Mixing Aptitudes

[Rorx]

With Bright Continent and Psions Unite in mind how do/should various Aptitude modes interact?

 

For example Teleportation requires you to know where you target is for things like Relay Object/Person, but could you use another Psi sense to provide that information?

 

Mindscan only has a range of 100m x Psi, but is clearly good enough to target a mind for the use of Telepathy modes as given in the description. So if it is good enough to get a target lock through the Psi universe for that why not for actually transporting someone/thing through the Psi universe?

 

For a longer distance version what about Dowsing? At higher success in the example it allows the Psion to know: “there are two electrokinetics and a psychokinetic, all located at different sites,but 1 know where” (five successes). Would this be enough to Transmit Person one of those Psions?

 

Bioshift in conjunction with Neuro-Acceleration (EM 4A) to get extra dice and move them around?

 

EM Shield and Force Barrier, can they overlap?

 

I'm sure there will be others as well if we start bringing in the various Alternate modes...

 

 

[32767]

EM shield covers the user (if I remember correctly), while force barrier hovers in front of (or behind or beside etc). They protect from different things, so I see no reason for them to not overlap.

 

I have my doubts about things like mind scan allowing you to teleport TO a person, but it should give you a good lock on that person (if you roll high enough).

 

My question would be how do you target ranged interface (electromanipulation I think) through transmit (same mode). If you need to know about a device first, how well would dowsing work?

[Nina]

to be honest this is what i was trying to get across in my intial post in the original Psion's Unite thread.  Apptitudes, and modes and all the structure work very well In the Setting because the setting Limits how a psion manifests. In a more fre form psionics game you would do better by divorcing your self from this mechanic.

 

Psionics should be organic in use, your aptitude tells you in broad strokes what you can do, the modes narrows it down I would treat modes more like Spheres in Mage. any one with a number of dots in a particular mode should be able to accomplish what evr that level of mode can do. you shouldnt have to have hundred different defined techniques and stuff. the aptitudes and modes should be enough. imo

[darksol-aeternium]

In theory; using two different modes at the same time would be the neurological equivalent of doing two different things with both of your hands, you end up being bad at both but if the two things are simple it can be done.  It would probably take some kind of unique merit to avoid a massive penalty trying to use two different powers at once even if theoretically it could be done.

 

I agree with Nina's assessment in thinking that the various modes really ought to be benchmarks of a sort rather than specific powers, yet without that kind of structure we're going to have a lot of initial confusion as we try to "feel out" the lateral limits of a given power level.  And it somewhat invalidates the need for any additional modes found in other supplements.

[Rorx]

Except Dark that the Stellar Frontier book states that a Upeo will need to use Long Jump, Transmit Object and Transmit Person in combination sometimes. I think there were difficulty implications but they weren't as bad as you suggest and since they were all from the same place to the same destination I'd be tempted to let the Upeo/Teleporter off with an extra Psi cost.

Yes Nina it should be more like Mage in many respects and the modes/dots we have for information should really be treated like the known spells in Mage, an example and guide to what can be done at each level. However since the Free Form rules in TPG are a mess and difficult to work out we are left with the current system of modes and alternates. :shrug: