lastbesthope
Mongoose
scottmage said:
Not that long since I was one, I'm only 26.
As for teens 'taste' in music we should ask Pauly_D, he's that age.
LBH
Latent Telepaths
- Thread starter Barbara
- Start date
Not that long since I was one, I'm only 26.
As for teens 'taste' in music we should ask Pauly_D, he's that age.
LBH
Another great question caused by the Psi corp book.
Pg 22. About the test for checking P-Level.
The newer version of the test requires a te;epath to perform it . The tester creats a series of mental blocks and images and asks the subject to probe these mental contructs.
Sounds OK until you remember, NO Surface Scan and Accidental Scan is touch.
Pg 28. The fifth and final stage of telepathic basic training is the use of probes. A probe is a tendril of thought that creates a connection between minds. The probe is the medium used for a telepathic scan.
So how do untrained telepaths ever succeed in this test? When they have no ability (Surface scan is not at first level) and no training. The only character to show this ability was Alisa in Legacies, who scanned Delenn deliberately.
Goes back to what I said on another post, Surface Scan should be first level and Accidental Scan just an occupational hazard because no matter how much you practice, you just get worse at it.
Pg 22. About the test for checking P-Level.
The newer version of the test requires a te;epath to perform it . The tester creats a series of mental blocks and images and asks the subject to probe these mental contructs.
Sounds OK until you remember, NO Surface Scan and Accidental Scan is touch.
Pg 28. The fifth and final stage of telepathic basic training is the use of probes. A probe is a tendril of thought that creates a connection between minds. The probe is the medium used for a telepathic scan.
So how do untrained telepaths ever succeed in this test? When they have no ability (Surface scan is not at first level) and no training. The only character to show this ability was Alisa in Legacies, who scanned Delenn deliberately.
Goes back to what I said on another post, Surface Scan should be first level and Accidental Scan just an occupational hazard because no matter how much you practice, you just get worse at it.
Kizarvexis
Mongoose
Barbara said:
How about a house rule that replaces Accidental Scan (which becomes a GM only feature) with any telepathic feat that the player selects? Then the telepath could start with Mind Shield, Sense Telepathy, Warning and one of the following;
Communication (P2)
Jamming (P10)
Locate Mind (P6)
Mind Mirror (P4)
Self Control (P3)
Surface Scan (P3)
Then your 1st level Teep won't be just like everyone elses. And how about a further house rule that a telepathic ability can be substituted for a general or telepathic feat if you don't have any more telepathic abilities available to you because of your Psi Rating.
Kizarvexis
Kizarvexis
Mongoose
Barbara said:
Well, I don't buy the 'you have to go to Psi-Corp to learn how to be a telepath bit'. I think telepaths learn their powers in one of three ways.
1. They go to their races telepath academy, i.e. Psi Corp for human teeps. In rare cases, they can go to another races academy with GM approval.
2. They mentor with another telepath (GM controlled of course) who has already learned the ability. You would use skill checks for the mentor to teach and for the student to learn. The student can only learn telepathic abilities that the mentor knows. The skill checks would be around 20 or so depending on the ability. You could easily run a foul of whatever teep policing agency has juridisction over one or both teeps for teaching 'unapproved' abilities or using your abilities outside of that races rules. There would be a 0 to -1 telepathy modifier across the board as determined by the GM for insufficient training as compared to a telepath academy.
3. You experiment on your own, with appropriate role play as needed, and do skill checks to learn a telepathic ability once you have sufficient practice under your belt as determined by the GM. The practice would be using the ability with a higher telepathy check and penalties for failure. You would only be able to practice one new ability at a time and if you don't learn it before your next level advance, well you're just slow and lose that levels new ability. This would mean that the learn on your own teep would only get one new ability at 6th, 12th and 18th instead of two like a regular teep. Not to mention being considered a rogue teep by their race.
The checks to learn on your own would be +5 to +20 (or more) above the mentor checks above depending on the ability. The basic abilities would be the lowest and as you go up in Psi Rating and the rareness of the telepathic ability, the check goes up. Of course since you are learning on your own, you will probably end up practicing on mundanes which will eventually call attention to whatever telepathic policing agency has juridisction, which could involve multiple agencies depending on how indiscriminate the learning teep was in practicing. :> There would be a 0 to -3 telepathy modifier across the board as determined by the GM for insufficient training as compared to a telepath academy.
Swapping between the learning styles (especially 2 and 3) would be determined by the roleplay of the teep in question. It also gives another reason that rogue teeps congregate together - then they can mentor each other as well as offer moral support.
What do you think of this quickly put together idea?
Kizarvexis
Barbara said:
Quite easily - Just because the feats and abilities kick in at particular levels, doesn't mean your brain can't actually do that kind of thing, on a basic (but not generally useful) level until then, especially if your target has set up the assault course for you...
You also have "Accidental Scan", which is not under the PC's control normally but if you use a bit of initiative, it can be (in effect).
One big question, that isn't answered (and I'm glad Gareth didn't...) is why are the genetic tests ineffective against about 30% of teeps?
I know what my (non-canon) answer is (tell you later...), but I'd love to hear other people's ideas...
Mongoose Gar
Mongoose
Barbara said:
The 'probes' for the P-Level test are really, really basic ones that can be created without training. It's like the difference between an aptitude test and an exam in engineering - both would test the candidate's logic skills, but while the first just measures potential, the second requires a lot more learning and skill.
