From: rramser@dale.ksc.nasa.gov (Rusty Ramser)
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.dnd
Subject: Psi Power Questions
Keywords: psionics
Date: 26 Jan 93 15:22:35 GMT
Article-I.D.: dale.1993Jan26.152235.15990
Organization: NASA / Kennedy Space Center


I've got three questions about some psi powers that I've
been discussing with another r.g.f.dnd-er through e-mail.
These probably get into a person's "philosophy" of how
certain things work, but I figured I'd throw them out in
order to get some differing viewpoints.

First, the TCPH indicates that psi PCs can "sense" another psi
attempting to Contact their mind.  They can then allow or dis-
allow Contact to occur; presumably just by sensing the Contact
they can likewise tell who is attempting Contact without com-
pletely "letting that psi in".  Does this sound like a correct
interpretation?  If so, how can they tell who's "calling" with-
out "lifting up the receiver and talking"?

Second, for non-psionicists, the TCPH never really definitely
states whether they can sense when/if Contact is occurring.  I
believe that they can't, based upon some of the statements
made in the TCPH.  Statements along the lines of, "Part of
the reason psionicists are feared in society is because they
can get into your head and read your thoughts without you even
knowing."  That's my paraphrase, of course, but that idea
along with several others leads me to believe that a non-psi
has no way of knowing Contact (or many other Telepathy powers)
is occurring.  Now, the confusing issue to me is a series of
statements in the TCPH that describe how non-psionicists can
resist Contact.  (You know, the part where it describes how a
character can fill his head with a poem repeated ad nauseam,
etc.)  If a non-psionicist cannot sense Contact, I wonder how
they're supposed to know when to try to resist.  Presumably in
this case, a character would have to know the PC was a psi,
and would have to just feel that the psi was attempting some-
thing; ("He's staring really hard at me!  What the hell is he
up to?")

Third, the Mindlink power is not inhibited by language differ-
ences, while the ESP power is.  I'm not sure of the reasoning
behind allowing one to function even if the two creatures
don't share a common language, while not allowing the other.
The reason behind ESP not allowing mind reading of disparate
languages is because "ESP allows reading of a creature's sur-
face thoughts, and creatures tend to think in their language."
(Once again, my paraphrasing.)  However, the sharing of infor-
mation between Mindlinked creatures is done by one allowing
thoughts to pass to the other.  Wouldn't the same reasoning of
thoughts being in a creature's native language still apply?
[A request:  Please don't give an "answer" to this one along
 the lines of, "Because Mindlink is a science and ESP is
 only a devotion."]

Thanks for any and all input, comments, criticism, flames, etc.
(Well, not as much thanks for flames, actually.)

+---------------------------------+
| Rusty B. Ramser                 |
| DL-DSD-21                       |
| Kennedy Space Center, FL  32899 |
|                                 |
| rusty-ramser@ksc.nasa.gov       |
+---------------------------------+