This discipline is a variation of biopsionics that focuses on
unleashing the biological possibilities inherent in living
tissue, shaping and influencing it into new forms. Most
powers are at least mildly horrific in execution, often
involving cancerous tumors and hideous growths of flesh.
Legends say that this discipline has been developed by the
Terran Mandate during a series of failed experiments
aiming a the creation of immortal warriors.
As a Main action, the psionic can transform into a
horrifying mass of flesh and dangerous appendages by
Committing Effort for the day. While transformed, they
gain extra hit points, gain a base AC of 13 and their limbs
can be used to attack as a Light or Medium primitive melee
weapon. Any damage is taken off these extra hit points
first, and hit points in excess of the maximum are lost
when the effect ends. During attacks with your teratic
limbs, you always use your Strength attribute and can use
your Teratogenic skill to hit. Unfortunately, the horrifying
nature of this transformation adds one point of System
Strain, prevents the use of normal weaponry, and negates
the effect of any worn armor. The effect can be sustained
at will, up until the end of the scene. This technique cannot
be safely used in overly restraining environments such as
being buried alive or while wearing a vacc suit.
Level-0: The form gives 5 extra hit points.
Level-1: The form gives 10 extra hit points.
Level-2: The form gives 15 extra hit points and your limbs
can function as a Large primitive melee weapon.
Level-3: The form gives 20 extra hit points and its base AC
becomes 15.
Level-4: The form gives 20 extra hit points, increases your
strength modifier by +1, up to +3, and its base AC
becomes 17.
As a Main action, the psychic can Commit Effort for the
scene to induce a brief neural discharge in a subject they
can see with unaided vision, temporarily goading sinews
and nerves into action. On a failed Mental saving throw,
the target performs one action that requires no fine
coordination and no more than one second to complete.
The motion is too uncontrolled to make an effective
attack, but can usually jerk a subject into two meters of
movement, compel them to drop or throw a hand-held
item, or perform other crude motions. Once a subject has
been successfully influenced by a tic, they become immune
to this ability until the end of the scene.
With a touch, the adept can disentangle the cellular bonds
of a target’s surface tissues as a Main Action, causing skin
to slough away and exposed tissues to ulcerate in sudden
self-rebellion. On a failed Mental saving throw, the target
takes 1d10 damage per levels of Teratogenics and one
point of System Strain. On a success, they only take half
damage and no System Strain. This power can only target
a given subject once per scene.
This technique relies on cellular-level alterations that do
not revert with time. Used in a controlled fashion on
themselves, or on a helpless or willing target they can
touch, the psychic is capable of what amounts to cosmetic
surgery as a Main Action, altering the subject’s build,
physical appearance, or even gender in any way desired.
The subject’s basic statistics, abilities and movement
modes do not change. Any alterations take 1d10+12 hours
to complete. Reversing these changes without the help of
a psionic requires cosmetic surgery from a medical center
of at least TL4.
Through mastery of their Teratic Form, the psychic now
only needs to Commit Effort for the duration of the effect
and gain a bonus of +1 damage to all melee attacks for the
duration. If the technique is augmented by other
techniques that come with their own extra or increased
cost, however, this extra cost must still be paid as normal.
This four-hour process requires the sacrifice of a sentient
being and that the adept Commits Effort for the day. Upon
completion of the elaborate and excruciating procedure,
large portions of the victim’s body mass tear away and
transform in a gigantic psychically-active tumor with a
livid human mouth. The adept then must make a Mental
saving throw; on a success, they have controlled the cancer
and can compel it to answer a single question about the
present or future. Answers given are never more than five
words in length and can apply only to the present or
probable future. The tumor and its host invariably die four
or five minutes after the power is used. Psychics make the
best hosts- if such a person is sacrificed, the adept may roll
twice for their Mental Effect saving throw and use the
better roll. A psychic may not inquire about the same
general topic more than once per week.
