Complete Mage - Mindbender - Telepathy

[Metus]

Real straightforward question here, one I feel kind of foolish asking. The mindbender prestige class in Complete Mage (pg. 54) receives telepathy at first level, being able to communicate with any creature within 100 feet.

Is this communication two-way or one-way? Is the person (not mindbender) able to respond?

 

[Thanee]

Not sure how the Mindbender PrC from Complete Mage works, if it's reprinted there, but the Mindbender PrC from Complete Arcane allows two-way telepathy. The keyword here is communication, that's not quite possible with only a one-way line.

Bye
Thanee

 

[Sejs]

Two way, I'd say.

The way I handle it in my game is that there are essentially two modes of telepathic communication: targeted and broadcast. If you have telepathy, you can do either. If you don't have telepathy, the best you can do it 'think out loud'; broadcast... basically the mental version of shouting, which the telepath can hear and respond to. The hitch being that any telepath within range can hear you hollering your brain off.

Mindbender: Hey Rogue, what's the guardpost look like?

Rogue: THERE ARE TWO GUARDS! ONE JUST WENT INSIDE! THERE'S A PATROL THAT JUST WENT BY ABOUT 5 MINUTES AGO!

Mindbender: Okay, we'll move up and get into position. Just say when you think would be the best time to get past.

Rogue: OKAY, WILL DO!

Other Telepath: *looks up, curious, muttering to himself* ...the heck was that?

 

[Mistwell]

Real straightforward question here, one I feel kind of foolish asking. The mindbender prestige class in Complete Mage (pg. 54) receives telepathy at first level, being able to communicate with any creature within 100 feet.

Is this communication two-way or one-way? Is the person (not mindbender) able to respond?

I asked the Sage/CustServ this question about a year ago. Here is the Q&A:

First level Telepathy ability states:

"Telepathy (Su): A mindbender unlocks one of the most basic elements of his mental craft at 1st level, gaining the ability to communicate telepathically with any creature within 100 feet that has a language."

Question 1: Does it take a standard action to use this ability, or a free action, or something else?

Answer 1: Actually yes, since this is a supernatural ability, and it doesn't indicate in the description anywhere else that it takes less time, it does indeed take a standard action to communicate.

Question 2: Is the telepathy two-way or one-way? In other words, can I tell you something telepathically and receive a response back telepathically using this ability?

Answer 2: You can receive a response back from the individual that you're communicating with, telepathically.

Question 3a: Assuming it is two-way communication for all the sub-parts of this question, and that the mindbender character knows where the non-mindbender is, how does this two-way communication work? If a non-mindbender thinks something in the "direction" of the mindbender, does the mindbender automatically hear it, or does the mindbender have to be mentally "listening" to that specific non-mindbender character to hear the communication?

Answer 3a: The mindbender is assumed to be "listening" for possible communication. This doesn't take any action on the mindbender's part (apart from initiating the telepathic communication).

Question 3b: Is it some sort of skill check to see if the mindbender knows to "listen" with their ability to a particular individual?

Anwser 3b: No skill check is necessary.

Question 3c: How would a creature who does NOT wish to communicate with the mindbender prevent the mindbender from hearing it's thoughts if the mindbender establishes "communication" and "stays on the line" waiting for a response, as there is no save listed for that ability (though there is for the more powerful mind read ability)?

Answer 3c: The mindbender cannot hear the creature's thoughts in this manner, unless the creature consciously directs them toward the mindbender. This isn't a more advanced form of detect thoughts.

Question 3d: Can a mindbender establish communication without sending any message at all, and just wait for a "response" which would just be the form of thoughts?

Answer 3d: There is no precedence for this in the rules, so it would be up to your DM to adjudicate if this is possible or not. You would, at the very least, have to take a standard action simply to turn the ability on.

Question 4: Does this form of telepathy qualify the mindbender for the feat Mindsight (Lords of Madness page 126), which requires "Telepathy special quality"?

Answer 4: Yes it does.

(Note - For those curious, the Mindsight feat allows you to sense the 5-foot square creatures are in, their intelligence, and their type. It does not let you pinpoint their location however).

 

[Kadeity]

I know im bumping an ancient thread here, but i was looking for information on this combo and found the thread. I also noted that the last post said something untrue, and i wanted to correct it for the sake of others who were researching the same combination.

(Note - For those curious, the Mindsight feat allows you to sense the 5-foot square creatures are in, their intelligence, and their type. It does not let you pinpoint their location however).

(emphasis is mine)

That is just plain Untrue Mistwell, the first line of the feat Benefit says: "A creature that has this feat can detect and pinpoint beings that are not mindless (anything with an intelligence score of 1 or higher) within range of its telepathy.

just wanted to clarify.

 

[gleead]

@Kadeity:
While your quote is correct the very next sentence in the feat Benefit section compares the ability to blindsense, specifically referring to a resolution of "what square" and the retention of total concealment unless located by another means. I think the use of the word "pinpoint" in that first sentence is meant to be flavor text implying greater accuracy than simple directionality—the first sentence explains the ability in conventional terms, and the second translates it into game mechanics.