[OOC] Worlds of Fire

[ericthered]

Originally Posted by the_matrix_walker

I'll need to whip up a PSI dampener or something then.

It's quite surprising that anywhere that telepaths are common that there are no laws restricting use. At the very least it's in invasion of privacy, more likely it would be considered a form of assault. I was tempted to simply shoot him...

Actually, technically in this game telepathy has different rules, including that its not resisted under normal circumstances, and not detected unless you have something that specifically detects psi.

The changed rules are actually more annoying for the telepath if you don't know it going in. My first few point upgrades were spent on things he needed to be any sort of effective telepath.

[Totem]

Originally Posted by the_matrix_walker

I'll need to whip up a PSI dampener or something then.

It's quite surprising that anywhere that telepaths are common that there are no laws restricting use. At the very least it's in invasion of privacy, more likely it would be considered a form of assault. I was tempted to simply shoot him...

The catch with creating laws for this sort of thing is that the Western Harbour is a TL^ environment that is home to anything from TL2 savages through to high end mages, techsperts, powerful psis...

There are three species that can't talk at all and rely entirely on telepathy for communications. There are breeds of Humans that communicate entirely by touch. There's another species that expect to be given a Human to speak through and consider it a mortal insult to be given a low-status one to use. There are the paleotechs; five hundred kilometre long cylinders of living stone and magna that need to be periodically reminded that the Western Harbour is meant to have Humans on it and that they don't need to be shoed off. There's the Nest, a breed of hive-bred Humans who don't understand the idea of personal space or belongings and expect you to share whatever they need as it is required. You've probably run into at least a couple of Drosk by now; to them human flesh is a tasty delicacy and when you hear one licking their lips behind you in the queue at the canteen you had better hope that it's the menu that they're eying up.

Basically, "normal" Humans are a very small minority in the Western Harbour. The nearest thing that there is to a law on the subject is "be cosmopolitan." Or failing that, "stop being so parochial," depending on who you talk to and what mood they are in. If you want to take offense, that's fine; just be aware that you might end up resolving it on their terms, rather than the ones that you expect.

If we're going to add in things to get worried about, Ben's telekinetic abilities include a telekinetic sense with a limited penetration capability (again, it's a primary sense to him so it's Always On). That means that he can see through your armour/ clothing and beneath the skin as well. Seriously, the racial template for psis where Ben comes from is fairly massive and was intended to be deployed alongside and against 75-150 point Humans as well as other psis.

Originally Posted by ericthered

Actually, technically in this game telepathy has different rules, including that its not resisted under normal circumstances, and not detected unless you have something that specifically detects psi.

The changed rules are actually more annoying for the telepath if you don't know it going in. My first few point upgrades were spent on things he needed to be any sort of effective telepath.

This is true. Those rules though call for Michael to have made a Psychology roll in order to understand what was inside Alec's head when he looked, which didn't turn up. I'm therefore proposing the following: The modified version of the rules is a 0-point feature assigned to all telepathic abilities a character possesses, by the player's choice. In Ben's case it does apply, and in Michael's case we can choose for it not to if necessary; so far it's only cost a few points in Psychology, which can be useful anyway.

The disadvantage of this system is that there is no set time-limit for things to take: duration is calculated based on the complexity of the intent or what is being read/ searched for, and there is more option for things to take longer (which it generally will), and less certainty about finding things in a specific time-frame. The main advantages of this system are that it works on the assumption that non-telepaths lack the mental machinery necessary to detect intrusions, and that you are making all of the rolls, which can speed things up a bit.

With regards to the psi dampener, you can make one and it will jam things, which effectively gives you a resistance roll even if you don't otherwise have one.

[Ransom]

It was my understanding that we were being sent to try to talk to the Fundamental again. Trying to interrogate Patrick Wolf seems to have proven unproductive.

[Totem]

Originally Posted by the_matrix_walker

He arrives in his lab several hours earlier, stepping off his time/space anchor.

