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Immunity to Psychic Powers


Odraude

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So I've been pondering an ability for an NPC (can't imagine a PC taking this) that's sole power is an immunity to all mental powers used on him. He is essentially known to psychics in my universe as a voidsoul and to them, he is dangerous because of what anti psychic government agencies can do with him. I know I'll definitely have a Mental Invisibility, but that doesn't stop Telepathy and Mind Control (as per APG section about Invisibility) if they are staring right at him. So, what would you consider doing for powers like these?

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Re: Immunity to Psychic Powers

 

This sounds like an absolute effect similar to the Flash being described as "the Fastest Man Alive" or Superman's "Invulnerability".

 

As such you just need to define what level of defensive abilities like Mental Defense he needs to have to hold this title in your campaign. Mental Defense also might need the Resistant Advantage. Limited Power Defense and Presence might be appropriate. And the new Damage Negation Power might be worth looking at as well. High Mental Combat Values might be applicable if you expect him to encounter Mental Based Entangles.

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Re: Immunity to Psychic Powers

 

Sounds okay. A friend had an idea of just having him labelled as Mental Class Voidsoul and have no psychic able to control him, but it didn't seem very elegant. Same with a Suppress Mental Powers with the limitation Only For Powers Targeting Himself. That'd be a weird limitation.

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Re: Immunity to Psychic Powers

 

I built a character sort of like this..not completely immune...but so resistant that for practical purposes...he was immune...

 

20 pts Mental def

EGO of 23

Power defense only vs mental debilitating attacks

50% Mental Damage reduction

 

On average..even a 20d6 Mind Control couldn't sway him very much...average roll...70...minus 20 for mental defense...halved for damage reduction down to 25...just enough to make him do something he was gonna do anyways..but nothing more.

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Re: Immunity to Psychic Powers

 

If you're using the current edition, you can apply Damage Negation.

 

Apart from invoking the Absolute Effect Rule, or just defining the character as having a unique Class of Mind by "fiat," one kind of munchkin solution is to use Mental Shapeshift to a unique Class of Mind, Always On (-0) and Inherent.

 

Lucius Alexander

 

The palindromedary is in a Class by itself

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Re: Immunity to Psychic Powers

 

If you're using the current edition, you can apply Damage Negation.

 

Apart from invoking the Absolute Effect Rule, or just defining the character as having a unique Class of Mind by "fiat," one kind of munchkin solution is to use Mental Shapeshift to a unique Class of Mind, Always On (-0) and Inherent.

 

Lucius Alexander

 

The palindromedary is in a Class by itself

 

I thought about Damage Negation but it only affects damaging abilities. Couldn't really see it for blocking mental abilities or entangle.

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Re: Immunity to Psychic Powers

 

I thought about Damage Negation but it only affects damaging abilities. Couldn't really see it for blocking mental abilities or entangle.

 

It does? Needs to be rewritten then.

 

edit: I looked, you're right. I still say if you're using Absolute Effect that should work.

 

Lucius Alexander

 

The palindromedary says I have no class

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Re: Immunity to Psychic Powers

 

I thought about Damage Negation but it only affects damaging abilities. Couldn't really see it for blocking mental abilities or entangle.

 

It does? Needs to be rewritten then.

 

Lucius Alexander

 

The palindromedary says I have no class

 

It can be bought for Mental Attacks. There's a "up to the GM" clause on which attack powers it effects.

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Re: Immunity to Psychic Powers

 

It would be kind of compounding special cases as Mental Powers are one of the things specifically listed to affect desolidified characters, but if the GM is cool with that I don't see a problem in going for the Only To Protect Against [Limited Type Of Attack] exemption to needing Affects Physical World.

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Re: Immunity to Psychic Powers

 

MDCV of 15 or greater

20 pts mental Def

Damage Reduction 75% vs mental powers

 

anybody who could harm that is a monster

 

Yeah, I created a character one time. I gave him an "I got nothing" Mental Defense. Basically, he was an escapee from a mental asylum. But, he had latent mental powers that he never quite knew about (or at least never understood his problems were from mental powers) that drove him insane. So, the idea was that mentalist never could get a "grip" on his mind. Never used him. Never thought about Damage Reduction, though. That would have been good.

