this is a thread to attract SE4 forumers to the first Dungeon Oddessy roleplay thread

[narf poit chez BOOM]

hmm...

Hive mind: similar to a circle of mages, but for telepaths. Increses the functional distance of psionic effects and their power (harder to resist mental influence, more mass can be moved via telekenisis, et cetera), as well as pooling abilities, knoweledge, and skill from those involved in the hive mind.

more cliche than crystal's

Mindswap: A forbidden practice used by some skilled telepaths to prolong life. The psi trades bodies with the victim, keeping all abilities of the target based on physiology, but not their skills, memories, nor abilities based on mental ability.

i don't really want to turn psionic's evil.

Borrow skill: The psi temporarily borrows a skill from the target. Using the skill requires an active telepathic connection to the target, but it does not inherently alert the target to the psi's presence.

see above.

Lend skill: The psi temporarily lends a skill to the target. Using the skill requires an acive telepathic connection to the target.

used in a 'hivemind' way, is less cliche. possible.

Learn skill: The psi learns a skill from a target, without the target's knowledge. Requires telepathic contact with the target, but the learned skill is permanent. The time required to learn a skill depends on the complexity of the skill, the skill level of the target, and the skill level of the psi.

still don't want to turn them evil.

Teach skill: The psi teaches a skill to the target. Requires telepathic contact with the target, but the learned skill is permanent. The time required to teach a skill depends on the complexity of the skill and the skill level of the psi.

used in a 'hivemind' way, is less cliche. possible.

Rider: The psi can hitch a ride inside another's mind. The psi is limited to their own psionic or magical abilities for information, communication, or action, and does not have access to the target's memories, skills, senses, actions, et cetera unless the psi would be able to do so under normal circumstances via psionics or magic. Hitching a ride on another requires that the target be in telepathic contact with the psi when the ride is hitched; after that, the psi is not present in his/her body, and uses the target as the base for any range determination, including getting back into the psi's original body or jumping to another host.

well, it wouldn't be evil if the target agrees. somewhat cliche'd

Borrow senses: similar to borrow skill; the psi sees what the target sees, feels what the target feels, hears what the target hears, et cetera. This is limited to physical senses only; for psionics, see relay.

we could include that in skills.

Lend senses: similar to borrow senses; the target gains access to all the psi's senses that the psi cares to lend.

same.

Relay: allows a psi to act as a relay for another psi's abilities, allowing the distant psi to use their abilities as though they were at the relay's location. Multiple relays can be used. The psi whose abilities are being relayed must be within the relay's range.

and if the mage trying to sense the psi sensed the psi who was sending and not the relay's, would make a great stealth attack. might wreck our rock-paper-scisser's. not very cliche. otherwise, fodder. evil.

Psionic projection: allows a psi to separate from their body, and travel without it. The body is unoccupied while the psi is away. The psi's skill determines how long the psi can go without a body, and how long the psi's body can go without a mind. The psi can rest as a rider, above, if the psi has that ability. While projecting, the psi can only interact with the normal world via psionic abilities or magic, as per rider, above.

ok, cliche'd but i like it anyway. more possiblilities: stealth look around and attack, nearly invulnerable, um...can get through most protections. might unbalance rock-paper-scissers. actually, some of this stuff might be more usefull against alchemists. i don't think there's much a psi can do against an alchemist or vice-versa. well, an alchemist could use potions which alter their mind's characteristics. but, while their 'stealthed' in various ways, a psi could unbalance an alchemists potions. maybe telekinisis would be very hard if stealthed to make up for it?

Clairvoyance: The ability to see at a distance. Very useful for riders or projectors.

the psi we were fighting had that; i was calling it clairaudience.

Claiaudiance: The ability to hear at a distance. Very useful for riders or projectors.

ah well. guess she has both.

Clair(other): Of course there is one of these to match each base sense, but I don't remember all the names....

let's not do telling the future. i don't want to do that whole 'fate or free will'.

