how to stat abilities tied to berserk disad

[Rurouni_Bill]

Hi all,

I'm drawing a blank on how to stat this. I'm trying to make a psion with a lot of untrained telekinesis. That's easy, telekinesis with the uncontrollable limitation. This character also has the Berserk disadvantage. How would you stat the telekinesis getting substantially stronger only when he fails his berserk will check? I'm aiming for a "Hulking out" vibe, where when he snaps, he becomes substantially more dangerous, but not positive how to make that work. Any help is appreciated. Thanks GURPS-Gurus.

[Captain Joy]

Originally Posted by Rurouni_Bill

Hi all,

I'm drawing a blank on how to stat this. I'm trying to make a psion with a lot of untrained telekinesis. That's easy, telekinesis with the uncontrollable limitation. This character also has the Berserk disadvantage. How would you stat the telekinesis getting substantially stronger only when he fails his berserk will check? I'm aiming for a "Hulking out" vibe, where when he snaps, he becomes substantially more dangerous, but not positive how to make that work. Any help is appreciated. Thanks GURPS-Gurus.

Completely stat his telekinesis ability for both situations: not-Berserk and Berserk. Apply an accessibility Limitation to the addition cost of the Berserk version over the not-Berserk version.

[Langy]

Originally Posted by Captain Joy

Completely stat his telekinesis ability for both situations: not-Berserk and Berserk. Apply an accessibility Limitation to the addition cost of the Berserk version over the not-Berserk version.

The typical accessibility limitation for 'only when this thing I can control is active' is -10%. In this case, it might make sense to be -20% or -25%. Not sure any higher would fit, though.

[Gurps Fan]

Compare these two builds:

A) Telekinesis 10 (Temporary Disadvantage, Berserk (N/A), -25%).
B) Telekinesis 10 (Accessibility, Only in berserk state, -X%).

In the case A, you are always in control of your own TK, but you always fall in berserk state whenever you use your TK. In the case B, you must be in berserk state as a prerequisite for being able to use your TK. The two cases are slightly different, but since anyone who has Berserk can deriberately drive himself into berserk state (p. B124), the cases A and B are quite equivalent. I'd price the "-X%" at -25%.

By the way, there's a murphy on psi abilities and Berserk: When you're berserk, your possible maneuvers are restricted to All-Out Attack, Move, and Move and Attack, and nothing else (p. B124). However, most psi abilities require Concentrate maneuver, except for abilities that touching, which use Attack maneuver (Psionic Powers, p. 22). Therefore, when you are berserk, you can't use most psi abilities. This is easy to resolve -- simply ignore the text on p. B124 and just allow Concentrate.

[Wildcat]

Originally Posted by Rurouni_Bill

Hi all,

I'm drawing a blank on how to stat this. I'm trying to make a psion with a lot of untrained telekinesis. That's easy, telekinesis with the uncontrollable limitation. This character also has the Berserk disadvantage. How would you stat the telekinesis getting substantially stronger only when he fails his berserk will check? I'm aiming for a "Hulking out" vibe, where when he snaps, he becomes substantially more dangerous, but not positive how to make that work. Any help is appreciated. Thanks GURPS-Gurus.

I'd actually decided long ago that if I ever wrote a comic book, this is essentially what the main character's power would be. When calm and focused, they would have enough fine control to do stuff like pick locks using their telekinesis. As they get more emotional, though, the fine control goes down and the raw power goes up, to the point where flinging an Abrams tank the length of a football field would be a minor effort, but trying to open the hatch would probably result in ripping a hole in the armor.

[DouglasCole]

Originally Posted by Gurps Fan

This is easy to resolve -- simply ignore the text on p. B124 and just allow Concentrate.

Or in this specific case, ONLY allow Concentrate and the actions, if any, typically allowed to be paired with it.

[Bruno]

Originally Posted by DouglasCole

Or in this specific case, ONLY allow Concentrate and the actions, if any, typically allowed to be paired with it.

I'd be a little more nuanced and call it an All Out Concentrate (no cheating and saying that since you're psychic, you can dodge while Berserk) that can only be used to perform Berserk-permitted actions with abilities that indirectly perform the standard actions. I would still allow "real" Move and All Out Attack and Move and Attack as usual for Berserk, because if an enemy gets out of range you SHOULD chase them.

All Out Concentrate is from... Psionic Powers? Psi? Almost sure it's Psionic Powers.

[Langy]

Originally Posted by Bruno

I'd be a little more nuanced and call it an All Out Concentrate (no cheating and saying that since you're psychic, you can dodge while Berserk) that can only be used to perform Berserk-permitted actions with abilities that indirectly perform the standard actions. I would still allow "real" Move and All Out Attack and Move and Attack as usual for Berserk, because if an enemy gets out of range you SHOULD chase them.

All Out Concentrate is from... Psionic Powers? Psi? Almost sure it's Psionic Powers.

Yep, Psionic Powers, Page 11.

[Rurouni_Bill]

Thanks for all the feedback everyone. Very helpful. I think I'd prefer this character to not have the ability to purposefully enter into a berserk state. If anything, I might want to add an extra modifier onto Berserk so that you are incapacitated when it is done.

Thanks again.

[Rurouni_Bill]

Originally Posted by Wildcat

I'd actually decided long ago that if I ever wrote a comic book, this is essentially what the main character's power would be. When calm and focused, they would have enough fine control to do stuff like pick locks using their telekinesis. As they get more emotional, though, the fine control goes down and the raw power goes up, to the point where flinging an Abrams tank the length of a football field would be a minor effort, but trying to open the hatch would probably result in ripping a hole in the armor.

Yep, this is exactly what I was aiming for. I'm thinking 'telekinetic shockwaves, with the psion at ground zero'. Fun for everyone! I'm sure the other PC's will enjoy that. ;)