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View Full Version : World building - society of natural born lethal psychics



Bulhakov
2016-06-14, 05:10 AM
The setting is generic feudal fantasy. I'm looking for ideas on how an isolated society would develop if any adult in it has a natural ability to kill anyone just by looking at them with a conscious intent to kill. The effect is instantaneous and just makes someone disappear with a "pop" (there's religious debate if someone is killed or just teleported/pushed to another dimension). Objects can be made to disappear as well. Experienced psychics can "depop" several persons at once or even larger structures, but anyone can be easily killed in just a blink of an eye (all it takes is to be seen and for someone to will it, turns out even blind persons can cause the effect if they can somehow pinpoint the target by hearing or touch).

I'm most interested in ideas of how the natural structure of such a society would develop. Would it keep feudal, turn into a peaceful utopia or maybe some form of a paranoid dystopia. What kind of law enforcement could be practiced (assuming low-level magic is available, but nothing that protects from the "killing gaze")? Could religion/superstition or shame/outcasting be used to help keep the society under control?

Finally, I'm looking for ideas for interactions with strangers arriving into the society, especially once it turns out that the outsiders are immune to the whole "depopping" (their gear and items as well).

Phoenixguard09
2016-06-14, 06:14 AM
I would imagine their society would be, to outsiders, mired in protocol and politesse to the extreme. I'd say that actually doing it is seen as a major social faux pas and that one of who 'fell to temptation' so to speak would be treated as a pariah.

With that said, I'd be concerned about children or teens having this ability. There's a good chance you'd have parents dying left, right and centre. Or a society of people who feel they are completely entitled to whatever they want because who is going to stop them?

Very interesting exercise.

Elfbird
2016-06-14, 06:46 PM
Have a gander at the anime From the New World (Shinsekai Yori); at least the first half explores this very topic.
In short, the entire society is basically one big conspiracy, using psychological conditioning, hypnosis techniques, and genetic alterations to prevent everyone from killing each other. When the system fails and a murderer gets loose... it's bad. Also, lots of repressed urges that get directed toward anything nonviolent or nonhuman.

Your last two clauses add some interesting twists. For law enforcement and personal safety, I'd think that stealth spells would be the most valuable - you can't stop the killing gaze, but you can make yourself excessively difficult to target. Maybe a society of hermits, where people actively avoid each other, meticulously plan their schedules so they won't see acquaintances on the street, and making eye contact (even non-harmfully) is the ultimate taboo? It might also be common to see people with (self-inflicted?) injuries to their eyes and ears, if they can't take the pressure or accidentally killed someone in the past.

Outsiders who are immune to the killing gaze would probably be either beloved or reviled, depending on who you ask. Some would be desperate for the company of other people with whom they can safely interact, while others would feel terrified and threatened at that violation of the status quo. Not to mention the countless cultural values and social observations that outsiders would completely trample in their ignorance...
Or did you mean that outsiders can be popped, but not brought back? In that case, there would probably be a lot of warning signs and dangerous obstacles on the approach to this area, and stories of the brave and foolhardy who ignored them, never to be seen again.

PersonMan
2016-06-15, 02:28 AM
If outsiders are immune to the effect, I imagine that contact with people who learn this could result in a very quick conquest. After all, why would a society develop weapons or armor (beyond a few spears for hunting, knives for various tasks, etc.) when anyone can instantly kill anyone they see?

Bulhakov
2016-06-15, 06:13 PM
I like the idea of extreme politeness and protocol, as well as shame being the main deterrent to crime. (I gave the power only to adults to avoid the problem of children lashing out)

My idea for the plot was something close to the above suggestions, with the immune outsiders serving as the "spark" to the powder keg (e.g. with one side wanting to kill the outsiders at all cost to protect the society, while the other advocating non-violence and fearing a chain-reaction of killings).

Coidzor
2016-06-15, 07:21 PM
There would be no society. There would be isolated individuals who only communicate through proxies and the occasional breeding pair.

J-H
2016-06-15, 07:36 PM
I like the idea of extreme politeness and protocol, as well as shame being the main deterrent to crime. (I gave the power only to adults to avoid the problem of children lashing out)

My idea for the plot was something close to the above suggestions, with the immune outsiders serving as the "spark" to the powder keg (e.g. with one side wanting to kill the outsiders at all cost to protect the society, while the other advocating non-violence and fearing a chain-reaction of killings).

