Telepathy

Telepathy is the talent of mind-to-mind contact and invasion. It offers the largest range of talents out of all the traditional psychic disciplines, allowing its practitioners many ways to analyse and influence the thoughts of others. Telepathy is normally subtle by nature, but can be used to bluntly crush the wills of those who oppose the telepath.

Read Surface Thoughts

The most commonly known feature of telepathy is the ability to read the thoughts of other individuals. Only active and current thoughts are read by this ability, with the subject (if themselves not a telepath) unaware of the activity. The Effect of the check determines the clarity of the telepath’s perceptions.
Check: Average (8+) Telepathy check (1D rounds, PSI)
Reach: Long
PSI Cost: 2

Send Thoughts

Complementary to the ability to read surface thoughts is the power to send thoughts to others. Such individuals need not be telepathic themselves to receive such thoughts. Telepathic shields are normally open to such transmissions even when raised, but Travellers may choose to block them if they become bothersome or threatening.
Check: Difficult (10+) Telepathy check (1D seconds, PSI)
Reach: Distant
PSI Cost: 2

Probe

The application of great psionic strength will enable a telepath to delve deep into a target's mind and read their innermost thoughts about a particular subject. The amount and clarity of information is based on Effect.
Alternatively, this power can also be used to examine a Traveller or NPC's goal slots, revealing one goal per Effect + 1 in order of relevance to the situation. Examining one's goals reveals what that person spends the majority of their time doing. The last goal revealed is always the 'fourth goal', a brief summary of a character's drives and personality - and one of the best ways to gain the full picture of an individual.
Check: Very Difficult (12+) Telepathy check (1D x 10 seconds, PSI)
Reach: Close
PSI Cost: 4

Metalinguistics

Putting it simply, most living creatures 'think in their own language', and if a telepath can't understand that language then they can't understand their target's thoughts. This power links directly with a mind's language centres, allowing the Traveller a basic non-verbal understanding of any communications made by the target, and vice-versa. This lasts for a number of minutes equal to the Effect x 10.
Check: Average (8+) Telepathy check (1D rounds, PSI)
Reach: Distant
PSI Cost: 1

Different Minds

Life is diverse, and the unique mental geometries of non-human species make targeting them with Telepathy difficult - but not impossible.
When using Telepathy, sophont alien targets are at a DM-1; non-sapient creatures are at a DM-4; and non-conscious entities like flora or fungi are at a DM-8. If this modifier causes a Telepathy check to fail, then the power may still have worked but the thought received may be confusing or incomprehensible.

Scan Gestalt

The telepath opens their mind to the minds of those around them, allowing them to get a general sense of a surrounding crowd's surface thoughts. The Effect of the check determines the clarity of thoughts received, and may even reveal particularly strong individual thoughts - though the source of any unique thoughts will not usually be clear.
Check: Difficult (10+) Telepathy check (1D rounds, PSI)
Reach: Short
PSI Cost: 2

Contact

Contact allows a psychic to form more-reliable telepathic connections with those that trust them the most. When this power is used on a willing participant, it removes the required check and halves the PSI cost to send or read surface thoughts for a number of hours equal to the Effect. If Contact is regularly practiced for 1D weeks with the same individual (i.e. via a goal slot) then these benefits become permanent.
Check: Average (8+) Telepathy check (1D x 10 minutes, PSI)
Reach: Close
PSI Cost: 1

Mind Link

This power forms a lasting link with a target who has been connected to as per the Contact power, or with another telepath who is also using the Mind Link power. Both targets must be willing for this power to work but, once this is done, they may communicate silently with one another for a number of minutes equal to the combined Effect of the Telepathy check(s). Telepathic shields are often temporarily lowered to establish this connection, but can then be raised again without disrupting the link.
Check: Routine (6+) Telepathy check (1D x 10 seconds, PSI)
Reach: Distant
PSI Cost: 1

Suggestion

The telepath implants a thought, idea or command into the mind of another, who interprets it as their own. Unless the suggestion is plainly harmful the subject will follow the command or enact upon the idea. If the Effect of the Telepathy check is 6 or more, even suicidal suggestions will be followed.
Check: Very Difficult (12+) Telepathy check (1D x 10 seconds, PSI)
Reach: Short
PSI Cost: 3

Assault

The telepath assaults another's mind. On a success, the target must make an END check or fall immediately unconscious. Additionally, if desired, the target can be dealt damage equal to 2D + Effect, applied to the target as mental damage to their INT or as physical damage (psychic's choice).
Check: Formidable (14+) Telepathy check (1D seconds, PSI)
Reach: Short
PSI Cost: 6

Telepathic Shields

All telepathically-enabled Travellers learn how to create a mental shield which protects the mind, making them immune to all telepathy powers unless otherwise stated, but also blocking the use of their own telepathic powers. Such a shield is automatically in force at all times and requires no PSI expenditure to maintain, but can be lowered at-will to allow for telepathic contact or use of telepathic powers.
There are psychic phenomena which can bypass or interfere with these protections, and certain powers interact with shields in unique ways, but for the most part a Traveller with telepathic shields can be assured that their thoughts are their own.

