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Old 11-03-2018, 06:36 PM   #5
Vaevictis Asmadi
 
Join Date: May 2007
Location: Twin Cities, Minnesota, U.S.A.
Default Re: How to apply Long-Range (Powers:108)

Thank you very much for your detailed replies. You’re also helping me catch where I misread stuff!

Oof, this is so much more complicated and difficult that I had hoped.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Kelly Pedersen View Post
So, the important thing to remember about Long-Range is that it affects range penalties, but not simply fixed range limits. The latter is better handled with Increased Range (p. B106).
Oops... I misunderstood. If distance penalties and range limits are separate things, then the power I’m trying to build is supposed to have neither of those. In theory, all but one of its abilities have infinite range, just as Special Rapport apparently does (IIRC). I know infinite may be impossible with RAW, but my goal is for it to at least work at interplanetary distances: about as far as the largest possible distance between Earth and Venus, or even Earth and Mars (when on opposite sides of the Sun). I don’t know how far that is, but it’s even better than line-of-sight (it goes right through solid objects). I could cut that down to Earth-Moon distance for most PCs, just to save points, but some users will need the larger range.


You’re absolutely right that not all the abilities need that much range, though. The abilities in the power seem to fall into 4 categories:

1. Speak With Animals: Since Telesend (Universal) already allows communication with animals, SWA is more of a subtly-telepathy-assisted verbal communication (for folks without Telesend). So, it’ll only work at verbal range.

2. Empathy, Animal Empathy, Plant Empathy, & Spirit Empathy: They work when you “meet” someone. My hope is that they don’t need much (or any?) modification to work when meeting or observing somebody remotely (with Clairsentience, Mind Reading, or receiving Telesend). If they can “piggy-back,” they’ll have the same range as those abilities.

3. Illusion (without Mental): This is intended to work at line-of-sight. I’m not sure whether Illusion already does that. Does the 2 yards just restrict the location and size of the illusionary thing, or is it only visible to people within a 2-yard radius? If so, IIRC it needs Area Effect rather than Ranged... Is there a Line-of-Sight-radius version of AE? And it should be able to anchor Independent illusions to objects and people, preferrably even if they leave the illusionist’s side: like Mobile or Drifting, but for non-attacks. As for skill rolls, the modifiable roll would only be the Quick Contest to actually fool people.

4. Abilities that are supposed to have interplanetary range: Affliction (Malediction), Clairsentience, Detect (intelligent minds), Illusion (Mental), Medium, Mind Probe, Mind Reading, Mindlink, Special Rapport, Telesend, and Terror (Active)


Clairsentience, Medium, & Terror (Active): I really like Increased Range (familiarity) in principle, because the power is indeed affected by familiarity of the targets. But that happens even at very short range, and affects all the abilities except Clairsentience and those that don't need rolls. Is it reasonable, instead, to have Increased Range (based on health)? Giving -1 at <1/4 of FP, -3 at 0 FP or less, additional -2 if 0 HP or less. Would that be fair, or if not what HP and FP penalties would make it fair? ... But that’s still fiddly and complicated, because then I still have to add separate injury- and fatigue-based modifiers to all the other abilities...

The power will be much easier to use if the exact same roll modifiers apply equally to all abilities (except SWA and Clairsentience), and that’s how I wanted to build it. That’s why I was hoping for stand-alone enhancement(s) that would remove ability-specific range limits without substituting some other modifier. HP and FP would be pretty irrelevant for Speak With Animals (if you can talk, you can use it, and it requires no roll), but would matter for every other ability.

The only other alternative that’s coming to mind is to cut them each down to touch range, and then give the power modifier Long Distance (Line-of-sight + Familiarity). ... I’m going to try to work more math... (Edit: yes, I can give the power's rolls penalties for unfamiliar people, and still have it work as intended. But how to make the same exact unfamiliarity penalties to apply to every ability?)

Illusion (Mental, Ranged Skill-Based) The low-power psis are limited to line-of-sight as normal, or to hearing range if it has Hearing-Based –20% and Only While Singing –10%. But the high-power psis should be able to cast upon any mind in the inner solar system. So it would get the above Increased Range (condition) ?

Mind Reading, IIRC, has line-of-sight as max range. So it needs the Increased Range (condition) to upgrade to interplanetary, plus Long-Range 2. Is that right? Can Mind Probe “piggy-back” on the distance enhancers on Mind Reading? Since it works on anyone you successfully mind-read.


Affliction (Malediction) IIRC, this has no max distance, and needs Long-Range 3?
Detect has no max distance, needs Long-Range 2?
Mindlink is apparently fine out to 0.1 lightyear, so that’s good enough for me
Special Rapport appears to have no range limit at all

Telesend has no max distance, needs Long-Range 1? And, arg, unless every other ability has Increased Range (Familiarity) I also need an enhancement to switch off the built-in familiarity penalties. (Or a way to add them as a stand-alone limitation, for abilities that wouldn't otherwise get them.)
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Last edited by Vaevictis Asmadi; 11-04-2018 at 10:49 AM.
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