Post by Zib on Dec 21, 2010 18:37:39 GMT -6
Only involves only characters who are psychic. Here are a few bits of information you'll need to know in order to play with your psychic-ness properly.
- Each character has always had this gift, though some may be discovering it for the first time. In the case of Dorian Zibowsky, the ability to manipulate other objects with his mind has always been present and apparent.
- Yes, the psychic powers do extend to predicting the future and the like, and all characters can see "ghosts." However, the former ability is ridiculously hard to use correctly (you'll often get misleading information when your character tries to divine something), and the latter is not something your character would want to discover. Firstly, all the divining a psychic will do takes place in his dreams -- unless he has a really active imagination, his chances of having visions consciously are virtually nonexistent. Secondly, most information divined will be completely unreliable if the psychic has not learned to distinguish between true symbols and false symbols (Visions are made up entirely of symbols and are basically dreams that define whatever subject the psychic chooses -- if it's all banana-based, there will be symbols in the dream that define that banana; that banana's future, past, present, romantic relationships, etc. Whatever pops up is what you get.). As for ghosts, psychics generally see them all, but ghosts are not to be approached. Some may act completely passive at first, and a few may actually converse with your character. But keep in mind, every ghost will eventually turn on you, whether immediately or years thereafter. If you expose any personal information, it will use it against you; telling a ghost your name will force you to change your name lest you want the ghost finding you every time someone so much as thinks your name. Telling a ghost your address will allow the ghost into your home -- you'll likely have to move. Now, ghosts really don't seem like the ghosts people used to be familiar with. The ghosts in Only are more like demons, as they are inherently evil. Yet some seem to be no more than scenes from the past that constantly replay themselves over and over. Ghosts can also possess a psychic for an indefinite period of time, and it takes a lot of work to exorcise it, especially once the ghost figures out how to use the psychic's gift. Finally, a ghost never looks the same to any two psychic. To Zib, a ghost might look like a lady in a red dress, while John over here might be looking at a 1776 war general. On the same token, ghosts never change their appearance -- to Zib, Four will always be the red-dress lady. To save a lot of confusion, Dorian and his former partner used to label ghosts by number.
- While psychics can move objects with their mind, it is not a terribly easy thing to do. Dice are particularly easy because of their geometric shape. They are cubes, which is a very easy shape for the mind to grasp. A duck, on the other hand, would be quite difficult to control, because ducks are not simple shapes. You see, in order to have control over an object, a psychic must completely comprehend the object, which involves completely understanding every bit of it. Zib does this by imagining a glowing frame around the object and filling the frame with. . . whatever that glowing stuff is. This is how he gets a good "feel" of the subject. Now, does something like this takes a while, so your character won't be tossing cars like so much confetti or stopping speeding bullets with his mind on the first day. The fact is, it takes time and practice to develop the gift into a useful skill.
- The population of the world is precisely 200. Your character is not likely at all to find anyone quickly. A person in Only would be lucky to find even one other person in his lifetime. It would take some serious work to find a survivor, not to mention that most would not easily believe that they aren't each the only person left in the world. In fact, before Zib met his partner, he believed that he was the only person still alive anywhere.
- Each character has always had this gift, though some may be discovering it for the first time. In the case of Dorian Zibowsky, the ability to manipulate other objects with his mind has always been present and apparent.
- Yes, the psychic powers do extend to predicting the future and the like, and all characters can see "ghosts." However, the former ability is ridiculously hard to use correctly (you'll often get misleading information when your character tries to divine something), and the latter is not something your character would want to discover. Firstly, all the divining a psychic will do takes place in his dreams -- unless he has a really active imagination, his chances of having visions consciously are virtually nonexistent. Secondly, most information divined will be completely unreliable if the psychic has not learned to distinguish between true symbols and false symbols (Visions are made up entirely of symbols and are basically dreams that define whatever subject the psychic chooses -- if it's all banana-based, there will be symbols in the dream that define that banana; that banana's future, past, present, romantic relationships, etc. Whatever pops up is what you get.). As for ghosts, psychics generally see them all, but ghosts are not to be approached. Some may act completely passive at first, and a few may actually converse with your character. But keep in mind, every ghost will eventually turn on you, whether immediately or years thereafter. If you expose any personal information, it will use it against you; telling a ghost your name will force you to change your name lest you want the ghost finding you every time someone so much as thinks your name. Telling a ghost your address will allow the ghost into your home -- you'll likely have to move. Now, ghosts really don't seem like the ghosts people used to be familiar with. The ghosts in Only are more like demons, as they are inherently evil. Yet some seem to be no more than scenes from the past that constantly replay themselves over and over. Ghosts can also possess a psychic for an indefinite period of time, and it takes a lot of work to exorcise it, especially once the ghost figures out how to use the psychic's gift. Finally, a ghost never looks the same to any two psychic. To Zib, a ghost might look like a lady in a red dress, while John over here might be looking at a 1776 war general. On the same token, ghosts never change their appearance -- to Zib, Four will always be the red-dress lady. To save a lot of confusion, Dorian and his former partner used to label ghosts by number.
- While psychics can move objects with their mind, it is not a terribly easy thing to do. Dice are particularly easy because of their geometric shape. They are cubes, which is a very easy shape for the mind to grasp. A duck, on the other hand, would be quite difficult to control, because ducks are not simple shapes. You see, in order to have control over an object, a psychic must completely comprehend the object, which involves completely understanding every bit of it. Zib does this by imagining a glowing frame around the object and filling the frame with. . . whatever that glowing stuff is. This is how he gets a good "feel" of the subject. Now, does something like this takes a while, so your character won't be tossing cars like so much confetti or stopping speeding bullets with his mind on the first day. The fact is, it takes time and practice to develop the gift into a useful skill.
- The population of the world is precisely 200. Your character is not likely at all to find anyone quickly. A person in Only would be lucky to find even one other person in his lifetime. It would take some serious work to find a survivor, not to mention that most would not easily believe that they aren't each the only person left in the world. In fact, before Zib met his partner, he believed that he was the only person still alive anywhere.