Stormcrow the White Wolf
Mongoose
Other than the disciplines of the Kai regarding psychic powers and the psychic combat rules, there are no psychic powers of any type in the Lone Wolf RPG books. Is there any plan of of creating them?
Psychic powers in Lone Wolf d20
- Thread starter Stormcrow the White Wolf
- Start date
A
Anonymous
Guest
Well those are the only ones needed; keep in mind psychic combat offers a host of options, from attack and the extremely deadly stun, to telepathy, which can be even deadlier if used right. The kai lords are the true masters of the psychic arts though, and can use these actions in conjunction with their own disciplines.
A
Anonymous
Guest
at what point should a kai lord have telepathy tho? in Trail of the Wolf lonewolf used something like it to alert Banedon (but then again new order disciplines) so what disciplines and tiers would a kai lord need to use non hostile psychic abilities?
Ghost Bear
Mongoose
Telepathy is usable by anyone who can use the Attack Psychic Action. This means that Kai Lords get it at Tier II of Mindblast.
The Telepathy that Lone Wolf uses in Book 18 (I've not read Trail of the Wolf yet) to try and contact Banedon is a long ranged communication. The Telepathy Psychic Action is only usable up to one mile I think (though I can't find a reference to the range limit in the RPG at the moment).
-GB
The Telepathy that Lone Wolf uses in Book 18 (I've not read Trail of the Wolf yet) to try and contact Banedon is a long ranged communication. The Telepathy Psychic Action is only usable up to one mile I think (though I can't find a reference to the range limit in the RPG at the moment).
-GB
Kai are the tops of mortal psionics. And it's obvious to see. Almost nothing is immune to Pyschic Lash, Dagger of the Mind, or the amazing Psi-Surge powers.
But, if you need something to give a kai a challenge they can't solve with Mindblast (and believe me, sometimes GMs will get frustrated with how easily Kai mind powers overwhelm everyone), there are plenty of ways. For example, give someone a magical item with psychic damage reduction. This is easy to believe canonically, and also has a precedent in the RPG rules.
You'd be amazed how far Psionic Damage resistiances go towards messing with a Kai lord. Anything immune to mindblast and psi-surge suddenly becomes much harder to kill.
As an example, my players (all around level 8 ) are trying to deal with a Drakkarim encampment. One of the commanders is a L15 Infantryman with a magic shield that gives him Damage Reduction 5/magic, Psychic damage reduction 5, and magic damage reduction 5/weapons. This is a pretty good item, but it also means that my Kai Lord can't just come in and blow the hell out of the poor guy with mind powers (he needs to be recurring without being invincible).
As I've detailed in another thread, Kai who face non-psychic enemies can just ream them. The L8 Kai in my group can 1-shot drak grunts at the cost of a few willpower. He literally ran through an encampment of panicing drakkarim and anyone who questioned him (including a liganim) died within 2 rounds even at range, because of his amazing brain-frying skills.
At one point, he was ambushed by several Draks and he finally tested Psi-scream. The enemies were so weakened by the assualt that he could drop all of them just on merit of his physical skills.
Of course, next session an Agarashi will field against the party. I can't help but feel a bit of an evil grin when I imagine the Kai player's shock when he realizes his ace is rendered useless. Of course, he's still a pretty good warrior otherwise...
But, if you need something to give a kai a challenge they can't solve with Mindblast (and believe me, sometimes GMs will get frustrated with how easily Kai mind powers overwhelm everyone), there are plenty of ways. For example, give someone a magical item with psychic damage reduction. This is easy to believe canonically, and also has a precedent in the RPG rules.
You'd be amazed how far Psionic Damage resistiances go towards messing with a Kai lord. Anything immune to mindblast and psi-surge suddenly becomes much harder to kill.
As an example, my players (all around level 8 ) are trying to deal with a Drakkarim encampment. One of the commanders is a L15 Infantryman with a magic shield that gives him Damage Reduction 5/magic, Psychic damage reduction 5, and magic damage reduction 5/weapons. This is a pretty good item, but it also means that my Kai Lord can't just come in and blow the hell out of the poor guy with mind powers (he needs to be recurring without being invincible).
As I've detailed in another thread, Kai who face non-psychic enemies can just ream them. The L8 Kai in my group can 1-shot drak grunts at the cost of a few willpower. He literally ran through an encampment of panicing drakkarim and anyone who questioned him (including a liganim) died within 2 rounds even at range, because of his amazing brain-frying skills.
At one point, he was ambushed by several Draks and he finally tested Psi-scream. The enemies were so weakened by the assualt that he could drop all of them just on merit of his physical skills.
Of course, next session an Agarashi will field against the party. I can't help but feel a bit of an evil grin when I imagine the Kai player's shock when he realizes his ace is rendered useless. Of course, he's still a pretty good warrior otherwise...
FallingPhoenix
Mongoose
Or, you could always give the infamous line from the book: Due to his determination (or anger, or whatever), he is immune to Mindblast. Precedent for a lot of people who are regularly not immune to be immune...
You could do that too.
I just recently finished off a segment of my game where I made several enemies that were fairly strong against psionics to keep the Kai Lord of our group on his toes.
