Psychic Backlash

[Tech]

I'd like to build a power where if anyone tries using any mental power on him (includes Telepathy, Mind Scan, Mind Link, etc.), they are automatically hit with damage, probably NND. The power will be Invisible. Also, the person in question will damage them even if not in sight in the case of Mind Scan, or aware of attacker. The power is always on. So, how to build?

[Lucius]

 

See page 322 of vol 1 of Hero 6th edition.

 

Lucius Alexander

 

Or you could ask a palindromedary about it.

[Surrealone]

Damage Shield is the droid you're looking for to cause an attacker to suffer damage when s/he hits a character -- specifically the Mental Damage Shield varietal detailed on the page Lucius provided.

[DasBroot]

Since many psychics also pack a healthy dose of mental defense and you're paying a massive cost for the damage shield already you might want to try and scrounge up so points for Penetrating or Armor Piercing (it's pretty hardcore to find someone who buys impenetrable and/or hardened on mental defense).

 

The specifics of 'mental damage shield' might preclude the ability to apply 'NND' to it ... but if you were trying to set aside points for NND (what would be the defense, if not mental?) anyways then AP/Penetrating and extra dice might serve you well regardless.

 

 

[Tom Cowan]

0 END and always on,

and for some real fun make it a killing attack too

[DasBroot]

When the Damage Shield options are added to a Mental

Power, along with the Limitation Mental Contact Only (-½), this
creates a Mental Damage Shield. If someone hits the character
with a Mental Power, the attacker suffers the damage from the
Shield; it has no effect on non-mental combat

 

It looks like you *could* slap NND on it, since you can apply NND to Mental Blast, but how would you make a killing attack a mental power?  I'm not sure that even taking the +1/4 advantage Alternate Combat Value - OMCV vs DMCV - would transform a killing attack into a 'mental power' for that purpose.

 

 

[Tom Cowan]

The damage shield is zero range, but hits any one who hits it.  so no need for LOS.  not even a OMCV vs DMCV.  Just bam vs rMD 

[Tech]

2 hours ago, DasBroot said:

Since many psychics also pack a healthy dose of mental defense and you're paying a massive cost for the damage shield already you might want to try and scrounge up so points for Penetrating or Armor Piercing (it's pretty hardcore to find someone who buys impenetrable and/or hardened on mental defense).

 

The specifics of 'mental damage shield' might preclude the ability to apply 'NND' to it ... but if you were trying to set aside points for NND (what would be the defense, if not mental?) anyways then AP/Penetrating and extra dice might serve you well regardless.

 

 

 

The NND defense would indeed be something other than Mental Def. Actually, we've long since had people with hardened mental def in the campaign.

Thanks all. Good ideas.

[DasBroot]

19 minutes ago, Tom Cowan said:

The damage shield is zero range, but hits any one who hits it.  so no need for LOS.  not even a OMCV vs DMCV.  Just bam vs rMD 

 

By RAW it damages anyone who 'comes into contact with it' - not 'hits it'.  I'm pretty sure Damage shield doesn't work on ranged attacks that don't have a link of some sort back to the attacker (like an entangle or barrier that has feedback, for example) or some funky SFX a gm can rule on: Your fire shield damages the car that a brick throws at you because he doesn't want to get burned, not the brick himself.

 

It's why Mental Damage Shield has its own write up and follows its own rules (including specifying that it works with Mental Powers): it's an exception.

 

Damage shield vs ranged attacks is... well, Reflection, really.

[Surrealone]

If the person with this damage shield will be a mentalist, then my advice is to forget a damage shield based on doing STUN ... and go for a damage shield whose psychic backlash manifests as a Drain to EGO and/or OMCV.  Drain natively works using Power Defense ... which walks right around the Mental Defense worry.  Also, neither EGO nor OMCV are subject to the halving rule for defenses.  Thus, a mentalist with this sort of damage shield enabled is prone to weakening his/her opposition with it each time s/he comes under attack.

 

The above becomes especially effective if the damage shield has the Damage Over Time advantage ... built so that whatever limited Power Defense the target has is only applied once ... after it's cut in half by Armor Piercing ... with a bit of Penetrating thrown in for good measure.  This is, I have found, one of the a few ways a Damage Shield can keep on giving after the initial hit from an attacker ... without relying on a Linked power. 

 

Psychic Backlash (85 Active Points; 42 Real Points):  Drain EGO & OMCV 1d6, Area of Effect (2m Surface; +1/4), Armor Piercing (+1/4), Expanded Effect (x2 Game Elements) (+1/2), Reduced Endurance (0 END; +1/2), Penetrating (+1/2), Constant (+1/2), Invisible Power Effects (Fully Invisible; +1), Damage Over Time, Target's defenses only apply once, Lock out (cannot be applied multiple times) (12 damage increments, damage occurs every Segment, +4) No Range (-1/2), Mental Contact Only (-1/2)