On 6/07/2014 10:06, Rouven Weinbach wrote:

> Psi helmets are mostly a waste of money, even in the Marches. Only the
> Zhodani ruling class (say, the top 10%) are psionics and they probably
> leave Paradise (eh....the Consulate) even less often than the average
> Zhodani. So yes, on rare occasions (maybe rich worlds) you will find a
> few psi-helmets but they are just as rare as the hazards of you being
> molested by a psion. Or in terms of demand and supply: If you are not
> regularly subject to psionics powers, or don't remember, or live to
> tell, then why bother buying a helmet?

I expect Zho Nobles to leave the Consulate rarely, but that /very/ few
of those that do except as deck swappers will be proles. The vast
majority, including all those with any autonomy will be indendants.
They're somewhat expendable, yet have enough invested in the system to
be unlikely to see any value in leaving it. Many of them will be trained
agents of various spy agencies, and /all/ Zhos who travel outside the
Consulate will be carefully debriefed when they return in case they saw
or heard something valuable.

Thus, when dealing with Zhos or working on worlds where they have a
presence psi helmets will be quite useful if you're doing something that
they might not like or might be interested in. Of course, on worlds
where wearing them is not a matter of routine having one marks you as a
person of interest, and as most Zho can't and won't be reading the
thoughts of everyone they see, most of the time if you're not dealing
with the Zhos just going about your business without one is 'good
enough'. Imperials, with their anti-psi paranoia might not see things
this way, of course. Others will likely be a bit more open, seeing as
they've been around Zhos since long before the suppressions, which were
an Imperial thing, not a universal thing.