Psi
Psionics, or psi (yes, it had to be psi, just like Jaws had to be a shark), is a central device in the Legion 16 story. Psi has very specific rules and serious effects in this story.
Psi abilities are rare, surrounded by misinformation and stigma, feared, and highly sought after for military and political purposes. For those reasons, those with abilities protect their status and rarely disclose it.
Unlike psi in other stories/worlds, Legion 16's psi is all mental, no physical. In other words, teleportation, telekinesis, pyrokinesis, etc are not present. To be used, the user and the target must be in proximity to each other (so no telepathy across oceans or dominating someone in another country). Also unlike psi in other stories, usage incurs physical consequences on the wielder.
This page outlines all psi rules, definitions, and canon character users. All characters listed below are in the current canon story (somewhere) and do not factor into First or Second Election eras.
If you're looking for characters associated with psi or the Nightmare That Walks, click here.
General Distribution
The below percentages are based on known numbers (e.g. Of the psis known to show an active ability, 10% have domination. Doesn’t mean that is their primary ability) and percentages may not add up to 100 due to being mixed with other abilities. Percentages in all cases are estimates only.
% of population enabled
0.00001% (1/100,000)
~5,000 with psi
% of population unenabled
99% (1/100,000)
~5,000,000,000 without psi
% of population blocked
1% (1,000/100,000)
~50,000,000 immune to psi
Active/Aggressive
Usage effects - Heavy
Domination
Extraction
Flooding
10% (500)
8% (400)
10% (500)
Implantation
Laceration
Mindwalking
15% (750)
3% (150)
0.05% (25)
Static
Usage effects - Moderate
Blanking
Block breaking
Differentiation
Erasing
Hypnosis
Masking
25% (1250)
?
10% (500)
15% (750)
10% (500)
30% (1500)
Mindreading
Persuasion
Suppression
Telepathy
Tracking
10% (500)
40% (2000)
8% (400)
90% (4500)
?
Bleeding (cranial)
Death
Dazed
Fatigue
Reflection
Stasis
Vomiting
Usage effects - Mild/None
Discernment
Empathy
35% (1750)
70% (3500)
Sensitivity
1% (50)
Definitions
A
Able – Someone with a psi ability
Active/Aggressive - Abilities requiring conscious thought, effort, or concentration
-
Can backfire onto the Able
-
Can be turned on and off, like a switch
-
Can only be paired with active or static abilities
-
Solitary abilities are stronger than ones that are part of a pair
B
Blanking - Incur short-term memory loss with a good chance of recovery (amnesia)
Block – Someone who cannot be affected by any ability and does not have an ability
-
Known/Suspected Blocks – Both Kadianns, Riordann Sielleigh, Taiyo Ngarĩ, Valerinn Hammond
Block Break – Make a Block susceptible to psi influence
C
No definitions
D
Differentiation – Determine if a psi ability is being used, up to and including the specific ability
Discernment - Detect the general presence of another person, up to and including an individual's identity
Domination - Force someone to perform an act, up to and including acts they would not normally do (mind control)
E
Empathy - Sense and read emotions/intent, up to and including whether someone is lying
Erasing - Erase memory/mind forever (no chance of recovery). Can produce “zombie” like state; aimless wandering, drooling, vacant stare, etc.
Extraction - Extract specific thought/information from another; does not require active thinking by the target
F
Flooding – Flood the target’s mind with an “internal movie” as though it is happening in real life
Free – Someone who can be affected by an ability and does not have an ability
G
No definitions
H
Hypnosis - Convince someone to do something; short-term trance state up to and including use of a ‘trigger’ word, phrase, image, or sound. Cannot make a person do something they would not normally do (i.e. If the target wouldn’t normally kill someone, being hypnotized won’t make them)
I
Implantation - Implant a thought/idea/memory into a target. Unlike flooding, the thought/idea/memory becomes permanent
J-K
No definitions
L
Laceration - Creates severe cranial bleeding which can result in injury up to and including death
M
Masking – Obscure presence from Discerners/ Sensitives or temporarily change someone's appearance
Mindreading - Read another's active thoughts (all of them)
-
Limited – Most common. Requires effort, is turned on/off like a switch, and does have standard usage effects
-
Unlimited – Extremely rare. Requires no effort, is always on, causes insanity
Mindwalking - Includes 3 -7 active or static abilities (never any passive)
-
Telepathy - if present, always specific
-
Higher ability loads increase Able fragility
-
Unique internal presentation
-
If Laceration is included, unclassified lethal sub-ability of 'steel barbed hook' may be present
N-O
No definitions
P
Passive - Abilities requiring no conscious thought, effort, or concentration from the Able
-
Cannot harm the Able
-
Always on in the background
-
Can only be paired with passive or static abilities
-
Solitary abilities are stronger than ones that are part of a pair
Persuasion - Convince someone to do something (make it sound like a good idea at the time)
Q-R
Reflection - The ability may be reflected back onto/effect the user.
