Okay, they're probably gone. I've got good players like that.
So, to start off with, I'm running a Modern campaign with a fair amount of magic and psionics. It's my first time DMing, and while I can usually count on my old-though-also-current DM (now one of my players) for clarifications on the rules, he's far from omniscient, and since he's one of my players, there's just some things I can't ask him until after they've happened. I've also already consulted The Other Nice Man's errata/FAQ for d20 Modern, and the draft for Urban Arcana, and while a few things got cleared up, I still have a few things I'm a little fuzzy on. So I sign up for an account here, and see what I can learn from this forum I've been skimming for a few years now.
Backstory out of the way, now questions begin.
1. Psionic displays. While some of these obviously fall into the realm of DM discretion (Mental, audible), and some are a little odd (Olfactory? Really?), I just don't know what to do when I come across a power with a Material display. I somehow doubt that Brain Lock conjures a literal, physical lock inside the target's brain, or that Forced Mindlink makes a rope tying together two people's heads. And yet, they both have a Material display, and it seems a little unbalancing to just pretend it's not there, along the lines of giving away a free Silent Spell feat. What do I do?
2. How do metapsionic feats interact with the Telepath's Trigger Power ability? That is, can they be used together, to let a Telepath trigger an Extended Charm Person for no point cost, or does it only work with unmodified powers?
3. What does Power Focus do? Going by the description that it works just like Spell Focus, it adds +1 to the DC of powers from a selected school of psionics. But.. powers don't have schools in Modern. Do they?
3a. Along the same vein, why does Detect Psionics let the manifester determine the discipline, if powers don't have disciplines? Do they mean key ability? I don't even know how that would work ICly.
4. While I'm pretty sure the answer to this is really "whatever the DM wants," is there any specified standard for what telepathy entails? i.e., is it just mind-to-mind words, or can it be actual sounds, images, emotions?
5. My players just recieved a buttload of money, and finally decided to splurge on magical weapons. And they really splurged. Is there an official limit on stacking various bonuses on weapons, or is it just whatever they can afford?
5a. Concerning Table 7-3: Wealth Bonus Adventure Reward. ....Are they serious? My players can buy tanks now. Well, one of them can, the others just bought fancy magic equipment.
I hope they were joking about wanting a magic tank.
6. Are there any rules for adding magic enhancements to existing weapons? All the rules I found seem to be strictly for newly purchased weapons, but my players (and some of my NPCs) have developed bizarre sentimental attachments to their weapons, and I'd like to accommodate that.
...Some of the guns even have names. I love it.
7. Okay, if any of my players are still reading (bad players, bad! No cookie!), then stop now. Seriously. Psych will eat your face in your sleep if you don't.
Okay?
Okay.
Weapons Locker is a wonderful book, but it has a nasty habit of, if not actually leaving things out, then putting them in places I can't find them. For instance, the F2000 on page 63 is described as having a specially designed 40mm grenade launcher. And while all necessary stats are given for the grenades, none are given for the actual launcher, such as the range increment or magazine (I'd assume 1 int for the magazine, but you never know with these emerging technologies).
7a. Speaking of emerging technologies that can blow your face off, page 55 mentions the OICW as having an automatic grenade launcher, which is a terrifying and beautiful thought. However, the actual entry for the OICW on page 76 makes no mention of any automatic fire capabilities for the grenade launcher, and once again, no clip size is given. Or range increment.
What gives?
While I cannot, unfortunately answer all these questions, I will try my best to answer those I can.
1. What I think is meant here is that there is a visual and tangible effect. Such as a rope made of force, or a blue energy bulb around the target's head, etc... But indeed, I have also had a hard time dealing with psionics, as the spells/powers aren't described the way they are in D&D.
5. That table is somewhat off. I give my players relatively little wealth, but they still manage to hoard a lot of money. Most of it comes from ranks in Profession though. You do realize that the wealth bonus is per group and not per PC, right?
If I were you, I'd consider how much fancy stuff they should be able to buy after one adventure, and then give them the appropriate wealth bonus. That, or use 'normal' credit/dollars/whatever.
I had a PC buying a mansion and a sportscar in a WW2 campaign we played. He unfortunately died from a headshot a few days later.
@ 6. Reminds me of Full Metal Jacket...
You do realize that the wealth bonus is per group and not per PC, right?
...Oh. Ohhhhh. Right. That seems much more reasonable. I'll keep that in mind for next time.
Anyway, thanks!
Comments in RED
First point: everyone in my Sleepers in Metropolis campaign, shoo. This post isn't for your eyes. Go away.
Okay, they're probably gone. I've got good players like that.
