Suggestions? Telepathic PCs just captured VIPER agent

[Colossus]

Re: Suggestions? Telepathic PCs just captured VIPER agent

 

Excellent suggestions - I have one more.

 

 

This is what I would do

Let the telepath discover the base and take out this nest.

Viper is not going to like this and will send someone to discover why there agents are giving out such information. Once they have disvcovered it’s a telepath – they will react.

 

They may have telepaths too – capture a PC and give all there information to Viper. Also Viper would target this telepath for capture/killing. I remember to old D&D standard take out the spellcasters first. Telepaths are dangerous, but few have great defenses.

[Chuckg]

Re: Suggestions? Telepathic PCs just captured VIPER agent

 

They may have telepaths too – capture a PC and give all there information to Viper. Also Viper would target this telepath for capture/killing. I remember to old D&D standard take out the spellcasters first. Telepaths are dangerous' date=' but few have great defenses.[/quote']

 

This, I don't get.

 

Putting some legal restrictions on a telepath so that he can't just casually interrogate everyone, but has to either clear it with a judge or take the risk of legal action if he doesn't hide his activities well enough -- that's bad. That's taking the fun out of it. That's 'not letting a player use abilities that he paid points for'.

 

But having VIPER deliberately hunt the telepath character down and turn him into chunky salsa with maximum overkill while the rest of the team escapes unscathed -- this is just fine?

 

Nope, sorry, just not getting it.

 

To borrow something like your example from another game, "Geek the mage first" might be the SOP of Shadowrun players, but if a DM actually has his NPCs geeking the mage first every time, pretty soon, nobody wants to play mages. Or for that matter, nobody wants to play.

 

I thought the whole point of this exercise -- at least, that's what everybody and his mother seemed to be screaming at me for the past week -- was finding a way to keep the plot from imploding *without* massively screwing over players who pick mentalists? Or just plain banning mentalists entirely?

[Hugh Neilson]

Re: Suggestions? Telepathic PCs just captured VIPER agent

 

Also Viper would target this telepath for capture/killing. I remember to old D&D standard take out the spellcasters first. Telepaths are dangerous' date=' but few have great defenses.[/quote']

 

To some extent, I think Mentalists get treated as D&D Spellcasters - they can do a lot of da,age where few/any opponents have Mental Defense. Any character with exceptionally effective powers against a specific group tends to get targeted similarly. And just like D&D, tactics to protect the "spellcasters" develop.

 

However, there's a limit to how far the analogy extends. To really remove the telepath's effectiveness, he has to be killed. He won't normally be using TP in combat, so knocking him out doesn't help unless you get all your men out - he can interrogate the prisoners after he recovers from GM Option Land.

 

This does suggest a change in VIPER tactics - suddenly, "get out boys home safe" becomes a standing order - no more "the objective is paramount - sacrifice as many agents as necessary to that effect" - all the agents have to make it back to base.

 

Or, alternatively, the agents are fitted with suicide devices (given it's VIPER, most likely without their knowledge) so no living prisoners can be taken.

[GTAgamemaster]

Re: Suggestions? Telepathic PCs just captured VIPER agent

 

I am having this same exact issue in my own campaign.

I am using Viper as a main source of badness and I have a very good friend of mine playing the PC team telepath!! I explained to her my own misgivings about Telepaths and how a world with that kind of power naturally develops technology, safeguards, and social standards to govern these very scary people.

 

Viper often uses blind entrances and exits for their main bases...(only the Drivers know where the bases are, and they have special implants to wipe their memory in case of capture! Its that or a bomb and the duty does pay more)

 

I also have members of the Watch operating out of my main base. Most Viper helmets come with a degree of Mental Defense (but not a lot)

 

Viper agents are fully versed about their rights and about the legality of mental intrusions (they have played that card a lot and have gotten some telepahts into a signifigant amount of legal trouble)

****of course VIPER is now considered an OUTLAW organization in part of my campaign and are thusly not protected by the law****

 

Viper uses misinformation and even mental boobytraps on Telepaths! Its dangerous to go poking around inside a snakes mind.

 

The Viper Agents who get caught are on a need to know basis only and if they are compromised...9 out of 10 times, they die at the hands of Viper (the more UNBALANCED zealots of Viper take their own life.)

 

However when there is no logical recourse, a good mental probing can reveal all kinds of nifty information...(and I find that the role of PC telepath is often to advance the plot and reveal information that enhances the game!!)

 

This has been a great thread and has helped me out a whole bunch with my game. Keep the good suggestions comming!!

[Colossus]

Re: Suggestions? Telepathic PCs just captured VIPER agent

 

I had a second idea.

 

Assuming Viper is a real threat, someone will eventually figure out the PC are making people talk (through Telepathy they may or may not figure out). Why not simply have them plant seriously false information in all the members of a Viper team that they send out to get caught. Then the PC are led into a trap or attack a fake "Viper Central Base" in the Amazon while Viper acts in the heroes home town?