Mindsword ability (for Psionic Powers)

[Not another shrubbery]

I had been trying to come up with a mindsword variation for the ESP power, but eventually gave up as I just couldn't come up with something that fit the power's theme and seemed gameable. After laying off for a while, I've gone ahead and picked up with an entry for Probability Alteration.

Curse Sword

15 points per level

Skill: Curse Sword (DX/Hard); defaults to DX-6, or Force Sword-2

You can create a blade of negatively aspected probability energy. It slightly resembles a Neutralizing Sword, having a black core, but it possesses a surrounding brightness that distinguishes it to those familiar with both. A successful attack requires a Quick Contest of the attacker's skill in the ability vs. the defender's Will. If the attacker wins, the target is Cursed for 10 seconds times his margin of victory, and immediately begins to suffer the effects.

Curse Swords cannot parry Neutralizing Swords, but defend normally against other types of psionic blades and against ordinary weapons. Additional levels in the ability cause the defender to roll the Quick Contest at -1 per level after the first.

Statistics: Affliction 1 (Based on Will, +20%; Disadvantage, Cursed, +75%; Melee Attack, C, 1, -20%; Probability Alteration, -10%; Reduced Duration, x 1/6th, -15%) [15] Further levels increase the Affliction level at the same cost.


I like fixing the duration and making the Affliction level the variable, as a way of differentiating it from the Curse ability, but that makes the two techniques for the latter less useful for this melee attack. You could keep them, I suppose, but they fit better for a longer duration of effect.

[Not another shrubbery]

Feeling the urge to twist another entry from Psionic Powers in an non-playtested, possibly unbalanced way :\ ;)

Staff of Insensibility

17 points per level

Skill: Staff of Invisibility (DX/Hard); defaults to DX-6, or Force Sword-2

You can create a rod of mental energy, charged so as to produce a dazing effect. To those with appropriate psychic senses, it will resemble (but be distinguishable from) a somewhat dim Force Sword, but it is virtually invisible to normal senses. A successful attack requires a Quick Contest of the attacker's skill in the ability vs. the defender's HT. If the attacker wins by four or less, the target is Dazed for minutes equal to his margin of failure, but a failure by five or more means he fall asleep for the same time.

The Staffs defend normally against many similar psychic weapons, but cannot parry normal weapons, nor psionic ones with mostly physical effects. This latter group includes, Electric Wands, Psychic Swords, and Neutralizing Blades. Additional levels in the ability cause the defender to roll the Quick Contest at -1 per level after the first.

Statistics: Affliction 1 (Daze, +50%; Melee Attack, C, 1, -20%; No Signature, +20%; Psychic Healing, -10%; Secondary, Sleep, +30%) [17] Further levels increase the Affliction level at the same cost.


The Techniques for Sleep should work OK for this ability. Anesthetic doesn't seem especially useful, but at least comes in a bit cheaper this way. The NoSig mod should make it tricky for non-psis to face.

The name breaks the two word pattern I had been following, but it kinda rolls off the tongue, and the imagery [a staff as a weapon for a 'healer'] fits my sensibilities. Despite the name, the construct is still wielded like a force sword, as with other psionic weapons.

[Not another shrubbery]

Due to sparse demand, copious spare time, and a lack of original ideas, I decided to revisit this thread with a entry for ESP.

Dowsing Rod (TL0+)

Despite the name, these are not restricted to wand-like objects. Though the most primitive (TL0) versions are simple forked sticks (traditionally of willow, hazel, or witch-hazel), manufactured ones might include precious stone or metal tips or handles, or be made entirely of metal. Modern ones are usually paired L-shaped rods of various compositions, some being collapsible or foldable for easier storage. Pendulums, usually with a gemstone or precious metal bob, are also used for the same purpose.

