Mindbender & Telepathy

[CyberSpyder]

This came up rather quickly in a new game...I have a character with a few levels of Mindbender from Tome & Blood, and I attempted to use the 1st level ability Telepathy to communicate with a creature trying to eat me. I assumed it provided two-way communication so that those I could talk to could talk back if they wished, but the GM didn't see it that way, and looking at the description again I'm not sure myself.

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

So, what do other people think? Does this mean back-and-forth communication is possible even with no shared language, or simply that I can talk at them? And perhaps more importantly, is there anything official which would indicate the former, if that is the correct interpretation?

 

[heimdall]

The way it's worded isn't clear and is up for interpretation by the DM based on the word "communicate." I would allow two-way communication because I interpret it as being able to talk back-and-forth, but I know a few DMs who wouldn't. They would say there are cases where one side can communicate but the other side can't communicate back. For instance, when I first learned Spanish I could read and comprehend spoken words just fine. Speaking back was a problem (I kept slipping into Japanese).

 

[Arkhandus]

Foolish DM. Telepathic communication is two-way. There's no use for one-way telepathy besides the occasional Sending or Message spell/power. Only a few psionic powers specifically state that they send one-way messages. Other than these, communication is two-way. It says so in the description of the Coutl and a few other critters with the ability (not all of them though, but I suppose it was assumed for the rest, i.e. mind flayers and such). Communicate does not usually mean one-way. The description would've said "can transmit telepathically" or "can send messages telepathically" otherwise. The definition of communicate, anyhow, from Dictionary.com, is
v. intr.

1. To have an interchange, as of ideas.

 

[Saeviomagy]

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

So, what do other people think? Does this mean back-and-forth communication is possible even with no shared language, or simply that I can talk at them? And perhaps more importantly, is there anything official which would indicate the former, if that is the correct interpretation?

It says communicate. To me communication is a two-way process. If it had meant one-way, then it probably wouldn't have used the word communicate, and would have gone with something like "speak into the minds of".

 

[CyberSpyder]

Other than these, communication is two-way. It says so in the description of the Coutl and a few other critters with the ability (not all of them though, but I suppose it was assumed for the rest, i.e. mind flayers and such). Communicate does not usually mean one-way. The description would've said "can transmit telepathically" or "can send messages telepathically" otherwise.

This is likely particularly useful, as an official source - one can argue about whether the first dictionary definition is what was intended, and such, but if the first example of the ability in the monster manual is indeed two-way, I've got a pretty good case.