Psychic (or PSI from now on) abilities are this game's version of spells. It's a nice way to have something like "tech spells" because they use energy, not some force power or something. Multiple places in the game, it would be mentioned as "Converting pure energy into another form of energy using the mind." This ability would not be limited to knights, as several enemies would get them, too.

If you have never played Earthbound or Super Smash Bros, skip this paragraph.
Now, for those of you know have played the Super Smash games, you will (ok, you MIGHT) notice that Ness and Lucas say "PK Fire!" rather than "PSI Fire!" There is a reason for this. In SSB, (the first one) Earthbound had not come out in the US yet. When Earthbound was translated, "PK" became "PSI". To be correct with the games, SSB should be using "PSI", but for consistency they kept it at PK. In Mother 3/Earthbound 2, "PK" is used. This is because the only English translation for that game was a fan translation. Therefor, you could say it's not an official source. (I have to admit, they did a great job translating it.) Because this game is like Earthbound, and not SSB, "PSI" will be used. Hopefully this will settle the controversy.

I'll get into this more later, but almost all PSI skills will be usable both in and out of battle. In all the Earthbound games, you could use, say, Lifeup Beta in or out of battle to heal yourself. In Earthbound, PSI Lightning would hit a random enemy, but would be limited to battle only. In CB, I plan on having PSI Lightning being cast-able out of battle, causing a nearby object to be hit, let it be a puzzle element or an enemy. I've already said this, but I'll detail this more later.

Lastly, there is one stat I want to mention now. It's IQ. IQ, or the Intelligence stat, manages two things: how powerful a PSI skill is and how much Energy it uses. This is a new mechanic to CB, so I'll probably be careful with what I do here. I'll use two examples:

PSI Lifeup Alpha heals by about 50, but it can go from 45 to 60 at times. Having a higher IQ stat would increase the chance of getting a higher number. If IQ gets high enough, it will cap. This cap number will be shown in the in-game description of the PSI move. Once the IQ is equal or greater than the cap number, you will always heal by 60 when using this skill.

Using PSI Freeze Beta as an example this time, it needs 9 EP (Energy Points. Was PP or Power/Psychic Points in Earthbound) to be used. When the user hits the IQ cap, the EP cost will drop slightly. In this case, it might be down to 7 or 8 EP. Some things, such as PSI Lifeup Alpha, only use 5 EP, so it will probably not see any change. However, the more EP a PSI skill requires, the greater the drop will probably be.

The PSI skills will be sorted into 4 different groups: Force class (attacks), Nurse class (recovery), Tactic class (assist), and Omni class (other). Skills in the Force class deal damage, and may or may not deal a status. These generally consume the most EP, as well as usually can be used in the overworld. The Nurse class's skills boost either HP or EP. Some drain foes, others directly heal. The non-drain ones are also for overworld usage. Skills in the Tactic class are assisting ones, which will either buff allies/nerf foes, protect allies with a shield, or deal a status to foes. These are almost never used outside of battle. Lastly, skills in the Omni class are purely utility, and can only be used in the overworld. They usually use a very small amount of energy.

March 30 update: Added details on each skill class.

A majority of puzzles and level elements will be reliant on this feature. Once obtaining a party of at least 2 members, the player can use this feature. Normally, the leader is the one who the player controls, and the rest of his party follows behind in single file. (Akin to Earthbound.) However, you can switch other party members. When switched to another member, you can control him or her independently of the rest of the party. When you switch back to the leader, you can Recall them behind you. (Assuming there is no major obstruction between you and your squad.) This will have major effects on battles, but I will get into this at the end of this post.

We'll assume that the player will have a party of 4, consisting of a leader, a technician, a recon, and a guardian.

Each party member have their own special abilities which make them special. The technician can hack into security systems, reprogram robots, and control certain electronic elements. The recon can cloak, making he/she able to walk through the line of sight of enemies and other things while staying unseen. (However, certain things, such as Scuttle-Bots, can still see you.) The guardian can take a beating and still stand, so he/she can block lasers and missiles, but will probably do so at the cost of a slight amount of HP.

The leader, being either Striker or Waller, would be agile and fast, allowing for certain acrobatic feats. In addition to this, if the leader dies, the party can't Disconnect until the leader is revived. If the leader dies while the rest of the party is disconnected, all party members will regroup where the leader was. (In certain cases, you will lose instead!) In the case of the leader's death, the technician will take the lead. If he/she dies, the recon will lead. If he/she dies as well, the guardian will be on his/her own. (lol duh.)

A note on Recall
Switching to another member would simply disconnect him/her. When switching back the leader, you can Recall anyone who's DCd. Normally you'd Recall everyone, but you can chose to Recall a specific person.

Disconnect and battle
If you are Disconnected, the moment someone enters a battle, you switch to him/her. You'd be notified when enemies are approaching that party member. (Assuming that he/she knows that the enemy is coming; if ambushed, he/she won't be warned.) When a fight which doesn't start in an ambush begins, the player has an opportunity (of about 2-3 seconds) to call the other party members to you so they can participate in the fight.

In the fight, you will have to option to call for help. Calling would consume a turn, and only one member can join the fight for each call. Only party members who aren't obstructed by a major obstacle can be called. Calling has a chance to fail which is equal to that chance of the enemies' calls. (Yes, enemies can call for help. Gremlins, Menders especially, and Pit Bosses are some who would do this.)

This, I feel, will probably be one of the big features of CB, so please give some feedback!

The dark side of the force consumes us all...even you... *pulls out a light saber*

Ok, fine, I won't be a Jedi/Sith.

