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 rules sets, 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. With the setting true,
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. It is listed as level on the Traveller sheet.
All these fields are used with 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 - thus the damage field may be left as zero or blank so that no roll is made. Unique 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. So any adjustment for range or strength must be made manually. Points are automatically deducted from the Psionic Strength characteristic. If there are remaining points, these 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 point in order to make a roll. Otherwise, the system stops the action and shows a warning.