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04/17/2024 by Viladin

Home > Classes > Miscellaneous Classes > Freelancer > Archetypes (Freelancer) > Superhero >

Telepathy

Superpower (Power)

EFFECT

Cost 8 JP
Activate varies
Sustain varies
Range 30 feet; Power Resistance yes

DESCRIPTION

The superhero can connect directly with other peoples’ minds. Telepathic communication does not rely on a common language so the superhero hears others’ thoughts in whatever languages he speaks. The superhero can even get a sense of untranslatable terms because he senses the sentiment, not just the word. No physical barrier blocks Telepathy. It reaches to its maximum range regardless of what’s in the way. It is detectable only by the minds of sentient beings. There are three kinds of telepathic contact: Conversation, Listening, and Broadcasting.

  • Conversation: Activate: 1 PP; use-activated. Sustain: 1 PP per round; swift action. The superhero essentially “talks” to someone or a group of people (up to six) as he would out loud, just inside his heads. The superhero cannot hear thoughts that aren’t deliberately sent to him, and others only hear the thoughts he sends to them. Only willing participants are part of a Telepathic Conversation. Only one person in the Conversation needs to have Telepathy (he or she acts as a relay). Anyone at any time can simply cut off the connection, like hanging up a phone. The superhero can carry on a Telepathic Conversation under any circumstance in which he could an out-loud conversation.
  • Listening: Activate: 2 PP; move action Sustain: 2 PP per round; move action. Saving Throw: Will negates. The superhero monitors someone’s mind for surface thoughts that flash past. Subjects get a Will save (as above). If they fail, the superhero gets a +20 on Sense Motive checks in any round in which he uses the power. If they succeed, they block his attempt to Listen, but don’t notice that the superhero tried. If they succeed by more than 5, they notice his attempt and will act accordingly.
  • Broadcasting: Activate: 2 PP; move action. Sustain: 2 PP per round; move action. The superhero psychically “yells” and anyone in radius hears it. In one move action, the superhero can Broadcast anything he could say out loud in the same time.
Enhancements and limitations
  • Enhancement: Listen In (Cost: 2 JP): Activate: 2 PP; move action. Sustain: 2 PP per round; move action. Saving Throw: Will negates. If the superhero is within range of a Telepathic Conversation, he gets a free Sense Motive check (DC 15, not including the +20 bonus for Listening) to notice the conversation. If the superhero succeeds, he notices the Conversation happening and he can attempt to Listen to it, which prompts a Will save, as with Listening. The Will save is made by the participant with the highest Will modifier, and every member of the group aids the roll (adding +2). As with Listen, if they succeed, they block the superhero but don’t notice him. If they succeed by 5 or more, they do notice the superhero. If they fail the save, the superhero is now a participant in the conversation and hears all sent thoughts. The superhero can send a thought of his own, of course, but that would blow his cover and the participants could all “hang up,” if they so desired.
  • Enhancement: Long-Term Reading (Cost: 3 JP): Activate: 4 PP; move action. Sustain: 4 PP per round; move action. The superhero can dig past the short term and examine a subject’s long-term memory to retrieve extremely personal information about the subject’s life, like old phone numbers, the smell of a former lover, formative childhood experiences, or a book he or she has read. In a single move action, the superhero can collect, the superhero can collect 4 specific pieces of information about a subject, which take the form of four questions he can ask the GM. The superhero can ask each question after he hears the answer to the previous question, and thus, tailor them to hone in on a particular piece of information, but every question the superhero asks about the subject counts toward his total, including clarifications of previous questions. Prerequisite: The superhero must have the Short-Term Reading enhancement to buy this enhancement.
  • Enhancement: Psychic Scream (Cost: 2 JP): Saving Throw: Will negates. The superhero can direct a psionic cacophony straight into a single target’s mind and potentially render them stunned for 1d4 rounds. Targets get a Will save to resist the effects (as above). People who are stunned get no actions, drop anything they hold, lose their Dexterity bonus to AC (if any), and take a -2 penalty to AC.
  • Enhancement: Short-Term Reading (Cost: 3 JP): Activate: 3 PP per round; move action. Sustain: 3 PP per round; move action. The superhero can dig past surface thoughts and examine a subject’s memories and impressions. The superhero has access to the subject’s short-term memory (about the last week). The superhero can call up what she had for breakfast or what conversations he had yesterday, for example, but not long-term memories like bank account numbers, childhood memories, or knowledge that’s a result of schooling. In a move action, the superhero can collect 4 specific pieces of information about a subject, which take the form of four questions the superhero can ask the GM. The superhero can ask each question after he hears the answer to the previous question, and thus, tailor them to hone in on a particular piece of information, but every question the superhero asks about the subject counts toward his total, including clarifications of previous questions.
  • Enhancement: Swift Action Telepathy (Cost: 3 JP): The superhero can use any of the various Listen or Broadcast modes of Telepathy as a swift action.
  • Enhancement: Telepathic Influence (Cost: 2 JP per level): Activate: 4 PPs per level; standard action. Sustain: none (instantaneous). Save: Will negates. The superhero can attempt to influence anyone he can see within his Telepathy’s range, as per the Diplomacy skill. Every level of the power grants one level of attitude shift (i.e., hostile, unfriendly, indifferent, friendly, helpful). The target needs to be both in range and line of sight. They get a Will save. The superhero can also combine this power with a normal Diplomacy check, in which case he both talks to someone and nudges their mind at the same time. Doing this grants a +10 competence bonus to his Diplomacy roll per level of the enhancement.
  • Limitation: Empathy (Value: 3 JP): Instead of hearing fully-formed, language-like thoughts, the superhero sense only the emotions of his subjects. Broadly speaking, the superhero can sense any emotion that has a single name, like fear, anxiety, anger, lust, happiness, contentment, or frustration. The superhero cannot sense physical states like hunger, sleepiness, or arousal. All modes and enhancements function normally except that the superhero is limited to sensing emotions. This limitation is incompatible with Monoglot because basic emotions aren’t expressed in words.
  • Limitation: Monoglot (Value: 2 JP): His Telepathy literally taps only into people’s “inner monologues,” therefore the superhero hears them in whatever language they speak. If the superhero doesn’t speak that language, he won’t be able to understand them. This limitation is incompatible with Empathy because basic emotions aren’t expressed in words.