Manic

Overview

The Manic is a combat-trained warrior fitted with Overclock (Mind-Over-Matter) implants — surgical augmentations that unlock latent psionic potential at the cost of mental stability. Where the Redliner burns out physically, the Manic burns out mentally: the implants amplify and distort their psyche, granting telekinesis, mind reading, and other psi powers, but cumulative use accumulates psychological strain that manifests as paranoia, grandiosity, intrusive thoughts, and occasional breaks with reality.

Manics are charismatic, intense, twitchy, and feared — both for what they can do and for what they might do when their mind slips. They are the Redliner's sister class: same augmentation-and-clock structure, different axis of cost (mind, not body). And here is the class's central tragedy — the Manic gets more psionically dangerous as Strain accumulates. The Manic who is closest to a breakdown is the one who hits hardest with psi, and the one most likely to lash out at allies. Peak effectiveness coincides with peak loss of control.

You are martial and psionic, not a pure psychic. You use martial weapons, wear armor, and fight in melee or at range. The psi impulses are tactical additions, not your primary combat mode — quick reflexes (Dexterity) drive your fighting, while mental discipline (Wisdom) governs your psi.

At a glance

Two chassis notes set the Manic apart. You are Will Expert at L1 — the Overclock implants require a baseline of mental discipline just to function; Manics who can't hold their minds together fail out of Overclock surgery. And you have no heavy armor — the implants and rigid plating interfere with each other, a real mobility constraint compared to the Chromeboy, Redliner, or Psi-Knight.

Class features by level

Overclock impulse list

Each Psi Impulse has the psionic trait and costs 1 focus point unless otherwise specified.

• Telekinetic Strike. Spend 1 focus. Ranged psionic attack (30 ft, WIS-keyed attack roll). On hit: 2d6 force damage + 1d6 per 2 class levels. psionic, force.
• Telekinetic Shield. Spend 1 focus. Gain +2 status to AC for 1 minute or until you become unconscious. psionic.
• Telekinetic Push. Spend 1 focus. Target creature within 30 ft makes a Reflex save (vs. your class DC). On failure, pushed 10 ft and Falls Prone. Critical failure: pushed 20 ft, Prone, takes 1d6 bludgeoning. psionic.
• Mind Read. 1-minute activity. Spend 1 focus. Target creature within 60 ft makes a Will save. Failure: you read surface thoughts for the next minute (1 question per round). psionic, mental.
• See Aura. Spend 1 focus. For 10 minutes, perceive magical and psionic auras within 60 ft, including damage type, intensity, and psionic trait presence. psionic.
• Empathic Sense. 10-minute activity. Spend 1 focus. Learn one significant fact about a creature's emotional state and recent significant emotional events. Will save to resist. psionic, mental.

Additional impulses unlocked at L3, L7, L11, and L15 are drawn from this list (or from the expanded Overclock impulse catalog).

Mental Strain states

The Manic gets more powerful in psi-output as Strain rises — but the cost rises with it. Collapse offers the highest damage bonus and free-cost psi, but the very impulse you fire at Collapse advances you to Total Breakdown, locking you out for the rest of the day (or until you burn your Psi Centering). Collapse is effectively a one-shot state: push to Strain 3, fire one big spike, lock out. You get the peak, then you pay for it.

Variants

Three Manic variants. The Standard Manic is the default; the others are alternative builds.

Standard Manic (default)

The iconic combat-and-psi balance. 4 starting Overclock implants, the Mental Strain state machine, and a broad selection of psi impulses.

Cyber-Manic

The over-implanted variant.

• 6 starting Overclock implants instead of 4.
• (trigger: you cast a psi impulse that deals damage). Spend 1 focus point to add +2 to that psi impulse's damage roll (a "spike" feature).
• Mental Strain cap is reduced to class level + 1 (faster state transitions).
• Strain accumulates 1 extra per psi impulse use during the first encounter of each day (rough mornings).

Mystic Manic

A Manic whose Overclock implants tap into something supernatural rather than mechanical.

• Psi impulses can be selected from a broader list including Occult tradition spells (treated as psionic-tagged Occult cantrips/focus spells).
• Mental Strain accumulates at half the normal rate (1 per 2 impulse uses).
• Cannot install non-Overclock cyberware (the supernatural interference disrupts ordinary tech).

