05-01-2020, 02:21 AM | #1 |
Night Watchman
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: Cambridge, UK
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[Basic] Disadvantage of the Week: Supersensitive
Supersensitive [-15] is an exotic mental disadvantage, only available in settings that have psionics. You are telepathically sensitive to the presence of other people within 20 yards. You can’t turn it off, and it does not give you any information, other than that people are present, and roughly many there are, but you suffer IQ and DX penalties, increasing with the number of people. This disadvantage appeared during the GURPS 3e period, but changed significantly at 4e.
You aren’t affected by machine intelligences unless, presumably, they’re psionic, or by living minds that are shielded against telepathy. Although you can estimate the number of people within range, you can’t tell their direction (except, presumably, by moving and seeing if you stop detecting them). You suffer -1 to DX and IQ if there is anyone within range, -2 if there are 10 people or more, -3 for 100, and so on. If this reduces DX or IQ to below half their normal values, you collapse, unable to take any action until the penalty is reduced. This isn’t going to be a common problem among humans, simply because crowds of 10,000+ within a 20 yard radius are hard to achieve but large tribes of psychic rats could be a problem. Supersensitive does not show up in many GURPS supplements. Bio-Tech has a TL^ drug that causes it, for a while, and it’s another of the disadvantages that the unfortunate “mules” of Reich-5 can suffer in Infinite Worlds. Worlds Out of Time shamans can have it, although they’d probably do better as hermits. It’s a plausible disadvantage for psis in Monster Hunters, the Psi series and Supers, and a possible effect of psionic crippling. I’ve played one psi campaign, and run a couple that had psionics among the available powers, but nobody has ever used this disadvantage. It’s useful for characterising the hermit who wants to be alone, and it would be useful (probably abusively) as a Controllable Disadvantage perk to a solo infiltrator who wanted to be able to detect people, but that’s about all it seems good for. Has it entertained in your games?
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05-01-2020, 03:51 AM | #2 |
Join Date: Oct 2007
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Re: [Basic] Disadvantage of the Week: Supersensitive
For anyone in a group this is at least -40 points of penalty (-1 IQ & DX), except the times the character goes solo, and you only get 15 points back. And even for solo campaigns it'll hamper most normal uses of social and combat skills.
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05-01-2020, 04:58 AM | #3 |
Join Date: Sep 2008
Location: near London, UK
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Re: [Basic] Disadvantage of the Week: Supersensitive
Huh. I don't think I've ever been aware of this disad before.
I don't see this being useful as part of an intentional character design, but I could definitely see it as a Temporary Disadvantage for a high-sensitivity psychic power.
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05-01-2020, 05:34 AM | #4 |
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: Meifumado
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Re: [Basic] Disadvantage of the Week: Supersensitive
That does sound like a bit of a Murphy. Perhaps you could make that relevant by adding an Extended Range enhancement or something.
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05-01-2020, 07:09 AM | #5 | |
Hero of Democracy
Join Date: Mar 2012
Location: far from the ocean
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Re: [Basic] Disadvantage of the Week: Supersensitive
Quote:
I've built powers that did that, but I'm not sure I've ever used them in play.
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05-01-2020, 08:50 AM | #6 |
Join Date: Oct 2014
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Re: [Basic] Disadvantage of the Week: Supersensitive
Take this, give it a "Only supersensitive to hostility" limitation, add Always On Telepathy, and you get a decent approximation of a Kotoura type character.
Edit: Oh yeah, add "OPH: often blurts out what people are thinking" for maximum Kotoura points. Kotoura actually did collapse from the strain once (though it was from a strong hatred from a single person rather than a large group). Maybe there could be a modifier that strong enough hatred counts as multiple people? Last edited by WaterAndWindSpirit; 05-02-2020 at 03:53 AM. |
05-01-2020, 12:47 PM | #7 |
Join Date: Sep 2019
Location: UK
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Re: [Basic] Disadvantage of the Week: Supersensitive
Regarding the problem of making the character always at a disadvantage in a party, you could fix that with a limitation that they're OK with minds they're familiar with, or after the mind has been within range for a long time and they've become used to its presence.
In the latter case if they left their group they'd still suffer penalties for some time when they first rejoined it, until they adjusted to its presence again. It would also be a fall-back if you got incapacitated by a large group of beings that aren't going away and there wasn't anyone to rescue you - you would eventually adjust enough to be able to get out of there, assuming something nasty hadn't already happened to you by then.
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