Psionic Abilities
With version 5.11, basic support for psionic abilities has been added to Twodsix. Abilities (or talents) are specific actions that a psionic actor can take - similar to spells. Note that only basic support is provided at this time. For example, abilities that scale with use are not supported.
Some rulesets require a skill roll to successfully use the psionic ability. Cepheus Engine is an example of a system where a skill roll is required to use psionic abilities. Other rulesets, such as Cepheus Deluxe Enhanced Edition, only require the expenditure of psionic points - there is no skill roll. To accommodate this difference, there is a new advanced rule setting (under rolls tab) to define whether or not a skill roll is needed to use a psionic ability.
The psionic ability sheet looks very similar to a spell or trait sheet, but depends on the Psionics Require Roll setting. With this setting true, the item sheet looks like,
When the setting is false, the 'Assign Skill', 'Difficulty Modifier', and 'Roll/Dice Modifier' fields are hidden. Also, it is important to note that the Roll/Dice modifier acts as a "level" for those rules that require individual levels for abilities / talents. This Roll/Dice Modifier Value is listed as 'Level' on the Traveller info and Psionic Ability sheet.
Most all the fields that appear on the Psionic Ability Sheet are used on other sheets, such as damage (specified as a roll formula) or range (a value or band depending on the rules setting). Not all abilities cause damage, however - thus the damage field may be left as zero or blank so that no damage roll is made. Unique to the Psionic Ability item sheet is the Psionic Points Cost (described below).
Many abilities can be scaled to affect things such as range, damage, or the power of the ability. Twodsix does not automatically calculate the number of psionic points used. Rather, each ability has a default value (Psionic Points Cost). The player is prompted to enter the number of points used, with the default value being preset in the popup window. Thus, any adjustment for range or strength must be made manually by the person rolling. Points are automatically deducted from the Psionic Strength characteristic. If there are remaining points after all psionic strength is used, these additional points are added as damage. If no points are selected, the action is stopped (i.e. no potential damage roll).
A new section for Psionic Abilities appears on the info tab for the Traveller sheet - just below traits.
Clicking the name of the ability sends its description to the chat. Clicking on the 'Pts.' (Psionic Points) activates the ability and prompts the user to roll a skill and/or specify the number of points to use. Note that the actor must have at least one psionic strength point in order to make a roll. Otherwise, the system stops the action and shows a warning.
Using a psionic ability defaults to the psionic damage type (as opposed to ballistic, for example). Note that the psionic damage type ignores primary armor (but not secondary) when calculating damage. If you change the damage type on the Psionic Ability sheet from Psionic to something else, primary armor protection is applied normally.