Psionic Career and Basic Training

[Fresnel]

• Pre-Career Term:
  • Character Rolls a 2 on per-career event table
• Career Term 1
  • Character runs through "Institute Testing" p228
    • Gains PSI Score
    • Psionic Training
      • Gains some Psionic Talents - depending on the luck of the dice
  • Applied for Psion Career (Pass)
    • Begins PSI Warrior at Rank 0
    • Basic Training (First Career)
      • Gains all PSI-Warrior Skills/Talents at Level 0
        • Telepathy
        • Awareness
        • Teleportation
        • Gun Combat
        • Vacc Suit
        • Recon
    • Roll Survival (Pass)
    • Roll Event
    • Roll Advancement

My uncertainty arises from the insert text on p229,

"The Psion must still roll to acquire talents when they determine their PSI. When rolling on the Service Skills table, if the Psion gains the skill for a talent they do not yet possess, they may attempt another roll to learn that talent."

There is no mention of basic training here. So, I assume, there is no roll for Psionic Talent acquisition via Basic Training.
There is also no mention of Psionic Talents acquired via the other Tables on the Psionic Career.

Was this RAI? Or should an acquisition test be called for every time a new Talent is indicated?

 

[Vormaerin]

I would apply the new test for Basic the same as if you rolled on the Service skills table.

 

[Fresnel]

And that's fine.

I am now clear on what is RAW, but what was the intention? Does the line editor ever give clarification on things like this?

 

[alex_greene]

I wasn't sure myself, whether Basic superseded the old "roll for each Talent" thing. Go with basic giving your psion character the Talents rolled for at level 0. I'd hate to have to roll for each Talent at basic and find that your character doesn't get a single Talent. That always irked me, like failing your survival roll and dropping dead in the old rules.

 

[Vormaerin]

Psionic Training (and the roll for each Talent) happens before you can start a Psion career.

Basic is on top of that. That gives you another chance at 2 or 3 specific Talents relevant to that branch. Though I'd probably wave the multiple attempts penalty accrued in the original testing, as that would be crippling at that point.

 

[Fresnel]

I wasn't sure myself, whether Basic superseded the old "roll for each Talent" thing. Go with basic giving your psion character the Talents rolled for at level 0. I'd hate to have to roll for each Talent at basic and find that your character doesn't get a single Talent. That always irked me, like failing your survival roll and dropping dead in the old rules.

I am personally sure that as RAW, there is no acquisition test for Basic Training.

I am going to stick to RAW. There is no contradiction here, just a little confusing. So imo no reason to mess.

 

[alex_greene]

Imagine if Traveller placed so many such barriers between you and the acquisition of an essential mundane skill, such as Athletics or Melee Combat. All these barrier DMs are an artificial mechanism designed to deter the casual player from becoming a psion.
Only, if they didn't want you to play psions, why in the name of Yaskoydray did they put them in the book in the first place? So much easier to say something like "There's no such thing as psionics. Traveller is a setting ruled entirely by Science, INT, and wits alone." That would have been so much easier, and freed up several pages for something like Diplomacy or Research subgames or some such.
Psionics is there, and it should be rare, but seriously the RAW are b0rked.

 

[Fresnel]

Imagine if Traveller placed so many such barriers between you and the acquisition of an essential mundane skill, such as Athletics or Melee Combat. All these barrier DMs are an artificial mechanism designed to deter the casual player from becoming a psion.
Only, if they didn't want you to play psions, why in the name of Yaskoydray did they put them in the book in the first place? So much easier to say something like "There's no such thing as psionics. Traveller is a setting ruled entirely by Science, INT, and wits alone." That would have been so much easier, and freed up several pages for something like Diplomacy or Research subgames or some such.
Psionics is there, and it should be rare, but seriously the RAW are b0rked.

Tbh, I don't think it's that bad. I don't see it as a deterrent. You have to get into university or an academy, then there is a 1/36th chance of getting the Psi invitation. This is pure chance.

