BTS GM/Player Tip: remember, psychics and powers are rare!

[mrloucifer]

I ran into this situation a week or so back with a few peeps who've been in the "buisness" of playing games for a lot of years (one of them longer than my near 20 years) and a conversation was struck about the fear of their players becoming jaded or so used to the supernatural that it becomes mundane activity to them.

Honestly while I was on their side, I really think this something that's more the fault of the GM more than the players (although they can claim their fair share of the blame). I get that when you play "larger than life characters" your going to constantly deal with a barrage of the strange and unusual, and this can dull the senses over time. But this is something thats easily remedied and should be discusses with the group before the game gets boring or stagnant (which boggles my mind that this could even happen in a supernatural setting).

While this is something thats not really touched upon the the BTS books (but might be in other palladium books, please tell me if you know of one) I want to spend a few moments on a soap box about "suspending the familiarity", something both players and GM's alike should practice.

By its very nature, the supernatural RPG is in a weird position. The game is all about mystery, the unusual, the unexplainable, the unique and the fear of the unknown that comes with it. But on the other hand, the game is full of perfectly understandable rules and explanations of the various abilities and creature that are all mood killers. My advice here is to "suspend the familiarity" of the supernatural and learn to not stare at the game mechanics so much. The rush of the supernautral adventure has always been its story, not its structure.

Remind the players that the talents and abilites their characters possess are not commplace in the world, they are all exceptions, not the rule. Supernatural phenomena is mysterious becasue they are not understood, but also because they CANT be understood. Lictor Lazlo talks a lot about the nature of psyhics (see 'The Psychic World' section of BTS-2, page 26-33), this is still a long way from fully explaining anything really about them. For you GM's, this is something to exploit. have NPCS or the PC's shoulder devils ask them questions about their nature and get them thinking about the unfamiliar territory theyre in. Remind them on occasion that while the player knows the rules of how far their telekisis talents can reach, they have no idea why they even have such an abiltiy to begin with. Get them to question themselves, ask why they are how they are... get them out of their familiar comfort zone to get them focuses on the mystery of the game again.

As I'm currently in school full time I dont have the time to make a long winded speech here, so I will try to do small vignettes in the replies with more examples of solving this problem.

[mrloucifer]

Another technique I like to use is to throw the psychics off their game a little.

For example, what would a physical psychic do if one day in the middle of a mission he had some sort of clairivoyant flash? Or inexplicable Astral Projected? Or was being contacted by ghosts and entities without a way to communicate back with them? Suddenly their familiar abilites are no good to them, they are suddenly in a strange an unexplained territory again. they dont know what the limits of these new activities are, they dont even know why they are suddenly happening!

One of my favorite bits from the "X-Files" mythos concerning psychics was in the "I Want to Believe" film. Mulder's was sharing his theory with Father Joe when he confused as to why he was having psychic premonitions about people he didnt know and couldnt see a connection. Mulder pointed out that "there's always something... however small." THATS exactly how this game should always be handled... the players have the talents, but they have no answers as to why they have them or how they can use them. Suddenly adding in a new talents they have no control over (or any knowledge of its limits or why theyre even doing it) can do wonders for getting under the players skin and get some much needed mystique back in the game.

GM Note: Dont do weird things for weird sakes, you should have some valid reason why the PC's are having strange psyhic moments, it just has to unexplainable to the characters (at least at first).

[mrloucifer]

Another idea is to remind the characters (the players) of how lonely they really are, even when they share their lives with other psychics. Each psychic uses and controls their powers differently. Certainly there is a feeling of mutual bonding in their talents and devotion to combating the supernatural. But what about outside their hunting lives?

The numbers of psychics in the world are too small to count, and their powers are all deeply personal and isolating in their own way. NO ONE can truly understand who are what they are, even their feellow psychics, for each on of them may have the similar talents, but they all use or cojure them up in different ways.

One example would be to have a group of sensitive psychic play a game of cards at a table. One psychic could cheats by reading the direct thoughts of the other players. The next one may simply feel emanations through the table they are sitting at, letting him know what the other players cards are. The next one may get a tip off from an unscrupulous spirit in the room who tells him what each players cards are. The next one in the group may get premonitions of who had the best hand as the cards are even being dealt. They all can do essentially the same thing, but each one has different ways of going about it.

Even players who play their characters as proud and happy to be psychic wont be be able to feel this way all the time. They cant boast or brag about their talents and the supernatural outside their fellow hunters, the very game mechanics of the BTS psychic (adrenaline surges) keeps them from using their talents at will, And while they have the awesomest powers in their opinion, they may very well have a crappy mundane job that will seem even more tedious and unimportant to them than it will the average John Q. Public.

In short, if the players arent feeling very challenged, hit them up with the loneliness and mundane normal life angle occasionally.

[mrloucifer]

(This might anger purists, but it could add fun elements, too).

As a purist myself, I dont see an issue with this. You may be using templates when you create your character, and those templates dictate the kind of psychic talents the PC's have. But while these talents are integrally linked to the PC, they are not a natural part of him, even if the PC has accepted or even admires his talents.

[mrloucifer]

... but maybe that's a topic for another thread.