These work like a less powerful but safer form of Psionic Amplifier, adding to an ESPer's Talent for the following skills: Signature Sniffer; Psi-Sense; Psidar; Seekersense. If the GM allows any other Detect-based ESP skills, those may also be aided by the rod. They do not carry any risk of more dangerous critical failures (as opposed to psychotronic Psi-Amps). Before being used, a rod must be attuned to its owner, generally requiring several seconds of concentration and a successful Seekersense roll [see the Seekersense skill in Psionic Powers, p42, for details]. Afterwards, by taking a second to focus while holding the rod, and spending one FP, the character's ESP Talent will be effectively increased by one while using any of the above skills. If he switches skills, or if he stops using one to do something else, he must re-focus and spend another FP to get the bonus again. $20, +.25 lb. LC4

The price and weight represent what you might pay for a typical modern pair of L-shaped rods (or a pendulum) made of inexpensive but solid materials. Natural items can be used to make your own rod, but usually require a bit of searching in an area containing the traditional materials.


Since I could not come up with an appropriate skill for ESP that fit the attack theme I had established, I just went for one that kept the naming motif :) The Dowsing section from 3E's Psionics was the inspiration, but I tried to follow the format for equipment from the newer Psi-Tech. The method of using maps to dowse for something, as described in the older book, might be a good in-game explanation of the Pinpoint technique.

[Not another shrubbery]

This one took me several days to iron out, even though the final concept is fairly simple.

Sword of Ages

77 points for Level 1, plus
73 points for each additional level

Skill: Aging Sword (DX/Hard); defaults to DX-6, or Force Sword-2

You can create a blade of vampiric energy that resembles a Force Sword or most other psionic weapons in shape, but is obviously something different to viewers with any familiarity with those others. The visual effect often involves alternating light and dark patterns. The sword is unbreakable, has Reach C, 1, and can parry the same attacks as a Mindsword. It does not do physical damage to those struck, but instead causes them to resist with their HT vs. the attacker's skill. If they lose, they age a month, and the attacker then has the immediate choice to reduce his own physical age by the same amount.

Armor (or other DR) will aid the target's resistance, and those with Unaging themselves are immune to the effects of the attack. The aging is usually not visually obvious unless a victim is struck many times in short order, but they will notice a marked, and uncomfortable, sense of loss, even if they are unfamiliar with such effects. The effects are cumulative, and last permanently, but all aging caused by the Sword is cancelled if the responsible Psi Vamp dies. Additional levels apply a penalty to the targets resistance roll, -1/level after the first.

Statistics: Affliction 1 (Accessibility {Only vs. Sapient, Living Targets}, -40%; Advantage, AF [one month older], +150%; Cumulative, +400%; Extended Duration, Permanent, +150%; Melee Attack, C, 1, -20%; Psychic Vampirism, -10%) [73] + Unaging (Accessibility {Only To Reduce Age One Month Per Use}, -80%; Age Control, +20%; Trigger (Very Common, Illegal), Successful attack with Aging Sword, -15%) [4]. Additional levels increase only the level of the Affliction [+73/level]

Penetrating might be a good technique against armored foes, but you're almost certainly better off using some other power against somebody that's fighting back *rolleyes*


I am still not too happy with this write-up, even though it looks reasonably accurate, from a technical viewpoint. Basing the aging effect on Alternate Form works out better than trying to cobble together something using Leech, but the price comes out more or less in line with what you would pay for a base version of Steal Youth. That form of Leech looks overly pricey to me also, but... there ya go. The Accessibilities are best guesses, and should not be off by much. The Unaging construct was built to avoid having to do a mirror AF build for the attacker. It is stretching the use of Trigger some, I suppose, but doesn't look like an egregious misappropriation. Note that, if you accept this use of AF, the same build and cost for the Affliction could apply to stronger versions that caused more pronounced aging, which makes me want to rewrite the thing as another type of Affliction. I am kinda partial to the skill name, though *g*

Constructive criticism of these builds is always welcome, but I'd be especially glad to see someone come up with a version that was both cheaper and involved less rules-bending. I thought about just using the -3 points per year hangover from 3E that's in the Fright Check Table, but this looks to me like it needs to be an Advantage Affliction.

[vierasmarius]

GURPS has never really been too consistent on Aging effects, I think largely because it's so very dependent on the particular campaign. For "dynastic" games tracking a number of family lines over multiple generations, traits like Unaging basically let the player run the same character throughout the whole game. In most campaigns I've seen, however, Unaging simply serves as an Unusual Background to justify some anachronistic skill picks (and is far overpriced for that role).

