What are psykers capable of?

[Whitelion]

 

 

Hi everyone, I wanted to ask about the capabilities of the most powerful psykers that appeared in 40k.

I have heard many say that they can predict the future, control the time, teleport entire fleets of ships to warp.

What do we know about their abilities?

Edited September 21, 2020 by Whitelion

[SpecialIssue]

The old mentions of a psyker scale had the designation Alpha+ as the most powerful - able to snap titans in two with a flick of the wrist and turn armies upon one another with a muttered word. These catastrophic forces of nature are also utterly insane, driven mad by being such an open conduit to the warp and the daemons drawn like moths to their blinding light. Obviously they are also extremely rare.

 

Last I know of this scale mentioned is circa 4th-5th edition rule books?

Edited September 21, 2020 by SpecialIssue

[phoenix01]

Well, they are capable of becoming unguarded conduits into the warp, allowing monstrous daemons to enter into reality and destroy the Emperor's worlds, so any psykers that you may come across should be pointed out to your closest arbites, commissar, or inquisitor for immediate dispatch or collection. Said authority will automatically determine if any taint may have leaked from the psyker onto you, so ensure any last will and testament you may have is in order.

[chapter master 454]

As with many things 40k: Power level Plot.

 

Some Psykers are capable of doing some tremendous feats, Tigerius of the Ultramarines is alluded to be able to read the Hive Mind without going insane (where it is known that even the shadow of such a thing drives psykers insane) and others are able to outright force crush tanks but most are actually just minor issues, the biggest problem being that they tend to attract daemons who want to have a party.

 

I would temper expectations of what psykers can and can't do when reading the lore. After all, a lot of quotes in say the rule books or codices are from the psykers themselves who likely ride a high of their power that is hard to control and even for marines would manifest as mild arrogance and aloof nature. They say they can because that is what they feel they can do. In reality what they can do is dependent on how far they can push their powers without ripping the fabric of reality in twain. The only Psyker who could even get close to such feats would be the Emperor of Mankind and even he wasn't do such grand feats of powers, though I would think he would be less inclined to use his as to not encourage reality to falter.

 

...also be careful...Black Templar players are very poor listeners of reason but incredible at hearing anything about witchcraft...and they don't use "indoor" voices. ;)

[MARK0SIAN]

In the second Eisenhorn book a bunch of Alpha + psykers are freed from captivity by a rogue inquisitor. They’re shown to be able to control space marines and other lesser psykers. When hunting down one of them, the psyker controls hundreds/thousands of ordinary citizens and turns them into his mindless pawns.

 

Basically, their power is only limited by the needs of the story.

[Karhedron]

This post has an excerpt about Magnus the Red, Primarch of the Thousand Sons. This guy is the second most powerful psyker in the galaxy after the Emperor. This shows pretty much the top-level of power a psyker can achieve. Even named Space Marine librarians like Tigurius and Mephiston cannot compete with Magnus in terms of power.

 

https://www.reddit.com/r/40kLore/comments/9c0ytc/book_extract_magnus_the_red_master_of_prospero/

 

It should be noted that raw power is not always the best measure of effectiveness. The Eldar Farseer Eldrad Ulthran specialises in prophecy rather than brute force power. He has changed the outcome of dozens of major conflicts across the galaxy by making key interventions at the appropriate time. His list of accomplishments include directing Waagh Ghazkull at the Imperial Hiveworld Armageddon rather than at the Eldar, assisting in the resurrection of Roboute Guilliman (arguably the biggest shake-up of the Imperium since the Horus Heresy) and sparking the awakening of Yneead, the Eldar God of Death. All of this without showy powers like dismantling a tank with his mind.

[Tyriks]

Mild spoiler for Eisenhorn/Ravenor

Ravenor duels a psyker stronger than himself but manages to prevail through superior training and discipline

which supports Karhedron's post that raw power isn't always the most important thing

[Scribe]

What are they capable of?

 

Whatever the story demands.

 

Pull a Cruiser through the Eye of Terror and 'throw' it at a Planet? Sure.

[Emicus]

The more powerful the psyker the longer it can power the Golden Throne...

 

Malcador survived for å day I think?

[Rik Lightstar]

In "brute force" terms, Ahriman had rules in Battlefleet Gothic where he could inflict damage on opposing ships.

 

I'd say being able to damage a city size combat vessel, through void shields, over a range of thousands of kilometres gives you a fair idea.

 

Magnus and the Emperor are probably the only beings capable of greater feats of raw psychic power than Ahriman, but it certainly gives some context.

 

Rik

[Whitelion]

Ahriman? Never heard of it, is it in the BFG Rulebook?

 

Magnus' exploits are really excellent, they also told me about a psyker in contact with the gods, able to control billions of people on a planet, does anyone know him?

 

Other extreme powers, the psykers of the psi-titan warlord, able to generate a field around the Titan that simply takes the life of those who enter it.

