It's explicit from Marc that Psi is NOT subject to the inheritance rules. It has no genetic component. Specifically, because if it did, Nobles should be rolling on 1d6 + 1d2 + 4 within 7 generations...
zhodani 1000 dton missile frigate
- Thread starter flykiller
- Start date
It's explicit from Marc that Psi is NOT subject to the inheritance rules. It has no genetic component. Specifically, because if it did, Nobles should be rolling on 1d6 + 1d2 + 4 within 7 generations...
Which doesn't mean they aren't trying. Even if it isn't heritable, they have an incentive to research its mechanisms so that they can possibly have a way to induce that ability in their young, or at least increase the probability of its appearance...
...unless of course they had something like a "Eugenics wars" level event in their history that soured them on meddling.
pendragonman
Absent Friends Margrave
Maybe the science behind Psi has to do with how they get superpowers from the Deadpool movie...
It does mean that they are not succeeding.
For them Psionics is s science and technology. They know more about it than the 3I knows about jump.
Per CT AM Zhodani (RAW, not RAI), they can teach new psionic abilities later in life, quite unlike the rest of the universe, where if you didn't get it at start, you never will.
I give you more than a little credit, as you are usually quite knowledgeable (at least in Traveller facts, that is what I can know about you).
I only pointed the fact that our (or at least my) knowledge about how other sophonts' behaivor amounts to nothing, and so we can only judge in our own (Solomani human) views, while others' may well be diferent.
I don't see the Nobles' and Intendants' treatment and view of the proles as just tools or domesticated animals, not even as pets. They know perfectly they are not mindless (after all, they are quite sure about this point), and I believe they really care about them and treat them more humanly tan Imperial propaganda says.
After all, their use of warbots in combat is, among other things, to save troops' (moslty proles) lives, and while warbots (that are tools) are seen as sacrificable in a suicide charge to help a retreat, troops (mostly proles, I guess) are not.
About the quarters on a warship, having them too segregate would sap the relation among classes. While some segregation is expected (after all, oficiers and petty officiers use to have their separate quarters and messes in most militaries), their interaction must be quite constant, both for the ship to work as it must and for the officers to keep control on the ranks. The proles body language reading by the Nobles and Intendants is as important for this as is telepathy, and that means interaction is important.
The only other ship design I remember that so segregates officers from ranks is the Gazelle, and it's told that this was because it was designed at a time where mutinies were a major concern, something I guess the Zhodani are not too concerned about.
AnotherDilbert
SOC-14 1K
Anyone, even a Noble, who displays obviously psychopathic behaviour such as thinking about humans as cattle, will be rewarded with a trip to a "reeducation centre".
Last edited by a moderator:
kilemall
SOC-14 5K
It's his game and setting, but that ruling seems counter intuitive given it's biological basis even if it is 'balancing'.
But see that for them that would not be a too bad thing, just as being temporary ill (like as when any of us endure a flu), with no further consequences (albeit Nobles are said to be sometimes reassigned to avoid loss of trust due to be seen as mentally weak).
I had envisioned it as cheap double-space armor, used when a ship that needs some protection has to be built quickly.
yeah, my other boats are designed that way, but for the zho ship I don't (didn't) have any book past lbb6, I simply thought of how a totally "open" society might behave, and made some design decisions towards that. to them, it's all circulation space. of course the "individual family" staterooms don't complete that train of thought, but I can't quite bring myself to view them as herd animals. perhaps they would be. when we think of psionics we think of them as applied to a static baseline privacy/rights society, but in a psionic environment that baseline would erode and disappear.
AnotherDilbert
SOC-14 1K
Yes, but as a cynical non-Zho I assume that a good deal of that is just propaganda.
mike wightman
SOC-14 10K
It is possible a ship of this type could have a prole as commanding officer - there is nothing to prevent proles from achieving position or gaining promotion.
It is highly unlikely due to the probabilities of the character generation tables, but it is doable.
It is highly unlikely due to the probabilities of the character generation tables, but it is doable.
pendragonman
Absent Friends Margrave
More a case of an anti-Timmie stance. We all know that one player who would abuse this bit to make themselves way too powerful
Curiously this is one the parts about the Zhodani I can more easily believe. They treat mental illness (when temporary and healable) as any other illness, with no stigma for suffering it.
Fully agreed. Even if under close noble/intendent supervision, I guess tactical capacity would prime over psionics for ship command, even among the Zhodani.
So, I'd believe that the quarters segregation can be more by Rank tan by caste (of course, as all Nobles are officers and all Intendents are Warrant Officers, this leads to caste segregation too).
And when it's not, they find a job for which it's a benefit, and migrate the person into it, changing what is needed to make them enjoy the job.
mike wightman
SOC-14 10K
Proles can rise to the rank of world consul or even high consul if they follow the government career, gaining soc as a mustering out benefit may push them into the intendant or noble soc range.
If they follow the prole career path they may end up as directors of a major corporation, gain in soc as per the government career I just mentioned and earn membership of the legion.
A rare prole may even work their way up to admiral, earn enough soc to enter the intendant or noble class and be able to then train in psionics - during character generation.
If they follow the prole career path they may end up as directors of a major corporation, gain in soc as per the government career I just mentioned and earn membership of the legion.
A rare prole may even work their way up to admiral, earn enough soc to enter the intendant or noble class and be able to then train in psionics - during character generation.
AnotherDilbert
SOC-14 1K
Is that changed after CT?
mike wightman
SOC-14 10K
Oops, missed that caveat in the text (the pdf on my cd is so feint I have trouble reading it) - ok government proles can't get above rank 3, but Prole proles can be soc 9 so the mustering out table that limits them to 8 is a bit odd?
Navy proles can achieve admiral - and so can get intendant soc of 10 if they started as soc 9 - there is nor caveat forbidding the automatic skills. That opens up the intendant skill table.
Like I said - these events are pretty rare but not forbidden.
Navy proles can achieve admiral - and so can get intendant soc of 10 if they started as soc 9 - there is nor caveat forbidding the automatic skills. That opens up the intendant skill table.
Like I said - these events are pretty rare but not forbidden.
AnotherDilbert
SOC-14 1K
They can become Admirals, but still limited to SOC 9.
The only way to be promoted into the Intendants seems to be to have PSI 9+.
Well, yeah, or else they had a little Childhood's End sort of event with their test subjects and swore off of it.
Funny thing. I first came on this post from the main index, where it was abbreviated, "zhodani 1000 dton missile ...". Thought to myself, "Oh, damn, he's built a planet-killer!"
