I think a Silver Void gith (who thought about it) might find it appalling. 
It's a pretty major change to the usual githyanki way of life.
I think a Silver Void gith (who thought about it) might find it appalling. It's a pretty major change to the usual githyanki way of life.
Well, yes and no. The normal social mode for githyanki is basicly to be raised by their peers. We have quite a bit of that in western society. In our system of educating our youth, the students far outnumber the adults, and in essence run the school, socially at least. The githyanki take that to an extreme. Their battle-brothers are friends, family, and social institution all at once. A gang of homeless youth on the streets of Git'riban is basicly just a cohort without a warband, still inhabiting their nursury. I don't believe githyanki have very good parenting skills, since 99.9% of them never raise their own children.
Of course, if you think your PC should be bothered by the state of affairs, don't let me stop you.
Ahh, I'm seeing your take on it. I saw the varsh caste acting in some ways as (a large number of) surrogate parents (i.e., not raised by their peers, but by the varsh caste). Their childhood (hatchlinghood) is also where they get intoctrinated in the precepts of githyanki society and their gith-y cultural identity (and the beginnings of their martial training), and I doubt that the street gith-kids are getting all that. They're growing up as uncultured savages, in other words.
True that.
Appalling! :mrgreen:
"No honey, don't play with daddy's flail!"
Ah yes, those Haven Port one-nights stands are dangerous business. 
Must... not... comment... :mrgreen:
Just to notify well in advance, I'll be travelling from the 1st-11th December and don't expect to have internet access.
I agree with your reading of the power, actually. I've only been posting Ya'shenn being aware of goings-on because Azure seems to wish it so. 
I was guessing he was deviating from the usual functioning of the power for plot-development reasons.
So, uh, Azure...
I agree with your reading of the power, actually. I've only been posting Ya'shenn being aware of goings-on because Azure seems to wish it so. I was guessing he was deviating from the usual functioning of the power for plot-development reasons.
So, uh, Azure...
Yea, the participants can hide anything from Ya'shenn they choose to.
Editing. (Incidentally, Dunamin probably thinks I'm a bad roleplayer now. This bothers me a little, since I was acting on the information the DM gave me.)
Hehe, don't fret Zim. 
None of what Du'minh exchanged is something he would have too much reason to hide anyway.
None of what Du'minh exchanged is something he would have too much reason to hide anyway.Well, all right then.
By the way, still waiting for Trias or Wei to post something. I suppose Ya'shenn could enter Void Keys alone, but I'm not sure sending in the low-on-energy psion alone would be a good idea.
One wonders if D&D has ever designed rules for eavesdropping on the telepathic communications of others. Like, if there are 2 opposing groups, and each coordinates via telepathy.
Because Ya'shenn needs yet another thing to be paranoid about.
Zim, I was thinking about that myself just yesterday. Maybe I'll write a power for it (so our ever so happy ghaiks can eavesdrop on each other).
weishan wrote:
Would Daraz's ring of mind shielding block the telepathy, or could he disregard it.
Wait, wait, if we're going that route, doesn't that mean the psionic ability Conceal Thoughts would protect against ESP and related magical spells?
See, Ya'shenn has a ring of mind shielding too. (All the cool kinds have one!) It would kind of suck if someone could protect themselves against both magical and psionic thought-reading via the ring, if Ya'shenn could only protect herself against psionic thought-reading. See?
(Heh, when I gave the character the ring, it was with the assumption of 'psionics and magic are different.' Hmm...)
Edit: Of course, one possible workaround is that Ya'shenn's version of the ring only works against attempted magical intrusions, seeing how she is a psion.
Wei, bear in mind when she discusses this stuff that Ya'shenn doesn't really know what Daraz and Vivec can do (for that matter, I'm not sure of their class levels myself, other than Vivec having some in cleric). Her advice is very much biased by her own skillset and what she knows/doesn't know.
Incidentally, Githyanki moral dilemma of the day: "Is it OK to use powers of mind control and suggestion against thralls of the illithid?" It's not like they have free will to take away...
