Is psi hereditary?

[Dragoner]

If not then what of Zhodani noble's offspring? They are born as proles.

IMTU I am leaning towards no, thus the nobility is meritocratic and highly infused with the sufi-istic mysticism of the nobility. It would almost be relief to be born as prole in many ways, not to be caught up in the hidebound monkish ways of the nobility.

 

[Spinward Scout]

I don't think there's anything in canon that says it's hereditary. That doesn't mean you can't have it be in YTU. You can even have a racial modifier or a random mutation modifier. You can also add modifiers for each living family member or close friend that you knew growing up who was also psionic to reflect an easier upbringing/familiarity with psionics. And a child with psionic parents would probably not have to go to an Institute to be trained. I can see an additional 1d6 for each psionic parent to be added to the Psionic Strength Indicator of a character.

 

[Dragoner]

I never found anything in canon that says it is hereditary either. I am happy with that though, it makes the Zhodani Consulate a bit different however, especially without primogeniture.

 

[McPerth]

IIRC (all this post will be done from meory, as I have no access right now to it) CT Alien Module about the Zhodani explicited that the hi psionic level was quite random, genetics having no influence.

Zhodani noble's offspring are trained since children, so having all (as any one, noble born or not) a minimal psi rating, and Zho's CharGen allowed for psi to be raised.

As I guess they have the best trainers (In Zho CharGen initial edu could not be higher than Soc), I think most of them end up with a minimally useful Psi rating.

Anyway, in Zho CharGen you could as well roll a noble with Psi 2 and he will yet be psionically trained and keep his noble status.

 

[Dragoner]

Maybe that as well, useless nobles, it makes one wonder what it would do to their self-esteem. Also the Consulate would have a certain nepotism, which works at least for some (mis) ruled Zhodani worlds.

 

[rancke]

I've always found it difficult to accept that three quarters (rough guesstimate) of the population had the potential to develop useful levels of psi talent but still got so paranoid about psionics as the did in the Imperium. Not impossible, you understand, but still hard to believe.

So IMTU only some people -- a minority -- have psionic potential, which IS hereditary (and recessive). Without potential, they have no psionic power and can't develop any psionic skills. With potential, they conform to the Traveller rules for testing and training psionics, which means that the child of two powerful psionics can have a psionic power as low as 2 at the age of 14 (I allow psionic parents to have their child tested at the "0th Term", i.e. with no minus to the throw). All player characters just happen to have psionic potential, so there's no difference to game play, just to world-building.


Hans

 

[aramis]

If not then what of Zhodani noble's offspring? They are born as proles.

IMTU I am leaning towards no, thus the nobility is meritocratic and highly infused with the sufi-istic mysticism of the nobility. It would almost be relief to be born as prole in many ways, not to be caught up in the hidebound monkish ways of the nobility.

Per T4 and T5, it's essentially just another attribute, and thus one of your two dice is a direct inheritance from a parent (random which die and from which parent for each attribute).

 

[steventirey1985]

I like the idea of psionics being (at least somewhat) hereditary. That leads to to situations like psionic breeding programs, trying to create a better/more powerful telepaths.

Which can also lead to an adventure for the characters - find and shut down one of the Zhodani's breeding programs (or the secret Imperial breeding program).

 

[DangerousThing]

I usually allow psi to be hereditary in my games and fiction.

Also, merely the effect of being around trained psions may trigger whatever is needed to be an active psion. And yes, I would have Zhodani parents send their kids off to psionic-training preschool. Why wait until 18?

And there might be ways a talented telepathic mind-healer could activate somebody's psionic abilities.

Lots of possibilities.
-
Jay

 

[CosmicGamer]

MgT's Psion Book 04 does give modifiers to a characters latent psionic potential based on heredity. The DM is based on if one or both parents are psionic and also takes their psionic strength into consideration.

