variant: no psionics

[BwapTED]

I'm toying with the idea of removing psionics from MTU [haven't begun play yet]. Obviously, the Zhodani are either going to be radically altered, or just thrown out altogether. The Droyne will need a few tweaks. Most everyone else of consequence can remain pretty much the same.

 

[Golan2072]

Traveller works pretty well without psionics (except for the Zhodani and Droyne, which you have already mentioned); after all, the system was written to accomodate a wode variety of sci-fi settings, many of which lack psionics altogether.

 

[Plankowner]

Even the Zho's wouldn't have to be changed too much.

The could still have a ruling elite and "Thought Police" they just use drugs etc, to occasionally "interview" people.

Also, current MRI technology is being used to detect truth and possibly even likes and dislikes (it has been used to determine if someone is a racist for example). Advances in that type of thing could give you even more "telepathy" like technology without actually having Psionics.

 

[BlackBat242]

That weapons/explosives scanner you walk through in the spaceport* might also contain a brain-pattern scanner which compares your current scan with your file to check for "anti-social thought pattern signatures". :smirk:


* also placed in schools, government buildings, mall entrances, 3-D Holo theatres... so many places.


"Remember Citizen, Big Brother is Reading Your Mind".

"No deviance, Kilroy".

 

[ditzie]

We've only used psionics once. It's not typically intrusive enough to change the games.

 

[aramis]

Psionics is a big thematic element in CT/MT, due to the proximity of the Zhodani. Also, psionic critters have appeared in CT adventures (TTA, AM Droyne, Twilight's Peak, Research Station Gamma).

That being said, there is no compelling reason why the game can't be run without psionics, but the OTU can't. Zhodani Teleport Marines are canonical.... and Transporters are TL16+, while the consulate peaks at TL14 until after the 5FW...

 

[Icosahedron]

there is no compelling reason why the game can't be run without psionics, but the OTU can't. Zhodani Teleport Marines are canonical.... and Transporters are TL16+, while the consulate peaks at TL14 until after the 5FW...

When is the OTU not the OTU?
How many people play the OTU EXACTLY as written? Not even you, I'd guess, Aramis. :smirk:

You just need to run a campaign in which tech-psi is used and Zhodani Teleport Marines play no part. The psionic / no psionic OTUs should then be indistinguishable. Or one where the zhodani abilities are not examined/explained, or even a campaign in which the Zhodani play no part. You could run something in the OTU in which psionics is never mentioned, thereby avoiding the issue altogether.

I'm sure there are many shades of grey between a purist OTU and a radical ATU like mine in which the rules are barely recognisable any more and the only plot resemblance is that an 'Imperium' is in its third incarnation. That's what I like about Traveller; it's so flexible.

 

[aramis]

The moment you take away the psionic invisibility of the Droyne, you have altered the setting significantly.... droyne must change drastically. But droyne are almost trivial in play. (Until the party encounters a hostile one.)

While I may not run the OTU as written, one can NOT keep the OTU the OTU without the ability for Zhodani to do the supernatural. It fundamentally alters the paradigm of the Zhodani, and why and how they are threats.

Psionicists are such a threat specifically because the psionicists are indetectible, and can do things the technology can not within the setting; further, the psionicists can not be disarmed save by physical violence (or psionic violence), while any technology can be.