Precognition

"'The practice of foresight as a psychic discipline sounds like some form of magic, when first encountered. However, it is merely the ability for psychics to momentarily bend the flow of time so that they can witness the most probable future events before they occur. While most would consider precognition to be an invaluable skill for our soldiers, the nature of this discipline makes it difficult to properly implement in squad tactics.' - Dr O'Hara - Lead Psychic Researcher - Psychic Protection Division."The discipline of Precognition allows a psychic to use an innate sense to read the metadimensional currents inside their mind to glean possible futures.

Readings provided by Precognition tend to be focused on the psychic and what they find interesting or important. Matters irrelevant to the seer are unlikely to be noticed, even if they are of critical importance to those involved. More advanced techniques of Precognition can even influence the future, adjusting probabilities by changing or pruning certain metadimensional currents.

The future is not carved in stone. Oracles can be falsified by present action or sheer random chance. When a reading is ambiguous or the future seems uncertain, the GM should simply give the most probable reading for the power as their own judgement recommends.

Precognition is strictly future-oriented. For assorted complex reasons, the past is vastly more difficult to observe with psionic powers, and postcognition is generally considered impossible.

Precogs are generally viewed with considerable unease by the general population. They’re not as widely feared as telepaths, but the uncanny powers of foresight they possess can make them difficult company. They can earn very substantial sums of money from those desperate to learn of some future outcome, but the specificity of their visions makes it difficult for them to perceive large-scale future events.

A precog can see a city in flames or a stock market board showing a crash, but even the most powerful can’t tell if the conflagration is just a limited local disaster or a planet-consuming catastrophe, nor can they tell if the crash is a temporary pullback in the market or a harbinger of global depression. Many precogs have difficulty dealing with this ambiguity, and some become fixed on personal interpretations of their visions that may or may not play out as they have seen.

Bending the Future
"'I've seen scientists and researchers pile a bunch of Precognition psychics into a room and tell them to predict a future event together. Of course, it fails and then the researchers try to use this data to discredit Precognition as a discipline. What the idiots don't realise is that if you have multiple precogs focusing on the same future event, the future event becomes much clearer. The causes become easier to identify and change. The simple fact is that when the future becomes easier to change, it also becomes harder to predict.' Callum Ferros - Precognition Psychic and Head of Precognition Research - Psychic Protection Division."Everything a precog sees is provisional. Some outcomes may be so likely as to be nigh-certain, but nothing is absolutely truly destined. Vigorous activity or simple unexpected chance can skew future outcomes.

This effect is one reason why choirs of precogs have not been more widely exploited by planetary governments. The clearer and more detailed the future outcome becomes, the simpler it is to find the crucial events that can be changed to derail it. The more intense the precognitive focus toward a future event, the more fluid it becomes as fresh readings take into account the countermoves that others have made.

Rumors persist of ancient pretech augmentation hardware that can "fix" future outcomes, but most governments lack the resources to even consider such extravagance.

Core Technique - Oracle
The first technique a precog learns gives them a better intuitive understanding of their own future.

Each invocation of the Oracle technique requires a Main Action and requires Effort to be committed for the day. Once triggered, the psychic gets a single brief vision related to a question about the future that they are asking. This vision is always from their own personal vantage point, and never reveals more than a minute of insight, though the psychic can process the vision almost instantly as part of the power's use.

The GM should answer the question as if the PC were about to perform the act or engage in the investigation pertinent to the question. Thus, if the adept wanted to know what pressing a button would do and the GM knows that it’s connected to a bomb, the psychic might get a vision of sudden death. If the bomb were on a time delay that extended past the time horizon of the oracle, however, the psychic might just see a vision of themselves waiting patiently, with nothing happening.

Visions should relate to actions and events, not abstract facts. Oracle couldn’t tell a psychic who the crime boss of a slum neighborhood is, for example, but it could give a vision of the psychic caught in the next bloody riot and the gang boss who’s directing the myriad thugs. It couldn’t reveal the name of a security guard, but it could show the seer the impending moment that the next guard patrol will enter the area the psychic plans to infiltrate. Only the most important or significant information is conveyed by the technique, even if multiple events of interest might transpire during the time horizon.

Oracle can only be used on a given question or topic once until the situation changes substantially or a week goes by. The maximum time horizon of the Oracle increases as the psychic's Precognition skill improves

Level-0: One minute into the future.

Level-1: One day into the future.

