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How does defensive telepathy work in the SARP?

Doshii Jun

Doshii Jun

Perpetual player
Retired Staff
We know the rules on offensive telepathy -- they're pretty clear. But defensive telepathy, or resisting psionic attack or invasion, isn't something we've discussed before, I think.

I don't ever remember seeing it. Since GMs control psionic strikes, resistance is kind of non-existant, as the GM's attacking us for a reason and resisting it screws up that plotpoint somehow. But we have devices that can negate such strikes, so there IS some kind of defense mechanism.

Fred, you've had the most work with telepathy outside of communication (poor Kotori), so do you have some insight? Wes, is there anything else we should know about it?
 
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All I know is that the NH-22M had 'mental shielding'. I do not know how it was put into play, but I assume that it made at least the ability to recuperate from mental trauma easier for the character.

I didn't think it just applied to mind attacks too. When Pumpkin stunned Kotori, I assumed a large part of Kotori's recuperative capabilities were due to that - which was why I decided Kotori was fit to attack Pumpkin... despite Wes' opinion that she would ahve just regained consciousness, not mobility (Wes often has to control multiple scenes and couldn't be assumed to remember my character's special abilities, so, I took that one upon myself). Wes ended up not being happy about it, even though mostly everyone were happy that Kotori could sink her claws into Pumpkin and Kotori suddenly found herself from crouching over the pilot's seat rending her claws through Pumpkin's soft skin to mysteriously being in the middle of the pilot cabin's door and then promptly chopped in two. *shrugs*

I'd assume it was important enough a feature to be carried down the NH-27 and the NH-29, even though it's not mentioned. Having an ADN card or being in a PSC covered zone (a starship or power armor) should be enough to provide complete immunity to a recipient.

To tell you the truth, I kinda agree with you: there's no way to avoid psionic attacks since they are generally done for plot reasons. I still can't fathom why the Sakura's PSC has failed to protect its crew in the last Sakura mission.

It's sort of like the time I had a D&D character wade into a swamp and that she got sick, despite her having the doubtfully useful Periapt of Disease Protection. When I pointed that out, my DM just told me that it was a magical disease. Inwardly, I felt that was cheap and that's pretty much my stance on how hallucinations and mind control seem to have been handled lately in the Sakura's plot.

Sorry, I don't like speaking up against Wes, but it's my opinion. That's really all I can offer.
 
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Lady Xerena said:
In terms of my character's being resistant to hostile telepathy, I am not talking about "defensive telepathy" as you are probably mean it. I recall seeing it posted in another thread on a similar topic (I can't remember which one, and I tried search but don't remember enough of the exact wording) saying that telepathic "combat" (such as it is under the current rules) was affected by a variety of factors in addition to the combatants' relative telepathic/psionic strength, including mental state (it should be fairly intuitive that a drunk, "high", severely sleep-deprived, half-awake or otherwise impaired telepath won't be at the top of his game at that moment), illness or physical exhaustion (ever had to take a calculus, physics or chemistry test while suffering from a really bad cold?), willpower/strength of mind (as in determination, stubbornness, being able to endure hardship and stress, having the fortitude to hold your ground despite debihilating pain, or to keep on climbing even though your whole body feels like it's frozen solid, etx.), morale (speaking of which, I would imagine telepathic combat, especially in mass engagements - see below), being caught by surprise and other things I don't remember right off hand.
Click to expand...

Some of these things are more physical than anything else, aren't they? If you are sleep-deprived, starving, intoxicated, have low tolerance to pain, or otherwise suffering physically, that automatically makes you worse off. But "strength of will" and stubbornness only get you so far, I would imagine. If you're trained in resisting torture, that's another thing all together.

You're right though, I was thinking more of some kind of built-in telepathic resistance inside Yamatai's two major races. But it sounds like PNUgen wasn't quite that sharp. NH-30, anyone?
 
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Like Wes said, the NH-27 probably has the best telepathic defense (as proved by Jo, whom was nonetheless not invulnerable to influence) despite lacking the NH-22M psionic warfare capabilities.
 
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Could they train themselves to, though? I have an in-character reason to be interested; certainly, with the Misshu having a history of psionic attack, there would be prescedent for it.
 
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It seems like you could train yourself like anyone else in resisting outright torture — but psionic attacks are, again, probably the result of a GM plotpoint that has to happen somehow.

Unless, as Fred rightly points out, you have a PSC.

Hey ... could you implant a PSC into a person? Yamataians probably wouldn't take to it, but it'd be a hell of a way for Neps to resist attacks until someone figures out what's going on and rips it out of them.
 
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Look, we have two positions here:

1- The GM's desire to use psionics to freak his playerbase out.

2- The GM inspired desire to tone down psionics on the side of the playerbase which is reinforced by elements of the playerbase agreeing to stop with PvPish mindrape and cheapness.

Despite Jo being a 'nodal monster', it still proved to be little protection. I'm half convinced Jo recovered from it partly because Wes noticed how much his players were fucked at the time and wanted to give one of the the easy way out (so he'd only have to decapitate one).

There's no way to control this unless you have an actual agreement with your GM simply because this is GM adjuciated. Methods of interpreting psionics vary from arbiter to arbiter... so, given that, while the PSC might not be enough on the Sakura, it might be on the Miharu or the Goban... just like how projected energy beams from the Sakura slagged a Black Spiral Nozomi while the YSS Nozomi rode out projected energy beams coming from an Irim gunship with 'light damage to the shields', something the damage scale Wes made up clearly doesn't support.

So, you want protection? Go see your GM, suck up to him a bit and start begging for tips in that regard.
 
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I dunno if this was hit or not but was it established that if you have an ADN device you are protected from all kinds of psionics, even telekinetic attacks being made directly at you? Like say someone can move big stuff and you have an ADN on you can't be picked up and thrown around but they can still throw a car at you and then you just have to dodge the car?
 
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For the benefit of how things would stand under my plotship: a ADN or PSC device would make it so that only indirect harm from psionic based attacks would be doable. I wouldn't be able to pick you up and toss you against a wall, but I could levitate a garbage pail up and toss it at you.
 
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After reading one of the posts regarding Naraku's mass slaughter she committed on Neplesia with just her mind I became more than just a little concerned. Having your spine ripped out your back and getting tossed like a rag doll is not fun.
 
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Luckily, the Daisy has a PSC system and can probably survive being swatted by a telekinetically thrown truck.

What? You didn't think I'd have us just waltz around and face one of the SARP's most notorious villains with plain NSPs, did you???
 
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Kotori said:
Luckily, the Daisy has a PSC system and can probably survive being swatted by a telekinetically thrown truck.

What? You didn't think I'd have us just waltz around and face one of the SARP's most notorious villains with plain NSPs, did you???
Click to expand...

Yes. Yes we did think that. *grins*
 
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I believe we all agreed to annihilate these ridiculously overpowered psionics once and for all.

Why are we even discussing anything remotely like bringing them back for any reasons? :shock:
 
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Ah, Tom, I think you're confusing two things.

On one hand, there's the players, whom should be exactly the way you believe they should. Psionics are in the process of being toned down and much of that is already done.

And then, there are the older characters whom have precedents for being psionics and making heavy use of it. The handful of characters, like Naraku, do possess these abilities and it is what they had going for them; what made them what they are.

This isn't 'bringing them back', it's just acknowledging the presence of a few of them still being left. I, for one, do not intend to declaw Naraku. She's much better used as an opponent and her potent psionic abilities are potent and part of the rich history of that character.
 
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