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Psionics and Jump

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BlackBat242

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I've always had a bug about this - one of my favorite SF stories of all time is James H. Schmitz' The Witches of Karres, which started life in 1949 as a short story, and then was expanded in 1965-1966 into a full novel.
The main plot gimmick there is that use of psionics can enhance a ship's FTL drive in a massive way.

Then there is Cordwainer Smith's (Paul Myron Anthony Linebarger) writings from the 1950s & 60s - starting with "The Game of Rat and Dragon" (October 1955) and continuing on, have psionics as an integral part of FTL travel.

In another thread, Aramis wrote (about Warhammer 40K):
The Dune-reference: Navigators are psionicists. Which is a theory used by some GM's to explain why jump tapes are one use back in the day: Navigation in N-Space is a weak psionic function.
Click to expand...


While I am not proposing going "full Dune" in MTU (never go "full Dune"), It would be interesting to find a way to incorporate psionics into Jump travel in some way - either as a prerequisite for (or at least enhancement to) Navigation skill, or possibly with an application in Engineering (the "Sheewash Drive" sort of booster capability, etc).

Perhaps it could be as simple as the manifestation of a Talent for direct mind-computer interface (Lois Bujold McMaster's idea for brain implants but with psi instead of tech), or as complex as directly perceiving the complexities of J-space in order to chart a safe course.



In any case, have any of you experimented with such a system, how did it work, and how well did it play out in games?
 
Warhammer:40K and Dune aren't the only ones.

It's worth noting: Dune and 40K, it's a psionicist who navigates, but the drive can be operated without a navigator.

In Andromeda, machines cannot navigate hyperspace, because only a living being can perceive the threads to follow.

In Anne McCaffrey's FT&T/Damia universe, the drive augments the Psionicist's teleport, not the Psionicist augmenting the drive. Human teleport capability is pretty limited, tho- without augmentation, it's not even going to bypass a door.

Fading Suns also has a navigation

(Pern's Dragons are also FTL capable and time-travel capable, and dragonriders are psionically linked to dragons, but that's a little outside the scope.)

Likewise, a few settings make hyperspace require cybernetics - and the result is similar. EG: Bujold's vorKosiverse.

I've only used Psionic Navigator in the 40K context - both in Dark Heresy and in Rogue Trader (both 1E). It makes the Navigator quite important - almost too important to be a PC.

I've not run enough of the other games to make it relevant.
 
IMTU, the best astrogators and jump drive engineers aren't necessarily psionic, but have strong potential for psionics [1], and unconsciously perceive patterns of energy from jump drives and J-space as a form of synaesthesia. They have a gut feel for when things are "right", and combined with the knowledge and experience they possess, can maximize the safety and efficiency of interstellar travel.

This synaesthesia can affect anyone who travels between the stars, if they have the potential. Spacer-created arts often incorporate droning discordant notes in the background of musical scoring and repetitive patterns in visual art forms that represent what they "hear" and "see" as a jump drive powers up or while waiting a week for precipitation out of J-Space. Such visual patterns are often the basis for tattoos, and embroidery on the trim of clothes spacers wear while on liberty. The patterns, while highly individualized and varied, have commonalities that others in the know can interpret to roughly guess the kind of ship and/or part of space the wearer/bearer has experienced.

[1] Tested or not, the fist time a character gets engineering or navigation skill, I roll their original youthful potential for psionics. That roll sets the limit for how high the skill can go: MIN(4,1+MAX(0,CEIL((PSI-7)/2)))
 
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The SPI Starforce trilogy by Redmond postulates psionic telepaths, masses of them, wired up into their teleport drives and jumping that way. 1000s more on stargates that help increase fidelity and range too.


And, they are also the weapons- they 'cast' mass sleep/stun attacks that try and catch enemy ships that are tacjumping like they are, and then put entire planets to sleep except for the armed forces and governments in protective bunkers.


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Starforce:_Alpha_Centauri


The economic game scenario and the StarSoldier interface could combine into an empire builder sort of game.


And all this in 1974-75.
 
While I have yet to put it into practise I have toyed with this idea for CT.

A regular ship will use the original 77 rules for fuel consumption, where as if you plug a psionic navigator into the ship you can use the 81 formula for fuel consumption.

This is not readily known and even if it is known the technology that allows for a clean interface will likely be rare.
 
In the movie Wing Commander, the pilgrims could sense the best coordinates for jump. Anyone with training could calculate the jump, just pilgrims were better at it.
Always thought that was a cool idea.
 
kilemall said:
The SPI Starforce trilogy by Redmond postulates psionic telepaths, masses of them, wired up into their teleport drives and jumping that way. 1000s more on stargates that help increase fidelity and range too.
Click to expand...

SPI's Universe also required psionic navigation.
 
You could use psionic talents to improve the odds.

Though I suspect that would require defining just how a psionic talent could be tapped for that.
 
If psionics is needed for jump, then I think that I would have a flat 1 chance in 6 role for mis-jump, as no one would know what was going on in the psion"s head.

They could have a headache, sneeze at the wrong time, or have an unconscious dislike of the ship captain and would like to see him marooned somewhere far from the normal space lanes. They could also have a conscious or unconscious dislike of the planet that they are jumping to, a touch of homesickness for the planet that they are from, or simply have a bad day, and totally botch the jump.
 
I think the easiest, and most unthreatening, way to have psionics interact with Jump is to have something like Pilgrims from Wing Commander. They are insanely accurate replacements for Jump Computers/Programs - and able to navigate routes that normally a computer would reject as too dangerous or uncertain.

So money saved on the front end because no need for jump programs, possibly even a cheaper computer depending on how you want to do it. No need for jump cassettes, and I'd even say a lessened chance of Misjump and perhaps a tighter window of arrival times - or different fuel consumption as mentioned previously.

Real game effects, but not milieu-warping ones.

D.
 
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