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Re: Immunity to Psychic Powers

 

Hmm. Sounds like you'd need to define what ranks as 'strongest', 'fastest', etc., in your campaign. Sort of like how Dr. Destroyer is viewed in many settings as 'Ultimate Evil B*****d'. And then stick to it. So 'Mr. Bomb-proof Brain' has MDCV of 40 and 60 pts Mental Def. You have to declare (to yourself, since you're in charge of the campaign system) that no-one else come even close to his level.

 

Of course, sinking so many points into defence means he's about as much use as chocolate heat shielding in a blast furnace when it comes to a battle... One bullet from a .357 and he's dogfood...

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Re: Immunity to Psychic Powers

 

Yeah, as has been mentioned above, perhaps the two best ways to tackle this is simply setting the campaign mental attack caps to X value and then setting the character's defense to meet that value OR simply getting 100% damage reduction vs mental attacks. And, to the best of my knowledge (no book next to me), since you set it for Mental Defense, only your other mental attacks (for which the character seems to lack) would need the Affects Physical world. But I could be wrong on the last part. If I am, I'm sure you can wave away such requirements.

 

There is also an option of a trigger for the defense. This, if you use it, would allow the character to get the benefit of the defense without always having to have it on and then buying Affects Physical world. It would also mean that psychics would use their mental blasts on him for the soul purpose of disrupting him. ^^

 

La Rose.

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Re: Immunity to Psychic Powers

 

MDCV of 15 or greater

20 pts mental Def

Damage Reduction 75% vs mental powers

 

anybody who could harm that is a monster

You should also make this defense Impenetrable. Penentrating + Cumulating could still overcome it otherwise.

 

Sounds okay. A friend had an idea of just having him labelled as Mental Class Voidsoul and have no psychic able to control him' date=' but it didn't seem very elegant. Same with a Suppress Mental Powers with the limitation Only For Powers Targeting Himself. That'd be a weird limitation.[/quote']

A good idea, keeping in mind that there a non-psychic ways of coercion - basically any mental power with "Works agaisnt CON" and you might not want the defense to affect this.

 

unless you buy him as an Automaton' date=' with no EGO, but that has it's own problems[/quote']

The automaton route is a possibility, as you have to "fine tune" them with Complciations to make them succeptible to mental powers but otherwise they function much as characters do.

 

You could try buying Invisibility to your common senses and mental sense' date=' only vs mental powers.[/quote']

As the DCV route, this could be avoided by Area of Effect Attacks.

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Re: Immunity to Psychic Powers

 

So I've been pondering an ability for an NPC (can't imagine a PC taking this)

 

A lot of players would love to be immune to mental influence.

 

Invulnerability in Hero is not a matter of designing the character. It's a matter of designing the world around the character. For example, rocks are immune to poison. This is represented not by giving rocks an infinite defense, but by designing all poison attacks so that they won't affect things that aren't living organic beings.

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Re: Immunity to Psychic Powers

 

For example' date=' rocks are immune to poison. This is represented not by giving rocks an infinite defense, but by designing all poison attacks so that they won't affect things that aren't living organic beings.[/quote']

Are they?

Asuming all Posions are build with AVAD (as the 6E2 sugests), they usually only deal STUN damage so they don't affect things that have no STUN. The only AVAD that could affect Rocks would be "Drain Resistant Defenses" or "Drain Body" and even they might still affect a rock...

 

But there are some people wo would say a 4d6 KA with "Poision" sfx should affect Rocks.

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Re: Immunity to Psychic Powers

 

Are they?

Asuming all Posions are build with AVAD (as the 6E2 sugests), they usually only deal STUN damage so they don't affect things that have no STUN. .

 

I never upgraded editions and in my edition there were in fact poisons that could kill you. And yes it's incumbent on the GM to demand that people who create lethal poison attacks for their characters make sure they only work on living creatures. (In fact probably only on Earthlike biology if that's an issue.)

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