Mongoose Gar
Mongoose
I haven't forgotten the vaults question...
Kizarvexis said:
I think Barbara's point is being missed...I can write Incredible house rules. If I wanted to do that, why buy ANY gaming product?
White Wolf does that. Their excuse for publishing half-assed products is the fact that they say that their product is for story telling, not rules. My response to that is then why bother buying their "product" and I don't.
Mongoose seems more responsive than the other companies, that is why I keep hoping that by buying the product and making suggestions, that the products will improve. I figure it this way, if I put good money out on something, I have a right to point out a mistake. If the mistake gets ignored, then I have a right to complain. That is what a Free Market system is all about.
frobisher said:
Hmmmm...Looked very effective to me in Legacies. She cut right through the minds of even the Narn which were very alien to her i.e. without the Adaptive Mind Feat.... She saw exactly where the body was that everyone was looking for in Delenn's mind.
By the way, on the Genetic testing...the same reason why genetic tests do not work right now. They have not identified ALL the genes involved to test for AND some people's body chemisty throws off tests. Same idea as Intelligence genes. There are multiple factors involved. That is why DNA tests will never be 100%
The other alluded to reason is that the other 30% are natural Telepaths that do not have any history of Vorlon tampering. The Vorlons did not need to introduce Telepath genes to Humans, only activate those genes to get weapons for the next Shadow war.
scottmage said:
She was pretty much running on Accidental Scan there - what she was coming out with is exactly the kind of stuff the GM is meant to use the ability for, as it forwarded the plot.
scottmage said:
However there are genetic tests that are 100% accurate for detection even now (certain congenital disorders), but not, as you said, for traits such as intelligence (but then that's a subjective thing so there's never really going to be a method of detection...).
scottmage said:
That's the bunny! Though the odds work out that up to 50% of those merely don't have Vorlon interference on their imeadiate maternal side, so it could be as few as 5% of these were "pure breed" "naturals".
For a prior B5 campaign, we'd speculated that some of the more interesting talents such as Telekenisis were rare because they only occurred in the "natural" genetic line (though not necessarily "pure"). The Vorlons only required the "normal" Teep traits for the fight against the Shadows so didn't put these "extras" in the mix (hence the interest in the altered Talia...). Also these "naturals" might exhibit their abilities in a subtly different manner, for instance being born operant rather than have their abilities kick in at puberty.
Of course this 30% figure is only of detected teeps
It's probable that most blips that evade initial detection would fall into this "30%" range.Wow, I love this. It also helps to explain why (at least to a minimum and basic point) why humanity ascends to the ranks of the First Ones. We are naturally telepathic, it was in their we just need to get back what we lost and reemove the tampering other races have placed on us.
Like I said, while it is not the whole truth it does sound good.
crizh said:
Not intentionally so (never read the books myself, but a lot of my gaming friends are fans).
It seems to me that the current set up is pretty much teeps only become operant at some point around or after puberty; Before that point they're "just" mundane.
Now, this could be a consequence of the "bolt on" nature of the Vorlon genetic traits; We've not evolved with them so they're designed to kick in once the teep is sufficently grown up and perhaps more capable of coping with the consquences of "hearing" others' thoughts.
It could be that some or all of the "natural" teeps, because they're the result of an evolved teep are born operant and have other inanate "coping methods" that evolved along with the abilities (it would probably be a trait that would be selected for by evolution - those who "hear voices" the entire time tend to go ga-ga and end end out of the breeding pool to some extent or another...).
The simplest thing is to "not listen". You can screen out most audible conversations around you in a crowded place very easily because they are not relevant to you and what you're doing - you're just not listening to them, even though you are hearing them.
Yes in Legacies, Alisa scanned Delenn, she wasn't touching her however, which cuts out accidental scan and it was deliberate.
Anyway, another question.
Any idea when the Telepath war is, what years is Psi Corp(and Bester) reallly stamping down hard on rogues and when is the Telpath crisis, ie the cancellation of Psi Corp.
Anyway, another question.
Any idea when the Telepath war is, what years is Psi Corp(and Bester) reallly stamping down hard on rogues and when is the Telpath crisis, ie the cancellation of Psi Corp.
Kizarvexis
Mongoose
Barbara said:
Well, Crusade is 5 years after season 5, making it 2267. So the Telepath Crisis would need to be in between them.
This timeline site puts the Telepath Crisis in 2264 and this is when the Psi-Corp is disbanded. Legend of the Rangers is in 2265 and Crusade in 2267.
Kizarvexis
Barbara said:
No it doesn't
Accidental Scan said:
The latter part does seem to describe exactly what Alisa got, and the former part - well, just place jms as GM
We just didn't get all the times when Alisa tried and didn't suceed. Any player knows damn fine that they only have to shake hands with someone to prompt an Accidental Scan, or stick near to some one in a strong emotional state to spark off an Accidental Scan, both very deliberate acts. Alisa hadn't been trained to do a scan, she got lucky and was near the person he GM wanted her to be near.
A
Anonymous
Guest
Oh great, hopefully GM doesn't read this. Last thing I need is that going off without contact.
(Didn't log in cause I've only got 5mins before class)
Barbara
(Didn't log in cause I've only got 5mins before class)
Barbara