The Force class, or Attack group of PSI moves all will be focused on dealing direct damage. They have battle effects and overworld effects. When used in the overworld, their EP (Energy Point...this game's mana) requirements will be halved. PSI in the overworld can't deal damage to enemies. These skills will also be able to interact with certain overworld elements, such as burn plants or fry electronics.

• PSI Freeze (Element: Ice)
  Causes a cold wind in an area. Lower level versions are simply bone chilling, but higher ones can go as far as to freeze foes in their tracks.
  • Battle Effects:
    • Targets: One foe
    • Damage: High
    • Status: Lower levels can stun for a turn. while higher levels can freeze.
    • An enemy who may use this: Malos
  • Overworld Effects:
    • Area of Effect: Travels a distance from the user. (Distance increases with higher level PSI Freezes.) Higher levels create a ice crystal.
    • Effect on Enemies: Slows movement speed. Contact with ice crystal from higher versions will also slow.
    • Visual Effect: The user either uses a special tool or palms to launch a blast of icy air. When coming from hands...think Street Fighter, maybe?
• PSI Thunder (Element: Storm)
  Creates artificial lighting to rain down on the surrounding area. No matter what you do, don't try it around any electronic device you want to keep!
  • Battle Effects:
    • Targets: A random foe. Can miss, but will rarely miss if the battle has enough targets in it.
    • Damage: Above Moderate
    • Status: Pierces defense. Instantly breaks guards. (Shields, Forcefields, etc.) Chance to shock.
    • An enemy who may use this: Battle Pods (And Pikachu...lol not really)
  • Overworld Effects:
    • Area of Effect: Small AoE at a random spot around the user. Will hit certain objects without fail as long as they are close enough. Can bypass certain walls assuming one of these "targeted" objects is behind it.
    • Effect on Enemies: Varies from enemy to enemy. Primitive foes will run. (Wolvers) Dumb ones will sit still for a moment in a daze. (Jelly Cubes) Others will be encouraged to attack sooner. (Gremlins) Some oddballs will go all out berserk. (Quicksilvers)
    • Visual Effect: Creates a glowing cyan sphere above the user, which lightning comes from. Higher level ones glow brighter and shake rapidly, as if it is unstable.
• PSI Fire (Element: Fire)
  This skill will result in a line of fire coming from the fingers. Complete focus is completely necessary or your hands will become a pair of living torches.
  • Battle Effects:
    • Targets: One row
    • Damage: Average
    • Status: Fire, but only on the higher levels.
    • An enemy(s) who may use this: Gremlin Scorchers and Red Rovers
  • Overworld Effects:
    • Area of Effect: Makes a line of fire that is perpendicular to the user. Higher levels make a longer and wider line.
    • Effect on Enemies: Speeds up most enemies and causes them to run. Oilers will ignore you, but will be nastier if you fight them.
    • Visual Effect: With arms extended forward and both fingers touching, a fireball starts forming at the finger tips. Then the fireball explodes, flinging the user's arms back (and the user?) and causing the line of fire to be formed.
• PSI Darkness (Element: Dark)
  After a moment of concentration, this launches a shadowy wave. This skill has an arcing effect, allowing it to not only hit one enemy multiple times, but also hit other enemies, too. During this chain, if it misses once then the effect ends.
  • Battle Effects:
    • Targets: One target
    • Damage: Below Average
    • Status: Statusless (?) but can hit several times. (AKA arcing) Alpha hits 2 times, Beta hits 4, Gamma hits 6, and Omega hits 9. For each successive hit, the chance of the next attack missing goes up. The chance of missing goes down when it arcs.
    • An enemy(s) who may use this: Phantoms, the zombie family (excluding the really low level zombies), any swarm enemy
  • Overworld Effects:
    • Area of Effect: Makes an expanding, horizontal wave. Higher versions expand faster.
    • Effect on Enemies: Temporarily blinds enemies. They can't see you while blind.
    • Visual Effect: Varies.
• PSI Flash (Element: Life) TBA
• PSI Ground (Element: None) TBA
• PSI Favorite thing goes here (Element: None)
• PSI Starstorm (Element: Varying) TBA

Things which aren't here will be added over time. I prefer not to do everything at once mostly because I have worries of crashing stuff.

(4/9/13) UPDATE: Added PSI Fire
(4/13/13) UPDATE: Added PSI Darkness

Burp...

I mean bump...

@Porvata

Ah, thank you for suggesting Unity.

However, my problem lies in the fact that Linux isn't well supported yet...at all. When I was trying it, it lacked Linux support unless you payed for it. The other problem was how huge it was. I guess this isn't so much of an issue, it had a ton of stuff built into it which made it take up 3 gigabytes right off the bat.

Currently, that's my problem. I'll be checking it from time to time, and may use it if it comes to Linux soon...why the heck is the site not working? @.@

Also, I know that Blender has a variety of exporters, so if Unity gets Linux support in the near future (meaning less than a year or so), I can probably export the models from Blender to Unity. Therefor, I shouldn't be anchored too badly to Blender. To tell the truth, of the small time I messed around with Unity, it did seem a bit more user friendly, which is a good thing. It also seemed more game oriented than Blender.

On that note, I've been planning on making a few models of materials. I don't possess a lot of skills, but a Mod Calibrator shouldn't be too hard. :P

@Egpnd

I like how that looks. I never thought of linking something directly to IQ. Also, those numbers aren't half bad. :P

Ok, it's way to early to say that. I have no clue what the numbers are right now. >.< That'll come when a working engine is up and we get to tweak with things...unless we steal some numbers from EB...which is likely.

@Anyone

This is interesting...