Society Mind

Society minds must choose their powers known every day after resting and meditating on the greater pattern of things. Like a wilder, a society mind has very few powers known, but a society mind can change his powers known from day to day. A society mind uses power points and can augment his powers like any other manifesting class. In addition, society minds also have the unique ability to enter into a worldthought network with other beings, through which the society mind can strengthen his allies, as well as weaken and subvert his foes.

Races:

Society minds tend to show up mostly in the social races, or in the nomadic races that travel and see many lands. Humans and halflings, qualifying on both accounts, produce numerous society minds. Dromites make great society minds, as the power of the class is often a simple extension of their hive mind paradigm onto the rest of the world.

Alignment:

Society minds tend most often to be neutral in both ethical and moral perspectives; the constant view of the larger trends leaves many society minds impartial and aloof. This is not always the case, though. Good society minds seek to harmonize with the flow of others’ thoughts and bring all conflicts to a constructive resolution, while evil society minds leech off the mental powers of the communities they live in and feel that their powers and unique position within the greater mind marks them as obviously superior.

Abilities:

Wisdom determines what level of psionic power a society mind can manifest, how hard his powers are to resist, and his bonus power points per day. Charisma is useful to a few society mind abilities and a number of society mind skills, and a society mind needs Constitution for more hit points.

GAME RULE INFORMATION

Hit Die: d6

Class Skills:

The society mind’s class skills are Autohypnosis, Bluff, Craft, Concentration, Diplomacy, Gather Information, Heal, Intimidate, Knowledge (Psionics),Knowledge (History), Knowledge (Local), Listen, Perform, Profession, Psicraft, Sense Motive, Speak Language, Survival. Skill Points at 1st level: (4 + Int modifier) x 4 Skill Points at Each Additional Level: 4 + Int modifier

Class Features

Your psionic powers and your worldthought network are your most vital abilities. Helping your allies - whether by enhancing them or making your enemies weaker - is what you do best.

Weapon and Armor Proficiency: Society minds are proficient with all simple weapons and light armor. Armor does not, however, interfere with the manifestation of powers.

Power Points/Day: A society mind’s ability to manifest powers is limited by the power points he has available. His
base daily allotment of power points is given on Table 2-3:The Society Mind. In addition, he receives bonus power points per day if he has a high Wisdom score. His race may also provide bonus power points per day, as may certain feats and items.

Powers Known: A society mind begins play knowing one society mind power of your choice at the time. At every even-numbered class level after 1st, he unlocks the ability to know more powers at any given time. Choose the powers known from the society mind power list. (Exception: The feats Expanded Knowledge and Epic Expanded Knowledge do allow a society mind to learn powers from the lists of other classes.) A society mind can manifest any power that has a power point cost equal to or lower than his manifester level.

The total number of powers a society mind can manifest in a day is limited only by his daily power points. A society mind never needs to prepare powers ahead of time; he draws them from his mind when needed. When a society mind recovers his daily power points after resting, he may choose to rotate one or more powers he knows for new ones. These powers must always be chosen from the society mind power list, and the maximum number of powers the society mind may know at any one time in this fashion is listed on Table 2-3: The Society Mind. If a society mind learns a power through other means, such as the Expanded Knowledge feat or psychic chirurgery, this power is known in addition to his normal powers. He may never exchange it for another power from the society mind list when he chooses his powers known, and it doesn’t
count against his limit of powers known at any one time. The Difficulty Class for saving throws against society mind powers is 10 + the power’s level + the society mind’s Wisdom modifier.

Maximum Power Level Known: A society mind begins play with the ability to learn 1st-level powers. As he attains higher levels, he may gain the ability to master more complex powers. To learn or manifest a power, a society mind must have a Wisdom score of at least 10 + the power’s level.

Worldthought Network (Su): A society mind can connect willing minds through an internal network that strengthens their psychic bonds. As a standard action, a society mind can join up to his class level in willing targets into his network. The society mind must have line of sight to each target, each target must have a Wisdom score of at least 1, and all targets must be within range (see Table 2-4). A society mind’s network can never have more members than his class level. The society mind is always considered a member of his own network, and does not count against this limit.

The society mind can choose to remove a member as a free action on his turn, and any member can voluntarily leave the network as a free action on their turn. Any member whose Wisdom drops to zero or who moves out of range of the network is automatically removed. If a member enters a null psionics field, the network link is suppressed until that member leaves the field. A member who leaves the network for any reason immediately loses any and all benefits they may have gained from being a member. A society mind is aware of the status of his network and can, roughly, sense the presence of each member, although beyond telling if such a creature is still a member, this has no mechanical benefit until higher levels (see telepathy and network sense, below).

