Hey there,

I was wondering how do you handle psykers stuck in a grapple? Do you let them use the Focus power action even if it's not listed in the grapple action ?

It came up in my game last night and I just couldn't explain to one of my players (a Rank 9 psyker) why he couldn't use any psychic power while being held by a lowly thug.

The rules exist as guides to insure that everyone is on the same page and has the same expectations for any given situation that could come up during a game as well as to help maintain a worlds internal constancy. They are immutable and should not be adhered to slavishly. If something comes up and you can not explain why something couldn't or shouldn't happen and all logic says it should, then forget what the rules say and go with logic. No amount of rules will ever replace it.

In the situation you described, i would have let the psyker let lose with his powers. f the psyker was rank 1-4, I might have said that the sweaty wrestling match he was in prevented him from concentrating properly or some such noise, but by 9th rank, they'd be far and above such things.

Wrestling with psykers is generally not an effective way of subduing them, especially when they have power levels approaching the alpha level...

Wrestling with psykers is generally not an effective way of subduing them, especially when they have power levels approaching the alpha level...

Well, it's certainly a good way of depriving them of Invocation.

Other than that, I'd forbid powers requiring aiming rolls (well, not forbid, but they automatically miss) while most other powers would still be fine.

If the focus power action was allowed in a grapple, shouldn't there be a test of some kind? Maybe the psyker would have to pass a hard [-20] Psyniscience test in order to manifest his power or maybe the Power Threshold could be raised ?

Meatpuppet said:

Why would this be nessesary?

Because manipulating the very fabric of reality while being shaken like a rag doll might make things a tad more difficult?

Unusualsuspect said:

That's also how I see it.

With the actual Grapple rules you need a test to do anything. I'm not sure giving the Psyker a free ticket is the right way to go. I'd rather play the RAW and disallow the focus power action in a grapple than see the Psyker being elevated to primaris grappler.

How about,

A psyker may use the Focus Power action while being grappled but doing so incurs a -8 penalty on all Power Rolls (-20 on Focus Power tests, if you are using the Rogue Trader psychic power rules).

Unusualsuspect said:

How would that be more distracting then having to duck and dodge around a chainsaw that's bigger then you or diving out of the way of an explosion, or getting shot (but not not stunned from it), or being caught in a hail of auto-fire that could shred you at any second (not suppressive fire, just a bad BS roll)?

If you do want to penalize someone wrestling but not dodging for their life, I'd say simply raise the Threshold of the power by 4 (that's the difference between a weakened frayed veil and a good sturdy one). A -8 seems a bit steep for just being grappled compared to being injured or running and dodging for your life from multiple opponents, etc.

Graver said:

Well usually when our psyker (or anyone else for that matter) is stuck in grapple everything you mentionned above is happening anyway. So yeah, being shaken like a rag doll while everything around you is going to hell seems a lot more distracting (IMHO at least).

well, that's one way to handle those pesky psykers ;-)

Is there another ? ;-)

Multimelta to the face?

Cifer said:

Remembah when Ah toald you Ah'd let you leeve Solly?

I LIED!