"Telekinesis enhancing weapon" how to build?

[Lex_BR]

Hello all !

I am about to try my first space opera-ish campaign and i want to create a special class of warriors for an alien race called the "Faraani" whose technology has so far surpassed our own it often looks and feels like magic.

I want them to have a signature weapon that is only (legally) available to the highest ranking members of this special order of warriors. (similar to the jedi and the lightsabers)

This weapon is supposed to be an extremely expensive iridium-lined quarterstaff that can be used as a relay and amplifier for the wielder's Telekinetik powers. In other words, if someone with 10 ST an also 10 levels of telekinesis were to hit you with this staff you would feel the impact of the attacker's regular strenght + 2 or 3 times his telekinetic power.

I would also like for the more experienced or talented wielders of the Faranian staff to be able to use them in interesting and unexpected ways, such as by hitting the ground bellow them and holding onto the staff as it lifts them up for a super jump, for example.

how would you build this weapon? what other cool abilities and effects can you imagine it being able to do?

any thoughts and tips about this weapon and also other gadgets you may have crafted for your own space-dudes campaign is highly appreciated, thanks in advance !

[Jerander]

Originally Posted by Lex_BR

This weapon is supposed to be an extremely expensive iridium-lined quarterstaff that can be used as a relay and amplifier for the wielder's Telekinetik powers. In other words, if someone with 10 ST an also 10 levels of telekinesis were to hit you with this staff you would feel the impact of the attacker's regular strenght + 2 or 3 times his telekinetic power.

My first thought was Striking ST with Gadget limitations.

[PK]

Originally Posted by Lex_BR

This weapon is supposed to be an extremely expensive iridium-lined quarterstaff that can be used as a relay and amplifier for the wielder's Telekinetik powers. In other words, if someone with 10 ST an also 10 levels of telekinesis were to hit you with this staff you would feel the impact of the attacker's regular strenght + 2 or 3 times his telekinetic power.

Sounds like you've got the basic idea down already. Though I might suggest tying it in to the teke's Talent as well. For example, this sounds like a fairly cinematic game, so you might let Talent go up to 6. If you wanted PK Talent 3 to do 2x damage and PK Talent 6 to do 3x damage, you could declare the following:

This weapon increases the effective ST of a telekinetic wielder. Multiply his TK level by [(Talent+3)/3], round up, and add this to his effective ST for all purposes.

It's a teeny bit complex, but you'd do the calculation ahead of time. So a person with PK Talent 1 would add (TK level * 1.33) to his ST, while someone with PK Talent 6 would add (TK level * 3) to his ST. That makes both aspects important.

Just a thought.

I would also like for the more experienced or talented wielders of the Faranian staff to be able to use them in interesting and unexpected ways, such as by hitting the ground bellow them and holding onto the staff as it lifts them up for a super jump, for example.

I'd suggest the rules for Using Abilities at Default (GURPS Powers, p. 173). Since those rules already allow someone with TK to temporarily use it as Super Jump, DR, etc., for a single use, perhaps the weapon could make it easier to do. Maybe high levels of relative skill in the weapon reduce the FP cost and/or penalties. I might do something like:

The staff makes it easier for a telekinetic to improvise with his abilities, as long as he is using the staff as an active part of the stunt; see Using Abilities at Default for full rules. The wielder may use his Will-based weapon skill instead of a Will roll, which allows an experienced user to soak huge penalties; Talent still applies. In addition, reduce the FP cost by 1 for every full 8 character points invested in the skill; at 24 points (e.g., a skill of DX+6) these attempts cost no FP.

Example: Joe has DX 12, Will 14, PK Talent 5 [25], TK 8 [40], and Staff (A) DX+4 [16]-16. When he uses his weapon, he adds [(5+3)/3]*8, or +22, to his effective ST. He is under attack and wants to spin his staff fast enough to provide DR 8 (Directional, Front, -20%; Force-Field, +20%) [40]. This costs 100% of his TK cost, for a -8 penalty, and the two abilities are very different, for another -2. But instead of rolling against Will (14), he rolls against Will-based Staff (18), and adds his Talent (+5), before tackling the -10 penalty. He must roll 13 or less to pull off the stunt. (Without his staff, he'd be rolling 9 or less!) Succeed or fail, the stunt costs him 1 FP -- it'd normally be 3 FP, but his Staff skill eases that burden.

Of course, I'm assuming you'll use Staff skill. It might make more sense to create some new, weird skill for this.

Originally Posted by Jerander

My first thought was Striking ST with Gadget limitations.

I believe the OP is trying to build this as a normal weapon for his campaign, not as a "super gadget" that costs character points.