So, to start off with, I'm running a Modern campaign with a fair amount of magic and psionics. It's my first time DMing, and while I can usually count on my old-though-also-current DM (now one of my players) for clarifications on the rules, he's far from omniscient, and since he's one of my players, there's just some things I can't ask him until after they've happened. I've also already consulted The Other Nice Man's errata/FAQ for d20 Modern, and the draft for Urban Arcana, and while a few things got cleared up, I still have a few things I'm a little fuzzy on. So I sign up for an account here, and see what I can learn from this forum I've been skimming for a few years now.
Backstory out of the way, now questions begin.
1. Psionic displays. While some of these obviously fall into the realm of DM discretion (Mental, audible), and some are a little odd (Olfactory? Really?), I just don't know what to do when I come across a power with a Material display. I somehow doubt that Brain Lock conjures a literal, physical lock inside the target's brain, or that Forced Mindlink makes a rope tying together two people's heads. And yet, they both have a Material display, and it seems a little unbalancing to just pretend it's not there, along the lines of giving away a free Silent Spell feat. What do I do?
Simple, do whatever you want. Its your campaign setting. Material displays are simply a flavor item. Just keep an eye out for potential balance issues where a missing display would lead to an over powered result. Other than that, make it like Scanners the movie and just make the players make goofy faces when they use their powers, and only the audience hears that annoying high pitched noise..
2. How do metapsionic feats interact with the Telepath's Trigger Power ability? That is, can they be used together, to let a Telepath trigger an Extended Charm Person for no point cost, or does it only work with unmodified powers?
http://www.dandwiki.com/wiki/MSRD:Feats#Psionic_Feats
I'd say you'd treat them as metamagic feats in that you get whatever result is better when you apply the metapsionic feat to a psionic skill. But I don't have a whole lot of experience with psioncs.
3. What does Power Focus do? Going by the description that it works just like Spell Focus, it adds +1 to the DC of powers from a selected school of psionics. But.. powers don't have schools in Modern. Do they?
3a. Along the same vein, why does Detect Psionics let the manifester determine the discipline, if powers don't have disciplines? Do they mean key ability? I don't even know how that would work ICly.
4. While I'm pretty sure the answer to this is really "whatever the DM wants," is there any specified standard for what telepathy entails? i.e., is it just mind-to-mind words, or can it be actual sounds, images, emotions?
There is no real world equivlent (that I know of..lol), so it is whatever you want. Therefore, you may want to write down some characteristics of the ability. Such as, no material manifestations...no sounds... etc
In my campaign, use of psionics actually draws extra-dimentional creatures out and can potentially kill the psionic. Characters with this ability seek out methods to protect themselves against these "void creatures".
5. My players just recieved a buttload of money, and finally decided to splurge on magical weapons. And they really splurged. Is there an official limit on stacking various bonuses on weapons, or is it just whatever they can afford?
Again, when you give cash to players you have to consider the ramifications of their spending it. You let them buy magic items, ok..well this isn't dnd its d20 modern so how easy was that for them?? You may want to consider increasing the costs...or limiting what items they can get. If you dont limit the purchases then be prepared for anything and you will just have to make monsters tougher. Stacking should be as per norm, it should be expoentially more expensive the closer you get to the stacking limit.
Placing an enchantment on a pistol requires a very well made device and usually unusual metals or gems to contain the mystical energies. Further enchantments push the materials further, a slight error results in a damaged pistol and lost enchantments. Thus stacking is a long and difficult process that is more prone to failure the more enchantments you place upon the vessel (the pistol).
5a. Concerning Table 7-3: Wealth Bonus Adventure Reward. ....Are they serious? My players can buy tanks now. Well, one of them can, the others just bought fancy magic equipment.
I hope they were joking about wanting a magic tank.
6. Are there any rules for adding magic enhancements to existing weapons? All the rules I found seem to be strictly for newly purchased weapons, but my players (and some of my NPCs) have developed bizarre sentimental attachments to their weapons, and I'd like to accommodate that.
...Some of the guns even have names. I love it.
7. Okay, if any of my players are still reading (bad players, bad! No cookie!), then stop now. Seriously. Psych will eat your face in your sleep if you don't.
Okay?
Okay.
Weapons Locker is a wonderful book, but it has a nasty habit of, if not actually leaving things out, then putting them in places I can't find them. For instance, the F2000 on page 63 is described as having a specially designed 40mm grenade launcher. And while all necessary stats are given for the grenades, none are given for the actual launcher, such as the range increment or magazine (I'd assume 1 int for the magazine, but you never know with these emerging technologies).
my CORE d20 site has lots of weapons you can use:
http://sites.google.com/site/d20futurecampaign/new-d20-rules
7a. Speaking of emerging technologies that can blow your face off, page 55 mentions the OICW as having an automatic grenade launcher, which is a terrifying and beautiful thought. However, the actual entry for the OICW on page 76 makes no mention of any automatic fire capabilities for the grenade launcher, and once again, no clip size is given. Or range increment.