Moral cunundrums in an evil-aligned party. Love it.
Oh, and I wanted to make some rolls
That's half the fun of being a Githyanki. ;D
Being a projective telepath among Githyanki isn't altogether unlike being a preserver on Athas. "Do I use my powers to their fullest extent.... hmm..."
Edit: Eek! I'm giving evildm ideas again o.O
O DM person:
Let's say that Ya'shenn isn't able to discover any kind of psionic mark on Mim whatsoever. Is there some other means she can use (barring deep telepathic probe, which she isn't able to do herself anyway), given her knowledge of psi, that would allow her to determine with a fair degree of certainty whether someone is a thrall or not.
Edit: Not especially related, but is Mim male or female? I've seen both pronouns
Let's say that Ya'shenn isn't able to discover any kind of psionic mark on Mim whatsoever. Is there some other means she can use (barring deep telepathic probe, which she isn't able to do herself anyway), given her knowledge of psi, that would allow her to determine with a fair degree of certainty whether someone is a thrall or not.
Edit: Not especially related, but is Mim male or female? I've seen both pronouns
Ha, you caught me! Yes, Mim was originally set to be a boy, the name is unisex though, so even I got confused when Dunamin called him "she", sorry. I'm even still up in the air on the final verdict. :lol
***
As to the other question, it's dicey, and meant to be so. Apparently, better psions than she is have screened this individual with psionic probes on a regular basis, probably. They would have caught any enthrallment, right? Unless the mark is so powerful, made by the most psionicly powerful of illithid, that it defies their probes ... and Grazz sure believed he was telling the truth about Mim ... ...
They would have caught any enthrallment, right? Unless the mark is so powerful, made by the most psionicly powerful of illithid, that it defies their probes ... and Grazz sure believed he was telling the truth about Mim ... ...
Unless Schaaz-Khaal (the guy supposedly getting him scanned) is corrupt, or the psion responsible for the scanning is corrupt. Equal-opportunity paranoia.
Oh, and one more thing, about the rings of mind shielding. I looked it up (3.0 people, i'm not made of money). The rings shield the mind from someone detecting thoughts, but not from attacks, charms, etc. So, they are magic items specificly enchanted to prevent what you are trying to do. You must take them off for the time being, but that doesn't mean you have to chuck 'em in the sewer.
Psionics and Magic are not the same. They may affect each other just as they affect the unmodified environment. Therefore, a magic item designed to prevent an effect, does so regardless of the source.
Psionics and Magic are not the same. They may affect each other just as they affect the unmodified environment. Therefore, a magic item designed to prevent an effect, does so regardless of the source.
Does Conceal Thoughts work against the ESP spell? I mean, the ability is designed specifically to counter thought-reading.
OK folks, I beat Evil DM at his own game, he's hog-tied in the closet now. The reason for this is, that I want to give you a few clues, and expose just how Evil he is.
So here is the 'take 20' on Ya'shenn's 'Knwoledge: Psi' check.
Thralldom -
There are three levels of true thralldom, not just being a slave but mentally dominated by the illithids to a degree where one remains entralled even when not in their masters' presence.
The Empty - Psionicly lobotomized. Most often seen in thrall soldiers.
The Subtle - These are the subconciously dominated. The illithids use a focus, either behavioral or physical. It might be an affinity for an object, a color, a phrase, or a state of mind. Some things can be used, while others can't. A ghaik can't dominate a githyanki, and have the focus be a blade, or a line of Gith's scripture repeated over and over. Githzerai wear grey, because grey and silver can't be used as sunconcious foci, too neutral. Basicly, the 'arms race' between the ghaik and githyanki psions is played out in devising and detecting new and more subtle foci.
The Marked - A ghaik actually dissolved it's way into the victim's body and physicaly modified their nerves. There is one sure way of detecting the mark: find the scar. Beyond that, all bets are off, because this is a practice that is unique to the illithids, and a powerful one at that. The most common marks do common things, of course, but they can be quite powerful. For instance, Jhank'kor's mark (BTW Gy-Nath is a psion too, if he didn't want to show Jhank'kor's mark to Ya'shenn, he wouldn't have) is "Pain", but it is not only used to keep thralls in line, but to make them into thrall overseers by being able to project their pain.
