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Old 09-01-2014, 08:54 AM   #21
vicky_molokh
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Default Re: [Basic] Skill of the week: Body Control

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Originally Posted by Humabout View Post
That's a good point. For 8 points, you probably should get better than just "as good as what you'd have had without it". Heck, even if you used an optional specialty specifically for fooling polygraphs, it still costs 4 points to do what you could with Will. Rolling at +2 would make it cost 2 points to match Will and do anything else Body Control lets you do. Thinking on it, I'd even make Fool Polygraph an average technique that defaults to Body Control+2 and can be bought up on its own.

[EDIT]
Actually, thinking more about this, if you were to take Resistant to Polygraphs (+3), it'd run [2]. So that's Will+3 for 2 points, as opposed to Will+3 for [16] with Body Control (Polygraph Results). Perhaps screwing with a polygraph should fall under not-typically-stressful routine use category that anyone with the skill should be able to accomplish. Give fooling a polygraph a +4 bonus, so that with 2 points in it, you pop out at attribute+3.
Oh. It's Very Hard. Right. Skill+4 then, maybe even +5. It's really a very narrow application, IMHO.
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Old 09-01-2014, 10:58 AM   #22
Flyndaran
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Default Re: [Basic] Skill of the week: Body Control

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Originally Posted by vicky_molokh View Post
Complimentary Skills are always a good thing.
As for resisting polygraph, maybe I'd even go further, such as making it skill+2 to +5, since it's a pretty rare skill that allows rather fine control of body functions. I mean, it better be good compared just using straight Will even after a minimal point investment. Besides, opponents can always decide to ditch the polygraph entirely, particularly if they have Intuition.
Polygraphs are easy to turn into inconclusive results.
My (sister-in-law) is a pathological liar that has taken some before. Always weird useless results.

Getting them to label a lie as a truth takes "tricks" that are supposedly not that hard to learn.
I wouldn't say those have anything what so ever to do with willpower, except in a cinematic setting that has lie detectors rather than polygraphs.

Almost by definition they must be administered without stress as that reduces their accuracy even further. TV examples are always done horribly wrong. You can't spring a question on someone and expect anything other than shock.
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Old 09-01-2014, 11:16 AM   #23
vicky_molokh
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Default Re: [Basic] Skill of the week: Body Control

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Polygraphs are easy to turn into inconclusive results.
My (sister-in-law) is a pathological liar that has taken some before. Always weird useless results.
RAW already accounts for that.

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Originally Posted by Flyndaran View Post
Getting them to label a lie as a truth takes "tricks" that are supposedly not that hard to learn.
I wouldn't say those have anything what so ever to do with willpower, except in a cinematic setting that has lie detectors rather than polygraphs.
Well, those tricks are very well represented by Controllable Disadvantage (Compulsive Lying) [1]. So yeah, not all that hard to master.

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Originally Posted by Flyndaran View Post
Almost by definition they must be administered without stress as that reduces their accuracy even further. TV examples are always done horribly wrong. You can't spring a question on someone and expect anything other than shock.
Well, TV examples of almost everything tend to be horribly wrong 90% of the time.
Lie To Me was actually the one which highlighted the unreliability of polygraphs, and demonstrated it by applying eustress to a test subject who wasn't specifically trained to fool the polygraph at all.
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Old 09-02-2014, 01:39 PM   #24
Flyndaran
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Default Re: [Basic] Skill of the week: Body Control

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Originally Posted by vicky_molokh View Post
RAW already accounts for that.

Well, those tricks are very well represented by Controllable Disadvantage (Compulsive Lying) [1]. So yeah, not all that hard to master.
....
But she doesn't qualify for Gurps level compulsive lying. More like an odious habit and reputation in my opinion.
Thankfully, she's exceptionally bad at it. For the most part, only other equally screwed up relatives ever trust anything coming out of her mouth.
Even when she confessed to her infant cousin's murder, the cops didn't believe her. And any infant related crime leads to lack of objectivity and need to "solve" quickly.
(Long story: She was innocent but in the house and unaware at the time of the incident.)
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