The book also has a DM based on "Character comes from a planet, race or society where psionics are the norm".
Some more from the book:

Also, merely the effect of being around trained psions may trigger whatever is needed to be an active psion.

- "Character has spent time in the company of other psions and has learned techniques to develop his own Latent Psionic Potential"

I would have Zhodani parents send their kids off to psionic-training preschool.

- "A highly evolved, psionically strong race has singled the character out for development of Latent Psionic Potential"

And there might be ways a talented telepathic mind-healer could activate somebody's psionic abilities.

- "Character gains a mentor who is an active psion"

 

[Jame]

I like the idea of psionics being (at least somewhat) hereditary. That leads to to situations like psionic breeding programs, trying to create a better/more powerful telepaths.

Which can also lead to an adventure for the characters - find and shut down one of the Zhodani's breeding programs (or the secret Imperial breeding program).

As do I but my rule, should I ever run something at all, would be that there is a genetic component for whether you have it or not, but also (1.) a genetic, (2.) environmental and (3.) social component for how strong it is and whether or not you even express it.

 

[Dragoner]

Interesting, so it seems some would have hereditary abilities and others not. Hmmm, I can see a Zhodani children's book: "My Brother the Prole."

I also agree that the table chances for psionics are derived for characters and actual occurance in the general population is less than one in a million.

 

[Whipsnade]

If not then what of Zhodani noble's offspring? They are born as proles.

Not quite. Check the Psionics section of LBB:3. Everyone has a psionic potential as rolled on 2D6, a potential which begins to degrade after age 18 if it is not identified and the individual trained. The children of Zho nobles will be tested and trained as soon as possible.

The real trouble begins when a noble's child has a psionic strength of 2...

Look at page 12 of CT's AM:4 Zhodani for a quick primer on Zho society, specifically under Ambition in the Psychology section. While ambition in Zho society is neatly explained, ambition for social advancement is said to explicitly rely on psionic strength. An explanation of social advancement for all three part of Zho society is then given.

Prole children can elevated into the Intendant class if they exhibit the required psionic strength. Further answering your question, AM:4 states ... Because Psionic strength is not inherited (it seems the be random within the population), ... So, a prole child with a marked psionic potential is going to become an Intendant.

Indendants then become nobles be competing within the Psionic Games at a rate of about 1 in 7 or as a reward for service at a rate of about 2 in 7. The social standing of children of an indendant will depend on their psionic strength too.

Nobles then advance in a manner similar to Imperial nobles. Noble children, like all children, will have some psionic strength. One child will inherit the title, perhaps due to their psionic strength or perhaps regardless of the same. (Non-inheriting titles presumably "devolve" in the usual manner; i.e. Churchill being a gentleman, his non-inheriting father a "mere" Lord, and his grandfather a Duke.)

Very intriguingly, AM:4 talks about "discouraged" nobles including "Some hereditary Nobles have low Psionic Strengths and (even though they have psionic training) their abilities are low."

I've always thought these "low psi" and (perhaps) non-inheriting Zho nobles are an overlooked pat of the Consulate, an overlooked and very intriguing part of the Consulate. There will be prejudice against them, nothing overt but certainly institutional. They're going to be assigned "hi psi" indendants both as a crutch and quite possibly as a way of keeping an eye on them. Finally, these "low psi" nobles are going to be "sandboxed" when at all possible, shunted aside into positions and duties which aren't seen as important.

Any GM worth his Cheetos can see the opportunities presented by "low psi" Zho nobles.

IMTU I am leaning towards no, thus the nobility is meritocratic and highly infused with the sufi-istic mysticism of the nobility. It would almost be relief to be born as prole in many ways, not to be caught up in the hidebound monkish ways of the nobility.

I think that's a rather interesting way of describing the situation and one which could only help but add to the texture of your TU.

On the subject of psi being inherited, I believe there is some color text in MT repeating the CT line about psi strength being random in the population and also suggesting there may be a slight environmental component. ISTR, something along the lines of being raised in a psionic household providing a statistical "blip" to someone's initial psionic strength.

