Detect Minds and Barriers

[schir1964]

Re: Detect Minds and Barriers

 

One alternative is to define that all living things act as an inhibitor to mental powers. Then you could allow for additional penalties based on the number/thickness of living things that someone is trying to use a mental power through. Perhaps the living things are a distraction since they need to be scanned and ignored.

 

This would mean it would be easier to pick a single mind out in an empty skyrise building than in a Swamp/Jungle/Forest of similar area.

 

Just An Idea

 

- Christoopher Mullins

[Dust Raven]

Re: Detect Minds and Barriers

 

One alternative is to define that all living things act as an inhibitor to mental powers. Then you could allow for additional penalties based on the number/thickness of living things that someone is trying to use a mental power through. Perhaps the living things are a distraction since they need to be scanned and ignored.

 

This would mean it would be easier to pick a single mind out in an empty skyrise building than in a Swamp/Jungle/Forest of similar area.

 

Just An Idea

 

- Christoopher Mullins

That's a pretty good idea! I'm not sure if I'll go with it, but I like it. Thanks!

[gojira]

Re: Detect Minds and Barriers

 

Well, I can see the discussion is pretty far advanced. I'll add my 2 shekels anyway for the heck of it.

 

 

Dense metal, at least 1/8 inch thick, should stop mental powers. Other thick, dense material like solid stone one foot (about 30 cm) thick should also block mental powers. Rammed earth provides some cover, but doesn't completely stop mental senses until their maximum range is reached. Water provides full defense too, after about 20 ft of water (all those secret under water bases just got a whole lot more useful...). An underground water table should work the same way, mental powers are stopped after about 20 ft.

 

This means most heavily armored vehicles provide cover, and most bunkers do also, unless the victim is visible through a hatch or a loophole. Cars, aircraft and light military vehicles normally do not.

 

Most buildings don't provide full mental protection, although they may introduce some negative modifiers. Heavy stone construction may provide complete cover in some buildings (castles, traditional stone buildings, specially constructed government buildings, etc.). Most modern sky scrapers are made with metal girders and floor trusses, but the rest of the building is sealed with 1/4 inch gypsum wall board which probably wouldn't stop a be-be gun, let alone a skilled mentalist. The outside of a modern sky scraper is largely glass, which won't stop a powerful mentalist one wit.

 

Any defense with "BOECV" should provide defense at 1 pip equal to 1 pip of mental defense. (So Armor, BOECV, 15 DEF should be as good as 15 pts of Mental Defense).

 

A psionic static generator should provide defense in it's area of operation. This could be a trained psi providing cover, an enhanced animal or organic matter trained to provide defense, or an electronic device that provides the same function.

 

Mental Defense does of course. I like the idea of silver and jade and maybe a few other metals providing defense. I think any metal helmet that provides mental defense should be more substantial than tin-foil; think Magneto's helmet.

 

EMP hardening, and any hardening against high energy rays (X-rays, alpha rays, beta rays, gamma rays, cosmic rays, etc.) should at least interfere with mental powers, if not stop them completely, imho. Very intense radiation should also stop mental powers, but I mean VERY intense. Background radiation that takes a month to kill someone (Chernobyl disaster) should have little if any effect. Electro-magnetic fields should not provide complete cover from mental powers unless they are very intense (large transmission towers, power sources for crazy world-dominating experiments, etc.).

 

Magic that provides mental defense or other forms of sense protection should be allowed to stop mental powers too. Normally this means the magic should have Mental Defense, but the GM should allow other defenses based on SFX. A powerful spell that stops all scrying should probably render the user immune to mental detection also, for example.

 

Lots of bodies shouldn't by default make it any harder to find someone than if you were there, present and trying to pick them out of the crowd by eye. A very skilled mentalist or a very perceptive observer could do it.

 

 

Ok, that's about it! Good luck!

[Ganesh]

Re: Detect Minds and Barriers

 

My players are talkative lately!

 

Anyway, the recent discussion concerns an Enhanced Sense I've allowed: Detect Minds. I've allowed this sense as part of the Mental Group and as a a non-sense group sense. What we were discussing is what stops it. Sight is stopped by opaque barriers, sound is stopped by nearby loud noises or soundproofed barriers, smell is stopped by overpowering odors or airtight barriers, etc. What stops Detect Minds?

 

As a default, I have it stopped by physical barriers, but that doesn't make much sense (as my players are pointing out, and I agree with them). The problem is that several characters, heroes and villains, have Detect Minds as a Targeting Sense. I want to avoid the game breaking mental sniper, which is really the only reason I have it stopped by physical barriers. What other options do I have?

 

A Dolphin Noise Generator. It's a dolphin bran in a box, generates constant nonsensical mental noise, really screws with telepaths.

 

But more seriously, anything with a mind or with mental def would probably block it. Depending on how far you take this, swarms of insects or even groves of plants could act like fog or block this sense.

 

Depending on how it works, sources of strong emotion (including party members) could make it hard to "see" minds.

 

Or, if you're detecting neuroelectrical activity, current and ferromagnetic metals would block.

 

SFX not only adds a lot of flavor to generic powers like "detect - Minds," but provides interesting answers to what messes with them.

[Ganesh]

Re: Detect Minds and Barriers

 

oh, for additional examples: in Julian May's Intervention and Pleocene Exile books, light interpheres with mental senses (not much, just enough that scrying a night is preferable), and water requires special techniques to scry through or around, so it's blocked by rainstorms and rivers. This gives a sort of pseudo-witchery feeling to the Farsensing power.

[Sean Waters]

Re: Detect Minds and Barriers

 

Can I suggest that you say that, whilst it does not stop mental powers, you define some variable condition that has an effect on range modifiers.

 

So, for instance, you could pick humidity, or magnetic flux, or even solar radiation. When the levels are high, instead of normal range mods the attenuaion is far sharper, maybe as little as -1/1".

 

This means that the GM, at their absolute discretion, can decide when the power is useful or not, without having to suddenly place apporopriate barriers. That should be enough to stop players relying on it all the time and explain why villains are not always in a position to act as mental snipers.

 

On the mental snipers point, mind scan allows this anyway - you can't avoid it - it is just that a mental sense is a lot cheaper (I assume) and more effective - it is not avoidable bu the mentally skilled or strong.

 

Personally I would consider the existence of mind scan a strong argument against allowing a cheaper sense to function as a mental targetting sense.