Star Fleet Academy and Psionics

**Spoilers Alert if you’re in my game** (Not sure my players actually travel to this forum yet but if you do be aware your ruining your own surprise)

I am a couple days away from running my character creation session with my players and have come up with a very interesting plot twist for the players.

We are running the campaign in Starfleet Academy starting the fall semester in 2361. Starting shortly after Worf has graduated in the Spring Semester. I have asked my players for some answers to some basic character questions to start their creative juices flowing and to help me plot out a fun breaking the ice style session for my players since; I have players who have not gamed together before.

I have asked my players to come up with a moment or event in their characters history that was the characters reason for joining Star Fleet or the defining moment that sparked their path to joining Star Fleet. Using these events I am going to have a few pre-made npc's to hand out to the other players and we are going to play out the events from each of the characters background histories.

(Examples: An Andorian character who is attempting to join the Andorian Defense Force and who failed out to later join Star Fleet; A Human/Vulcan raised on Earth without his Vulcan father to teach him the Vulcan ways and who is attempting to steal a Starfleet shuttle craft to run away to Vulcan not realizing he is under the throes of Pon Far.)

These events will be unfolding in the way the player envisions them and the other players will get a chance to partake in the experience with the player that the events are meant for.

The twist is going to be during the First Game session after the character creation session. What I have planned is that this was a part of the preparatory program. The Characters are actually reliving events from their past and being scored on the way they handled themselves in each scenario. The scoring is not necessary however this is more of a test of character.

The part I am unsure of is how this would be administered. Personally I want it to be a mixture of Receptive Telepathy, Projective Telepathy, Mind Meld, or some other telepathic forms. I want this to be done with all the characters to where they are unaware of it unless they make some type of successful telepathic test against the "attacker". This would be done in a class room of maybe 12-15 applicants to Starfleet. I have thought about having them focused on some type of equipment or device possibly resembling the Virtual Reality head gear and during the process this may enhance the Psionic link in some way. This would be done while the applicants are in some sort of hypnotic like state or while all the memories are being experienced at once if the one administering the test were telepathically strong enough to focus his energies on all the applicants at the same time and create the experience that is akin to a walk down memory lane. I prefer having as few administering the test as possible, but if more than one Psionic user would be necessary a couple could be worked in. The administrators can be of any races that are in the Federation. I was thinking Betazoid or Vulcan but others are possible. For those that succesfully detect the Psionic effects they will probably feel a deja vu effect and possibly be ablt to counter act it.

Any ideas on this type of testing would be excellent. I only have until Late Friday sorry for the short notice.

I'd make the cause some sort of alien artefact or creature the character have encountered, since this is a huge, definitely illegal (cf. "Violations.") and possibly damaging invasion of personal rights. Depending on the character's personal history, these moments might involve serious trauma—Tasha Yar fleeing from rape gangs, Worf being pulled up under his parent's dead bodies by Sergei, Kirk on Tarsus IV, etc...

Possible other causes might be:

• Someone accidentally activates an alien artefact being studied in a museum, or is given an unknown device by someone who's been beyond Federation space.
• An alien ambassador to Earth engages in a form of telepathic information-gathering.
• Someone tries to supercharge a Haliian canar crystal.
• Deep-cover Tal Shiar agents or some weirder alien invaders are trying to find targets for a telepathic sleeper-agent programming.

If you want to keep the basic idea without the mental violation, you could try to take the personal histories and construct scenarios similar to them for the characters to experience in a holodeck simulation or using Starfleet instructors or upperclassmen as actors to enact it in the cadet's daily life, while they're being watched to see if they make the same choices or whatever when they're on another side of the situation.

I agree with TK: this level of psionic intrusion into someone would be a serious assult (and probably against the telepath's own personal 'code of ethics' too).

Just a thought: can't the past incidents be played straight? Meaning you're not playing them as part of a test, but as the actual events, to give the character's backstory some fleshing out, as it were. Basicly, they'd be flashback scenes played out at appropriate times (interviewer asks why they wish to join SF; they see an item connected to their story; they say goodbye to someone), and then returned to the present at the end of the event. Main problem with this method is that it puts a lot of strain on you and you players, what with the time jumps and all.

