Mindworms, Metagaming, Playability, and things you might have taken for granted

[Mercy]

So I don't want to fire shots at anyone in particular or start some kind of manhunt. Between the conversations on Tuluk and Luir's, the NPC skinner, and where ever I saw that comment about thinking there was a mindworm about due to accidentally yawning, my brain has been rolling over the idea of metagaming and it's effect on both playability and enjoyment of the game for other people.

Mindworms in particular are stuck in my brain. I, as a player, have no idea what the extent of a mindworms capabilities are in truth. I've drawn some conclusions and assumptions. The aforementioned comment made me wonder, what is commoner-level lore about mindworms? Especially when I first started playing, I was EXTRA terrified of mindworms. To the point that in the few cases someone warned me to be careful because a mindworm was about I practically shit myself, did whatever they told me and quaked in my boots hoping that my PC's brain wouldn't spontaneously implode. But, I've never yawned intentionally in my life. I have errant wayward thoughts, some of which I dismiss out of hand going "why the fuck did that pop into my head" some I feel the deeper urge to generally chew on and ponder. I am not the most mentally stable person on the planet and occasionally have some pretty persistent nagging thoughts. The sort that take a certain amount of effort to push down and ignore. If mindworms existed in the real world, that's the sort of thing I'd want to blame on them. Which makes me wonder, in that previous scenarios that I can personally recall, what are the odds (realistically) that my PC wouldn't just have laughed it off instead. Called them crazy or whatever insults they felt like hurling, and moved on with their day like nothing. Mindworms for their rarity and vehement rooting out, strike me as the sort of thing that would be more akin to myth and scary stories. Things you tell children at night to keep them in bed and quiet. Stuff you're more inclined to dismiss as overblown and exaggerated as you grown up. Does the average person really even think mindworms are real? And what are some common threads in what they think are even possible.

I feel like I need to state, I do not actually want to be given real factual information on what mindworms are capable of even if there is documentation for it somewhere. I'm talking the superstitious, step on a crack and you'll break your mothers back, level of common 'knowledge' that some people hold firm to as true and others grow out of as nursery rhymes.

The whole thing makes me look at it from the other side. Imagine if you were actually playing a mindworm and the immediate response to anything hinky was to shut down all possibility for roleplay. It makes me think of the first time I played a criminally inclined character and someone spam-walked on me the second I deliberately made them aware that I could see them and they couldn't spot me, all with the intent of playing things out to see where it went. I get that pvp tends to be an all-or-nothing slugfest of who can die before the input lag ends, but when presumably non-dangerous RP presents itself and the response is to bug the fuck out, it kind of removes the options for it to be anything but a lag-race slugfest going forward. I've gotten to the point where, personally I'm more inclined to ham it up, rather than clam up when shit feels weird. Cause if it feels weird OOCly, my first thought is, would my PC actually find this strange? And then to paint exactly what's going on with them as clear as they would because it keeps me honest.

I have a crazy min-max streak in me that goes all the way back to the first time I played DnD. But I love, absolutely fucking love, interesting and accurate roleplay way more than I do big numbers. The whole reason I play this game is because of the potential here in this setting, and the fantastic interactions I've managed to have over the lives of my various PCs. So I find myself inclined these days to ponder at how my actions might inadvertently cheapen the roleplay experience of other people, unduly.

However, along these lines I wonder if I have allowed certain of my PCs to be unrealistically accommodating to avoid "locking" players out of RP. It has taken me an unfortunate amount of time to both be comfortable enough and understand the nuance involved to be derisive IC but not dismissive OOC. It's an awkward line to walk of "I hate you and I'd rather you weren't in my face right now" IC while somehow also portraying OOC "No please hang around I wanna RP." The biggest sticking point I've had is gemmed gicks in 'nak. I, as a player, never want to shun anyone from RP. Especially players of PCs that are to some extent required to be reclusive. It has taken me some time to realize that I can be inclusive without being 'nice'. So I've begun to wonder, what do commoners actually know about magick? What are common Zalanthan superstitions? Is it safe to turn your back on one of the a gemmed or is it more likely to wake up half your face missing if you make eye contact and look away before they do. I have seen a number of PCs who have made their characters more rich by the LACK of knowledge that they possess. Things the player obviously must be aware of, such as what is a fork, but for reasons that they have an explanation for, they have no clue about. After having spent so much time coming up with reasons for specific characters existing with per-conceived "meta-knowledge", I have noticed there are certain bits of lore that I've kind of accepted as universal and taken for granted.

