Highmates are seriously dodgy.

[Duskmare]

Or anyone with the psychic bonding ability really. A small detail I missed when reading it initially is that a pawn with psychic bonding can force any other pawn to love them.

Just had a new pawn that arrived about half a day ago force an affair on one of my best colonists, who I would usually send out for trading, exploring ruins, etc.

Practical debuffs and whatnot aside... How is that not considered 'guilty'? He basically just gave my perfectly happily married colonist a date rape drug that turns them into a sex slave on the first day of meeting them.
There's not even an option to cut out whatever brain tumour it gave them to reverse the effect and free the colonist from mind control.

Naturally I stabbed the newcomer to death in their sleep and just have to deal with the entire colony having a -2 to -10 mood debuff for their 'friend' dying.
Plus the specific pawn that was psychically manipulated has - 10 for their 'friend' dying, -16 for their lover dying, and -25 for the psychic bond being torn. The first of which lasts 20 days, the other two for 30 days... So they'll basically be living break to break and will likely need 2x catharsis for +70 to function like a normal colonist.

I think I'm going to have a racist colony from now on... All highmates will be persecuted to the fullest. Dodgy space rapists.

[Khan Boyzitbig of Mercia]

A highmate in the wild is fairly questionable but they are supposed to be along the lines of a high class escort when in "proper" societies like Glitterworlds.

[Duskmare]

Originally posted by Khan Boyzitbig of Mercia:

A highmate in the wild is fairly questionable but they are supposed to be along the lines of a high class escort when in "proper" societies like Glitterworlds.

A likely story... The psychic bond being a one-person thing suggests they weren't really designed for standard escort work.

It's much more likely that's a cover story designed to hide their true purpose: Political manipulation.

I mean, they can just instantly seduce anyone! Manipulating them once they feel the strongest love they've ever felt before shouldn't be difficult, and even if they do find out about the spy/plant and kill them, they suffer a major mental break that will surely take them out of commission too.

It's not like they can just leave the highmate out of their dealings. If they try then they'd suffer the 'distance' penalty, finding it extremely hard to concentrate, working at 3/4 their normal speed and making more mistakes, plus just generally feeling more sad.

Plus, who knows how much the highmate has access to from their psychic link? Can they read your mind? Probably. "No secrets between soulmates, right?" sounds like a standard catchphrase they might use.

[Seal Enthusiast]

Originally posted by Duskmare:

A likely story... The psychic bond being a one-person thing suggests they weren't really designed for standard escort work.

It's much more likely that's a cover story designed to hide their true purpose: Political manipulation.

I mean, they can just instantly seduce anyone! Manipulating them once they feel the strongest love they've ever felt before shouldn't be difficult, and even if they do find out about the spy/plant and kill them, they suffer a major mental break that will surely take them out of commission too.

It's not like they can just leave the highmate out of their dealings. If they try then they'd suffer the 'distance' penalty, finding it extremely hard to concentrate, working at 3/4 their normal speed and making more mistakes, plus just generally feeling more sad.

Plus, who knows how much the highmate has access to from their psychic link? Can they read your mind? Probably. "No secrets between soulmates, right?" sounds like a standard catchphrase they might use.

Well now you know why most societies find them distasteful and dislike them within the context of the 'lore'. They are of course used for espionage, after all, when they were first introduced they were referred to as the 'playthings for the rich and powerful'. and many spies throughout history were similar such courtesans.

[SievertChaser]

The dev acknowledges the dodginess right in the fluff text, they just don't acknowledge that it goes both ways.

Anyway... yeah. They're up near the top of my list of "xenotypes not to be marked as preferred".

[Helios]

Originally posted by Duskmare:

Or anyone with the psychic bonding ability really. A small detail I missed when reading it initially is that a pawn with psychic bonding can force any other pawn to love them.

Just had a new pawn that arrived about half a day ago force an affair on one of my best colonists, who I would usually send out for trading, exploring ruins, etc.

Practical debuffs and whatnot aside... How is that not considered 'guilty'? He basically just gave my perfectly happily married colonist a date rape drug that turns them into a sex slave on the first day of meeting them.
There's not even an option to cut out whatever brain tumour it gave them to reverse the effect and free the colonist from mind control.

Naturally I stabbed the newcomer to death in their sleep and just have to deal with the entire colony having a -2 to -10 mood debuff for their 'friend' dying.
Plus the specific pawn that was psychically manipulated has - 10 for their 'friend' dying, -16 for their lover dying, and -25 for the psychic bond being torn. The first of which lasts 20 days, the other two for 30 days... So they'll basically be living break to break and will likely need 2x catharsis for +70 to function like a normal colonist.

I think I'm going to have a racist colony from now on... All highmates will be persecuted to the fullest. Dodgy space rapists.

Never had "unbound" highmates appear so far exept childs in beggar quest most of them were mates of enemy leaders for flawor it seems to prevent this you simply need to loook into the social of the new highmate if they have a partner they can only bound one time.

[PK_Thunder]

Shot on sight, every one of them.

[Ishan451]

Originally posted by Duskmare:

How is that not considered 'guilty'?

Well... it is a thought crime.... <ba-tush>

I'll see myself out :)

[Astasia]

Originally posted by Duskmare:

A small detail I missed when reading it initially is that a pawn with psychic bonding can force any other pawn to love them.

No they can't. They are beautiful which makes it easy for other pawns to form relations with them, but there is no special ability for them to "mind control" other pawns into starting a relationship with them. The psychic bond happens when they naturally form a relationship, it's not the thing that causes the relationship.

[Païtiti]

Just let them love you. Everbody deserves love!

[Duskmare]

Originally posted by Astasia:

Originally posted by Duskmare:

A small detail I missed when reading it initially is that a pawn with psychic bonding can force any other pawn to love them.

No they can't. They are beautiful which makes it easy for other pawns to form relations with them, but there is no special ability for them to "mind control" other pawns into starting a relationship with them. The psychic bond happens when they naturally form a relationship, it's not the thing that causes the relationship.

No, it literally says "romance attempts always succeed." under the psychic bonding description in the xenotype editor, or whenever you're looking at a pawns genes.
You can also command your pawns to attempt a romance. So if you have a highmate you can literally command them to 'influence' another colonist into a relationship.

You should check things before spouting nonsense and adding confusion to random discussions on online forums.

[Captiva]

As far as I know you cannot normally command your pawns to attempt a romance.

Either way I think having a debonder type tool or something would be helpful for this. Seems like something that should be in game. A one time use item that cuts any psychic bonds of the person used on.

[Choosechee]

Originally posted by Captiva:

As far as I know you cannot normally command your pawns to attempt a romance.

You can now. It's one of the features added in biotech.

[The Bunny In the Bush]

Originally posted by Captiva:

As far as I know you cannot normally command your pawns to attempt a romance.

Either way I think having a debonder type tool or something would be helpful for this. Seems like something that should be in game. A one time use item that cuts any psychic bonds of the person used on.

You can if you have biotech, its literally a rightclick option on other pawns

[Jaasrg]

Originally posted by Captiva:

As far as I know you cannot normally command your pawns to attempt a romance.

If only, getting real tired of seeing "can't romance (incest)" whenever I have parent selected and rmb their kid...

[Pizzarugi]

For highmates, if you happen to have a pawn who is single, force them to do a romance attempt since they can't bond more than once.

As much of a pain in the ass as it can be, the benefits of a psychic bond for mood are undeniable. You not only get almost permanent +10 from their opinion towards their partner, but gain some more from the bond itself. I tend to play with a very futurist ideology so my pawns have free and open relationships, making highmates a great colonist to have in order to raise moods without creating unwanted affairs.