Pheromone Enhancement

Psychometabolic Devotion
Power Score:Con -2
Initial Cost:5
Maintenance Cost:2/round
Range:special
Preparation Time:0
Area of Effect:personal
Prerequisites:none

This power drastically increases the potency of the psionicist’s pheromones, causing a strong reaction among the opposite sex. Others who pick up the psionicist’s scent find themselves physically attracted to the psionicist. This arousal does not directly change how the effected view the psionicist (a sudden desire for a hated enemy won’t remove the hate), altho the power does provide at least a +4 reaction modifier.

The power only affects members of the same race (dwarven pheromones do nothing for elves!), and only to the opposite sex. The DM is free to determine if certain race’s pheromones are interchangeable (humans/elves are a possibility), as well as if certain same-sex attractions are possible. Pheromones are an air-borne transmission, so any effect that blocks air propagation will prevent the effects of this power. The strong physical attraction quickly fades when the power is turned off or the affected are out of range, altho there might be lingering mental awareness of the attraction.


Power Score:maintenance cost drops to 1 PSP/round
20:the pheromones causes an aversion-type effect towards the psionicist, to both sexes, for 2d4 rounds


Sex is often considered a taboo subject in the more roleplaying-oriented AD&D campaigns, what with the concept of sexual relations overused and abused by the younger crowd. I imagine most of us have set in on a campaign where the mere mention of the word "sex" started up a round of schoolgirl-like giggles. However, we shouldn't let such juvenile minds steal what is, after all, a very fundemental aspect of human nature from the roleplaying crowd. While trying to avoid the abject silliness as seen in the AD&D Netbook of Sex, I do acknowledge that desire is just as valid a character trait, and a storytelling tool, as hate, greed, honor, and duty.

From a game-mechanical standpoint, this power started out conceptually as the psychometabolist's answer to the person-controlling powers, such as Telepathy's Domination and Psychokinetic's Control Body. I thought it would be fun to see how the metabolic discipline would produce a similar effect thru different means, and the notion of pheromones popped into my mind. After some work, the Pheromone Enhancement power sprung forth - not quite the true variant I was looking for, but that's not the point. The point is that ideas come from lines of thought that might, at first glance, seem entirely unrelated :)