ITT we discuss Psychic SDC for Dreamdancing and similar

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Axelmania
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ITT we discuss Psychic SDC for Dreamdancing and similar

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from Between the Shadows! Please number replies so I know which part you're responding to!

1. PSIONICS
Pg 117 Dreamdance (Minor) says "the dream projection has SDC points equal to the total SDC and hit points of the character"

Pg 113 Dreamdance (Major) does not define it at all. Should we use the same amount? Or perhaps more (double the sum, like with Astral Projection?) because it's a major power?

2. TALENTS
Pg 134 the "Dreamer" talent (which like major, transforms the body into a construct too) also uses SDC+HP but here is the rub... under "Limitations" it specifies "If all psychic SDC are reduced to below zero, the character is slain"

3. SURVIVAL
This isn't how it normally works! According to Dream Combat on page 89
:

    When reduced to negative SDC (zero or below) the character can continue to function and take damage in an amount equal to the character's PE attribute points.
    However if the damage exceeds the PE number the character dies.
    For example, if a character with a PE of 10 is reduced to 10 points below zero, he dies.

This doesn't make 100% sense ("zero" is not "negative" and "10 points below zero" does not "exceed" the PE number of 10, it ties it) but the difference is pretty clear: there is survival (CONSCIOUS survival at that, you don't even enter a coma!) normally in dream combat, and death-at-negative-one appears to be a special vulnerability of Nightbane.

4. DAMAGE CARRYOVER for MINOR
With your basic DDminor) you sum HP+SDC to form psychic SDC. If your body was injured when you went in (less HP or less SDC going in) do you start with less psychic SDC, or is it always full based on your maximum rather than your current? Is there IRL>Dream carrover?

We know there isn't the opposite (dream>IRL carrover) since being harmed (or even dying) as purely a projection does not harm you IRL.

5. DAMAGE CARROVER for MAJOR
Whatever you think of the above, would that hold same or different when you take your body along? Should lost HP or SDC coming in give you less psychic SDC to start with, or should it begin at the sum of your maximums?

6. HEALING
If you don't use any special powers, would psychic SDC heal at standard SDC healing rates for those spending prolonged periods of time on the plane? Does this mean psychic SDC recovers super-quickly if you visit the dream pool of a Ninjas and Superspies or TMNT character that you get back SDC hourly instead of daily?

7. HEALING CARRYOVER
If you enter the dreamstream, should any SDC restored there help you once you return to the physical plane?

Like with the above, the approach to this might vary based on whether it's minor (left your body behind) or major (brought your body).

8. SPECIAL ATTACKS

If all you have is SDC and never HP, does this make you immune to "direct to HP" attacks, or would you still have those inflict SDC?

9. SPECIAL ATTACK CARRYOVER

If "direct to HP" attacks can reduce Psychic SDC, and if you allow loss of psychic SDC to result in IRL damage to those who were using Dreamdancer Major (brought their body) then would that loss be applied to SDC first in all cases, or should you track it as HP loss and apply HP loss once you return to the real world.

10. SPECIAL HEALING
If you did track loss to Psychic SDC as pseudoHP then would you benefit from abilities that restored HP/SDC simltaneously instead of only the SDC half?

11. BLEEDING

Some of the bleeding rules that Palladium uses are based on being reduced to a certain % of HP. Since there is no HP in the Dreamstream (only psychic SDC) would you be immune to that?

12. THE UNDEAD

For creatures which have special rules requirements for killing them, such as vampires/mummies/golems/zombies, would they still have those abilities in the Dreamstream or would the rules for destroying the psychic SDC over-ride that and make them easier to destroy? Wampyrs are also a concern since they have broader access to psi than normal vamps.

13. NECROPHIM

Page 75 mentions that their astral hit points "are dream SDC", so how would you deal with damage carryover and healing rates and special direct-to-HP attacks when transitioning between those environments?

Under ability 4 it says "in the Dreamstream, Necrophim have the same SDC and form as they have in the Astral Plane" which doesn't seem to match what was printed earlier, as Necrophim do not have SDC in the astral plane at all (they have 'Astral Hit Points' and explicitly "have no SDC in the astral plane")

14. LIVING NIGHTMARES
Page 107 mentions "SDC/Hit Points" as a single amount "on both the physical and dreaming worlds". It ends with "SDC per level" implying they function as having "psychic SDC" even when exiting the plane, which would seem to give them...

a) enhanced healing all the time (not the reduced amounts that HP recovers by)

b) immunity to comas at negative HP

c) defanging the benefits of 'direct to HP' attacks against them

d) reduced application of blood loss rules.

What do you think of this? Also while they have an innate Dreamdance Major, they do not have an innate Dreamdance minor like Dream Makers / Dream Dancers so that could be a lesser power that would be interesting for them to select!

e) would that only allow them to project their minds into the Dreamstream when they're in the physical world, or could they do that from the dreamstream too?

15. ASTRAL PLANE to DREAM STREAM

Page 91:
    Characters who arrived in the Dreamstream from the Astral Plane are temporarily transformed into dream entities, retaining their SDC

a) Astral Projectors have "Astral SDC" equal to TWICE the sum of HP and SDC, does this make them twice as good as Dreamdancer (Minor) since it MERELY gets the sum?

b) Whether "Projection" or "Transference", being killed in the astral plane kills you IRL (just like Dreamdance Superior) so would this serve as precedent to treat Dreamdancer (Superior) as ALSO having twice the amount?

c) Astral Projection has the vulnerability of the severed cord upon waking (but only if you use the telepathy+astral combo to first enter their pool and exit their membrane into the overall stream) but there's no cord to sever for Astral Transference, which sounds like if you want to enter body/soul into the Dreamstream, using Astral Transference + a portal is better, since you get double the SDC. Is there a balance to this?

16. DREAM STREAM to ASTRAL PLANE
Page 44 mentions:
    Dream travelers can enter the astral plane through dimensional portals; doing so temporarily transforms them into astral construct,s retaining their SDC
a) does this make it half as good as physically portaling to the AP since you don't get the DOUBLED sum?
b) what happens if Dreamdance (Minor) dies in the Astral Plane vs Dreamdance (Superior) dying there?
c) what happens if a dream traveler who becomes an astral construct by traveling to the plane via a portal then finds a portal to the physical world? Can they exit?
d) if a dream traveler > astral construct convert can enter the real world, how do they function? Can they fly at mach speeds, move through walls, like normal astral projectors?
e) Would DD Superior function like Astral Transference?
f) Would DD Minor be like cordless Astral Projection immune to death due to mental snapback?
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