So, I couldn't find my old work -- apparently hadn't survived various hard drives over the years -- so I'm going to adapt from scratch. Basically, the idea is that there are certain spells that actually duplicate closely the effects of certain psychic abilities -- for example, See Aura and Telekinesis -- so I could see a mage coming up with additional such "conversions" for some of the others.
Mask P.P.E.:Level: 1st
Range: self
Duration: 5 minutes per level of experience; double the duration near ley lines, and triple near a ley line nexus
P.P.E. Cost: 7
Effects: A spell that allows the character to completely mask all but 1D4 P.P.E. of his personal P.P.E. base. Characters who can sense magic energy or see auras will assume the character has an insignificant amount of P.P.E., and no magical abilities. This spell is particularly good as protection against Psi-Stalkers and other P.P.E. vampires, as well as sensitives such as Dog Boys.
Gem for Techno-Wizardry Items: Tiger Eye (3,000CR/carat).
Mask I.S.P. & PsionicsLevel: 1st
Range: self
Duration: 5 minutes per level of experience; double the duration near ley lines, and triple near a ley line nexus
P.P.E. Cost: 4
Effects: A spell that allows the character to completely mask all spiritual aspects of his psychic energies & powers, including temporarily altering their aura. Characters who can detect psychic abilities or see auras will not sense the character's psychic abilities. However, because the spell partially blocks them off from the psychic world, it will interfere with their ability to use their own psychic senses & abilities: double the normal I.S.P. cost to use their abilities; if the ability has no I.S.P. cost but has a percentage chance to use, drop the percentage chance to half normal; if there is no I.S.P. cost and no percentage chance to use the ability, the range and duration will be cut in half instead.
Gem for Techno-Wizardry Items: Tiger Eye (3,000CR/carat).
Alter AuraLevel: 2nd
Range: self
Duration: 30 minutes per level of experience
P.P.E. Cost: 2 or 6 (see below)
Effects: Psychics and other beings that can see auras know that every living being (and some undead ones) have an otherwise-invisible, colorful energy field that surrounds them, which skilled observers can use to determine certain aspects of that person's capabilities. With this spell, however, the user can change his aura to look completely different than normal: stronger/weaker, more/less physically fit, lacking/possessing psychic abilities, evil vs. good, etc. Possible alterations include:
- General level of experience can look lower (1 or 2 levels less) or higher (+1D4+3 levels) than his true level
- Conceal his true alignment & overlay it with another alignment of any type
- Can choose to partially mask their I.S.P. base to be less than it truly is, or even hide all psychic ability (but cannot pretend to have a larger I.S.P. base)
- Conceal base P.P.E., making it appear to be only 1 or 2 P.P.E.
- Conceal the presence of magical ability (but only applies to his innate abilities; cannot mask the magical abilities of any items he carries. But see below)
- Conceal his true physical attributes, anywhere from half actual to 30% higher
- Can make it appear that he is weak or sickly (i.e. suffering from cancer), or even fatigued
- Can appear agitated, unstable, or depressed (but not aggressive or alert)
- If the mage expends 6 P.P.E., he can adjust his aura to appear as if he's terminally ill or possessed.
Gem for Techno-Wizardry Items: Tiger Eye (3,000CR/carat).
Techno-Wizardry Note: When these spells are incorporated into a TW item, the Techno-Wizard will need to designate whether the spell will be used to affect the item itself, or the user of the item. For the
Alter Aura spell, I would recommend that each particular adjustment (i.e. alignment, level, attributes, psychic ability, etc.) require a separate application of the spell in the spell chain (although no additional gems will be required); however, if the adjustment itself is
fixed and cannot be altered when used (i.e. item is set to always show the character is 3 levels higher than their actual level), reduce the P.P.E. cost by 50%.
Note that neither these spells, nor the similar psionic powers they're based on, will prevent the detection of any
overt use of magic. For example, even if your P.P.E. base is masked to the point that it looks like you only have 3 P.P.E., a Coalition Dog Boy
won't ignore you if you have a glowing ball of light (
Globe of Daylight) floating around you, or you just flung a
Fire Ball at a UAR-1 Enforcer.
As for the usefulness of these, especially the
Alter Aura spell...imagine a psychic or mage assassin, that plans on using surgery, spells, or some other ability to mimic a known associate of the target...but the target uses security that can see auras & detect said abilities. By utilizing these spells, the assassin could mask their abilities, or even alter their aura, so that they can better take the place of the known associate, allowing them to get close enough to their target.