Wiki Showcase: True Communion

When I created Communion, I divided it into three "types."  True Communion (originally just called "Communion," but one of my readers took to calling it "True Communion" in his game, and I've borrowed the name) represents the Communion of Super-Ego, the drive and impulse towards community, self-denial and judgment; it's that voice in your head that tells you "No" when you want something that you know you shouldn't have.

True Communion works the most like vanilla Divine Favor, though obviously it has shifted to a more psychic flavor to fit the psychic origins of powers in Psi-Wars.  Its self-denial means it requires a Pact limitation that pushes one towards rather traditional conceptions of holiness.  It also helps one connect to others, such as sharing the same language, or psychically contacting someone no matter how far away they are. It also denies others the use of psychic powers or even communion miracles (True Communion "says no.") to those it deems unworthy. It has a conception of worthiness, and helps the user judge that in others, to differentiate the outsider from the insider.

All forms of Communion grant a basic bonus to anyone who has unlocked them, and True Communion grants Meditative Psionics. That is, you can meditate for 8 hours to earn one energy reserve point for psychic powers.  There's no upper limit to how much you can have.  This might not seem like much, but there's no upper limit to how much you can have.  There's some True Communion saint on a swampy planet somewhere with several thousand psychic ER points built up ready to lay the smack down on some mouthy punk who complains that ships are too heavy to lift with your mind.  I did put a limit on how much you can spend, though.  You can waive that if you want a truly epic, one-time feat, of course.

The main updates to True Communion are Auras, Ghost-fighting powers, and some versions of Blessed that boost your IQ.

You can check out the updated form of True Communion here.

On the Morality of True Communion

A lot of readers chafe under the idea of "No morality in Psi-Wars," but I think they misunderstand my intent when I say that. I personally believe that, as a setting designer, it's not my job to instruct you, dear reader, on what should be Good vs Evil in your campaign.  I do not believe that your campaign shouldn't have good vs evil!  So, I write my material from as neutral a perspective as I can, and then try to provide you with the tools to help you tell the story you want to.  Nonetheless, this leads to people asking questions like:

"But True Communion is the Good form of Communion, right?"

Well...

"Yes, obviously, True Communion is the Good Form of Communion."

If you set aside my prattle about the Super-Ego, True Communion really does have all the trappings of the "Holy" side of Communion.  It uses the language of sanctity, it heals people, it rids the world of evil powers, it brings communities together.  It tends to have powers that bring light, warmth and comfort and requires you to have self-discipline to control.  If you want to be a space paladin or space cleric, you probably use True Communion.

I've seen a lot of people just ignore all the nuance I've introduced and just treat True Communion as basically the same as the Light Side of the Force and they are not doing it wrong.  That's a perfectly valid interpretation of True Communion.

"No, True Communion isn't good, it's about denial of self, which isn't the same thing"

On the other hand, if you really look at True Communion at face value, it's about the Super-Ego, which may not have your best interests at heart. It tends to elevate the community above the self, and the self is important, because that's you.  The Super-Ego is that part of you that says "No" when you want to eat some chocolate cake while you're on a diet, but it can go too far and tell you "No" when you want to eat while on a diet, and you're already underweight.  Judgement and self-denial can go too far.  Yes, the soldier who dies for his people is following True Communion, but so is the suicide bomber.

It also judges who is, and who is not, part of a community.  To paraphrase a meme that seems to be pervading the internet at the moment, True Communion "believes in tolerance, but does not tolerate the intolerant."  It seeks to "embrace everyone," true, but then it sets itself up as judge and jury over who gets to count as "everyone."  This is probably its greatest point of tension.  It celebrates life, but it's also totally fine with you executing "criminals" and going on crusades against "the Other" so long as it protects your community.  And it encourages you to die for your people while doing so.

True Communion tends to push back against ambition.  No single person can truly rule over others while embracing True Communion (as is visible in the themes of its paths), but that doesn't mean it can't be oppressive.  The cult with no clear leader, yet absolutely devoted to the idea of community and belonging and judging those who they think don't belong, is very typical of True Communion.  This can create a pervasive sense of uncertainty and fear, because everyone judges everyone else on who is "truly one of us," and if one steps out of line, True Communion itself casts them out.  This can be as generous or as tyrannical as the GM wishes.

Finally, True Communion tends to be a deeply conservative force, in the sense that once traditions have been decided upon, True Communion tends to want people to stick to those traditions.  A galaxy under the sway of True Communion would seek to revert to some communal golden age that never actually existed and might ruthlessly enforce those ancient traditions.  Those who seek to innovate, to push back against those traditions risk alienating themselves from the community, and thus from True Communion.

In this sense, we can see True Communion as "evil," or at least having the potential to be evil.  It is the Communion of the Inquisitor, of the Cult of Belonging, the tyranny of tradition, and the dissolution of the self into the greater community.  This is not to say that True Communion must be evil, but if you want a True Communion-following Villain, this is how you do it.