What sort of society do you get...

[Joseph Paul]

Originally Posted by Varyon

This seems very reminiscent of Mercerism from Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, wherein those who are tapped into the Mercer “feed” (basically a VR “sensie” on constant loop) can feel the emotions of others. There is a great sense of community there, and “downers” are welcome, as while their negative emotions can bring others down, the positive emotions of the other users can help uplift them and get them out of their funk, deal with their loss, or whatever. Might be worth a look, at least. Of course, that version is optional.

Good thing the library is around the corner. Thanks for the notion.

[Joseph Paul]

Originally Posted by ericthered

I think a lot of answers are forgetting this: The communication doesn't make you feel the emotion, it just lets you know what it is. Unless its very strong. Which I'd argue is quite similar to human body language and speech. Its just that we can conceal our emotions when we feel like it.

While the society may be worse at deceit, they may also have a much stronger sense of irony and sarcasm, as its easier to be obvious that you mean something other than what you're saying.

Hmmm. So less instances of Clueless? Thanks for the insight. Now to brush up on irony and sarcasm. Hmmm - racial quirk?

[Joseph Paul]

Originally Posted by smurf

How big is your macro scale.

Big. Whole societies wide. What institutions will be formed for which purposes, what customs will develop, what laws will be made, what rights and responsibilities will be recognized/enforced? For instance, is there a legal obligation to render aid to someone in distress? Is the emotive sending capability and its reception recognized in courts as bona fide communication? Can your Telesend ability be used in a court against you? Would there need to be multiple witnesses to it – which should not be hard in a gregarious society

In such a society any deception may be considered the height of bad manners.

...or a slick trick. Drugs, meditation, Will rolls to mitigate the sending etc. All need to be considered.

[Raekai]

Originally Posted by AlexanderHowl

I do think that Mind Reading would probably work better for a society than Telesend. I think that Telesend would result in a race of homicidal loners while Mind Reading would result in a gregarious and truthful race (the latter gives you a reason to trust people while the former is like having every pretentious and narcissistic vlog on Earth broadcasting into your mind). An entire race with Mind Reading would likely have Charitable, Easy to Read, Gregarious, Honesty, and Truthfulness because no one expects deception and unlawful behavior.

Originally Posted by Joseph Paul

Mind Reading - Always On would be no different in regards to your vlog analogy and I don't want it to be selective. Pretty sure that mind readers will learn how to shield thoughts or be intricately deceptive with them. GURPS wise I would need to tear out a lot of the expected back and forth with attempts to read minds rather than using Telesend's Broadcasting. If Mind Reading is automatic it really changes nothing but complicates play.

I will have to think on what it would take to mitigate the Telesend. Drugs, meditative practices, Will rolls? And does that reduce the range to a minimum or actually create a non-emotional state?

I think that the response to knowing that people are having a rough time is for those around them to step in early and help mitigate it even if it is just to comfort the heart-broken not flee from it or want to murder them. I also think that the institutions of society would be different with more of a "We are all in this together" attitude rather than Social Darwinism and stratification of society so that the systems in the society don't chew people up and make more misery. Hmmm principles of such a system? Create the most joy for the greatest number ?

Returning to the idea of Telesend versus Mind Reading, will this race come into contact with others? Telesend would project to everyone, including others, but they wouldn't feel the feelings of others. With Mind Reading, it would be flipped. Others wouldn't know their feelings, but they would still be able to know the feelings of others.

Unless I missed something, which I may have in skimming.

[Joseph Paul]

Originally Posted by Raekai

Returning to the idea of Telesend versus Mind Reading, will this race come into contact with others? Telesend would project to everyone, including others, but they wouldn't feel the feelings of others. With Mind Reading, it would be flipped. Others wouldn't know their feelings, but they would still be able to know the feelings of others.

Unless I missed something, which I may have in skimming.

The capability has the Disadvantage - Racial with it. So "aliens" will have to be awfully close kin. I didn't have any plans for them to know the feelings of other species but to have them have to cope with not getting that info. That should lead to some interesting situations. Can their rational minds work out coping methods? Likewise I am not wishing to impose the emotive sense on a lot of the other species. It may be interesting to set up a "Mirror, Mirror" situation with a species that has gone in a different direction than this one did.

