Esoteric talents are unusual abilities characters may occasionally possess. These abilities are rare, and only available at the gamemaster’s discretion, even for characters who are innately telepathic and thus predisposed towards such mental powers.
Some character species (such as Aenar and Betazoids) have Empathy or Telepathy as part of their Species Ability. These function as the talents below, but the character does not have to use a talent slot.
Empathy
You can sense the emotions of most living beings nearby, and can communicate telepathically with other empaths and telepaths, as well as those with whom you are extremely familiar. You cannot choose not to sense the emotions of those nearby, except for those who are resistant to telepathy. It may require effort and a task to pick out the emotions of a specific individual in a crowd, or to block out the emotions of those nearby. Increase the Difficulty of this task if the situation is stressful, if there are a lot of beings present, if the target has resistance to telepathy, and other relevant factors.
Extrasensory Perception
You have an ability to perceive things beyond the normal limits of humanoid senses, allowing you to gain knowledge of people, places, and objects beyond your ability to sense them conventionally. This is known as extrasensory perception, or ESP. It is not directly under your control but instead tends to come in the form of accurate guesses, strong feelings, or flashes of insight. Such sensitivity often leaves you vulnerable to psychic dangers as well. At any point during play, you may ask the gamemaster for hints or insights about the current situation, and the gamemaster may similarly offer you information about the current situation that you would not normally be able to determine. Each hint adds 1 Threat, and you may always refuse to accept the hints offered.
Psychokinesis
You can manipulate and control objects using only the power of the mind. You may exert a psychic force upon an object within Close range equivalent to the force that you would normally be able to exert physically, though this takes concentration and cannot be done violently.
You may spend 1 Momentum (Immediate, Repeatable) to increase the magnitude of the force you apply, with each Momentum spent counting as an additional person’s worth of force applied (that is, you can move or manipulate objects that would take two people to move or manipulate by spending 1 Momentum). Momentum (Immediate) may also be spent to increase the range of this: 1 Momentum to affect objects in Medium range, 2 Momentum to affect objects at Long range, and gamemaster’s discretion for distances beyond. To apply force violently instead, add 1 Threat to make a Control + Security task with a Difficulty of 2 to strike an opponent (as a Ranged Attack), inflicting a Stun or Deadly Injury with a Severity of 3.
Telepathic Projection
REQUIREMENT: Telepathy
Your telepathic ability is more potent than most, and you are accustomed to projecting your thoughts into other minds. You can send your thoughts into the minds of other creatures—other than those immune to telepathy—even if those creatures are not telepathic themselves. You can ‘hear’ their responses by reading their minds. You are also capable of using this ability offensively, overwhelming a target’s mind with pain-inducing psychic noise. This requires a Presence + Security task with a Difficulty of 2 (increasing by 1 for each range category beyond Close); success inflicts a Stun or Deadly Injury with Severity 3 and the Piercing effect.
Telepathy
You can sense the surface thoughts and emotions of most living beings nearby, and can communicate telepathically with other empaths and telepaths, as well as those with whom you are extremely familiar. You cannot choose not to sense the emotions or read the surface thoughts of those nearby, except for those resistant to telepathy. It requires effort and a task to pick out the emotions or thoughts of a specific individual in a crowd, to search a creature’s mind for specific thoughts or memories, or to block out the minds of those nearby. Increase the Difficulty if the situation is stressful, if there are many beings present, if the target is resistant to telepathy, etc.