The ability to use the mind to affect something outside its scope is generically referred to as psionics. The six types of psionics are biokinetic, psychic, psychokinetic, psychoportating, telekinetic and telepathic. These in turn are used to alter or amplify one’s own body, sense things outside normal limitations, wield various elements at the atomic level, blur the barriers between dimensions, wield invisible planes of force, or to interact with other minds.
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Biokinetic
The ability to alter or enhance a body and/or its functions. This can come in the form of enhancing one’s own vigor or strength, drain vigor or strength from another, fast healing, or even shapeshifting. B'hiri are a naturally biokinetic race.
Psychic
The ability to know facts about the world that could not otherwise be gleaned from available data by placing senses in different times or places is referred to as psychic. This can also manifest in knowledge of events before (or after) they occur. Races that manifest psychic abilities include Aukami, Mystics and Timonae.
Psychokinetic
The ability to use one's mind to effect physical change at the atomic level on the outside world is referred to as psychokinetic. Races in OtherSpace with these abilities include Aukami, Centaurans, Drrhaan, Riftwalkers, Vollistans, and some rare Mystics.
Psychokinetic abilities can include increasing or reducing atomic friction or activity to produce electricity, fire or even cold, or altering the visual qualities of atoms to produce illusions or even make something invisible. Psychokinetic actions can only be performed on directly perceived objects.
Psychoportation
Psychoportative abilities involve the user disconnecting him or herself from one or more effects of this dimension. This may manifest in greater speed, levitation, becoming intangible, or even teleporting from place to place. Riftwalkers and some B’hiri are examples of psychoportative races.
Telekinetic
Telekinetic abilities involve the use of invisible planes of mind-controlled force to interact with the physical world. This could manifest in flight, knocking something over, holding it in place, a bearhug at a distance, or even utilizing them as weapons or armor. Telekinetic races include Aukami, B'hiri, Centauran, Mystic, Riftwalker and Vollistan.
Telepathic
Telepathic abilities are mind-to-mind communication involving one or more telepaths. Races in Otherspace with at least some telepathic abilities include B'hiri, Castori, Centaurans, G'ahnli, Kamir, Lyiri, Maltarians, Mekke, Mystics, Theorians, and Vollistans. Lotorians and Phyrrians cannot participate in telepathy at all.
Depending on context or experience, non-telepaths who recieve telepathy or empathy may or may not be able to tell that the thoughts or emotions originated from outside themselves. Telepathic beings can typically create a 'mind shield' to protect themselves from or attenuate unwanted intrusions such as the emotions of a crowd. While they can (and often do) withhold information, it is extremely difficult and unusual for one telepathic being to hide such an omission from or attempt an outright lie to another.
Telepathy
Telepathy can take the form of perceptions, meanings, or words and can take place through 'broadcast' or 'link'.
Telepathic broadcast occurs when a telepath wishes to send a message to everyone in the vicinity or when a non-telepath (voluntarily or involuntarily) has a 'loud thought'.
A telepathic link can only be initiated by a telepath who is either directly perceiving or familiar with the other person. Proximity, willingness, and ability can increase the chance of a link forming. Once established, the link continues until something (such as unconsciousness or FTL travel) breaks it. The effectiveness of communication with a non-telepath depends mostly on the strength of the telepath, though an experienced or strong-willed non-telepath might be able to help or hinder it.
Neither broadcast nor linked telepathy can ordinarily be used to extract thoughts from a person's mind that the person is not currently experiencing. This skill requires a great deal of strength and experience.
Empathy
Empathy is the ability to share, perceive, and project emotion, general mental state, and other information that might be otherwise conveyed by gesture, posture, or facial expression. As with telepathy, empathy can take the form of broadcasting or a link.
Most sentient beings normally broadcast their emotions. This can be received by empaths in close proximity to them. Those sentient beings can also perceive a broadcast made by an empath.
Empathy can also be used along with an already-formed telepathic link. This enables the participants to share both thoughts and emotions.
Empathy can sometimes be used to determine if someone is concentrating hard (as if inventing or deciding to tell a lie) or if someone is anxious (such as about a deception being revealed), but as with a polygraph machine, empathy cannot determine with absolute certainty the cause of the emotion or the truth or falsehood in someone's words.
Other telepathic abilities
Some telepathic beings may have special abilities and skills, such as the ability to temporarily paralyze voluntary muscle control, to cause sleepiness or wakefulness, to cause mental damage, or to repair mental damage.
Roleplay notes for telepathic abilities
- The content of telepathic actions must be @emit'ted, so that all players in the room can enjoy reading them. Telepathy can only be hidden from other players if everyone in the scene agrees to this.
- Players may not roleplay their telepathic characters 'taking' thoughts from unwilling characters.