There is no psychic power more threatening and disturbing to normal humanity than that of telepathy. The prospect of having one’s innermost thoughts and secrets pried out by imperceptible means is deeply troubling to most men and women, and telepaths are often given a wide berth by others simply for fear of what private thoughts they might sift out.
Some worlds that are otherwise accepting of psychic powers go so far as to ban known telepaths and forbid the teaching of the discipline within their territory. Even those few that do, however, can rarely resist the urge to maintain some “government-approved” telepathic training program for candidates selected for their political trustworthiness or powerful backers. The benefits of having an imperceptible mental spy are too great for most states to forgo.
Most worlds do not ban telepaths. On these planets, the sheer rarity of psychic powers and the limited chance that any one individual might be unlawfully scanned outweigh any fear of unchecked telepathic intrusion. Telepathic testimony is almost never accepted in a court of law, however, outside of the most psychic-centered societies.
Almost all worlds forbid the uninvited use of telepathic powers on another person. The crime is very difficult to prove, but usually comes with harsh penalties. Open admission of an illicit scan is generally considered proof, so PC telepaths are advised to be discreet.
Telepathic shielding devices and substances do exist in very limited amounts. Even during the height of the Mandate, such resources were never abundant. Nowadays, only heads of state and similar elite personages might expect to shelter behind psionics-proof walls or have devices to alert them to telepathic tampering. Even then, many worlds will simply lack the pretech artifacts to erect such protection, even for their most important members.
Using and Detecting Telepathy
Telepathy operates at a very basic level of mental contact, and is not impeded by a lack of shared languages. While the basic forms of telepathy only function on intelligent creatures, aliens or transhumans with human-like cognition can be affected. VIs, True AIs, and other non-biological intelligences are not normally subject to Telepathy techniques.
Telepathy is a subtle ability, and targets of its technique will not normally be aware of it. Only those with metapsionic expertise or Telepathy-0 skill or greater can tell when they’ve been targeted by Telepathy. Others may suspect this influence, particularly if they’re aware of the existence of psychics and have just done something utterly inexplicable to their own reasoning.
Certain extremely rare TL5 devices can also alert a tar-get to the presence of telepathic tampering.
Telepathic Contact
Core Technique
The telepath can obtain a progressively-deeper understanding of a sentient target’s thoughts. The target must be visible or otherwise perceptible to the telepath’s un-aided senses. Opening a contact requires the telepath to Commit Effort for the day as a Main Action, and the contact lasts for a scene at most unless augmented by other techniques.
The depth of contact that can be made depends on the psychic’s Telepathy skill. A single contact can use any or all of the effects permitted to a telepath of the user’s skill level. Basic forms of contact do not allow for a saving throw, though more advanced probes allow the target to make a Mental saving throw to resist. On a successful save, no form of this technique that allows a save can be used on them for the rest of the scene.
Level-0: Observe emotional states in a target. Intense emotions provide a single word or image related to the focus of the feelings.
Level-1: A shallow gestalt with the target’s language centers allows the telepath to understand any form of communication made by the target. If the psychic has the requisite body parts to speak the target’s language, they can communicate with it in turn.
Level-2: The psychic’s awareness of the target’s surface cognition is sophisticated enough to read their current thoughts, though it can’t pick up memories or non-obvious connections. The target gets a Mental saving throw to resist this.
Level-3: The psychic can drill down into the target’s memory to get a one or two-sentence answer to any single question they ask, or receive a single answering vision of the target’s recollections. The target can attempt a Mental saving throw to resist this power, and whether or not it succeeds the contact is automatically ended. It can be re-established, but only by activating this technique again.
Level-4: The psychic instantly gets a full and nuanced awareness of everything the target can remember about a particular topic. The target can attempt a Mental saving throw to resist this power, and whether or not it succeeds the contact is automatically ended afterwards. It can be re-established, but only by activating this technique again.
