along regarding the meditation that precedes Astral Projection. If you can't meditate properly, you can't activate the ability.

At best, you could meditate with the helmet off or the armor open. At worst, you couldn't do it in the armor at all.

[Aermas]

You may purchase A.I & skills with cash. You can furnish Vehicles, Robots, & Power Armor however you wish, it even says so in Sourcebook 1. There is little difference. Suits can be modified. Suits can be invented. Customization is very robust. One does not need to have armor with arm/leg holes if one doesn't need them. You can make a fighting egg-bot if you wish. But that's not even an issue since it's possible to meditate in the Armor as is.

I do have experience with MRIs though I don't wish to divulge personal details. I have slept within an MRI while it was on. I don't know if you have personal hang ups with them, or something but there are a wide variety of people's opinions & experiences that will differ, you understand? Even so, we have people in real life who can meditate while people hit them with sticks. I can't see how an MRI is worse than physical violence.

[Grazzik]

The OP is experimenting and, as far as homebrew goes, it is as good as any other homebrew. Play on.

Re Pao Chih
However, not being a N&SS player, I don't know much about skill cost in the game. But is three skill slots the rule for the skills based version of Pao Chih? Reading the N&SS core book, it seems to me that three skills is for normal martial arts and the number of skill slots for powered martial forms align to the number of years of training required, but that seems to be dropped in Mystic China. For such powerful abilities, as a GM, I might err on requiring more skill slots.

Re AI in automated tech
I've mentioned on other topics re AI that we shouldn't limit our thinking about the power of a gestalt of AI - with decades or centuries of development, it may seem like magic. Maybe not using typical commercial Rifts Earth tech, but at the upper experimental end or with dbee/alien tech I could definitely see it happen. So, if such tech, in whatever form factor it comes in (humanoid, egg, biogelatinous blob, etc.), is available, then Aermas is right. But that comes down to a GM call.

Re playing an astral PC
Re giving a PC astral abilities, the Astral Lord and Astral Mage are awesome as they bypass a ton of inconsistencies and interpretation. By for the garden variety psychic who astrally projects... As to going to the Astral Plane while sitting in a NG Sampson PA (for example), sure no problem... pop in some ear plugs and close one's eyes.

The issue I have with astral projection is with staying on the Material Plane in astral form in a MDC world. This is because, even though the power description says one can pass through MDC walls and the 250+ MDC rule re psionics is open to GM interpretation (lots of past discussion on this, not going to rehash), if we assume that psionics can't extend through 250+ MDC, then a psychic in astral form might be able to pass through a 250+ MDC wall (since the power is working on the psychic, not the wall) but that darn silver cord is still trailing behind the psychic and, in my view, represents the extension of the psionic power. So if 250+ MDC blocks extended psionics, then the silver cord would get snagged on a 251 MDC wall. The fix is for the cord to loop from the physical body to the Astral Plan and back into the Material Plan to where the psychic's astral body is. However, if that were the case, the silver cord would be vulnerable in both the Astral and Material Planes. TLDR: the silver cord is a pain in the backside and if you want to play astrally, use an Astral Lord, Mage or Knight who don't have the cord due to astral transference. It also means there is no body left behind to protect.

[Plane]

the psyscape flavor text of the psi-stalker who likes to hunt w/o a helmet blends w/ that hating armor thing too yet not much in the way of stats to go with it like with mages