His:

Doesn't anyone else feel that the Reading Psy Power's "broken"? I find it far too reaching & too cheap vs. what it does. W/out any type of "counter", the target's basically stripped bare for the psyker to see… There's no way, -- if the psyker pushes, for instance --, not to know the target's almost every little detail. This is disastrous if the target's concealing something big.

I'm asking beacuse, per RAW, this situation has compromised my carefully created traitors/shady beings in an instant!

Maybe I'm missing something… Perhaps it can only be applied to certain kinds of beings?

L

Why are you treating Reading like Mind Probe?

You most certainly cannot find out someone's every little detail.

If you want to let your PCs use it that way then don't base your encounters around a single traitor.

Notice that before PR 8+ there is no way to tell if the aura is fake.

What sort of maniac librarian is risking psychic phenomenon to use reading?

Houserule that once you've used a power like that there is no trying again on the same subject for at least 24 hours. Unless your librarian has a 100% chance of success they can't rely on it.

What situations are you finding it to be too powerful?

Hiyas!

Why are you treating Reading like Mind Probe?

But I'm not, what do you mean? I just consult the Table everytime.

You most certainly cannot find out someone's every little detail.

Check the Table. The power's enough to find corruption, insanity, fake auras, etc. Most of what really matters…

If you want to let your PCs use it that way then don't base your encounters around a single traitor.

Sadly, this is the case right now.

Notice that before PR 8+ there is no way to tell if the aura is fake.

Have to check the Table again (AFTBRN), but, the librarian always pushes.

What sort of maniac librarian is risking psychic phenomenon to use reading?

Mine (see above). & up till now, nothing bad has happened - the warp likes him, dammit!

Houserule that once you've used a power like that there is no trying again on the same subject for at least 24 hours. Unless your librarian has a 100% chance of success they can't rely on it.

That won't mitigate the tons of info gained, alas, but a cool idea. Thanks.

What situations are you finding it to be too powerful?

Each & every one. For instance, the librarian just magickally knows if the subject is insane or corrupt (& thus, suspect) - that's basickally all what the PC wants to know to make judgements on the target's actions, et al. He read a fellow (very corrupted) SM & instantly found out a big "adventure twist," since said NPC was supposed to be an exemplar of purity.

Thanks again for the input!

L

But I'm not, what do you mean? I just consult the Table everytime.

Check the Table. The power's enough to find corruption, insanity, fake auras, etc. Most of what really matters…

HA! Those things do NOT matter. (Ok Fake Auras do) Everybody should have some insanity and/or corruption. Just because they have a lot doesn't make them an automatic villain either.(Even fake auras can be ok. That Inquisitor is allowed to keep his psyker powers a secret.) Yes that Sector Lord IS a raving nutjob. What does that have to do with anything? He can still help you. Yes that guy IS a psyker but this world is not yet a part of the Imperium so you can't do anything about it without pissing off the natives.

Sadly, this is the case right now.

Then you need to introduce a lot more NPCs that are not plotting against the PCs but who's auras are not bastions of purity. Radical inquisitors for example. This is like Gm's in DnD letting Detect Evil break their games. Ridiculous.

Have to check the Table again (AFTBRN), but, the librarian always pushes.

Mine (see above). & up till now, nothing bad has happened - the warp likes him, dammit!

Well do you guys roleplay at all? The warp "liking" you is HIGHLY suspicious. Does this guy have Tzeentch's favor??!! Have some fun with it.

Team them up temporarily with a squad of Black Templars and such that don't take kindly to psykers to begin with let alone assholes that push just to increase their abilities to read auras. Have fellow Deathwatch Librarians censure him for risky use of psyker power and lose renown. If he is leaving out his pushing mania in his reports give HIM some corruption or insanity and then have npc librarians hassle him for having a less than perfect aura. That may be a bit too extreme for the moment but the instant his luck runs out and they suffer ANY psychic phenomena everyone should realize he's got his mind unfettered and is drawing on the warp when they are not even in combat and that IS NOT KEWL.Then he should suffer some humiliation.

Sometimes the dice gods are with you but remember he has to roll for every person every time he wants to see their aura. His luck WILL run out.

It would not be unreasonable to houserule the risk of psychic phenomenon goes up when you are pushing multiple times in a short time frame. If a guy pushes 5 times in 5 minutes you should be levying serious penalties.

That won't mitigate the tons of info gained, alas, but a cool idea. Thanks.

It will slow him down. If he uses the power on a number of people he probably won't succeed on everyone. And if he only has one opportunity to use it on a person then his failure leaves him without the reading he's come to rely on.

