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Old 04-01-2020, 03:31 PM   #1
kirbwarrior
 
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Default Warp without needing to prepare +25%

So awhile back I made a porter that has Compartmentalized Mind with No Mental Separation and One Power Only, coming out to 25pts. I then later got a SOP perk for "always concentrating on Warp". It was a lot of fun.

Later on a player wanted something similar. Instead of taking the above build exactly as is, I just made it a +25% enhancement (close enough in price) that instead of needing to prepare Warp, instead the amount of time between using Warp was used. This trades off the ability to concentrate in tandem (letting you hit higher bonuses in double time) with the ability to do this even while sleeping, unconscious, etc. If I were to use this as an Affliction attack, I'd have it be between uses of the attack, and for AAs either use.

I thought I'd post it here for others to use since I thought it was so neat, but I'm not actually certain it's fair (It's largely has Reliable 5 only for no preparation), but it hasn't felt unfair (if anything, Reliable seems a bit expensive on Warp). Any thoughts on this?
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Old 04-02-2020, 10:13 AM   #2
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Default Re: Warp without needing to prepare +25%

This sounds a LOT like P89's Blink (same enhancement price, same avoidance of -10 penalty) but that requires going in a random direction and seems to require being attacked since it works in the adrenaline of combat.

B98 Reliable +10 is +50%, I assume Blink's half-pricing is based on something along the lines of Limited Enhancements (B111) such as adding Emergencies Only -30% (B112) and Aspected: Combat Only -20% (P110) to the enhancement.

That actually seems like a better option since it wouldn't require going in a random direction... but then Blink does have the option of using it outside combat situations which are still dangerous, like say if you were trapped in a burning building and choking to death on the smoke? That's not technically combat I guess, so the Limited Enhancement version I came up with shouldn't be usable, whereas Blink WOULD, so that offsets the requirement to go in a random direction.

The other benefit to the random direction is it's a SAFE direction (even if you don't know it's safe) so there's some kind of clairvoyance/prescience going in there, whereas without Blink, since you have to CHOOSE the direction, you might choose a place you THINK is safe but it turns out not to be safe.
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Old 04-02-2020, 03:28 PM   #3
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Default Re: Warp without needing to prepare +25%

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This sounds a LOT like P89's Blink (same enhancement price, same avoidance of -10 penalty) but that requires going in a random direction and seems to require being attacked since it works in the adrenaline of combat.
There are some definite differences, but it does sound comparable, definitely. As a combat power, Blink is much better, but as a travel power this comes ahead (and nothing stopping someone from getting both).
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Old 04-02-2020, 05:08 PM   #4
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Default Re: Warp without needing to prepare +25%

As built, the ability doesn't eliminate the time to prepare. It just lets you do so in conjunction with other actions.

In practice, this means you have to pre-declare where you intend to Warp by at least the prep time. You can't, for example, just decide in the middle of combat to Warp behind some enemy "because my CM was concentrating on that this whole time". The enemy probably wasn't even standing in that exact hex, or might have still been still hidden in ambush ten seconds earlier.

Similarly, if you used it while sleeping, the conscious mind would have had to select a destination before going to sleep. Good for fleeing in an emergency, but if you want to wake up, assess the situation, and then choose a destination based on what you now know (hey, those assassins are wearing the Duke's colors; I probably shouldn't warp back to his castle for safety), you need to start the prep timer over again. At least you can still run or fight while the CM works on it. But it still takes a few moments to get the coordinates from the navicomputer.
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Old 04-02-2020, 06:05 PM   #5
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Default Re: Warp without needing to prepare +25%

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In practice, this means you have to pre-declare where you intend to Warp by at least the prep time. You can't, for example, just decide in the middle of combat to Warp behind some enemy "because my CM was concentrating on that this whole time".
Wait, really? I thought it was like Takes Extra Time and (Immediate) Preparation Required where you decide when you actually roll.
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Old 04-02-2020, 07:01 PM   #6
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Default Re: Warp without needing to prepare +25%

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I thought it was like Takes Extra Time and (Immediate) Preparation Required where you decide when you actually roll.
I can see that point of view. For Warp at least, I think of the "preparation" as actually doing the Warping -- concentrating on the sensations of your visualized destination, folding space to make things line up, waiting for the navicomputer to finish its calculations after you type in the destination address, that sort of thing. The actual teleporting doesn't take significant time (in this view).