For a group of 6 L10 drakarrim footsoldiers with dark axes, I had something I rather enjoyed and after the game the players said it was a pretty cool and convincing idea.
The Draks were being bolstered by "Burburim Root", a natural stimulant that grows around the wildlands. When properly prepared, it can be made into an incense who's smoke and juice grants psychic and mental resistance. Of course, it also drives them into a frenzy and makes them nearly uncontrollable, so give them their orders FIRST. The stimulant has both an ingested form (step 1, can be eaten up to a day before, simply makes them hyper) and an inhaled form (step 2, smoke must be present for the effect to continue, throws them into a rage).
It granted psychic damage resistance 3 (from fervor) and an immunity to Mindblast 3 and below (their minds are allready all jumbled), and +3 to will saves. It also removes any trace of mercy, compassion. It also means that they will continue acting all the way down to -10 endurance, but they recieve no special bonus to doing so (so if they go down to 0, they will do their best to attack still). The downside was that they would be prone to shakes and twitches while under the effect, giving a -1 to hit and AC due to loss of bodily control. Also, after the effect wears off the subjects are exhausted from the experience, getting a -3 to will saves, fortitude saves, and they keep the -1 to hit and AC until they sleep for a full evening.
This is a fun way to do it because you can give the players a chance to go after and extinguish the incense and turn the tide of the battle. I suppose someone with elementalism or some kind of wind-controlling artifact could also blow the smoke away.
I just recently finished off a segment of my game where I made several enemies that were fairly strong against psionics to keep the Kai Lord of our group on his toes.
For a group of 6 L10 drakarrim footsoldiers with dark axes, I had something I rather enjoyed and after the game the players said it was a pretty cool and convincing idea.
The Draks were being bolstered by "Burburim Root", a natural stimulant that grows around the wildlands. When properly prepared, it can be made into an incense who's smoke and juice grants psychic and mental resistance. Of course, it also drives them into a frenzy and makes them nearly uncontrollable, so give them their orders FIRST. The stimulant has both an ingested form (step 1, can be eaten up to a day before, simply makes them hyper) and an inhaled form (step 2, smoke must be present for the effect to continue, throws them into a rage).
It granted psychic damage resistance 3 (from fervor) and an immunity to Mindblast 3 and below (their minds are allready all jumbled), and +3 to will saves. It also removes any trace of mercy, compassion. It also means that they will continue acting all the way down to -10 endurance, but they recieve no special bonus to doing so (so if they go down to 0, they will do their best to attack still). The downside was that they would be prone to shakes and twitches while under the effect, giving a -1 to hit and AC due to loss of bodily control. Also, after the effect wears off the subjects are exhausted from the experience, getting a -3 to will saves, fortitude saves, and they keep the -1 to hit and AC until they sleep for a full evening.
This is a fun way to do it because you can give the players a chance to go after and extinguish the incense and turn the tide of the battle. I suppose someone with elementalism or some kind of wind-controlling artifact could also blow the smoke away.
Baron Von Ed
Mongoose
These are quite inventive suggestions; the only problem is after a while the Kai Lord in the party is going to feel a bit picked on when he starts finding most of his opponents have psychic defenses. Isn't the fact we're having to come up with them at all a sign that the psionics are particularly overpowered, particularly at low-levels as a Kai Lord can start dishing out the pain at level 2 if they so wish.
parvatiquinta
Mongoose
Baron Von Ed said:
Well, you can turn that meta-game feeling into a completely in-game one.
After all, Kai Monastery was not founded yesterday. As Kai Lords are the current top agents of Light, it should be no surprise that Naar agents make plans to avoid them. On the contrary, how could ever one start any big machination without covering such weaknesses as not being able to withstand at the very least the Kai Lords' most basic powers?
And then, this might be right why Helghasts and the like are such a powerful weapon for Naar. True, many magics can detect them, but if that is the last thing a non psychic mage ever does... :wink:
parvatiquinta hits it on the head.
Also, keep in mind that the suggestions above were all targetted at more than just psionics. A +3 to Will Saves makes them more dangerous to magic too.
I didn't find our resident Kai Lord feeling picked on. In fact, when I presented those guys, the player got this wild grin on his face and said, "A challenge, eh? Finally they're taking me seriously." To which the Brother of the Crystal Star that was with him said, "No. Do not smile. That's not a Good Thing. We should... wait... where are you?... come back... *sigh* Hold on! I'm coming!"
I'm going to retell this now, because I'm recalling it and I think it's worth going over. It is now Off-Topic, please disregard it unless you are interested.
He and the resident Brother of the Crystal Star proceeded to have one of the most amazing small-scale battles of the game. There were drak snipers on the crenelated rooftop. 6 heavy infantry on the ground, fire and friendly troops were scattered about as well.
The Kai earned his title then. He was diving around, disarming the drak infantry and using his Huntmastry speed to keep them off balance and out of formation (he'd move further than they would, then they'd bunch up and the BotCS would punish them with area affects). The Brother of the Crystal Star showed how crazy that class really can be. He dealt with the rooftop snipers (covering the kai lord with freeze the flight not once but twice). The rooftop snipers were killed when they finally brought out the Boom Powder to reload the cannon they had up there (yes, a cannon). Binding Blast and a tindertwig made for a stylish and deafening explosion.