While I do find your idea very interesting, one other thing just occured to me: that "Psych Test" that Wesley went through (the one where he had to leave a guy to die, like his father was); isn't this pretty much the same thing?

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Originally Posted by Tricky

While I do find your idea very interesting, one other thing just occured to me: that "Psych Test" that Wesley went through (the one where he had to leave a guy to die, like his father was); isn't this pretty much the same thing?

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The main difference is apparently that that was for marks.

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Originally Posted by The Tatterdemalion King

The main difference is apparently that that was for marks.

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It also seemed to be a tad early for what is effedtively a Kobiashi Maru test, what with this being at qualification to attend academy... Obviously they also want to Traumatise all teenage candidates... :D

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Originally Posted by Dan Gurden

It also seemed to be a tad early for what is effedtively a Kobiashi Maru test, what with this being at qualification to attend academy... Obviously they also want to Traumatise all teenage candidates... :D

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Given the messed-up stuff they're going to run into in space, you might as well start them early.

I figured it could be a travelling ambasador/profeesor steping in to administer the test that doesn't know the strictures of federation law or personal space.


I have more to say but need sleep.

I suppose it all depends what you want out of it all. My three takes on it are...

1) Do you want it as part of the semester, so you as GM can get a feel on how to run such a game? If so, it's how it's being done without the applicant's knowledge that's the tricky part, as others have said.

2) Do you want it so as the players have more detail in their characters backstory?

3) Do you want it so as to see how these new players interact with each others as players, without it being part of any ongoing plot arc you will have planned?

Personally, I would go with option 2), and use the flashback method as part of their first personnel interview. Plus, it lets you see option 3 as the players interact. Despite the time flicks back and forward, it should be easy to run that way, maybe plan on a couple of gaming sessions (depending on your time restraints), so no-one feels rushed in what, to the main player of each flashback, will be important to their character.

Mark

OK, one thging they made it clear in Violations was that the mind-rape was NOT against Federation law, but is prosecuted under the offender's home planet's laws. Remember Spock's psionic "interrogation" of Valeris? Obviously, on Vulcan, psionic interrogation is legal...

However, the "visiting alien professor" sounds like a good bet.

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Originally Posted by Owen E Oulton

Remember Spock's psionic "interrogation" of Valeris? Obviously, on Vulcan, psionic interrogation is legal...

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Actually, several episodes of TOS and a number of novels make it amply clear that such violations are NOT tolerated on Vulcan. IIRC, this is further iterated in at least one Kes/Tuvok episode of Voyager.

The psionic interrogation in Undiscovered Country was only "justifiable" (inasmuch as this sort of torture- yes, there was a whole torture/waterboarding metaphor there- CAN be justified) due to the extraordinarily high stakes involved.

Further, per both the supporting literature and the RPG rules, the mind meld is different than other forms of telepathic contact. While both represent a telepathic sharing, the mind meld is a literal fusion or blending of minds- extraordinarily invasive and personal under the best of circumstances.

Unless your Vulcan is a masochist with a penchant for self-immolation, you might want to refine the concept a bit further...

Otherwise, I am inclined to agree.

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Originally Posted by selek

The psionic interrogation in Undiscovered Country was only "justifiable" (inasmuch as this sort of torture- yes, there was a whole torture/waterboarding metaphor there- CAN be justified) due to the extraordinarily high stakes involved.

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The difference being, presumably, psionically-derived intelligence is accurate. It's more like invasive neurosurgery though: you're not just trying to convince someone of something so they retrieve the data for you, you're actually rooting around in the database, bypassing conscious choice. That's why it's not just torture, but rape.

I don't think that psychic probing against one's wish is legal on Vulcan. Far from it. Nor do I think it is relevant here.

I think this was viewed as a case where the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the one. By "taking" the information, they supposedly could act to prevent an interstellar war and save countless lives and prevent countless others from suffering worse fates that Valeris.

