Secret Telepaths setting inspired by Vampires

[Arith Winterfell]

So, I've been working on trying to build a GURPS setting for a long time now. I recently had an interesting idea that I'm trying to puzzle out and fit the pieces together to make a full setting, but struggling with it. So I thought I could seek help here.

The premise of the setting was first inspired by the old video game Vampire the Masquerade: Bloodlines. Though I'm mostly wanting to capture the general flavor and tone of that setting rather than its specifics. Filling the roles of the secret controlling elite and other hidden society elements are those with psychic powers, mostly telepathy with some minor telekinesis.

Instead of VtM:B's supernatural tinged modern world, moving a setting into a more futuristic world. I'm unsure how futuristic I want to go. I defaulted to cyberpunk as that mirrors the general dystopian and dark tone of VtM:B. Though it might be interesting instead to set it into a further future, perhaps on an alien world, I'm not sure yet.

In general, themes of secretive elites manipulating "normals" in society without their knowledge, and rebel punk elements exists in conflict with those elites. I imagine replacing VtM system of master and "ghouls" (basically people addicted to vampire blood) with straight up slaves controlled by a web of suggestions and general mind control powers, hidden servants of telepathic lords. Likewise, a general web of political structures and conflicts among various factions each wanting different things.

Telepaths stay in hiding to avoid persecution. Some people who are too open about their powers or too flashy about things are often made to disappear in some fashion, by the secret telepathic lords, evil corporations wanting to study or use them, of government forces wanting to study or use them.

Publicly there is no easy way to identify (like via brain scan) a telepath, so its hard to prove anything in court. But other telepaths can tell, but there are horror stories of innocent people being arrested and declared to be telepaths falsely. So its hard to put stock in public claims. Meanwhile terrible things go on in the hidden dark.

I'm not super interested in focusing on Cyberpunk's elements per se. Instead of traditional Cyberpunk's jacking-in to a web-universe, the typical brain machine interface never really got solved/refined into that sort of world, nor brain uploading. The web exists largely as it does in our world today. Likewise less focus on chrome or upgrading in general. (So admittedly here it feels a lot less cyberpunk).

However, psychic power interfacing technology does exist. Such tech is either secretly in the hands of evil corps or government groups, or they are home-made mods to things individual telepaths want to keep secret so as not to expose themselves.

Some use the tech to comb though billions of data points on the web, combining tech and psychic powers to act oracles. Others potentially hack computer systems that way. I am however, trying to avoid the party splits up effect you get with traditional cyberpunk with one person off on the web.

At least, those are threads I'm pondering.

I'm still working on ideas, but welcome suggestions, ideas, and general feedback.

[Mr_Sandman]

I'm running a psychic conspiracy game right now. It seems to be going well, and the players are enjoying it.

My inspirations are things like Scanners and Firestarter. I set it in the present day, rather than a dystopian future. There's no public knowledge of psis. Everything remains hidden, so far. Although, once PCs enter the mix, there's no telling what secrets might get blown up.

There's a corrupt corporate conspiracy (like in Scanners) and a shadowy government conspiracy (like in Firestarter) that are rivals. The PCs have also made contact with a small, loosely-connected underground network of psis who are trying not to be exploited by either. Of course there are also "free-agents" and people who are unaware of their own abilities, but manifest them subconsciously.

I've defined a few psi-tech gadgets and psi-drugs, that either suppress or somehow enhance psychic abilities. The tech tends to be experimental, cumbersome, and prone to malfunction, and the drugs have minimal effectiveness and/or side effects. I'm going for a feeling that psionics is a relatively new phenomenon, and since it is being kept secret, it is not well-studied or understood.

The pharmaceutical corporation that discovered the means of producing psis through drug exposure during gestation (stolen from Scanners) has the most knowledge of how psi works and the records of people who where given the experimental drug in trials during their mothers' pregnancies. They try to track them and watch for signs that they are developing powers, then indoctrinate or mind control them.

The shadow government is made up of higher-ups in law enforcement and intelligence who became aware of psis and the corps actions due to an informant. For the most part, they only have access to psis who have defected or been captured and 'deprogrammed' (sometimes it might be closer to reprogrammed), but they have better operational security and tradecraft, as well as access to the resources of the US Federal Government.

I started the campaign with the PCs unaware of any of the background, and captive in a psychiatric facility controlled by the corporation, awaiting mind-control indoctrination. There was an incident involving a power failure taking out the psi suppression fields, and a powerful NPC mind-controller fighting back that caused a distraction that the PCs used to escape. They've been on the run and piecing things together since then.