Avoiding Psychic Powers

[sera2 0]

Hallo Rogue Traders out there
i read the Astropath-Chapter over and over and still two questions aren't clear.
1. Can you Dodge an Psychic Power like Psychic Scream or Telekinetic Crush. The Dodge Ability sais nothing about Psychic Powers. And what about Force Bold (Balistik-Skill test needed)
2. And what about Damage Reduction from Armour... I think there must be one but most psychic powers have noch armourpenetration. I'm wondering because some of them will be kind of usless against targets with many AP and it is kind of weired that armour reduces the damage of Psychic Screams or Telekinetic Crush but otherwise penetration is mentioned for Fore Shards

 

Sera
 

[HappyDaze 10,108]

As personal rulings:  I would allow a power that targets with WS or BS (like Force bolt) to be avoided with Dodge.  I would not allow powers that are not targeted with WS or BS to be avoided with Dodge.

[DarkPrimus 0]

You can only attempt to Dodge if you are aware of the attack. A force such as Telekinetic Crush cannot be dodged because: A) Invisible bands of force are used, and B) They manifest directly around the target.

For the Force Bolt, it could be argued to be somewhat visible, even if it's an odd distortion of the air or something. In that case, a character could try to Dodge a Force Bolt thrown at them, if the psyker who manifested the Force Bolt is in their line of sight. It's interesting to note that Force Bolt in Rogue Trader tests Ballistic Skill to hit, while in Dark Heresy it tests Willpower. I wonder if future DH errata updates will change Force Bolt (and similar powers, such as Fire Bolt) to test BS.

[HappyDaze 10,108]

It shouldn't be any hader to Dodge a Force Bolt than a shot from a lasgun.  Visibility of the attack itself is irrelevant - if you've seen the las shot coming at you, it's too late to decide to Dodge.  Note also that, AFAICT,  there is no penalty to Dodge based on visibility.

[Hodgepodge 0]

Psychic Powers do not fall into the ranged or melee attack categories, and cannot be dodged unless the power specifies otherwise. Unless stated otherwise, they have no penetration and armor retains its full value against them.

[DarkPrimus 0]

HappyDaze said:

It shouldn't be any hader to Dodge a Force Bolt than a shot from a lasgun.  Visibility of the attack itself is irrelevant - if you've seen the las shot coming at you, it's too late to decide to Dodge.  Note also that, AFAICT,  there is no penalty to Dodge based on visibility.

Realistically speaking, yes, you cannot dodge a projectile once it's been fired. But it's a matter of being aware of the attack - you can clearly see someone pointing a gun at you, but with psychic powers it's not necessarily clear that they are targeting you.

[HappyDaze 10,108]

Most WH40K psykers are pretty obvious in their use of power.  They might catch a target unaware once, but that's about it.

 

Besides which, if you can dodge attacks from a target without knowing what it's armed with - like a wrist-mounted pistol or a digital weapon, then you can dodge a hard stare or a pointed finger.

[SpawnoChaos 0]

Hodgepodge said:

Psychic Powers do not fall into the ranged or melee attack categories, and cannot be dodged unless the power specifies otherwise. Unless stated otherwise, they have no penetration and armor retains its full value against them.

 

+1 for agreeing with this. Even if you were to consider it from a game mechanics perspective... you risk having the perils of the warp affect you when you draw on psychic powers (even with the new rules, it could still happen depending on where you are, etc.). You don't have a chance to kill yourself every time you fire a lasgun. To make it so that psychic powers could be just as "easily" dodged as other ranged attacks will damage their credibility of use in combat and the inherent risks taken to manifesft them. AKA, no one would be a psycher if their powers could be dodged... just use a gun for the same effect (as far as combat is concerned).

If it's not in the powers description, then it would not fall under the guidelines presented. Besides, manifesting a power is a skill check (correct me if I'm wrong... but you manifest the power first with a skill check and THEN you test Balistic Skill to see if you hit, saying it's a ranged attack that would requrie it) and not a Balistics check per say.

Just how some powers mention ways that others can't be affected (Psychic Terror is ignored if the target is immune to Terror, etc.), the power should describe if the target could dodge it.

[HappyDaze 10,108]

SpawnoChaos said:

 

Hodgepodge said:

 

 Besides, manifesting a power is a skill check (correct me if I'm wrong... but you manifest the power first with a skill check and THEN you test Balistic Skill to see if you hit, saying it's a ranged attack that would requrie it) and not a Balistics check per say.

 

 

You don't dodge the fact that it's manifested (the gun is loaded) - you only dodge it when it tries to hit you (the gun is aimed and fired).