 

[Dragoner]

Thanks, that sandboxed nobles with hi-psi intendants is very interesting. It does give color to the Zhodani over being just some monolithic analog of psychic Klingons.

 

[Whipsnade]

Thanks, that sandboxed nobles with hi-psi intendants is very interesting.

No problem. I quite like your Sufi/mystic-flavored take on the Consulate nobility too. There's an old JTAS article which discusses Zho philosophies and, when we remember that their entire social order depends on psychic powers, the idea that the Zhos would have a predilection for "navel gazing" is spot on.

It does give color to the Zhodani over being just some monolithic analog of psychic Klingons.

Check out DonM's Zhodani sourcebook for MgT. Mongoose finally hired someone who knows something about Traveller and the result was excellent. Saying it is a great MgT product is damning the book with faint praise because so much of MgT is so poor. MgT: Zhodani would be a great book in any version of Traveller it's just that good.

 

[Dragoner]

No problem. I quite like your Sufi/mystic-flavored take on the Consulate nobility too. There's an old JTAS article which discusses Zho philosophies and, when we remember that their entire social order depends on psychic powers, the idea that the Zhos would have a predilection for "navel gazing" is spot on.

I saw this line in the Sufism wiki and it just grabbed me as the Zhodani philosophy behind psionics: "a science through which one can know how to travel into the presence of the Divine, purify one's inner self from filth, and beautify it with a variety of praiseworthy traits".

It curiously enough also matches the descriptors in both the JTAS article and the adventure in the back of AM4 or alien worlds, one of the two, I forget.

Check out DonM's Zhodani sourcebook for MgT. Mongoose finally hired someone who knows something about Traveller and the result was excellent. Saying it is a great MgT product is damning the book with faint praise because so much of MgT is so poor. MgT: Zhodani would be a great book in any version of Traveller it's just that good.

I plan on picking that up with most of the mongoose stuff, esp since Don is editing the core rules right now as well.

Even though the Consulate has shattered, both IMTU and OTU as per MT/TNE/1248, they are as a people, a huge influence. If the Imperium of 1105 was 2nd century Rome as some have suggested, then my Imperium is pre-Manzikert Byzantium, particularly so in that the Imperium is taking in huge numbers of Zhodani to repopulate worlds devestated by the Rebellion/Virus/K'Kree war. A more Ad Orientis flavor and any developement of the Zhodani culture is most welcome.

 

[Whipsnade]

By way of further explaining the intriguing role of "low psi" nobles in the Consulate and the potential for RPG play they present, imagine some sad sack third son of a -stebr and his "hi psi" indendant shunted off to keep the peace among the Minor Race native of some backwater world along the Vargr border...

I'm thinking of a mixture of Yes, Minister, Edgar Wallace's "African Stories", and the Three Stooges.

A lot of feces could hit a lot of rotary ventilation devices before the Tavrchedl' show up...

 

[Dragoner]

Also maybe a good explaination for the Zhodani's poor performance in the frontier wars, poor psi nobles get shunted into the military because it is dirty job and the higher ups don't want to sully their hands with it.

"It's ok, he won't feel the death of a thousand souls on an Imperial dreadnought, they way we would..."

 

[Whipsnade]

Also maybe a good explaination for the Zhodani's poor performance in the frontier wars, poor psi nobles get shunted into the military because it is dirty job and the higher ups don't want to sully their hands with it.

I wouldn't call the Consulate's performance "poor". After all, we're looking at a record which includes three wins, one tie, one loss, one emperor forced to abdicate, the Imperium evicted from Foreven and Ziafrplians, the Imperium evicted from three subsectors in Tloql/Marches, the Sword Worlds still in existence, etc., etc.

I would think that the military isn't viewed by many Zhodani as a "suitable" career however.