Psionics: Ideas and discussion on etiquette

[Jingo]

Psi intercept? Anyone?

2016 is almost over.

[KankWhisperer]

I just had a random idea that it might be interesting if when you wayed someone it created some kind of little way creature that had to travel from sender to recipient to deliver the message. To the sender and receiver, they mostly don't notice much of a difference, except a delay as the way critter now has to walk  over. The way critter has move and expires if it runs out or can't find a path. Dirty benders can do dirty bender stuff to the critter like capture, kill, change the message, and see where they are headed etc. Have it such that there is a chance you hear a whisper of the message if it happens to expire before reaching it's goal in the room you are in. The stronger you are with they way. the more moves, health and speed your critter has.

[wizturbo]

When playing a runner in the T'Zai Byn, I enjoy the autonomy barrier gives me while playing hooky from the routine.

Autonomy?  You mean you're using an OOC mechanic to play hooky.  Virtually you are either following your clan's schedule or not.  Using barrier to make the clan leaders not realize you aren't virtually there isn't autonomy, it's basically cheating.

With that said, people shouldn't have to adhere to an IC schedule 100% of the time purely for playability reasons...  So not really sure where the comfortable medium is for this.

[Molten Heart]

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[nauta]

It annoys me that who-c basically alerts you that someone's got barrier up even if you haven't tried to Way them.

You could have 'who c' do a minor hit to stun.

That said, the benefits of 'who c' in the clans I've been in have been HUGE, namely, in desert elf and tribal clans where you have very low numbers and actors who tend to, when nobody is around to RP with, travel very wide distances for entertainment.  It's just nice to be able to know someone is on in your clan so you can play with each other, instead of doing 'contact Bob', 'contact Suzy', 'contact Mary' every half hour.

I can also imagine the OOC benefit to leaders in more traditional clans to be massive.

(As to hiding from it: that I can totally understand too.  Some days you just want to solo RP.)

[RogueGunslinger]

When playing a runner in the T'Zai Byn, I enjoy the autonomy barrier gives me while playing hooky from the routine.

Autonomy?  You mean you're using an OOC mechanic to play hooky.

If anything it's an IC mechanic to hide from someone trying to use an OOC mechanic to find you.

[Case]

Psi intercept? Anyone?

2016 is almost over.

no

[The Warshaper]

PSI Relay:

Relay is a psychic ability that can allow an experienced way user to 'connect' multiple way users who have made contact with them within thier mind. Such practices are useful for coordination and tactics but is incredibly taxing for the one who has made the connection. For once a connection has been made the user literally becomes a relay for the way. Well trained users of this practice may form larger relays, given their physical body can handle the abuse.

Sort of came to me after a recent RPT. Think three way calling ect. Cept the one forming relays is probably not going to be able to do much from the sheer amount of focus needed.

[CodeMaster]

If you create a psionic 'ring' (where A contacts B, B contacts C, and ... C contacts A) and you have a protocol for forwarding messages, then you can minimize the amount of stun drain on the team in such a way that everyone gets the message.  So:

Code Select Expand


A types: psi A here, with <message>

[B receives: "A here, with <message>"]

B types: psi "A here, with <message>"]

[C receives: "A here, with <message>"]

C knows not to forward the message to A because that's who he's connected to.


Hypothetically you could set up a series of triggers to make it all automatic.  You might have mixed results trying to tell people how to do this "ICly".

[Molten Heart]

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[The Warshaper]

I imagined practiced servants or soldiers acting as relays for their masters between each other. Or possibly passing information to two or more fronts from a soldiers point of view giving status reports instantaneously. Think the radio guy in every Vietnam War movie you've ever seen. It would be demanding but getting information back and forth quickly between multiple groups could have its uses.

[Jingo]

Psi intercept? Anyone?

2016 is almost over.

no

Or literally any way to add some risk to the mechanically broken, crypto-messaging service that all mundanes have access to.

But without the juvenile response this time. Thanks.

[Case]

Psi intercept? Anyone?

2016 is almost over.

no

Or literally any way to add some risk to the mechanically broken, crypto-messaging service that all mundanes have access to.

But without the juvenile response this time. Thanks.

I disagree it's mechanically broken. Tie stun cost to the length of the message or make close range Waying taxinger.

[Jingo]

Psi intercept? Anyone?