Class feats

Class feats available at each feat level — you gain one at every even level, and can always pick a feat of your level or lower.

Level 1

• Combat Reflexes. Once per round, when an adjacent enemy moves out of your reach, make a melee Strike.
• Iron Mind. +1 status bonus to Will saves against mental and emotion effects (stacks with Mental Discipline's +1).
• Implant Stability. (trigger: you spend focus on a Psi Impulse). You can spend 1 additional focus point to not advance Mental Strain for that use — the implant's stabilizers buffer the cost. Since focus drives both your impulses and your Strain, this trades raw output for a steadier mind: your small pool lets you spare the extra focus only occasionally, so the clock keeps climbing when you go all-out.
• Reactive Telekinesis. Trigger: a creature you can see targets you with an attack. Spend 1 focus point to raise a flicker of telekinetic force, gaining a +2 circumstance bonus to AC against the triggering attack. psionic. Advances Strain by 1.

Level 2

• Psi-Warrior. When you hit with a melee Strike, you may spend 1 focus point to deal 1d6 additional force damage (psionic); this scales to 2d6 at L9 and 3d6 at L15. Advances Strain by 1.
• Unsettling Presence. You can Demoralize using Occultism or your class DC's key statistic instead of Intimidation, and a creature currently affected by one of your psionic impulses takes a −1 status penalty to its save against your Demoralize.
• Disciplined Mind. While in Calm or Heightened state, a success on a Will save is a critical success instead — at low Strain the implants are still your servants, not your masters.

Level 4

• Telekinetic Mastery. Telekinetic Strike's damage increases by 1 die (e.g., 2d6 → 3d6 at base; class-level scaling unchanged).
• Empathic Sensitivity. Empathic Sense range increases to 120 ft, and you can use it as a 1-action activity (instead of 10-minute).
• Aura Sight. See Aura is always active (passive); you can spend a focus point to enhance it for 1 minute (identify creature types, alignment-equivalents, magical bonds, etc.).

Level 6

• Telekinetic Barrage. Spend 1 focus point. Make a Telekinetic Strike against two creatures within range, or against one creature twice (apply your multiple attack penalty to the second attack). Advances Strain by 1.
• Strain Channeling. Once per round, when you advance your Mental Strain track, your next psionic impulse this turn deals +2 status damage. You learn to spend the break, not only suffer it.
• Mind Shield. Spend 1 focus point. You and allies within 15 ft gain a +1 status bonus to Will saves until the start of your next turn. psionic. Advances Strain by 1.

Level 8

• Multi-Strike. Spend 1 focus point to make a Strike at full attack value (no multiple attack penalty applied to this Strike). Once per turn.
• Resilient Mind. (trigger: you fail a Will save in Overload, Collapse, or Total Breakdown state). Attempt a flat DC 15 check; on success, you suffer the failure outcome but reduce Strain by 1 (the mind compensates by snapping back toward a less broken state). Cannot reduce Strain below 0.
• Overload Discipline. While in Overload state, you no longer take its −1 status penalty to attack rolls. You've learned to keep your hands steady while the mind roars.

Level 10

• Greater Telekinesis. Your Telekinetic Push and similar forced-movement impulses gain +10 ft range and can move targets vertically. On a critical success, you may fling the target into another creature within 10 ft; both take 1d6 bludgeoning damage.
• Psi Feedback. Trigger: a creature within 30 ft damages you and you can sense its mind. Spend 1 focus point to deal 2d6 mental damage to it (basic Will save vs. your class DC). psionic, mental. Advances Strain by 1.
• Steady the Mind. When you Refocus to recover focus, you also reduce your Mental Strain track by 1.

Level 12

• Cybered Up. Spend 1 focus point. For the next minute, your psi impulse damage gains a +2 status bonus, and Mental Strain advances only on every second impulse use (instead of every use). After the minute ends, immediately advance Strain by 2 (catch-up).
• Mind Beyond. Telekinetic Push range increases to 60 ft, and successful crits push the target 30 ft (instead of 20 ft) and impose Prone + 1d6 bludgeoning damage.
• Telekinetic Flight. Spend 1 focus point. You gain a fly Speed equal to your land Speed for 1 minute, levitating on telekinetic force. psionic. Advances Strain by 1.

