Dark secret edge and players vs players with telepathy/mind reading

Last week my session on starfleet academy was about the planetary science course and before that going through an old logg from an abandoned spacestation.

One of the characters viewed the logg and found that his idol, his uncle who had disappeared was a criminal who used his medical knowledge to manipulate fetuses in pregnant women and the production augment like beings (a soong type villian).

That player is having his character struggeling with letting the other players know the truth and has not told them of his personal relation tp the villian.

When they spoke about the movie or logg where the villian describes his progress with the children the groups betazoid telepath (tos era) read the mind of the player with the dark secret and got to know of his suspicions on the subject.

The mind reader should have a.code of honor not to read minds unknowingly, right?
The character with his mind being read would probably start a big fight since he has a flaw which says humans are more worth then other beings.

Is the telepath ruining the game for the other player? He seems to.feel disturbed by the mind reading thing.

Any pointers ? Suggestions?

In general dice vs other players isn't my cup of tea

I don't know for sure about all psi-gifted species, but the Betazoid should probably have a code of honor about using the telepathy on unwilling targets. In my pre-TOS, the Betazoid player character has on occasion used his telepathy against unwilling targets only when lives or the safety of the ship are imperiled. When the player asks about using his telepathy, I make sure to spring the Narrator's evil-eye glance and let him know I'm watching his power use.

And as for your plot twist with the villainous uncle? :eek::eek::eek:
Pure awesome!

Betazoids are trained to keep their minds to themselves, but they also have stated that most species broadcast a lot of garbage, so sometimes things will pop up. Something like a Dark Secret flaw would probably not be easily transmitted because the person with the Dark Secret would typically have a tight control on that part of their thoughts for just that reason.

Vulcan ethics also generally prohibit mind-melds without consent.

Other psi-capable cultures, as K.G. pointed out, probably have similar prohibitions.

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Originally Posted by Orville

When they spoke about the movie or logg where the villian describes his progress with the children the groups betazoid telepath (tos era) read the mind of the player with the dark secret and got to know of his suspicions on the subject.

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Let's take for given that the Federation/Earth has right-to-privacy assumptions similar to modern Western democracies, at least the ones which have cop shows I've watched (heh). If the telepath had eyeballs which could burrow through walls and watched that dude reading the info on a screen in his room, he'd very obviously be violating his right to privacy. And, frankly, if there's anywhere you should be able to expect a right to privacy it's in your own mind. If he said "I scan so-and-so's character!" instead of saying "Do I pick up any strong emotions from anyone?" then they've just violated his privacy.

So, sure the Betazoid might have picked it up due to general Betazoid nosiness—but if they reveal their action or the information gained to anyone there should be huge consequences for them. You should probably give the Betazoid the Dark Secret (Illegal Mind-reader) flaw. Hell, since this is the TOS era, you could even turn it into a political issue between the UFP and Betazed by initiating court martial procedures against the Betazoid for it (or whatever kind of trial cadets face).

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Originally Posted by PGoodman13

because the person with the Dark Secret would typically have a tight control on that part of their thoughts for just that reason.

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Or have it constantly on their mind, due to their fear of exposure.

What about Code of Sentience (Aliens, p. 29) - this can keep a Betazoid out of the mind of someone he or she should not be reading.

We also borrowed a bit form the ICON Vulcan sourcebook. Allowing non-psionic characters to learn Mind Shield to low levels, from a Vulcan or Betazoid master, using their Presence attribute as a modifier rather than a PSI score.

Just be vague. When you watch TNG, notice that Troi's telepathy is only usually a plot device anyway. If the player wants some specific information, don't give it to them. Give them something, but don't ruin the story. Troi doesn't just figure the entire mystery out right away. They shouldn't either.

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Originally Posted by BaronVonStevie

Just be vague. When you watch TNG, notice that Troi's telepathy is only usually a plot device anyway. If the player wants some specific information, don't give it to them. Give them something, but don't ruin the story. Troi doesn't just figure the entire mystery out right away. They shouldn't either.

