Chapter 6: Tearing the Veil

“The Current is not a tool. The Current is a wound. We don’t use it. We bleed through it. Every time.” — Mother Yarrow, Circle of Ash teacher

To channel the Current is to reach through the wound between worlds and pull. The Veil resists. The Current responds. And the channeler pays the price.

This chapter covers the mechanics common to all five disciplines. The discipline-specific rules — Sub-Cluster Ladders, Reaction Conventions, Tier-Removal Hierarchies, cross-discipline interaction catalogs — live in each Discipline’s overview file. This chapter teaches the universal frame.

The Five Ranks of Power

Psionic Talents are organized into five Ranks of escalating cost, difficulty, and consequence.

Rank 1 — Cantrips

Small effects, paid in Strain. A Cantrip should feel like effort; not danger. Examples: Ghost Bullet (a single bullet that ignores armor), Iron Calm (remove Frightened from an ally), Glimpse (reroll dice). Cantrips are the day-to-day work of a Psionic.

Rank 2 — Tactics

Combat-ready applications; real power, real risk. Two Strain per cast — repeated use exhausts the body quickly. Tactics shift fights. Examples: Tracer Round (mark a target), Iron Skin (+1 AR), Fortune’s Favor (Advantage on an ally’s roll).

Rank 3 — Powers

The threshold where you stop paying with sweat and start paying with soul. 1 Erosion per cast — permanent. Powers do significant things: heal a Downed ally, banish a creature, see through walls. They are the most efficient use of a Psionic’s career.

Rank 4 — Devastations

Awe-inspiring feats. The Veil notices. 2 Erosion per cast. Devastations trigger environmental effects — the GM adds dice to the Tension Pool. Reality doesn’t like being bent this hard. Examples: The Unmask (strip a target of every self-deception), Doom Clock (delayed catastrophic event), Aegis of the Fallen (defensive scaling).

Rank 5 — Miracles

The impossible. Stopping time. Resurrection. Leveling a building with a thought. Miracles cost 1 Memory — burned permanently. The Memory you burn is gone. You will never remember your mother’s face, or the smell of your childhood home, or the name of your first love. The power is worth it. Until it isn’t.

A Miracle’s TN is 16. Tempo is 9. Risk: catastrophic. Channeling a Miracle in combat means you are Open for nearly half a fight. The Veil-Born will sense you. The Threadrippers will come.

You do not cast Miracles casually. You cast them once, for one reason, and you live with what you spent.

The Channeling Mechanic

Using a Psionic Talent is a Channel Action. The process unfolds in six steps.

Step 1: Declaration

On your turn, declare the Talent you are using and your target (if applicable).

Check requirements:

• Do you have your Focus? (−2 dice Pool Penalty without it.)
• Is your ECHO ≥ Talent Rank?
• Do you have Erosion capacity? If your cost is Erosion and your track is full, you must Burn a Memory.
• Can you pay the Strain cost? Excess Strain over your Cap converts to Vitality damage 1-for-1.

Step 2: Pay the Cost

The price is paid when you start channeling, not when you finish. Even if you’re Disrupted, even if you fail, the Strain or Erosion is spent.

This represents the act of opening yourself to the Current. You’ve already let it in; whether you can shape it is another matter.

Step 3: The Roll

Pool: ECHO + Channel Skill (minus Pool Penalties).

TN: As listed for the Talent’s Rank.

Common Roll Modifiers for Channeling:

• Bonded Focus: +1 (your signature weapon/focus).
• Superior / Masterwork Focus: +1 / +2.
• Veil Anchor: +2 to Focus checks (against Disruption), not to the Channeling roll itself.
• Wounded: −1 die per threshold.
• Without Focus: −2 dice Pool Penalty.
• In a Thin Place: +1 (the Current flows more freely).
• Rushed: −2.

