Babylon 5 campaign: some questions

Harald387 · 03-15-2009, 07:51 PM

GURPS: Psionic Powers for 4th Edition should be coming out soon (or may already be out, I haven't been keeping track!), and will probably suit B5 psis perfectly. As others have noted, a high P-rating is mostly a social benefit; I'd judge it to be a Rank advantage, in fact, determining what the character's status within Psi-Corps is.

From a campaign standpoint, lots of points in Psi powers will grant you a high P-rating; someone with Psychic Illusions and Mind Blast will probably be a P11 or P12, where someone with Empathy and nothing else will probably be a P1. From a character creation standpoint, however, you simply require characters to buy a higher P-rating to go along with their more powerful psi abilities. It's not quite an unusual background - there are other concrete benefits to being a P11 - but there's nothing at all wrong with requiring some advantages in order to buy others.

I'd also note that, with two notable exceptions, it doesn't seem like B5-verse psis could do much in terms of training or practice to *increase* their abilities or add new ones; the Psi Corps taught a measure of control and skill (represented by greater skill at using the powers, or higher Talent), but it doesn't seem like there was much in the way of 'adding new abilities through training'. Your set of abilities determined your P-rating, and that was that. I'd generally not allow a B5 psi to buy new abilities without some significant story justification (frex, "the Vorlons rewired your brain").

03-15-2009, 07:51 PM	#8
Harald387 Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Ottawa, ON, CA	Re: Babylon 5 campaign: some questions GURPS: Psionic Powers for 4th Edition should be coming out soon (or may already be out, I haven't been keeping track!), and will probably suit B5 psis perfectly. As others have noted, a high P-rating is mostly a social benefit; I'd judge it to be a Rank advantage, in fact, determining what the character's status within Psi-Corps is. From a campaign standpoint, lots of points in Psi powers will grant you a high P-rating; someone with Psychic Illusions and Mind Blast will probably be a P11 or P12, where someone with Empathy and nothing else will probably be a P1. From a character creation standpoint, however, you simply require characters to buy a higher P-rating to go along with their more powerful psi abilities. It's not quite an unusual background - there are other concrete benefits to being a P11 - but there's nothing at all wrong with requiring some advantages in order to buy others. I'd also note that, with two notable exceptions, it doesn't seem like B5-verse psis could do much in terms of training or practice to increase their abilities or add new ones; the Psi Corps taught a measure of control and skill (represented by greater skill at using the powers, or higher Talent), but it doesn't seem like there was much in the way of 'adding new abilities through training'. Your set of abilities determined your P-rating, and that was that. I'd generally not allow a B5 psi to buy new abilities without some significant story justification (frex, "the Vorlons rewired your brain").