Psionic Attacks

[Mrs. Dungeon Master]

Ok, I finally quit lurkning under the Dungeon Master's postings and got my own. And YES, I am really the Dungeon Master's wife.

Don't laugh at me, but I am a 14th level shaper (psion) who has never once got into a psionic duel.

Can someone please explain exactly how it works in a step by step basis. I might just want to use it against non-psi's as a stun attack, but though I have read the book several times about choosing attacks & defence modes, how do you work with the modifiers and attack rolls?

Please help.

Jen

 

[Sodalis]

I don't know if this is how it works, but it is how I play it:

you get a sense that they are going to attack you (or you want to attack them), and so you let the Dm know the intention to block or attack (respectively)

so at the same time, the attacker picks one of the attack modes and the blocker picks a block mode. you tell it to the DM and he tells you the modifiers based on that specific combination of attack and blocks- based on the chart in the PsiHB (i dont have it in front of me)

Then you both roll a d20, add attribute mod, add the modifiers from the chart and the winner is the person with the higher number.

If the attacker wins, he rolls the damage based on what he attacked with.

If blocker wins, attack fails.

In both cases, psy points are used

edit: orange phrase

 

[whatisitgoodfor]

You forgot the last couple of things.

* Repeat ad nauseum
* After multiple rounds of this, both player and DM swear off psi-combat for all eternity.

You should also note that a flat-footed psionic defender doesn't get to raise any defense mode, and has a special set of penalties for that attack.

Also, manifesting an attack mode is a spell like ability (standard action), and therefore provokes an attack of oppertunity.

The defense modes are free actions that IIRC don't provoke an AoO.

I think that's about all of it.

 

[Sodalis]

i did say all that- it was just I said it so quickly taht you didnt hear me...

Oh crap- tis isnt speech- its typing.

never mind me...

 

[Dark Psion]

You might want to check out Time Waster's site for a different version of Attack and Defense modes.
http://www.geocities.com/zyxabc2001au/pdf.htm

His version of Empty Mind for example, make you mind invisible to any Psionic attack, or mind altering power or spell, so the attacker has a base 50% chance of missing.

His attack modes have different effects depending if they are targeting a psionic creature or a "bonebrain". Id Insinuation will cause a non-psionic target to be Confused for 1d8 rounds, but a psionic target must make a Concentration checks to manifest and maintain any power or to activate any psionic item for 1d6 rounds. None of his attack modes do ability damage, but several do power point damage.

 

[EricNoah]

Gosh, the above doesn't sound quite right. I've only done it a couple of times, but as I recall...

Attacker declares a psionic attack but doesn't name it. Points are spent.

Defender senses an attack and can raise a defense. Doesn't name it, points are spent.

Look at table 4-1.

The attacker rolls a d20 + the appropriate ability modifier + the modifier from the attack/defense chart. That total becomes the DC for the defender's Will save.

Look at table 4-2 to see what kind and how much ability damage is dealt by a successful attack (i.e. if the defender fails the Will saving throw).

Look at table 4-3 to see if the defense (successful or not) provides some "mental hardness" to reduce the damage from a successful attack.

Apparently the defender can in some cases be caught flat-footed and doesn't get to raise a defense.

Gah, correct me if I'm wrong, this might be happening this weekend!

 

[Sodalis]

EN: The attacker rolls a d20 + the appropriate ability modifier + the modifier from the attack/defense chart. That total becomes the DC for the defender's Will save.

Look at table 4-2 to see what kind and how much ability damage is dealt by a successful attack (i.e. if the defender fails the Will saving throw).


who am i to refute the great Eric Noah- creator of the boards, lord of all that is...

please forgive me...

but I don't remember reading anything about a will save. i agree that the attacker chooses a mode of attack, unnamed for the time. The defender chooses a defense unnamed. But the DM has to know the combo of attack/defense in order to tell you of the modifiers (from you post- table 4-2)

roll d20, add attribute mod and see who is the winner. I dont recall an extra will save in there... but it could just be me...

I think mental hardness referred to the "normal" nonpsionic person who is less damaged from a psionic attack than a psionic being. Opening your mind up also opens up avenues of destruction. Pathways in which a more powerful being is able to control, manipulate, and dominate you.

Or am i mixing up my terms?

 

[Mark]

Howdy, Mrs. Dungeon Master!

If caught flat footed, or if the defender's power points are exhausted, the defender must make a "bare-brained"Will save, without the benefit of a psionic defense mode's bonus on the saving throw. The DC modifier of an unanswered psionic attack mode is +8.

 

[whatisitgoodfor]

Gah, correct me if I'm wrong, this might be happening this weekend!

Yes, I can certainly agree that asterisk 2 will happen if it comes up in your game over the weekend. It took my group one session to decide that memorizing a table was too much effort and having to reference the table every combat round slowed combat down too much.

The order is as follows (Sodalis just assumed one party was the DM):

1) Attacker announces incoming attack (but not attack mode) to defender. Attacker provokes AoO's from anyone around him, and may be forced to make a concentration check or lose the attack mode.

2) Defender announces which defense is being raised if not flat-footed or out of power points.

3) DM compares attack mode and defense mode on the annoying chart he spent the last five minutes looking up. The number on the chart modifies the defender's will save.

4) Success or failure is determined by comparison of the two rolls. If the attack was successful, the attacker rolls damage as indicated by the attack mode.

5) DM spends the next five minutes trying to figure out if the defense mode used confers any special resistance (ie. mental hardness).

6) DM spends next 5 minutes trying to see if the attack mode used offers any special benefits (ie. Ignore mental hardness).

7) Any remaining damage is applied to the appropriate ability stat as temporary ability damage.

8) Defender gets his turn. If a newbie, he will attempt Psi-Combat and waste another 15 minutes, without progressing the combat any significant amount.

9) Repeat from step one until all players get tired of dealing with it.

10) Spend the next week trying to make sense of Psi-Combat system.

11) Spend next month trying to come up with a house ruled system that actually works quickly and easily.

12) Decide its impossible and simply ban Psi-Combat from now on. Instead give the Psion a couple of bonus feats.
------------------

Or at least that's the way it worked in my campaign. I'm pretty sure we followed all the rules, but it was painful.

 

[wolfpunk]

Hmm this is interesting. In my campaign, the only form of psionics I have are the attack and defense modes.

To explain it real simply, the player and the dm each have a 3x5 card with each attack and defense mode they have, it lists the complete description of the power and what modifiers it has.

In addition, attack modes now have effects that are caused by successful use. Of the defense modes, each one has an attack mode that it works very well against. The best modifier is not always the best defense for a particular attack mode. This leads to this situation. Choose the defense mode that provides a benefit even if you fail, or choose the defense mode that gives you the better chance to succeed.

When combat is started, the player hands the dm the card he wishes to use, face down. The dm then randomly chooses one of his cards that his npc wishes to use. The dm then looks at both cards, announces the appropriate modifiers. He gives the card back to the player, and dice rolling ensues.

I have not found this to be slow at all. Then again, I have ruled that pisonic characters have a number of power points equal to their intelligence modifier + 1 point per level.

So using a mindblast is a power available only to very powerful psionicists.