Quick contests and critical rolls and wearing down resistance

[jeffery]

Question: Do criticals count on quick contests, or is it just a straight value - I beat my target number by X, regardless of it being a critical?


Question #2: If you are casting a spell on someone, is beating their resistance rolls on a spell just inevitable?

ex: Abe has the Possession spell at level 20. Ben is tied up and can't escape. Is it just a given that Abe will eventually gain possession of Ben?

Abe has the means and opportunity to do this for several hours.

Not that it matters, but Abe is the player; Ben is the NPC.

Thanks for your advice

[DouglasCole]

Originally Posted by jeffery

Question: Do criticals count on quick contests, or is it just a straight value - I beat my target number by X, regardless of it being a critical?

I don't think criticals count on Quick Contests, though they might on either a Regular Contest (since each person judges success/failure independently) or resistance roll (since not only must you succeed your roll, making it a true skill roll, but you must do so by MORE than the other guy, making it a Contest).

Question #2: If you are casting a spell on someone, is beating their resistance rolls on a spell just inevitable?

ex: Abe has the Possession spell at level 20. Ben is tied up and can't escape. Is it just a given that Abe will eventually gain possession of Ben?

Abe has the means and opportunity to do this for several hours.

Not that it matters, but Abe is the player; Ben is the NPC.

Thanks for your advice

I'd probably give a substantial bonus to Ben after the first failure to prevent this, but I suppose so long as Abe doesn't cast himself to death and can keep trying, there's not much preventing him from doing so. I'm not terribly familiar with the magic system, though.

[Anthony]

Originally Posted by jeffery

Question #2: If you are casting a spell on someone, is beating their resistance rolls on a spell just inevitable?

Barring critical failures or spells listed as 'one try only', pretty much.

[starslayer]

Shouldn't the -1 for repeat attempt apply if a good break is not being taken between each attempt (Like a day)?

So it could quickly become unlikely and DANGEROUS (increased chance of critical failure) for Abe to keep trying to take control of Ben in one sitting.

Now if several hours turned into 'several days' then I would say it's pretty inevitable; but then you have the much harder problem of 'how do you keep someone bound and helpless for days without killing them' (doubly so if the someone in question has enough willpower to resist several attempts at possession by someone with skill 20!).

[Witchking]

Originally Posted by starslayer

but then you have the much harder problem of 'how do you keep someone bound and helpless for days without killing them'

That would be rope.

Unless they have an Escape skill it should be fairly easy.

Or you could invest more cash and go with chains...

[PK]

Originally Posted by jeffery

Question: Do criticals count on quick contests, or is it just a straight value - I beat my target number by X, regardless of it being a critical?

The latter. Unless there's a specific rule discussing critical successes or failures, all that matters in a Quick Contest is your degree of success or failure.

Question #2: If you are casting a spell on someone, is beating their resistance rolls on a spell just inevitable?

ex: Abe has the Possession spell at level 20. Ben is tied up and can't escape. Is it just a given that Abe will eventually gain possession of Ben?

Pretty much. That's what happens when you get tied up and captured. It's not really any different than brainwashing or interrogation -- if someone has complete control over your situation, given enough time, you will submit.

[Anthony]

Originally Posted by Rev. Pee Kitty

Pretty much. That's what happens when you get tied up and captured. It's not really any different than brainwashing or interrogation -- if someone has complete control over your situation, given enough time, you will submit.

Well, spells give a lot faster and more reliable information than interrogation, but that's just a matter of how those spells are designed, GURPS Magic is really long on the plot-breaking spells. To avoid the situation, just make sure that anyone useful doesn't get captured (intact, at least).

[vierasmarius]

Originally Posted by Anthony

Well, spells give a lot faster and more reliable information than interrogation, but that's just a matter of how those spells are designed, GURPS Magic is really long on the plot-breaking spells. To avoid the situation, just make sure that anyone useful doesn't get captured (intact, at least).

Or make sure that they only possess information you want the PCs to uncover. If they've captured an enemy minion, perhaps the captured knowledge is incomplete, or even intentionally wrong - a red herring planted by the big bad.

[starslayer]

Originally Posted by Witchking

That would be rope.

Unless they have an Escape skill it should be fairly easy.

Or you could invest more cash and go with chains...

Rope will not feed them, hydrate them, or give them a way to relieve themselves. It won't prevent hypertension, nor watch them through the night while the mage takes a long nap to reset his multiple skill use penalty.

Further rope WILL cut off circulation to the limbs if tied tightly enough to prevent escape (remember the captured persons life DOES depend on escape, they can take extra time, and they can alternate between straining the ropes and attempting to slip them, so even lacking the escape skill they will be rolling at DX/ST+2 or so) as well as leaving lurid marks in the skin. Since the desired end result is possession I don't think the mage will be happy with a subject with 4 crippled limbs, bleeding wrists and ankles, malnourished and mad from exhaustion/overexertion with bed sores and ulcers from wallowing in there own filth.

[johndallman]

Originally Posted by starslayer

Rope will not feed them, hydrate them, or give them a way to relieve themselves. It won't prevent hypertension, nor watch them through the night...

This is what ordinary, boring human guards are for.