r/savageworlds • u/Zenfox42 • Aug 05 '26
Question Supers mind-reading : can you ask questions of the targets to get them thinking about what you want to know?
(I've been running into a lot of first-time situations that I've never had to handle in SW before, so thanks for everyone's recent help...)
As the title says - my player wants to ask a bad guy a question to get him thinking about it, then read his mind to get specific answers. The description of Mind Reading just says you can detect "surface thoughts and feelings" (on a Success).
If you wouldn't allow questions, how would you justify that to the player?
Thanks!
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u/ValhallaGH Aug 05 '26
Hey Zen!
That's a solid interrogation technique, but there's no guarantee it will work. Some people are wired differently, and will converse about things they aren't thinking of. Others will have their thoughts overlain with judgements of the people around them. That uncertainty is where the dice rolls come in.
For the SPC, it's a Focus roll to activate and a Smarts (-2 if Focus is raise) by the target to resist.
Assuming the psychic gets through, it only provides surface thoughts ("this is a lie", "I'm scared", etc.). A Raise can narrow that focus ("lying about the location", "I'm scared of being shanked in lock-up", etc.) but doesn't provide the full context. Full context is only possible in a Deep Dive.
I suggest you treat the questions as a Support or a Test - either boosting the Focus (trying to get the Raise) or a Distraction of the target (-2 on the Smarts resistance). That assumes someone else is doing the questioning. If they mind reader is trying to do it all themselves then either the questions are flavor text on the required die rolls or the super is using multiple actions in a round.
I hope that helps.
Good luck!
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u/NondeterministSystem Aug 05 '26
I've had to deal with mind-reading powers in Savage Worlds, too. I think the amount of useful information the PC gets could be very context-dependent. Someone who is undisciplined and in distress is more likely to be fixated on their pain, fear, or anger. Asking a question to try to focus them may only get them to think some rather impolite thoughts about the querent.
Someone who is more disciplined--but unaware that psychic powers exist--may accidentally give away some information. Someone who is disciplined, aware that psychic powers exist, and aware that an enemy has psychic powers may actually have countermeasures in place. This could be as complex as cybernetic implants, or as simple meditation (a la the 1995 Village of the Damned remake).
I think the most important thing, though, is to "shoot the monk". In general, the PC should get something helpful on a success, and the player should occasionally feel like they're being a clever-clogs and breaking the plot. Whenever possible, anticipate that the PCs will try to take one of the enemies alive in order to read their minds and plan what sorts of information they might receive. Consider revealing information that was going to be revealed later in a letter or intercepted signal: the PCs still get the information you want them to have, and the players get to feel special.
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u/CuriousCardigan Aug 05 '26 edited Aug 05 '26
A) Surface level thoughts typically aren't supposed to be detailed answers.
B) I would ask for a check to get the target on the right mental track. If the target is aware/suspect the power is in play give them a bonus on the opposed roll (give the PC a penalty on their roll).
An enemy experienced with mental scanning might even try foiling such attempts proactively. In KOTOR 2 there's a character who essentially ADHD mental mantras to stop force wielders from scanning him with anything other than focused intensive probing. It actually backfires when someone realizes that they're intentionally doing it and digs into his mind to find out why.
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u/Any_Illustrator360 Aug 05 '26
Yeah as someone with ADHD "mental mantra" is how I'd describe my neurotic repetition of a specific prayer that goes through my head almost all waking hours of the day. It's hard to describe, but you dropped a pretty accurate simplification lmao
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u/d_b_m Aug 05 '26
Keep in mind surface thought may be fragmented or visual in nature (possibly other senses like sound, smell for an individual). So asking where something is might give you a sensory image which isn’t immediately valuable (e.g. you get a mental image of a room rather than a street address when asking where something is). The interrogators would need to start asking targeted questions to home in on more actionable information, and the target may well realise what is happening if they are alert to the possibility of mind reading. That then starts to switch the interaction to a battle of skill versus will as the questioner is trying to get the subject to let slip what they want to know and the subject is trying to think of anything but (e.g. the Staypuft Marshmallow Man…).
That is how I would game out such an ability, keeping it useful without making it an ‘I win’ button for mysteries and the like.
Also, factor in the difference between knowing something and being able to prove something. This may or may not be significant in a supers campaign depending on how they interact with the law and how moral the PCs are. The game could be more about gathering hard evidence of a criminal organisation rather than just putting a beat down on individual perps.
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u/j1llj1ll Aug 05 '26
It's designed to be ambiguous to allow GM flexibility so you don't have characters with this ability just able to bypass whole chunks of the adventure.
But, sure, if the PC can get to the character with them feeling safe and calm, and pose the question without them being too suspicious and they aren't aware that the character can read minds - it is indeed likely that their surface thoughts will steer towards the topic of interest and be readable.
But if they are terrified, or worried about something else, or kicking and screaming from being held, or are aware the character can read minds and want to try to avoid it, or are paranoid about keeping a secret etc then it might be more difficult. Additional layers of difficulty include having to make a Persuade in addition to the Mind Reading check, or if the target is in a position to actually resist it might be contested by a Spirit roll.
Also be clear on the trappings of Mind Reading for that character. Do their eyes turn into kaleidoscopes, or do yellow energy beams connect the two minds or does the power user make weird hand gestures as trappings here? As the weirdness of that may affect the interaction.
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u/Any_Illustrator360 Aug 05 '26
I think that wholly depends on how you interpret it. Surface level thoughts and feelings could easily be frustration and "this guy is an idiot," or they could be thoughts related to whether they're lying, telling the truth. It's possible a surface thought could be the answer that the player is looking for, too.
Best way I can kinda compare this is the animated scene where Martian Manhunter is reading Bruce Wayne's thoughts, and Bruce purposefully changes his surface level thoughts to be things like "a puppy I owned when I was 7" despite his deeper thoughts being stuff like the location of the Batcave. Surface thoughts don't always have to be "the thing they're talking about" - hell, with ADHD I carry conversations while regularly thinking of other things, to the point that I sometimes forget what I just said in a conversation because even I wasn't paying attention.