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Message no. 1
From: "Robert A. Hayden" <hayden@******.MANKATO.MSUS.EDU>
Subject: Hacking a psionic ability
Date: Fri, 22 Jul 1994 15:43:42 +0100
There has been some talk about your dicipline power representing your
general ability in that field, and that a PSI should be able to also use
those powers he doesn't have at some penalty.

Here's an idea.

Trog, a Psionic Troll, has the Diciplines of Telepathy (5), Telekinesis (7),
and Clairvoyance (2). He has a Psionic pool of 8 (computed however we
decide, this is pretend).

Now, under Telekinesis, he has the following abilites:
General Telekinesis (6)
Telekinetic Punch (6)
Finite Manipulation (3)
Levitation (2)

Now, trog wants to move some microscopic things around (He's looking in a
microscope). Finite Manipulation isn't minute enough to do it so he woudl
normally use Micro Manipulation (which he doesn't have). So, he's going
to try to hack the ability.

To hack a power, you must spend two pool dice for each level of force you
want to use the ability at, and you cannot exceed more than 1/2 your
Dicipline rating.

Remember, he has a Dicipline rating of 7 and a pool of eight dice.

So, he can use the ability at a power no greater than three (1/2 of 7,
rounded down) and it would cost him six dice from his pool. That leaves
him two dice to resist drain.

As long as a hacked ability is sustained, you cannot use those dice
allocated to that hacked ability. In addition, you cannot augment a
hacked ability with addition pool dice.

So, at the end, he can hack a micro-manipulation power (one time) at the
maximum level of three, buy allocating six pool dice to that power.

____ Robert A. Hayden <=> hayden@******.mankato.msus.edu
\ /__ -=-=-=-=- <=> -=-=-=-=-
\/ / Finger for Geek Code Info <=> I do not necessarily speak for the
\/ Finger for PGP Public Key <=> City of Mankato or anyone else, dammit
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
(GEEK CODE 2.1) GJ/CM d- H-- s-:++>s-:+ g+ p? au+ a- w++ v* C++(++++) UL++++$
P+>++ L++$ 3- E---- N+++ K+++ W M+ V-- -po+(---)>$ Y++ t+ 5+++
j R+++$ G- tv+ b+ D+ B--- e+>++(*) u** h* f r-->+++ !n y++**
Message no. 2
From: Mercenary X <kdye@*****.STANFORD.EDU>
Subject: Re: Hacking a psionic ability
Date: Sat, 23 Jul 1994 20:47:48 -0700
I like it.
Message no. 3
From: the holy Entombed <rasputin@***.UMD.EDU>
Subject: Re: Hacking a psionic ability
Date: Sun, 24 Jul 1994 02:15:10 -0400
On Sat, 23 Jul 1994, Mercenary X wrote: (Entire message shown)

> I like it.
>

Sounds good... It seems, however, that you're taking Doom's post
concerning brevity a touch too seriously... =^)


the holy Entombed ------
Rasputin the Buried ----
rasputin@***.umd.edu ------
Message no. 4
From: "Robert A. Hayden" <hayden@******.MANKATO.MSUS.EDU>
Subject: Re: Hacking a psionic ability
Date: Sun, 24 Jul 1994 12:19:18 +0100
On Sun, 24 Jul 1994, the holy Entombed wrote:

> Sounds good... It seems, however, that you're taking Doom's post
> concerning brevity a touch too seriously... =^)

We are all attending the Tim Pierce school of abridged communication.

____ Robert A. Hayden <=> hayden@******.mankato.msus.edu
\ /__ -=-=-=-=- <=> -=-=-=-=-
\/ / Finger for Geek Code Info <=> I do not necessarily speak for the
\/ Finger for PGP Public Key <=> City of Mankato or anyone else, dammit
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
(GEEK CODE 2.1) GJ/CM d- H-- s-:++>s-:+ g+ p? au+ a- w++ v* C++(++++) UL++++$
P+>++ L++$ 3- E---- N+++ K+++ W M+ V-- -po+(---)>$ Y++ t+ 5+++
j R+++$ G- tv+ b+ D+ B--- e+>++(*) u** h* f r-->+++ !n y++**
Message no. 5
From: "J.D. Falk" <jdfalk@****.CAIS.COM>
Subject: Re: Hacking a psionic ability
Date: Mon, 25 Jul 1994 16:38:01 -0400
On Sun, 24 Jul 1994, Robert A. Hayden wrote:

