Mental Armor Class (MAC)

All characters and creatures have mental armor classes (MACs). While physical Armor Classes protect a body from physical attacks, MACs provide protection from psionic attacks. The MAC rating ranges from minimal defense (MAC 10) to maximum defense (MAC –10); there are no MACs worse than 10 or better than –10.

As with standard Armor Class, the higher the MAC number, the more vulnerable the character is to psionic attack. Likewise, with all attacks, a roll of 20 always hits and a roll of 1 always misses, regardless of the target’s MAC number.

For those who have copies of The Complete Psionics Handbook and who want to continue using the “optional results” rules (page 28), make the following change. A roll of a power’s MAC score gives the good result (what used to be signified by a roll of the power score), while a roll of 1 gives the bad result (what used to happen on a roll of 20).

To determine a base MAC number, find the character’s Wisdom score on Table 74 below. Then find the character’s Intelligence score and add the indicated MAC modifier. MACs can be improved through proficiencies and other means, as detailed later.

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