Psychometry: The art of learning the past of an object, person, or place available to the psi. Skill determines how far into the past the psi can read, power determines how close the target has to be to qualify as available.

sounds good. cliche'd, but i still like it. well, i like cliche'd stuff to, i just try to aviod it if i'm writing the stuff. doesn't mean i'm going to force the rp to avoid it.

Possess: A forbidden practice. The psi takes full control of the target, including the target's senses, skills and abilities (mundane, magic, or psionic). The victim does not remember anything from the moment of possession to the moment of release.

i really don't want to do the whole 'psi are evil' storyline.

Imprint: The psi can imprint a memory or message into a physical object, which is then easily read by any psi with psychometry (similar to reading and writing, but for psi's only and based primarily on memory; any sense impression or thought can be imprinted).

good. not cliched at all, ran into it once i think and less complex Version's a few times.

Dreamwalk: Allows a psi to use any of their abilities normally under concious control while sleeping or unconcious (but not if killed).

good. a little cliche'd.

and there's me, monosylabic. oops.

[Jack Simth]

Much of the stuff you object to on ethical grounds changes as soon as the psi has permission (as you noticed on the rider); If I obtain permission from you beforehand about borrowing your medical skills every now and then so there will be a doctor nearby, perhaps paying you for the priviledge, then borrowing your medical skills hurts nothing. Ditto for learning a skill in such a manner; it then becomes similar to paying an instructor, but less time consuming for both. Further, it allows for multigenerational preservation of knoweledge, much like writing.

As for those that are unethical under virtually any circumstances, well, some things are forbidden, and only criminals do them. That is one of the primary functions of the psionics guild - enforcing such rules for the protection of those who can't defend themselves, much as modern police enforce 'don't shoot people unless in self-defense' for the protection of those who don't carry guns. It might be interesting to be hired by the guild to help track down a psi in violation. Can you imagine how hard it would be to track down a mindswapper, or a rider who routinely uses possesion? You'd need a police rider with you to scan potential victims.

As for things that are cliche, well, yes, a lot of things are. It's tricky to come up with something that is both new and widely useful. Sure, you can have a geokenetic, who can controls earthquakes, but that is pretty much just destructive, and wide area. About the only thing you can do with it is destroy things, perhaps prevent earthquakes. Great for blackmailing the local nobility and merchants, but that's about it; you can't really risk being caught in your own earthquake.

As for the rock-paper-scissors balance, simply make anything that would be unbalancing as a difficult task limited to the most skilled. For instance, we've already established that enough energy will penetrate damping dust - highly skilled/powerful magic can beat standard alchemy. Jack's mention of the origins of burning lead on his own plane imply that a highly skilled alchemist can indirectly cast spells - perhaps the magical mind block. By psionically projecting, a skilled psi can get past magical mind shielding on an area. Thus, a highly skilled psi can beat a standard mage, a highly skilled mage can beat a standard alchemist, and a highly skilled alchemist can beat a standard psi. The rock/paper/scissors only applies when the skill is about even. A highly skilled alchemist can make a mind block potion, sure, but a highly skilled psi can project in under that defense. However, when a highly skilled psi tries that on a highly skilled mage, the psi discovers that the mage gridded the psi defenses, rather than making it a stationary bubble, so that even after the psi has projected inside, the psi can't do anything as the psi is limited to effects that operate in litttle one inch cubes. A highly skilled mage can overload damping dust, but a highly skilled alchemist can make damping dust that can't be overloaded nearly as easily. At high skill levels, the balance is again restored.

Oh, and a psi could always telekenetically throw stuff around at random to mess up an alchemist. Imagine what happens to the poor alchemist who doesn't have defenses against psionics but maintains exploding potions.

[narf poit chez BOOM]

i'll do a real rundown when i wake up. few hours.