You then might roll poorly on your PSI score. You might be very unlucky on the Talent acquisition. You might fail to get the Psionic career. However, if you do, you get at least 3 Talents - cool.

We don't need to invent any more barriers imo.

 

[Sigtrygg]

A psionic character has a massive advantage over non-psions, although a lot of the benefits could be mimicked using technological augmentation.

The awareness talent could be duplicated with bio-engineered specialist glands, telepath with brain scanning and implants, clairvoyance with microdrones etc.

If you want psionics to be commonly available:

test during childhood and train before they reach 18

make psionic training part of the regular career lifepaths so you can increase psi and learn new talents

enjoy your super heroes in space campaign

Play a group of Zhodani, or Sword Worlders trained by a Zhodani exchange program, or choose a different region of the galaxy where the human culture doesn't have the Imperial prejudice.

 

[Vormaerin]

Psionics in Traveller is a far cry from superheroes. They barely qualify for super agents. The majority of the skill checks for the cool stuff are pretty hard and the availability of PSI points to spend on them is pretty limited, even popping psi double as often as you can without risking overdose.

It opens up some interesting options, but unless your players are skint, tech is a match everything except teleportation.

 

[alex_greene]

A psionic character has a massive advantage over non-psions, although a lot of the benefits could be mimicked using technological augmentation.

The awareness talent could be duplicated with bio-engineered specialist glands, telepath with brain scanning and implants, clairvoyance with microdrones etc.

If you want psionics to be commonly available:

test during childhood and train before they reach 18

make psionic training part of the regular career lifepaths so you can increase psi and learn new talents

enjoy your super heroes in space campaign

Play a group of Zhodani, or Sword Worlders trained by a Zhodani exchange program, or choose a different region of the galaxy where the human culture doesn't have the Imperial prejudice.

Or play a psion in the Imperium, because. Psions are not superheroes. They just live less conventional lives, and see the world differently to deadheads.

 

[alex_greene]

Tbh, I don't think it's that bad. I don't see it as a deterrent. You have to get into university or an academy, then there is a 1/36th chance of getting the Psi invitation. This is pure chance.

You then might roll poorly on your PSI score. You might be very unlucky on the Talent acquisition. You might fail to get the Psionic career. However, if you do, you get at least 3 Talents - cool.

We don't need to invent any more barriers imo.

It's the leaving it to chance bit that sucks. Like I said, I've torn up character sheets over less - getting an END of 2, an INT of 4, or a PSI of zero. Or being told that I can't create an Entertainer, so the draft tells me my character has just become a Marine.

 

[Sigtrygg]

They are superheros.
They can increase their physical characteristics, they can regenerate wounds, they can fly, teleport, kill with a thought.

If you don't like Traveller character life path generation then use a points buy system.

Last time I started a new game I used LBB1, but the players rolled boon dice one every roll (they still failed a couple of commission and promotion rolls) and while they had to roll for each skill they could pick from any of the four tables.

 

[Vormaerin]

Sure, but the other PCs are too. Because they can boost their physical characteristics with gear and drugs, regrow or replace limbs with medtech, fly with a grav belt, etc. The only thing tech doesn't replicate (generally pretty easily, too) is Teleportation.

Kill with at thought is a gross exaggeration. A TK punch does its effect in dmg and does not have any AP. So basically the same as a 0D6 pistol. Except the ammo is your psi points, so the more you shoot, the worse your aim. Telepathic Assault has a base difficulty of 14+ and does 3 dmg per Effect level. So, sure, if you manage a die roll of 21 or more, you can kill an average bloke with your thoughts. Of course, that's 8 PSI so you can *maybe* even do that 2x in a day with the best drugs you can buy.

(Other than teleport) PSI is basically "I can (sporadically and for a short time) duplicate easily acquirable tech without having actually acquired it".