-----------------

And the spot Bishop vanished from is only vacant for the span of a blink. He catches the fruit, showing off a bit for his new collegues. He says "I'm ready" and takes another bite.

Quick reminder: use of time travel on the Front Line is prohibited by the Powers That Be because we really don't want to give the Blazen ideas about it. The Western Harbour isn't actually on the Front Line at present, but it's perilously close. Avoid getting into the habit of using this sort of thing, because Ben is required to put a stop to it, and given his capabilities that can be interesting. And if he doesn't then... Most of the Powers That Be have Cosmic modifiers all over the places, and nothing that you've got will slow them down particularly.

[the_matrix_walker]

It shouldn't be an issue if the temporal displacement is restricted to the lab, or if he jumps further from the front line for temporal hops.

So it may add a step, but that shouldn't prove too restrictive (unless you want it to of course).

[Totem]

Originally Posted by the_matrix_walker

It shouldn't be an issue if the temporal displacement is restricted to the lab, or if he jumps further from the front line for temporal hops.

So it may add a step, but that shouldn't prove too restrictive (unless you want it to of course).

Jumping in and out of universes that the Blazen are interacting with is dangerous as it potentially opens up further passages for them to make use of, however short-lived they are. Even jumping into the lab and then jumping back again... Time dilation effects and the like aren't as much of an issue, but at present the Blazen don't even seem to be aware of the possibility of time travel or practical applications of temporal manipulation, and no one wants to give them ideas.

[Totem]

If anyone has any further questions, please ask them. Otherwise, I'll be setting this off shortly after Christmas.

[Totem]

Originally Posted by ericthered

"We were told we were invited. If you are not he who invited us, could you find the one among your number who did?"

We've come uninvited, having previously visited. They're not expecting you, and this is about the reaction that we were expecting from Eight based on the previous visit. Sorry if that wasn't clear previously.

[the_matrix_walker]

Originally Posted by Totem

Eight treats Alec to a disgruntled look, clearly not impressed by the effort. [OOC: Two points: firstly, you are trying to influence an NPC without an influence roll, which means that you are relying entirely on the basic reaction roll the entire time which I'm only rolling once; secondly, what rhymes or has structure in English almost certainly won't have the same structure in another language, so if you wanted to impress Eight you should have said something that, when translated into his natural language, formed this pattern

I'll be sure to specifically indicate when I use an influence roll in the future. Given that the possibilities include lies, I thought that was a GM roll made when appropriate.

My character possesses no other language but his native one, so that is what he is speaking... Thus I assume that is what Eight is hearing. There is obviously no way for me to have any information on Eight's native language...

Originally Posted by Totem

. If you want to influence him, make a suitable roll (Public Speaking or Performance would be your choice here to make this work). As for the language... There is no dictionary or primer for the language that the Fundamentals use, so you've got nothing to go on there.]

A penalty of -15 is far beyond my character's ability to overcome. With a effective skill of -1 (for Alec's best influence skill, though I would characterize this particular attempt as Diplomacy, giving him an effective skill of -3), success cannot be possible even on a roll of 3, so there is no recourse but a general reaction roll, with the possible results being a "Disastrous" or "Very Bad" reaction, the results of which are 'check for combat at -2' meaning on any roll but 18 he attacks us, or in the best case scenario, he "maliciously lies" on a roll of 16-18 on the reaction check.

So I'm not sure what you are expecting us to do other than to simply let Codina do the talking. With an effective skill of 5 in a quick contest with Eight's Will, there is at least a slim chance of success. Any attempt to do differently seems not only completely futile but almost certainly harmful.

Did you want me to make a roll against effective skill Negative 3 to see just how bad the margin of failure is? It shouldn't matter for Diplomacy, as you can't make things worse.

((Sorry if this is coming off grumpy, I'm fighting a nasty flu and I'm, well, grumpy.))

[Ransom]

Codina has a card or two she hasn't pulled yet. Just let me get some of my real work done and I'll be back shortly.