Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Stule 06-16-07, 11:35 AM	My player had an idea and he wanted to know if it would work. He is a 12th Psion and he has the Powers Mind Switch and Remote Viewing (He bought this with the Expanded Knowledge Feat). He wants to use Remote Viewing to spy on people, then use Mind Switch to take over a specific person at the right time (say a guard, or King). The Remote Viewing power says you can use one power with a concentration check, but then the power ends right after the power is used. After looking over the power, it seems to me that he can do this and it is a pretty nice application of the powers in question. Am I missing anything that would cause this idea not to work (as far as game mechanics or how the powers work.)?
Fafnir 06-16-07, 12:04 PM	My player had an idea and he wanted to know if it would work. He is a 12th Psion and he has the Powers Mind Switch and Remote Viewing (He bought this with the Expanded Knowledge Feat). He wants to use Remote Viewing to spy on people, then use Mind Switch to take over a specific person at the right time (say a guard, or King). The Remote Viewing power says you can use one power with a concentration check, but then the power ends right after the power is used. After looking over the power, it seems to me that he can do this and it is a pretty nice application of the powers in question. Am I missing anything that would cause this idea not to work (as far as game mechanics or how the powers work.)? He would need a manifester level of 22, since the cost of manifesting through Remote View is doubled.
kyeudo 06-16-07, 12:10 PM	Its not hard to get a manifester level of 22. You just need Overchannel and to be level 19 or 20 already. Since he's not, he can just save the "I can mindcontrol people on the other side of the world" trick for later.
InkBlot 06-16-07, 12:18 PM	In other words, he can't do it. He could charm (or dominate if he has overchannel) the king through a remote viewing. He could also suggest something to the king. If he just wants to spy a little more freely, he could have forced sense link with the king. Forced sense link would also give him line-of-sight (but not neccessarily line-of-effect) to anything the king can see.
Sarlax 06-16-07, 02:49 PM	He can also take a Torc of Power Preservation, which drops costs by 1 (allowing him to manifest another point). If he can get over the 12 PP limit, he can also use Modify Memory on the guy. Best, of course, is to Remote View him asleep enough times that you recognize his bedroom then Teleport to it.
Stule 06-16-07, 11:24 PM	Sweet! Thanks guys. It's too bad that he isn't high enough to do this yet. But wait a minute..... My Psionic bad guy is!!!! WHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAAAAAAAA!!!!!!! :D
AntiDjinn 06-16-07, 11:50 PM	A telepath of that level, with the right feats, could mind switch without being in the room with his subject, although not quite at the distance provided by Remote Viewing and with considerably more personal risk. He would need Burrowing Power and Overchannel. He could have one wall or some amount of other cover between him and his subject (depending on how good his concentration check is). For targeting he would need Clairvoyant Sense (doesn't limit you to one manifestation like Remote Viewing, although it also doesn't allow you to manifest on the subject view normally). Althernately, if he has the feat Improved Psicrystal, then at 12th level he has Sight Link to his crystal and could send it into the room to target his Burrowing Mind Switch. The problem would be, at this range he is close enough that others could hear when the subject, up arriving in the telepath's body, begins to call for help. The victim won't be safely sequestered back at the psion's home, he will just be in the next room. Better have something in place to render him helpless and immobile without harm. Another way to do this would be to use Transdimensional Power and strike from another plane. The psion could be ethereal, or could be in a pocket dimension (like a portable hole) carried into the chamber. Targeting would be trickier, but if it works then the subject would be stuck in the psion's body on/in another plane and would be less likely to cause immediate problems. In a pocket dimension the subject would also be less likely to wander off with the character's body. Don't forget that his hit points don't change so the damage he takes from having to Overchannel his Mind Switch jumps with him to the new body.
Tyroki 06-17-07, 02:44 AM	Why not just gag and bind your psion before firing off the powers, then simply have whoevers with you blindfold you afterwards. That way, the kings incapacitated, he has no idea where he is, and once you're done controlling him... Well, yeah ^^ He has no idea where he was, so he can't go looking for you. But you could also use modify memory and then implant a suggestion, making the king think all kinds of things. =3 Quite evil really.
AntiDjinn 06-17-07, 04:52 AM	By the book, someone who has failed a will save vs. a mind-affecting effect doesn't know he is under the influence of a power or spell. This doesn't mean he won't know something is wrong or won't figure it out eventually, but being affected by such a power means your mind has failed to grasp the change that has taken place. So until the king can look in a mirror or get a look at his current body, he may only think he has been teleported (a second ago he was in his counsel chambers, now he is hanging upside down in a broom closet). If the body is blindfolded and immobilized he may not figure it out because the new body feels natural from the inside (adaptation of the switched mind to its host seems to be handled by the power, since there is no period of adjustment after the switch). If he sees a mirror, speaks and is startled to hear it is not his own voice, or if there are obvious changes (i.e. a gender switch) then he may realize he has been body snatched, or he may think it is an illusion or a nightmare. If the victim is kept unconscious then he may never realize he was gone after the power ends.