> On Sun, 24 Jul 1994, the holy Entombed wrote:
>
> > Sounds good... It seems, however, that you're taking Doom's post
> > concerning brevity a touch too seriously... =^)
>
> We are all attending the Tim Pierce school of abridged communication.
>
"No."
Message no. 6
From: kyle kohler <kkohler@**.UCR.EDU>
Subject: Re: Hacking a psionic ability
Date: Tue, 26 Jul 1994 02:22:15 -0700
Okay, our Fearless Leader chose to disgree with my idea for
"hacking" abilities. And, I hate to say it, but his arguements against it
are correct. According to my proposed system, "hacking" is too easy.
Anyone with a rating of 6 in their category could roll 6 dice for any
power assuming they used their Psi Pool. That is a lot of dice for
someone who is supposed to be winging it and generally not being very good
at it. I still believe in my reasoning behind the proposal (i.e. causing
a great drain and using your mind in ways you never tried before) but the
system itself probably won't work.
Now, on to the newest Psi Tables. I think adding an F would be
best. Already existing characters would just be assumed to have taken an
F in Psi. I personally would not like to see all existing characters be
Wild Psis. Wouldn't that contradict our idea of them being ultra-rare (of
course, so are runners, but let's ignore that, please)?
And I don't like the idea of putting power "caps" on Psis. That
would be like telling a mage he can only take spells with a drain of S or
lower. Or telling a Decker that he can only run these certian programs on
his deck, or a sammie that he can only use Cyberware, not Bioware. And
lastly, I think you guys get the point, but I'm gonna drive it home,
telling a Rocker, that she can only play one instrument! Yes, I'm afraid
I had to pull a Rocker reference on you, but I think the arguement
warranted such rash action.
While I'm at it, Adepts should have only access to one Category.
After they get all the powers in that category, then they better start
coming up with some new ones! Cyberpsionics should be it's own category,
but we'll have to limit the number of abilities because we don't want a
CyberPsionic's version of every other Psi ability.
Oh, since we're starting to become more polarized about our
choices about certain things, now might be a good time to bring this up.
How are we going to What?

Kyle Kohler
kkohler@*****.ucr.edu

Forest Gump : Life is like a box of chocolates. You never know
what you're gonna get.

Me: Uh, Forest, buddy. That's why the boxes come with that
little pamphlet thing with all the types inside. So you know that you're
eating the chocolate fudge bonanza instead of the cherry cream
pumpernickel wiffle.
Message no. 7
From: Darth Vader <j07c@***.UNI-BREMEN.DE>
Subject: Re: Hacking a psionic ability
Date: Tue, 26 Jul 1994 12:07:49 +0100
>
> Okay, our Fearless Leader chose to disgree with my idea for
> "hacking" abilities. And, I hate to say it, but his arguements against it
> are correct. According to my proposed system, "hacking" is too easy.
> Anyone with a rating of 6 in their category could roll 6 dice for any
> power assuming they used their Psi Pool. That is a lot of dice for
> someone who is supposed to be winging it and generally not being very good
> at it. I still believe in my reasoning behind the proposal (i.e. causing
> a great drain and using your mind in ways you never tried before) but the
> system itself probably won't work.

Well it depends on how you view Psis, if you want them to be just
another sort of mages casting their well learned spells, then Robs's way
'hacking' powers is what you want. If you want them to use their disciplines
(categories) as natural gifts, talents if you want, then you definitely
need something else.

--
Strong am I with the Force... but not that strong!
Twilight is upon me and soon night must fall.
That is the way of things ... the way of the Force.

GCS d>d- h s+: !g p? !au a- w+ v-(?) C+++ UAVSL++>UAVSL+++ p--(aren't we all?)
L+>L+++ 3 N++ K W(+)(---) M-- !V(--) -po+(---) Y+ t++ !5 !j- r+++(--) !G
v(++) b+++ D++ b- e+ u++(-) h*(+) f+ r- n!(----) y?
Message no. 8
From: "Robert A. Hayden" <hayden@******.MANKATO.MSUS.EDU>
Subject: Re: Hacking a psionic ability
Date: Tue, 26 Jul 1994 17:37:52 +0100
On Tue, 26 Jul 1994, kyle kohler wrote:

> While I'm at it, Adepts should have only access to one Category.
> After they get all the powers in that category, then they better start
> coming up with some new ones! Cyberpsionics should be it's own category,
> but we'll have to limit the number of abilities because we don't want a
> CyberPsionic's version of every other Psi ability.