[Krsqk]

New post is up. I had company come Fri. before I was able to get on, so I was delayed. Evil minions of Sauron. I don't mind having psis be evil. I don't see it as psis with evil powers, but evil psis with powers. Most would be good (or at least restrained/compelled by the good ones/the guild), a few would be rogues and/or criminals, much like our current society. I would classify the psi we just fought as evil, although she might not label herself as that.

[narf poit chez BOOM]

right, rundown.

hive mind: well, wizard's can pool their power. now, how would alchemists pool there power? i'm tired again, and i don't have a clue

Mindswap: given the limitation's on mind-to-mind fight's, possible, very few of the criminal class could manage it with good chances.

Borrow Skill: as long as people have some chance of knowing if someone's doing this, to aviod mob panic.

Lend Skill: nothing more to say.

Learn Skill: see Borrow.

Teach Skill: more Psionic's being scholar's? possibility of the learned skill coming with most of the other person's problem's with that skill? no real, instictual famaliarity untill it's been used for a while?

Rider: nothing more to say.

Borrow Senses: if the person has a chance of detecting it.

Lend Senses: nothing more to say.

Relay: stealth attack at Alchemists?

Psi Proj: nothing more to say.

Clair stuff: nothing more to say.

Psychometry: sounds ok. mage's could do a limited Version and alchemists could do an analysis?

Possess: memories could be recoverable with psi, mage or alchemist help?

Imprint: nothing more to say.

Dreamwalk: would require guards, so wouldn't be to overpowered. especially if timesense was hard to keep track of and power+skill/2 was how long you could stay awake. and, of course, bodily needs.

so, our rock-paper-scisser's looks like alchemists-mage's-psionics.

I'll post tommorrow.

[ September 03, 2003, 06:20: Message edited by: narf poit chez BOOM ]

[Jack Simth]

Originally posted by narf poit chez BOOM:
right, rundown.

hive mind: well, wizard's can pool their power. now, how would alchemists pool there power? i'm tired again, and i don't have a clue

They could pool prepared ingrediants (e.g., if it takes a few days of work to properly dry the mandrake root, properly moisten the chedrack mushrooms, and safely powder the deer antler, then several alchemists could each take a portion of the task, and get it done in less time), or mix potions of the same type to get a larger Version, or just pool finances in getting the best ingrediants.

Originally posted by narf poit chez BOOM:

Mindswap: given the limitation's on mind-to-mind fight's, possible, very few of the criminal class could manage it with good chances.

Moreover, the mages' guild probably sells protective charms....

Originally posted by narf poit chez BOOM:

Borrow Skill: as long as people have some chance of knowing if someone's doing this, to aviod mob panic.

Perhaps it causes a headache in the target (overworked neurons?), or makes the skill harder for the target while the skill is borrowed/being learned.

Originally posted by narf poit chez BOOM:

Lend Skill: nothing more to say.

Learn Skill: see Borrow.

See Borrow.

Originally posted by narf poit chez BOOM:

Teach Skill: more Psionic's being scholar's? possibility of the learned skill coming with most of the other person's problem's with that skill? no real, instictual famaliarity untill it's been used for a while?

All three work for me; perhaps learned/taught skills act more like a local instruction manual - specifics must be "looked up" the first several times a specific is needed, so the one with the new skill won't think of a lot of the uses, as they are harder to reference. Physical skills would require drilling, as a person wouldn't have the muscle memory, appropriet calluses, nor specific muscle strength at first.

Originally posted by narf poit chez BOOM:

Rider: nothing more to say.

Borrow Senses: if the person has a chance of detecting it.

Perhaps a slight headache, or a slight dulling of the borrowed sense?

Originally posted by narf poit chez BOOM:

Lend Senses: nothing more to say.

Relay: stealth attack at Alchemists?

Well, the relay has to be in range, and there would probably be a limit on how much the Relay can relay at once.

Originally posted by narf poit chez BOOM:

Psi Proj: nothing more to say.

Clair stuff: nothing more to say.

Psychometry: sounds ok. mage's could do a limited Version and alchemists could do an analysis?