Level 14

• Overclocked Core. Your focus pool maximum increases by 1.
• Devastating Impulse. When you critically succeed with a damaging psionic impulse, it deals one additional damage die and pushes the target up to 10 ft.
• Lucid Collapse. While in Collapse state, the first time each round you would become Confused from the state's Will save, you instead retain control but take a −2 status penalty to all checks until the start of your next turn.

Level 16

• Strain Mastery. Prerequisite: Implant Stability. When you pay Implant Stability's additional focus point (part of that same free action), it negates the Strain of every Psi Impulse you cast for the rest of that turn, not just one — so a single payment covers a multi-impulse nova. The focus still comes from your small pool, so you can rarely afford it more than once in a fight; the Strain clock still climbs over a long day.
• Synchronization Echo. After using Total Synchronization, you can attempt a DC 25 Will save to soften the Total Breakdown lockout. On success, you exit at Strain 3 (Collapse) instead of Strain 4 (Total Breakdown) — you keep the Confused-save risk of Collapse but avoid the Stupefied 2 lockout, regaining control much faster.
• Master Telekinetic. The base damage of your damaging psi impulses increases by one die, and your Telekinetic Shield's bonus increases to +3 to AC.

Level 18

• Psionic Nova. Spend 2 focus points. Every enemy in a 20-ft burst within 60 ft takes your Telekinetic Strike's damage (basic Reflex save vs. your class DC). psionic, force. Advances Strain by 2.
• Iron Psyche. You are immune to the Confused condition caused by your own Collapse state, and the Stupefied value you suffer from Total Breakdown is reduced by 1.
• Unbound Mind. You can maintain two sustained psionic impulses at once (such as Telekinetic Shield and See Aura), and sustaining your impulses never advances your Mental Strain track.

Level 20

• Perfect Synchronization. Your Total Synchronization capstone lasts 2 minutes instead of 1, and the Will save afterward is DC 20 instead of DC 30.
• Transcendent Mind. Your damaging psi impulses ignore resistance to force and mental damage, and your Mind Over Matter Penetrating value increases to 10.
• Apex Manic. You may treat your Mental Strain state as one step lower for its penalties while keeping the benefits of your actual state (for example, at Collapse you gain Collapse's +3 impulse damage but suffer only Overload's penalties). You have made a partner of the storm.

Playing the rig

Like the Redliner, the Manic's "gear" is integrated into their body. The Overclock implants cannot be unequipped, set aside, or temporarily removed in play. The rig is the class. Without it, the character is a person who was a Manic — now retired or remade.

Rig integrity and removal

• Damage to the rig. The implants are internal and protected by the body. Damaging them in combat requires extraordinary, specific trauma — the kind that would kill a normal character outright.
• Voluntary removal. A qualified neurosurgeon can attempt removal (DC 40 Medicine check, 2 weeks downtime). Failure causes severe psychological complications; critical failure can cause permanent mental damage or death.
• After removal. The character is no longer a Manic. They retain their levels for narrative purposes but lose all class features. The statline reverts to non-augmented baseline — effectively retire or remake into a different class (GM ruling).

Mental fragility

Manics often suffer psychological symptoms — paranoia, intrusive thoughts, occasional minor breaks with reality. These are roleplay flavor, not mechanical. You are encouraged to incorporate Manic-style instability into your character's portrayal (talking to imaginary advisors, fixating on specific ideas, etc.). The mechanical Strain track is for combat-tempo pressure; the narrative flavor is for character depth.

Where the class shines

• Mundane / non-magical / non-psionic scenes: the Manic still fights well. Their psi gives them tools (Telekinetic Push for crowd control, See Aura for detection), but they're not magic-dependent for combat effectiveness. Plays as a competent martial.
• Indoor / urban / social: the Manic's intensity and intimidation work well as a heavy in crowd scenes. The "twitchy combat veteran" framing is a feature, not a liability — though less suited to subtle diplomacy than a Chromeboy's wasteland-celebrity bonus.
• Stealth: the Manic can move quietly (DEX-keyed Acrobatics), but the implants create a faint psionic signature detectable by See Aura users and similar. Not optimal, but viable.