[Ze'Manel Cunha]

Originally Posted by Rev. Pee Kitty

This weapon increases the effective ST of a telekinetic wielder. Multiply his TK level by [(Talent+3)/3], round up, and add this to his effective ST for all purposes.

It's a teeny bit complex, but you'd do the calculation ahead of time. So a person with PK Talent 1 would add (TK level * 1.33) to his ST, while someone with PK Talent 6 would add (TK level * 3) to his ST. That makes both aspects important.

Just a thought.

I'd suggest adding Basic Lift instead of ST, like in any other uses of combined ST, or combined TK.
BL addition works fine, but adding TK levels directly to ST levels will make things really screwy.

[Lex_BR]

Originally Posted by Rev. Pee Kitty

(...) I might suggest tying it in to the teke's Talent as well (...).

Great! hadn't thought about talent yet, makes absolute sense.

Originally Posted by Rev. Pee Kitty

I'd suggest the rules for Using Abilities at Default (GURPS Powers, p. 173). Since those rules already allow someone with TK to temporarily use it as Super Jump, DR, etc.

Sounds great ! I have "Powers" but i've only really skimmed through it, might be about time to read it with some more attention. Are there any other particular parts of gurps powers that yourself or other forum members find specially noteworthy?

Originally Posted by Rev. Pee Kitty

It might make more sense to create some new, weird skill for this.

maybe TK POWER-STAFF SKILL;Defaults to Staff-2; Requirements TK talent;?

Seems to me this weapon could be used as a regular staff, but you might need a new skill to use its TK enhancing powers.

[/quote]

Originally Posted by Rev. Pee Kitty

I believe the OP is trying to build this as a normal weapon for his campaign, not as a "super gadget" that costs character points.

Actually, i wasnt sure about that.

I'm used to running low to medium powered supers game where everyone preety much pays in character points for everything they have and also get new points for everything they effectivelly gain in-game.kind of makes it easier to keep track of character balance and overall influence/power in the game world.

Now you got me thinking, should this cost money or points?

This is a powerfull weapon issued only to a specific class of paladin-like warriors considered by many to be nothing more than a myth. It is sort of similar to the lightsaber or the green lantern's ring in that way. would they also cost money or character points? Would a fantasy paladin's Holy Avenger cost money or CP?

I think we should at least charge for "signature gear", but say we do decide for money cost, how much would it be? It is a very rare weapon made from expensive materials that holds extreme sentimental value to its owner and is passed down to the next generation. Only way to get one would be to either pry it off a dead Faranian justicar (very hard to do) or through substantial ammounts of money and contacts in the black market.

[Lex_BR]

Originally Posted by Ze'Manel Cunha

I'd suggest adding Basic Lift instead of ST, like in any other uses of combined ST, or combined TK.
BL addition works fine, but adding TK levels directly to ST levels will make things really screwy.

Really? could you please give me a specific example on how adding TK to ST for determining striking ST power would make things screwy? I can't see anyhing wrong with it.

[Bruno]

Adding to TK level means that it goes up nonlinearly - the more powerful the base TK, the more benefit (lifting power) they get out of it.

This may or may not be what you wanted :)

[PK]

Originally Posted by Bruno

Adding to TK level means that it goes up nonlinearly - the more powerful the base TK, the more benefit (lifting power) they get out of it.

This may or may not be what you wanted :)

Lifting power? I don't think that's what the OP had in mind when discussing the use of a staff weapon -- generally, weapons are all about striking power. My suggestion was that you'd add some multiplier of the wielder's TK to his ST for all purposes of using the staff as a weapon.

Trying to make this a function of BL seems unnecessarily complex and somewhat confusing -- how do you turn +X lbs. of BL into +Y damage?

[Edges]

Originally Posted by Lex_BR

Now you got me thinking, should this cost money or points?

This is a powerfull weapon issued only to a specific class of paladin-like warriors considered by many to be nothing more than a myth. It is sort of similar to the lightsaber or the green lantern's ring in that way. would they also cost money or character points? Would a fantasy paladin's Holy Avenger cost money or CP?

I think we should at least charge for "signature gear", but say we do decide for money cost, how much would it be? It is a very rare weapon made from expensive materials that holds extreme sentimental value to its owner and is passed down to the next generation. Only way to get one would be to either pry it off a dead Faranian justicar (very hard to do) or through substantial ammounts of money and contacts in the black market.

I eagerly await the forum's response to this. I was just considering starting a thread on this very subject.

[PK]

Originally Posted by Lex_BR

Now you got me thinking, should this cost money or points?

If you can buy it from someone or have it made for you, and more than a handful of them exist, I'd say money. It sounds like this is just part of the setting -- much like psychotronics are assumed to be part of any modern or future game involving psi.