Telepathy and Basic psychic ratings

[renegadetimelord]

I've been looking at reconciling some aspects of Telepathy with the series - especially the references to Ood in 'The Impossible Planet' and 'The Satan Pit'.

According to the game, the Ood have a Resolve of 1, which means they communicate through contact (or direct proximity, presumably). According to 'The Impossible Planet' (and confirmed in 'The Encyclopedia' and 'The Visual Dictionary'), the Ood have a Telepathic Field rating of Basic 5. The Basic rating system appears to refer to the psychic 'volume' of the telepath's voice. The Ood whisper, which is Resolve 1.

When the Ood rating rises to Basic 30, they're screaming. That seems to fit with Resolve 3 or 4, where communication is with an adjacent room or adjacent building. So, roughly, Resolve 3 equals Basic 30.

When The Beast pushes his control, he takes them up to Basic 100, which would be Resolve 10 - which isn't available under the basic rules - and would mean they produce a telepathic 'noise' sufficient to cause brain death. Channeled, this would be sufficient to allow them to communicate with anyone in the entire universe, according to the rules; but, in this instance, The Beast seems to have a different purpose for the Ood, the noise channeled through the Translation Sphere creating a deadly weapon.

It's possible the black hole interferes with psychic powers, depleting the intensity. The Beast must have a Resolve of at least 7 - allowing It to communicate with the Ood from a greater than 10 mile depth beneath the planet's surface (more than city wide in range, but less than the range of a planetary system).

I think there's definitely room for development in the area of psychic powers. The current rules provide a simple set of guidelines, but I think the powers should be able to do so much more and remain separate from a character's Resolve.

That aside, it seems you could add a spot of 'in-character' detail by defining any Psychic character as having a Basic rating of 10 times their Resolve (or thereabouts - perhaps roll d6, deducting 1 - 3 on a roll of 1 through 3 and adding 1 - 3 on a roll of 4 through 6).

[Curufea]

But it does mean that folk will start equating resolve with psychic ability. What of characters that have high resolve but aren't psychic at all? Just very strong willed.

[renegadetimelord]

Well, Resolve only relates to psychic 'attack' if you have the Psychic Trait. You can be strong willed - and therefore resistant to psychic assault - without yourself being psychic; but, if you were psychic that powerful mental resolve would make you far more effective in use of Traits that off-shoot from the Psychic base Trait. I would prefer some differentiation between willpower and psychic ability, but that might simply be down to a small bonus association with off-shoot Traits (like Telepathy and Telekinesis). You could have an average Resolve, but the training to launch a Psychic attack or erect a powerful mental fortress - but, you can't really split the apart too far. The Ood were - are - basically psychic, but their natural abilities are mild and purely functional - a means to quietly converse in company.

Um... I may be wittering now.

[ilyia]

Well, the way I understand it is that the individual Ood have a Resolve of 1. This means that they can only communicate psychically with other beings through contact, but we are forgetting their third brain. The one that effectively networks them across the universe. The resolve of 1 probably represents their succeptability to mental attacke and less of their range since their is another mind they can use to communicate with their own kind.

[themyth]

Basically, you are pointing out the fact that the rudimentary psychic powers presenting for the game do not track with the evidence from the TV series.

Enslaved Ood do not have a higher Resolve...ever. Their psychic ability rises thanks to the Beast, but I'd argue their Resolve is still low (thus their enslavement). Actually, is their Telepathy increased at all? All they get thanks to the Beast is red-eye and some sort of electrical attack from the translator, which must touch their victim.

Now, once the Ood are freed, all bets are off. A freed Ood Sigma projecting himself through time and space? Resolve 10.

[korith]

Some of these could also be done via creative use of Story Points (with the cost and effect depending on the GM), or through (presently unwritten) Traits specifically designed to enhance existing Psychic abilities.