What are the limits of Telekinetic powers?

Question

One of my players has asked me if he can use the abilities Mind Over Matter and Precision Telekinesis to do the following:

-Use melee weapons at range (imagine a floating sword)

-Throw grenades (imagine again, a grenade floating and removing its pin at range, at the psyker's will, or simply tossing it with mental power)

Precision Telekinesis:

Unlike the first gross manipulations of Telekinesis, this allows the psyker to fine tune his ability until he can do anything at range that he could do with his bare hands. In any situation where the task in question would require a Characteristic Test, the psyker substitutes Willpower instead. The psyker’s Psy Rating substitutes for his Strength Bonus when using this technique.

About this ability, I'd specifically want to know about in what situations can the psyker use WP instead of other characteristics to make tests. Does this rule include combat, attacks?

Mind Over Matter (it's a long one):

Telekinesis is the ability to move physical objects with force of will. The psyker’s initial gift in Telekinesis has several applications. The psyker may lift or move any object within his range and line of sight that does not exceed the weight limit of 10 kg x Psy Rating. The object may be moved slowly within the range of the power. Objects move far too slowly to be used as an attack, however. Additionally, this raw lifting ability does not function on living beings, as the smallest movements tend to unbalance the psyker’s mental focus. Once an object is released from Telekinesis, it begins to slowly settle back to earth as the last vestiges of the power leave it. A more forceful approach can be taken with lighter objects, weighing up to 5 kg x Psy Rating. These may be accelerated with greater speed and force, out to a maximum of 5 metres x Psy Rating. To hit a target, the psyker makes a Ballistic Skill Test. Damage is equal to 1d10 Impact Damage plus 1 point per 5 kg of the missile’s weight. Lastly, the psyker can direct a sharp wave of force against a target to shove it away. The psyker must make an Opposed Test, pitting his Willpower against the target’s Strength. If the psyker wins, he knocks the target to the ground and pushes it away a number of metres equal to his Psy Rating.

About this one, could you combine its use with a grenade, so the target would receive the damage from the grenade impact, plus the explosion of the grenade itself?

Answer 1

In what situations can the psyker use WP instead of other characteristics to make tests. Does this rule include combat, attacks?

Any situation, even though it is more likely one using S/Ag/BS/WS.

The rules are pretty explicit about being able to do anything that he could do with his bare hands, so waving a weapon, shooting a gun, picking a lock, driving groundcraft, are all fair game. There are a couple limitations though:

• You have to activate it pretty often (not on every attack though), which bring the risk of Warp Peril.
• You use your Psi rating as your Strength bonus for melee attacks, and your Psi rating is probably not as high as a standard character's Strength bonus. Or you can try to push it but then, Warp Peril again.
• You need the appropriate Talents to use the weapon. If you don't have them, you get the -20 to your WP.

Could you combine Mind Over Matter with a grenade, so the target would receive the damage from the grenade impact, plus the explosion of the grenade itself?

This one is complicated, as the rules abstract "removing the pin" and "throwing the grenade" as one single action, so we are getting into the realm of houserules. There are two ways you can handle it:

• Yes, he can: It's a psi power, it's dangerous to use, and the little advantage it costs (add 1d10 damage to grenades) is probably not actually worth it. Also, it looks cool. And it can backfire really bad.

• No, he cannot: It's better than standard Mind Over Matter, and it's better than standard grenade throwing. You don't allow a normal character to do damage by throwing a grenade to someone's face, so why would you allow a psi character to do it?

I would tend a bit more towards Yes, but both seem to have arguments going their way, so it is your responsibility as a GM to balance the pros and cons and take a decision (you might want to talk with your players to see if they would deem it unfair).

Answer 2

Precision Telekinesis

The clue here is how it says subsititute Psy Rating for Strength bonus. I believe you normally use strength bonus in melee attacks and your Weapon Skill. So in your example, when you attempt to use a sword to make an attack with this power, you would use the Willpower attribute instead of the Weapon Skill attribute to make the check and and the Psy rating to the attack in place of the strength bonus.

To answer your question, you would always use Willpower instead of another attribute should the action call for some sort of test when using this ability.

Mind Over Matter

This is a bit trickier - is throwing the grenade (using telekenisis) considered a separate action to attempting to remove the pin? Regardless of that though, can you normally throw a grenade at a target and get damage for the impact and then for the explosion? I say you cant, and it should behave the same way in this case (unless ofcourse, you threw it without removing the pin!).

The damage caused by the explosion would happen almost simultaneously to the impact of the grenade.