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Yeah, but Troi wasn't a telepath, just an empath. She could only read emotions, not thought. Her Mom, on the other tentacle, who WAS a full telepath, seemed not to have a firm grip on the concept of privacy...

again, that's no excuse to ruin the mystery. Sometimes a telepath knowing all the secrets moves things along and sometimes it ruins. As a narrator, you can nerf it or not whenever it serves the story.

And Lwaxana was mostly played for comedy. Sure, she occasionally dropped a spoiler, like the assassination plot, but that was in the last minutes of the episode. She never seemed to delve nearby craniums in time to derail the episode.

yeah. it's no different than the engineering expertise of your chief engineer. Like, Scotty can fix your engines but sometimes the engines are just FUBAR because... well... in this story you want the engines to be FUBAR. Story first.

Thanks guys this helps a lot.

I will definetly award a flaw for the breach in the code of ethics.

I will also discuss with the players. It is probable that the obe that haf his mind read would have been thinking about this.

Now to give this an ingame experience. Perhaps I should introduce another teöathic npc thst overheard the violation and cotacts.the cadets parents on betazed. But which species?

Again, thanks for discussing this with me

As has been pointed out the key phrase here (with Betazoids) is that of the Code of Sentience. Troi (Laxwanna) was often particularly blase about the minds of others, even stumbling through the darkest secrets...

My opinion was that if a Betazoid 'read' something they shouldn't the vast majority would consider it the height of rudeness to act on this information. That anything that was not disclosed voluntarily was treated almost the same way as a priest in confessional.

Of course the same source character implies that there may be many who view the code as somewhat... flexible and while they might not disclose the secret they would often push the character into doing so.

Perhaps what you have here is an opportunity for some character interaction and bonding?

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Originally Posted by Orville

Now to give this an ingame experience. Perhaps I should introduce another teöathic npc thst overheard the violation and cotacts.the cadets parents on betazed. But which species?

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Is there any telepathic species you'd like to see but haven't had a chance to use?

Judging from the list of telepathic species your TOS-era options for Federation members are:

• Vulcans
• Deltans
• Aenar
• Argelians
• Medusans
• Rigelians (if you're using the ICON Rigelian stuff)

I think Alpha Centaurans are capable of being Psionic too, thus telepathic.

I'd vote for Vulcans - since a Vulcan is most likely to adhere to the strict rules of conduct for cadets, and for telepaths and see it as the logical course of action, to tattle on the Betazoid.

You could also toss in a sub-plot where some of the other cadets become suspicious of the Betazoid, and of Betazoids in general, showing how new they are to the Federation at this point in time.

I can just hear some unruly upperclassman - "I don't want some black-eyed, walking mind-probe crawling around in my head !!"

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Originally Posted by Fugazi Grrl

I'd vote for Vulcans - since a Vulcan is most likely to adhere to the strict rules of conduct for cadets, and for telepaths and see it as the logical course of action, to tattle on the Betazoid.

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A visiting Vulcan monk would be a cool NPC. If you have any telepathy-themed adventure ideas now would be a good time to try it out. Maybe he's got a young acolyte along with him who's into Forbidden Vulcan Weird Crap?

I have a Character who's a communications officer who grew up a space boomer on a tramp freighter and was selected by Starfleet Intelligence for his command of multiple languages. The Problem is. it's not Starfleet Intelligence.

It's Section 31. Not that he could tell the difference really as he's had to do questionable things in the past just to get by on on his home-ship. He jsut thinks it's part of intelligence work.

which makes it hard to read him when looking for guilt. likely not to trip up psychers

I am having some difficulties with my Betazed player.

He did not take the Code of Sentience but - as he is still at the Academy - I am thinking to send him to the Counsellor.

If he continues using so much his psi skills and not being more careful about it, the counsellor will "request" from him to take the oath.

Love the Uncle idea :D

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Originally Posted by BouncyCaitian

which makes it hard to read him when looking for guilt. likely not to trip up psychers

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So, the trick is to find something that makes the player feel guilty...