Telepathy

This page contains information specific to Stars Without Number. 
There is no psychic power more threatening and disturbing to normal humanity than that of telepathy. The prospect of having one’s innermost thoughts and secrets pried out by imperceptible means is deeply troubling to most men and women, and telepaths are often given a wide berth by others simply for fear of what private thoughts they might sift out.
Some worlds that are otherwise accepting of psychic powers go so far as to ban known telepaths and forbid the teaching of the discipline within their territory. Most worlds do not ban telepaths. Telepathic testimony is almost never accepted in a court of law, however, outside of the most psychic-centered societies. Almost all worlds forbid the uninvited use of telepathic powers on another person. The crime is very difficult to prove, but usually comes with harsh penalties. Open admission of an illicit scan is generally considered proof, so PC telepaths are advised to be discreet.
Telepathic shielding devices and substances do exist in very limited amounts. Even during the height of the Mandate, such resources were never abundant. Nowadays, only heads of state and similar elite personages might expect to shelter behind psionics-proof walls or have devices to alert them to telepathic tampering. Even then, many worlds will simply lack the pretech artifacts to erect such protection, even for their most important members

Using and Detecting Telepathy

Telepathy operates at a very basic level of mental contact, and is not impeded by a lack of shared languages. While the basic forms of telepathy only function on intelligent creatures, aliens or transhumans with human-like cognition can be affected. VIs, True AIs, and other non-biological intelligences are not normally subject to Telepathy techniques.
Telepathy is a subtle ability, and targets of its technique will not normally be aware of it. Only those with metapsionic expertise or Telepathy-0 skill or greater can tell when they’ve been targeted by Telepathy. Others may suspect this influence, particularly if they’re aware of the existence of psychics and have just done something utterly inexplicable to their own reasoning. Certain extremely rare TL5 devices can also alert a target to the presence of telepathic tampering.

Techniques

Level	Technique	Summary
Core	Telepathic Contact	Establish a telepathic connection with a visible target. Starts with reading emotions, gets more detailed at higher levels.
1	Facile Mind	Initiate a Telepathic Contact for less Effort or faster.
1	Transmit Thought	Send a message over an existing Telepathic Contact.
2	Far Thought	After opening Telepathic Contact, you can reopen it later at a distance. Also maintain contact over increasing distances at higher levels.
2	Suppress Cognition	Pick something the target cannot think about.
3	Reflex Response	Use an open Telepathic Contact to force a sudden urge on a target, which they will carry out on their next turn as long as it's not self-injurious.
3	Telepathic Assault	Melt someone's mind.
4	Memory Editing	Ever walk into a room and have no idea what you're doing there?
4	Unity of Thought	Enter the Drift with your team.