[Basic] Skills of the week: Blind Fighting and Invisibility Art

[vicky_molokh]

Originally Posted by Flyndaran

Just rename clinical Hypnosis the more theatric Animal Magnetism.

Meditation in 4th edition is merely a useless point sink. In real life, it's a life style rather than overt skill or action. Nothing that can be done with it cannot be done with other things.

I wish they just merged it into a single skill called Autohypnosis/Meditation, just like we have Axe/Mace.

[Flyndaran]

Originally Posted by vicky_molokh

I wish they just merged it into a single skill called Autohypnosis/Meditation, just like we have Axe/Mace.

It's effectively the same skill already, just a realistic ineffectual for gaming skill, and a cinematic version.

[sir_pudding]

Both have seen use from the Ninja in my occasional DF game.

[vierasmarius]

Originally Posted by Flyndaran

It's effectively the same skill already, just a realistic ineffectual for gaming skill, and a cinematic version.

As I mentioned in the thread about Autohypnosis / Meditation, I'm all for combining them into one skill, with the more extravagant effects as cinematic techniques.

As for Invisibility Art's prerequisites, it depends on the justification used in the character's particular style. A Ninja might use Stealth or Camouflage, while an Assassin who disappears into crowds could use Acting or Streetwise.

[DangerousThing]

Originally Posted by whswhs

It bothers me that Invisibility Art has Hypnotism as a prerequisite, as I think of that as a historically and culturally specific skill, and not to the same culture. In my current fantasy campaign, I allow one of the races access to Invisibility Art, but I eliminate Hypnotism as a prerequisite; in fact, I put Blind Fighting in its place!

Bill Stoddard

Actually if you read Japanese and Chinese mythology/old stories, hypnotism (or something like it) is in there. It's just called a magical or chi ability rather than a normal skill. If you go back a century or so in the Western world, what is now called hypnotism was called Animal Magnetism.

Things change. Even today there are many people who believe that hypnotism works via strength of will or by some psychic means. As long as you get rid of the image of the psychiatrist with a pocket watch, hypnotism is just impressing your will onto somebody else.

[Flyndaran]

And those that don't believe it exists at all as a separate mental state.
Though I wonder how a hypothetical alien with more extreme reactions to Hypnotism and forms of tonic immobility might develop.