Mindlink on its own

[koosp]

What does mindlink do on its own? If I don't have mind reading, can my character communicate with someone they're linked to? Otherwise what does the telepathic rapport mean?
"You have a permanent telepathic
rapport with someone – often a twin,
loved one, hive member, etc. You auto-
matically succeed at all attempts to
contact him with Telesend (see
Telecommunication, p. 91) and Mind
Reading (p. 69), provided he chooses
not to resist or has Slave Mentality.
Mindlink does not allow automatic
contact across interstellar distances
(more than 0.1 light-year), nor can it
reach other dimensions, parallel
worlds, etc."

[Refplace]

Mindlink is really a psychic lock on. I wish it had been built that way from scratch.
Lock-On
Mind Link adds the Limitation other person needs to have the same with you.

[Anaraxes]

Originally Posted by koosp

what does the telepathic rapport mean?

Telecommunication handles the communication. Mindlink means you don't have to roll to use your other psi abilities with that target. (If that doesn't sound impressive enough, ask yourself how much you'd pay for Legolas not to have to roll to hit with his bow.) It's mostly intended for modelling character concepts that have a shared mind or especially close bond with specific individuals, like twins, a set of Duplicates, or some wizard/familiars or intelligent animal companions like the Heralds of Valdemar or Dragonriders of Pern, and not really so much as a general-purpose ability that all psis have to use on just anyone.

[Nereidalbel]

Originally Posted by Anaraxes

It's mostly intended for modelling character concepts that have a shared mind or especially close bond with specific individuals, like twins, a set of Duplicates, or some wizard/familiars or intelligent animal companions like the Heralds of Valdemar or Dragonriders of Pern, and not really so much as a general-purpose ability that all psis have to use on just anyone.

Your forgot hive mind races, including ones with Infectious Attack.

[Not another shrubbery]

Originally Posted by koosp

What does mindlink do on its own?

On its own? Nothing but act as a placeholder for eventually purchasing other advantages it will work with. Note that Powers expands, on p187 (by way of GM's option), the possibility of extending Mindlink's compatibility to other "telepathic" powers, such as Illusion with Mental.

[Culture20]

Originally Posted by Refplace

Mind Link adds the Limitation other person needs to have the same with you.

The text for Mindlink doesn’t really require it to be purchased by both/all parties in the link. A fictional example would be Jean Grey and Cyclops. Cyclops has zero psi advantages but Jean has a Mindlink with him.

[Anaraxes]

While we're on the topic: is a psi possessing a Mindlink with someone aware of the state of that Mindlink? That is, should the link get broken for exceeding the various limitations (distance, not in another dimension, etc) or simply death, does the psi "feel" that the Mindlink is no longer present?

This is still one step short of the common fictional ability to have a background sense about your Mindlinked partner, so that you know if they become injured, endangered, upset, etc. How would you build that ability? I'm thinking it'd be Mind Reading with Reflexive and Vague, but then there would be Limitations like Minklink Partners Only. Or perhaps the ability can occasionally work without the Mindlink, but is only really dependable with the Minklink partners -- so, maybe Unreliable in this case.

Ideally this wouldn't come out to be a really expensive ability -- Reflexive Vague Mind-Reading is still 27 CP, minimum 6 CP even if we make "Mindlink Partners Only" -80% or -100%. In practice "Detect Friend in Trouble" would be a grommet for a GM plot hook, not something that the players will often actively be using to bypass their problems. I'd be tempted just to fold it into Mindlink at its regular price, but it may be a bit too good to give away for free.

[Kelly Pedersen]

Originally Posted by Anaraxes

While we're on the topic: is a psi possessing a Mindlink with someone aware of the state of that Mindlink? That is, should the link get broken for exceeding the various limitations (distance, not in another dimension, etc) or simply death, does the psi "feel" that the Mindlink is no longer present?

I'd let the possessor of a Mindlink know when it wasn't working, but not why. So if Alice has a Mindlink to Bob, and Bob takes a Planar Visit spell to the Elemental Plane of Jello, Alice would know her Mindlink was currently non-functional, but not that it was because Bob was on another plane.

Originally Posted by Anaraxes

This is still one step short of the common fictional ability to have a background sense about your Mindlinked partner, so that you know if they become injured, endangered, upset, etc. How would you build that ability?

This is basically textbook Special Rapport. If the bit in Special Rapport that both sides have to have it bugs you, I'd suggest either just ignoring that part, or allow a special +100% enhancement for Mindlink that lets it act like Special Rapport as well.

[Anaraxes]

Originally Posted by Kelly Pedersen

I'd let the possessor of a Mindlink know when it wasn't working, but not why.

Pretty much just what I was thinking. "Hm, you seem to have lost touch with Bob somehow."

This is basically textbook Special Rapport.

There it is! Thanks. I knew I'd seen that before somewhere, but couldn't find it (originally though it was Mindlink, but no; not under Mind*, in Powers, Psi Powers...) thanks to some blind spot, and had almost started to convince myself I must have remembered it from some other game. (It is, conveniently enough, about the same price as Vague Reflexive one-target-only Mind Reading :))

If the bit in Special Rapport that both sides have to have it bugs you, I'd suggest either just ignoring that part

Doesn't bug me, really, but I probably would let people buy a one-sided version if that's what the concept called for. Probably more common for that sort of thing to work both ways, but it could be one sided.

(Luke and Leia, maybe. It's not clear that Leia can sense Luke if he's not trying to reach her. But then, it's also not clear to me that Luke has any sense of Leia if he's not doing Jedi contemplation things off-screen to know they're in trouble on Bespin.)

[Refplace]

Originally Posted by Kelly Pedersen

This is basically textbook Special Rapport. If the bit in Special Rapport that both sides have to have it bugs you, I'd suggest either just ignoring that part, or allow a special +100% enhancement for Mindlink that lets it act like Special Rapport as well.

+20% One-Way Powers, p. 77 already exists.
I like it combined with Transferable, +100% for certain purposes.