Level-2: One week into the future.

Level-3: Three months into the future.

Level-4: One year into the future.

Intuitive Response
"'Some precogs have the ability to respond faster than anyone when weapons start drawing. Can't tell ya how useful it's been for me, personally, to be able to shoot first when the tensions reach breaking point. Saved the lives of me and my crew on more than one occasion' - Callum Ferros - Precognition Psychic and Head of Precognition Research - Psychic Protection Division"With this technique, a psychic can become one of the first people to act in combat.

As an Instant action, the precog can commit Effort for the scene just before they roll Initiative. By doing this, their initiative score is treated with Priority, and they can act before anyone else in the scene.

If another participant has this power, then roll initiative normally to determine which of them goes first, and then the rest of the combatants act after everyone with Priority has acted.

This ability cannot be used if the psychic has been surprised.

Sense the Need
"'On several occasions, I've had this sudden urge to pick up some object and keep it with me. Can't really explain it, but in the end, it always turns out that I needed that object for some task I'd need in the future.' - Callum Ferros - Precognition Psychic and Head of Precognition Research - Psychic Protection Division"This technique gives the psychic a vague premonition that a particular object would be needed.

By triggering this power as an Instant action and committing Effort for the day, the psychic can retroactively declare that they brought along any one object that they could have reasonably acquired and carried to this point.

This object must be plausible given recent events; if a psychic has been strip-searched, very few objects could reasonably have been kept, while a psychic who has just passed through a weapons check could still have a loaded laser pistol.

Terminal Reflection
"'One of the most common things a precog goes through as they're learning their powers, are the many visions of impending harm and danger that trigger unannounced. These visions are always of future events in with the precog will be hurt unless they take a different course of action. It's a very useful sense to have, but dear God is it really fucking depressing to have to watch yourself get hurt over and over again.' - Callum Ferros - Precognition Psychic and Head of Precognition Research - Psychic Protection Division"With this technique, the psychic automatically receives visions for impending danger.

The psychic's Oracle power automatically triggers as an Instant action moments before some unexpected danger or ambush, giving the precog a brief vision of the impending hazard. This warning comes just in time to avoid springing a trap or to negate combat surprise for the precog and their companions.

If the precog does not immediately commit Effort for the day, this sense goes numb and this technique cannot be used for the rest of the day.

Level-2 Techniques
"'Seeing the future, or having vague premonitions about future events is one thing. It is entirely another to be able to use Precognition to actually shape the future. It is a difficult process, dangerous even, but the rewards that come with a do-over? Priceless, if you ask me.' - Callum Ferros - Precognition Psychic and Head of Precognition Research - Psychic Protection Division"

Alternate Outcome
"'Top of the list, being able to know when someone's gonna fuck up. Trust me, we all know that it happens, and making sure it doesn't is one of the key ways that precogs can change the future. It's a difficult thing, though. Don't expect that you'll be able to do it twice.'"With this technique, the psychic can sense impending failure and attempt to salvage the action.

As an Instant action, the precog can target a visible ally or their own self and commit Effort for the day to allow the target to reroll a failed hit roll, saving throw, or skill check, taking the better of the two rolls.

This power disrupts the delicate lines of probability however, and cannot be used more than once per day on any given target.

Destiny's Shield
"'Getting hurt is bad, and when your physical actions ain't enough, it helps to have a fallback power to get you out of trouble. One of the key things that people don't realise about precognition is the fact that random chance really fucks with prediction. Sometimes, a guy just gets lucky. In such cases, we precogs can 'jump' to a different timeline where the guy maybe didn't get so lucky. Of course, I say maybe. If our 'jump' doesn't work, and the guy gets lucky twice, then the penalty for failure is a lot more drastic. Possibly even fatal.' Callum Ferros - Precognition Psychic and Head of Precognition Research - Psychic Protection Division"With this technique, a psychic observes an incoming injury and tries to find an alternate future in which the attack misses.

As an Instant action, the precog can commit Effort for the day to force an attacker to reroll a successful hit roll. This technique only works on attacks against a psychic's person, not against attacks aimed at a vehicle they are occupying or harm that doesn't involved an attack roll.

If the rerolled attack still hits, however, the damage done is maximised. This technique can only be used once per incoming attack.

