R Arceneaux said:
In order of question....
Since when did all PC Telepaths have to be:
1. Human?
Absolutely there are alien telepaths. Well all except the Narns--all of theirs got killed by the Shadows.
Well, there you go. Your basic premise is shot out of the water right there.
However the makers of the game did kind of screw over the alien telepath characters. The di roll to determine P rate does not take into account that and IF I remember correctly an alien telepath can go ABOVE P12. BUT to do so is almost impossible.
Which rules are you reading?
NO PC can have a rating above P12, even if you are human at least according to the core rules. Yes, the Vorlons can break that limit, but I rather suspect the Vorlons can break that limit with any race. As for special Psi-Corp tech, AFAIK other races can use supplemental rules to break the P12 barrier as well. I seem to recall in first edition, Minbari could (for one).
HAD the game makers allowed the roll of a bigger die or should I say different di for different races to determine P rate then it would be positively awsome to play a Centari Telepath Assassin for one of the houses that had a P rating of 18 thru 20 (perhaps higher/perhaps even approaching vorlon). A truly fantasticly great prestige class for telepaths of alien races.
Centauri Teeps are just as good as human ones
rules as written, perhaps even better because of the Centauri racial bonus to Charisma.
Surely a vorlon should use a D20 to get their P rate and a mim hmmmm I would think 2 d12 halved
Last time I checked, Vorlons were not a PC race.
2. Members of Psi-Corps?
It was in the PC Triology. It is Earth Dome LAW that all telepaths must be/manditory/be a registered member of PC. NO option allowed other than the forced use of sleepers (probably administered by PC reps) to supress telepathic skills under the law. You do remember how in the PC history of the novels (all the telepaths (as many as should be found) were hunted down and forced against their will to either Join PC or take sleepers under the force of law and even the TV series how it was one of the primary jobs of the Psy Cop was to find/hunt down/overcome and bring in rogue teeps to Psy Corps central for re education dont you.
You do remember how Ivanava's mother was a telepath forced against her will to submit to the taking of sleepers. Sleepers which by the way made her depressed to the point where she committed suicide. I guess she should have joined PC.
And someone can fill in the blanks but did not the other races have their own manditory legal system that reigned in telepaths just as the PC did. Perhaps if you check the books on the various alien races.
And on various colony worlds, and certain in Alien Realms, Psi-Corp's reach and enforcement powers are extremely limited. There is at least one canon example of a potent human teep joining the Minbari religious cast, and Byron and Co were able to elude Psi-Corps for years.
Is it easy to be an outlaw Teep? No. Is it possible especially for a PC. Hell yes.
3. Slavishly devoted to Psi-Corps?
See above reply relating to the ONLY two LEGAL options available to telepaths on Earth: join PC or take sleepers
Lets see, hmmm they had better tow the party line in public. Or at least when PC law enforcement tells them to do something. For example say you are a commercial teep of say P 5 or so. Say a bloodhound of 9 or 10 (that could be my character of bloodhound / liason) and/or a Psy Cop asks if you knew any information concering a blip or a rogue. Do you think that my character /bloodound or any Psy Cop would even hesitate to do a deep scan to force against your will forcing you to tell them the information they sought? Heck the cop would probably drag both YOU an the blip in for complete reeducation and be rewarded by his superiors in Psy Cop Division for ferreted out a potential rogue/that would be you the defiant one of course.
So yea, at least in public, you had better tow the party line when PC Law enforcement is in town. As well as answer all their questions in complete honesty.
Giavonn has already countered this point with at least one SOLID counter-example of a Psi-Corp member who was not a selfish jerk. Point in fact, just because the series shows the ugly side of Psi-Corps does not mean (and generally should not mean) that it shows the ugly side to everyone or even to every human teep.
4. Selfish Jerks?
Every one I ever saw who stayed on TV as an active character in a TV Series (the one season losers and people who stay on the screen for only 5 min dont count) that lasted longer than 3 years did turn down right rude and or nasty in the end. EVEN my fav Lyta. I loved her black eye/I am froggin ticked off mad mode.
Lyta by this time was very probably metally shaky to unstable. Close contact with Vorlons along with what she went through with Byron tends to do that..... Lyta at the beginning of the series seems more than alright, and certainly the GAME does not mandate that human teeps must be jerks. In fact, I challenge you to find in the rules ANYWHERE that dictates how a PC must play a human Teep. Consider that a dare. If you can, I will withdraw this point. If you can't, then you should reconsider your entire position.
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Near as I can tell none of this is ipso facto true for PC telepaths and Giavonn just gave at least one (and IMHO more) solid counter examples.
If you don't bother to address the counter-points, when why should we take your points seriously?
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Once again being on TV for a total of 5 min for ONE episode does NOT NOT NOT make him a credible witness. It only makes him an irrelevant freak teep in my not so humble bloodhound/PC Liason teep rate of 10. Hey that rhymes.
You don't get to dodge the point. Giavonn provided a solid counter-example. You might want to re-examine some of your own assumptions about PC Teeps.
Once again let me know of any core rules you wish me to read this evening in addition to the rule(s) you previously sited
Sure. Try these:
1. Find me ANYWHERE in the core rules (B5 main book) where aliens have a lower potential P-Rating than humans. For that matter, please find ANY core rule that
mechanically distinquishes between human and alien teeps other than the fact that human teeps have influence buy restrictions. If you can't, then you have to admit that alien Teeps are just as playable as human ones.
2. Find my ANYWHERE in the core rules that dictacts how a human Teep must be played even said human is a member of Psi-Corps.
Let's start with those two.
-Polaris