 November 19, 2014 - 10:34am | I have 40 gallons worth of Dragon and Dungeon magazines that I bought for $10 bucks at a yard sale and I occassionally skim them looking for ideas for FE fan zine. Spotted something in on article about psionics: Thought police It's an archetype for sci fi and we should explore the possibilities of developing an archetype article. Most of the archetype articles have presented 3 forms of the base archetype. For the thought police archetype I immediately came up with Family of One Inquisitor, and Star Law Interrorgator. Normally the archetype articles are presented as tied to a race: Vrusk Pistolero and etc but for this archetype I'm thinking it should be presented as race neutral: a Fo1 Inquisitor is without a doubt a yazirian and the dralasite lie detection ability and the vrusk comprehension ability are both uniquley suited for this archetype. or in the presentation fo specific expressions of the archetype it could be: yazirian Inquisitor, dralasite interrogator, and vrusk diplomatic attache? Have I missed other classic sci fi expressions of the thought police? Human councilor? ala Deanna Troy Menatlism may or may not be involved, though it should be covered in this archetype and I would recommend that mentalism be for NPCs but again each referee runs his own game. Psych-social is obviously an important skill set here. equipment considerations? I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers! |
November 26, 2014 - 6:29am | 3rd expression of the thought police archetype: Corporate Negotiator along with Religious inquisitor, and Star Law Interrogator. A Star Law Interrogator might be controversial in that the Intergalactic Union for the Civil Liberties of Sapient Beings would decry and challenge in court the practice of using a mind reading interrogator. I like the idea of the old Communist Party Commisars attached to military units. The Fo1 Inquisitor feels like that though. I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers! |
November 26, 2014 - 7:11am | It almost seems that any archetype discussion of thought police should tip the hat to Orwell's classic "1984" B5 invested a lot of story into the Psi-Corp theme Star Trek was more touchie feely about it with Deana Troy Gerry Anderson's Star Precint has a hoaky alien with a 3rd eye in the middle of the forehead that when the eye was openned the alien had Psi powers. I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers! |
 November 30, 2014 - 4:22am | Any idea of a thought police is on shaky ground, unless you embrace the idea that Star Law is pretty much part of an over-arching, Frontier-wide police state. Even inquisitors of some kind fall flat if religion is not the accepted and imposed norm across the Frontier. It seems to me that what might be needed instead are 'super' dralasites, i.e. dralasites that are particularly good at detecting lies. They would be very rare and much sought after. Similarly, there may be Vrusks who are extremely good at situational analysis. They can see things from a wide variety of angles and possible permutations in a manner that is exceptional. Again, they would be very rare and much sought after. |
 November 30, 2014 - 8:48am | I disagree with you KR, in that you can easily have thought police on a local scale. Like you go to Araks and their might get interogated by one. ----------------------------------------------- |
November 30, 2014 - 9:16am | Yes, it could exist on a local scale - but it would make it a very hard place to visit it you're from elsewhere. Think North Korea, but worse. |
November 30, 2014 - 9:31am | right... but not every place wants to be visited. You see the frontier as a very unified place... like its a single nation. I see it as a conferedation held together only by fear of the sathar. So not all the planets get along well together. In your frontier the central authoritiy could easily need these kinds of inquisitors to combat sathar agents... even find sathar agents who don't know they have been hyponotized and programmed. In mine, planets, or even countries on planets might be using them against each other... or the sathar. ----------------------------------------------- |
November 30, 2014 - 3:36pm | I don't see it as that cosy, as such. It's just that there's a general level of co-operation and interdependence. I don't think everyone's being forced to cower together just because of the Sathar. Yes, there are various problem areas but the 'default setting' is pretty stable and mutually co-operative because it promotes stability and trade. But if your version of the Frontier is more disperate and desperate, that's fair enough. As far as Sathar agents are concerned, the 'super' dralasite and vrusk I mentioned could help there. But of the agent is not aware that they are actually an agent, it'd be rather tricky to find that out, regardless of any mental powers. You'd need someone who can 'see' memories, and hope that the sathar have not emplaced various screen memories to cover things over. |