Alchemists could double as modern police forensic analyists; mages could, um, use power-hungry entropic regression spells (?) to determine previous arrangements of matter in the area (e.g., determine how the air was disturbed, and where people-sized gaps in the air were at a given instant) - progressively more power-hungry and less reliable as time passes from the event in question, as well as only giving generalities of people doing events (e.g., height, overall body type, but not facial characteristcs [too fine of a detail] nor skin tone [colors wouldn't disturb the air any]).

Originally posted by narf poit chez BOOM:

Possess: memories could be recoverable with psi, mage or alchemist help?

Makes sense - memories are blocked, unblocking possible.

Originally posted by narf poit chez BOOM:

Imprint: nothing more to say.

Dreamwalk: would require guards, so wouldn't be to overpowered. especially if timesense was hard to keep track of and power+skill/2 was how long you could stay awake. and, of course, bodily needs.

The idea was using time more effectively, as psi's have a harder time setting traps against invasion than mages or alchemists do - mages can enchant traps and alarms into stuff, as well as use golem gaurds; alchemists can put tripwires on potions and feed enhancements to loyal pets (giant mantis, anyone?). Without such a skill, a psi is helpless while sleeping. Also, my original intention on this one was that the psi stays resident in the body, using it as a base (unlike projection and rider), being limited to their psionic abilites for action; anything that would wake a person up normally (noise, hunger, thirst, other bodily needs) will wake a dreamwalker (the dreamwalker is in their body), but not a rider or projector (a rider/projector is not in their body, but elsewhere).

Originally posted by narf poit chez BOOM:

so, our rock-paper-scisser's looks like alchemists-mage's-psionics.

I'll post tommorrow.

Looking forward to it.

[narf poit chez BOOM]

ok, the Dreamwalk makes fits right in. ignore my earlier comments, i was thinking they'd actually move from there bodies. perhaps they'd need a bit more sleep? call it Dreamtrance?

[narf poit chez BOOM]

um. sorry, ran into the novelization of the X-2 movie.

[narf poit chez BOOM]

posted. ok, suggested additions to alchemists:

'Although alchemists use the physical properties of elements and molecules, their main use is there psuedo-magical properties, which are generally dirivations of the physical properties. Thus, mercury can be used in a potion to make something change or become more bendable, while sulpher is often an ingrediant in an exploding potion. The flowers of a hardy mountian plant can be used in a potion of endurance.'

'Alchemists can use psyco-reactive and psyco-active potions to detect and block psionic influence, although the result's are as reliable as a mage blocking damping powder. They can also, with a little more success, mimic some psionic abilities.'

Alchemists would store potions. proposal: alchemist healing potion's as good as mage potions, since there's no reasen for them not to be.

proposal, sort of. my mind is foggy and tired.

each class of AMP can mimic the other's abilities, although the imitation's are not as good. not sure how not as good, though. alchemists can use complex potions to imitate complex spells, and use other potions to replicate psionic powers. mage's can cast spells on a container of water to make it act like a potion, or use other spells to imitate psionics. psionics can replicate the effects of spells, but i'm not sure how they would do potions. altering the chemical structure would be to hard. there would also be stuff that would be common to two or three of the classes, like all of them can make someone stronger/faster.

as a suggestion for allowing psionic's to store energy, putting kinetic energy in the molecular bonds of something, then drawing it out. i just realized this could create an explosion, to.

[ September 05, 2003, 08:07: Message edited by: narf poit chez BOOM ]

[Krsqk]

That stupid Narp. Jack didn't want the gold, anyway. Let him suffer--he probably doesn't even have a use for money.

Interestingly enough, I originally had Narp ask for the gold, then thought John might be a better fit. D's character is rather hard for me; he was developed so little, and I can't quite get a handle on him. Maybe Jack could attach an enchanted one to him.

Then again, maybe we should enlist the SE4Bot to inject commentary every so often.