A society mind can manifest certain powers through his worldthought network. If a society mind power specifies one or more willing targets (or is harmless) and has a range greater than personal, he can manifest this power on a member of his network regardless of the range of the actual power. All other non-range restrictions still apply. He may also manifest any power with the Network descriptor this way, regardless of their actual ranges or targets. If he is capable of manifesting powers or casting spells from a different class (as is the case for a multiclass society mind), any compatible spell or power with a range greater than touch can also be used through the network.

If a member of the network dies, the member is removed from the network and the society mind must make a Fortitude save (DC 15) or lose 10 XP and 1 power point for every Hit Die of the fallen member. The society mind must maintain a power point reserve of at least one point to maintain the network. If he does not, the network and all attendant benefits end immediately.

SIDEBAR: Persistent worldthought networks, society minds, and how they work.
History has shown that, in the right sequence of events, worldthought networks can grow so vast and powerful that they persist even when the director of the network, typically a society mind, ceases control over the network. These perpetual worldthought networks are rare, but join individuals together without direction from any specific individual. The network might be composed of a familial unit, or a group of individuals who share similar principles, or any other of a number of traits. Regardless of the type of worldthought network, this persistent network can take on what could be viewed as a sentience of its own, granting what might easily be construed as divine or godmind traits. Some view these persistent networks as cognizant, sentient entities, labeling them as godminds and venerating them as they would any other godmind. True or not, these persistent networks have powers akin to a godmind and, as such, are treated as godminds for the purposes of this SRD.

Cooperative Healing (Su): Whenever a willing member of the society mind’s worldthought network could regain lost hit points or ability damage, that member may choose to redirect any or all of that healing to one or more other willing members of the network as a free action. This can transfer instantaneous healing (such as a cure light wounds spell) and even hit points gained from rest (in which case, a member of the network would rest for a period of time as normal, and the amount of hit points and ability damage healed would go to another). Healing from ongoing healing effects, such as the fast healing special quality or true metabolism, cannot be transferred.

In any case, the original recipient of the healing effect chooses who gets to receive the diverted healing, and does not gain the benefits of any healing he grants to another. The type of healing (positive energy, negative energy, construct repair, etc.) is unchanged from the original source for determining who or what can be healed. Example: Darius the soulknife is a willing member of Jaieth the society mind’s worldthought network. He drinks a potion of cure light wounds that would normally heal him for 6 hit points, but he decides to redirect 4 of those points to Jaieth. As a result Darius is healed for 2 hit points, and Jaieth is healed for 4. If there were more members in Jaieth’s worldthought network, Darius could spread the healing from that potion out even more as long as the sum of hit points healed was no greater than 6.

Spirit of Many (Su): A society mind gains special abilities when manifesting powers with the Network descriptor. He can manifest these powers on any member of his network, even if they are out of the power’s range or would normally be immune to the power. Whenever a society mind manifests a power with the Network descriptor targeting only members of his worldthought network, the power loses the mind-affecting descriptor (if it had it) and is treated as a supernatural ability (bypassing power resistance and becoming immune to dispel attempts), although it still provokes an attack of opportunity to manifest as normal. A society mind still cannot spend more power points than his manifester level on this
power. Network powers manifest only on members of the network never allow saving throws — their saving throw entry becomes “None,” although if the power specifies a subsequent saving throw (such as an augmented ability as one UT), subjects attempt those saves normally. The society mind also adds the following augment to all powers with the Network descriptor:

  • Augment: For every additional power point you spend, you can choose an additional target, so long as the target is a member of your worldthought network.

Social Insight (Su): As long as a society mind of 2nd level or higher maintains psionic focus, they gain a superintuitive understanding of interpersonal interactions. This subtle telepathic and clairsentient ability manifests itself as a +2 bonus to all Bluff, Diplomacy, Gather Information, Intimidate, and Sense Motive checks.

Soulbinding Gaze (Su): At 3rd level, the society mind gains the ability to add unwilling targets to his network. As a standard action, the society mind can choose to expend his focus to forcibly bind one or more targets within close range (25 ft. + 5 ft/2 class levels) into his worldthought network. The society mind can affect a maximum of one target per three class levels with a single attempt. Each target may attempt a Will save (DC 10 + half the society mind’s class level + the society mind’s Charisma modifier) to resist this mind-affecting effect. If the target fails, he is considered an unwilling member of the society mind’s worldthought network and counts against the maximum number of creatures that can be in the network (no more than the society mind’s class level).

An unwilling member of the network is unable to leave the network at will, but can do so by either leaving the range of the network or by taking a full-round action (that provokes an attack of opportunity) to grant himself an additional save at the original DC (success removes him from the network). Any creature added to the network in this way gets no benefit from the cooperative healing or telepathy class features of the society mind, and cannot count as a “willing” target for a Network power (even if the creature would otherwise be considered willing). Likewise, if a creature added to the network in this way dies, the society mind does not suffer an experience penalty or power point loss.

