Telepathy

Despite having no means to directly end someone's life, telepathy is often rated the most threatening psionic discipline. It lets psions invade our most private thoughts and treasured memories, spaces we believe to be safe despite having no true way to lock others out.
With no means to detect telepathy, there's no guarantee nobody has taken a peek. Nor that no one is doing so right... now...

The Science

Reading the Mind

There's little concrete evidence to support any theory of how telepathy works. No human-crafted technology has been able to accurately interpret brain patterns, so how does their connection to metadimensional space allow telepaths to do so with such ease? Two theories are most popular at the moment, with numerous ongoing tests trying to find evidence to support - or more accurately, refute - either.

Telepathy is like Teleportation

If teleporters can transit their senses through the metadimension to perceive a physical location, perhaps telepathy works similarly. This theory posits that a telepath can transit their senses similarly, but instead of being anchored to a physical location, they're anchored to a specific person. They're then able to perceive that person's thoughts and memories.

Telepathy is like Precognition

If the metadimension can house the potential futures a precog is able to see, perhaps it can also house the thoughts and feelings of people in the present. This theory posits that a telepath can extract those thoughts and feelings from metadimensional space, provided they can maintain contact with the individual that spawned them.

Did you know?

Blue Spire Academy students are petitioning to change long-standing telepathy curriculum. They claim the recent influx of students from Rada has made coursework significantly harder due to the difference in culture and background, and thus students should be judged differently.

Understanding the Mind

Who we are shapes the construction of our minds. Part of telepathy practice is learning broader understanding of different people and how to adjust to how their thoughts are constructed.
If a telepath contacts someone with a similar mental construct, they're easily able to understand what they read. However, when contacting someone drastically different, such as from a different culture, the telepath may experience disorientation and headaches. The information they glean might be entirely incomprehensible.

The People

Common Traits

Few stereotypes see telepaths in a positive light. Most often they're nosy and disrespectful of boundaries. They're gluttons for gossip and are always seeking out people's secrets. Maybe they spread what they learn, maybe they don't, but either way they become hard to trust. Popular media often shows telepaths as suffering under constant temptation. Rarely do they not give in.
Practice is an essential part of psionic safety, but so are consent and respect. Your average telepath understands this, but the power difference still means they struggle to make genuine connections with non-telepaths. It's impossible to prove you haven't read someone's mind, and many telepaths end up hiding their abilities in hopes of making real friendships without that distrust.

Common Jobs

Telepathy is most marketable at its lowest levels, when telepathic contact isn't nearly as frightening. Translation is among the lucrative careers, particularly on Mithorous where many cultures don't bother learning common trade languages.
The more skilled the telepath, however, the less likely civilian businesses are to hire them. Telepathy is undetectable to the vast majority of people, and few can get past the fear that someone else might be reading their thoughts...or editing them.

People say my methods "aren't ethical", but what are the "ethics" of suffering through decades of therapy to overcome past traumatic events, when those memories can be erased in an afternoon? Most of them even know I'm doing it.

— A "therapist" on memory editing

Therapist, Counselor

Whether covering current emotions or ancient memories, a telepath can get to the heart of the matter faster than words alone allow.

Designer, Stylist, Sales Associate

Being able to assess exactly what the client wants is the best way to make sure they get it.

Infiltrator, Spy

Telepathy can extract secrets or convince others you're meant to be there.

Translator

Telepathic contact provides understanding of any language the target knows, allowing perfect translations.

Public Relations, Human Resources

At best, these telepaths read how people feel and find ways to work with that. At worst, they become enforcers.

This is an in-depth exploration of telepathy. For a more general overview, read about the parent technology.

Parent Technologies

• Psionics

Limitations

Unless bolstered by metapsionics, telepathic contact only applies to other sapient beings and not on animals or synthetics. Other limitations vary by the individual and their level of expertise. Remember the FACTS:

F for Far

Initial contact can only be made with someone close enough to see unaided. Some are able to contact familiar targets from anywhere on the planet.

A for Amount

Most telepaths can only maintain contact on a handful of people at once, unless those targets are practiced enough to make the contact effortless.

C for Consent

Base mind reading bypasses consent, but techniques like sending messages or effortless contact require a willing target to function.

T for Time

Telepathic contact lasts for at most twenty minutes. Most abilities take effect immediately and wear off, though memory editing is permanent.

S for Sense

Most abilities require sight on the target, but touch can occasionally suffice as long as the telepath knows who is touching them.

For information on general limitations of all disciplines, read more about Psionics and the Metadimension.

Known Telepaths

Brian Evers

Garden designer of peculiar tastes and veteran of the Monhalian War of Independence.

Jorie Grey

Founding member of the Gal Pals, now prophet of the Mother of the Stars.

Josephine Quinn

Emerald Legion defector living on Talmar

Patricia Eckhart

Xerosian professor at the Blue Spire Academy.

Author Commentary

Cats and Bags

A skilled telepath PC can uncover the GM's every secret and change the nature of a campaign's core conflict. This can be difficult to work with, but also incredibly rewarding. I'll talk more about that in the GM Corner later.