[MH] Psionics and other questions

[DangerousThing]

Originally Posted by Derago

A couple questions for you all!4. Another player is a Weretiger with Karate at DX+1. Does the bonus from Karate apply to his claws in animal form? While this doesn't make a ton of sense (he's not a character from Kung-fu Panda), the template doesn't offer any other skill to actually use his claws and I can reason that since his character is not a normal tiger, he uses his claws in ways unique from normal tigers (I might let another person familiar with big cats percieve the difference).

If the player turns into a tiger (rather than a humanoid tiger-like being) I would not let him use karate, but rather DX like most animals for attacking. Animal joints are built differently enough from human they I couldn't imagine human taught martial arts working in animal form.

And I certainly would not give him the damage bonus. If he wants more damage, he can buy striking ST.

YMMV.

[lexington]

Originally Posted by DangerousThing

If the player turns into a tiger (rather than a humanoid tiger-like being) I would not let him use karate, but rather DX like most animals for attacking. Animal joints are built differently enough from human they I couldn't imagine human taught martial arts working in animal form.

And I certainly would not give him the damage bonus. If he wants more damage, he can buy striking ST.

YMMV.

He's nine: I say let him use Karate to hit, drop the damage bonus, and play up the benefits of claws (x1.5 damage, effective against monsters) so he doesn't feel cheated.

[Anaraxes]

Though I might allow a sufficiently dedicated weretiger to start developing "Karate (Tiger)", adapting principles and inventing new ones to suit the body and musculature of a tiger. It would be a separate skill from human-form Karate.

Wouldn't tigers really prefer Wrestling/Judo anyway? I'm under the impression they tend to leap on things, pin them, and then bite them. They don't maintain a distance and claw/claw/bite. Claws are for grabbing, not primarily wounding. The weight bonus also helps in a pin, along with the ST.

(Let me guess: Technical Grappling covers weretigers in detail along with everything else...)

[Peter Knutsen]

Originally Posted by Derago

Regarding the reading of animal minds, it makes sense that it would not be understandable to him, but is there a skill that represents coming to understand it through practice?

Isn't there an Enhancement, that enables most psionics to affect non-Human minds?

[lexington]

Originally Posted by Peter Knutsen

Isn't there an Enhancement, that enables most psionics to affect non-Human minds?

Universal does that but also helps with other humans.

I'd call it a design switch to be able to read animal minds normally and have sentient minds be complex and confusing.

[PK]

Originally Posted by Derago

1. If a guy wants to use telekinesis to choke a normal person, does that person have any possible defense? It seems unfair that a guy can just sit back and choke you out in a diner with no defense and no indicator of who's doing it. It's essentially a free attack with No Defense and No Signature!

A typical mook in a secret-powers game like MH will have no defense against a TK attack, no. But it's definitely possible to defend against it if you have a way to know it's coming. Intelligent foes who've done their homework and know that the PC is a teke can dodge when they see the psi suddenly stare intently at them. Anyone with some form of Detect that includes psychic abilities has a way to see it coming. Tech-savvy foes who suspect they'll be facing a psi could rig up an EWD to a HUD and suddenly the attack is 100% visible. Even something as mundane as Danger Sense could give a foe a dodge roll if they would reasonably suspect an incoming invisible grapple.

But those are all exceptions to the rule. In general, no, TK is invisible and it's a totally unfair way to attack someone. That's why it's expensive (50 points just to get typical strength) and restricted to certain characters and campaigns. If the psi can keep his abilities a secret, he's got a huge edge! This is a good thing, because it will motivate him to work twice as hard to keep everyone in the dark about the Truth. :)

2. Is there any penalty to constantly mind-wiping a person?

Nope. Eventually, the person is likely to resist a roll, of course. And remember to use Anti-Psi (MH1, p. 46); one in six guards should have at least an extra +3 to resist psi.

Now, one genuine concern is that even if the subject resists, the psi can just Mindwipe him again, and if he fails, his earlier resistance didn't really mean anything. To prevent this, I've always ruled that successful resistance means that the period of time up until the resistance roll becomes protected -- even if the telepath immediately Mindwipes the person again, it only works back to the last successful resistance roll. It's much more fair that way, IMO.

In one case, a player was mind-wiping a guard when they were spotted, then mind-wiping him again as soon as he was seen again (only a couple seconds later), and then continued doing this so that the guard was never remembering what had just happenned. Keep in mind, there is no FP cost to this.

Cool! That means less chance of having to engage in a full-blown cover-up. Smart psi. :)

3. Can mind-reading be used on animals? I'm currently ruling it as working at a penalty and then requiring an animal handling roll to interpret. Is this even close to the intent?

Sort of. Mind Reading lacks the Universal enhancement, which means that you have no language in common with the animals. I didn't go into great detail about language problems on p. 47 because GURPS Monster Hunters tends to abstract languages, but for animals, it's an issue. At most, you'll get emotions and basic concepts.

4. Another player is a Weretiger with Karate at DX+1. Does the bonus from Karate apply to his claws in animal form?

Yes. The rule about Claws only stacking with Brawling was expanded upon in GURPS Martial Arts. The short version is that for an intelligent fighter, Claws can stack with Karate as well.

he uses his claws in ways unique from normal tigers (I might let another person familiar with big cats percieve the difference).

Exactly right! If he's using Karate attacks as a tiger, anyone with Animal Handling (Big Cats), Veterinary, or similar skills should get a roll to immediately realize that something is weird about that cat.

[Derago]

Wow!

Okay, thank you all!

I was misunderstanding the claw damage - his strength in tiger form is 26, giving a thrust of 2d+2 which I would become 2d+6 ---> 3d+2 cu after karate damage. I'll definately give him that since it'll feel like a consolation prize after letting him do 5d claw swipes (against 3 hp Evil Beetles) for their whole last mission... He doesn't use his bite attack since the idea of actually biting (and probably crushing) some of the monsters they've been fighting doesn't sound good to him.

As for the TK, the Rev. PK is (of course) correct. I think I've been just trying to make things difficult for them instead of letting them be the powerful heroes they're supposed to be (compared to norms, that is). So TK is pwoerful, but there are ways to mitigate it. He has now taken two levels of TK Bullet, so he'll probably using that a lot.