GURPS: Psionic Comprehension

Today’s post contains a new Telepathy ability for understanding languages.

Comprehension

9 points

Skill: Borrow Skill (IQ/Hard)

You can temporarily learn to understand a single language when you hear someone nearby speak it (or see it for sign language). Roll against Borrow Skill using the normal range penalties (B550) and distance to the language “donor,” and the “donor” can resist if he has Mind Shield or similar. Reroll if the distance penalty ever increases. If you are successful, you are able to understand the language at the Accented level (or broken if the speaker only knows the language at Broken). Using this ability does not take an action, and you can switch languages/targets once/turn. This ability does not grant literacy.

If you have Language Talent, you may learn the language at Native comprehension if your “donor” has Native comprehension.

Like Borrow Skill, you can learn this ability multiple times.

Statistics: Telepathic Learning 1 (Limited, One-Way Fluency, -20%; Short-Range, -10%; Reflexive, +40%; Requires IQ Roll, -10%; Telepathy, -10%)[9]

Far Learning

Hard

Default: Borrow Skill-5; cannot exceed Borrow Skill

You can use the long distance modifiers (B239) instead of the normal range modifiers. This technique is unnecessary for the Borrow Skill power.

Faster Learning

This technique is unnecessary for the Comprehension ability. It is baked into it.

Full Fluency

Hard

Default: Borrow Skill-4; cannot exceed Borrow Skill

Make a concentration roll and roll against the Full Fluency technique. If successful, you can speak (or sign) the language instead of only being able to understand it. This technique lasts for one minute or until you switch languages (whichever comes first).

Retention

Hard

Default: Borrow Skill-6; cannot exceed Borrow Skill

This works with Comprehension the same as with the Borrow Skill ability (Psionic Powers p. 58).

Designer Notes

The ability is a special case of Borrow Skill with Reflexive. Limited, One-Way Fluency would normally be worth much more than -20%, but Telepathic Learning is already limited to skills and learnable advantages. It may be worth a bit more or less than -20%, but it shouldn’t change the total cost by more than a point.

The Full Fluency technique is not based on Temporary Enhancements. Instead, it is an application of Extra Effort to increase the Telepathic Learning by a level using the -4 penalty/+1 to level variant from Pyramid #3/9 and Thaumatology: Sorcery. It would normally be a Will based roll, but keeping it IQ based keeps the technique simple.

The material presented here is my original creation, intended for use with the GURPS system from Steve Jackson Games. This material is not official and is not endorsed by Steve Jackson Games.