Yes, that's a fair reading.
Anyway, Du is currently slaying dabus with impunity while worshipping the Lady of Pain... I mean, working his way to the sharpener's shop now, assuming K'dar did not have anything else to speak with the Rish about.'
Trias has exited the horrendous Plane of Exams, and walks the Cage once more.
Happy T-day to all my fellow americans. And happy ' second-to-last-thursday-in-November' to everybody else.
Heh, Thanksgiving isn't celebrated here, but happy day to you gringos!
Zimrazim, I'm really sorry to have given you a mission to be coordinated with a couple of guys who haven't been posting as much as I (and thee) would like.
This is an official shout out to Weishan and Trias, either post, or check in here OOC, or I will tell Zimrazim that Ya'shenn is in charge of the strike, with two slayers at her disposal. I have no desire to roll for your characters, but Zim has, in the past, mentioned a desire to post more, and I'd like the game to move along as well.
Here. I wasn't quite sure what to post. Regardless, I can post more in the future now that I've conquored RL.
RL?
Real Life. I don't like saying it. I might get it's atention again.
Yea, yikes. Don't wanna summon that demon here.
In case anyone should be wondering, Du'minh is just waiting for the telepathic green light from Team Mim now.
If they haven't located their mark by the time I leave on saturday, Azure should feel free to have Du'minh act out his part when the time comes, so as to not slow down the game unneeded.
I know, I can't help myself, but I've been running the puns lately. I'm surprized nobody's called me on 'em before.
That's right I got around the him/her debate, by making Mim bishonen.
Hi, all. Right now, my computer is extremely broken. I think it's the memory controller. New computer either finally shipped today or will be shipped tomorrow, I think. (If I'm lucky, I'll have it by the weekend.) I will post as soon as I have a computer that stays up for more than 10 minutes at a time. Sorry for the delay. 
That's right I got around the him/her debate, by making Mim bishonen.
New computer! Yay!!! :mrgreen: :shock: :mrgreen: 
:mrgreen:
OK, 2 questions for le DM:
1) Does the shop have a lot of shop windows (i.e. is it really easy for random people outside to see inside the store), and
2) Does the door happen to have a lock, 'Out to Lunch' sign, etc. (Ya'shenn isn't inside right now, but could probably just ask Daraz)
Edit: Actually, make it 3. If it comes up, I'm assuming that Ya'shenn has at least some ability to disguise her voice, though I'm not sure whether that falls under Bluff or a different skill in game-mechanics terms.
1) Does the shop have a lot of shop windows (i.e. is it really easy for random people outside to see inside the store), and
2) Does the door happen to have a lock, 'Out to Lunch' sign, etc. (Ya'shenn isn't inside right now, but could probably just ask Daraz)
Edit: Actually, make it 3. If it comes up, I'm assuming that Ya'shenn has at least some ability to disguise her voice, though I'm not sure whether that falls under Bluff or a different skill in game-mechanics terms.
1) No. It's not that kind of shop.
2) Yes. In fact, it is a very stout door with three locks and a wooden bar that drops down.
3) Bluff. You need only roll once per encounter, for when you first speak.
That's right I got around the him/her debate, by making Mim bishonen.
The ambiguously gendered guys in Anime, yea. I don't know about pointy-eared tree huggers, tho.
This is to test some colors.
This is to test some colors.
This is to test some colors.
AHHH!!! MY EYES!!
Are these your ghaik telepathy colors?
I'd think that would be mind flayer mauve.
Have fun casting Color Spray spells while I'm gone, see you all in about 10-11 days!
Well, you will notice that I alluded to fairly large gangs of gith orphans on the streets of Git'riban. They are probably socially invisible to people like the PCs. Heh, sort of like homeless youth in US society.