Witch Hunter Robin? [Archive] - Wizards Community

Witch Hunter Robin? [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
BlaineTog
08-29-07, 05:11 PM I've heard it bandied about by Tempest (as well as others) that the XPH has an uncanny ability to model Witch Hunter Robin in D&D. Well, my girlfriend is in love with the show, but I haven't seen most of the episodes, so I come to you, the boards, for help. Basically, what are the specific parallel powers? Thanks.
InkBlot
08-29-07, 06:25 PM 3.0 psionics, incidentally the version of psionics still used in D20 Modern, are supposedly better at accurately representing Witch Hunter Robin.

Anyway, with a little wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Witch_Hunter_Robin) refresher course...

Miho Kurasuma. Easy. Her class is Psion (Seer). She has max ranks in several knowledge skills and psicraft. Her main powers are detect psionics, call to mind, object reading, sensitivity to psychic impressions. Only 4th level.

Robin could be a wilder or a multiclass psion/ranger (or urban ranger or rogue or something). Her main powers, to start with, are matter agitation, control flames, and force screen. Later she attains higher levels and gets things like specified energy adaptation, energy push, energy stun, energy retort, energy wall, and energy conversion. But she also has some precognitive/clairsentient ability, so throw in things like detect psionics and defensive prescience. The former psionic defense modes would be good for her too, to represent her strong mind (empty mind, thought shield, mental barrier, mind trap, intellect fortress, and tower of iron will).
Tempest Stormwind
08-29-07, 08:19 PM I've heard it bandied about by Tempest (as well as others) that the XPH has an uncanny ability to model Witch Hunter Robin in D&D. Well, my girlfriend is in love with the show, but I haven't seen most of the episodes, so I come to you, the boards, for help. Basically, what are the specific parallel powers? Thanks.

Actually, my claim was that the 3.0 psi HB did, because back then I didn't need to limit myself to one element, and thus I didn't have to explain why Robin never created sound or lightning. (Well, that and it had powers more akin to Firefall, which is pretty much a direct application of some of Robin's powers.) It also had psionic combat, which worked nearly identically to witch duels -- down to the point where the Ultimate Technique from later in the show essentially amounts to knowing what the incoming attack mode was. (Robin actually comments on it, saying something like "I can see his attack coming..." as the previously-invisible concussion thrust streaks toward her in bullet-time.)

But yes, Witch Hunter Robin is a d20 Modern game sprinkled with wild talents (seeds), some of which are quite powerful (witches), and occasional full-on psionicists (Craft-users).

Robin's a wilder with Matter Agitation, Control Flames, and some form of localized energy power (I'd favor Energy Stun, since it's low-level and when she lights stuff on fire they're damn well stunned!).

To model the witchduels in 3.5, you'd either need Mind Thrust or Concussion Blast; Robin's witchduel effects are the only ones that are firey (well, apart from the one witch who has the same power she does, that is. I can never remember her name). Which one you take depends on which witch you're modelling; Robin likely has Mind Thrust (her witchduel effects never toss the opponents about, if I recall correctly; if they did, you'd use Energy Push) while most of the other witches have Concussion Blast.

Most of Solomon is also pretty easy; the only one there besides Robin with any significant powers is Karasuma, which InkBlot covered pretty precisely (her reading powers plant her as *easily* the strongest seed in the show; I'm surprised they didn't refer to her as a craft-user). As for the other two seeds:
Amon: If he's got a power, it's Offensive Precognition. We never really see him use anything of note (and he is in fact ashamed of his status as a seed), but he nonetheless has a *significantly* higher accuracy rate than anyone else. This could be latent precognition, or it could just be his obsessive personality spilling over to immense target practice.
Hakuro: The one, and only, time he does anything supernatural would be a (failed) attempt to move his gun into his hand, which is closest to Far Hand. It's possible he has more that never show up, but he's practically a mundane person on the staff.

(The rest of Solomon is staffed by people who are either completely mundane (although at least two of them are very talented mundanes), or *exceptionally* latent witch seeds.)

Most of the rest happens on a witch-by-witch basis and involves creative flavoring. For instance, one witch (I'm very bad with names) projects a good chunk of her mind on to her various dolls. I'm reading this as Schism combined with Control Object on the most part.

I haven't covered Orbo yet; it's pretty simple, though. It's a quantity of quintessence stored on the end of an amulet of Power Resistance. (The quintessence is strictly to model the fact that it also suppresses the *user's* powers somewhat, which is why Robin finds it "creepy" and avoids the stuff. The fact that it really *is* creepy is beside the point.)