When a Helgast saw the fortification falling and tried to take the Kai Lord by surprise, the Kai was suddenly involved in a 4-on-1 battle which he evaded after 3 rounds ( I kid you not, he did this without prompting ) by making an amazing leap up onto the now-shattered rooftop, a jump only the Helghast could follow. The BotCS finished the three wounded soldiers off as the Kai Lord and the Helghast had a duel on the smoking and unstable rooftop.
Freakin' sweet.
Also, keep in mind that the suggestions above were all targetted at more than just psionics. A +3 to Will Saves makes them more dangerous to magic too.
I didn't find our resident Kai Lord feeling picked on. In fact, when I presented those guys, the player got this wild grin on his face and said, "A challenge, eh? Finally they're taking me seriously." To which the Brother of the Crystal Star that was with him said, "No. Do not smile. That's not a Good Thing. We should... wait... where are you?... come back... *sigh* Hold on! I'm coming!"
I'm going to retell this now, because I'm recalling it and I think it's worth going over. It is now Off-Topic, please disregard it unless you are interested.
He and the resident Brother of the Crystal Star proceeded to have one of the most amazing small-scale battles of the game. There were drak snipers on the crenelated rooftop. 6 heavy infantry on the ground, fire and friendly troops were scattered about as well.
The Kai earned his title then. He was diving around, disarming the drak infantry and using his Huntmastry speed to keep them off balance and out of formation (he'd move further than they would, then they'd bunch up and the BotCS would punish them with area affects). The Brother of the Crystal Star showed how crazy that class really can be. He dealt with the rooftop snipers (covering the kai lord with freeze the flight not once but twice). The rooftop snipers were killed when they finally brought out the Boom Powder to reload the cannon they had up there (yes, a cannon). Binding Blast and a tindertwig made for a stylish and deafening explosion.
When a Helgast saw the fortification falling and tried to take the Kai Lord by surprise, the Kai was suddenly involved in a 4-on-1 battle which he evaded after 3 rounds ( I kid you not, he did this without prompting ) by making an amazing leap up onto the now-shattered rooftop, a jump only the Helghast could follow. The BotCS finished the three wounded soldiers off as the Kai Lord and the Helghast had a duel on the smoking and unstable rooftop.
Freakin' sweet.
Wannabe Drakkar
Mongoose
One thing that must piss of Kai Lords is their psychic defenses seem honed to other kai lords, like how often is it ya have to fight for your life coz your old mentor turned to the darkside??? the rules should have been more general and less anti-darkai 
Baron Von Ed
Mongoose
When I first saw Mindshield I thought "This is only going to be much good against other Kai Lords". I'm glad it's turned out to still be quite useful.
To be honest I'm not too worried about the Kai Lords being able to dish out willpower fueled kickings. My concern is more about PC balance. I've just started running a game for 3rd level characters and at the moment they seem fairly even. I'm a little concerned that now the Kai player has seen first hand how nasty Psychic combat is, that he will take it straight away and be just better than the other PCs. I admit I haven't played the game that much so haven't seen first hand how the classes balance out. Are psychic powers just best or do the other balance out regardless?
To be honest I'm not too worried about the Kai Lords being able to dish out willpower fueled kickings. My concern is more about PC balance. I've just started running a game for 3rd level characters and at the moment they seem fairly even. I'm a little concerned that now the Kai player has seen first hand how nasty Psychic combat is, that he will take it straight away and be just better than the other PCs. I admit I haven't played the game that much so haven't seen first hand how the classes balance out. Are psychic powers just best or do the other balance out regardless?
Wannabe Drakkar
Mongoose
I fear psychic combat is a leeetle bit too deadly.
I generally rule that psychic ablilities are only usable when not actually engaged in physical combat or similar ("you have to concentrate!") i decided this after one helghast proved all too deadly when he just wanted to escape and get word out that the forces of sommerlund had arrived... and there was another helghast not too far away that actually wanted them dead
I made sure to give a knight of the realm in my campaign a silver helm first oppurtunity i could, the fool was more interested in the +1 ac tho (he was absent from the helghast incident as you might have guessed)
I generally rule that psychic ablilities are only usable when not actually engaged in physical combat or similar ("you have to concentrate!") i decided this after one helghast proved all too deadly when he just wanted to escape and get word out that the forces of sommerlund had arrived... and there was another helghast not too far away that actually wanted them dead
I made sure to give a knight of the realm in my campaign a silver helm first oppurtunity i could, the fool was more interested in the +1 ac tho (he was absent from the helghast incident as you might have guessed)
Wannabe Drakkar said:One thing that must piss of Kai Lords is their psychic defenses seem honed to other kai lords, like how often is it ya have to fight for your life coz your old mentor turned to the darkside??? the rules should have been more general and less anti-darkai
I'll just repeat another post from this forum. For a single discipline, Mindblast is a lot more useful than you let it appear to be:
MongooseAugust said:
