Psi-soldiers

[AmberImmortal]

What psionic powers do you think would be the most useful for soldiers and military types? Also, how would these Psi-Soldiers be trained?

[say652]

I think a psi soldier would benefit most from clairoyance, sixth sense, bio regenerate, and summon inner strength. standard training would fitthe best,"no special treatment for you mind power sissies, now give me 100 push ups."

[AmberImmortal]

I think a psi soldier would benefit most from clairoyance, sixth sense, bio regenerate, and summon inner strength. standard training would fitthe best,"no special treatment for you mind power sissies, now give me 100 push ups."

That would be good. Like the PAB Psychic field agent from nightbane.

[The Artist Formerly]

A military force that finds itself with the benefit of a psychic soldier is going to put time and resources into such, as it would do with any superhuman member. Spec ops would be the order of the day, with advanced training going into the character build. Just keep in mind the nature of the military and the nation it represents. Resources of a smaller nation could be stressed, leaving noteworthy holes in the character's training package. Engagement rules could have a character sitting on the sidelines rather then in the thick of the fighting.

A quick look through the HU Psi-craft section, and you can see that there aren't a lot of powers that wouldn't be of benefit to a military. It would depend on the character's exact build, but working as medic among a superhuman strike force is an idea. For stealth ops, telekinesis jumps out at me for all kinds of options, everything from stealing key cards to door panels to causing a bad fall from a watch tower. So does the control other powers, useful to changing the mind of the enemy of the state on international T.V. or having one enemy of the state kill another enemy of at the UN building...

In a game where other characters can lift and throw cars around, a psi-character can seem out massed very quickly if one tries for a powerhouse build. Psi-characters need to be more subtle, they don't have the SDC or ISP for extended smash battles. Yes, there are Psi-powers that can boost your ability to smash stuff and eat face punches, but they aren't efficent at it, and there are better ways to build such without using psionics. Now mind jacking someone with those kinds of powers, taking their body for test drive, then letting your victim suffer the consequences of your actions, that is efficent.

[Regularguy]

For stealth ops, telekinesis jumps out at me for all kinds of options, everything from stealing key cards to door panels to causing a bad fall from a watch tower. So does the control other powers

Also, how about an Army interrogator with Empathic Transmission? Instill trust to make the guy believe everything you say, and then simply refrain from life-threatening suggestions; just explain that he should give you lots of truthful answers, and information ensues.

[say652]

an abberant character with the interogation skill could get information much much easier. but anywho here is my idea for a psi soldier aps-metal sixth sense, healing touch, psy diagnosis, psy surgery. military specialist skill set. and lets make him an alien humanlike(no bonuses) abrasive atmosphere homeworld. these are natural abilities for his alien race the whoopassians.lol

[Iczer]

Trinity, quite a good game if i do say so myself, has an entire legion of psychic soldiers. Their core book has a good deal of detail on how these legionnaires are trained vis-a-vis psychic and regular training.

They go through Boot, just as anay other soldier does, but they have their psychic acclimatization followed by specialty training in psionic use

Technically, all the powers would be useful situationally. Summon inner strength, suppress fear and total recall would make a near perfect soldier (can shrug off fatigue, can negate fear and jitters and can remember detail specific mission briefs) Meditation reduces sleep by half (IIRC) which is very useful for the average soldier and teleport object can put grenades in very secure and strategic places, and astral projection makes an excellent recon technique (assuming astral space is 'clear' of impediments)

The other powers are useful for all the reason's they are useful, though a lot of them have very close range requirements making it difficult to engage with an enemy psychically making them better for specialists rather than general soldiers.

Batts