Re: [SGII] Psi Powers in Stargrunt

You wrote: 

>	Now the Terrans, on the other hand....	My inspiration for the 
Terran >Espers is a book entitled "Dream Baby", by (I think) Bruce 
McAllister, >which details the military use of psychics during the 
Vietnam War.  Yes, >it's fiction....  Anyway, McAllister's view of 
psychic powers is that they >are generally very passive (clairvoyance, 
heightened reaction time, >precognition), and are a survival mechanism 
triggered by deep stress. >Combat, in other words.  An additional 
source of inspiration was the very >brief use of Espers by Heinlein 
during "Starship Troopers", which gives us >a picture of Espers as an 
intelligence gathering tool--and a fragile tool, >at that.

It also reminds me of the usage of Sensitives in RAH's Future History 
(particularly the story If This Goes On--) as being really, really 
secure radios, but generally not fully functional humans.  "Crowded in 
behind me was a psychoperator and his crew of sensitives, eight women 
and a neurotic fourteen-year-old-boy." They operated by establishing a 
'channel' between them and a sensitive elsewhere, which was usually 
aided by hypnotics and possibly drugs.	Good rules, can't wait to see 
the Imperial Thoughtcasters.  :)  They of course wouldn't show in my 
normal background, but might make for an interesting change of pace, 
esp with the alien rules someone else posted.

John M. Atkinson