Steve Jackson Games - Site Navigation
Home General Info Follow Us Search Illuminator Store Forums What's New Other Games Ogre GURPS Munchkin Our Games: Home

Go Back   Steve Jackson Games Forums > Roleplaying > GURPS

Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
Old 05-01-2020, 02:21 AM   #1
johndallman
Night Watchman
 
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: Cambridge, UK
Default [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?
johndallman is online now   Reply With Quote
Old 05-01-2020, 03:51 AM   #2
WingedKagouti
 
Join Date: Oct 2007
Default 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.
WingedKagouti is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-01-2020, 04:58 AM   #3
RogerBW
 
RogerBW's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2008
Location: near London, UK
Default 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.
RogerBW is online now   Reply With Quote
Old 05-01-2020, 05:34 AM   #4
Daigoro
 
Daigoro's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: Meifumado
Default Re: [Basic] Disadvantage of the Week: Supersensitive

Quote:
Originally Posted by johndallman View Post
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.
That does sound like a bit of a Murphy. Perhaps you could make that relevant by adding an Extended Range enhancement or something.
__________________
Collaborative Settings:
Cyberpunk: Duopoly Nation
Space Opera: Behind the King's Eclipse
And heaps of forum collabs, 30+ and counting!
Daigoro is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-01-2020, 07:09 AM   #5
ericthered
Hero of Democracy
 
ericthered's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2012
Location: far from the ocean
Default Re: [Basic] Disadvantage of the Week: Supersensitive

Quote:
Originally Posted by RogerBW View Post
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.

I've built powers that did that, but I'm not sure I've ever used them in play.
__________________
Be helpful, not pedantic

Worlds Beyond Earth -- my blog

Check out the PbP forum! If you don't see a game you'd like, ask me about making one!
ericthered is online now   Reply With Quote
Old 05-01-2020, 08:50 AM   #6
WaterAndWindSpirit
 
Join Date: Oct 2014
Default 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.
WaterAndWindSpirit is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-01-2020, 12:47 PM   #7
Inky
 
Join Date: Sep 2019
Location: UK
Default 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.
__________________
Looking for online text-based game at a UK-feasible time, anything considered, Roll20 preferred. http://forums.sjgames.com/showthread.php?t=168443
Inky is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Tags
disadvantage of the week, psionics, supersenitive

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Fnords are Off
[IMG] code is Off
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump


All times are GMT -6. The time now is 04:49 PM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.9
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.