I woke up early this morning for no apparent reason and found that Brett from PIG sent me a copy of this PDF for review. I had seen the Atomik Vortex line of genric RPG supplements around, but had never picked one up yet. So, with coffee in hand I went on reading it.

On first glance I notice the near lack of any graphics or art which seems odd for a PIG products. In fact the only art is the cover and that was just average. Brett had mentioned in the email that he had aquired the rights to these supplements, so it seems this PDF is pretty much in its orgional form. I don't need art and good layout for a supplement to be good, but it sure is nice. I suspect a later version may, infact get jazzed up a bit with some of PIGs layout and art skills. Also a bur in boot, is the fact that there are no bookmarks. Other than the above observations the book has a simple and clean, two column layout that uses the page space well.

Now to the important stuff, the contents. The ToC lists out 11 different Psionic power groups ranging from Telepathic and Precog powers to Astral Progection and Teleportation. Since this is meant to be a "plug & play" supplement it includes a simple system that can be plugged into any system with minimum effort. The campaign setting section also is handy, giving several example ideas for Psi Campaigns.

The basic idea of how the system works is that each power is assigned a value level (VL), the higher the VL, the more powerful the power. Each specific power has a related skill the the PC needs to use the is skillfully. If they don't have the skill, it is "wild" power. I like the skilled vs wild rule, it seems to me that too many psi system just assume you are a fairly competent in the use of your powers. Then a guideline of how to handle Mental Energy is given. Each power uses up mental energy and your character will have a limeted number of ME points.

Once the system is explained a large chunk of the remaining pages are devoted to the explaination and use of each of the power groups.  Each is well explained and has several example powers and uses. This is really a very complete listing of psionic abilities. I can't imagine a GM needing to come up many, if any, additional powers.

A short section on Psionic Technology has some listings of various tools of the trade, like psycometer and  amplifiers. The book also includes a Psybertech section for those who with to inject some cyber into their psi.

It is also plain to see (given the reference list ) that the author was influenced by "new age" theories when writting this section. This could be a good or a bad thing depending on who you are. For me, its a good thing, since I have read some of the books listed for gaming inspiration. A lot of good gaming stuff can come out of the New Age section of your local book store.

The Good:
easy to use plug and play system. Detailed power lists.

The Bad:
the PDF as a whole (Rules and presentation) are a bit bland for my taste. The lack of graphics or art don't catch the eye and the rules seem to work, but do not have any wow factor.

The Ugly:
no bookmarking, this just bugs me in a supplement that has a lot of things listed, like powers. Would be nice to just click on the Telekinetic link and go to that section.

Why you would like it:
If you are looking for a quick Psionic system to add to your game. I think its better than WotC's D&D Psionics system.

Why you wouldn't like it: looks & system are a little bland and while it is plug and play you still may have to do some flavor tweaking for your setting.



he can find more on this product line here