The only thing that 3.5 models a bit unusually would be the Ultimate Technique. In 3e, it was simple: You know what incoming psionic attack modes are, and can choose the perfect defense every time, and you know your opponent's defense mode before you choose your attack mode (that last point's debatable; we're not sure if it made the user *stronger*, although Robin certainly implies that). In 3.5, the best defense you can get is an immediate-action counterpower; one could thus liken it to Psychic Chirurgery to learn all of those powers.

It's a surprisingly good show, especially after you get past the witch-of-the-week bits at the beginning (which do wonders to set the stage but perhaps go on overlong).
InkBlot
08-29-07, 09:30 PM It would be reasonable to say that when using an immediate-action counter power (former defense mode), that you have to make a psicraft check to know what power you're defending against. If you fail your check then you can always just guess, but you might guess wrong (e.g., trying to use thought shield against in incomming concussion blast). Then the ultimate technique would be a large bonus to psicraft checks made to identify a power as it's being manifested.
AskaniPsion
08-29-07, 10:56 PM LOVE that show!!
Slagger the Chuul
08-29-07, 11:31 PM Robin's a wilder with Matter Agitation, Control Flames, and some form of localized energy power (I'd favor Energy Stun, since it's low-level and when she lights stuff on fire they're damn well stunned!).

I'd probably add energy ray, especially considering that she misses a lot early on when shooting at opponents, and at least energy cone for a larger area effect (which she uses later on). It's also likely that she has energy wall, as there are at least a couple of occasions where she uses fire to restrict an opponent's movements.

Defensive precognition would probably be another good pick for dodging witch powers.
Nirid
08-29-07, 11:48 PM Isn't there a 3rd party update to psionic combat floating around? I think it was Malhavoc press but I could be mistaken.
Tempest Stormwind
08-30-07, 12:28 AM Isn't there a 3rd party update to psionic combat floating around? I think it was Malhavoc press but I could be mistaken.

Yeah, but it doesn't fit with WHR's witch duels. There, they literally stand apart and think angry thoughts at each other, which usually results in one or both being blasted backward a la Concussion Blast. (Robin's doesn't blast things back unless it causes something to explode; instead, it sets things on fire.)

Mindscapes combat has a struggle between mental avatars that influences the real world through bonuses and penalties. Only one mode -- Sap Mind -- has any direct offensive effect of its own, and that's definitely not what the witches are using.

(By the way, I saw the missed fire as a successful Reflex save. She's not shooting blasts of fire. She's starting fires near the target. 's why in 3e I modeled it off of Firefall and similar; in fact assuming the 3e psiHB was in effect and that everyone was low-level, Firefall alone -- a mere 1d4 per blast -- was enough to accurately model the amount of blasts she would usually huck out for the early episodes. To account for frequency, I used the psionic template in 3e, which was strictly better than either the psion or the psychic warrior in that book and allowed up to 3rd level powers at level 1, at will (and thus perfectly modeled a huge portion of WHR). This was late 2002, so we didn't have the XPH.)

I should mention that even back in 3e, I had to delve in the Mind's Eye. One witch (again with the names...) has the Empathic Bridge power from Mind's Eye; it's one of the few that hasn't been updated (basically, it transferred wounds from one person to another; it's like empathic transfer and hostile empathic transfer except you aren't an endpoint).
Slagger the Chuul
08-30-07, 04:44 AM (By the way, I saw the missed fire as a successful Reflex save. She's not shooting blasts of fire. She's starting fires near the target.

The way the fires often strike along things just seemed more like a travelling attack, but I can understand the justification of Reflex saves as well.
Crake
08-30-07, 08:46 AM The only thing that 3.5 models a bit unusually would be the Ultimate Technique. In 3e, it was simple: You know what incoming psionic attack modes are, and can choose the perfect defense every time, and you know your opponent's defense mode before you choose your attack mode (that last point's debatable; we're not sure if it made the user *stronger*, although Robin certainly implies that). In 3.5, the best defense you can get is an immediate-action counterpower; one could thus liken it to Psychic Chirurgery to learn all of those powers.

Actually doesn't Psychic Chirugy fit what happened in the show really well? The episode where Robin tracked down that immortal witch, the encounter could probably be written as follows.

Methulsala: Psionic Dominate to make Robin sit down and shut-up
Robin: Sits down and shuts up
Methusala: Manifest Pyschic Chirugy to make Robin learn about the witch hunts and the Ultimate Technique(all her new powers)
Robin: Gets freaked out.
Methusala: Makes Robin kill her before the duration of Psionic Dominate expires.
Robin: Kills her.

