Replacing Resistance with Active Defense

Replacing Resistance with Active Defense

If you're reading this, you probably know by know that I love writing up abilities using the advantage/modifier framework of GURPS. However, it isn't perfect, and some abilities are either very difficult or impossible to stat up properly in GURPS. One of such cases is Affliction without a resistance roll. People who do not read the rules tend to parrot other people who do not read the rules and say "uuuuuhhhhh, you just add Cosmic, Irresistible Attack, +300%." I usually try to avoid tampering with the fundamental aspects of the rules, but I've had enough after an arguement with a friend about Otiluke's Resilient Sphere and how a Quick Contest of Will vs. DX doesn't make much sense. If you'd like other examples of such abilities, you can check out Glitterdust or, if you prefer canonical examples, look no further than the skunk spray from page 27 of GURPS Furries. "Okay, the skunk sprays you, but since you rolled HT good enough, it doesn't smell." Nonsense, am I right?

So, what I want to do is have an Affliction that has no roll to resist, but allows an active defense even if it's a Malediction.

Let's take the aforementioned Otiluke's Resilient Sphere as an example. Currently, it calls for a Quick Contest of Will vs. DX for the victim to avoid getting effectively paralyzed. The DX part is there to justify the subject dodging the sphere forming around him, because Maledictions cannot be dodged normally and you must have a resistance roll. However, such "dodge" isn't a real Dodge - you can't retreat, you do not receive dodge penalties from being stunned, cumulative dodges, etc. This is just a copout that uses a different mechanic instead of the familiar Dodge mechanic.

Let's dissect Malediction to see what it is made of. Imagine with have an unmodified Affliction and the same Affliction with Malediction 2, +150%. What changes?

- Range becomes unlimited, even though range penalties remain the same (to-hit in the first case or to-use in the second case)

- 1/2D isn't a thing anymore

- Concentrate instead of Attack

- Innate Attack to hit isn't required anymore

- DR doesn't affect the resistance roll

- Resistance is shifted from an unmodified HT roll to a Quick Contest of Will vs. HT.

Let's see. The default range of an Affliction is 100 yards, so removing the range restriction would cost +40% as per Increased Range, LOS (p. 15 of GURPS Power-Ups 4: Enhancements). Technically speaking, a Malediction can also target a subject you cannot see, but can detect via other senses and doesn't require a line of effect, but for now let's treat it as a free feature. To remove 1/2D, you'd have to get Increased Range, 1/2D, 10x, +15%. Concentrate is a more limiting maneuver than Attack, as you cannot move as much and cannot use it while grappled (unless you're playing with Technical Grappling), so I'd call that a -5% limitation.

Removing the roll to hit technically calls for Cosmic, No die roll required, +100%. However, there is a special case of Weaponized, -50% that turns a Malediction into a ranged attack that ignores DR, requires a roll to hit, can be dodged, and requires an uncontested resistance roll. Thus, let's inverse it and apply +50% to our virtual Affliction. It should be noted that it is unclear whether Weaponized limits range to 100 yards by default.

If we add everything together, we get 40% + 15% - 5% + 50% = 100%. Where did the remaining 50% go? For now, let's assume that the "doesn't need a line of effect and can target subjects located by other senses" wasn't a free feature after all, but a +50% enhancement.

Now we see that the thing that affects resistance and active defenses is part of the "Inverse" Weaponized, +50%. How does one turn an uncontested roll into a Quick Contest? We know that this is worth -10% from the Requires (Attribute) Roll limitation. How much is an uncontested resistance roll worth? We know that it's -30% from the Resistible limitation. Thus, a modifier that makes a Malediction require a Will roll to use and replaces the Quick Contest to resist with the subject being able to dodge is a +10% enhancement (in addition to Malediction). I may have messed up somewhere, because I'm really sleepy right now (for example, what was the point of writing about anything aside from Weaponized?).