I closed my eyes and reached out with my mind, the world around me dimming into a soft blur. The tavern noise faded, replaced by the rhythmic pulse of thought - mine and his. He was across the room, casually flipping a dagger between his fingers, the motion fluid, practiced. I knew then - he had what I needed.

I focused, narrowing my awareness until it brushed against his consciousness. A flicker of resistance met me - natural, instinctive - but I pressed gently, respectfully. Contact. Our minds touched like fingertips grazing in the dark.

Images flooded in: the weight of the dagger in his hand, the subtle shift of balance in his stance, the way his eyes scanned for shadows and escape routes. I didn’t just see it, I felt it. My fingers tingled as if they had already learned the motion. My muscles twitched, eager to mimic what I now understood.

It wasn’t just knowledge. His years of practice, distilled into a moment, were now mine. I could feel the limits, but it was enough. I opened my eyes, and the world snapped back into focus.

The dagger on my belt felt different now. Familiar. I picked it up, and without thinking, spun it across my knuckles. Smooth. Effortless.

I smiled.

Skill Steal (telepathy devotion)

Power Score: Wis -3 / MAC: 7
Initial / PSP Cost: contact / 8
Maintenance Cost: 8 / round
Range: 30 yards
Preparation Time: 1
Area of Effect: personal
Prerequisites: ESP, contact

With this power, the psionicist can delve into a person’s mind to acquire knowledge of one weapon or non-weapon proficiency. Before the skill can be taken, the psionicist must first establish mental contact with the subject. Only the base proficiency is obtained. Proficiencies requiring more than one weapon or non-weapon proficiency slot cannot be gained.

A key requirement is that the psionicist must be aware that the subject possesses the desired skill. This awareness can come from observing the subject using the skill or through psionic means.

Rogue skills may also be acquired in this way, using the psionicist’s own Dexterity score, and any applicable racial bonuses. However, only one skill may be gained at a time. The rogue skill obtained receives a percentage adjustment equal to the psionicist’s level plus their Wisdom modifier.

Note that the power doesn’t rob the target of their knowledge of the skill, they can still utilize it as normal.

Power Score: Two skills may be taken from the same subject, provided the costs for both are paid.

20 - The subject temporarily gains one of the psionicist’s skills for 1d4+1 rounds (chosen by the DM) and must still pay the associated maintenance cost.

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I didn’t see it at first - just a shimmer in the air, like heat rising off stone. Then the pain came.

It wasn’t like a sword slash or a punch. It was sharper, cleaner, as if the air itself had turned against me. One moment I was charging, shield raised, and the next, something invisible sliced across my side. My armor barely slowed it down. I stumbled, clutching at the wound, and that’s when I saw him: eyes glowing faintly, hand outstretched, fingers curled like he was gripping something that wasn’t there.

The blade wasn’t metal or bone. It was thought - pure will honed to a razor’s edge. I could feel it humming in the air, a pressure in my skull like a migraine about to burst. Every time he moved his hand, the blade followed, slashing with impossible precision. I tried to close the distance, but he was faster, more focused. Each strike landed with the force of a hammer and the precision of a scalpel.

I realized too late that he wasn’t just attacking my body - he was reading me, anticipating, adapting. His intellect was his strength, and it cut deeper than steel ever could.

I barely made it out alive.

Telekinetic Blade (psychokinetic science)

Power Score: Int - 3 / MAC: 7 (base)
Initial/ PSP cost: 8+
Maintenance Cost: 8+ / round
Range: 50 yards
Preparation Time: 0
Area of Effect: 10 yards
Prerequisite: project force

The power conjures forth a keen edge of telekinetic force. This blade-like force can be used to attack an opponent within the power’s range. The blade can take the properties of the following weapons for the listed costs and Power Scores / MACs:

The blade stays in existence for as long as the psionicist pays the PSP cost. The psionicist attacks with the blade using his MTHACO for purposes of hitting an opponent’s AC. Intelligence is used instead of the psionicist’s Strength for determining hit and damage bonus. The psionicist receives a number of attacks equal to the amount of psionic attacks he can make in a combat round. Only one blade can be manifested at a time. While the psionic blade is being utilized, the character cannot use any of his psionic attack modes.

Power Score: PSP costs are halved

20 - The blade attacks one of the psionicist’s allies for 1d4+1 rounds after which he can try to regain control by successfully activating the power again.

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We were deep in the ruins of the old citadel, the air thick with dust and the scent of ancient stone. I was just behind Kaelen, our psionicist, when the creature lunged from the shadows - a hulking brute, easily the size of a kank, its furred hide caked in filth…

Kaelen didn’t flinch.

He raised one hand, fingers splayed, and the air around him shimmered like heat rising off desert sand. Then it hit - an unseen force. While I couldn’t see it exactly, I felt it. A tension, like the world itself had taken a breath and held it.

The creature froze mid-charge. Its limbs locked, muscles bulging against an invisible grip. Its eyes, wild and furious, darted in panic. Kaelen’s brow furrowed in concentration, and I saw the veins in his temple pulse with effort. He was holding it. No, crushing it.

The thing let out a strangled roar, but it couldn’t move. Blood began to seep first from its nostrils, then its ears. Its body trembled under the weight of the unseen force. I could hear bones creaking, joints grinding. Every second, it seemed to shrink - not in size, but in spirit, like the life was being wrung out of it.

Kaelen didn’t speak. He just stood there, eyes locked on the beast, sweat beading on his forehead. I knew he was pouring his Will into it, feeding the power with every ounce of his mental strength.

Then, with a final, sickening crunch, the creature collapsed. Not from a blow, not from a blade, but from sheer, unrelenting pressure.

Kaelen exhaled, and the shimmer vanished. The silence that followed was deafening.

I’d seen magic before. I’d seen warriors cleave giants in two. But this… this was different. This was domination, pure and absolute. And it chilled me to my core.

Crushing Force (psychokinetic science)

Power Score: Con - 5 / MAC: 5
Initial / PSP Cost: 10
Maintenance Cost: 5
Range: 30 yards
Preparation Time: 0
Area of Effect: 1 Large-sized or smaller creature
Prerequisite: control body

This science allows the user to exert psychokinetic force around one Large-sized or smaller creature. This effectively paralyzes its victim so long as the psionicist continues paying the PSP cost. While under the power’s effect, the target cannot take any other actions and loses hits points equal to 1d8 plus the target’s AC (not including Dexterity modifier) due to the pressure exerted on their body. The target creature may resist this crushing embrace by making a Strength check with a penalty equal to the amount by which the psionicist exceeded the number he needed to activate the power (for example, Senod the psionicist attempts to crush an attacking Blackspear gith warrior: Senod has a power score of 13, and rolls a 10, giving the gith a -3 penalty on its Strength check to resist the power). If the Strength check is successful, the victim may act normally for that round taking half the damage. This continues until either the creature dies or if the psionicist stops paying the PSP cost.

Power Score: Damage is increased to 1d10.

20 - The psionicist takes the damage instead of the target creature for 1d3 rounds and is unable to take any other actions.