S
Sensitivity - Detect the presence of psi abilities, up to and including identifying specific abilities
Stasis – Coma-like period of rest required by all Actives following significant use of their ability
-
Duration depends on ability, usage, resistance, etc.
-
Can require medical support
-
May be required by a Static or Passive user following an Active attack
Static – Abilities that fall between Active and Passive
-
Can backfire onto the Able
-
Can be turned on and off, like a switch
-
Can only be paired with active or passive abilities
-
Solitary abilities are stronger than ones that are part of a pair
Suppression - Suppress psionic abilities
T
Telepathy - Conduct silent conversation with another person. Said to feel like water trickling in sinuses. Sometimes called "broadcasting"
-
Limited - Most common. Can only do with those of like or greater telepathic capacity
-
Specific – Can only broadcast with a highly trained, unlimited telepath
-
Unlimited - Can broadcast to anyone, regardless of ability without limitations (excepting Blocks). Has limited ability to block broadcasting attempts
Tracking – Ability to “tag” a target with a psi beacon so they can be found later. Only one known Able is capable of this
U-Z
No definitions
Known Psionics*
If you're looking for characters associated with psi or the Nightmare that Walks, click here.
Not all characters listed below are on the Character page.
Name | Ability | Telepathy |
---|---|---|
Andzell | Empathy/Persuasion | l |
Brexx | Laceration | s |
Cadell | Extraction/Hypnosis | l |
Cori | Masking | l |
Cristoff | Domination | l |
Dolann | Domination | l |
Dorriann | Extraction/Implantation | l |
Dupree | Laceration | s |
Elle | Implantation/Mindreading (l) | l |
Evann | Differentiation/Suppression | l |
Finn | Implantation/Blanking | l |
Genna | Hypnosis/Persuasion | l |
Geoff | Hypnosis/Persuasion | l |
Gerrard | Discernment | l |
Haase | Mindreading (l)/Persuasion | l |
Helene | Persuasion | l |
Illiann | Domination/Erasing | s |
Irena | Mindwalking - Domination, Laceration, Blanking, Erasing, Suppression | s |
Jacksonn | Persuasion/Suppression | ul |
Jarrdenn | Empathy | l |
Lael | Erasing/Suppression | l |
Marcayl | Discerment/Telepathy | ul |
Myrrinn | Mindwalking - Domination, Extraction, Implantation, Laceration, Flooding, Persuasion, Suppression | s |
Noaal | Empathy/Hypnosis | l |
Ornai | Empathy | ul |
Perry | Blanking/Persuasion | l |
Praett | Implantation/Suppression | l |
Ragghn | Mindwalking - Domination, Extraction, Implantation, Laceration, Differentiation | s |
Rai | Empathy/Differentiation | ul |
Reese | Suppression | l |
Semmina | Sensitivity/Empathy | l |
Sherrard | Telepathy/Differentiation | ul |
Taerynn | Hypnosis | l |
Tam | Masking/Suppression | l |
Tripp | Telepathy | l |
Vargyll | Blanking | l |
Vivyan | Mindwalking - Persuasion, Suppression, Masking, Block Break, Tracking. No kill ability | l |
Wade | Domination | l |
Wyatt | Implantation/Suppression | s |
Yyriss | Mindreading (ul) | ul |
*This is not an all-inclusive list and may include characters not in the published canon story.
This list does not include random encounters, fights, or psis living elsewhere that aren't featured in canon, published or unpublished.