[Sothalor]

You've... never heard of Ahriman? In the context of 40K psykers?

[Whitelion]

no, i'm new in 40k, from some months i read the lore

[Brother Tyler]

Ahriman is among the most powerful of psykers, certainly one of the most powerful from the Thousand Sons Legion during the time of the Great Crusade.

 

The rules for Ahriman were an unofficial addition posted online in the Ahriman's Arrival scenario set during the Cerberu Campaign.

 

Ahriman is the commander of the Chaos fleet and must be placed on its most powerful vessel. He will use his vast magical powers and strength of will to guide and support his ships, but woe betide any of his followers who dare fail him…

 

Ahriman has a Leadership value of 10 and gives his fleet one reroll per turn, in exactly the same way as Abaddon (see rules in Warp Storm and White Dwarf).

 

To represent the price of failing the Arch-Sorcerer of Tzeentch, the You have failed me for the last time rule that applies to Abaddon’s troops also applies to Ahriman’s.

 

I’ll be back:

As Ahriman is quite important in this campaign, even if his ship gets blown to bits and then implodes into the Warp, he may still return when you least expect it…

 

Ahriman’s magical power is so great that he can affect even as large a target as an Imperial star ship! He has the following magical abilities in a Battlefleet Gothic game.

 

Blessing of Tzeentch:

All enemy vessels firing at his ship suffer a right column shift on the Gunnery table.

 

Ward of Chaos:

All enemy ships within 15 cm of Ahriman’s count as having one blast marker on their base.

 

Daemonic Horde:

Once per game, you may unleash a horde of Daemons against your foes. Roll a D6, and then roll that many dice to hit vs. any one enemy ship’s armor value. Shields do count against any damage caused. Check for Critical Hits as normal.

 

Cost 200 points:

Please note that as Ahriman is an unofficial addition to the BFG game. He may be used only with your opponent’s permission. He must always be the chief Warmaster of your fleet. What happens when you take Ahriman and Abaddon in the same fleet is outside the scope of this scenario, but it would probably be really nasty!

[Whitelion]

wow, it's from BFG Rulebook 4th Edition?

Ahriman is among the most powerful of psykers, certainly one of the most powerful from the Thousand Sons Legion during the time of the Great Crusade.

The rules for Ahriman were an unofficial addition posted online in the Ahriman's Arrival scenario set during the Cerberu Campaign.
 

Ahriman is the commander of the Chaos fleet and must be placed on its most powerful vessel. He will use his vast magical powers and strength of will to guide and support his ships, but woe betide any of his followers who dare fail him…

Ahriman has a Leadership value of 10 and gives his fleet one reroll per turn, in exactly the same way as Abaddon (see rules in Warp Storm and White Dwarf).

To represent the price of failing the Arch-Sorcerer of Tzeentch, the You have failed me for the last time rule that applies to Abaddon’s troops also applies to Ahriman’s.

I’ll be back:
As Ahriman is quite important in this campaign, even if his ship gets blown to bits and then implodes into the Warp, he may still return when you least expect it…

Ahriman’s magical power is so great that he can affect even as large a target as an Imperial star ship! He has the following magical abilities in a Battlefleet Gothic game.

Blessing of Tzeentch:
All enemy vessels firing at his ship suffer a right column shift on the Gunnery table.

Ward of Chaos:
All enemy ships within 15 cm of Ahriman’s count as having one blast marker on their base.

Daemonic Horde:
Once per game, you may unleash a horde of Daemons against your foes. Roll a D6, and then roll that many dice to hit vs. any one enemy ship’s armor value. Shields do count against any damage caused. Check for Critical Hits as normal.

Cost 200 points:
Please note that as Ahriman is an unofficial addition to the BFG game. He may be used only with your opponent’s permission. He must always be the chief Warmaster of your fleet. What happens when you take Ahriman and Abaddon in the same fleet is outside the scope of this scenario, but it would probably be really nasty!

 

wow, it's from BFG Rulebook 4th Edition?

[BLACK BLΠFLY]

Post Heresy Ahriman was a broken man then reforged in battle... for a mortal he is an extremely powerful psyker . 

[Xenith]

wow, it's from BFG Rulebook 4th Edition?

 

 

Hi Whitelion - from your initial questions on Primarchs, then Psykers, you;re definitely treading the path of the Thousand Sons, the best Legion.

 

Ahriman was their Chief Librarian before their fall to chaos, and now a powerful, if not the most powerful sorcerer in the galaxy, aside from Magnus the Red and cartain other daemons. His wiki page is here.

 

Magnus the Red makes the suggestion that he can rip battleships from orbit, then concedes that might even be beyond his power in A Thousand Sons. From the above link, you can see that he can certainly rip a baneblade apart with ease. I think he titans on Aghoru were a bit too much for him though. 

 

There's also a big difference between "battle powers" and "rituals", so while Magnus could rip an entire planet through the warp into realspace (Sorotarius), this was the culmination of a millenia(?) long rite, and he probably couldn't do it on a whim. Psychic powers like gate of tzeentch, however, allow him to suck small things like tanks into the warp in an instant. 

