Psychic Energy

Thought and emotion constitute forms of power. Psychic Energy is the magic of will, imagination, consciousness and sentience. All conscious entities contain or even generate Psychic Energy.

Properties

• Psychic Energy is the power of the mind, and pertains most strongly to the mind. It's effective for mental communication, mind-reading, mental illusions, thought control, enchantments, direct psychic attacks and emotion manipulation.
• Aside from power over the mind, Psychic Energy is the power of the mind. It can serve as a catalyst, intensifying the effects of other forms of energy, or granting access to normally inacessible energy reserves.
• While Psychic Energy can definitely be channeled into other forms of Energy (for applications such as telekinesis, pyrokinesis, biological transformation, energy blasts and more), its ephemeral nature means that it's more often used to establish conduits to other sources. For example, a pyromancer is more likely to use their own Psychic Energy to tap into the Elemental Wellsprings, than just turn Psychic Energy into Fire and throw it at people.

Methods & Practices

• Almost all magical practices use Psychic Energy, even if it's only in small ways, just as most practices interact with Vital Energy.
• Whether or not they use Psychic Energy as their primary power source, most Enchanters learn spells and effects that manipulate or control Psychic Energy.
• It is possible for mortals to hone and unleash their innate psychic potential as Mystics. Though a rare art in Anacra, adherents of Nis and Drych-La often pursue this path.
• Oneiromancers tap into the shared unconscious mindspace of all sentients, called Dream, as their power source and the medium in which they wield it.
• Because Emotions are emanations of psychic energy, the power of mass belief or faith is in reality a Psychic phenomenon. Heroic and Ancestral deities achieve ascension through the combined psychic power of an entire culture.

Sources

• All conscious beings naturally generate Psychic Energy. The more powerful the mind, the more energy.
• Strong emotions generate additional psychic energy. On an individual scale, this can act as a catalyst, granting non-magic-wielding heroes the ability to use their inherent Vital Energy to accomplish heroic deeds. It's also the reason why "The Power of Love" or "The Power of Friendship" work, why Barbarians are able to unleash a terrible rage in themselves, why desperate heroes can make incredible last stands, and why the worship of an entire nation can elevate a mortal to a god.
• Dream is not the source of Psychic energy, but it is where all Psychic Energy goes. As a direct product of the unconscious minds of all entities across all realities, Dream is an incredibly potent source of Psychic Energy.
• Psychic Energy can be drained from others or harvested via sacrifice. Liquid Pain is a substance extracted from beings undergoing excruciating torment, and is dense with Psychic (and usually Infernal) energy. A soul is a complex mesh of Psychic and Vital energy -- a potent fuel source for those abhorrent enough to use it.