Question regarding Helm of Telepathy

[blackbarn]

A helm of telepathy has just come up in the game I'm running and I'm having difficulty understanding what exactly the Vol. 2 description is saying about handling it in play. Two points in particular:

1. Regarding the telepathic suggestions... it refers to a +2 on the random monster actions table. Does the helm only allow suggestions to affect monsters via this table (I presume making them more likely to have positive results), or is it meant as a much broader effect and this table merely gets used somehow to resolve it? Maybe I'm over-thinking this one.

2. "For characters in the game roll percentile dice adding 10% to the helm's wearer, and if the character fails to beat this score he will follow the suggestion" I have read this over and over and just can't seem to get it. Maybe it's the wording, or maybe I am being dense, but I don't follow this sentence at all. Help please!

Any clarifications (or even opinions) would be greatly appreciated.

[Porphyre]

The way I understand it is :

1. A +2 bonus to reaction rolls used against "monsters" in the braod sense of D&D (could include antagonistic NPC's), the reaction roll being used broadly for "suggestions" , be it parley , bribes, recruiting offers, etc.

2. When the Helm is used by a foe (or player versus player), the targeted player-character must roll higher than 10+(foe's level) to make his saving throw against the suggestion. Eg: say that an Evil High Priest (lvl 8) tries to influence a PC, the latter has to roll a 19+ on a % roll to resist the suggestion.

[blackbarn]

Thanks for the reply. That makes more sense to me.

[talysman]

Sept 17, 2014 0:31:09 GMT -6 Porphyre said:

The way I understand it is :

1. A +2 bonus to reaction rolls used against "monsters" in the braod sense of D&D (could include antagonistic NPC's), the reaction roll being used broadly for "suggestions" , be it parley , bribes, recruiting offers, etc.

2. When the Helm is used by a foe (or player versus player), the targeted player-character must roll higher than 10+(foe's level) to make his saving throw against the suggestion. Eg: say that an Evil High Priest (lvl 8) tries to influence a PC, the latter has to roll a 19+ on a % roll to resist the suggestion.

I agree with the first point, but not the second. The text doesn't mention level at all, but it definitely refers to percentage rolls.

What I'm pretty sure it means is opposed d% rolls, adding +10 to the roll of the person making the telepathic suggestion. I think that works out to a 59.5 % chance of success, unless I'm doing the math wrong. It would probably be easier to just roll a d20 and add 2, with any result of 11+ meaning the suggestion works... But I suppose the opposed roll is there to make the player feel like they are doing something.

[Porphyre]

You must be right. I don't know where I did pick the notion of wearer's level.

[Deleted]

Yes, it's opposed d100 roles.

[blackbarn]

Thanks a lot, guys. I wanted to get it straight in my head before the next game. In re-reading the line from the rules now it makes perfect sense that it's opposed percentiles being discussed. Guess I was just not approaching it with the right frame of mind.

[Deleted]

Well, Gary could have written a bit clearer.