In the core Novus, I put a limit of 7 magic items that may be possessed by a character, and tied this limit to the 7 chakra that are in the body. In the psionic rules I am expanding that explanation to define the chakra as wellsprings or knots of life force for a character, and that the chakra are gateways between the character's own aura and the aura of magical items. Or more generally, between the character's aura and the world around it.
The chakra then actually work to impose a limit on how many psions may be active at one time. No more than 7 in total. And then the Psionic Focus skill would work as a guide to how strong those psions can be. Each psion will have a also have a Psion Focus rating, which will work much like I described in post 11 of this thread, quoted below (I made some changes to the quote to reflect the refinement of ideas...):
Okay, say our psion user has the following abilities (the number in parenthesis represent the costs for using in a given round)
- Dangersense (PF 4) - warns of danger a round before it happens, Will Save (TN18) to activate
- Mindsense (PF 3) - locates all minds within a 50'; add +1 to cost for each aditional 50'; Will Save (TN20) to activate
- Telekinetic Bolt (PF 5) - bolt does 5 points of Base Damage, range 50'; Will Save (TN15) to activate, use Bolt Skill (Favored) to aim/attack with Bolt
- Inertial Shield (PF 3) - gives +2 to AR; +1 for each additional +1
- Deflection Field (PF 3) - gaives +2 to DEF; +1 for each additional +1
Our psion user has a total skill bonus of 10 for his Psionic Focus skill
So, in a given round, he could have Deflection Field, Mindsense and Dangersense all up and running, but could not use any other abilities as he has no more mental capcity left.
If in combat, he could drop the Danger Sense and Mindsense, only keeping the Deflection Field up, but strengthening it to a +4 to DEF (total PF of 5) and still be able to pummel a foe with his telekinetic bolt (at base damage, and base range)
Now, of course, the above numbers are made up... But they give the general idea....
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Additionally, while a character will have a number of slots which determine how many psions he can learn, he must still learn them. The costs of learning will be based upon the Major/Minor distinction of the psion, and upon the Pure/Semi/Wild Psion user categorization of the character. This way, a player won't have to choose his psionic Disciplines immediately (unless he is building a Path, which MUST be defined upfront, even if all the Disciplines in the Path are not purchased right away).
And as mentioned before, each psion would have an Activation roll which worked in a manner similar to a Saving Throw, but had a few minor differences...
The bonus for making the activation roll is as follows (depending upon how many stats are associated with a specific Discipline):
1 stat == 5 + stat bonus (+ any activiation bonuses)
2 stats == 3 + stat bonus 1 + stat bonus 2 (+ any activiation bonuses)
3 stats == stat bonus 1 + stat bonus 2 + stat bonus 3 (+ any activiation bonuses)
As mentioned in the Pure/Semi/Wild Psion descriptions above, a character may purchase a bonus to the activation rolls of an entire Path, or to individual Disciplines. These are quasi-skills in that they provide bonuses, but they also are not effected by increasing costs, and there will most likely be a limit of no more than a single bonus per level allowed (if playing levelless, then that would be no more than +1 to any psion activation roll for every 15 Character Points that the character has spent.
As for the psions themselves. I am trying to limit myself to no more than 100 Minor Disciplines, and no more than 40 Major ones (though I may also try to cut these initial numbers in half just to make things more managable, saving the rest for a later product...