O'Hara's Notes
Warning: The following documents are classified under CODE PSYPROT. Only members with the necessary clearance have the authority to access these files. Dissemination of these files will result in severe disciplinary action."'One of my apprentices, Ferros, has been delving deeply into his studies regarding Precognition. I am not entirely sure what is driving him, however, it is clear he has much potential. Perhaps I should tutor him in some more advanced techniques.' Dr O'Hara's Personal Journal"

Anguished Vision
"'Training with O'Hara has broadened my foresight dramatically. If I focus myself enough, I can trigger a six-second-long vision of the future, much clearer than anything that Oracle could provide me with. I wonder what other techniques the big boss has been hiding from us.' Callum Ferros - Precognition Psychic and Head of Precognition Research - Psychic Protection Division"With this technique, a psychic's precognition is sophisticated enough to clearly foresee several seconds into the future.

As an Instant action, the psychic may Commit Effort for the day and declare that what they have just done or seen is a vision of the immediate future. Time rolls back to the start of the initiative count in a combat turn, or six seconds earlier if out of combat. Nothing that has happened during that round has really come to pass yet.

This ability is tremendously draining, and can only be used once per day.

Cursed Luck
"'Precognition is an inaccurate term to describe the discipline. Yes, the most obvious use of the discipline is to see the future. However, Precognition deals with probability a lot more than it does foresight. Case in point, a precog can use their powers to influence the luck of other people around them. Offensively, this has significant applications in combat situations.' - Dr O'Hara - Lead Psychic Researcher - Psychic Protection Division"

Forced Outcome
"'I remember entering a casino one time. Probably the biggest payday I ever made. It was on the roulette wheels. I made a few safe bets to start off with, earn some spending money. Then, I made a crazy bet. Lucky 7. Of course, being a psychic with the ability to manipulate probability, I made sure that Lucky 7 was especially lucky that night. Walked out a hell of a lot richer.' - Callum Ferros - Precognition Psychic and Head of Precognition Research - Psychic Protection Division"With this technique, a psychic can influence random physical events in their vicinity.

Triggering this technique requires a Main Action and committing Effort for the scene. Any simple, random mechanical outcome can be completely controlled for the scene, such as a roulette wheel or the order of a deck of shuffled cards. Any other physical event in the area that seems not-entirely-implausible may be made to occur by this technique, provided that it doesn't involve more than a few objects and doesn't require human involvement.

The GM decides what random events are and are not adequately possible. Anything more than one unusual coincidence or chance per scene is likely impossible to produce.

Not My Time
"'Quite a few historians theorise that a majority of today's feral psychics were masters of the Precognition discipline when the Scream came. They cite that this technique wrenched them from a future in which they died, to a future in which they were driven irrevocably insane from psychic burnout. Of course, that isn't to say that this technique is a terrible one. Merely one with grave consequences in the wrong situations.' - Dr O'Hara - Lead Psychic Researcher - Psychic Protection Division"With this technique, a psychic can instinctively wrench lines of probability away from futures in which they are about to die.

This technique triggers automatically when the precog is about to die, provided they can commit Effort for the day. On triggering, random events somehow conspire to leave the precog alive, even if outrageous coincidences and ridiculous luck are required.

Provided the precog doesn't intentionally thrust themselves back into danger, their life is secured for the next few minutes at least, though there is no guarantee that the psychic will survive intact in mind and body.

This technique can trigger no more than once per week.

Prophecy
"'Been hearing a lot about how masters of the Precognition discipline are capable of shaping their destiny. I don't mean that in some kind of metaphorical sense, I mean literally. I'm reaching the limit of what I can learn under O'Hara, and even he's been taking a huge risk by training me as much as he has. If I can't master my discipline under the Federation, then there's only one thing left to do.' Callum Ferros' Personal Journal, final entry before disappearance."With this technique, a psychic's precognitive power extends to dictating future events that directly involve them.

As a Main Action, the precognitive PC may make one prediction involving the future within the next year. Provided they take reasonable measures to enable this prediction1, that no direct resistance is mounted by an enemy2, and that the prediction doesn't seem highly improbably to the GM, it will come to pass.
 * "Reasonable measures" means that the precog must make an effort to ensure the prediction comes true.

The psychic must commit Effort when the power is used, and the Effort remains committed until the prophecy comes to pass or is abandoned. This ability cannot be used more than once per month and only one prophecy may be active at a time.
 * "Direct resistance" must come from an enemy that knows about the prophecy. An enemy that does not know about the prophecy cannot work to counteract it inadvertently.