How would you stat a Mentat?

[Timely Drought]

So, how would you stat a mentat in the d20 System?

I can't even remember what mentats do, exactly. Something like super-mathematicians, right? They figure out stuff with their minds? Based on probabilities? What skills would they have? How do you simulate their mental prowess that goes beyond human?

Any of you know the old Dune system? Were mentats stated well in that game?

 

[Ankh-Morpork Guard]

Mentats are, essentially, human computers. Logic drives them. I'd definitely give them high Int and Wis...though other stats, who knows. Some were warriors, some were assistants, and some(later on) were even Bene Gesserit.

*sigh*...yet again, I want to see some kind of d20 Dune system.

 

[avendeen]

A good place to start would be the Smart Hero from D20 Modern as well as the new Smart Hero Talents in The Game Mechanics' Modern Players Companion.

Remember that some Mentats were refered to as Warrior-Mentats (like Thufir Hawat). I would consider having a Mentat class and a Warrior-Mentat prestige class.

Though I love D20 Modern, Dune (like Star Wars) leans towards Science Fantasy and should have DnD stlye base classes and prestige classes.

I have often thought of Dune20 and have the following thoughts:
Are the Tleilaxu and their Face-Dancers a class or race?
Are Tleilaxu Gholas and Guild Navigators a Template?
Bene Gesserit as a base class and Reverend Mothers a prestige class?
What are the game affects of Melange?
Let's not forget Suk Doctors.
What about personal shields?

Dis you read the Dune prequels? House Atreides was okay but the Butlerian Jihad and the Machine Crusade were outstanding. I look foward to the Battle of Corrin

Reading this e-mail is a clear violation of the Orange Catholic Bible.

 

[Ankh-Morpork Guard]

A good place to start would be the Smart Hero from D20 Modern as well as the new Smart Hero Talents in The Game Mechanics' Modern Players Companion.

Remember that some Mentats were refered to as Warrior-Mentats (like Thufir Hawat). I would consider having a Mentat class and a Warrior-Mentat prestige class.

No need to divide them. I think that differences in Str and other ability scores could work for that kind of thing just fine.

I have often thought of Dune20 and have the following thoughts:
Are the Tleilaxu and their Face-Dancers a class or race?
Are Tleilaxu Gholas and Guild Navigators a Template?
Bene Gesserit as a base class and Reverend Mothers a prestige class?
What are the game affects of Melange?
Let's not forget Suk Doctors.
What about personal shields?

Face Dancers are techincally constructs...and the Tleilaxu themselves are so seperated from the other humans that they could probably go with thier own 'race'. Maybe a PrC for a Tleilaxu Master...

Ghola would work perfectly as a template. Guild Navigators would also be great as a template. Hmm...or what about a transformational PrC?

Bene Gesserit Acolyte would work as a Base Class, and I agree with Reverend Mothers as a PrC.

Suk Doctors...probably another base class, but there's really not all that much info on them, sadly enough.

...the more I type, the more I want to have a d20 Dune system.

 

[Frostmarrow]

I'd say that a mentat should have a certain skill rather than super high abilities. I didn't get the impression that the mentats were all that smarter than the rest of the bunch (well maybe slightly) but given the time a mentat could crunch through large problems with many calculations.

The mentats were always complaining about insufficent data. So if a mentat is given a problem to solve and all relevant data he will do so, given time (Take 20?). But the rest of the time mentats are almost like normal people.

That is; only the smart kids are selected for mentat training but there is otherwise nothing special about those youngsters. Int 16-18 would suffice.

 

[IllusionaryLunch]

Definition of Mentat

They would be astoundingly simple to stat up in Spycraft.

A Mentalist (from the SFA book)/Schemer (from The Shop book)

"Schemer - These individuals rapidly developed not only extreme mentalist abilities, but an uncanny ability to plan for the future."
You could probably also do something similar without any psion levels using the Scientist base class (The Shop again, or SG-1) and something along the lines of The Producer (from the wonderful (yet so far unreviewed) Agency Book), or the Code Breaker (from the even better 60s Decade Book) or Oracle from Faceman/Snoop Class Guide) PrCs.

Or post a question in the Spycraft Forums, and someone will undoubtedly put an even better one together for you.

 

[Dogbrain]

Are the Tleilaxu and their Face-Dancers a class or race?

Face Dancers were specifically engineered for their profession. It also requred intense training. It was not something that could simply be learned. Most Tleilaxu, on the other hand, did not seem to be extremely different from humans in general, but they were very isolated, due to their dabbling in forbidden arts.

Are Tleilaxu Gholas and Guild Navigators a Template?

Ghola might be a template. Guildsmen were essentially a distinct race.

Bene Gesserit as a base class and Reverend Mothers a prestige class?

That could work. Most Bene Gesserit had very little to no special abilities, as far as I could tell. They were just nodes in an information network. So most Bene Gesserit would actually not even be of a Bene Gesserit character class.

What are the game affects of Melange?

It granted prescience. It extended lifespan. Its greater powers required a hereditary component (plot hook) in the user.

Let's not forget Suk Doctors.

Except that nothing at all was said about them outside of the (false) presumption that they were unbreakably loyal.

What about personal shields?

In game terms, they essentially gave infinite AC against any ordinary projectile (including thrown knives) and against melee attacks delivered normally. Getting a weapon through required specific training, and many nobility only trained against shields, giving them a potentially fatal weakness in unshielded combat.

To reflect the Dune setting best, presume that combat vs. a shielded opponent was considered the norm. However, against an opponent skilled in unshielded combat (when one is not wearing a shield), one suffers a penalty to AC and to hit of two or more. A Feat eliminates this penalty. Fremen do not have this penalty, but they have to take a Feat to fight against shielded opponents.


When attempting this setting, we must not forget Peiter DeVries's statement that Baron Harkonnen's own non-Mentat abilities far exceeded those pathetic machines of past eras.

 

[d4]

Guildsmen were essentially a distinct race.

i don't think so?

i thought Guildsmen were normal humans initially, who took so much spice that they slowly transform into Navigators. that sounds like an acquired template to me.

 

[Turanil]

My opinion is that probably the Akashic class from M.Cook's AU would be good to portray a Mentat. Just change the background description.

 

[Ankh-Morpork Guard]

Face Dancers were specifically engineered for their profession. It also requred intense training. It was not something that could simply be learned. Most Tleilaxu, on the other hand, did not seem to be extremely different from humans in general, but they were very isolated, due to their dabbling in forbidden arts.

It didn't really require training...they were MADE for it. Essentially, Face Dancer's are just constructs that can change shape. While later ones can actually adpot memories.

Ghola might be a template. Guildsmen were essentially a distinct race.

Guild Navigators are DEFINITELY a template, as thier constant exposure to melange slowly changed them into something not all together human.

Most Bene Gesserit had very little to no special abilities, as far as I could tell. They were just nodes in an information network. So most Bene Gesserit would actually not even be of a Bene Gesserit character class.

Bene Gesserit had LOTS of 'special abilities'. The whole Prana Bindu thing is a major part of it, while other things like Truthsaying, etc etc definitely make it worthy of its own class.

Except that nothing at all was said about them outside of the (false) presumption that they were unbreakably loyal.

We do know that they're Doctors, so that's always a good place to start. And they ARE impossibly loyal, its just that the Baron found a weakness in one Suk Doctor. I don't know of any others falling like he did.

When attempting this setting, we must not forget Peiter DeVries's statement that Baron Harkonnen's own non-Mentat abilities far exceeded those pathetic machines of past eras.

For all we know, that's just Piter buttering up the Baron.