"SEP" Field -- Mental Illusions? or Mind Control? (5th Ed.)

[Franklin W. Cain]

I'm soliciting help from the hive mind, as to which Power (in 5th Edition) would work better for this effect. I've got a hypothetical mage or telepath who wants everyone to ignore him. Basically, the power has a Set Effect of "Ignore Me; I Belong Here".  Which Power from 5th Edition do you think works better -- Mental Illusions (w/ Self Only), or Mind Control (telepathic), and why? 

 

Since both Powers are Instant, it looks like I'll need to use Trigger, regardless of whichever Power I wind up selecting. The preset condition would be "when you see me", should be instantaneous (i.e. takes no time), and should not be overridable (i.e. user does not control activation). 

 

(Tally): 

+1/4 for "Set condition"

1/4 less, for "takes no time"

1/4 more, for "does not control activation"

 

Looks like a total of +1/4 for this advantage. 

 

Also, since I don't want the caster to pass out (from spending too much END) just be entering a crowded room (one attack per person, all at once!), he's gonna need to have 0 END (+1/2) on this, as well. 

 

Now, I'm wondering if I need to account for being able to use this power on many persons at once...

 

Thanks!  ;-)

Franklin

 

1) "SEP" = "Someone Else's Problem", as documented elsewhere: 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somebody_else's_problem

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/BystanderSyndrome?from=Main.SomebodyElsesProblem

 

2) Douglas Adams deserves credit for the term "SEP field": 

http://hitchhikers.wikia.com/wiki/Somebody_Else's_Problem_field

 

3) I specifically do -not- want to use Invisibility, as I want for people around this caster to subconsciously avoid him and move around him as necessary. With true Invisibility, they'd just bump into him, giving away the fact that he's there. Also, I -want- for this effect to be useless against cameras and the like; in this latter case, true Invisibility would be too powerful. 

Edited February 23, 2017 by Franklin W. Cain

[Surrealone]

Before I respond with my opinion, I have a question:

May I safely presume that you are building both powers with a required effect minimum of +20 beyond whatever the stated/desired effect actually is -- in order to prevent a target from knowing he's been attacked with a Mental Power (per 5er page 119 -- in the section on the perceivability of mental powers)?

 

I ask because it's tough for someone to ignore you, if they know exactly who you are and what you're doing to them during or after the effect.  (By definition, they didn't ignore you if they noted you did something to them... even after the fact.  Observation of the observed ... is action on the observed, after all.)

[Netzilla]

I know you said you specifically didn't want to use Invisibility for this, but I've built this effect before as Invisibility to the Sight, Hearing, Taste/Smell, Mental and Touch groups with a limitation of Only vs Sentient Beings (-1/2).  The special effect on the Touch invisibility was that people would subconsciously avoid touching him.  The Only vs Sentient Beings meant that it didn't work against cameras and other non-thinking entities.

 

If I recall correctly, I was working off of the Mental/Psionic Invisibility from the Until Superpowers Database (I think it was in that book).

[Franklin W. Cain]

1) Yes, either Power would need to have a really huge boost to cover the needed extra +20 effect.  ;-)

 

2) Using (true) Invisibility in this case would also require an additional Limitation of "Not vs. Cameras and Other Tech" (-1/2?). Thanks for the suggestion!  ;-)  

[CptPatriot]

You could try a cumulative, area of effect Mental Illusion, which builds up to the level of effect desired, so the longer they are in your AoE, the more they'll not see you.

[Surrealone]

Netzilla's approach is spot-on.  It does exactly what's been requested and avoids the need for an assinine number of dice to always get the +20 required effect.

 

I was going to go down exactly that same path (as Netzilla), but I first needed to point out the diceage issue so that it would become apparent to you that using actual Invis would cost less (and be more reliable) ... before I could show you that actual Invis could be made even cheaper (and apropos) using a limitation.

 

Netzilla saved me the trouble.

[bigdamnhero]

In the past I've tried building this as AOE Mental Illusions, but the cost gets astronomical and it's tedious to implement. Limited Invisibility like Netzilla suggests is much cleaner in practice. I've even thrown on an additional Lim that a target's MD adds to their INT for purposes of calculating their PER Roll to spot the character's fringe, thus giving mentalists a better shot at seeing through it.

[Christopher R Taylor]

I bought it as images when I made a "nobody notices me" power.

 

The advantage being that a very perceptive person could notice you, if you were doing anything, but when inactive, it became nearly impossible to spot you and people just forgot you were there.

[Mister E]

I like the Invisibility build.

 

Because Invisibility is not for the Touch group I think it needs Desolid w/ Cannot Pass Through Solid Object & Doesn't Protect From Damage.

 

--

 

Then there is this:

 

"Ignore Me!!!": +60 PRE; Only To Be Ignored (-1/2).

 

--

 

Also an Extraordinary Shadowing skill roll ought to work.