Ok, I have a question regarding the species talents. I noticed in the core book that Betazed characters are required to take at least one of the two species Talents (Telepath or Empath) during character creation. Supporting characters obviously don’t start with a talent, but there is the caveat that at least one of their talents has to be either the Telepath or Empath talent for their species.
That is the only species that I have seen (so far) with a requirement of at least one of the species talents. Are there other species that have a required talent that must be taken?
I noticed in one streamed roleplay that at least one game master required their players during character creation to take at least one of their species talents at the beginning of the lifepath creation. Considering that the only one I was aware of being a requirement was the Betazoid species, I did not fully agree with this method. To a degree it might make sense due to the linear creation path, but unless a species is required to take one of their talents, I do not wish to force a specific set of talents on my players if they qualify for many talents.
I wish to expand this question:
Because I am not a native English speaker, I may misunderstood something, but could a Betazoid learn both talent? Or is it like the Trill racial talents an either-or selection?
Empath is the ‘lower’ or weaker version of the talent. Telepath is the stronger version. It is similar to the Trill either/or selection in my opinion. A Telepath can do the same things that an Empath can, but the Empath can only read the thoughts of someone they are close to or other telepaths/empaths.
@StephenBirks, I believe the Telepath talent does state that it can read the emotions as well as thoughts. You are correct that the Empath can’t read thoughts, though.
I was wondering about those, actually. The Changeling one makes sense, but with the android, are both talents required, or is that a ‘must choose at least one during character creation’ deal?
Thank you for clarifying that in regards to Androids. I probably would have seen that eventually since I plan on getting the TNG crew supplement, but at the moment I don’t have it and I don’t know exactly when I will be getting it compared to when I will be starting my campaign with my players. If one of them wants to play an Android, that is very useful information.
Idk if my solution for Betazoid support character is correct:
A fresh introduce Support wouldn’t posses any talents, but could ‘show’ up to 4 talents, if he or reappears. A fresh introduce Betazoid posses the Empath talent, but could ‘learn’ only 3 more talents. But any time he appears instead of any other ‘advancement’ the players may replace the Empath talent with the Telepath talent.
What do you think?
A newly introduced Betazoid will not have either. IMO Leave it to the players to add either talent when the character is reintroduced. But yes, either way it eventually will have to have one of them and then 3 others.
They do cover this for Betazed characters in the core book. While your method could work if that is the way you wish to go, the way that they deal with this in the core book is as follows:
Betazoid characters act and appear like any other supporting character, however a Betazoid supporting character must take either the Empath or Telepath talent as one of the 4 talents taken for reappearing. (Treat it like other supporting characters, as long as one of the 4 talents chosen for reappearing is either Empath or Telepath. Could be taken first, or last. Does not matter what order as long as one of the 4 is the Species talent.)
Ok, sorry. It’s specifically listed in the Command Division. I just spent 10 minutes looking for it in the core book. LOL I knew I read it somewhere. Here is what it says on page 117 of the Command Division book regarding Betazoid supporting characters:
BETAZOID SUPPORTING CHARACTERS
Unlike most other species, Betazoid characters are required to take one of their species’ Talents. This conflicts with the Supporting Character rules, as a brand-new Supporting Character does not normally have Talents.
In this situation, a new Betazoid Supporting Character has no Talents. The character is assumed to have some unknown level of empathic or telepathic ability. Naturally, the character “knows”, but it’s unknown to everyone else because it hasn’t appeared in the game.
When reintroducing the same Betazoid character in subsequent missions, one of the Talents selected for the character must be one of the Betazoid species Talents. It doesn’t matter if it was the first Talent selected, or the fourth, as long as one of them a Betazoid Talent.
This applies to a Supporting Character from any species with one or more mandatory Talents.
Well, maybe, maybe not. Just means that the players could choose to make them a Telepath or Empath on the second time they are introduced or leave it a mystery until the very end…