Before rolling, you may add Bleed Dice or spend Mettle for Desperation, with all the standard Backlash risks. Backlash on a Psionic feeds directly into Erosion and the Tension Pool — Channelers should think twice before adding more than one Bleed Die.

Step 4: Determine Outcome

Step 5: The Open State

Unlike pulling a trigger, channeling requires sustained concentration. Between declaration and resolution, you are in The Open State — your mind is reaching into the Current, and you are vulnerable.

Most Talents have a Tempo of 4–9. During those Ticks:

• You cannot take other Actions (your attention is inward).
• You can Shift (move up to your Speed) but cannot Scramble, Rush, Sprint, or Take Cover.
• You cannot make Reactions — no Parry, no Intercept, no Dodge, no Dive.
• You are vulnerable to Disruption (see below).

The Open State represents the Psionic’s attention focused inward, holding the channel open while shaping the Current. You’re not defenseless — you can still Shift — but you’re significantly more vulnerable than a gunfighter lining up a shot.

Step 6: Resolution

When The Count reaches your resolution Tick (declaration Tick + Tempo), your Talent takes effect. Apply damage, conditions, or effects as described. Calculate Steps from Margin (each Talent specifies how Steps apply — duration, area, intensity, additional targets).

Disruption

The Open State is the Psionic’s greatest weakness. A channeling Psionic is a target.

Disruption by Damage

If you take any damage (even 1 HP) while in the Open State, you must make a Focus check to maintain your channeling:

Pool: ECHO + Focus. TN: 8 + Damage Taken.

Roll Modifiers apply: Veil Anchor (+2), Wounded (−1 die per threshold). On success, channeling continues; the Talent resolves at its Tempo. On failure, the Talent fails immediately, the cost is wasted, and you take +1 Strain feedback.

Rook takes 3 damage while channeling. He must roll ECHO + Focus vs. TN 11. If he fails, his Ghost Bullet fizzles, the 1 Strain he paid is gone, and he takes 1 additional Strain.

Disruption by Salt

Salt is anathema to the Current. Salt Rounds or rock salt thrown at a channeling Psionic cause automatic Disruption — no Focus check allowed. Take 1 Strain. The Talent fails.

Salt Rounds are specifically designed for this purpose. Redeemer Inquisitors carry them to shut down Psionics before they can act. They are the canonical hard counter.

Bastion Soul Disruption

The Bastion Soul Cantrip Disrupt can interrupt a channeling Psionic without any physical attack — a psychic interference pulse that forces a Focus check at TN 11. This is the rare ranged interrupt available to non-Salt-armed combatants.

Protecting Against Disruption

• High Focus Skill (more dice on the check).
• Veil Anchor item (+2 Roll Bonus).
• Channeling from cover (harder to hit).
• Allies who can Intercept hits meant for you.
• Fast Talents (lower Tempo = less Open time).

Tactical Implications

Channeling forces difficult choices on both sides:

For Psionics:

• Channel from cover when possible.
• Wait until enemies are engaged with allies.
• Prefer Cantrips and Tactics in close combat; save Rank 3+ for moments when you have cover or distance.
• Invest in Focus skill. Carry a Veil Anchor.

Against Psionics:

• Focus fire on Open targets — every hit is a Disruption check.
• Save Salt Rounds for the Open moment.
• Use Disrupt (Bastion Soul Cantrip) or Intercept-style abilities to interrupt without expending ammunition.
• Force them to choose between channeling and defending.

The Burdens of Power

Strain

Strain is the short-term cost of channeling and stress. Your Strain Cap = GRIT + 3. Strain accumulates in stages: Winded (no penalty), Fatigued (no Mettle refresh, −1 Initiative die), Depleted (−1 die to all rolls, no Bleed/Desperation), Overwhelmed (excess converts to Vitality damage).

Recovery: Short Rest 1, Long Rest all, Laudanum 1d3 (addictive), Purge 1, Medical attention all. The Strain keyword and strain-sources reference table cover the full mechanic.

