Psionic deadening skill

[MeTekillot]

A skill that would branch from 'expel' or maybe barrier. Deadens your mind from The Way after a hefty delay and hefty stun cost. You're unable to contact or be contacted until your recuperate after, say, a real-life day? 12 hours? Good handwave for how you're randomly unable to find people's minds a lot of the time even though they're reasonably alive. Good utility for faking deaths or assuming new identities without having to not log in for several RL months.

Would not be the realm of psionicists, I would like to specify. Everyone could get it. And who knows if it would keep you safe from a psionicist?

[Lizzie]

A skill that would branch from 'expel' or maybe barrier. Deadens your mind from The Way after a hefty delay and hefty stun cost. You're unable to contact or be contacted until your recuperate after, say, a real-life day? 12 hours? Good handwave for how you're randomly unable to find people's minds a lot of the time even though they're reasonably alive. Good utility for faking deaths or assuming new identities without having to not log in for several RL months.

Would not be the realm of psionicists, I would like to specify. Everyone could get it. And who knows if it would keep you safe from a psionicist?

Well - it would have to also keep you safe from a psionicist, at least to some extent. If it didn't, you would know immediately that the person who's waying you is, in fact, a psionicist.

[MeTekillot]

Find out IC on that, I would say.

[Lizzie]

Find out IC on that, I would say.

I understand what you're saying. I think you don't understand what I'm saying.

Hypothetical:

If "barrier" could only be broken by a psionicist, then you would know that a psionicist broke your barrier.

If what you suggest could be infiltrated by a psionicist, then you would know that any observable infiltration is the result of a psionicist. If you have "deadened" the Way - and someone suddenly ways you - you know that it has to be a psionicist, because in your suggestion, only a psionicist would be able to do that. Sure there might be psionicist ways around that. Eventually. With time and practice. But then you'd have to create those ways to accommodate this deadening skill that currently doesn't exist.

As things are right now though? Adding that one skill, with the ability of psionicists to get past it, would ensure that anyone victimized would know that "whatever is happening in my head right now" is the result of a psionicist and not just some person with super-contact power breaking down your barrier, realizing you're the wrong sdesc, and then breaking off without saying anything. That is the current situation. In your suggestion, that wouldn't be possible UNLESS the person doing it is a psionicist. Which would immediately raise the red "omg mindworm in my head" flag.

[ShaLeah]

I am not for adding any psionist skills to mundane people who aren't psis.

Big ole fat NAY for me.

[AdamBlue]

You know,  I'd like to see an expansion on human mental capabilities. That should be something that strictly only humans can do, since they are supposed to have the greatest connection to the Way. Maybe make it a human-only subclass that requires a karma to take, since it's an advanced psionic ability that doesn't branch into the whole 'mindworm' deal. It is a powerful ability, to deaden your mind to the Way, and the best assassins in the Known would kill for the ability to not even be contacted.
This also would make it super fucking cool in terms of plot because criminals would all want to be mentally deadened, forcing them to rely on other methods of communication. Maybe even WRITTEN stuff. Wooooaaahhhh.

[tapas]

The way is kind of a fun and immersive tool to solve the old problem of long distance communication in muds. But it's kind of mind boggling that we still have the same broken system from 1999.

It would be nice if some changes could be made to address the common pain points.

--Getting spam contacted by players that want to see if you're still active.
--Using the way to secretly communicate in a way that is undetectable by 99.9% of pc's.
--Using the way as a tool of convenience when face-to-face player interaction would lead to more expressive play.

And feel free to ignore the usual nonsense that gets trotted out in these discussions. "But psionicists!" isn't a reason for a badly designed system.

[AdamBlue]

When you contact someone, it shows everyone else: 'You see a manly man's gaze go distant.'
When they way someone, there's a small chance of it showing, 'You see a manly man focusing on something.'
When you cease contact, it shows, 'A manly man's attention seems to snap back to reality.'