Meditation, automatic or selected?

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Kinghawke
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Meditation, automatic or selected?

Unread post by Kinghawke »

each class says under ISP recovery "Meditation increases ISP recovery by" fill in the blank.
I've noticed that each psychic ability category has Meditation as a Psychic Ability.
the Skill List has Meditation as a Technical Skill.

do psychic classes automatically know how to Meditate to recover ISP, or must they take the Psychic ability or technical skill?
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Grazzik
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Re: Meditation, automatic or selected?

Unread post by Grazzik »

In BTS2, there are two types of meditation - Normal (aka Standard) or Advanced (pg 32)

However, despite the statement on the same page that all psychics acquire it as a learned or intuitive skill, we need to look at the specific PCCs for guidance.

The Autistic Psychic Savant receives standard meditation as an automatic intuitive ability (pg 37). This is expressly described as a "rare" PCC that automatically gets it. The description also expressly says that advanced meditation must be selected as a psychic ability.

The Fire Walker description (pg 45) expressly says they do not get meditation and must select it as a skill or psychic ability.

So, no. In BTS2, all psychics do not automatically get the skill / ability. Read the PCC description of interest to determine if they get it or have to select it.
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mrloucifer
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Re: Meditation, automatic or selected?

Unread post by mrloucifer »

There is an updated ruling about this very thing as of the release of the RIFTS: Coalition Manhunters Sourcebook.

In shorthand, ALL psychics gets the basic version (known classified as a skill) automatically; either through intuitive understanding or learned from another psychic.
The skill is similar as it costs 0 to use, and takes at least an hour to get the effects, but its now skill-roll based.
Also, the meditation skill now provides 6 ISP per hour (used to be 4).
See pages 115-117 for both the basic skill version and the advanced ability (which now gains 3 I.S.P. per every 30 minutes and provides a bonus to save vs psionics while meditating)

See my video talking about the updated meditation rules for more details.
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Grazzik
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Re: Meditation, automatic or selected?

Unread post by Grazzik »

If playing by RAW for BTS, I would beg to differ. (Thumbs up on the video summary though)

As per the Sourcebook, the new rule in the Rifts book is "definitive" only for Rifts, Chaos Earth and Phase World settings. The book states that use in BTS is optional. Therefore, if someone were to play BTS that is RAW, these new rules wouldn't apply.

That said, I guess anyone who chooses to play a megaversal / "everything is Rifts anyway" style are more than welcome to adopt the new rules.

It's up to each GM to judge for themselves, but what I described above still stands on its own merit until a "definitive" rule is made for BTS.
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