I've kind of rambled myself into losing track of what this post is all about, if I even had a clear vision to begin with. I understand that PCs by and large are a cut above the average population. But most PCs, at least most of mine, come from common beginnings. So I am really curious what are commoner perspectives on things PCs are honestly likely to encounter more than the 'common rabble' as it were.

P.S. If you have some Zalanthan superstition you wanna throw out I'd love to hear it.
P.P.S Is it considered bad form to pull real-world superstitions? Breaking a mirror being bad luck and things like that.

[Alesan]

Regarding mindworms, I think it has been stated by staff that you absolutely cannot roleplay as if you know what mindworms can do unless your character for some reason has actual knowledge taught to them ICly about it. You are a meat puppet for mindworms to play with.

[Armaddict]

I have a couple rules as far as being on the receiving end of mindworming.

1.  My first reaction is never 'I have a mindbender messing with me.'  It's just not that kind of thing.  While there are certain things that inform me, the player, that it is mindbending, I consider it outrageous for that to be the first thought of a commoner.  On the flipside, maybe they are a commoner who thinks -everything- is a mindbender, but I consider that harder to take into account because running around talking about being mindbended all the time is going to draw very bad attention very fast.

2.  In response to 1, mindbenders have a high burden to do what they want to do successfully.  If they have no information on my character, and start implanting -very out of place thoughts or urges-, they are unlikely to get a desired result.  They are more likely to get a moment of confusion and a 'what the fuck was that, dude', talking to myself.  In order for such things to fit gracefully into a character in a way to actually impact behavior, it will either have to be consistent over time and with good timing, or have it be a sort of thought that is already very inline with how my character already thinks.

3.  In response to 2, unfortunately I do not use think and feel and bio in the most consistent ways, which makes a mindbender's life hard.  They have to just kind of do what they can at that point.

In short, I don't think you're being overly accomodating, and it's likely appreciated for them to be able to get something.  But I would caution against the idea that your character is just entirely subject to their whims.  Make it make sense.  Make an actual story out of it, and you're good.

[Troicha]

I will point out, OOCly, that if you actually are being RPed with by a mindworm, that means a couple things.

First, this is a player with karma and approved for a special application. So the chances of this being a person who's interested in just dominating you via code without much RP should be pretty much nil. And it's always super disappointing to open with emotes, etc. and have the other player use bare code to try to resolve the situation. Someone RPing with you is sending a message, and that message is, "I don't plan on immediately resolving this with simple mechanical code interaction."

Second, you as a player happening to think you know what the relevant echoes are and what they mean doesn't imply the same is true for your character. What do you believe? is always a question you should be asking both about yourself and your character, with an understanding that either or both might be wrong.

Third, generally speaking, mindworms aren't the kind of thing people have active superstitions about. They're too rare, too strange, and too obscure. It'd be like having a real-life superstition about uranium. Uranium exists, we all believe that, but it's too rare for us to have some idea how to handle it, much less passed down from our grandparents.

Finally, if you, as a player, think you know what to do about mindworms, unless you have played one recently, you are probably wrong.

[tiny rainbow]

First, this is a player with karma and approved for a special application. So the chances of this being a person who's interested in just dominating you via code without much RP should be pretty much nil.

And it's always super disappointing to open with emotes, etc. and have the other player use bare code to try to resolve the situation.

Ideally this would be true, but I saw 3 different sorcerer characters do all of that and keep their characters afterwards, it seems like once people get to that point they rarely get taken back down?

[Riev]

First, this is a player with karma and approved for a special application. So the chances of this being a person who's interested in just dominating you via code without much RP should be pretty much nil.

And it's always super disappointing to open with emotes, etc. and have the other player use bare code to try to resolve the situation.