We want cyberpsionic abilities. Some might be similiar to other
abilities, but that doesn't matter. CyberPsi is its own category with
its own relevant powers.

> Oh, since we're starting to become more polarized about our
> choices about certain things, now might be a good time to bring this up.
> How are we going to What?

I'll be posting on this also in a little while.

____ Robert A. Hayden <=> hayden@******.mankato.msus.edu
\ /__ -=-=-=-=- <=> -=-=-=-=-
\/ / Finger for Geek Code Info <=> I do not necessarily speak for the
\/ Finger for PGP Public Key <=> City of Mankato or anyone else, dammit
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
(GEEK CODE 2.1) GJ/CM d- H-- s-:++>s-:+ g+ p? au+ a- w++ v* C++(++++) UL++++$
P+>++ L++$ 3- E---- N+++ K+++ W M+ V-- -po+(---)>$ Y++ t+ 5+++
j R+++$ G- tv+ b+ D+ B--- e+>++(*) u** h* f r-->+++ !n y++**
Message no. 9
From: "Robert A. Hayden" <hayden@******.MANKATO.MSUS.EDU>
Subject: Re: Hacking a psionic ability
Date: Tue, 26 Jul 1994 17:40:59 +0100
On Tue, 26 Jul 1994, Darth Vader wrote:

> Well it depends on how you view Psis, if you want them to be just
> another sort of mages casting their well learned spells, then Robs's way
> 'hacking' powers is what you want. If you want them to use their disciplines
> (categories) as natural gifts, talents if you want, then you definitely
> need something else.

So basically you want PSIs that can do anything they want. Sounds overly
munchkinous to me. Hackign should be difficult and filled with drawbacks.

____ Robert A. Hayden <=> hayden@******.mankato.msus.edu
\ /__ -=-=-=-=- <=> -=-=-=-=-
\/ / Finger for Geek Code Info <=> I do not necessarily speak for the
\/ Finger for PGP Public Key <=> City of Mankato or anyone else, dammit
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
(GEEK CODE 2.1) GJ/CM d- H-- s-:++>s-:+ g+ p? au+ a- w++ v* C++(++++) UL++++$
P+>++ L++$ 3- E---- N+++ K+++ W M+ V-- -po+(---)>$ Y++ t+ 5+++
j R+++$ G- tv+ b+ D+ B--- e+>++(*) u** h* f r-->+++ !n y++**
Message no. 10
From: Tim Skirvin <tskirvin@********.UNI.UIUC.EDU>
Subject: Re: Hacking a psionic ability
Date: Tue, 26 Jul 1994 19:55:53 -0500
> Wild Psis. Wouldn't that contradict our idea of them being
> ultra-rare (of course, so are runners, but let's ignore that,
> please)?

Not really.

They would all be Wild Psis, but they would have NO way of knowing
this. At all. They could train a little bit, if they found a master (yeah,
right), and get that one ability...but they wouldn't know what to take, what
the mechanics are, what the hell is going on at all.

It would be QUITE interesting.

-------------Tim Skirvin (tskirvin@********.uni.uiuc.edu-------------
"He's NOT a gibbering idiot - he's cured of gibbering, he's just an
idiot now." -- Jane, "Waiting for God"
Message no. 11
From: Darth Vader <j07c@***.UNI-BREMEN.DE>
Subject: Re: Hacking a psionic ability
Date: Wed, 27 Jul 1994 11:29:27 +0100
> Well it depends on how you view Psis, if you want them to be just
> another sort of mages casting their well learned spells, then Robs's way
> 'hacking' powers is what you want. If you want them to use their disciplines
> (categories) as natural gifts, talents if you want, then you definitely
> need something else.
>
> So basically you want PSIs that can do anything they want. Sounds overly
> munchkinous to me. Hackign should be difficult and filled with drawbacks.

Yes I want psis that will be able to do everything they want, as long
as its withing their level of Power. With the apropriate Drain naturaly.
I dont think that this is too much to ask from a Psi, after all
flexibility is a Psis main strength, or is it not ?

--
Strong am I with the Force... but not that strong!
Twilight is upon me and soon night must fall.
That is the way of things ... the way of the Force.

GCS d>d- H s+: !g p? !au a- w+ v-(?) C+++ UAVSL++>UAVSL+++ P--(aren't we all?)
L+>L+++ 3 E--- N++ K W(+)(---) M-- !V(--) -po+(---) Y+ t++ !5 !j- R+++(--)
!G tv(++) b+++ D++ B- e+ u++(-) h*(+) f+ r- n!(----) y?

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