2016 is almost over.

no

Or literally any way to add some risk to the mechanically broken, crypto-messaging service that all mundanes have access to.

But without the juvenile response this time. Thanks.

I disagree it's mechanically broken. Tie stun cost to the length of the message or make close range Waying taxinger.

I guess we should have to sit down while we open up our secret chat lobby then? Because that happens already. It doesn't solve the problem of perfect utility. Even if it is made twice as inconvenient players will still hold their secret meetings in their minds because it's still the best precaution they can make.

It's a broken mechanic because it a perfect defense against:

Mundane spies.
Magick spies.
Most psionicist spies, irony of ironies.

It's a broken mechanic because it is functionally superior to:

The whisper command
Covertly signaling via gestures or speech.
Covert letters and secret documents.

[Case]

Psi intercept? Anyone?

2016 is almost over.

no

Or literally any way to add some risk to the mechanically broken, crypto-messaging service that all mundanes have access to.

But without the juvenile response this time. Thanks.

I disagree it's mechanically broken. Tie stun cost to the length of the message or make close range Waying taxinger.

I guess we should have to sit down while we open up our secret chat lobby then? Because that happens already. It doesn't solve the problem of perfect utility. Even if it is made twice as inconvenient players will still hold their secret meetings in their minds because it's still the best precaution they can make.

It's a broken mechanic because it a perfect defense against:

Mundane spies.
Magick spies.
Most psionicist spies, irony of ironies.

It's a broken mechanic because it is functionally superior to:

The whisper command
Covertly signaling via gestures or speech.
Covert letters and secret documents.

Still a huge hassle if it's time consuming. I agree players shouldn't be sitting there and doing it though.

Some degree of intercept by burglars and pickpockets and any relevant magickers I could get behind, maybe a subguild if only it too. Assassins don't need more utility. If you set it up to need contact, it'll still be obvious to the person though, and I disagree it should be a ranged intercept of everybody. Maybe it can act a little differently to contact and be a silent entry with no success message at all for the user and even if it fails, it's still sustained (that gets around using that to check people online), but do have a fail message for the target. Make it cost stun per receive, and make it require proximity to the target.

Could be interesting. Paired with increased Way costs/difficulty for distance, I could see it working.

[BadSkeelz]

Why would pickpockets or burglars be more likely to intercept Ways? Give it to everyone or no one, I say. Make it unreliable.

Though I think we all know that the Way is only really useful when you're giving head.

[Case]

Why would pickpockets or burglars be more likely to intercept Ways? Give it to everyone or no one, I say. Make it unreliable.

Though I think we all know that the Way is only really useful when you're giving head.

Because it gives them more of a role as spies.

[Case]

Giving one of a random subset of small psi skills to PCs human/helf PCs if they priority wis could also be quite interesting.

[BadSkeelz]

I just can't come up with a good explanation why these otherwise completely mundane Guilds would have an extra non-mundane ability. mah immersionz!

[Case]

I just can't come up with a good explanation why these otherwise completely mundane Guilds would have an extra non-mundane ability. mah immersionz!

Psionics are far more mundane than other things. Also they're considered not as good guilds, and since we have a much reduced guild set now, it'd be good to see it either extended, balanced some more.

[BadSkeelz]

Still seems meta and gamey.

I'd much rather it be tied to high-wisdom. The higher the wisdom, the higher your chance of intercepting a Way.

[Jingo]

Man I don't even know why pickpockets get telepathy in the first place to be honest. Even the dwarves.

[Nergal]

Let's try to remain polite. Thanks.

[evilcabbage]

i do not want to see psionic relay abilities for anyone mundane - that seems to be beyond the scope of intended psionic power.

cabbages think that psionics should be limited to our glorious species, but that is a moot point.


still getting a laugh out of some of these posts, though. and other posts.

heh... no dwarven telepathy. that would be funny.

[Chettaman]

Psionics, to me, are a sacred thing. In spite of the fact that I do a great deal of mundane tasks while using the way - which is supposed to take up concentration.

I, and probably me alone, think that anyone without psioniasist abilities should be taxed a great deal more than now when using barrier or contact.
-- also they should be usable during combat. (but we won' get into that conversation)

Adding a new skill to un-psionasist characters like "intercept" doesn't make sense.