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If a RIfts Mind Melter or another Psychic character class went dimension adventuring with a Shifter buddy could they learn psionics native to Palladium Fantasy, BTS, and Nightbane?

For Example, could a Rifts Mind Melter learn Astral Navigation, Astral Transference, Insert Memory, Attack Disease, etc.
What, if any are the requirements?
Can they just hear about it via word of mouth?

Can they just see a psychic use the psionics?

Do they need a teacher?

Do they have to level up in that dimension?

Please, share your thoughts?

If they had the slots for extra psionics, and the powers weren't species- or OCC-specific, and they could see them in action)Ideally through. psychic connection like telepathy or sense psionics), I say they could pick up appropriate new powers.

darthauthor wrote:If a RIfts Mind Melter or another Psychic character class went dimension adventuring with a Shifter buddy could they learn psionics native to Palladium Fantasy, BTS, and Nightbane?

We don't require a dimension hopping adventure to learn psychic powers provided:
-the Psychic's Native Setting takes precedence in terms of power categorization and description (for example Rifts/PF a Psi-Sword is Super Category, but if in Nightbane it was in the Physical Category instead (off hand I don't know if this is the actual case, I don't have Nightbane), a Rifts/PF Character could only take it as a Super)
-the settings use the same Power Categorization format (IINM some settings don't have powers by Category, but also by Level such as 1E PF, see their GM-Shield on the Cutting Room Floor), this is for simplicity (we don't have to work out how Power Categorizations translate between settings).
-the powers cannot be restricted or considered restricted by/to RCC/OCC/PCC (example the Mystic Martial Arts powers in Rifts CB1r or DB3 that are ISP powered, would not be available, Animal Psychic Powers in HU2E would also be restricted). Now in some cases you could change your class, but that is another can of worms I would seek to avoid.
-powers are really region specific (example Astral Golem is only really viable on the Astral Plane, so if you haven't visited the Astral Plane, you can't take it without have spent some time there)

darthauthor wrote:Can they just see a psychic use the psionics?

Do they need a teacher?

Actually, it isn't clear how psychics "learn" or "unlock" their new powers when they level up IMHO. Presumably they've been working on developing their talents off to the side by some means and when they level up, they have "mastered" the ability to be able to use it reliably.

I would say they can learn the psychic abilities if they are not, for some reason, race or class restricted (Mind Bleeder powers, or a Burster's abilities, for example), and they can conceive of them... like, I think it would take a conceptual shift for someone from the Palladium World to learn Machine Ghost, simply because the ideas behind it are so alien to someone who lives in a world of sword and sorcery, not science and computers.

A good discussion point would be Rift's Mind Melter traveling to Palladium Fantasy where the physical psionic Teleport Object exists. It's a minor power, but it doesn't exist in Rifts. If the MM leveled up while in PF, would he/she be able to snag that psionic?

Mack wrote:A good discussion point would be Rift's Mind Melter traveling to Palladium Fantasy where the physical psionic Teleport Object exists. It's a minor power, but it doesn't exist in Rifts. If the MM leveled up while in PF, would he/she be able to snag that psionic?

Personally, I'd allow them to snag it without travelling; it's a fairly standard power, not really limited. It just doesn't appear in any Rifts book to date.

Champion Prysus shared some excellent insights about pyshics and developing psionic abilities.

Along the lines of their insights I feel that psionics (like a mystic develops magic) can either happen randomly or a psychic trains toward the new psionic powers they want to develop. I guess the difference lies in what the psychic believes/knows is possible and what they can experiment towards.

if they experiment, I imagine, developing new psionics powers would be like spell invention. So with spells in mind, new psionics (not in any Palladium Book) could be gained but through the same methods a spell caster would experiment and train for a new spell (veration on an existing one or entirely new - made from scratch).

What remains to be determined are the details like range, duration, ISP cost, saving throws, level requirements, etc.

The possibilities are greater but so are the potenial for abuse and great power scale imbalances. Hey, welcome to Rifts!

I'd limit it to a greater degree than I would magic.
No transmuting one substance or person into another thing (flesh to stone, metaphorasis, etc) although I would allow for greater powers of illusion, mind control, mind over matter, different types of damage.
Real out of bonds stuff would involve time travel, seeing the future with perfect prediction, and that sort of thing.

darthauthor wrote:If a RIfts Mind Melter or another Psychic character class went dimension adventuring with a Shifter buddy could they learn psionics native to Palladium Fantasy, BTS, and Nightbane?

For Example, could a Rifts Mind Melter learn Astral Navigation, Astral Transference, Insert Memory, Attack Disease, etc.
What, if any are the requirements?
Can they just hear about it via word of mouth?

Can they just see a psychic use the psionics?

Do they need a teacher?

Do they have to level up in that dimension?

Please, share your thoughts?

I've allowed it without the dimension hopping. Psionics from Palladium Fantasy, Heroes Unlimited 2nd Edition, and the Nightbane sourcebooks slot in fairly well imo. Psychic powers from the main Nightbane Book and the powers from Beyond the Supernatural 2nd Edition require a bit more adjudication by the GM since they have different power structures. But in general, if the Mind Melter player wanted a power from outside Rifts when they level up amd can gain new powers,, I'd generally allow them to take it. A conversion for MDC may necessary, that would be up to the GM.

I played a Mind Mage in a Palladium Fantasy game and the GM let me bring in powers from across the Megaverse - he would review the power, make some adjustments as he felt necessary for the game, and if I was satisfied I'd learn that power. I ended up compiling a large list of powers by the time the character reached level 23

My own take on it is that you can learn it if you know about it. So once your dimensional traveling psychic gets home, he can still learn anything he encountered elsewhere.

BTW
Newly joined here on this board (though I was an active poster on the old boards years ago), but I can't find a rule section. Is resurrecting old/dead threads allowed here, and if not, what's the cut off?

IIRC Rifter #30 has a section about exchanging spell slots for psi powers, among other things.

killgore444 wrote:BTW
Newly joined here on this board (though I was an active poster on the old boards years ago), but I can't find a rule section. Is resurrecting old/dead threads allowed here, and if not, what's the cut off?

Welcome, or I guess welcome back?
In general the rules thread is at the top of the list of topics in each section, but here is a link: viewtopic.php?f=1&t=104657
And this will take you directly to the necro-posting part: viewtopic.php?f=1&t=104657#p2839141
But the germane portion is:

If a topic is 12 months old [based on the last post, not the first], please start a new topic and if you need to, either:

1. Quote the original topic and/or
2. link to the original topic

13eowulf wrote:In general the rules thread is at the top of the list of topics in each section, but here is a link: https://palladiumbooks.com/forums/viewt ... 1&t=104657
And this will take you directly to the necro-posting part: https://palladiumbooks.com/forums/viewt ... 7#p2839141

Thanks! I'm used to boards that have a separate forum for rules.

But the germane portion is:

If a topic is 12 months old [based on the last post, not the first], please start a new topic and if you need to, either:

1. Quote the original topic and/or
2. link to the original topic

And double thanks.
That will cut my reading time a bit since the vast majority of rules are the same across the boards.
Except apparently Necroing.