Ideally this would be true, but I saw 3 different sorcerer characters do all of that and keep their characters afterwards, it seems like once people get to that point they rarely get taken back down?

Its still a special application, and player complaints exist. So maybe THAT CHARACTER doesn't disappear immediately, but they might be forced to take some time before they're given such a role again.

I've had PCs believe that there IS no such thing as a mindworm, and that they're just a boogeyman to make you be good.
Others have believed its just an excuse for the oppressive imperialists to murder someone they don't like.
Others have thought that every person who acts erratically is being affected by a bored mindworm.

The thing is... if you just react to whats happening realistically, it will always be better. Of the RARE times I've been wormed with (I'm bad at the stuff psis are attracted to, on an OOC level)... I just played along. Is that a thought I would normally have? Okay. If not? What a weird thing to think about. I LIKE Amos, why would I think about punching him in the face? Maybe he said something...


Its on the players of high karma roles to 'be good' about them, but I genuinely think most of us are really trying. Those that AREN'T trying, probably aren't playing a 3karma, special app role.

[Fredd]

First, this is a player with karma and approved for a special application. So the chances of this being a person who's interested in just dominating you via code without much RP should be pretty much nil.

And it's always super disappointing to open with emotes, etc. and have the other player use bare code to try to resolve the situation.

Ideally this would be true, but I saw 3 different sorcerer characters do all of that and keep their characters afterwards, it seems like once people get to that point they rarely get taken back down?

Its still a special application, and player complaints exist. So maybe THAT CHARACTER doesn't disappear immediately, but they might be forced to take some time before they're given such a role again.

I've had PCs believe that there IS no such thing as a mindworm, and that they're just a boogeyman to make you be good.
Others have believed its just an excuse for the oppressive imperialists to murder someone they don't like.
Others have thought that every person who acts erratically is being affected by a bored mindworm.

The thing is... if you just react to whats happening realistically, it will always be better. Of the RARE times I've been wormed with (I'm bad at the stuff psis are attracted to, on an OOC level)... I just played along. Is that a thought I would normally have? Okay. If not? What a weird thing to think about. I LIKE Amos, why would I think about punching him in the face? Maybe he said something...


Its on the players of high karma roles to 'be good' about them, but I genuinely think most of us are really trying. Those that AREN'T trying, probably aren't playing a 3karma, special app role.

I've been at 1 karma for 12 years, and I tend to gravitate to leader positions, and love teaching new players the game. I can promise you the Karma system isn't close to ideal. A lot of people that got karma in the old days, got it because they were friends with staff, or staff were fans of their purple prose. (i have nothing against purple prose in roleplaying btw, if you do it, keep it up, it makes reading your posts interesting. Just stating a point)
(edit: Fun fact. My forum Avatar was uploaded because of the first time Nyr yoinked my Karma.)

As far a Psychics... firstly, why are we using the IC superstitious term for a subclass we know the name of?

I ask that, because that's about all you would know about them. As Riev suggested, every person you play would likely have different beliefs about them. Literally every person in the world has some psychic ability. So it's natural that there would be rumors of people that can do more. But unless you've learned IC, you shouldn't have any idea what they can do. Does your person believe psychics can control them? Great. That's a reasonable assumption for someone to literally live in fear of. But if you are mistaking your krentakh come down for psychic echoes, and your person has never been harassed by a psychic before or know someone who was who talked to them of the symptoms, then you are doing it wrong.

I bring up that specific example, because that was me. I did that a while back. We all fuck up. We just need to recognize the mistakes and move on.

Most of our older players will be familiar with the psychic echoes. Or at least the old ones (as I said, I'm perm karma 1, i have no idea what psychics do since they got the mage treatment) because we played in Old Tuluk. And every time a new lirathan was created, the whole city's playerbase learned the echoes associated with new psychics. And after years and years of playing, it can be hard to filter out the stuff your people should and shouldn't know. And psychics are probably the one class that's actually feared on an OOC level, for what they can do, on just the basic level. But we have to curb that impulse to try and protect our character from the characters own world.

