Telepathy Question

[Yogibear41]

I know Telepathy lets one communicate with anything within its range, but does it also make you aware of something that you didn't know was there if it has a sufficient intelligence.

I was poking around in some books and came across the Canoloth in MM3 which is blind but has a blindsight of 40 ft and a telepathy of 100 ft. Would it then know that something was approaching it? Or is it basically completely unaware until something is within 40 ft of it. (assuming it doesn't hear or smell it from farther away)

[Emperor Tippy]

No, you can communicate with anyone that is within range and who you know about. If you want to be able to detect them then you need the feat Mindsight.

[Yogibear41]

That feat seems to ring a bell in my head,is it in lords of madness maybe?


EDIT: Yep found it, thanks.

[Segev]

It is.

Though I will disagree with one thing stated by another poster: you don't necessarily need to KNOW they're there to communicate. You could always think "out loud," "Hey, Bob, if you can 'hear' this, I just got to your front door," rather than knocking.

[Red Fel]

Telepathy is a form of communication, like speaking, except that while it requires the subject to have a language, it does not specifically require you to speak it. There is nothing that says you have to know someone is there to speak at them. As Segev noted, you can simply "think out loud."

[Chronos]

Likewise, a creature near you could "think out loud" something like "Hey, if there's anyone telepathic nearby who can hear this, I'm paralyzed and need help".

[Ansem]

I know Telepathy lets one communicate with anything within its range, but does it also make you aware of something that you didn't know was there if it has a sufficient intelligence.

I was poking around in some books and came across the Canoloth in MM3 which is blind but has a blindsight of 40 ft and a telepathy of 100 ft. Would it then know that something was approaching it? Or is it basically completely unaware until something is within 40 ft of it. (assuming it doesn't hear or smell it from farther away)

Mindsight feat, you are aware of anything with an intelligence within the range of your telepathy. You however do not know what the mind does or who/what it is.

[Dawgmoah]

Mindsight feat, you are aware of anything with an intelligence within the range of your telepathy. You however do not know what the mind does or who/what it is.

"There are five creatures I sense in the bushes over there along the dell. They can be either ogres or small frogs: can't be sure from their thoughts."

[peacenlove]

Mindsight feat, you are aware of anything with an intelligence within the range of your telepathy. You however do not know what the mind does or who/what it is.

The feat specifically reveals to you their creature type and intelligence score (but they still have 100% concealment IIRC).
New question: Don't you need line of effect and/or sight to communicate with someone via telepathy and/or detect him with the feat?

[Segev]

New question: Don't you need line of effect and/or sight to communicate with someone via telepathy and/or detect him with the feat?

No. Not unless your specific ability says you do. Telepathy, by default, works within its radius. I don't even think it's blocked by the various scry-blocking materials (lead sheets, stone a foot thick or more, etc.)

[peacenlove]

No. Not unless your specific ability says you do. Telepathy, by default, works within its radius. I don't even think it's blocked by the various scry-blocking materials (lead sheets, stone a foot thick or more, etc.)

It is not a divination effect (should be IMO) so it is logical but Mindsight inherits from Blindsense I think so it must have LoE at least.

[Segev]

It is not a divination effect (should be IMO) so it is logical but Mindsight inherits from Blindsense I think so it must have LoE at least.

AFB at the moment; where do you see it "inherit" from Blindsense?

[Karnith]

AFB at the moment; where do you see it "inherit" from Blindsense?
Mindsight works "much like blindsense," according to the feat description. Per Lords of Madness:

Benefit: 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. This works much like blindsense--the creature knows what square each thinking being is in, but it does not see the being, and the being still has total concealment unless the creature can see it by some other means. The creature also perceives several observable characteristics about each being detected with mindsight, including the being's type and Intelligence score. The creature need not take any additional or special actions to gain this information; it is as obvious to mindsight as the being's race and clothing would be to eyesight.(Emphasis mine)

This does not mean that it inherits blindsense's line of effect requirement, though, since the feat immediately specifies what about it works like blindsense, and requiring line of effect is not one of the specifications. Were it to explicitly inherit all of Blindsense's restrictions, it would need to say something to the effect of "This ability functions as blindsense, except..."

[peacenlove]

Were it to explicitly inherit all of Blindsense's restrictions, it would need to say something to the effect of "This ability functions as blindsense, except..."

Gotcha, confused the language. Thanks!