About right, assuming that the people involved are rational actors. "An armed society is a polite society." -Robert Heinlein
His novel Beyond This Horizon is set in a future world where genetic engineering and long-term breeding projects have improved most people (no sickness, eyesight, etc.), and in which many adults (men in particular) carry arms openly. Those who do (or who choose to not, don't recall which) wear an armband indicating their status. There's a two-tier social system where people who bear arms are higher status, but also have their social behaviors more circumscribed with specific and widely spread codes of behavior and politeness. Unarmed people can get away with more rudeness and the like because they are not at the fully adult state of being 100% responsible for their actions and the consequences of their actions. A guy from the 1930s or 40s is unfrozen and dropped into this society, and re-introduces football. He's not the main character, though.
Don't expect awesome characterization, but it's an interesting thought experiment (true science fiction) on several different fronts.

Lvl 2 Expert
2016-06-16, 12:04 AM
Aaaaah, so that's "what it takes to be a citizen".

I get why in Starship Troopers they need to join the infantry now.

(Yes, I'm joking. Also: I love that movie. And no amount of telling me about silly power armor or actually half decent ideas can convince me to think otherwise.)

Honest Tiefling
2016-06-16, 12:16 PM
With that said, I'd be concerned about children or teens having this ability. There's a good chance you'd have parents dying left, right and centre. Or a society of people who feel they are completely entitled to whatever they want because who is going to stop them?

Yeah, I'm imagining a child with very poor control of this ability and making people they momentarily angry at disappear and then regretting it...Or making life saving objects disappear as well. Maybe it should come online in adulthood...

Also, I imagine that if I were a part of this society, I'd get the hell out of dodge. I think I'll take my chances with the people I CAN defend myself against, because it seems like it would be really hard to stop people from making others disappear and then blaming it on someone else.

Another idea is that while these people cannot make outsiders go away, they have considerable psychic powers. So having one hanging around your court is a great idea and they can act like your spymaster. This would keep them away from their fellows, and put then in a place of prestige and possibly wealth. If they look like normal people they can blend in. If they look different, they can be yet another type of person to collect, hoard, and show off. And then you'd have people dressing up as this race to scare the living daylights out of the real psychics.

I imagine many religions based on this would probably treat it as a curse, where those closest to you can kill you with a thought and you're safer with outsiders that you have no kin ties to. In fact, I might steal this idea AS a curse, I've got a great idea for that...Permission to steal?

awa
2016-06-16, 11:45 PM
I think some people are overestimate the paranoia aspect. Just becuase someone could pull a gun and shoot me at any time doesn't mean i fear walking down the street people generally have no reason to want to harm me.

I could see a lot of emphasis on controlling your emotions and talking about your feelings where some one getting visible angry is seen as a huge deal equivalent to some one whipping out a gun.

Bulhakov
2016-06-20, 12:49 PM
I think some people are overestimate the paranoia aspect. Just becuase someone could pull a gun and shoot me at any time doesn't mean i fear walking down the street people generally have no reason to want to harm me.

I could see a lot of emphasis on controlling your emotions and talking about your feelings where some one getting visible angry is seen as a huge deal equivalent to some one whipping out a gun.

I think the paranoia might strongly depend on the history of the society (and we're creating it in this thread :) ). It might take just a single psychic-killing spree to amp the paranoia level "to 11".

The question is how will people around someone "whipping out gun" react, if basically everyone has a gun drawn already. I know the family/friends will probably try to calm such a person down, but any public outburst of anger might be suicide.

The Glyphstone
2016-06-20, 01:51 PM
Aaaaah, so that's "what it takes to be a citizen".

I get why in Starship Troopers they need to join the infantry now.

(Yes, I'm joking. Also: I love that movie. And no amount of telling me about silly power armor or actually half decent ideas can convince me to think otherwise.)

Starship troopers is a fun movie, don't feel bad. It's a terrible movie, and has nothing to do with the novel, but that doesn't make it any less fun in its own right.