What gives?
The rules don't get too involved with dual-fire weapons. So if the rifle is SA the grenade launcher thats attached gets no seperate rate of fire. This is really dumb because they obviously do have different rates of fire. I believe the proper designation is "SA/Single", for a semi-automatic rifle with a under-barrel grenade launcher. You can modify that as you like.
To answer your question more closely, check out the web site:
http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/systems/ground/oicw.htm
Simple, do whatever you want. Its your campaign setting. Material displays are simply a flavor item.
Like I said, I'm new to the forum, so sorry if my questions aren't very clear. I know it's a flavor item, and as such, is subject to the DM's whim. (As is everything, really, but I try to play as close to the rules as common sense allows) What I meant to ask is, what does "material display" mean? As in, an audible display is a sound (of my choosing), an olfactory display is a smell (also better be of my choosing), and a material display is a... what? Sure, I get to choose what it is, but I'm a little unclear on what I'm supposed to be choosing from.
There is no real world equivlent (that I know of..lol), so it is whatever you want. Therefore, you may want to write down some characteristics of the ability.
Again, I don't seem to have gotten my point across very well (and I call myself an English major!). What I meant to ask was, is there a standard for the definition of telepathy (e.g. the Mindlink power) in the RAW (maybe in one of the original D&D books, or buried in one of the fluff chapters of Urban Arcana (which I don't have a copy of))? If there were a real world equivalent I could use, all the better, but I don't think I'm that lucky. ;)
Again, when you give cash to players you have to consider the ramifications of their spending it. ... Stacking should be as per norm, it should be expoentially more expensive the closer you get to the stacking limit.
Sounds like giving the players too much cash is a pretty common problem! Unfortunately, it's not mine, as I was actually trying to get them to stock up a little for tough times ahead (insert obligatory evil DM laugh). My question is more about the latter point that you made, specifically, that "stacking limit." While it's completely logical that one should exist, I can't find any reference to it! So, does it actually exist? And if so, where?
Further enchantments push the materials further, a slight error results in a damaged pistol and lost enchantments. Thus stacking is a long and difficult process that is more prone to failure the more enchantments you place upon the vessel.
Huh. Not much to do with my situation, but interesting nonetheless! Is that from Urban Arcana? I can't find any rules for non-consumable item creation in the core rulebook for the life of me.
Anyway, thanks for replying!
Thats because the more magic it has, the harder it is to make..thus my reply.
As for Material aspect of Psionics...I'd say that would be a visual effect or a manifestation of an object (able to create objects at will).
My question isn't about the cost, but if there is a limit not related to the cost concerning how many enchantments can be applied to weapons and armor. I know that in D&D, "A single weapon cannot have a modified bonus (enhancement bonus plus special ability bonus equivalents) higher than +10," but I don't know if there's a similar limit in d20 Modern.
In D&D, isn't +5 the limit for non-epic?
I couldn't say for sure without having my books handy. I'm pretty sure that +10 is the absolute limit, and that would be for a near-godly item. +5 would be plenty powerful for any non-epic character. I've been thrown off by the pricing for ability upgrades to items as well; if an ability is listed as a +2 for example, that's the equivalent price of a +2 enhancement bonus, and not just a +2 to Purchase DC. I wasn't aware of that at first, and my players were picking up a lot of magical weapons on the cheap. If the OP is already aware of this, he's a step ahead of where I was.
But what's this I read about wealth bonus being for the group? If that were true, then there would be no need for the Aid Another rule to be defined in terms of a Wealth check. The most strategic thing to do would be to let the smartest character build his Profession skill and then the other players free up valuable skill points for other skills, while still benefitting from his Wealth. Some groups might choose to play this way, but I've always kept the Wealth bonus as separate for each character.
5a. Concerning Table 7-3: Wealth Bonus Adventure Reward. ....Are they serious? My players can buy tanks now. Well, one of them can, the others just bought fancy magic equipment.
I hope they were joking about wanting a magic tank.
You do realize that the wealth bonus is per group and not per PC, right?
@Minogue: The group wealth we talked about was the wealth reward table.
Ah, I see what you mean. Never mind then. I never really used that table anyway. That's where I adapt some of the tables from various D&D books, or I just make a judgement call, but that's just me.