I suspect that Valeris could have pressed charges against Spock for doing so, but either she didn't want to, or else the UFP let it slide because of what Spock did to help prevent a war.


It's kinda like somebody using torture in the 1930s to expose Hilter and the NAZIs right before they began their campaign to take control of Germany. It's wrong, but if it prevented a greater wrong, many governments would cover it up-not wanted to prosecute a hero.

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Originally Posted by tonyg

It's kinda like somebody using torture in the 1930s to expose Hilter and the NAZIs right before they began their campaign to take control of Germany.

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Why would you torture someone to find out what they've read in the newspaper?

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Originally Posted by The Tatterdemalion King

Why would you torture someone to find out what they've read in the newspaper?

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No. But I might forgive someone who tortured somebody to prevent someone else from being murdered., specially lots of people. For instance, if somebody in the Navy tortured a traitor to discover where a nuke was hidden in order to save a city, and prevent WWIII/

I don't say it's right, or that I condone it, but I can understand it, and why the powers that be and the public might look the other way about it.

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Originally Posted by tonyg

No. But I might forgive someone who tortured somebody to prevent someone else from being murdered., specially lots of people. For instance, if somebody in the Navy tortured a traitor to discover where a nuke was hidden in order to save a city, and prevent WWIII

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There's a vast difference between the implied accuracy of memories shared in telepathic content and the problematic intelligence results of torture sessions.

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Originally Posted by The Tatterdemalion King

There's a vast difference between the implied accuracy of memories shared in telepathic content and the problematic intelligence results of torture sessions.

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I see what you are saying and broadly agree. However. It is stated in the series that a skilled telepath is able to focus and refine a subjects memories and take subjective memories and acertain the truth from them, to access the sub-concious as a recording device. Mind you its also clear in the series that a strong willed person/psion is able to resist and perhaps even deliberately mis-lead the telepathic reading deliberately...

I cant remember if I covered this in the Psionics sourcebook, but I know that I allowed for a non Psion to resist with an opposed presence/willpower check (plus one difficulty level)

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Originally Posted by Dan Gurden

Mind you its also clear in the series that a strong willed person/psion is able to resist and perhaps even deliberately mis-lead the telepathic reading deliberately...

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Well, that's what makes the Spock-Valeris meld dramatically interesting, in that Valeris desperately seeks Spock's approval—love?—and that it may be inferred that the most traumatic part of the meld was seeing herself through his eyes. Given the Saakona/Dukat interrogation failure, we might even infer that Valeris let Spock win.

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Originally Posted by The Tatterdemalion King

There's a vast difference between the implied accuracy of memories shared in telepathic content and the problematic intelligence results of torture sessions.

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Yup. The telepathy would be more accurate. Although in the example I used the accuracy would be determined fairly quickly. The point is that if the "extreme measure" turned out to successfully prevent the catastrophe, it might be overlooked.

Now, I'm not defending the action morally or on any other grounds. Just stating that under certain circumstances the action might be overlooked or forgiven by the powers that be. Star Fleet certainly didn't want to prosecute a group of heroes who had just saved the UFP from war, yet again, and were retiring anyway. Especially not when they just blew the lid on a major scandal involving Star Fleet's leadership.

It's not right, but it is politic.

One wonders what the JAG actually made of that case. Didn't someone say they were running a Starfleet JAG game?

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Originally Posted by The Tatterdemalion King

One wonders what the JAG actually made of that case.

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Probably no case even reach them. I doubt Valeris wanted to raise the issue and nobody else would.

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Didn't someone say they were running a Starfleet JAG game?

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It would make an interesting case. But then, most of Kirk"s career would give JAG characters headaches. He was courtmartialed a few times, and in the last instance, most of the charges were dropped since he has just saved the Earth. But his tendency to bend regulations and disobey orders was almost always offset by his ability to get a favorable outcome-usually one better than what was expected to be possible.

I suspect that had he ever screwed up, there were a bunch of folk in Star Fleet ready to bury him, but who wouldn't dare touch him as long as he was such a hero. How many planets did they TOS crew save?