 

[ottarrus]

OK, when I'm rolling up a 'standard' psionic character [no Imperial military academy or other complications], the way I handle a skill table result with a talent the character doesn't have is this:
1. From the time the characters is psionically tested, they keep cumulative total of the number of talent attempts they make.
2. If they get a skill table roll list a specific talent they don't have, they may - at their option - attempt to gain that talent - or - just take a skill level in a talent they already possess.
3. If they want to gain the talent, they must attempt it as described on pg. 228 of the Core Rules 22, and include the total number of previous talent attempts as a negative DM.

For example, 'Bob' is in his first term as a Wild Talent. In his previous term, he was in college and was contacted by a Psionic Institute, tested and trained. He emerged with Awareness 0 and Clairvoyance 0 out of 5 attempts. In the current term he rolls on the Psion Service Skills table and gets a 'Telepathy' result.
Bob may choose between gaining 1 skill level in a talent he already possesses or attempt to learn Telepathy at Skill Level 0 by rolling 8+ using their PSI characteristic DM, the +4 for Telepathy, and -5 for his previous Talent attempts.

 

[Vormaerin]

That's probably the way the rules are meant to be read in terms of continuing to apply the attempts penalty. But it does effectively mean that you don't try. Because even one of the better scenarios (+1 PSI DM, rolling for Clairvoyance with a +3 learning DM), you are still looking at a 9+ or get nothing. And everything else is worse (unless your player is one of the few without telepathy).

I think almost everyone would take a guaranteed +1 in an existing skill, particularly given the high difficulty of most PSI tests.

 

[Vormaerin]

Personally, if I was writing the psi system, I'd probably make each ability its own thing to acquire. Keep the same five skills. But do something so that every TK didn't have the exact same talents.

 

[Tom B]

I'm relatively new to Traveller and my first character idea was a musician, went to University, rolled on the event table - double 1. Yeh psionics and illegal - what's not to like. I got lucky with the talent rolls (took telepathy and managed to get the rest except teleportation). In my view, they are extremely useful, but unreliable. Telepathy is extremely useful, especially life detection, take your time and you can't fail unless you get really low on Psi points.

Telekinetic Punch looks good on paper, but you are limited in the number of attempts. Damage is the effect and armour is applied. Pretty much useless.

The most useful one in combat I would say is Telempathy.

 

[Vormaerin]

Life Detection is, by far, the most frequently used ability by the psion in my group. She's never bothered with a psionic "attack" given how ineffective they are. She has a good skill in Teleport and Telepathy, but lvl 0 in Awareness and Clairsentience. Even with a decent by normal skill standards bonus in Teleport, it is unreliable. And the low skill level in Awareness and Clairsentience means those are basically 50/50 to pull off. Succeeding on a psionic assault would be a fluke.

Most of the Telepathy abilities I rule as being chain skills for other skills rather than doing a lot on their own. So Telempathy, Suggestion, and Read Thoughts boost social/investigation skills. Like Deanne Troi more than Emma Frost. And Probe is basically about as subtle as a Vulcan Mind Meld. That makes them useful without dominating play.

 

[Gavain]

OK, when I'm rolling up a 'standard' psionic character [no Imperial military academy or other complications], the way I handle a skill table result with a talent the character doesn't have is this:
1. From the time the characters is psionically tested, they keep cumulative total of the number of talent attempts they make.
2. If they get a skill table roll list a specific talent they don't have, they may - at their option - attempt to gain that talent - or - just take a skill level in a talent they already possess.
3. If they want to gain the talent, they must attempt it as described on pg. 228 of the Core Rules 22, and include the total number of previous talent attempts as a negative DM.

I handle the testing as per the rules: DM -1 per previous attempt. But because I don't want to have to track the total number of attempts throughout the characters life I use DM -1 per talent they possess for any attempt to gain a new talent thereafter.
I also made all my players roll PSI at character creation. So they could use it as a dump stat if they weren't interested in psionics. If they wanted a psion then they chose the Psionic Community as a pre-career option (Companion p 30-32) to get the testing and initial development. All were then considered to have trained on the "secret" institute on Blue. Which IMTU is hiding as an open institution that takes talented individuals, the majority of which are not psions, of all ages and gives them the best possible education.