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 Talent lists live in Chapter 7. 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

Minor manipulations, paid in Strain. A Cantrip should feel like effort. Failure is a nosebleed and a headache, nothing more. Examples: Ghost Bullet, Iron Calm, Glimpse. Cantrips are the day-to-day work of a Psionic and won’t attract much attention from the Redeemers or the Veil itself.

Rank 2 — Tactics

Combat-ready applications; real power, real risk. Two Strain per cast. Repeated use exhausts the body quickly, and a Psionic who spams Tactics will be trembling and useless when they need their power most. Examples: Tracer Round, Iron Skin, Fortune’s Favor.

Rank 3 — Powers

The threshold where you stop paying with sweat and start paying with soul. 1 Erosion per cast. Powers do significant things: heal a Downed ally, read a mind, fire a shot that ignores walls and distance. Every use leaves a mark.

Rank 4 — Devastations

Awe-inspiring feats that announce your presence to anything paying attention. 2 Erosion per cast. Devastations almost always trigger environmental effects. The GM adds dice to the Tension Pool. Reality doesn’t like being bent this hard.

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: not just the slot, but the experience. 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, its Tempo 9. Channeling one in combat means you are Open for nearly half a fight, and the Veil-Born will sense you. 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. You’ve already let the Current 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.
• In a Thin Place: +1 (the Current flows more freely).
• Wounded: −1 die per threshold.
• Without Focus: −2 dice Pool Penalty.
• 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).

You’re not defenseless. You can still Shift out of the way of an obvious threat, but you’re significantly more exposed 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, and 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 and 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 (8 + 3). 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. Redeemer Inquisitors carry Salt Rounds specifically 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 with an 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).
• A Veil Anchor item (+2 Roll Bonus).
• Channeling from cover (harder to hit at all).
• Allies who can Intercept hits meant for you.
• Fast Talents (lower Tempo = less Open time).

Tactical Implications

For Psionics: channel from cover when possible; wait until enemies are engaged with allies; prefer Cantrips and Tactics in close combat and save Rank 3+ for moments when you have cover or distance; invest in Focus and 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 or Intercept-style abilities to interrupt without spending 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. It accumulates in stages: Winded (no penalty), Fatigued (no Mettle refresh, −1 Initiative die), Depleted (−1 die to all rolls, no Bleed Dice or Desperation), and exceeding your Cap converts the excess to Vitality damage 1-for-1.

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

Erosion

Erosion is the long-term cost, a damage to the soul. Your Erosion Capacity = ECHO + 5, and it does not heal from rest. Sources: casting Rank 3 (1) and Rank 4 (2), Backlash’s Tear (1) and Breach (immediate Memory burn), Thin Place exposure (1/hour unprotected), prolonged Current exposure, and extreme deprivation.

Recovery is slow and limited: spend 2 XP (1 Erosion), indulge a Vice (1), Anchor with your Anchor Memory (2), use an Erosion Sink item (1/session, shatters after 3 total), or reach a Circle Sanctuary (3, rare). When Erosion fills, you Break: burn one Memory, reset Erosion to 0, live with one fewer Pillar.

Memory Burn

The ultimate cost. Triggered by Rank 5 Miracles (always), Backlash’s Breach (three 1s on Bleed/Cursed Dice), a full Erosion track (the Break), or the Mindweaver’s Rank 5 Memory Hole (involuntary). Choose a Memory, strike it from the sheet. The character forgets immediately and completely. The Memory Burn keyword covers the 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.” — Elder Rhun, Circle of Ash

When you successfully cast a Talent, its pattern lingers — you gain Resonance with that Talent, and recasting it invokes a Resonance Echo at reduced cost.

• Gained the instant a Channeling roll succeeds. Failure grants nothing; Backlash doesn’t prevent it (the Talent still succeeded).
• One at a time. You hold Resonance with a single Talent. Casting a different Talent replaces it; recasting the same one maintains it.
• Lasts until your next Long Rest. It persists through Short Rests, combat, and scene changes — but you wake from a full night’s sleep with none, so the first Talent of the day always costs full price.

A Resonance Echo reduces only the cost. The TN, Tempo, Open State, effect, and Backlash risk are all unchanged. A Rank 3 Echo is still TN 13 and still leaves you Open for 6 Ticks. The cost drops one rung:

This ladder is what makes a Psionic’s career survivable: a signature Cantrip becomes free to repeat, and a Rank 3 Power can be re-cast for Strain instead of Erosion — paying with the body instead of the soul. But Miracles are exempt. A Rank 5 Talent burns a Memory every single time, Resonance or not. Cast the same Miracle twice in a day and you lose two Memories. The Current offers no discounts on the impossible — which is exactly why the wise fear their own power.

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 (track now 1/4, Winded).

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 must roll ECHO 3 + Focus 2 = 5 dice vs. TN 11 (8 + 3). He rolls a 12 — Success, channeling continues.

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

Rook is now at Tick 8 with the effect ready, having spent 1 Strain and no Erosion (and he gained Resonance with Ghost Bullet), so his next cast of it is free. A clean 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 real investment), and a cost of a piece of who you are, gone forever. The structure is identical. The price is everything.