#Lesson "So You Can Read Minds..."

First of all, that doesn't mean you know everything. You simply know what the character is thinking, and as you know, not everyone is thinking the same thing all the time.

Second: as always, keep it balanced. What is the price of your ability?

Too often I have seen a character walk up and tell you everything in your biography and then say "I'm psychic!"! Well, isn't that nice? And the character was thinking about their entire life story, and you just happened to be reading their mind at the time? How convenient.

I can think of a few problems with this ability. Either you can't turn it off and you hear the thoughts of everyone around you all the time, and it become background noise you have to focus to really hear, or it is an ability you have to focus to use. In either case, you wouldn't use it unless a character interested you in some way enough that you would be interested in what they were thinking.

Another way that I can think of balancing this out is simply: Common thoughts are closer to the top, and the deeper you go, the more resistance there is.

Whichever way you go, in order to play a psychic character well and enjoyably for all involved, you should include that you are psychic in your bio and be in constant contact with the writer. Assuming you know everything about them is just bad form. Characters have different priorities, so things like their name could be an important secret; or, they could have some way to counter it.

-Questions?- ask.fm/ProfessorRP

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