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Potential Psychic Energy (abbreviated as P.P.E. or PPE) is something every living thing (and some non-living things!) possess in varying amounts.

The concept was introduced in Beyond the Supernatural to fuel magic spells, prior to that spells in other Palladium games around at the time (Palladium RPG and TMNT and Heroes Unlimited) used a "per day" system like D&D.

Lore[]

PPE is the fuel that makes magic spells possible. In the past, nobody contained enough PPE within a single person to invoke it into a spell, but with the coming of the Rifts, vast amounts of Psychic Energy flood the earth, making it a readily available resource for those who can control it.

For example, a normal adult human has 2D6 PPE while a human child have 5D6. For comparison, a Mystic could have between 40 and 100 or more.

Amounts[]

RMB 13 originally said:

Unless stated otherwise under one's O.C.C. or R.C.C., the amount of P.P.E. is minimal, roll 2D6.

PPE for animals was listed with HP amounts on page 114 (copied from page 75 of Beyond the Supernatural)

  • in RUE pg 186 has animal PPE summaries but not HP

RUE in 2005 removed this from it's usual place in the character creation process.

The GM Screen in 2016 introduced "P.P.E. Sources by race" which said the "average human adult" actually had 3D6 PPE. It's unclear if that's meant to replace the 2D6 default for non-specified OCCs, or if perhaps that's meant to be an average between that 2D6 and the higher amounts that some classes give.

Other games[]

Page 75 of BTS gave an overview of PPE for humans resembling the GM Screen, including the basic 3D6 for (20+) adults (higher than Rifts' 2D6 for non-specified OCCs)

  • This includes an identical rate for teens (14-19, for some reason not 13) of 4D6, and 6D6+6 for children (13 and under)

Nightbane gives PPE to magic OCCs and supernatural characters but neglects to give basic guidelines for the PPE of normal humans

  • this doesn't have a big impact since it also left out the ability to power spells via doubled PPE from human sacrifice, or to draw PPE from others

Pg 22 of PF doesn't include PPE after step 5 class selection like Rifts did, instead PPE is listed by Race later on in the book.

  • pg 289 says that adult humans usually have 2D6 unless mage/clergy while children only have 5D6 (not 6D6+6 like in BTS and Rifts GM Shield)
    • in this case "til about 18" is listed, so there's no separate child/teen classification and 19 year olds don't have more PPE than 20 year olds like in BTS

Dead Reign pg 8 says that "PPE of a Typical Human" is described on page 23

  • amounts TBA

See also[]

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