No, not entirely. The talents the PC aquire do not provide them with the wisdom of how to use them or the knowledge of where they came from. While this psi-mechanic may have all the talents to do the job, he may very well be enslaving entities and whatnot to the machines, quite by accident. Or perhaps there is something in darkness that's causing this to happen through the psychic.

Whatever the method or explanation, its important that the PC not understadn why this is happening, at least not in the beginning of it, or even until much later after the realiziation that the PC is doing this.

An even after this issue is resolved, what then? Will the PC have the courage or confidence to re-learn how to use the talents he truly has? Will he dare risk being used by unseen forces again by invoking his talents? Inevitably the PC should, but there is a story arc here that can be used to great character and story effect. The powers fail or do things he didnt intend to do as he has to relearn his talents, the PC will have to fidn the strenght to do use the abilities on his own now that his dark benefactor no longer helps him, etc...

This brings up a point I can never stress enough, the talents do NOT make the character. I've always said that the LAST thing you should ever work on is the psychic talents of the characters. Skills, attributes, personality and all that are what makes a story work. Imagine what this character would have been if they didnt develop psychic abilities. What were the character's plans in life before becoming psychic? How much of his mundane existance does he try to hold onto to feel normal? Does he hold the mundane parts of his life even closer now that he's in on the terrible secrets of the world? Psychics are rare in the BTS world, but to the individual psychic, his talents, the darkness and terrors that come with them should always be anything but boring and natural feeling.

[Lord Z]

Another brilliant article from the Cifer! I liked the suggestion of switching powers under abnormal conditions. I could have done that in the play-test game with the sick ley line in the Ozarks. I love the card game example.

Concerning the main point of the thread, I agree with conditions. Yes, psychic powers are rare but not necessarily. The way that Palladium Games have of classifying many abilities as psychic powers means that some talents which in other game systems would be feats or skills are instead psychic. Total Recall is a good example. This could be seen as evidence of psychic empowerment or that the character simply has a good memory. Several psi-sensitive powers could (and probably should) be considered as a policeman's hunch or a mother's intuition, especially in character. My favorite examples of common psychic powers are Summon Inner Strength and Negate Pain. What action move star doesn't have these two abilities?

A GM could run a psychic-less game and still allow characters to have photographic memories and high, pain tolerances. There is nothing wrong with that. That just is not how the Palladium rules are set up to do it.

In conclussion: Ecto-plasm rare, Summon Inner Strength common.

[mrloucifer]

A GM could run a psychic-less game and still allow characters to have photographic memories and high, pain tolerances. There is nothing wrong with that. That just is not how the Palladium rules are set up to do it.

In conclussion: Ecto-plasm rare, Summon Inner Strength common.

Oy... this train of thought could be a live wire if we let escalate.

My suspicion is that Kevin and Co. never really bothered making these kind of rules as there has never really been a "psychic-less" or lack of extreme talents kind of game before (at least not until Dead Reign).

Bringing up dead reign however, Kevin did incorporate "Special Aptitude" bonueses as all the characters are ordinary humans (at least if played in the canon format). This included such traits as "High perception and sold gut instincts", quick reaction time, natural zombie hunter, fearless, fast learner and others. In theory, its wouldnt be hard to create some new items like "photographic memory" and "high pain tolerance" to the list. This would cover more of what your describing.

But in a game like BTS, these are talents most often employed in psychics, and since most people play psychics, they may see these traits as mundane afterawhile, hence why I started this thread.

[Lord Z]

I would stop just short of making a rarity rule. I do use the less flashy powers more often in NPCs. I like your Skeptic's take on the situation. I hadn't considered that angle.

[Cybermancer]

Maybe "rarity" is a little harsh. Nor would I say to a player, "Oh, sorry, you can't get ectoplasmic disguise. Two players already have it. Choose some other power, please." That's just silly (especially since it's in BtS-2, I believe).

Might be better if I termed it as "less known." Telekinesis, for example, seems almost universally accepted in any genre (that has such abilities) with only a few modifications. Rope Trick can probably be traced to a certain locale (or even lumped together with telekinesis). But the more "palladium-esque" abilities might be "new" to the world and generally unheard of, like Gershault Circle or something similar.

An even better term might be "easily passed off as X." A Psychic Sensitive undergoing a clairvoyant insight not to go down the stairs is easily shrugged off as "luck," "good judgment," "happenstance" or what have ya. But a Fire Walker dividing a wall of growing flames to run into the house and save a kid will garner a little more attention. In that regard, some of the more "mundane" powers that don't exactly register on the freak-o-meter because it doesn't bend nature's laws might be seen as more commonplace for the simple reason that most people might tuck it alongside situations that really are just plain luck and second-guessing a decision, while other powers that don't generally coincide with the natural are deemed "rarer."

I pretty much agree with this.

I will also add that for those who encounter the supernatural as much as your typical group of BtS adventurers, assuming they are part of a campaign that lasts past 3rd level, yeah, it's going to be a little common place for them. They'll be pretty used to it. You might try reminding them that it's rare for others but to try and force them to keep thinking about it as awe inspiring, rare and so forth is... well, forced.

And there is something to be said for a campaign where the players attack the situation as scientists would. A lot of people in the real world try and explain and quantify this stuff so it makes sense that in a world where it really exists, people would also study with a critical eye. See Ghost Busters. See also Ghost Hunters on TV. See also Victor Lazlo.