[Powers] Multiple Reflexive During Combat

[PIELIKEI]

How would Reflexive work for multiple abilities?

Currently I'm building a character with three separate reflexive abilities:

• A Binding Attack
• A malediction that afflicts someone with 10 DR
• An innate attack force wall with no wounding modifiers etc.

If I'm being attacked would all three abilities trigger if I'm hit?
Would I (as the player) get to choose which ability triggers? Or one at random?

If I attempted an active defense (like dodge) and fail, would the effects still trigger reflexively (assuming I made the roll)?

If I used the ability during my turn (such as, if I already applied 10 DR to myself) would it still trigger reflexively?

Would reflexive abilities trigger on each attack? Or just once per turn?

If I have Cosmic Parry, would reflexive abilities (or even normal Cosmic Power Parries) work against a critical hit?

[Refplace]

I think you misunderstand Reflexive.
Its a modifier (GURPS Powers, p109) for defenses not attacks.
Basically it lets you activate a defense as a Free Action instead of taking a Ready or Concentrate maneuver. Its later applied to sensory powers as well so a Detect (for example) can turn itself on to alert you of something.
If it were applied to an attack it would still require an attack to use, just be available faster.

[PIELIKEI]

Originally Posted by Refplace

I think you misunderstand Reflexive.
Its a modifier (GURPS Powers, p109) for defenses not attacks.

Is there a place where defense is defined? I'm probably wrong but I thought that my abilities would be counted as defenses? There really isn't much attacking you can do with the 10DR Malediction or a force wall that deals no damage so I kinda just assumed they counted. Feel free to correct me on this.

Originally Posted by Refplace

Basically it lets you activate a defense as a Free Action instead of taking a Ready or Concentrate maneuver. Its later applied to sensory powers as well so a Detect (for example) can turn itself on to alert you of something.
If it were applied to an attack it would still require an attack to use, just be available faster.

Ok, let's suppose that is true, if I had reflexive

• Insubstantiality
• Warp
• Damage Reduction (Switchable)

instead of the things I listed above, how would reflexive work then?

[Nereidalbel]

Originally Posted by PIELIKEI

Ok, let's suppose that is true, if I had reflexive

• Insubstantiality
• Warp
• Damage Reduction (Switchable)

instead of the things I listed above, how would reflexive work then?

You would become insubstantial, teleport away, and your DR would turn itself on the first time you got hit. You'd still have to roll to see where your Warp goes, or if it succeeds at all.

[PIELIKEI]

Originally Posted by Nereidalbel

You would become insubstantial, teleport away, and your DR would turn itself on the first time you got hit. You'd still have to roll to see where your Warp goes, or if it succeeds at all.

Yeah that makes sense.


Thanks all!

[Mark Skarr]

Originally Posted by PIELIKEI

Using it like the Power Parry rules to reduce dice of damage, so I feel that would work.

In general, I'd allow this. However, I'd have to play around with it to determine if it's too cheap for what it does. But, I don't have a conceptual problem with it.

Originally Posted by Nereidalbel

You would become insubstantial, teleport away, and your DR would turn itself on the first time you got hit. You'd still have to roll to see where your Warp goes, or if it succeeds at all.

Yeah, this, pretty much.

[PIELIKEI]

Sorry... last questions I promise. You all have been a great help!

Originally Posted by Mark Skarr

You would make the reflexive check for each one, in an order determined by you, but this order would be permanent.

To be clear, if I set it at Wall > Binding > DR increase.
If the Wall blocks it, the binding and DR increase still triggers?

In addition with Power Parry rules (P.168) it states

1d of Innate Attack, one level of Affliction, and five levels of Binding are equivalent for the specific purpose of negating one another; e.g., Affliction 8 reduces Innate Attack 10d to 2d, and Binding 20 reduces Innate Attack 10d to 6d and Affliction 8 to Affliction 4

If the wall stops the sword, would the binding still affect them the way normal binding (ST contest etc...) would? Or just reduce the non-existent attack now?

If the enemy attacks me in C,1 there is no way for the wall to interpose and still offer me protection (It is 1 yard thick). Does that mean that the wall would interject only 2 hexes away or more? Or would the wall still try and trigger at close combat and fail?

[Refplace]

Originally Posted by PIELIKEI

Is there a place where defense is defined? I'm probably wrong but I thought that my abilities would be counted as defenses? There really isn't much attacking you can do with the 10DR Malediction or a force wall that deals no damage so I kinda just assumed they counted. Feel free to correct me on this.

Sorry I misunderstood.
As Power Blocks or Parries yes Reflexive is pretty much required for most abilities as they take a Ready Maneuver to use normally.

[Plane]

Originally Posted by Refplace

I think you misunderstand Reflexive.
Its a modifier (GURPS Powers, p109) for defenses not attacks.
Basically it lets you activate a defense as a Free Action instead of taking a Ready or Concentrate maneuver. Its later applied to sensory powers as well so a Detect (for example) can turn itself on to alert you of something.
If it were applied to an attack it would still require an attack to use, just be available faster.

If you had an attack limited with 'takes extra time' (which for example took 1 ready + attack to launch a binding) then you couldn't normally use something like Power Parry, I think...

But if you used "Temporary Enhancements" to get Reduced Time (or Reflexive, which includes 1 level of that) then it should be temporarily as easy to use as a non-limited attack, allowing power parries to be done with it.

I don't know if Reflexive would do anything in addition to that though. It appears to let DR turn on if you're asleep or something (at a penalty) so I could see it allowing you to make power parries at a penalty towards attacks you're not aware of too.

Instead of being +40% and having 1 level of reduced time (+20%) built into it, I think I'd prefer to separate that and have whatever Reflexive does OTHER than lessen activation time (which AFAIk is just the ability to turn on without voluntary input, an unconscious defense) by just 20%.

This would make it a little more flexible for stuff which doesn't need its activation time reduced, such as stuff which are already free actions, or stuff using rules which allow 1-attack abilities to be used as an active defense, such as Power Parry.

If not allowing that, I guess the closest you could get would be taking TET1:-10% + Reflexive+40% for a net +30%

[Mark Skarr]

My interpretation:

You'd have to define the reflexive trigger as "being attacked" for the bind.

Originally Posted by PIELIKEI

If I'm being attacked would all three abilities trigger if I'm hit?

You would make the reflexive check for each one, in an order determined by you, but this order would be permanent.

Originally Posted by PIELIKEI

Would I (as the player) get to choose which ability triggers? Or one at random?

No, they are reflexive, they all try to trigger.

Originally Posted by PIELIKEI

If I attempted an active defense (like dodge) and fail, would the effects still trigger reflexively (assuming I made the roll)?

I would still say yes.

Originally Posted by PIELIKEI

If I used the ability during my turn (such as, if I already applied 10 DR to myself) would it still trigger reflexively?

No, it's already been used once this turn. Unless it has Rapid Fire it would only be used once.

Originally Posted by PIELIKEI

Would reflexive abilities trigger on each attack? Or just once per turn?

Like I said above, only with Rapid Fire.

Originally Posted by PIELIKEI

If I have Cosmic Parry, would reflexive abilities (or even normal Cosmic Power Parries) work against a critical hit?

No, you'd have to have Cosmic on the power as well to allow that. You'd need both.