Erosion

Erosion is the long-term cost — permanent damage to the soul. Your Erosion Capacity = ECHO + 5. Erosion does not heal from rest. Sources: casting Rank 3 (1 Erosion), Rank 4 (2 Erosion), Backlash The Tear (1 Erosion), Backlash The Breach (immediate Memory burn), Thin Place exposure (1/hour unprotected), prolonged Current exposure (1/day), extreme deprivation (1 from hallucinations at 3+ days without water).

Recovery is slow and limited: spend 2 XP (1 Erosion), Vice (1), Anchoring with your Anchor Memory (2), Erosion Sink item (1/session, shatters after 3 total), Circle Sanctuary (3, rare access). The Erosion keyword and erosion-sources reference table cover the full mechanic.

When Erosion fills, you Break: burn one Memory, reset Erosion to 0, and live with one fewer Pillar.

Memory Burn

The ultimate cost. Triggered by Rank 5 Miracles (always), Backlash: The Breach (three 1s on Bleed/Cursed Dice), Erosion full (The Break), or Mindweaver R5 Memory Hole (involuntary). Choose a Memory. Strike it from the sheet. The character forgets immediately and completely.

The Memory Burn keyword covers the mechanical and narrative aftermath.

Resonance

“The Current remembers. Cast the same spell enough times, and it starts to flow like water down a familiar channel. That’s Resonance. The power knows the shape of your mind — and your mind knows the shape of the power.”

A Psionic who repeatedly uses the same Talent develops Resonance with it — a subtle but real mechanical bond. Specifics live in the Calling and Talent files; the framing is: the more you do a thing, the more the thing does itself. A Seer who casts Glimpse a hundred times will, eventually, glimpse without meaning to. A Flesh Shaper who heals enough wounds will start to feel the wounds of strangers in their own body.

Resonance is a roleplay-forward mechanic. The GM should describe its symptoms as flavor. Mechanically, it can manifest as Bonded Focus development, as automatic effects in specific circumstances, or as a Talent becoming progressively cheaper as the Psionic masters it. The system is intentionally loose; lean into it as fiction.

A Worked Channeling Example

Rook is at Tick 4. He has his rune-etched revolver (Bonded Focus), ECHO 3, Channel 2. He declares Ghost Bullet (Rank 1 Cantrip).

Step 1 — Declaration. He has his Focus (no penalty). ECHO 3 ≥ Rank 1 ✓. He pays 1 Strain (Strain track now 1/6).

Step 2 — Cost paid.

Step 3 — The Roll. Pool: ECHO 3 + Channel 2 = 5 dice. TN 9. Roll Bonus: Bonded Focus +1. He rolls 5d8 → [2, 4, 5, 6, 8]. Top two: 6 + 8 = 14. + 1 Bonded Focus = 15. Final Sum 15 vs. TN 9 = Success, Margin 6 → +2 Steps.

Step 4 — Outcome: Success.

Step 5 — Open State. Ghost Bullet Tempo 4. He is Open from Tick 4 to Tick 8. An enemy fires at him at Tick 6 and hits for 3 damage. He rolls ECHO 3 + Focus 2 = 5 dice vs. TN 11 (8 + 3). He rolls 12. Success — channeling continues.

Step 6 — Resolution. At Tick 8, Ghost Bullet manifests. His next shot ignores Armor and Cover, deals Force damage. Steps: +2 damage. His next shot will deal WR 3 + 2 Steps = 5 damage, ignoring all defenses.

Rook is now at Tick 8, with the Ghost Bullet effect ready, having spent 1 Strain and gained no Erosion. A clean, successful Cantrip.

That is what a cheap cast looks like. Now imagine the same flow for a Rank 5 Miracle. Tempo 9 — Open for nearly half a round. TN 16 — possible only with significant investment. Cost: a piece of who you are, gone forever. The Talent files describe the specific effects. The structure is the same. The price is everything.