Hey all!

I was just wondering, since it came up in my campaign last night, how do you GMs all deal with Telepathic powers ingame?

Reason for asking is, last night in my campaign, our Telepath knocked a mechanic out and tried to mindscan him to track down the location of an Apothocary. Now, I didn't want to do the:
"You beat him in the Opposed WP test, you learn so-and-so etc etc".

So I had the Psyker transferred to..a sort of dreamscape, he was standing in a metal room, but he was the mechanic. I can paste the text about what transpired:

GM:You're standing in a drab, grey metallic room
Frost lines the walls and you walk over to a dresser, pulling a nametag from the top, the name "Petr Hert" glittters
You pin it to your dark grey robes, looking foreward to the evening, there's a game at the arena. You should probably jog to work, but you really can't be bothered. The sofa in the corner of the room looks awfully appealing, the bag of grox rinds calling to you
GM:Level 2
GM:45, 1 DoF
GM:pass
Psyker: 45 as well?! what are the odds.
Psyker: like...one in a hundred or something more
GM: hehe
Psyker: right, so I passed
GM: Someone knocks at the door, you go over to it, a Psyker is standing there, his badge reads "Ivan Blackheart", you sneer at him, slamming the door in his face. The vox line rings, you answer it; "Hey Petr, It's Shmidt, listen, you at the game tonight? I'll see you there, afterwards I was thinking we could go and meet the guys? Same place as last time." You smile, looking foreward to meeting the guys at the place
GM: Level 3
Psyker: ..06
GM: Nifty
Psyker: failed, rerolled, passed with a 9 so 5dos
Psyker: no fateness return
GM: You smile; "Sure, last time was great, I'll seeya at the Arena. Can we meet somewhere better? Behind the meat vendor was disgusting..." The voice at the other end of the line laughs; "No Petr, behind the meat vendor. Same, every midweek evening." You nod; "Fine, seeya there." You hand up and head over to your computer terminal, tappping the password in; "Yvanst". You check to see if you have any messages, none. Not even from Jess. That's a shame, you had a good time at the arena with her...
GM: Level 5
Psyker: 16, 5dos
GM: 13
GM: Bam!
Psyker: So..it ends there
GM: The doorbell rings again, you pull it open. You scream as a beast, easily 3 metres tall with 6inch claws breaks through the doorframe, it picks you up and tears you in half, blood spurts everywhere

The idea was our Psyker (Ivan Blackheart) was in the Mechanics dream and the thing at the end was 2 things, 1, the mechanics nightmares made manifest and 2, the beast the acolytes will soon be facing in said arena.

So yeah, how do you GMs deal with telepathic powers ingame?

Well, did had this before but funny thing: I re-read the rules some minutes ago...

I would not play this as a "dream sequence". Instead, I would descripe to the psyker visions he grants from his contact with "self" of the other person. If the achieved stage of contact allows for it, he can ask to find certain informations.

That (the sequence from the original post) is pretty much what I would have suggested for the situation in question.

I had to consider, when we moved to this game from my Star Wars campaign (not directly from one to the other, but it was the game on everyone's mind, still) how to address the flavor of Psyker powers so as to make them as different from the Force as possible. The Perils and other effects help, but they don't occur often enough to really flavor the science as a whole. So, when the group's Psyker (who also happened to play the Consular Jedi in the old game) likened the powers I told him that the Warp was similar to the Force, only full of nails .

Even when a 9 is not rolled to manifest, I describe the dreadful and disturbing occurances that accompany the psykic manifestations. Healing powers are agonizing as they force the body to knit itself back together, stretching flesh and drying out wounds, potential infections fill with maggots and veins vibrate like the catgut strings of a harp; Fear powers cause tremors in those nearby, they sweat and have flashbacks to horrible moments in their lives, with the promise of nightmares the coming night; Spectral Hands summons forth demonic limbs, terrible and malformed as if they were the only manifest part of a demon doing your bidding ... the hands seem violent and hungry and the strain of controlling them is almost maddening ...

Telepathic powers are, on the average, invasive - simulteniously repulsive and compelling - the act of forcing your will into another individual is akin to **** and the temptation to go a little deeper, take a little more, is ever present. It is a disturbingly intimate thing and the act of invading the minds of others can quickly become addictive; in fact "Mind ****" is one of the crimes commonly leveled against psykers by the Ordo Hereticus.

Also, the act of touching another person's mind with the power of the warp can leave a lasting impression upon them ... most of whom have never come so close to the wretched void themselves. This may manifest in facial ticks, tremors in the hands, burst blood vessels in the eyes, bleeding from the nose or ear, premature greying, sleeplessness and nightmares, etc.

In general it is my opinion that the Psyker should be the most disturbing person in your party.

Ahh, I see ^^

I only did it as a dream sequence this time ebcause the victim was infact, unconcious (not sure if you dream while unconcious, I'd imagine you do since it's essentialy sleeping...)

Jack of Tears said:

"Mind ****" eh? If anyone has ever played the Xenosaga games (not the old PS version) I could imagine a scene similar between Albedo and Momo where he frightens her by showing off his particular talents with regeneration and a harrowing speech that took her fragile mind and smashed it peices....

*Gets some really awesome ideas*