3e SRD:Use Psionic Device Skill

This material is published under the OGL 1.0a.

Use Psionic Device (Cha; Trained Only; Bard, Psychic Warrior, Rogue Only)

Use this skill to activate psionic devices, including power stones and dorjes, that otherwise the character could not activate.

Task	DC
Contact power stone	25 + Spell Level
Emulate psionic power	20
Emulate psionic feat	20
Emulate psionic class feature	25
Emulate ability score	25
Emulate alignment	30
Activate blindly	25

Check

A character can use this skill to decipher a power encoded in a power stone or to activate a psionic item. This skill lets a character use a psionic item as if he or she had the appropriate psionic power or feat. It doesn’t allow the character to use psionic items that require paying power points to operate.

When a character is attempting to activate a psionic item using this skill, he or she does so as a standard action. The checks that the character makes to determine whether he or she is successful at emulating the desired factors to successfully perform the activation are instant, however. They take no time by themselves and are included in the activate psionic item standard action.

A character makes emulation checks each time he or she activates a device such. If the character is using the check to emulate a quality in an ongoing manner, he or she needs to make the relevant emulation checks once per hour.

The character must consciously choose what to emulate. That is, he or she has to know what it is he or she is trying to emulate when making an emulation check.

Note: In cases described below in which effective level is important, it is okay to have an effective level of 0.

Contact Power Stone

This works just like learning a power from a power stone with the Psicraft skill, except that the DC is higher.

Emulate Psionic Power

This use of the skill allows a character to use a psionic item as if he or she had a particular power on his or her class power list. To activate a power stone (an object that stores a specific power) or use a dorje, the character must have a particular power on his or her class power list. By using the skill this way, the character can use such an item as if he or she did have the power on your list. The character’s effective manifester level is the check result minus 20. If the character’s effective level is lower than the manifester level, he or she might fail to manifest the power.

This skill does not let a character manifest the power. It only lets the character use it from a power stone or dorje as if the power were on the character’s class list. Note: If the character is manifesting it from a power stone, he or she has to contact it first.

Emulate Psionic Feat

Sometimes a specific psionic feat is needed to activate a psionic item. This skill does not let a character use that feat. It just lets him or her activate psionic items as if he or she had it.

Emulate Psionic Class Feature

Sometimes a psionic class feature is needed to activate a psionic item. The character’s effective level in the emulated class is the check result minus 20.

This skill does not let the character use another class’s class feature. It just lets him or her activate psionic items as if he or she had it.

If the class whose feature the character is emulating has an alignment requirement, the character must meet it, either honestly or by emulating an appropriate alignment as a separate check.

Emulate Ability Score

To manifest a power of a particular discipline from a power stone, the character needs a high score in the key ability A character’s effective ability score is the check result minus 15.

Emulate Alignment

It is possible that some items have positive or negative effects based on the user’s alignment. A character can use these items as if he or she was of an alignment of his or her choice. A character can emulate only one alignment at a time.

Activate Blindly

Some psionic items are activated by special thoughts or actions. A character can activate such items as if he or she were using the command thought or action even if the character is not and even if he or she doesn’t know it. The character does have to use something equivalent. The character gets a +2 bonus if he or she has activated the item at least once before.

If the character fails by 10 or more, he or she suffers brainburn (see below). Note: This brainburn is in addition to the chance for brainburn that a character normally runs when manifesting a power from a power stone and the power’s manifester level is higher than the character’s level.

Retry

Yes, but if the character ever rolls a natural 1 while attempting to activate an item and fails, then the character can’t try to activate it again for a day.

Special

A character cannot take 10 with this skill.

If a character has 5 or more ranks in Psicraft, he or she gets a +2 synergy bonus on Use Psionic Device checks related to power stones.

Brainburn

When things go awry, the user of a psionic item sometimes improperly manifests the stored power. The resultant psionic surge persists for 1d4 rounds, unless the item is flung 15 feet or feet away or destroyed. The surge deals 1d4 points of electricity damage per power stored per round and arcs across multiple targets. The user is the primary target, and one ally within 15 feet is the secondary target (chosen at random).

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