Facile Mind
Level-1
The telepath is practiced at opening a Telepathic Contact, and need only Commit Effort for the scene to do so, instead of Committing Effort for the day. If contacting an ally who has practiced the process with the psychic for at least a week, opening the contact normally requires no Effort at all. In both cases, if the telepath chooses to Commit Effort for the day, they can open a Telepathic Contact as an Instant action rather than a Main Action.
Transmit Thought
Level-1
The telepath can send thoughts and images over a Telepathic Contact, allowing two-way communication with a willing target as an Instant action when desired.
Far Thought
Level-2
Once a telepath has made a Telepathic Contact with a target, they can thereafter activate the technique whenever that target is within 100 kilometers, whether or not the psychic knows where they are. At Telepathy-3 the range increases to 1,000 kilometers, and at Telepathy-4 it extends over an entire planet and up to orbital distances. This distant connection is tenuous, however, and the psychic cannot use any technique through it that would allow the target a saving throw to resist.
Suppress Cognition
Level-2
Through intense focus, the telepath can make the target of a Telepathic Contact simply not think about something, whether that’s the presence of the telepath, the possibility of committing violence, the absence of important documentation, or any other single potential action or one specific person. This technique requires the psychic to Commit Effort for the scene as a Main Action. The target gets a Mental saving throw to resist this power and become immune to it for the scene. If failed, the thought remains unthinkable for the rest of the scene unless the target perceives physical danger or a traumatic threat to something they prize highly. In that case, the block instantly dissolves and cannot be re-established during the scene. Once the effect ends, the target will remain oblivious to their temporary fugue unless it is brought to their attention somehow.
Reflex Response
Level-3
As a Main Action, the telepath can Commit Effort for the day to force a sudden, irrational impulse into the target of a Telepathic Contact. The target may make a Mental saving throw to resist; on a failure, they will use their next available action to carry out the impulse to the best of their ability. This impulse cannot be self-injurious or harmful to a loved one, but it can be foolish, reckless, or harmful to others. The target may not understand why they have done the action, but will usually attempt to rationalize it as their choice.
Telepathic Assault
Level-3
The telepath Commits Effort for the day as a Main Action to force a wave of metadimensional energy through the brain of a Telepathic Contact target. The assault does 6d6 damage, or 9d6 damage if the telepath has Telepathy-4 skill. The target may make a Mental saving throw to halve the damage. This assault cannot kill a target, but can knock them unconscious for an hour if they’re reduced to zero hit points, after which they wake up with one hit point. A victim cannot be targeted by an assault more than once per scene.
Memory Editing
Level-4
The telepath can make simple edits to the memory of a target currently linked by a Telepathic Contact. Events of no more than 24 hours in duration can be erased from memory, conversations can be created or changed, new events can be added to a day, or other similar alterations made. The psychic can make these changes as a Main Action by Committing Effort for the day. If the psychic doesn’t have a good understanding of the memories they’re changing, such as might be granted by the level-4 degree of Telepathic Contact, the edits they make may not fit well. The target gets a Mental saving throw to resist editing for the rest of the scene, but on a failure, they will not notice the changed memories until given a reason to recollect them.
Unity of Thought
Level-4
The telepath becomes exceptionally skilled at weaving together multiple allied minds. When they establish a Telepathic Contact with a willing ally they may bind up to six willing participants into the same contact without further Effort. This multi-person link is relatively shallow, and allows only the Instant exchange of thoughts, images, and sensory impressions. While under its effect, every participant knows the exact location and condition of all others, and uses the best Initiative roll of any of them if combat commences. At the table, up to five minutes of discussion and coordination among the players can be arranged each round without incurring delays for the PCs. Every combat turn, one gestalt member of the psychic’s choice gets an extra round of action to represent the benefits of the perfect coordination of the group. The psychic cannot gain this bonus round himself. The telepathic link lasts as long as the psychic initiates no new Telepathic Contact, and it has a range that extends to any point within a solar system.