The following is a reprinting and modification of material written by James Calder (published in the Rifter #1).  I slightly changed the material to fit in my Beyond the Supernatural: Revisited game.  This can be used as a stand-alone character or as a template for other psychic characters.

 

     Sarah heard the front door close.  She cringed underneath her covers as she realized what was going on.  It was well after 3 in the morning and her father was drunk again.  Hopefully, she would be spared his wrath tonight.  Hopefully.

     "SARAH!!!  You left this doll on the steps again!"

     Oh no!  She screamed in her head as her bedroom door flew open.  "You need to be punished!"

     No sooner had he said that, then a book flew off the shelf and struck Sarah's father squire in the head.

     "What the?!"  He said with muffled dismay.  Another flew and another, until the bookshelf lay bare.  Her father was now on the ground, a large wound on his head.

     Just then, he felt a tap on his back.  A doll, seemingly animated, says matter-of-factly, "You won't hurt Sarah anymore... Daddy."

 

     The cursed psychic is a person who is frequently forced to sense the supernatural unwillingly.  Nightmares, sensings, and haunting visions persistently plague this character.  Whether it is clairvoyance, precognition, or telepathy, the character feels that the powers she has been granted are more a curse than a blessing.

     Sometimes the supernatural abilities manifest themselves randomly or when the character is in danger.  Either this serves to help the character or it helps her go insane.

     A disadvantage of the cursed psychic is the apparent lack of control over her supernatural abilities.  A spectacular advantage of this class is that since the character does not have control over the powers, she does not "register" as a psychic.  P.P.E. vampires and See Aura will /not/ reveal the cursed psychic as a psychic.

 

Special P.C.C. Bonuses & Abilities:

 

1.       Powers List:  If a Cursed Psychic P.C.C. then there is absolutely no restrictions on what powers this character may get (they still have to buy their abilities though).  However, if this is used as an add on template, then use the powers list from whatever P.C.C. the character is.

2.       Psionically Invisible:  As stated earlier, since these characters are not in control (or not aware) of their abilities they do not register as psychics.  Any person or creature able to sense psychics and psychic energy will get no reading from this character.  Unless the character learns to control their powers.

3.       Power Manifestation: The Cursed Psychic's abilities are slightly different from other psychics.  Since the character is not in control of their powers, the powers will activate at different times.  Players may pick one of the following or roll randomly for how their characters' abilities manifest.  If the player feels adventurous, they may instead not consult this table until the beginning of each game session or scene.

  01 Pain: By far one of the rarest manifestations physical pain is the sole motivator for this psychics powers.  This means any time the character’s pain receptors are disrupted or overloaded (i.e. taking more than one point of damage or directly being a target of a pain type spell or power).

  02-15 Sorrow: In times of great sadness, melancholy, sorrow or depression, the character's powers surface.  They might be laying down crying one day and suddenly sense the presence of someone or a lamp may turn off or a piece of paper may set fire.

  26-30 Subconsciously: Their psi-abilities manifest when the psychic needs them most—usually, this is not by choice.  This manifestation seems to give validation to the whole "guardian angel" phenomena.  GM and players usually work out when and which powers manifest.

  31-45 Stress: When the character is pushed to the limit of emotional stress, their powers are triggered.  These abilities are not subconsciously controlled.  As a result, the power that manifests may not be appropriate for the stressful situation.  GM's discretion as to which power activates.

  46-60 Danger: Their abilities manifest during moments when the psychic knows they or friends are in danger.  What powers manifest are completely random.

  61-75 Fear: During times when the character needs to make a horror factor or a sanity check, their powers are automatically set off.  GM's discretion as to which power is set off.

  76-90 Anger: Probably the most common manifestation—the psychic's powers manifest whenever they are angry/mad or if someone angered/upset the psychic.  However, which abilities will surface is still random.

  91-95 Relaxation: The most inappropriate manifestation is when the character is in a state of relaxation, meditation or sleep.  Powers randomly go off during this time.  How the GM determines when these powers go off is up the them.  Players and GM's should have fun with this one and come up with interesting ways this manifestation takes effect.  (A good one is always when the character sleeps abilities manifest that are reactional to things happening in their dreams).

  96-99 Randomly: Basically, the GM decides when these powers manifest.  Most of the time a power will activate at the wrong times, sometimes a useful power does activate when necessary.  GM's, it would be a good idea to devise a system where the roll of dice determines what power activates at times of your discretion.

  00 Dormant Personality: The psychic's abilities only manifest when certain personalities surface.  Basically, this requires the character to willingly take the insanity "Multiple Personalities" and the abilities will manifest when the other personality(ies) surface (or the psychic may spread out their powers among the personalities).

4.       Control & Sanity: Because of the fact that their powers are out of control, the character is still susceptible to sanity checks due to their own powers!  With guidance and practice, a Cursed Psychic may learn to control their abilities.  However, this takes a long time and costs them experience points. 

      A psychic learns to control an ability when they have spent 100 experience points per I.S.P. cost of the ability in question.  Basically, they have to 'buy' their abilities.  So, Total Recall would cost 200 experience, while Psychic Surgery would cost 1400 experience.  As for abilities that I.S.P. can be pumped into, the character must buy their limit.  So, to buy Telekinesis to the point where they can manipulate 100 pounds, they must spend 1600 experience (basically, after buying their way to lifting 20 lbs., they spend 100 experience points per additional 10 pounds).

5.       Overuse: Due to the nature of their abilities, Cursed Psychics can overuse their abilities—activating them beyond the limits of their minds' threshold.  Cursed Psychics can use their abilities until their I.S.P. reaches into the negatives equal to their M.E., once past that, the psychic loses consciousness and cannot be awakened until they reach 1 I.S.P.

6.       P.P.E.: The Cursed Psychic starts with a base P.P.E. equal to their P.E. + 2D6 per level and they gain an additional 1D4 P.P.E. per level of experience.

7.       I.S.P.: Cursed Psychics start with a base I.S.P. equal to their M.E. × 2 + 2D4 I.S.P. per level of experience.

8.       Other Bonuses: +1 to save vs. Horror Factor, +1 to save vs. Psychic Attacks, +1 to save vs. Magic.  An additional +1 to save vs. Horror Factor at levels 3, 6, 9, 12 and 15; and an additional save vs. Psychic Attacks at levels 4, 7, 10 and 13.

 

Cursed Psychic P.C.C.

Also Known As: Bewitched, Witch, The Cursed and Demon.

Alignment Restrictions: None.

Attribute Requirements/Bonuses:  None.

O.C.C. Programs:  Roll on the education table or if the GM allows it, they may select an appropriate Education Level to go with the characters' background.

Secondary Skills: Select 1D6+4.  Some skills are not usually available as secondary skills, but MIGHT be made available if there is a reasonable explanation for it.