It's funny. i've played a ton of Mages. I happen to LOVE earth as a magical element, and have played many rukkians, old and new (i miss my burrow spell... No, you're useless!) And the reaction to magic tends to be NOTHING compared to just the THREAT of a psychic. And that difference I think, is actual fear. And actually being afraid for your character can make it easy to metagame and rationalize it. It's something we all have to deal with at some point.

ps: Don't remove psychics, i've always thought they were an amazing addition to the game.

[X-D]

You know, I was thinking about it and...

If you would have asked me, oh, a week ago, about benders, I would have had mostly negative things to say.

But if you remove lirathu templars, that changes to mostly positive.

To date, my interactions with the lirathu order, on the side of bender powers has been 100% negative with PCs. EVEN if they were otherwise good templars.

Interaction with a single staff run lirathu was actually very good BTW.

So, taking out Lirathu, I think most the psi PCs I have had interaction with has actually added to the game.

[Mercy]

As far a Psychics... firstly, why are we using the IC superstitious term for a subclass we know the name of?

I ask that, because that's about all you would know about them. As Riev suggested, every person you play would likely have different beliefs about them. Literally every person in the world has some psychic ability. So it's natural that there would be rumors of people that can do more.

So, I didn't actually know the name of the subclass. It's not on the website that I can find. I looked. It might be somewhere but I can't find it. Maybe it's on the forum somewhere, but my ability to dig through this forum is laughable at best. Which is by and large why I came here. I don't actually know what my PC ought to know as blanket: this is what most people know. And just because I happened to learn something IC once, doesn't mean it's always applicable. Which has been my biggest failing with mindworms. The first time I ever heard one mentioned IG, and asked what was up, everyone around was in agreement that this was a terrible thing that I obviously should be afraid of with no time for mucking about. Which my brain made the correlation to mekillots. Big (in effect not so much actual size), terrifying, if you even get the sense one is coming your direction you better about-face. Rare but you know what it is. That kind of latched into my brain as the basic tenets of a mindworm and I moved on.

Third, generally speaking, mindworms aren't the kind of thing people have active superstitions about. They're too rare, too strange, and too obscure. It'd be like having a real-life superstition about uranium. Uranium exists, we all believe that, but it's too rare for us to have some idea how to handle it, much less passed down from our grandparents.

This however, makes me feel like anytime someone cries mindworm they should be laughed to the water seller and back. Which is where the majority of my confusion lies. I totally get the RL fear that permeates into game and can even subconsciously alter your play, but I personally have never see that happen. That isn't to say it doesn't happen, or doesn't happen enough. Just that for me personally, it's been really difficult to have any frame of reference to gauge what is "normal and realistic" and what isn't. Is mindworm even a "common" term? If you say stump just about anywhere in the known, at least someone knows what you're talking about. I can even find reference to it in the helpfiles. Apparently there's reference to the term mindworm in the helpfiles on the website as well (https://www.armageddon.org/help/view/What%20You%20Know), pointing at a class not called psychic. Maybe that's an old helpfile, I don't know.

The thing is... if you just react to whats happening realistically, it will always be better.

All which brings me back to why I ask for the commoner's perspective. If you had been working with this grebber getting him to bring you whatever broken bits of sid and stone he can carry without losing sight of the gates, and one day you pulled him aside and whisper "There's a mindworm about, be careful aye?" Is he more likely to go "Thanks for the tip bud", "Uh....da fecks a mindworm?", or "(skeptically) Oh....ayup....I uh....get right on that" only for you to never see him again because he'd rather get some shitty coin from someone who isn't crazy. I'm just trying to get a better grasp to improve my own play. I really enjoy and appreciate the stories I'm able to witness unfold through this game. It's kind of a surreal experience to watch a character really come into their own and just spiral off into their own thing while I'm at the keyboard but really feel like I have no control over what's going on. Just discovering who they are in the moment and how they'd react. But it gets muddy and awkward if I'm operating off incorrect baseline knowledge. It'd be like trying to eat rocks because I, OOCly, believed rocks were edible on Zalanthas. Not because my PC had mica.

Maybe I ought to make a staff request instead, now that I seem to properly understand my question.

