Mental Feint?

[TheDux]

So my character, who would fall somewhere between a "mentalist" and an "energy projector", is pretty clever and will use a bit of trickery rather than brute force.

The power I want to make is to make an opponent think I will be striking them and force them to take a defensive action (thus sacrificing their next turn).

In non game terms it would be like this:

Solomon Grundy (my mentalist) creates an illusion (ONLY IN THE TARGETS MIND) that he is about to be struck by any attack (either an energy blast from me, a near by foe hitting him across the face, or a falling car about to crash land where he is standing). At this point the target can either see through the illusion and just ignore it, take some defensive action, or stand and take the "hit" but be puzzled when nothing happens to him.

In slightly more game terms (Italics are optional):

Solomon Grundy creates some sort of effect that requires a char roll to see through. If the target succeeds in the check then he see through trickery and simply ignores the effect. If the target fails the check, he then is required to either take a defensive action and abort his next turn, or take the attack and leave him puzzled and take some sort of -DCV.

I am thinking that this can be done with something like

8d6 Mind Control, Telepathic +1/4 (50 Active Points), Set Effect [Defensive Action] (-1/2), Limited Power [Does not require Break Out Roll] (-1/2). Total Cost: 25

I think that the above might work with the right SFX (the mental illusion being the SFX).

I will also mention that typically the Mind Control dice only need to beat the target's Ego since he should be inclined to dodge/etc anyway. If not Ego + 5 because it does "contradict reality" but not under direct observation. Ego + 10 might be best since it does "contradict reality" but not under direct observation AND the character might not be inclined to take defensive actions and just take a direct hit.

Now will this work? How can i make it better/more accurate? What should the "typical" basis foe the dice goal be? (Ego? Ego + 10?)

Keep in mind the over all goal is to force them to abort their next turn by taking a defensive action.

[Sean Waters]

Bit old fashioned but, mechanically, a 3d6+1 SPD drain (standard effect: 10 points) with RSR might well do what you are looking for. Add in a limitation that all drained points return at the end of the turn.

Other than that a mind control sounds the very thing. There are othetr ways to do it but you want to FORCE someone to be defensive (even when they might normally just tough out an attack and keep on coming) so something like mental illusions (my first thought) probably would not work.

[Psylint]

You could try images:

Images all ready has the Perception roll to spot the unreality of it and seems to replicate your effect almost completely except for it being personal to the target.

But I think Sean has the best idea, a limited mind control "abort to defensive action" is probably the easiest and cleanest way to get what you want.

[TheDux]

I was thinking first about Mental Illusion, and the speed drain, and then about Images. Speed drain felt like a little bit of a stretch for the powers SFX, though mechanically it works perfect. (As a personal taste i like to keep powers and their SFX as close as possible, though I break this rule more often than not).

Images/Mental Illusion, again, worked perfect except for it not being for a single target and the fact that it doesnt force them to take a defensive action.

I was also thinking about creating an EB that dealt no damage, but that does not give me the versatility that I am looking for (I want some control over what defensive action they take without saying "DIVE FOR COVER!!!!" more like "LOOK OUT! THIS EFFECT IS ABOUT TO HAPPEN, TAKE THE DEFENSIVE (in a logical way)!!"

Thanks a lot for the help. Any other recommendations?

[ghost-angel]

Mind Control - fixed effect: Abort Your Next Phase To Dodge or Dive For Cover ("Dodge Now!") or Reduce Your DCV by 3 ("Stand Still!").

[BNakagawa]

The value needed for success depends on the victim. Some characters might take EGO. Some might take EGO + 20. It depends on their mindset. I suppose you could make a case for some extreme cases where it might take EGO + 30 or even +40 for something like a berzerker or the Hulk when he's really pissed off.

For balance sake, the value should creep upwards after each successful use, sort of how a presence attack loses value after each one during the same scene. This is to prevent it from being an automatic lockdown power against any non-mentalist.

[bigbywolfe]

Images/Mental Illusion, again, worked perfect except for it not being for a single target and the fact that it doesnt force them to take a defensive action.

Um, not saying this is the way to go or anything, but Mental Illusion does hit a single target and, if sucessful, forces them to respond. Of course, they may not respond the way you intend...

[Doc Democracy]

Solomon Grundy creates some sort of effect that requires a char roll to see through. If the target succeeds in the check then he see through trickery and simply ignores the effect. If the target fails the check, he then is required to either take a defensive action and abort his next turn, or take the attack and leave him puzzled and take some sort of -DCV.

So how about DEX drain, fixed effect, based on ECV, only to affect DCV (-1), effect negated by successful defensive manouevre (-2).

That provides you with an attack which, if successful will reduce the DCV of the victim unless they make a successful defensive manouevre...

Doc