Life Detection

The most elementary form of telepathy is the ability to detect other minds, including the number of minds, the general type of minds (animal, human and so on), and their approximate location within the target area. This awareness lasts for as long as the Traveller is concentrating on it, and then for as long as any detected life remains in its detected location.
If an individual whom the telepath knows is detected using this power, they will be recognised. With an Effect of 6+, or if psychic is currently connected to them via the Contact power, then the Traveller can even target a recognised mind with other telepathic powers without line-of-sight.
Shielded minds cannot normally be detected by this power, but targets will be aware when someone they recognise is trying to detect them - and can allow themselves to be detected if desired.
Check: Easy (4+) Telepathy check (1D x 10 seconds, PSI)
Reach: Distant
PSI Cost: 1

Telempathy

The communication of emotions and basic feelings is accomplished by telempathy. With it, a Traveller can read the emotions and feelings of others, or even project emotions in an attempt to influence them. The Effect of the check determines the clarity of the emotions perceived, or the strength of the emotions projected - with 1 point of Effect enough to slightly colour someone's mood, and Effects of 6+ being enough to completely shift a person's attitude.
Whilst this ability can be used as a psychological weapon against other sophonts, it also serves well in the handling of animals and beasts of burden - as telempathy ignores any penalties as found under 'Different Minds'.
Shielded minds will always recognise when someone is using telempathy to bend their emotions, but most others will not. The change in mood may be dramatic and inexplicable, but only the suspicious or paranoid will interpret it as anything other than the mercurial nature of human emotions. Regardless of any emotional changes though, people will always use their best judgement to make decisions - using telempathy to try and control others' actions rarely produces the exact intended results.
Check: Routine (6+) Telepathy check (1D rounds, PSI)
Reach: Long
PSI Cost: 1

Phrenic Attack

The Traveller makes an opposed Telepathy check against another telepath in an attempt to get past their shields. On a success, the target's defences are breached - allowing the Traveller to use another telepathic power against them even whilst both party's shields are still raised.
This breach lasts for the rest of the scene, until the target leaves this power's range, or until the target successfully uses the Phrenic Defense power.
This power has additional rules regarding when it can be used and its effect on subsequent rolls. See 'Phrenic Duels' below for more on using this power.
Check: Opposed Telepathy check (1D seconds, PSI)
Reach: Medium
PSI Cost: 1+

Phrenic Defense

If a Traveller's shields have been breached by Phrenic Attack, this power can be used as a counter. A successful opposed check against the hostile telepath ends their ability to bypass the Traveller's shields and cancels any power that the hostile telepath is in the process of casting against them.
This power has additional rules regarding when it can be used and its effect on subsequent rolls. See 'Phrenic Duels' below for more on using this power.
Check: Opposed Telepathy check (1D seconds, PSI)
Reach: Medium
PSI Cost: 0+

Phrenic Duels

The use of both Phrenic Attack and Phrenic Defense make up what is referred to as a 'Phrenic Duel' - when one or both psychics are trying to bypass the other's defenses in order to use a desired telepathic power. Both powers have a few additional rules in common.

• Firstly, both party's shields must be raised in order to engage in a phrenic duel, as both powers make use of the shield to achieve their effects.

• Secondly, the result of any successful phrenic duel check acts as a task chain, assisting (or hindering) the Traveller's next telepathic power use against their opponent.

• Thirdly, as usual extra PSI points can be spent to force a failed check to succeed, but this option is available to both sides of a duel's opposed check. This means that spending extra PSI in this way should be carefully considered, as one's opponent may also have PSI to spare...

• And finally, ties during opposed duel checks are always broken in the defender's favour, i.e. the psychic being attacked or the psychic using phrenic defense.

Phrenic duels are often costly, strategic tugs-of-war between the two psychics. The most intense of duels involve trying to fend off psychic assault or defend vital thoughts, but many telepaths also engage in "phriendly" duels for practice or for sport.

Thoughts on Telepaths

There is no psychic power more threatening and disturbing to mundanes than that of telepathy. The prospect of having one’s innermost thoughts and secrets pried out by imperceptible means, or even having their own free will manipulated, is deeply troubling to most - and telepaths are often given a wide berth by others.
Some worlds that are otherwise accepting of psychic powers go so far as to ban known telepaths and forbid the teaching of the discipline within their territory. Even those few that do, however, can rarely resist the urge to maintain some “government-approved” telepathic training program for candidates selected for their political trustworthiness or powerful backers. The benefits of having an imperceptible mental spy are too great for most states to forgo.
Most worlds do not ban telepaths. On these planets, the sheer rarity of psychic powers and the limited chance that any one individual might be unlawfully scanned outweigh any fear of unchecked telepathic intrusion. Telepathic testimony is almost never accepted in a court of law, however, outside of the most psychic-centered societies. Almost all worlds forbid the uninvited use of telepathic powers on another person. The crime is very difficult to prove, but usually comes with harsh penalties. Open admission of an illicit scan is generally considered proof, so Traveller telepaths are advised to be discreet.
This fear, combined with the sparse availability of metapsionic brainguards, has driven mundanes to develop technology and even cognitive techniques capable of recognising and resisting telepathic influence. These rare items/people may be treated similarly to those with telepathic shields, others may have more specific resistances or consequences against telepathic invasion.