Anyways, great show, even if the ending was a bit annoying.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
BlaineTog 08-29-07, 05:11 PM	I've heard it bandied about by Tempest (as well as others) that the XPH has an uncanny ability to model Witch Hunter Robin in D&D. Well, my girlfriend is in love with the show, but I haven't seen most of the episodes, so I come to you, the boards, for help. Basically, what are the specific parallel powers? Thanks.
InkBlot 08-29-07, 06:25 PM	3.0 psionics, incidentally the version of psionics still used in D20 Modern, are supposedly better at accurately representing Witch Hunter Robin. Anyway, with a little wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Witch_Hunter_Robin) refresher course... Miho Kurasuma. Easy. Her class is Psion (Seer). She has max ranks in several knowledge skills and psicraft. Her main powers are detect psionics, call to mind, object reading, sensitivity to psychic impressions. Only 4th level. Robin could be a wilder or a multiclass psion/ranger (or urban ranger or rogue or something). Her main powers, to start with, are matter agitation, control flames, and force screen. Later she attains higher levels and gets things like specified energy adaptation, energy push, energy stun, energy retort, energy wall, and energy conversion. But she also has some precognitive/clairsentient ability, so throw in things like detect psionics and defensive prescience. The former psionic defense modes would be good for her too, to represent her strong mind (empty mind, thought shield, mental barrier, mind trap, intellect fortress, and tower of iron will).
Tempest Stormwind 08-29-07, 08:19 PM	I've heard it bandied about by Tempest (as well as others) that the XPH has an uncanny ability to model Witch Hunter Robin in D&D. Well, my girlfriend is in love with the show, but I haven't seen most of the episodes, so I come to you, the boards, for help. Basically, what are the specific parallel powers? Thanks. Actually, my claim was that the 3.0 psi HB did, because back then I didn't need to limit myself to one element, and thus I didn't have to explain why Robin never created sound or lightning. (Well, that and it had powers more akin to Firefall, which is pretty much a direct application of some of Robin's powers.) It also had psionic combat, which worked nearly identically to witch duels -- down to the point where the Ultimate Technique from later in the show essentially amounts to knowing what the incoming attack mode was. (Robin actually comments on it, saying something like "I can see his attack coming..." as the previously-invisible concussion thrust streaks toward her in bullet-time.) But yes, Witch Hunter Robin is a d20 Modern game sprinkled with wild talents (seeds), some of which are quite powerful (witches), and occasional full-on psionicists (Craft-users). Robin's a wilder with Matter Agitation, Control Flames, and some form of localized energy power (I'd favor Energy Stun, since it's low-level and when she lights stuff on fire they're damn well stunned!). To model the witchduels in 3.5, you'd either need Mind Thrust or Concussion Blast; Robin's witchduel effects are the only ones that are firey (well, apart from the one witch who has the same power she does, that is. I can never remember her name). Which one you take depends on which witch you're modelling; Robin likely has Mind Thrust (her witchduel effects never toss the opponents about, if I recall correctly; if they did, you'd use Energy Push) while most of the other witches have Concussion Blast. Most of Solomon is also pretty easy; the only one there besides Robin with any significant powers is Karasuma, which InkBlot covered pretty precisely (her reading powers plant her as easily the strongest seed in the show; I'm surprised they didn't refer to her as a craft-user). As for the other two seeds: Amon: If he's got a power, it's Offensive Precognition. We never really see him use anything of note (and he is in fact ashamed of his status as a seed), but he nonetheless has a significantly higher accuracy rate than anyone else. This could be latent precognition, or it could just be his obsessive personality spilling over to immense target practice. Hakuro: The one, and only, time he does anything supernatural would be a (failed) attempt to move his gun into his hand, which is closest to Far Hand. It's possible he has more that never show up, but he's practically a mundane person on the staff. (The rest of Solomon is staffed by people who are either completely mundane (although at least two of them are very talented mundanes), or exceptionally latent witch seeds.) Most of the rest happens on a witch-by-witch basis and involves creative flavoring. For instance, one witch (I'm very bad with names) projects a good chunk of her mind on to her various dolls. I'm reading this as Schism combined with Control Object on the most part. I haven't covered Orbo yet; it's pretty simple, though. It's a quantity of quintessence stored on the end of an amulet of Power Resistance. (The quintessence is strictly to model the fact that it also suppresses the user's powers somewhat, which is why Robin finds it "creepy" and avoids the stuff. The fact that it really is creepy is beside the point.) The only thing that 3.5 models a bit unusually would be the Ultimate Technique. In 3e, it was simple: You know what incoming psionic attack modes are, and can choose the perfect defense every time, and you know your opponent's defense mode before you choose your attack mode (that last point's debatable; we're not sure if it made the user stronger, although Robin certainly implies that). In 3.5, the best defense you can get is an immediate-action counterpower; one could thus liken it to Psychic Chirurgery to learn all of those powers. It's a surprisingly good show, especially after you get past the witch-of-the-week bits at the beginning (which do wonders to set the stage but perhaps go on overlong).
