Psychic Power

Biodata

Nature and Sources

Psychic Power takes different forms according to the user’s talent. Psykers can exhaust their power through use, and Magnus is able to sustain it by burning his own soul 196 319 417.

• Warp connection: The Council of the Long Night’s power comes from a blue sphere in the Warp upon which their wills are imprinted, rather than from their Primarch’s genes. Their power is described as purer and stronger as a result 95.
• Ork Waaagh! Field: A collective psychic field described as making Orks’ wishes come true. On an Ork battlefield, it enables Yarrick’s mechanical eye to kill Orks; away from one, the eye can barely heat a cup of coffee 334 561.
• Awakening: Psyker numbers in the Imperium began to rise slightly during the Great Crusade. Later, Curze reported that some Legion members had awakened powers and the Council’s existing talents had grown stronger 331 344.
• Ranking: Draco Thune, also called Tu’en, identifies himself as a Beta-level Psyker with a percentage-based amplification talent 320 416.

Applications and Talents

Prophecy

Psychic prophecy can reveal future events, but its usefulness and degree of control vary between users.

• Young Curze’s visions were uncontrollable and immersed him in future events; his curse showed him calamity even in stories with happy endings 1 449.
• After his soul changed and his Warp Essence awakened, the Night Haunter could control his prophecies rather than experience only involuntary first-person visions 413 478.
• Nova Spes’s gift, A Sliver of Life, naturally counters precognitive abilities. It also helped him find a route through a passage of fate 531 538.

Mental Influence and Perception

• Mind reading: Aequus can read most enemies’ thoughts at a glance, helping him interrogate them and anticipate attacks. Nova briefly blocked this ability during his assessment 262 323.
• Emotional control: The Emperor suppressed the Primarchs’ emotions at Curze’s welcome. The Night Haunter later calmed Sevatar’s agitation and showed him selected memories 51 479.
• Psychic examination: Malcador scanned Curze, but golden light obscured a space near Curze’s heart 72.
• Fear inducement: The Night Haunter could compel those within his psychic range to disclose information, though he judged the ability ineffective against Lion El’Jonson 478 554.

Combat and Protection

• Han Mingxuan created psychic flame and struck Magnus from a distance. He described Psychic Power as physical force as well 195.
• Lorgar burned Chaos corruption from Cadia’s survivors with Psychic Power 620.
• Psychically empowered weapons proved highly effective against illusory enemies manifested by fate 430 431.
• Madian’s psychic specializations include both healing and viruses 430.

Networks and Coordination

The Evernight Legion combines psychic talents with a shared network for communication and combat.

• Sandamel linked to the Nightfall’s Machine Spirit, allowing the Evernight Local Network to share battle reports, locations and real-time status 136.
• An ordered psychic rhythm strengthened the judges collectively and compensated for shortcomings in their individual tactics 143.
• The network can share Psychic Power between members: more than a hundred people transferred power to Tu’en while he recovered 430.

Material Reinforcement

Defensio’s gift permanently strengthens materials when he imbues them with Psychic Power during construction 230.

• His power briefly remains in a strengthened object for three seconds. A Psychic Power Retainer gathers the residual power and amplifies it through a circuit 354.
• An initial machine produced materials ten percent stronger. With amplification and a reversed Blackstone field, Defensio and Perturabo created a prototype retainer that produced base materials forty percent stronger 354.

Suppression, Amplification and Storage

Psychic Power Bombs

Psychic Power Bombs disrupt psychic constructs and are used against Warp creatures 137 572.

• An Evernight Legion bomb could cripple thirty percent of the functions of a large psychic construct, such as a psychic network or Machine Spirit 137.
• Statham’s squad used bombs inspired by Sandamel to tear a path into Saraka’s Waaagh! storm and reach the projections of Gork and Mork at its center 572.

Imperial Policy

Han Mingxuan regarded Psykers as both human and an asset to the Imperium, while acknowledging the need to keep their powers under control. After reports of new awakenings, he assigned Magnus to teach the Legions how to manage and record their Psykers 344 382.

At the meeting on Psykers’ future, Administratum representatives called for strict control and the abolition of Legion Librarians. Mortarion’s XIV Legion reserved its opinion, while Magnus argued that Psychic Power was a dangerous double-edged sword that could nevertheless be developed for positive purposes 384 385.

The Primarchs agreed to prohibit Legion Librarians while retaining culturally rooted practices such as Rune Shamans, Storm Seers and Legion Sorcery. Han Mingxuan also presented contracts forged with his blood and soul to stabilize Psykers’ powers; the Primarchs and Emperor agreed to sign them 385.

Original Fate

The Night Haunter contrasted the current policy with the original Council of Nikaea, where the Emperor forbade Legion psychic units other than Navigators and Astropaths. He credited Han Mingxuan’s gentler approach and Magnus’s greater flexibility with allowing psychic practices to continue in the current fate 447.

In the original fate’s War of the Webway, the Emperor sacrificed a thousand Psykers to turn the battle. Afterward, a thousand Psykers were sacrificed daily to sustain the Astronomican and the sealed Webway gate; the Golden Throne and Astronomican system acted as a psychic amplifier 467 470.