[prof1515]

Hard to say but my best guess is that they exist because they're "cool" and possibly they are included for use in running railroad plots.

Yes but I've found a lot of contradictions in the way most people think and reason (or fail to). I personally dislike the existance of "precog abilities" and similar so-called "psionics" skills. I also dislike railroad plots and feel they're often the result of laziness or poor plot design. I know from personal experience how easily a plot can fall apart but the lesson I took from it was to design the plot in such a manner as to take in as many options as possible and accept that if I don't the results will be guided by player actions. In those cases, if I don't put the effort into accounting for as many variables as possible, and provided players don't cheat, I have to accept what happens rather than trying to force a result I want. Obviously not everyone feels the same way though.

Take care,

Jason