Gunrunner

From The Black Vault
Jump to navigationJump to search

Gunrunner (minor) by Senator Cybus

The super being has a quasi-psionic talent that allows him to openly carry around weapons and ammunition without arousing so much as a suspicious look - the minds of observers are tricked into ignoring the potential danger, allowing the character to go about his business unimpeded.
The character can simultaneously smuggle a number of weapons/discrete containers of ammunition equal to his experience level (one at level one, two at level two, etc). Each weapon cannot exceed a weight of 5 pounds (2.3 kg) plus 3 pounds (1.4 kg) per level of experience. The power can conceal an unusually large/long/bulky weapon if it is within the weight limit, but GMs may wish to treat it as being two items (or maybe more) to reflect the extra difficulty in keeping it hidden - if the hero wants to run around town with a mediaeval lance, there’s a price to pay. As a general rule, any weapon that cannot reasonably be wielded with one hand by an average human is subject to this penalty.
The instant the hero makes any kind of threatening move with a weapon, even if only to intimidate someone, the spell is broken - the observers’ survival instincts kick in, and all weapons become obvious to everyone in the vicinity (though the character may have just enough time to strike once before anyone can react - see Bonuses below). If this happens, all witnesses to the event will be immune to the super being's power for 1D4 hours.

Range: 50 feet (15 m) plus 10 feet (3 m) per level of experience.
Duration: Indefinite - the effect persists for as long as the character is conscious.
Attacks Per Melee: None; an automatic ability.
Saving Throw: 16 or higher (M.E. bonuses are applicable).
Bonuses: If the hero also has the power of Personal Recognition or Unnoteworthy/Forgettable, the saving throw required to resist the effect of Gunrunner is 17 or higher, not 16. If he has both of those powers, the required saving throw is 19 or higher. M.E. bonuses are still applicable in both cases.
The character has a bonus of +2 to initiative in the initial melee round of combat if striking with a previously concealed melee weapon (ranged weapons cannot be employed quickly enough to benefit from the momentary element of surprise).
Limitations: Super beings with the powers of Immune to Psionics and/or Immune to Illusions or psychics with an active Mind Block are automatically immune to the effects of Gunrunner - no save required.
Machines cannot be fooled by Gunrunner - cameras will record images of any smuggled weapons, metal detectors will react to the presence of guns, etc.
If an observer knows for a fact that the character is carrying weapons (saw them on CCTV, tipped off in advance, the weapons are pointed out by someone immune to the power, etc.), it is still possible to fool them, but more difficult: the observer has a bonus of +3 to their saving throw. If successful, that observer is totally immune to the character’s power for the next 1D4 hours. If they fail to save, they cannot find any weapons even if they frisk the super being at length, and will assume that they were mistaken.