[X-D]

Quote from: Riev on Today at 11:24:31 AM


    The thing is... if you just react to whats happening realistically, it will always be better.

Define "realistically".

That tends to be the issue.

Let us say your PC has a thought. Now this thought is nothing your PC would ever think...Yet...He did.

Now you, as the low karma PC in this are put in a no win spot. It is a power emote that is code backed. And staff backed..although power emotes are against the rules.

It does not matter how much you have in history, backround etc.

You can have a dwarf that is totally racist against humans, too furry, ears to round, world better off without them. Yet if a psion makes you think "wow, that human is sexy." Guess what, staff expects you to play your PC as having the thought that they are sexy. Does not matter that your dwarf would never find any human sexy for any reason ever. Ooops...they really did think that.

Because you are not allowed to know that somebody is fucking with your mind. And this is a real issue with me.

So, with current rules I am to be forced, likely, most the time to just ignore the interaction as some random thought (which does not happen) and continue on with my day.

[Fredd]

You know, I was thinking about it and...

If you would have asked me, oh, a week ago, about benders, I would have had mostly negative things to say.

But if you remove lirathu templars, that changes to mostly positive.

To date, my interactions with the lirathu order, on the side of bender powers has been 100% negative with PCs. EVEN if they were otherwise good templars.

Interaction with a single staff run lirathu was actually very good BTW.

So, taking out Lirathu, I think most the psi PCs I have had interaction with has actually added to the game.

I agree.  The removal of that from the game made it much better. Templars with psychic powers is a problem because it just stopped a lot of plots. And it made what should be rare and scary common, and a problem.

[Troicha]

Let us say your PC has a thought. Now this thought is nothing your PC would ever think...Yet...He did.

It does not matter how much you have in history, backround etc.

Because you are not allowed to know that somebody is fucking with your mind. And this is a real issue with me.

So, with current rules I am to be forced, likely, most the time to just ignore the interaction as some random thought (which does not happen) and continue on with my day.

I strongly disagree. Assuming, for the moment, that a psion is able to make your character think things, which seems likely on the face of it but I have no way of confirming, I think how you treat it depends on how well the thought or other forced behaviour echoes to you and how well it fits in with the rest of your character.

If it's a nudge along lines your character already moves on, like making a glutton eat more, or sparking a worrier to worrying, then very likely there's nothing noticeable: these should just be accepted as your own thoughts.

If it's something your character wouldn't normally think, it shouldn't seem that way. Instead it should seem strange and get you to doubt yourself, or wonder where in you that came from, or the like.

If it's something your character would never think, or would normally be strongly opposed to, as in your dwarf example, it should provoke at least one of: a crisis of identity, a distrust of the self and your possible sanity, or even suspicion that something is wrong, weird, or outside.

Who makes that call? You make that call, based on your gut feeling about how your character lives, thinks, and reacts, the echoes actually provided, and your character's past experiences. But at least if things are confined to echoes and that kind of RP-focused code events, err on the side of providing continual roleplay interaction.

Anyway that's my take on it. I don't set up as some kind of authority.

[Armaddict]

So, with current rules I am to be forced, likely, most the time to just ignore the interaction as some random thought (which does not happen) and continue on with my day.

I don't know psion capabilities, but I'm with you up to a certain point as I said.  Really really foreign thoughts are akin to the ones in real life that make your brows furrow and think, 'I just had a really weird thought, where did that come from?'  You're allowed to have the thought, then immediately question its source, all without even a passing notion of it being someone else's fault.  HOWEVER, from an OOC perspective, if that thought is that foreign, I will go into thinking and feeling interactions, hoping that it gets through to the psion.  I will try to give them some information they should have if they're going to be snooping or working on my character, because as I said, I unfortunately do a piss poor job of maintaining bios and such.

I don't have to totally pretend it didn't happen.  I can just make it the beginning of the interaction, even if they had something else in mind.

ETA:  When I say 'give them information', I don't mean on a plate.  I mean if they're snooping, and they put in that really weird thing that doesn't mesh with how the character works and will therefore be a fleeting thought/urge with very little weight behind it...in reacting to the foreignness of that thought, they're going to find out why it's so foreign, based off of how my character thinks and feels about their think/feel.  Or something like that.

