Psychic Abilities

A Psyker is a model with the Psyker trait on its profile. Like any trait, on its own it grants no rules, no weapons and no powers: it simply acts as a "key" that lets the model use the psychic weapons, psychic powers or psychic reactions listed on its profile, or chosen as options during army selection.

The three families at a glance

Psychic weapons are entirely normal weapons — same characteristics, same shooting or melee rules — except that they have the Psychic trait and only a Psyker can use them. Many are not even represented on the model.

• Shooting: a Psyker may attack with any of its psychic ranged weapons (or several, if a rule explicitly allows it).
• Melee: a psychic melee weapon counts like any other weapon when determining whether the model has more than one, with the same restrictions.
• No special test to attack, unless the weapon's special rule requires one.
• Indestructible: a psychic weapon can never be destroyed or taken away from a model, except by a rule that specifically targets psychic weapons.

A psychic power is a separate action, described as a special rule: it is resolved in its own phase, with its own rules (even if it can ultimately inflict hits, wounds or damage). There are two types, depending on the target:

Key points

• Using a psychic power or reaction does not prevent moving, shooting or charging, unless the power itself says otherwise.
• A model or unit in Reserves, embarked, or not on the battlefield cannot use any psychic power or reaction.
• If the user leaves play (goes into Reserves, embarks, or is Removed as a Casualty), any lasting effect it has manifested is immediately cancelled.

A psychic reaction is a psychic power that can only be used as a Reaction, during the opposing Player Turn. It follows both the rules for psychic powers and those for Reactions:

• It is only triggered when the Reactive Player responds to an action by the Active Player, and costs at least 1 Reaction point.
• Each psychic reaction specifies when it can be declared and at what cost.
• A Stunned model cannot declare any Reaction, and therefore no psychic reaction either.

Some psychic reactions do not apply the Blessing/Curse rules below and describe their own effect directly — this is the case for Nullify, which lets a Psyker counter an opponent's Curse (see the Statuses & Reactions page).

Using a psychic power or reaction is called manifesting a Blessing or a Curse. The model using it is called the Focus. The procedure differs slightly depending on the type.

Manifesting a Blessing

1. The Controlling Player declares the use of the power and nominates the Focus, then announces the target (always friendly) to all players.
2. They make a Willpower Check, known as a Manifestation Check: the target number is the Focus's current Willpower.
3. Passed: the power's effects apply to the target. Failed: nothing happens (but it still counts as a use).

Manifesting a Curse

1. The Controlling Player declares the use of the power, nominates the Focus, then announces the target (always an enemy).
2. This time, it is the player controlling the target who makes the Willpower Check, known as a Resistance Check: the target number is the current Willpower of the targeted model or — if the target unit contains several models — of the one with the lowest Willpower (the player may choose a Sergeant, Command or Paragon model instead, if the unit has one).
3. Passed: the target has resisted, the Curse fails and has no effect. Failed: the power's effects apply to the target.
4. If several units are targeted, a separate test is made for each.

The Warp is an unstable power: it can turn against the Psyker and their allies. When a Manifestation Check or a Resistance Check rolls a natural double (both dice show the same number, before any modifiers), Perils of the Warp is triggered against the unit that includes the Focus.

What happens?

Look up the number rolled on the test dice in the table below (if the Perils did not come from a test, simply roll 1D6).