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 10-10-2022, 08:14 AM   #1
johndallman
Night Watchman
 
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: Cambridge, UK
Default [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?
johndallman is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-10-2022, 05:37 PM   #2
Christopher R. Rice
 
Christopher R. Rice's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2006
Location: Portsmouth, VA, USA
Default 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.
__________________
My Twitter
My w23 Stuff
My Blog

Latest GURPS Book: Dungeon Fantasy Denizens: Thieves
Latest TFT Book: The Sunken Library

Become a Patron!
Christopher R. Rice is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-12-2022, 07:11 AM   #3
ericthered
Hero of Democracy
 
ericthered's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2012
Location: far from the ocean
Default Re: [Basic] Advantage of the Week: Protected Sense and Protected Power

Quote:
Originally Posted by Christopher R. Rice View Post
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.
This is the opposite of my experience... but I don't use those effects at all. The take away being the value of those traits is very GM-dependent.


Other than the grenades and some UT dazzlers, I'm actually not sure how I would go about attacking a characters senses.
__________________
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 10-12-2022, 07:39 AM   #4
Varyon
 
Join Date: Jun 2013
Default Re: [Basic] Advantage of the Week: Protected Sense and Protected Power

Quote:
Originally Posted by ericthered View Post
Other than the grenades and some UT dazzlers, I'm actually not sure how I would go about attacking a characters senses.
Flashlights at night would be a big one - flash one in someone's eyes and they'll basically be blind for a bit, unless they have Protected Sense (Vision). Plenty of non-explosive events - construction, toppling edifices, jet turbines, Hulk clapping his hands together, etc - can produce damaging levels of noise, unless those nearby have Protected Sense (Hearing). I can't recall if High Tech has rules for these, but if not I believe Powers: Enhanced Senses does.

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).
__________________
GURPS Overhaul
Varyon is online now   Reply With Quote
Old 10-12-2022, 08:40 AM   #5
whswhs
 
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: Lawrence, KS
Default 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.
__________________
Bill Stoddard

I don't think we're in Oz any more.
whswhs is online now   Reply With Quote
Old 10-12-2022, 09:41 AM   #6
Christopher R. Rice
 
Christopher R. Rice's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2006
Location: Portsmouth, VA, USA
Default Re: [Basic] Advantage of the Week: Protected Sense and Protected Power

Quote:
Originally Posted by ericthered View Post
This is the opposite of my experience... but I don't use those effects at all. The take away being the value of those traits is very GM-dependent.
Probably, yeah. But for my part I make the PCs power modifiers worth the discount.


Quote:
Originally Posted by ericthered View Post
Other than the grenades and some UT dazzlers, I'm actually not sure how I would go about attacking a characters senses.
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.
__________________
My Twitter
My w23 Stuff
My Blog

Latest GURPS Book: Dungeon Fantasy Denizens: Thieves
Latest TFT Book: The Sunken Library

Become a Patron!
Christopher R. Rice is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Tags
advantage of the week, protected power, protected sense

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 05:53 AM.


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