[zealus]

So, with current rules I am to be forced, likely, most the time to just ignore the interaction as some random thought (which does not happen) and continue on with my day.

All right, I have bene in this situation, and a lot of cool roleplay came out of "But that was the mindworm, or was it?" And then my PC and his friends starting to doubt their every though (including actual thoughts of their own), because it's an intrusive thought.... but was it, was it really?

Staff at the time confirmed that this was acceptable. So thinking something=/= acting on it.

[Fredd]

Quote from: Riev on Today at 11:24:31 AM

So, with current rules I am to be forced, likely, most the time to just ignore the interaction as some random thought (which does not happen) and continue on with my day.

Sentences like this remind me that not everyone has intrusive thoughts

[The Lonely Hunter]

I just wanted to point out this helpfile on possible psion encounters.

[SpyGuy]

I just wanted to point out this helpfile on possible psion encounters.

Fantastic helpfile.  Lays out expectations pretty clearly.

I've only had one long term encounter with a psionicist and it was great.  They either really did their homework on how to manipulate that character or they got super lucky.  Either way it was fun.

[X-D]

Troicha.

I do not have a problem with nudges. In fact, as I said. My interactions with staff run PSI have gone very well because of that.

I tend to deal with things PSI like the psi was prof X. When Prof X nudges, people don't even realize they are being manipulated. I am good with that.

When Prof X Pushes they usually do know....Now, that does not mean it did not happen, they did do whatever it was, but they know it was an outside force...UNLESS...Prof X does something else to prevent them from knowing.

All of which I am also fine with.

But currently, staff expects your PC to NOT know they are being manipulated when somebody comes after your mind with a sledge hammer.

This I DO have a problem with.

Example.

IRL, I hate snails, I have never eaten one, I will never eat one. If I suddenly had the thought, "Hey, I feel like eating snails", I would have to stop and really consider that thought, and likely the only option would be that telepaths exist, even though I know they do not.

In arm, you KNOW they exist yet staff expects you to NOT think about it even though your PC is suddenly thinking about eating snails.

So...
I have decided.
If I think I have interaction with a bender, I will log it and send in a report, Not a complaint mind you, just a report.
I figure this means that both parties might get feedback. Making us both better players.

[Troicha]

So...
I have decided.
If I think I have interaction with a bender, I will log it and send in a report, Not a complaint mind you, just a report.
I figure this means that both parties might get feedback. Making us both better players.

This, I completely agree with. Edited to remove the bit where I misread the quoted part, but I still agree completely.

[SpyGuy]

So...
I have decided.
If I think I have interaction with a bender, I will log it and send in a report, Not a complaint mind you, just a report.
I figure this means that both parties might get feedback. Making us both better players.

This, I completely agree with. As long as by 'log off' you don't mean immediately, while the interaction might still be ongoing.

(Which of course you don't. I'm just being clear for the record.)

By 'log it' he means save the interaction as text so he can send it in full, not just a summary, to staff.

[Troicha]

Thanks, SpyGuy. I read 'log off' instead of 'log it' and have edited my post to reflect the difference. I probably shouldn't post while coffee.

[Mercy]

I just wanted to point out this helpfile on possible psion encounters.

Just need to say this is pretty much what I was looking for. You're beautiful and don't let anyone tell you otherwise. Well I guess, don't believe them if they do? Stopping people from speaking is hard.

[pilgrim]

I have a question about this...

I know it's one thing where you get a purple message and it looks like a thought, the help file is fairly clear on that, but...

What about when someone is waying you but they are hidden somehow? How are you supposed to react to that?

[Quell]

I have a question about this...

I know it's one thing where you get a purple message and it looks like a thought, the help file is fairly clear on that, but...

What about when someone is waying you but they are hidden somehow? How are you supposed to react to that?

If someone is waying you normally it'll say that they're sending you a message, not that you're thinking something.

[Troicha]

Sounds like a great topic for a question request, since what you're talking about seems like it might be rather sensitive.

[betweenford]

Kind of rezzing this thread but something not really covered by the relatively new roleplay with psionicist helpfile...