Prep Required does have the bit about not having to specify "how you plan to use the ability", so it's a pretty big loophole with fuzzy edges. I'd be okay with, say, not having to pick a target ahead of time for an Innate Attack. (The "prep" might represent loading your musket, but not the aim-and-fire bit.) But as a counterexample, I'd find "prepping" a Modular Ability without specifying what that ability is, because you haven't decided "how you plan to use" that ModAb, to be pretty abusive. Same with "casting a spell" without declaring which spell the mage is concentrating on.

I wouldn't think it unreasonable to think a Warp destination is more like choosing a weapon target, a negligible factor tossed in after doing the work. But that doesn't really fit my mental image of what the ability typically does or how it's usually described in fiction.

Last edited by Anaraxes; 04-02-2020 at 07:55 PM.
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Old 04-02-2020, 08:14 PM   #7
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Default Re: Warp without needing to prepare +25%

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Wait, really? I thought it was like Takes Extra Time and (Immediate) Preparation Required where you decide when you actually roll.
And what was all that concentrating doing if not focusing on where you wanted to go? Powering up your 'warp core'? Can you keep the 'warp drive' revving like that for that long?

Like Anaraxes, I've always seen it as "doing the math to figure out how to get from A to B with having to traverse the distance between".

Also, Warp already has a "do it instantly" Enhancement inherently, Reliable. So I don't allow Players to custom enhance their way into cheaper Enhancements.

Further, GURPS is about "getting what you pay for". In this case you clearly want "Instantaneous Warp", not "I spend 10 seconds doing other things and then warping Warp", so I'd have you pay for the 'Instant' variety.


Now, don't get me wrong, your build is interesting and I like it, but not for "Instant Warp as long as I've been conscious for 10 seconds or more".



Though, now I'm intrigued by what others think Instant No Concentration Warp without requiring Reliable should cost, as it allows for the purchase of reliable to better ensure proper Warps and overcoming Warp penalties (from distance, or third hand view, interference, etc). I have a quick BoN build that puts it at 350 points (10 levels of kirbwarrior's build)...
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Old 04-02-2020, 11:59 PM   #8
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Default Re: Warp without needing to prepare +25%

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Originally Posted by Anaraxes View Post
I wouldn't think it unreasonable to think a Warp destination is more like choosing a weapon target, a negligible factor tossed in after doing the work. But that doesn't really fit my mental image of what the ability typically does or how it's usually described in fiction.
I think that would make for a perfect limitation, maybe -5% or -10%. I generally don't trust fiction to how gurps does things (no offense to the writers, mechanics do come first).
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Old 04-03-2020, 12:48 AM   #9
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Default Re: Warp without needing to prepare +25%

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Originally Posted by Anaraxes View Post
I wouldn't think it unreasonable to think a Warp destination is more like choosing a weapon target, a negligible factor tossed in after doing the work. But that doesn't really fit my mental image of what the ability typically does or how it's usually described in fiction.
If using the Innate Attack comparison, the difference between "I need to prepare myself for some time then at the last second choose my target" (either Takes Extra Time or Immediate Preparation Reqired) would be contrast with B113's "Onset" where you attack (and choose a target) immediately, but then time passes before the effect of the attack (the damage) happens.

This isn't meant for non-attack advantages like Warp but I'm wondering what thoughts would be for something like that where you do your warp (roll, spend FP, choose destination) but then -10% if there's a 1-minute delay until the teleport happens.
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Old 04-03-2020, 02:35 AM   #10
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Default Re: Warp without needing to prepare +25%

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Originally Posted by Plane View Post
If using the Innate Attack comparison, the difference between "I need to prepare myself for some time then at the last second choose my target" (either Takes Extra Time or Immediate Preparation Reqired) would be contrast with B113's "Onset" where you attack (and choose a target) immediately, but then time passes before the effect of the attack (the damage) happens.

This isn't meant for non-attack advantages like Warp but I'm wondering what thoughts would be for something like that where you do your warp (roll, spend FP, choose destination) but then -10% if there's a 1-minute delay until the teleport happens.
On the note of Onset, another variant is you do all the rolls and such upfront, but then you must prepare the amount of time that would convert your failure into a success. That would likely come out to -0% (you convert failures but not fumbles to successes) but you can't not do it without outside interruption.
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