Question Ecto PDP

No, because its even worse at staying 'intact' then an overfilled young mage's Essence. The only 'common' source of ectoplasm in the physical world is what's been drawn here. Before it has been 'reshaped' by psi. Unless your girl can 'break' the shaping by other psi's, which could be a fun gimmick. Powerful and disruptive... imagine stealing the ecto pulled in by Energizers... depowering their abilities or weakening their energy blast/attacks. From manifestors, pulling their manifestations apart... same thing with PK shells. And worst would be t he effect on Shifters and Regens... literally stealing the flesh off their bodies by taking the manifested/temporary parts before the fully solidify as organic tissue. Brutal... and only countered by stronger Psi and/or shielding/wards.

The only other real source would be spirits or other dimensional beings creating a physical body as they enter our world (one of the big reasons spirits need a hallow... being physical requires them to sustain the bodies they make when they are here, bodies generated using spiritual energy imposed on ectoplasm... which constantly dissipates otherwise).

Note that what null said was mostly right... and the 'original' description of Energizers was magnetic field only. Which is why 'most' of the original Energizers were focused on electricity or EM for external power... and speedsters for internal use.

We've gone astray of that over the years and have explained that by saying that that original description still applies in 'most' cases... but that Earths EM field isn't the 'only' source of energy possible to be tapped by an Energizer. Every Energizer IS locked to their one 'field', but sometimes their reach is a bit further afield than EM. Which makes an Energizer more of a 'bridge' between TK variants and Warpers.

Difference?

An Energizer is a channel for energy... and what specifically they can do with that energy depends on the 'other' evolutions of their body (and because the human biology doesn't often move large amounts of energy around in itself often, Energizers have a tendency to be a little more likely to having non-human biological shape/appearance)... but what they cannot do is 'control' that energy. They can control whether or not to project it, they can control how the projection occurs. But once that energy is 'projected', they can't take hold of it and reshape it or move it around.

A TK variant manipulates an energy type (TK default is a intangible force, or occasionally tangible one). They don't create one.

A PK variant generates an energy type but it pretty much just sits there in their aura as a shell.

Having Energizers that aren't electrical/EM in nature was needed to keep TK variants from just automatically being able to generate the energy they manipulate.

By its nature, ectoplasm doesn't stay ectoplasm in the physical world. It... evaporates... is as good a word as any. It'll stick around if its imprinted... especially if its imprinted and energy is applied to sustaining that imprint (ie what Manifesters). But if its not redefined, it will boil off and be gone.

As to Pathfinder? Don't know the system, sorry.

Almost all of the 'pure' Psionics in the WU are either senses... which includes most of the ESP listed stuff plus receptive Telepathy and Empathy. Or projections of the will... mental manipulation. That includes the projective TP and Emp... as well as TK.

So I'm not sure there's enough range of Psi in the WU to get as complicated as a game system that is creating basically a separate field of magic for character options. Especially since its not a situation where you gain new spells as you level up. Yes, there is some potential for growing and acquiring additional Psionic traits as they develop... but most mutants won't. Because like mutant Wizards, they got a shortcut to power... their actual skill and finesse will rarely be equal to the equivalent baseline human who is a mage or psi... even though they will typically run circles around those baselines power wise.

Mutant mages will be performing major rituals and throwing combat magick around a battlefield after a couple years of training... because they have the Essence to do so. But they'll still occasionally spark off a hobgoblin or affect probabilities around them with Essence spillover resulting in wish fulfillment or emotional imprinting. Meanwhile by the time a baseline mage has the Essence to throw combat magic at all, their mental discipline is rock solid. They don't 'lose' Essence. Ever. The idea is outrageous. Insulting even. Similar things apply to psi's. A baseline Psi will adapt and grow, making use of new psionic abilities over time... but they'll never be especially strong. A newly manifested mutant Telepath will probably boast a shield no baseline can breech ... and because of that, they'll never feel the need to truly hone their mental discipline and 'flexibility' in the way needed to adapt the mind to using new senses or projective abilities.

null0trooper wrote:

Kristin Darken wrote: A newly manifested mutant Telepath will probably boast a shield no baseline can breech

No room for finesse or subterfuge? That's disappointing.

The key word in that sentence is "probably". The 80 year old Tibetan monk who has been mastering telepathy for more than half his life will dance through the surface thoughts of many a mutant Psychic and well into their deeper mind too. But not all mutant Psi are mutant Telepaths. And not all mutant Telepaths are capable of the same things. Some speak and hear the communication centers of the brain... they're like a transceiver system for mental energy. Some can listen into and manipulate the decision making centers. Others can lift and alter memories.

