Catholic Order of Psis

[cptbutton]

The Code of Honor for Telepaths thread reminded me of something I recall from the playtest draft for GURPS Alternate Earths.

One of the worlds had a Catholic order of psis.

It started when a priest discovered he had the ability to read peoples' minds and to alter them. He realized the potential benefits and dangers of his power. He was conflicted because altering someone's mind took away their free will and thus their ability to turn away from sin.

He ended up founding an order of psis within the church. They were sworn to only use their powers in two ways:

Treatment of the mentally ill.

Suppression of rogue psis. They would hunt down any psis and try to get them to join the order. Those who refused would have their minds altered to remove their psi power and any knowledge that psi powers exists. No other alteration was permitted.

That world did not make the cut for the book. I know I saw the world published later, but the order of psis part had been dropped. The world might have been the one with the jet planes in World War I, but maybe not.

Did that order ever get published somewhere else?

[somecallmetim]

I think that was Louis d'Antares' world. I don't know if it was ever given a write up on E23, but I'm sure it wasn't in AE 1 or 2.

[cptbutton]

Originally Posted by somecallmetim

I think that was Louis d'Antares' world. I don't know if it was ever given a write up on E23, but I'm sure it wasn't in AE 1 or 2.

I believe Louis d'Antares' world is Cyrano, published in GURPS Infinite Worlds: Lost Worlds

But I don't think that is the world I am thinking of. In the world I recall there psionics was secret, known to no one except the order. Which made it easy to cut out, of course.

[tratclif]

Originally Posted by cptbutton

I believe Louis d'Antares' world is Cyrano, published in GURPS Infinite Worlds: Lost Worlds

But I don't think that is the world I am thinking of. In the world I recall there psionics was secret, known to no one except the order. Which made it easy to cut out, of course.

I wasn't in the AE1 playtest, but I believe it had "Stuart" with psionics, which got rewritten into Aeolus in AE2 (which is a steampunky anarchists-with-airplanes timeline).

[smurf]

Now that is a scary thought!

Treatment of the mentally ill.

What definition is this? Thought crimes are health crimes!

I suggest Toquemada from Nemisis the Warlock

Just imagine an Opus Dei version.

Or an order against Telephaths because it is a hersey!

[jason taylor]

Originally Posted by smurf

Now that is a scary thought!



What definition is this? Thought crimes are health crimes!

I suggest Toquemada from Nemisis the Warlock

Just imagine an Opus Dei version.

Or an order against Telephaths because it is a hersey!

If that was what was intended, surely treatment of the mentally ill would include forced conversion. I would have to know more about the context. Otherwise I would simply assume that they would be used for treating generally accepted mental illness like a non-psi therapist would.

[cptbutton]

Originally Posted by smurf

Now that is a scary thought!



What definition is this? Thought crimes are health crimes!

I suggest Toquemada from Nemisis the Warlock

Just imagine an Opus Dei version.

Or an order against Telephaths because it is a hersey!

As I recall, the telepaths all worked in mental hospitals, so only mental illness requiring hospitalization would qualify.

[nik1979]

Originally Posted by smurf

Now that is a scary thought!



What definition is this? Thought crimes are health crimes!

I suggest Toquemada from Nemisis the Warlock

Just imagine an Opus Dei version.

Or an order against Telephaths because it is a hersey!

Growing up Opus Dei, Smurf hit the nail on the head.

First off a priest who can read minds would notice all the hypocrisy going around in the first place. And remember a lot of people didn't need to read minds to find that out. Now if this Priest's superiors ever discovered he could read minds, they were in real trouble. He would have a crisis of faith instantly. If the priest never altered the minds of his superiors then he would be dead, end of story.