Undistractable

[JCurwen3]

A player came to me with a concept - she wants her character (who has a few powers, and also casts spells) to be "undistractable". Game mechanically, normally when you take a Concentrate maneuver, if

Originally Posted by p. B366

you are forced to use an active defense, knocked down, injured, or otherwise distracted before you finish, you must make a Will-3 roll.

She wants to succeed automatically at these rolls. Note that this only really comes up for activities that require multiple consecutive Concentrate maneuvers.

Any ways this could be a problem? I'm thinking of treating this as a Resistant / Immunity thing. Not sure how to class "distractions that break Concentrate maneuver chains" though. Is it Very Common, or Common? I can't imagine calling it less than Common.

Thoughts?

Also, is "undistractable" the right word? Or "indistractable"? Or what?

On the flip side, what would a greater Susceptibility to distractions breaking Concentrate be worth as a disadvantage?

[the_matrix_walker]

I think common is fine... I wouldn't worry about the verbiage so much, but I think "undistractable" is the way to go.

[malloyd]

Originally Posted by JCurwen3

Any ways this could be a problem? I'm thinking of treating this as a Resistant / Immunity thing. Not sure how to class "distractions that break Concentrate maneuver chains" though. Is it Very Common, or Common? I can't imagine calling it less than Common.

That sounds reasonable to me. On the other hand, taking Resistant from a Common immunity means 5 points buys you a +3, which does seem a bit cheap compared to stuff like High Pain Threshold [10] or +3 Will with a maximal (-80%) limitation [6], but not drastically so.

If actually being stunned doesn't break your concentration either, I'd definitely bump the cost to 30 though.

Also, is "undistractable" the right word? Or "indistractable"? Or what?

Immunity to Distraction works for me....

On the flip side, what would a greater Susceptibility to distractions breaking Concentrate be worth as a disadvantage?

Seems like a very limited form of Weak Will - since you'd want an integer value, the choice is between -1 and -2 points per -1 to Will rolls I guess. I'd go with -1, these aren't much more common than fright checks, and the consequences of failure are less, so matching Fearfulness is excessive.

[Silvermane]

I'm not sure about this one... There are some things that a character might be doing that requires full attention like say doing research in a library. If she were in that situation and she was ambushed, would she be able to instantly get into combat?

To me 'Distractions' are a very wide range of things it could possibly cover. I'd either be careful, or word it in a way that only covers combat distraction.

[JCurwen3]

Originally Posted by malloyd

That sounds reasonable to me. On the other hand, taking Resistant from a Common immunity means 5 points buys you a +3, which does seem a bit cheap compared to stuff like High Pain Threshold [10] or +3 Will with a maximal (-80%) limitation [6], but not drastically so.

I would normally have said that 5 points for a +3 to the Will roll to avoid breaking Concentrate was a bit cheap, but since I think this only really comes up in situations where one is doing something that requires ongoing, consecutive Concentrate maneuvers, I feel the cost is justified.

Originally Posted by malloyd

If actually being stunned doesn't break your concentration either, I'd definitely bump the cost to 30 though.

I hadn't even thought of that, but it turns out she also wanted to be able to remain Concentrate-capable in the face of stun, yeah. In this case, 30 points for Immunity (including during stun) seems okay I guess, although I'm a little wary about allowing it.

If I did, what do you think about not letting her perform Concentrate maneuvers for new activities while stunned, but only to retain her Concentration on activities she was continuously Concentrating on prior to being stunned? Does this balance this somewhat, or is it an unnecessary restriction given that she's paid [30]?

Originally Posted by malloyd

Seems like a very limited form of Weak Will - since you'd want an integer value, the choice is between -1 and -2 points per -1 to Will rolls I guess. I'd go with -1, these aren't much more common than fright checks, and the consequences of failure are less, so matching Fearfulness is excessive.

[malloyd]

Originally Posted by JCurwen3

If I did, what do you think about not letting her perform Concentrate maneuvers for new activities while stunned, but only to retain her Concentration on activities she was continuously Concentrating on prior to being stunned?

I think being able to start new actions while stunned is Immune to Stunning (possibly with a limitation for mental actions only), not immune to having your concentration broken, so yeah, different advantage, though I suppose you could argue each piece is worth about 15 and allow the combination for 30. I might actually allow that. It's not *that* incredible an advantage - and eventually you start to bump up against the cost of Compartmentalized Mind, which does a lot more, or adding the Independent (+40%) enhancement to all your powers and not needing to concentrate at all.

[Pragmatic]

Perhaps call it "Focused"?

[JCurwen3]

Originally Posted by malloyd

I think being able to start new actions while stunned is Immune to Stunning

Is there a RAW Resistant / Immunity to Stun?

[Sunrunners_Fire]

Originally Posted by JCurwen3

Is there a RAW Resistant / Immunity to Stun?

Combat Reflexes, as the first one off the top of my head. Revive Capsules, in Bio-Tech, would be relevant gear.

[Celti]

I'd compare this to Single-Minded, which is [5] for +3. That'd make it a Common category for Resistant, putting Immunity at [15]. Alternatively, you might say this is less powerful than Single-Minded because it only negates penalties and doesn't give you a bonus in undistracting circumstances, which would fairly make it Occasional at [10] for Immunity.

Especially for the latter case I would keep the flaw Single-Minded has in noticing interruptions!