Character Creation (Psychonauts)

Basics

Characters in Psychonauts are built using a setting-specific ruleset, separate from the base Vector System rules, where Rank is not tied to points available for equipment and so forth.

Each character has a Rank, which is the number of dice in their dice pool that they assign to the five statistics: Agility, Intellect, Psyche, Senses, and Strength. These dice are rolled when that stat is invoked, such as Strength to break down a door, or Senses to look for clues.

Equipment, personality traits, and PSI Powers are bought with points. The following are Rank and point guidelines for various levels of gameplay.

Whispering Rock PSI-Cadets

• Rank: 12
• Equipment: 5 points (GM approval required)
• Personality: 8 points (must have 1 Scar)
• PSI Powers: 12 points

The PSI-Cadets of the Whispering Rock Psychic Summer Camp are psychics-in-training, whose adventures happen circumstantially despite the camp staff doing their best to keep the little tykes out of trouble. But trouble seems to be attracted to psychics, and vice versa. Being novices, their abilities are quite low, but with plenty of room to grow.

Psychonauts Junior Agents

• Rank: 16
• Equipment: 10 points
• Personality: 14 points (must have 1 Scar)
• PSI Powers: 20 points

Junior agents have only just recently gotten their careers off the ground, and so are assigned the smaller scale stuff. Psychic investigations, bodyguard missions, espionage - stuff where they're not likely to screw up, or at least not by much. They are still competent agents, however. Hopefully.

Psychonauts Senior Agents

• Rank: 22
• Equipment: 20 points
• Personality: 18 points (must have 1 Scar)
• PSI Powers: 30 points

Senior agents are the double-o-sevens of the Psychonauts world, the top super spies, the best in the business. They're the ones who chase down the psychic criminals, the volcano-lair-dwelling supervillains, and so forth. Their adventures are larger-than-life and their abilities reflect this.