The Five Psionic Defenses Both psionicists and wild talents develop psionic defenses naturally when they progress in experience, as detailed on the Psionic Progression chart . Psionic defenses are gained without using up any proficiency slots. As with psionic attacks, wild talents may never have more than three of the five psionic defenses.

A character activates a psionic defense at the beginning of a combat round. This defense protects against all psionic attacks launched at the character in that round. The PSP cost is only paid once per round, no matter how many attacks it defends against in that round.

Some psionic attacks are more effective against certain psionic defenses. The reverse is also true. This is represented by modifiers that apply to the attacker’s MTHAC0. See the Psionic Attacks vs. Psionic Defenses , below, for a cross-referenced list of penalties and bonuses.

When a psionic attack clashes with a psionic defense, cross-index the attack with the defense on Table 76. The resulting modifier is applied to the attacker’s MTHAC0. Thus, positive modifiers are bonuses and negative modifiers are penalties.

Combat cards that list psionic attacks and defenses are strongly recommended. Use 3x5 cards; one for each attack or defense that a character has. During a round of psionic combat, each player puts an attack and a defense in front of him, face down, to lock in his action. After all declarations have been made, cards are turned over and combat commences.

There are five psionic defenses. They are intellect fortress , mental barrier , mind blank , thought shield , and tower of iron will . These are described below.

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