>>
>>>...finding somebody who is Force-sensitive, psychic, and has the
>>>ability to handle magic is highly improbable.
>>
>>UF tends to follow one particular Discworld truism: million-to-one
>>chances come up nine times out of ten.
>>
>>>...the person in question would either have no life other than
>>>training, or be long-lived, on the order of two to three centuries,
>>>minimum.
>>
>>Not at all. Talent is inborn. Finding someone who -masters- all three,
>>now -that- takes some finding.
>>
>
>True enough, but I was looking at the time it would take to master all
>three.

While I won't deny that the idea of a person who's managed to go through training for all three disciplines is intriguing, it might be tougher to actually *write* this person. From my POV, this theoretical person is *way* too powerful unless you want to spend loads of time slapping on weaknesses to make them interesting. Does anybody *really* want to see a person who can handle *every* situation with an arsenal like that?

Look at it this way: If this person can't use The Force, then they'll use either magic or psionics. Two out of three "disciplines," I can see as being workable.

On a similar tangent, there *has* been an example of a person who isn't (and can never be) conversant with The Force, a condition called "Force-Blind." IIRC, that would be Washuu. As demonstrated in one of Red's fics, Washuu does not fall prey to The Voice (e.g., I am not here, you will cluck like a chicken, etc.). I'm guessing that this does *not* extend to actual physical manifestations of The Force (e.g., she *will* fry if someone tosses Force Lightning at her), unlike the Ysalamiri in the Zahn novels.

(BTW, can I get any hands on how much of a cheesy plot device that was?)

There is an idea I've toyed with, something called "Psi-dead." This goes in the opposite of psionics, in that the individual has almost *negative* psychic potential. I.e., this theoretical person cannot be scanned (the scan doesn't return anything) and cannot be hurt/manipulated via psionic means. This is a very good reason why Psi-Cops carry PPGs, just in case muttering "pain" over and over doesn't do anything. Theoretically, a well-trained psi-dead assassin with a Predator cloak (or similar concealment device) would take out a *lot* of Psi-Cops.

There would be, however, a catch. Manifestations of psi-dead individuals are unknown among humans (indeed, it's most likely not even in the human genome--and if it *were*, you can bet that the Corps would do everything to make sure it's *out* of the genome real fast), centering mostly on a small population of Zardons.

I guess what I'm trying to say here is that, while such a tri-talented character might be cool to think about, they would be a nightmare to write unless you handled them right. Balance things out in creating a character, and you'll save yourself ulcers and white hairs in the long run.

--DocMui