THE PK CRYSTAL

The PK Crystal or StarStone is a luminescent disk about 40mm in diameter and l0mm thick in the center, tapering at the edge to about 1mm thickness. It thus has a characteristic lens shape. The PK Crystal has the power to focus an Adept's mental faculties and to tap the vast energies of the 'Force,' the mysterious source of power available to psionic Adepts which permits them to perform truly impressive feats of mental power.

Most characters will have to discover PK Crystals ; they cannot be manufactured by the technologies of current civilizations. Such crystals will likely be 'dormant,' meaning that they have not been keyed to the mental patterns of any living, sentient creature with psionic 'openness.' These ForeRunner devices will instantly arrange their molecular structures to mirror the mental pattern and aura of the first psionically 'open' character to touch them. Once it is so 'keyed,' the PK Crystal will become starkly antithetical to any other life form which handles it when it is not in contact with the owner, acting as the most virulent poison possible so long as it is in contact with the uninsulated flesh of the being handling it. However, if a StarStone is removed from an owner and allowed to sit for 2d6 months (only the StarMaster knows for sure), it may be able to survive the absence from its owner and become receptive to the mental patterns of another. The chance of this happening is equal to 20 minus the PSI score of the previous owner. If the PK Crystal does not meet these conditions, it will sublimate away.

A PK Crystal will also greatly augment the magnitude and range of psionic talents. Exact effects will be given in the descriptions of the various talents which follow. Some psionic talents will be possible only with the acquisition of a PK Crystal; these are marked in the descriptions;

'Contacted' Adepts receive a PK Crystal from their mysterious mentors, unlike lower level PC's. Also, whenever they lose their PK Crystals, a replacement seems to arrive within a reasonably short period of time, again from the same mysterious source. It is not known why such Adepts have been singled out for such treatment, but it is believed that they have some part to play in the working out of a great plan to restore the ForeRunner levels of civilization and culture.