How do you all generally treat the more extrasensory psionic-caused echoes that aren't so easily dismissed or explainable by regular body dysfunctions? Like stuff that specifically references the mind instead of thought, in that you'd be feeling actual atypical metaphysical psionics stuff.

[mansa]

Kind of rezzing this thread but something not really covered by the relatively new roleplay with psionicist helpfile...

How do you all generally treat the more extrasensory psionic-caused echoes that aren't so easily dismissed or explainable by regular body dysfunctions? Like stuff that specifically references the mind instead of thought, in that you'd be feeling actual atypical metaphysical psionics stuff.

Could you give some examples?
[please don't list examples - thanks, Hestia]

[betweenford]

Could you give some examples?

Stuff like...?
[edited by Hestia]

Stuff not involving the five senses.
Like:
[please no examples - Hestia]

[LindseyBalboa]

The same as you would in real life if you thought you felt a hand on your shoulder, probably. Spooked, then "oh that wasn't real."

[Alesan]

Sorry - gotta halt this conversation.
-Hestia

[betweenford]

The same as you would in real life if you thought you felt a hand on your shoulder, probably. Spooked, then "oh that wasn't real."

I think its a bit weird to have this sort of reaction to it when its not like a phantom touch to your sense of touch but something interacting with like a projected sense of self or however people's personal psionic space is perceived

[Riev]

The same as you would in real life if you thought you felt a hand on your shoulder, probably. Spooked, then "oh that wasn't real."

I think its a bit weird to have this sort of reaction to it when its not like a phantom touch to your sense of touch but something interacting with like a projected sense of self or however people's personal psionic space is perceived

In my experience, even with new documentation, its still "There's a psi around and its probably that new PC so I'm going to spread a rumor its that new PC".

Got'eem.

[Delirium]

In a world where magick exists and commoners are heavily superstitious I still find it jarring that we're supposed to completely ignore clumsy, failed mindbending. I can see brushing off intrusive thoughts but when it's something that's wildly out of character, it's not an enjoyable or cohesive story to just shrug and go about your day. When you're superstitious enough to think whiran blood cures lung cancer you're probably going to react to thinking and feeling things that make zero sense and clearly show that the person (or staff member, if it's an animation) did not do their research about your character and who they are. We're essentially supposed to be meat puppets no matter how lazy the roleplay? That doesn't sit right by me.

Plus, if they've been educated, they shouldn't have to simply brush it off. It doesnt mean their first thought should or has to be "mindworm" but they should be allowed to be suspicious and weirded out.

Then there's just clumsy mistskes. People responding directly to things they couldn't have heard save by <redacted>. I'm supposed to ignore that? Especially if they're already suspicious? I guess it was just a masisive, very specific coincidence.. that happened more than once.

Anyone whose RP'd with me knows I follow the guidelines of brushing things off, to the point of having a fairly educated character still shrug things off, but that doesn't mean I agree with the guidelines. I think they give too much power to psions to not have to do their research and lay groundwork and others are forced to roll with it or they're a "bad roleplayer." Being jarred out of character and forced to find a way to roll with it isn't fun and nor does it make much sense compared to the backdrop of a world steeped in magick and superstition.

[Riev]

Having played a Psi before... it is hard to "do your research" when you need to have already done your research to not out yourself.

No, I don't agree with a psion making you like... Desire to kill all nearby elves and you have to brush it off and play along, especially if you're a secret elf lover.

What I do agree with is "just because something weird happened doesn't mean the person who walked in is a psi". As a game, well... PROBABLY its them but still. A suspension of disbelief.

[Delirium]

The help file doesn't mention what kinds of things psionicists can do. This is intentional. I'm going to lock this thread because it's really impossible to NOT talk about what psionicists can do, when discussing what psionicists can do.


https://www.armageddon.org/help/view/Psionicists

[Armaddict]

The help file doesn't mention what kinds of things psionicists can do. This is intentional. I'm going to lock this thread because it's really impossible to NOT talk about what psionicists can do, when discussing what psionicists can do.


https://www.armageddon.org/help/view/Psionicists