Psionic Powers: Brute Force vs Will

[David Johnston2]

Then I'd say that the best approach would not be to lower Will, but to increase skill in return for extra energy expenditure.

[Edges]

Originally Posted by David Johnston2

Then I'd say that the best approach would not be to lower Will, but to increase skill in return for extra energy expenditure.

I considered that.

The two obstacles to this (which I welcome advice on overcoming) are:
1. The Rule of 16 limits the benefit of high skill (especially vs a high Will)
2. There are no EE-for-skill rules for Psionics (that I know of).

[David Johnston2]

Originally Posted by Edges

I considered that.

The two obstacles to this (which I welcome advice on overcoming) are:
1. The Rule of 16 limits the benefit of high skill (especially vs a high Will)

No, it's the other way around if I understand that rule right. Higher skill above 16 still works to neutralize defender resistance which is also above 16.

[Edges]

Originally Posted by David Johnston2

No, it's the other way around if I understand that rule right. Higher skill above 16 still works to neutralize defender resistance which is also above 16.

As I understand it, if you have a 20 skill and you face a 16 Will, it's 16 vs 16. If you trade all your FP for a bunch more skill, it's still 16 vs 16.

EDIT: Higher skill lets you roll even odds against higher Will, sure. But who wants even odds? That's where the FP comes in.

[Christopher R. Rice]

Originally Posted by Edges

As I understand it, if you have a 20 skill and you face a 16 Will, it's 16 vs 16. If you trade all your FP for a bunch more skill, it's still 16 vs 16.

EDIT: Higher skill lets you roll even odds against higher Will, sure. But who wants even odds? That's where the FP comes in.

Exactly right. Higher skill lets you do trickier stuff but you still need to lower your skill to 16 or the defenders Will. So if your target has a 16 or less Will your adjusted kill can't exceed 16, but if he has say a 17 will your skill would be adjusted to that. Says so on p. 349 of the Basic.

Ghostdancer

[Crakkerjakk]

I still don't see the reason for the rule of 16. Why can't an incredibly bad-ass supernatural threat simply crush weak-willed opposition like a t-rex would crush a squirrel?

[Christopher R. Rice]

Originally Posted by Crakkerjakk

I still don't see the reason for the rule of 16. Why can't an incredibly bad-ass supernatural threat simply crush weak-willed opposition like a t-rex would crush a squirrel?

They can! All for the low low price of +50%! But wait! there's more!

Seriously though, Cosmic, no rule of 16, is a +50% modifier found in GURPS Psionic Campaigns, your BAST just needs to slap that onto his power and he's good to roll.

Ghostdancer

[Kelly Pedersen]

Originally Posted by Crakkerjakk

I still don't see the reason for the rule of 16. Why can't an incredibly bad-ass supernatural threat simply crush weak-willed opposition like a t-rex would crush a squirrel?

The meta-reason that Kromm has referred to before is that, for RPGs, it's better to give defense the advantage over offense. Failing to affect someone with your attack power is annoying, but you can usually try again. Failing to defend, on the other hand, can quite often be character-ending, whether in the literal death sense, or in the sense that it makes the player not want to play the character any more.
Since it's usually easier to push an attack higher with fewer points than a defense, GURPS gives mental defense a shot in the arm by effectively saying that someone who has specialized in defense will never have less than a 50-50 chance of resisting an effect.