Leech with Aging has basically no combat value, apart from instilling fear in opponents. It does make the character potentially immortal, but costs nearly an order of magnitude more than (the arguably overpriced) Unaging, with a lot of hassle in its use. Your build using Afflicted, cumulative Alternate Forms is... imaginative, but very clunky, and I'd say is still overpriced for the actual utility of it. Sadly, I don't have a better suggestion...

[Not another shrubbery]

Originally Posted by vierasmarius

Leech with Aging has basically no combat value, apart from instilling fear in opponents. It does make the character potentially immortal, but costs nearly an order of magnitude more than (the arguably overpriced) Unaging, with a lot of hassle in its use. Your build using Afflicted, cumulative Alternate Forms is... imaginative, but very clunky, and I'd say is still overpriced for the actual utility of it. Sadly, I don't have a better suggestion...

Hah! Compliments of all sorts gratefully accepted! ;)

Yeah, the build has some issues. The cost is the real sticking point for me, though, and the big enemy there is the Cumulative enhancement. There's probably a way to justify not using that that is escaping me :/

[munin]

How about afflicting an unrealistic amount of Short Lifespan? You don't need Cumulative or Permanent, because for the period of affliction they just age at the unnatural rate. For example:

Affliction (HT; Disadvantage, Short Lifespan 20, +200%; Accessibility/Melee/Psi, -70%; Reduced Duration, ×1/60, -35%) [20] + Unaging (...) [4]. If the subject fails a HT roll, they age one week every second for a number of seconds equal to their margin of failure.

That would mean you could only strike the same subject every few seconds which might not fit your concept.

[Not another shrubbery]

Originally Posted by munin

How about afflicting an unrealistic amount of Short Lifespan? You don't need Cumulative or Permanent, because for the period of affliction they just age at the unnatural rate. For example:

Affliction (HT; Disadvantage, Short Lifespan 20, +200%; Accessibility/Melee/Psi, -70%; Reduced Duration, ×1/60, -35%) [20] + Unaging (...) [4]. If the subject fails a HT roll, they age one week every second for a number of seconds equal to their margin of failure.

That would mean you could only strike the same subject every few seconds which might not fit your concept.

I actually considered Short Lifespan when I was tossing around different possibilities for the build. I gave up on it because I couldn't rationalize the attacker receiving an instant benefit while the target suffers from an ongoing effect. There still might be something there, if the Unaging is disconnected, or maybe just given a different limitation. I don't know if I'd want to exceed the mandated limit on levels, though.

[munin]

Does the attacker's benefit have to be instantaneous? As I wrote it up it's only going to take a few seconds anyway, and you could use Fixed Duration and another level of Reduced Duration to make it almost instantaneous.

I though about Short Lifespan. There are obviously realistic species with extreme levels of Short Lifespan compared to the GURPS human norm, so I'm guessing the limit exists so as to not give back too many points (say, compared to Terminally Ill, Ages Unnaturally Fast*). But I have no problem allowing additional levels when using it with an affliction, since that is requiring the user to pay more points for more benefit.


* I mean, really fast. Even progeria seems to be only Short Lifespan 3. You'd need Short Lifespan 6+ to get into Terminally Ill life expectancies.

[Not another shrubbery]

Originally Posted by munin

Does the attacker's benefit have to be instantaneous? As I wrote it up it's only going to take a few seconds anyway, and you could use Fixed Duration and another level of Reduced Duration to make it almost instantaneous.

I though about Short Lifespan. There are obviously realistic species with extreme levels of Short Lifespan compared to the GURPS human norm, so I'm guessing the limit exists so as to not give back too many points (say, compared to Terminally Ill, Ages Unnaturally Fast*). But I have no problem allowing additional levels when using it with an affliction, since that is requiring the user to pay more points for more benefit.

I guess the benefit doesn't have to accrue instantly, it's just the effect I was shooting for.

I've always figured that Short Lifespan was capped so as to not impinge on the territory of Terminally Ill, though I can't recall if that's ever been officially confirmed.