Catholic Order of Psis

cptbutton · 12-26-2011, 05:07 PM

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 · 12-26-2011, 06:08 PM

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 · 12-26-2011, 06:33 PM

Quote:

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 · 12-28-2011, 05:48 PM

Quote:

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~~ · 12-29-2011, 07:50 AM

Now that is a scary thought!

Quote:

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 · 12-29-2011, 03:11 PM

Quote:

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.

jeff_wilson · 12-29-2011, 04:40 PM

Julian May's Exiles Saga and Galactic Millieu books feature something like this. Mostly benevolent psychic aliens turn out to have a churchlike system of social conservation and guardianship, the prevalence of Catholic families among the emerging psychics of earth end up giving the humans' guardians a similar internal order including an order of redactors (telepathic/empathic healers) dedicated to a martyred psychic who had suffered unhealing wounds in life.

David Johnston2 · 12-29-2011, 04:56 PM

On the whole I think the world where a priest discovers telepathy and uses it to create an order of anti-heresy thought police is more interesting.

cptbutton · 12-29-2011, 05:23 PM

Quote:

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.

~~smurf~~ · 12-29-2011, 06:18 PM

At one time homosexuality was considered a mental illness.

Despite all the aspects for the causes of good deeds there are a myriad of ways of doing other 'good' deeds.

It's an interesting concept but there could be those out there to use it to their own goals and desires.

Also the Catholic church was against democracy, ie universal sufferage. Issues regarding abortion and rape. Not forgetting the crisis of molestation.

Given this is a 'Catholic' inspired religion of fantasy many of its real life 'woes' could pop up as themes. It would be like mythos, don't let the priest get you. Body Snatchers meets Stepford Wives.

BTW the last bit is like B5's Psi Corps

12-26-2011, 05:07 PM	#1
cptbutton Join Date: Jul 2007	Catholic Order of Psis 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?

12-26-2011, 06:08 PM	#2
somecallmetim Join Date: Oct 2006	Re: Catholic Order of Psis 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.

12-29-2011, 04:40 PM	#7
jeff_wilson Computer Scientist Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: Dallas, Texas	Re: Catholic Order of Psis Julian May's Exiles Saga and Galactic Millieu books feature something like this. Mostly benevolent psychic aliens turn out to have a churchlike system of social conservation and guardianship, the prevalence of Catholic families among the emerging psychics of earth end up giving the humans' guardians a similar internal order including an order of redactors (telepathic/empathic healers) dedicated to a martyred psychic who had suffered unhealing wounds in life. __________________ . Reposed playtest leader. The Campaigns of William Stoddard

12-29-2011, 04:56 PM	#8
David Johnston2 Join Date: Dec 2007	Re: Catholic Order of Psis On the whole I think the world where a priest discovers telepathy and uses it to create an order of anti-heresy thought police is more interesting.

12-29-2011, 06:18 PM	#10
~~smurf~~ Banned Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Bristol	Re: Catholic Order of Psis At one time homosexuality was considered a mental illness. Despite all the aspects for the causes of good deeds there are a myriad of ways of doing other 'good' deeds. It's an interesting concept but there could be those out there to use it to their own goals and desires. Also the Catholic church was against democracy, ie universal sufferage. Issues regarding abortion and rape. Not forgetting the crisis of molestation. Given this is a 'Catholic' inspired religion of fantasy many of its real life 'woes' could pop up as themes. It would be like mythos, don't let the priest get you. Body Snatchers meets Stepford Wives. BTW the last bit is like B5's Psi Corps Last edited by smurf; 12-29-2011 at 06:25 PM.