10-10-2022, 08:14 AM | #1 |
Night Watchman
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: Cambridge, UK
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[Basic] Advantage of the Week: Protected Sense and Protected Power
Protected Sense [5/sense] is an exotic physical advantage, which protects one of your ranged senses, such as vision or hearing, from being overloaded. It appeared at GURPS 4e, as a generalisation of the Polarized Eyes advantage from GURPS Aliens for 3e.
Protected Power [5/power] is a variation on Protected Sense, added in Powers and used in several supplements. It makes a power far more robust in operation, giving you +5 to resist Neutralize and +5 to get through Static, plus power-specific protections in some examples, but doesn’t include Protected Sense. Normal humans have three applicable senses, Vision, Hearing and Taste/Smell. A Protected Sense adapts rapidly (two seconds at most) to any level of sensory input that doesn’t directly do damage. This means you’ll never suffer lasting impairment to the sense from excessive input and you get +5 to rolls to resist temporary impairment and attacks with Sense-Based modifiers. For a Vision example, think of it as a really good adaptive eye-shield: you can stare into the sun or dazzling/binding lasers, without damaging your vision, but a laser weapon that does damage measured in hit points can still cook your eyes. However, equipment or personal abilities that give you DR vs that laser might also provide Protected Vision. If you have exotic senses, such as Detects or Scanning Sense, the GM is at liberty to create Protected Sense variants for them. Protected Sense and Protected Power can be used for Power Block active defences, as per Powers pp. 168-69. Protected Sense does not overlap with Resistant: anything that Protected Sense stops, or helps you resist, is not eligible for Resistant. This matters for stun grenades, which are usually used with equipment that gives Protected Vision and Hearing. Protected Vision and Smell can also help against poisons, although the rules on pp. B437-38 seem a bit absolute, without considering the many ways those advantages can be provided. In GURPS supplements, Action has modern equipment that gives Protected Sense, and AtE has some corresponding mutations. DF has low-tech equipment, and Protected Power examples for elementalism, magic and psionics. Furries has an example for Protected Smell/Taste, and High-Tech has more equipment, including some that gives Hard of Hearing as well as Protected Hearing. Magic has spells that approximate Protected Vision and Hearing, but don’t use those traits, and Power-Ups 2 has the Robust Sense perk, a weaker version of Protected Sense. Powers provides clarifications, Protected Power, and esoterica like using Armour Divisor on an attack to modify the effects of Protected Sense. Powers: Enhanced Senses has rules for better vision in very bright light, if you have Protected Vision, although there is still “light too bright to see by.” Psionic Powers points out that Anti-Psi is the only psi power that doesn’t need Protected Power, and Thaumatology: Sorcery confirms that Protected Hearing (only vs this spell it’s built into) is ‑80%. Ultra-Tech has lots of equipment that protects vision, hearing or both. GURPS 4e is inconsistent in its usage of “Smell/Taste” vs. “Taste/Smell”. The disadvantage about lacking them is always “Smell/Taste” and Protected Sense is always “Taste/Smell” but other uses may vary. I wish I’d done this review before I bought Protected Vision for the only character I’ve played with it. He had Night Vision and some Detects which showed up as overlays on his vision, and I was never quite sure how many instances of Protected I needed. That campaign is over now, anyway. Have Protect Sense or Power been valuable in your games?
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10-10-2022, 05:37 PM | #2 |
Join Date: Jun 2006
Location: Portsmouth, VA, USA
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Re: [Basic] Advantage of the Week: Protected Sense and Protected Power
Protected Vision and Hearing are pretty universal when I allow them. Protected Power is the same. My players hate their powers being nuked and I use it often enough that it's probably worth twice what they paid.
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10-12-2022, 07:11 AM | #3 | |
Hero of Democracy
Join Date: Mar 2012
Location: far from the ocean
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Re: [Basic] Advantage of the Week: Protected Sense and Protected Power
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Other than the grenades and some UT dazzlers, I'm actually not sure how I would go about attacking a characters senses.
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10-12-2022, 07:39 AM | #4 | |
Join Date: Jun 2013
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Re: [Basic] Advantage of the Week: Protected Sense and Protected Power
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Of course, in a modern setting, hearing-damaging explosive events are fairly common in combat - a gunfight, particularly one indoors or otherwise close-quarters, is somewhere you really want to have Protected Sense (Hearing).
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10-12-2022, 08:40 AM | #5 |
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: Lawrence, KS
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Re: [Basic] Advantage of the Week: Protected Sense and Protected Power
Enhanced Senses does have a table of decibel levels, and of which ones produce which measure of deafness, pain, and so on.
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10-12-2022, 09:41 AM | #6 | |
Join Date: Jun 2006
Location: Portsmouth, VA, USA
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Re: [Basic] Advantage of the Week: Protected Sense and Protected Power
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Probably exotic abilities forb the most part - though the environment too. I had a supervillain in my supers campaign AEON with a sound and light aura that went off every round and was basically a stun grenade. It was brutal.
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