Astral Projection is the ability to venture into the Astral Plane, which is a network created by the conjoining of every active mind on the planet. It normally appears as a white field witha white sky and white walls in the distance that one can never seem to reach. Every person on the astral plane has what is known as an Astral Persona, which is simply how that person sees themselves. This is how everyone is represented on the Astral Plane.
An Astral traveller can arrive at the Astral Plane simply by relaxing their bodies and concentrating. They must make a Psyche roll which can be modified by Meditation, if they have it, and the result will indicate the strength of their astral persona over the next hour. At the end of the hour, the traveller must make a new successful roll or be "booted out" of the Astral Plane.
The result indicates how powerful their astral persona will be, and acts as a bonus to every single roll while on the astral plane.
Reasons for Visiting the Astral Plane[]
The Astral Plane can be a dangerous place. The traveller going there must have a fairly goodreason for doing so. Here are a few possibilities:
To Gain Information: Travellers may go into the subconsciouos mind of someone who is asleep to gain information from them, or may travel to the Akasha, which is a seperate "sub-division" of the Astral Plane where all the records of human information is kept. Be wary, however, of the Akashic Keepers, who may not be willing to give all the world's information to the wrong person!
To Rescue Someone: Astral Travellers sometimes go into the Astral Plane and get trapped there. Other times, people who have gone insane or whose conscious mind has been taken over by an invader get stuck there and can only get out if someone goes in to save them.
To See Something: On the Astral Plane, everything in the regular Physical Plane, including other people, appear as ghostly manifestations of themselves, and they can be navigated just like in the real world. Careful when spying on certain people, especially magicians, as they tend to employ Astral Hunters to keep their secrets safe from prying eyes on the Astral Plane.
To Defeat a Creature: Some creatures may exist only on the Astral Plane, but can still manipulate the physical world and will need to be defeated somehow. Challenging them on their home turf is certainly one option.
Acting on the Astral Plane[]
Every action performed on the Astral Plane is made using a Psyche roll modified by the current "power level" of your Astral Persona (see above). This includes combat. Whenever damage is dealt on the Astral Plane, use regular damage and healing rules, but the damage only counts inside the Astral Plane, and will heal completely if 24 hours pass before the next time the character travels to the Astral Plane. Rather than Fortitude damage for Fatigue, however, use temporary Psyche damage, but do not use the rules for Psyche loss. Treat Psyche as Fortitude while on the Astral Plane. Note that, as Psyche goes down, every action the character performs on the Astral Plane will be affected. This damage does not affect the physical body unless the character has the Lucid Dreaming Disadvantage.
If Psyche reaches zero in this way, the character's persona "dies," and their physical body goes brain dead. The astral persona may be able to be retrieved... it's up to the GM how he wants to handle it in his storyline.
Leaving the Astral Plane[]
After one hour, the time the astral traveller can spend on the plane lapses unless they make another roll. If they fail or if they allow it to lapse, they will be ripped out of the Astral Plane and awaken in their own body. A character may also leave the Plane at will, but only on a successful Psyche roll, which he can try for once per round.