What is the difference between Sorcery and Psychic abilities?

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**grimz**

Apologies if asked before, I couldn't find anything in search.

Psychic powers seem pretty similar to what can be achieve through magic/sorcery so how are they the same?

Can't Psykers fall victim to daemons and possession, just like sorcery ... ?

**Shadowbrand**

I think they are just the same thing.

Sorcerer's being a more chaotic form of psyker's.

I must ask though why do the loyalist dog's get a 3+ save when we only get a 5+.

D:

**Orkfantic**

If by magic you mean all the old powers people used in 40kverse, I think they are the same thing just with a more mystical look at it, current 40k residents look at like a natural weapon, that can break, or a enhanced sensory ablity.

**grimz**

I mean Magnus the red had his Legion almost destroyed and his home world ravage due to him performing Sorcery.

Also I know the Council of Nicea (sp?) outlawed Sorcery but permitted Psychic abilities. I'm not saying they are the same, but how exactly are they different?

Do sorcerers get power by praying to gods, if so then how come Ahriman only takes talented psykers for training to become aspiring sorcerers?

**grimz**

I mean Magnus the red had his Legion almost destroyed and his home world ravage due to him performing Sorcery.

Also I know the Council of Nicea (sp?) outlawed Sorcery but permitted Psychic abilities. I'm not saying they are the same, but how exactly are they different?

Do sorcerers get power by praying to gods, if so then how come Ahriman only takes talented psykers for training to become aspiring sorcerers?

**Cheese Elemental**

40k sorcery, much like sorcery in WHFB, is the raw, pure energies of Chaos. Normal psychic powers (or magic in WHFB), such as those used by Eldar and Librarians, are pure and refined through other means, such as Runes and Psychic Hoods. Chaos Sorcerers just unleash their power without any thoughts as to the consequences of using pure Chaos energy.

**Emperors Faithful**

I believe that sorcery is ADVANCED deliving into psyker mastery. This is where instead of useing small restrained bursts of warp energy you stop holding back and just let the thing loose. In short it's got more raw power, but also more risky and less easy to direct.

The council of Nicea ensured that the practice of psykers etc woud be restricted.

**grimz**

So psychic abilities are like using a watering can, to water your plants, and using sorcery is like using a riot strength water canon?

**Emperors Faithful**

yeah, something like that.
More aptly put, psychic abilities are 'tapping' that raw energy. Sorcery is moreso 'manipulating' it. There is a lot more potential with sorcery, but as I've said before it is much more risky.

**grimz**

Hah so who would you say are more powerful, Eldar Farseers (I'm assuming they are psychic based) and Chaos Sorcerers?

**Owain**

Chaos Sorcerers can probably dish out more raw burnination but a Farseer has prophetic abilities and can direct his powers exactly as needed. While the sorcerer uses his powers to sledgehammer away at whatever's in front of him, a Farseer will use his carefully honed psychic powers with scalpel-like precision to win the battle, snuffing out enemy leaders and heavy weapons or supporting his troops at just the right moment.

One could argue that both have their virtues. It just depends on how patient you are and what the situation is. Sometimes raw power can be just as effective if more risky.

**Emperors Faithful**

Don't forget that since Psykers are more disciplined and and restrict themselves, they are less at risk to the predations of the warp than the average sorceror. Deamons however, ARE predations of the Warp, so they don't have to worry about squat. And many Chaos Sorcerors are protected by thier master. (However that may not last long, the gods are fickle after all)

**Abadabadoobaddon**

Dark Heresy: Disciples of the Dark Gods wrote:Sorcery, viewed in an objective and abstract way, can be seen as the application of warpcraft, occult formulae, and the exercise of will in order to achieve immediate physical and mental effects much like those of psychic abilities. But unlike the usual psyker's disciplines, all that is required to perform such baleful miracles is an understanding of the secret and sanity-twisting knowledge of how to do so and the conviction and stomach to put such knowledge into practice.

This malign and erratic sphere of human knowledge is ultimately based on the power of the daemon, either through channelling the power of warp entities directly (or accidentally) or using the warp to imbue the summoner with psychic power. Some sorcerers claim their powers are a gift of their gods, but many are apt to delude themselves that they practice what is simply a little understood art or science - perilous, yes, but unjustly maligned. Regardless, sorcery is playing with fire, as the warp is a fickle, uncertain, and utterly dangerous thing with its own inertia and its own diabolical intent.

As a result, "true sorcerers" of great power (individuals who began their quest for esoteric power with no innate psychic ability, but who owe their dark arts purely to forbidden learning and pacts with the horrors beyond), are rare indeed, even among malefic cults and the servants of the Ruinous Powers. However, such obsessed, driven, and malignantly intelligent indivdiuals are among the most dangerous enemies the Holy Ordos can face.