Also I am of the opinion certain rolls should be done in secret. Reading is one of those rolls. Failure shouldn't mean he sees no aura it should mean he sees the wrong aura. Roll for him in secret and then relay info. Even if you roll a 01 the player won't be able to metagame and trust it 100% just like the character shouldn't.

Each & every one. For instance, the librarian just magickally knows if the subject is insane or corrupt (& thus, suspect) - that's basickally all what the PC wants to know to make judgements on the target's actions, et al. He read a fellow (very corrupted) SM & instantly found out a big "adventure twist," since said NPC was supposed to be an exemplar of purity.

Not to be mean but that's a weak twist to begin with. Has the exemplar of purity never met a fellow librarian before? (I guess if he's a Black Templar that's possible.) But seriously plot characters need some plot armor if not basic common sense. If he relies on hiding his corrupt nature he needs to actually HIDE. No meeting Psykers that love to read auras. Or he needs an amazing fake aura granted by Tzeentch only a PR10 psyker can see through. Have them meet on a world heavily under the Hivemind's psychic shadow with an insane penalty to rolls. Something. OR plan for his discovery and adapt your adventure ideas accordingly. If you know your PC is going to do this then you gotta plan for it. Have the PCs meet the SM in a combat zone briefly. The PCs know something is up with him but can't get in touch with his chapter or whatever to report him. Also they have no proof besides the word of the Librarian until they can track him down and get him in front of other librarians.

All this being said you also have to remember it is ok for Reading to sometimes be a big help. You don't want to neuter his powers. Make that person an Alpha Legion impostor or xenos threat. Then they get a big pat on the back and a new mission or objective.

Hi:

Dude, thanks for the replies but you came across as a major smug a*hole when doing it. Please, please, don't bother to respond any further.

Thanks.

L

Having looked at the Reading table, I conclude that it gives impressions of feelings. Not hard data on whether someone is a traitor or not.

There are plenty of loyal servants of the Imperium who have high insanity or corruption totals, from battling the numerous horrors in 40k.

There are evil people and traitors who have low insanity or corruption, either because they have made dire pacts to remove it or are simply not all that tainted yet.

There are plenty of psykers in the Imperium who don't advertise that they are psykers. They could be inquisition agents, heretics, rogue scholars who didn't know any better or simply cautious.

Those totals are *not* an automatic "I'm evil, shoot me." sign unless the psyker is happy to start firing on experienced Inquisitors including Puritans who have fought for centuries.

One issue to look at. Are you strictly applying the psychic power rules? Because pushing that often with no serious consequences sounds a bit easy to me. Remember, psychic phenomenon rolls can only be rerolled once at most, either from Favoured by the Warp or Oath of Knowledge and never from fate points. Perils of the warp cannot be rerolled at all.

One suggestion for the future. Perhaps engineer the adventure so the librarian's use of reading is actually a good way to gather necessary clues?

You should try not to read into things via text on the internets Lete. Not sure what was smug about anything I wrote. You may want a thicker skin before you continue GMing.

Shady314 said:

Hi:

Well, you ought to get better glasses.

Again, please, no more snarky replies. Thanks.

L

Hi:

Decessor said:

I was wondering were in the rulebook does it state this?

Thanks for the advice, now that I see it in context, I can safely state those facts to my players: "Nothing outta the ordinary, most people in the Imperium's crazee."

L

Because Fate Points are used to re-roll Tests, and rolling on the Psychic Phenomena table is NOT a test. It's a fun thing to bring up when a doomed player thinks, just for an instant, that they have a way to save themselves.

I don't have the Rulebook handy so I may be wrong, but I seem to recall that Reading specifies that the GM has a great deal of leeway in what info he gives the player. My party's Librarian has been hitting this power pretty hard, too, and I've been having a good time coming up with vague tidbits to feed him. For example: currently the Killteam is exploring a Space Hulk; the Librarian did a Reading and got the result of knowing the next three adversaries he would be facing. I'm trying to create the 'atmosphere' of an old-fashioned 'dungeon crawl', complete with random encounters: the Space Hulk is full of genestealers, mutants (both enlarged vermin and human survivors twisted into chaos spawn-like abominations), and minor daemons (mainly warp beasts [from the DH module Purge The Unclean ] and Ebon Geists [from the RT rulebook]). So, I gave him a note (I always write down the answer so the rest of the players don't know how badly he is misinterpreting it ) saying 'Beware the Alien! Beware the Mutant! Beware the Dwellers in Damnation!' Again, I don't have the Rulebook handy, but I don't think I'm required to tell him "Seven large warp beasts- coming up on your left!"

D'oh! I just got home and checked the Rulebook, and realized I was talking about Augery, not Reading. My bad…