D&D 5E Hive mind help?

[Lanliss]

I am working on a race that works on a Hive mind, though not as directly as usual. Instead of the standard "what one knows, all know" the race will have a massive Mental Palace (more like a Mental castle built out of other, slightly smaller castles. Just a massive Mental construction, fueled by their collective mental power) that they all have access to, allowing them to meet and communicate across miles and planes.

If I were to let a player play such a creature, how do you think I should handle searching for information? A simple Intelligence check? A perception check, to see if they find a creature that has the info they want? Should I go all out and role play different members of the race they run into, or maybe have a kind of Info Bounty board in the Palace?

This feels like a fun and original idea, but I have not thought hard enough on the mechanical side.

 

[Goober4473]

Perhaps a Charisma (Persuasion) check to replace any "remember information" check?

 

[darjr]

Cool idea.

How about the character doesn't know. But someone else, an expert on the subject, 'takes over' and disseminates the info in their own voice and mannerisms. Sometimes (when there is a bad roll) somebody who is an expert on exactly the wrong thing 'shows up' or someone who would like the THINK they are an expert does.

 

[Ancalagon]

So it's almost like a "part time" hive mind?

Clearly this mind would have great skill for any type of knowledge checks. However, for every question asked the member would be expected to spend some time "contributing" to the hive mind. I could elaborate, but the problem is that it's a roleplaying penalty for a very strong mechanical benefit...

 

[Lanliss]

Cool idea.

How about the character doesn't know. But someone else, an expert on the subject, 'takes over' and disseminates the info in their own voice and mannerisms. Sometimes (when there is a bad roll) somebody who is an expert on exactly the wrong thing 'shows up' or someone who would like the THINK they are an expert does.

I don't think it will be that active of an access. More like a dream state thing, where they go to the Palace whenever they are asleep, allowing them to search for someone who might know the info during their rest, and a good roll might give them a kind of string to follow to the info they want. I am imagining them as a race of Scholars, and the Palace is their college, a place for polite discourse, and sharing of ideas.

I was thinking the subraces might be based on various actual scientific fields, like Engineering or Nuerobiology, with bonuses based on how that profession might tie into an adventuring life. For example, the Nuero subrace might have automatic proficiency in Insight. But none of that is relevant now that I think about it, I am getting off topic.

 

[Lanliss]

So it's almost like a "part time" hive mind?

Clearly this mind would have great skill for any type of knowledge checks. However, for every question asked the member would be expected to spend some time "contributing" to the hive mind. I could elaborate, but the problem is that it's a roleplaying penalty for a very strong mechanical benefit...

More like a college, where Information is freely available if you know where to look for it. You are of course expected to take some time recording the new facts you have learned, in case someone else could find them useful.

I wouldn't expect the Hive to know things like "What is the secret ritual of the BBEG", unless one of them had been close to said BBEG at some point. It would be more for things like "Is there a trustworthy pub in this city of thieves?" Or "What landmark around here could be called 'Grandpa's Nose?".

 

[not-so-newguy]

Perhaps the PC needs to designate a spot on the Prime Material plane where he/she can access this mental castle. The spot is created by a ritual that takes a week to complete. This should limit the usage a bit.

I would role play it at least one time. Thereafter, do appropriate skill knowledge checks with major proficiency bonus (+5) on any inquiry that the collective can potentially answer.

 

[Lanliss]

Ok, thought more on it, and have a few questions.

1) Do you think I could make this a Place in my world, accessible by anyone who can cast Astral Projection, or should it only be accessible by the members of this race, their bonus being that they can access it whenever, and regardless of if they can use magic?

2) should I only have one, or should I have multiple Hives, with their own schools of thought?

2a) if I do that, how should the separate schools be reached? Focusing on a specific constellation when you sleep? Burning a specific herb, depending on the school you want to reach? Food for thought.

3) I have seen Psionics mentioned a few times on here. Would this idea work for them, or are they more of a wild mental power, with little control? Do not know their lore well enough, but if this fits them I might use it as a way to give my players another class choice.

 

[MarkB]

The tricky part of this concept is that if you devote significant game-time to it, it becomes like the Hacker in a cyberpunk setting - it's a really cool ability in concept, but it requires a lot of extended scenes in which only a single player is participating.

Allowing the other PCs to access the Mindscape along with this character, maybe through some form of touch-telepathy, would alleviate this issue, allowing everyone to participate if some form of extended exploration of the shared consciousness was required.

For occasions which don't warrant such detailed exploration, maybe just give the character a simple mechanical benefit, like they roll knowledge-based checks with advantage, and can make the check even if the subject is outside the character's personal experience.

One potential cool twist to this concept would be to have one of the main antagonists be a member of the same race, and for them to gradually realise that they are competing to find the same information, leading to conflicts within the Mindscape as each side seeks to deny the other access to certain information.

 

[Ath'kethin]

Color me old school, but if make it a percentile roll. In essence: what is the chance that somebody in the palace knows the information the character is seeking?

Simple, elegant, doesn't eat up a whole bunch of the non-parricipating characters' time.