How to resist mind control and mind reading?

[RangerWickett]

To resist mind control, you make a Will save. This is basically you mentally refusing to listen to your enemy. That's easy.

To resist mind reading, you make a Will save. But your thoughts simply come to you. If you think of something, it's in your mind. How do you keep the mind-reader from hearing your thoughts? Is there a perceptible presence you can drive from your mind, or must you simply not think of anything? What does it mean to make a Will save against mind reading?

For me, I think my Will saves would involve the blues and jazz. Stevie Ray Vaughn in particular. Just run some nice melodies through my mind, and the strength of the music would keep me free from mind reading and mind control. At least weak ones. Smart telepaths would know how to turn the music against me. *grin*

 

[David Howery]

or, you could just wear a tin foil hat...

 

[MonkeyDragon]

I think it has less to do with not listening to mental commands or drowning out your own thoughts, and more to do with using your mental fortitude, the will save, to fight off the invading force. In either case, something is trying to get in. Either a command, or a presence that listens to what you're thinking. You make the save, you've forced that invasive mind out of your head.

 

[The Shaman]

or, you could just wear a tin foil hat...

I'm adding that to my d20 Modern equipment list...

 

[Turanil]

How to resist mind control and mind reading?

In stopping coming on Enworld!

 

[drnuncheon]

According to Ben Reich, you pick a catchy jingle and 'play' it in your head. One of the ones that gets stuck in there and you can't get it out.

J
Bless me, what do they teach them in these schools?

 

[cmanos]

For me, I think my Will saves would involve the blues and jazz.

Cronie: "What is he thinking?"

Wizard: "All I'm getting is 'You say you haven't been rocked in a long, long time? A good hard rockin' is so hard to find...'. "

Cronie: "What does THAT mean???"

Wizard: "It means we are in deep dragondung, my friend. She is a student of the Tedeschi School of Mental Fortitude."

 

[Darkness]

In stopping coming on Enworld!

Too late. The implants are already working.

 

[kenobi65]

He who attempts to read my mind will be subjected to the earworm that's infected me for nearly three decades...

You are the Dancing Queen, young and sweet, only seventeen
Dancing Queen, feel the beat from the tambourine
You can dance, you can jive, having the time of your life
See that girl, watch that scene, dig in the Dancing Queen

(repeat until insane)

 

[Kemrain]

Well, a seemingly popular way of avoiding mind-affecting abilities is not to have a mind, but, I doubt that's what you're after.

The thing about Will saves is that you aren't supposed to know you're making one unless you succede, so it has to be something involentary on the part of the resister; like some sort of reflex. There are many ways to demonstrate this, but they'll all come back to simple flavor text. Here's a couple of suggestions off the top of my head.

Constant Defense method: Using this method, your mental defenses are like a brick wall erected in your mind. You make a will save to block the intrusion, and note when somethign smacks against this mental wall, but if you fail the intruder slips past undetected. This method is a decent argument for Charisma as the modifying stat of a Will save, because your force of self is what's protecting you.

Detection = Repulsion method: With this idea, the character rolls the die and adds their will save modifier as normal, but if they succede it is described as them noticing the intrustion and forcing it out. If you fail, you dont' notice the intrusion and can't force it out at all. This way is the least reflexive way I could think of.

I think that only the second is analagous to RW's Blues and Jazz idea, but it's turning the Will save into a detector of mental intrusion, and making the repulsion an automatic success. I'd live to see other ideas as to how this works.

- Kemrain the Mind-Affecting.