InkBlot 08-29-07, 09:30 PM	It would be reasonable to say that when using an immediate-action counter power (former defense mode), that you have to make a psicraft check to know what power you're defending against. If you fail your check then you can always just guess, but you might guess wrong (e.g., trying to use thought shield against in incomming concussion blast). Then the ultimate technique would be a large bonus to psicraft checks made to identify a power as it's being manifested.
AskaniPsion 08-29-07, 10:56 PM	LOVE that show!!
Slagger the Chuul 08-29-07, 11:31 PM	Robin's a wilder with Matter Agitation, Control Flames, and some form of localized energy power (I'd favor Energy Stun, since it's low-level and when she lights stuff on fire they're damn well stunned!). I'd probably add energy ray, especially considering that she misses a lot early on when shooting at opponents, and at least energy cone for a larger area effect (which she uses later on). It's also likely that she has energy wall, as there are at least a couple of occasions where she uses fire to restrict an opponent's movements. Defensive precognition would probably be another good pick for dodging witch powers.
Nirid 08-29-07, 11:48 PM	Isn't there a 3rd party update to psionic combat floating around? I think it was Malhavoc press but I could be mistaken.
Tempest Stormwind 08-30-07, 12:28 AM	Isn't there a 3rd party update to psionic combat floating around? I think it was Malhavoc press but I could be mistaken. Yeah, but it doesn't fit with WHR's witch duels. There, they literally stand apart and think angry thoughts at each other, which usually results in one or both being blasted backward a la Concussion Blast. (Robin's doesn't blast things back unless it causes something to explode; instead, it sets things on fire.) Mindscapes combat has a struggle between mental avatars that influences the real world through bonuses and penalties. Only one mode -- Sap Mind -- has any direct offensive effect of its own, and that's definitely not what the witches are using. (By the way, I saw the missed fire as a successful Reflex save. She's not shooting blasts of fire. She's starting fires near the target. 's why in 3e I modeled it off of Firefall and similar; in fact assuming the 3e psiHB was in effect and that everyone was low-level, Firefall alone -- a mere 1d4 per blast -- was enough to accurately model the amount of blasts she would usually huck out for the early episodes. To account for frequency, I used the psionic template in 3e, which was strictly better than either the psion or the psychic warrior in that book and allowed up to 3rd level powers at level 1, at will (and thus perfectly modeled a huge portion of WHR). This was late 2002, so we didn't have the XPH.) I should mention that even back in 3e, I had to delve in the Mind's Eye. One witch (again with the names...) has the Empathic Bridge power from Mind's Eye; it's one of the few that hasn't been updated (basically, it transferred wounds from one person to another; it's like empathic transfer and hostile empathic transfer except you aren't an endpoint).
Slagger the Chuul 08-30-07, 04:44 AM	(By the way, I saw the missed fire as a successful Reflex save. She's not shooting blasts of fire. She's starting fires near the target. The way the fires often strike along things just seemed more like a travelling attack, but I can understand the justification of Reflex saves as well.
Crake 08-30-07, 08:46 AM	The only thing that 3.5 models a bit unusually would be the Ultimate Technique. In 3e, it was simple: You know what incoming psionic attack modes are, and can choose the perfect defense every time, and you know your opponent's defense mode before you choose your attack mode (that last point's debatable; we're not sure if it made the user stronger, although Robin certainly implies that). In 3.5, the best defense you can get is an immediate-action counterpower; one could thus liken it to Psychic Chirurgery to learn all of those powers. Actually doesn't Psychic Chirugy fit what happened in the show really well? The episode where Robin tracked down that immortal witch, the encounter could probably be written as follows. Methulsala: Psionic Dominate to make Robin sit down and shut-up Robin: Sits down and shuts up Methusala: Manifest Pyschic Chirugy to make Robin learn about the witch hunts and the Ultimate Technique(all her new powers) Robin: Gets freaked out. Methusala: Makes Robin kill her before the duration of Psionic Dominate expires. Robin: Kills her. Anyways, great show, even if the ending was a bit annoying.