We lump all these things into telepathy because most of us have never really considered what it means to communicate mind to mind. Or what it would mean to go into someone's mind. (note that I say 'mind' not brain... although the process involves functions of the brain, the 'mind' is something more... and it is typically the MIND that the psychic powers work with). And each of them would require different techniques, different types of perception and understanding. We have simply considered the 'outcome' ... the communication mind to mind. Knowing thoughts, exploring memories. But each of these things has handled by the mind... and by the brain... in very different ways. So its not 'automatically' logical that being able to do one of these things conveys the ability to do others. And definitely not with the same talent/skill.

So room for finesse or subterfuge? Hell yes. Strong new telepath shields against you reading their surface thoughts. They have the 'brute force' energy to keep you from going through that. But nothing says you can't completely bypass their surface thoughts and 'snoop' in their decision making center. Or leave messages for them in their memories, to be triggered by a noise or scent... or to feed something directly into their auditory sensory centers so they perceive the wind whispering words instead of just white noise across the wheat of the field.

And this isn't an RPG. Saying a baseline is going to be overpowered by a mutant is more about setting the standard that while baseline CAN do this thing, mutants get power and shortcuts over that that cannot easily be countered. It's like our Exemplar 2 or 3. Baselines CAN do those things. The actual 'limits' aren't outside human capability. They just take enormous talent and dedication to achieve.... while an exemplar does the same thing easily (and does it in multiple categories simultaneously instead of having to specialize on one thing to master it that well, like the baseline).

Oh, they spend plenty of time on actual practical mental training; not just legal ramifications. But I think you under estimate just how much there is to learn even just to 'master' the dominant Psi power set that a mutant manifests with.

It's not like the average teenager even has the language to talk about the sort of things involved in working with Psi. Or perceptual psychology. And that's how non-Psi people talk about Psi... when you ARE Psi, you step outside what the existing language is designed to explain. How exactly do you describe mental energy dynamics to someone who cannot experience them. Look at how those without vision or hearing struggle with parts of our language... and extrapolate that to what 'we' would have to do to understand a discussion about Psi.

So there's getting the foundation psychology under them. There's developing the shared language. There's working with their dominant ability, exercising it and exploring its scope... finding out what it might be used for and what vulnerabilities is brings. Then learning some of the important crossovers... shielding, protection of self/identity, ethics. Then there's the 'power' dynamic... how does a Psi help a super team. Or serve in combat. How can you turn your power to information gathering? Comms? Attk? Def?

IF the Psi has all those courses pinned down, they might start working on crossover abilities, untapped ESPer traits, and that sort of thing. But at this point in their lives, nothing is truly 'mastered'... so anything they work on outside their inherent gifts is time spent on 'maybe' and time away from mastering something that they know they can develop.

Kimmy, of Baker's Dozen from my Fling stories; is a Telepath. Her knack is a deep memory read that is especially good at finding secrets. The flavor of 'hidden knowledge' is like a beacon to her ability and once drawn in by a secret, she can quickly find her way to linked/connected information. It's not an especially useful knack against other Telepaths, who have techniques to protect things they want kept hidden... but it gives her almost the opposite of the usual advantages in dealing with 'normal' minds. She struggles with the surface, but quickly and easily finds what most people want to keep untouched. And because of her outlook on life... her willingness to break the normal ethical standards for telepaths and to blackmail people in power to control them... she has worked diligently to hone this knack. She has done very little to grow other techniques... and why should she, when her chosen path gives her so much power over people?

No. In fact, it is probably safe to say... the majority of such teams do not. Most have a local range radio frequency system, usually with some arrangement with local emergency services. If they have a team 'tech' person, that system may be encrypted and have a wider range... but the idea that every super team has subspace, sublingual communicators AND/OR a telepathic network for their team comms... is far fetched at best.

Yes and no... its more like teams tend to be more along the line of a small group of people... 3-5... than like the Justice League or X-Men... where they have multiple field teams, backups, reinforcements, tech teams, support crew, and so on. A team in the WU generally tends to be a small group of people with the same mindset, who are tightly linked by friendship and purpose.

The reason for this? WU heroes don't survive when an attack turns a major city into a pile of rubble. Teams become like combat units. They're family. And they are family that do it long enough that people die... leaving gaping holes in the middle of the family. Some can come out the other side of that, find a replacement and keep doing the 'job'. Some can't.

So there are lots of partnerships, trios... and temporary team ups. There are people you call when you need someone who can lay down some fire... or electricity... or ice. People you call when you've got a brawler and you need someone who can stand up to a punch. And there are agreements in place for those major events that need anyone and everyone in range.

So ya, a lot of people like the Freelancers... many of whom have probably tried a group and don't group now because of the fallout. There ARE stable groups, some even that have gotten past the point where only a few of the original members are there. But there's a reason we're talking about major cities any time we show one.