Repair Damage Power and Reduced Time

[BadGen]

I am trying to build a power that repair damage on objects.

I tried using the Healing advantage, but i couldn't find any official source that makes this work on inanimate objects. I found a suggestion on another thread to put a +100% enhancement "affects objects" and a -100% "affects objects only". But it is a little odd, cause there is a lot on Healing that don't make sense with working with objects, like the -2 for repeated attempts in 24 hours and the -2 for uncounscios subjects.

Then i saw the Haircut power on GURPS Thaumatology - Sorcery, and the One Task Only Limitation for TK. It would be awesome to have a power that enables the character to "magically" repair an object based on the skill of the character. But, on the power description says it has the Reduced Time Enhancement "to shorten a 10-minute haircut to one second, which was chosen because it costs the same as an Average technique to buy off the ‑10 for 'instant use'". It seems to me that it can't work well with the TK Advantage, and i couldn't find any reference to the -10 penalty fo "instant use" (unless he is referring to the instant use penalty for the Warp Advantage).

Kromm said that you can't put Reduced Time on TK here

Originally Posted by Kromm

It's crucial to note that, as p. B92 spells out, Telekinesis requires "constant concentration to use" rather than "a Concentrate maneuver to activate." Reduced Time explicitly states, "You may only add this enhancement to abilities that require time to activate." The wording isn't random; activation is one thing, use is quite another. This is why Reduced Time also states in no uncertain terms that you cannot add Reduced Time to attack powers -- those aren't activated, but used via a maneuver such as All-Out Attack, Attack, or Move and Attack.

A GM could allow a +70% enhancement such as Second Nature (lifted from Clairsentience) or the more expensive form of Independent to make directing one's Telekinesis essentially a free action, but that would be the GM's call. At any rate, Reduced Time, +20% is both too cheap and clearly forbidden, while Reflexive, +40% would only be good for defensive uses. The canonical way to get physical actions as well as use of one's Telekinesis is, as others have said, through Compartmentalized Mind.

But PK says on this thread that it can be used with TK for speed lifting.

Originally Posted by PK

I should point out that GURPS Psionic Powers has an optional (cinematic) rule for TK, which allows Reduced Time but only to change how quickly you can lift something. So if something would normally take you 4 seconds to pick up, but you have Reduced Time 2, you can pick it up in one second. Doesn't change the fact that you still must concentrate continually to use TK, of course.

I am reeeally lost here. Is there any way to repair an object with a power? Is it possible to use Reduced Time to speed-up other tasks with TK like on the Haircut power?

[Refplace]

Originally Posted by BadGen

I tried using the Healing advantage, but i couldn't find any official source that makes this work on inanimate objects. I found a suggestion on another thread to put a +100% enhancement "affects objects" and a -100% "affects objects only". But it is a little odd, cause there is a lot on Healing that don't make sense with working with objects, like the -2 for repeated attempts in 24 hours and the -2 for uncounscios subjects.

I would not allow -100% for objects only, I think the -50% comparison to Cybernetic is a better fit. Lower values for broader object categories.
Why do you think the -2 per 24 hours does not make sense? Its magic after all :)
And if you cant repair it right the first time, I can see multiple attempts being at a penalty.
Consider Reliable for more difficult repairs.

Originally Posted by BadGen

It seems to me that it can't work well with the TK Advantage, and i couldn't find any reference to the -10 penalty fo "instant use" (unless he is referring to the instant use penalty for the Warp Advantage).



But PK says on this thread that it can be used with TK for speed lifting.



I am reeeally lost here. Is there any way to repair an object with a power? Is it possible to use Reduced Time to speed-up other tasks with TK like on the Haircut power?

In this case I believe PK was figuring Temporary Enhancements for Reduced Time enhancement.
Its a case where two editors disagree on a rule, possibly PK is just making a specific case exception.

TK is good for fixing things as if you had the labor, and with Accessory perks the tools. But repairing damage without replacements parts is IMO beyond the scope of TK.
For repairs where your creating replacement parts or material I think Healing or a Snatcher variant is best.

[Anaraxes]

Originally Posted by BadGen

a lot on Healing that don't make sense with working with objects, like the -2 for repeated attempts in 24 hours and the -2 for uncounscios subjects.

Makes sense to me. All normal objects are unconscious, and, unlike people, can never give you information and feedback during the healing process. So they're always at -2 (until you run across some sentient, self-aware object).

I'd probably just say that healing objects gets a -2 per repeated attempt, resetting when the object is fully restored. The limit is mostly for game balance, but if there's any logic to a 24-hour reset, it would have something to do with the subject self-healing and so the situation changing and becoming easier. That's not going to happen with an object. You heal the easiest bits first, and then it just gets harder and harder, perhaps beyond your ability.

It would be awesome to have a power that enables the character to "magically" repair an object based on the skill of the character.

Requires (Attribute) Roll in Powers (p112) can also be used as Requires Skill Roll, substituting a Hard skill for the attribute. I like the idea of requiring appropriate crafting skills. (That's a common rule in GURPS for spells and abilities that create particular, useful objects. Anybody can make something vaguely like a sword -- but it's not necessarily a good one, You need skill for that.) It's also boring and unfair to actual craftspeople, gadgeteers, mechanics, etc, if the party magician can just do everything better than they can.

Is there any way to repair an object with a power? Is it possible to use Reduced Time to speed-up other tasks with TK like on the Haircut power?

I don't have a problem with starting with Healing. An alternative would be Control (Powers 90), which lets you shape your category of matter Create will also be useful when bits are missing. I'm not a huge fan of either of those in general, but they're there as catch-alls when nothing else fits.

TK doesn't have the ability to manipulating things on a very small scale (see the "pair of hands" metaphor). The campaign fluff text might classify abilities like heating things up as "telekinesis", but the GURPS TK ability isn't meant to let you move anything you can imagine, like speeding up atoms, or pulling two halves a uranium atom apart, or pushing all the air to one side of a room, or making metal and stone flow together. I'd let you use TK to do remote crafting (say, if you really have to blacksmith that Metal of Vile Evil inside the transparent magical insulating box) with the usual Blacksmithing skill. And you can probably think of ways for TK to be complementary to ordinary smithing, and so give a bonus. But it can't do things like meld a broken sword back together or fill in abraded leather or re-weave cloth (at least not any faster than you could move each thread by hand). Not really a good place to start for the images that the phrase "healing objects" conjures up for me.

Originally Posted by Refplace

I would not allow -100% for objects only

I think that's just to cancel out the +100% for "heal objects". That is, an ability that can heal objects but can't heal people is a net +0%, whereas an ability that can heal both objects and people is +100%.