[Whitelion]

I must say that the warp fascinates me a lot in 40k, it is a multifaceted part of the canon that has repercussions in all fields, it is used as a weapon, as a means of travel, and in fact it was what really allowed the 40k factions to get in touch with each other and create the story.

 

I'm interested in Magnus, in which novel can I find the millennial ritual to transport a planet into the warp? I'm also interested in the undertaking of dragging ships out of orbit ...

 

 

wow, it's from BFG Rulebook 4th Edition?

 

 

Hi Whitelion - from your initial questions on Primarchs, then Psykers, you;re definitely treading the path of the Thousand Sons, the best Legion.

 

Ahriman was their Chief Librarian before their fall to chaos, and now a powerful, if not the most powerful sorcerer in the galaxy, aside from Magnus the Red and cartain other daemons. His wiki page is here.

 

Magnus the Red makes the suggestion that he can rip battleships from orbit, then concedes that might even be beyond his power in A Thousand Sons. From the above link, you can see that he can certainly rip a baneblade apart with ease. I think he titans on Aghoru were a bit too much for him though. 

 

There's also a big difference between "battle powers" and "rituals", so while Magnus could rip an entire planet through the warp into realspace (Sorotarius), this was the culmination of a millenia(?) long rite, and he probably couldn't do it on a whim. Psychic powers like gate of tzeentch, however, allow him to suck small things like tanks into the warp in an instant. 

 

[Xenith]

 

 

 

I'm interested in Magnus, in which novel can I find the millennial ritual to transport a planet into the warp? I'm also interested in the undertaking of dragging ships out of orbit ...

 

 

The Teleportation of Sorotarius from the warp is either in the warzone fenris books from 7th ed, or maybe psychic awakening ritual of the damned. It's also probably all summarised online in a wiki if you google it. The ships out of orbit thing was a threat from Magnus to scare some space wolves who had no real idea of Magnus's power - he later jokes that he might not have been able to do it. If you want to take a view that telekinetic powers are kind of like gravity, in that they get weaker the further away the object, then Magnus probably could pull a ship towards a planet, but likely the pull isn't stronger than the ships engines...and why would you want to crash a 10km long ship onto the planet youre standing on anyway?

Edited September 23, 2020 by Xenith

[Whitelion]

 

 

 

 

I'm interested in Magnus, in which novel can I find the millennial ritual to transport a planet into the warp? I'm also interested in the undertaking of dragging ships out of orbit ...

 

 

The Teleportation of Sorotarius from the warp is either in the warzone fenris books from 7th ed, or maybe psychic awakening ritual of the damned. It's also probably all summarised online in a wiki if you google it. The ships out of orbit thing was a threat from Magnus to scare some space wolves who had no real idea of Magnus's power - he later jokes that he might not have been able to do it. If you want to take a view that telekinetic powers are kind of like gravity, in that they get weaker the further away the object, then Magnus probably could pull a ship towards a planet, but likely the pull isn't stronger than the ships engines...and why would you want to crash a 10km long ship onto the planet youre standing on anyway?

 

thank you, to tell the truth I thought that the ability to crash a ship on a planet would be useful, as the aforementioned psyker could with less effort make the ships of an enemy fleet collide with each other in space

[Kythnos]

 

 

 

 

 

I'm interested in Magnus, in which novel can I find the millennial ritual to transport a planet into the warp? I'm also interested in the undertaking of dragging ships out of orbit ...

 

 

The Teleportation of Sorotarius from the warp is either in the warzone fenris books from 7th ed, or maybe psychic awakening ritual of the damned. It's also probably all summarised online in a wiki if you google it. The ships out of orbit thing was a threat from Magnus to scare some space wolves who had no real idea of Magnus's power - he later jokes that he might not have been able to do it. If you want to take a view that telekinetic powers are kind of like gravity, in that they get weaker the further away the object, then Magnus probably could pull a ship towards a planet, but likely the pull isn't stronger than the ships engines...and why would you want to crash a 10km long ship onto the planet youre standing on anyway?

 

thank you, to tell the truth I thought that the ability to crash a ship on a planet would be useful, as the aforementioned psyker could with less effort make the ships of an enemy fleet collide with each other in space

 

 

This actually happens in "The Talon of Horus" where Khayon, a Thousand Sons sorcerer, uses his powers to hide a ship and hurl it at a planet controlled by the Emperors Children.

[Whitelion]

thank you very much, please did you remember if is in the beginning, in the middle or in the end of the novel?

[Lord_Caerolion]

Towards the very end. Khayon is noted to be an incredibly powerful psyker, and the act of "carrying" the ship behind them leaves him practically catatonic with the effort, and leaves him quite weak in the aftermath. It's certainly not implied to be something that your average telekine is capable of.

Edited September 24, 2020 by Lord_Caerolion