Thanks for the post, I will consider that inter-species activity further. Perhaps a species that has a certain proportion of individuals with the capability to receive the Telesend.

[Joseph Paul]

Originally Posted by Black Leviathan

I think the greater fatigue would be constantly having to explain to others that you're fine when they know you're not.

There would have to be some kind of social norm that even if you know someone is suffering you have to give them the illusion of privacy. Our entire idea of intimacy is based around these feelings that we share privately. If you had no way to stop others from knowing those feelings it's effectively like everyone is in your business all of the time.

If they are gregarious enough do they actually have a notion of privacy? They are alien after all. Being Gregarious drops their IQ if they are not in a group so 'private' feelings may be something that is confided to the peer group and that group gives comfort and solace to the individual.

I am wondering if their society would become one of detailed manners? Constraints on when certain things are done so that the neighbors aren't annoyed with conjugal festivities for instance.

This is starting to sound a lot like a species that doesn't go out much.

The Telesend with Broadcast uses the Long Distance modifiers so the very first range is a 200 yard radius. Staying in isn't a help.

[Joseph Paul]

Originally Posted by smurf

The problem we have is the scenario is truly speculative. We have no historic examples to look back on to a view. It could be like a bee hive where if attacked they will swarm but with the added benefit of free will and the ability to abstractly think (eg what is the best way to swarm).

And that is some of what I am looking for - actual strangeness for players to explore, different ways to deal with societal problems, etc.

[Joseph Paul]

RAW mechanical concerns
Looking over the RAW implementing this may not produce the effects I wanted. Telesend works with the Long Distance modifiers so minimum range using Broadcast advantage is a 200 yard radius but it is IQ-4 to do so. Meaning that IQ 10 people have only a 4.62% chance of their emotional state being successfully transmitted to others. Unlike Mind Reading no QC is needed. The recipient(s) in fact doesn't seem to get any chance to resist, which I like.

Solution 1) There is also a modifier for closeness of relationship (-1 for family/lovers and close friends, -3 for casual friends and acquaintances, and -5 for someone you met briefly). That is for straight Telesend to a single person. I may swap and invert the relationship modifiers to count as positives against the Broadcast – 4 eg family/lovers/close get a +5, casual gets a +3, and barely met at the college club drive gets a +1.

Solution 2) There is also the possibility of creating a Telesend Talent (what would I stuff in it?) or a technique to buy off the -4.

Solutions 1 & 2 give too little success for an IQ10 person that is continually broadcasting. I am sure that over the time of an hour more than enough successful rolls will be made to work effectively if this was real. But I don’t have a good way to model that for longer periods of time than the one second turns. So, putting them both together pushes successful sending to over 100% for the lowest range and over 90% out to 30 miles which is probably over kill. I may need to just make some special modifiers for this. Near always success at short ranges and a faster fall off with increasing range is probably what I need.

Recipients – Telesend affects a person in the sight of the sender or that the sender knows is nearby. Presumably, Broadcast affects everybody in the radius whether the sender wants to or not. Identifying who is broadcasting what needs to be sorted out. Vague states that in the case of Telesend only “…general concepts and emotions…” can be sent. Is the identity of the sender sent? Can the recipient ‘taste’ the identity in the emotion? What have other people done with the term "general concepts"?

Emotional information intersects with Acting, Interrogation, Intimidation, Reaction Rolls, Body Language, Detect Lies, Erotic Art, Fast Talk, Fortune Telling, Meditation, Psychology, and Sex Appeal. Either the ability gives intel that interferes with a person’s attempts to resist giving intel or it gives information about how well information gathering or behavior modification attempts are going.

Which brings up options for distorting or hiding the truth of the emotional state of the individual from everyone. I will go with drugs to give different states -even a state of 'not being' and meditation that brings a person back to a calm state.

The effect this would have on conflict might be a preference for not having any but once joined in combat work hard at getting it over with quick. Pretty sure the emotions about dying will be very strong.