Mind Control (Emotions Only)

[martin_rook]

I have a player whose character has Mind Control (Emotions Only) -- I think it's exactly as written up in GURPS Powers (I don't have any reference material here with me). She hasn't used it yet, but I want to have a clear idea of what I think it can and can't do. (Hm, I should probably come up with a chart of emotions to help clarify...)

For example, could she use it to cause someone to feel fear, essentially acting like the Terror advantage? I'm leaning towards allowing this -- it makes sense and she paid more points that just getting the Terror advantage alone would.

On the other hand, I don't think I would let her use it to afflict someone with Ecstacy. To me, that seems less like an emotion and more like a biological response. Though, that makes me think that some of the response from Fright Checks or the Terror advantage has to do with adrenal glands as well as emotional or mental states, which brings me back to whether or not using it to inflict Terror would work.

Anyone have thoughts on what the guidelines are for controlling emotions should be?

[Refplace]

Alternate Abilities for Afflciitons like Ecstacy and such would be good but for just emotion control I would say they influence mood and choice but not disable. Though failed Will rolls may do that, depending on the emotion. Worse if there use to stack with disadvantages.
Lust on a character with Lecherous, Anger on a guy with Berserk, etc.

[David Johnston2]

Originally Posted by martin_rook

For example, could she use it to cause someone to feel fear, essentially acting like the Terror advantage?

I wouldn't use the Terror advantage for that. Instead I'd just have it make the character incapable of doing anything except running away or hiding and gives a penalty to the fright check if anything actually frightening happens.

On the other hand, I don't think I would let her use it to afflict someone with Ecstacy. To me, that seems less like an emotion and more like a biological response.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stendhal_syndrome

[jason taylor]

Originally Posted by martin_rook

I have a player whose character has Mind Control (Emotions Only) -- I think it's exactly as written up in GURPS Powers (I don't have any reference material here with me). She hasn't used it yet, but I want to have a clear idea of what I think it can and can't do. (Hm, I should probably come up with a chart of emotions to help clarify...)

For example, could she use it to cause someone to feel fear, essentially acting like the Terror advantage? I'm leaning towards allowing this -- it makes sense and she paid more points that just getting the Terror advantage alone would.

On the other hand, I don't think I would let her use it to afflict someone with Ecstacy. To me, that seems less like an emotion and more like a biological response. Though, that makes me think that some of the response from Fright Checks or the Terror advantage has to do with adrenal glands as well as emotional or mental states, which brings me back to whether or not using it to inflict Terror would work.

Anyone have thoughts on what the guidelines are for controlling emotions should be?

Is there a clear distinction between an emotion and a biological response? It seems to me that both fear and ecstacy have aspects that are both clearly and obviously biological and not-clearly-and-obviously-biological and which are emphasized depends on circumstances. You can be fearful of a bear or of a ghost and you can be ecstatic about a woman or about a mountain.

[Not another shrubbery]

Originally Posted by martin_rook

I have a player whose character has Mind Control (Emotions Only) -- I think it's exactly as written up in GURPS Powers (I don't have any reference material here with me). She hasn't used it yet, but I want to have a clear idea of what I think it can and can't do. (Hm, I should probably come up with a chart of emotions to help clarify...)

For example, could she use it to cause someone to feel fear, essentially acting like the Terror advantage? I'm leaning towards allowing this -- it makes sense and she paid more points that just getting the Terror advantage alone would.

On the other hand, I don't think I would let her use it to afflict someone with Ecstacy. To me, that seems less like an emotion and more like a biological response. Though, that makes me think that some of the response from Fright Checks or the Terror advantage has to do with adrenal glands as well as emotional or mental states, which brings me back to whether or not using it to inflict Terror would work.

Anyone have thoughts on what the guidelines are for controlling emotions should be?

Have you already read the Sway Emotions Enthrallment skill? That is the best guide that I know of.

<JMO> Emotion Control is implied to be less effective than Suggestion (by their relative values). I don't think EC is supposed to be able to direct the emotions, as that would be a facet of Suggestion. Instilling or suppressing an emotion looks like it. You also don't get to choose how others react to that emotion, although you can parlay circumstances to favor a desired response </JMO>.

Note that Emotion Control costs a base of 25 points, while Terror is 30.

[starslayer]

Well there are two things going on here- Thematic items, and mechanical items.

Thematically - Emotion control is exactly what it says on the tin- you can control emotions, not physiological response. You can cause calm, anger, fear, jealousy, etc. You can't however create conditions (agony, ecstasy, sweating, dizziness)

Mechanically- The advantage does not 'do' anything by itself; but it can be used to 'prime' someone for other skill use: Someone made fearful will be much easier to terrorize or intimidate, someone made aroused will be much easier to influence via sex appeal, someone made happy might react to a new person at a bonus, or sad at a penalty. As such I would have emotion control grant a PENALTY to resistance from any applicable skill or a BONUS to a reaction check.

For example Sue the emotion controlling socialite wants Rick to give her a diamond necklace, she 'primes' rick by using emotion control- arousal, and then uses Sex Appeal to influence rick to believe that giving her the necklace is a good idea. She beats rick with emotion control by 5, meaning that rick will resist the sex appeal roll at -5, and is very likely to part with that necklace, but without a good sex appeal roll (or with other mitigating issues like wrong gender/species/number of dimensions) sue is still not overly likely to succeed.