At 11th level, the society mind may use this ability as a move action. At 14th level, the society mind no longer needs to expend his psionic focus to use this ability.

Telepathy (Su): When a society mind reaches 3rd level, all willing members of his worldthought network (including the society mind himself) can communicate with each other telepathically, even if they do not share a common language. Psionic creatures who are willing members in a society mind’s worldthought network (including the society mind himself) may manifest unknown powers from powers known by another willing psionic creature in the network as if they were making physical contact (see the Expanded Psionics Handbook).

Network Sense (Su): At 5th level, the society mind’s network awareness improves, gaining a passive form of clairsentience. While psionically focused, a society mind gains a +1 bonus on Bluff, Sense Motive, Intimidate, Spot, Listen, and Knowledge checks against members of his network, similar to a ranger’s favored enemy bonus against creatures he understands well. This bonus improves by +1 for every 5 class levels. The society mind can also expend his psionic focus as a move action to pinpoint the location and identity (as he knows it, much like recognizing a face) of every creature in his network, as well as any conditions affecting each subject.

Mystic Echo (Su): At 8th level, the society mind gains the ability to copy non-permanent magical and psionic effects within his network. If a member of the network is affected by a magical or psionic effect with a duration greater than 1 round, the society mind can “echo” it onto another member of his worldthought network. To do so, the society mind must first identify the power properly (see the Psicraft skill description). Echoing a magical or psionic effect is a standard action that provokes attacks of opportunity and costs the society mind a number of power points equal to the original effect’s caster or manifester level (whichever applies). As a supernatural ability, a society mind is permitted to spend more power points than his manifester level on this effect. The new target must be legal for the effect in question (for instance, if you attempt to echo an unaugmented psionic charm on a dog, the echo will fail). If the effect allows a saving throw, the new target is entitled to a saving throw when the effect is echoed (same DC as the original power).

Only the basic effect and augmentation are echoed - metamagic and metapsionic feats do not echo. The echo has all the same decisions made as the original - for instance, specified energy adaptation echoes would guard against the same energy type, while a 5pp psionic charm (extended duration) could not be echoed as a 5pp psionic charm (affects aberrations). The echo takes effect at the same caster or manifester level as the originator. When the original ends or leaves the network, all echoes of it also end. An echo can be dispelled as normal without terminating the original. A society mind can spend power points to augment this supernatural ability. For every 4 additional power points spent, the echo may reach an additional target. If this augment would raise the cost of the echo above the society mind’s manifester level, the echo attempt fails (although he may still attempt to echo it onto a single target). The society mind knows if an effect is beyond his ability to echo this way when he identifies it.

Inner Language (Su): At 11th level, a society mind becomes able to perceive the connections between minds during communication, picking up on the mental energies generated by conversation. While he is psionically focused, the society mind can understand any spoken language, including secret languages, and even multiple languages at once. He still hears the original syllables, so he may or may not be able to place what language is being used even while he fully understands the meaning. Inner Language only functions on perceived mindwaves - it does not grant the ability to read, write, or speak the languages in question.

Subconscious Gaze (Su): At 14th level, the society mind’s soulbinding gaze improves dramatically, working off of the same subconscious connections that provide his powers. When he uses his soulbinding gaze, he may choose to expend his psionic focus. If he does so, it is not treated as a mind-affecting effect, and can affect any creature with an Intelligence score. However, the subconscious mind naturally resists being linked to others, and the DC against the soulbinding gaze is reduced by 5 (to a total of 5 + half class level + the society mind’s Charisma modifier).

Divert Concentration (Su): As a move action, a society mind of 17th level or higher can choose to expend his psionic focus and transfer the bulk of the responsibilities for concentrating on a single power to a touched willing member of his worldthought network. The chosen member must prepare to accept control of the power by readying an action to concentrate. While maintaining concentration, the target is limited to move actions in each round and is subject to the usual methods of disrupting concentration as normal. The society mind must still provide some psychic support to the target: if the target moves more than 50 feet from the society mind, he loses concentration on the power and it ends immediately.

Efficient Network (Su): At 20th level, the society mind’s mastery over his worldthought network and the closely associated Network powers reaches legendary proportions. A society mind can maintain concentration on a Network power with only a move action. He can even manifest other powers while concentrating, though doing so requires a Concentration check (DC 15 + the level of the power he’s concentrating on + the level of the power he intends to manifest). If this check fails, the new power fails (and the power points spent on it are lost) and the society mind must make a second Concentration check or lose concentration on the original power, ending it immediately. The DC to maintain concentration on any power as a move action is 5 higher than normal.

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