The psychic can knot a target in sight into debilitating
poses by forcing violent muscular contractions. This Main
Action requires that the psychic Commits Effort for the
day. On a failed Mental saving throw, the subject
immediately curls into a knotted shape and becomes
incapable of launching effective attacks or taking physical
actions. They can still twitch and roll so as to retain their
normal armor class, but they cannot move from their
position. This debility lasts for 1d4+1 rounds. Whether or
not it’s successful, this power can be used on a given target
only once per scene.
The adept expresses dominance over inferior, transient life
by the most primal means possible- devouring them. They
may trigger this power as an Instant Action at no effort
cost whenever they are within melee range of a sentient
target that has been brought to zero hit points within the
last round. They violently draw forth the brain of the
mortally-wounded subject and absorbs the tissue,
regaining 1d6 lost hit points per hit die of the victim at the
cost of 1 System Strain. If the victim is psychic, this
technique does not cost any System Strain and recover 2
points of it instead. The psychic can consume only one
target per round.
A psychic who obtains this level of mastery has altered
their cellular composition to have more in common with
the immortality of a cancer tumor than conventional
human flesh. Such adepts will no longer physically age,
though they remain subject to other perils and needs of the
flesh. They also increase their maximum System Strain by
2 points. By activating this power as an Instant Action and
Committing Effort for the scene, the adept can also
immediately purge themselves of any disease, poison or
radiation. A close medical examination will reveal the
unnatural state of the psychic.
By Committing Effort for the scene as a Main Action, the
adept’s body erupts in countless pseudopods of flesh and
fanged tumors. This effect lasts until the end of the scene
or until the psychic wills it to stop. At the end of each of
their turn, every targeted enemy within melee range takes
1d6 damage from these tendrils, with an Evasion saving
throw for no damage. The tendrils also grant a +1 AC
bonus to the adept and add 1 System Strain. This ability
cannot be used while wearing environment-sealed armor.
At the pinnacle of this discipline the psychic obtains
perfect control over the shapes of the living around them.
When this power is directed at a living touched target by
Committing Effort for the day as a Main Action, the
psychic rolls 4d8, with the target allowed a Mental saving
throw to halve the roll. If the resulting total is equal to or
greater than the subject’s current hit points, it is instantly
transformed into any living creature of the same
approximate mass. The psychic has total control over this
being’s appearance, shape, and traits, though no mental
control is imparted and the subject’s mind is not altered.
The GM has the final call as to whether a given shape’s
abilities are appropriate. This ability cannot be reversed by
conventional science, though the psychic can always
change a subject back if desired. This ability can be used on
the psychic themselves, if their natural resilience is first
depleted sufficiently.
The ultimate proof of teratogenic skill is the creation of a
self-sustaining abomination of cancerous mass, with
numerous limbs, fangs and claws. By Committing Effort
for the day, the psychic can implant a special, hidden tumor
in a helpless or willing sentient being. The tumor can only
be detected and treated by TL4 medical gear and needs 12
hours to reach critical mass. The psychic can trigger any
fully grown tumor within visual range as a Main Action,
causing a chain reaction that instantly kills the victims.
Each victim’s dead body then begins a new life as a teratic
abomination that aggressively seeks to grow by consuming
the flesh of nearby sentient beings. The abomination does
not obey its creator but instinctively ignores its presence
unless provoked directly. This shifting creation starts at 3
hit dice. Each time it kills a sentient being, it consumes it,
gaining 1 hit dice, up 12 total hit dice, at which point every
kill heals the abomination for 1d8 hit points instead.
Additionally, it has an AC of 14 and a movement speed of
15m, and can attack a number of times per round equal to
a third of it’s total hit dice, rounded down. Each attack has
a to-hit bonus equal to the abomination’s hit dice and deals
1d10 damage with a Shock quality of 3 against AC 15 or
less. Psychics make the best host for these tumors, giving a
bonus of 3 starting and maximum hit dice to the creation.
Adapted from Cult of the Still Lady by u/Hemejef