Day 5 of my Adventure Calendar! For 24 days, up until Christmas, I plan to release a lil bit of RPG content. Want to join as well? Join the jam!
Image: A composite of Unsplash images by Colin Lloyd and Tengyart
Okay, I’m really excited for this one.
You know how sometimes in movies, two combatants face off, make eye contact, and we’re then swept up in the battle between these two, only to then be taken back to the present, revealing that they never *actually* fought, but that we were just seeing them locked in a ‘mind battle’ to test their wills/see who would win?
Some examples are Hero (2004):
and Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows (2011), which is in a way a subversion, as its revealed that the opponent has mind battle powers too:
Anyway, my point is, this is cool as fuck. Let’s make this.
Who Can Do It
I’d generally make this skill available to highly trained warriors, though I suppose there’s nothing stopping a highly intelligent wizard to do the same kind of thing. For Block, Dodge, Parry, I’d make it a rumored skill, a reward after a herculean effort.
When To Do It
This is almost as much a narrative technique as an actual game mechanic. I would not make this a common skill players can whip out at every encounter – it would also just take a lot of time. I wouldn’t make it a “You can use this once per Long Rest” type of deal; choosing to use it should be a dramatic, serious decision. We can make it such in a couple of ways:
- You get 3 uses. That’s it.
- You get 1 use, and only once you’ve accomplished a great fated deed, do you get another use.
- You only feel the tingle, the sense of “I can do this in this moment” when encountering fated enemies at just the right time (i.e. it’s just a trick the DM can choose to deploy).
- It takes a heavy toll, and drains you of your energy.
- It’s a high-risk technique (more on that below).
It also depends on your players; if they vibe with the idea and ‘get’ it, give them access to it, and make it a resource.
How To Do It
I would personally limit its use to clear one-on-one engagement, as otherwise, the combat becomes too lengthy and complicated. The downside is that other players are ‘sitting this one out’, so again, I think this works best if everyone gets how high the stakes are;
Player A has finally tracked down the killer of his father in a busy marketplace. They lock eyes, a shimmer of recognition lighting a fire deep within. Time seems to slow, at least for the two of them. They are both armed, both willing, both able. Commence the mind battle.
Run it like a normal combat, keeping note of everyone’s resources, HP, and such before the fight.
You can choose to make the Mind Battle a purely one-sided thing, with only the player running the simulation in their mind. Making it two-sided means that the opponent is also aware of the outcome.
The examples above are two-sided and one-sided but then actually two-sided when Moriarty tags in. Revealing this can be a really cool way of showing just who they are up against.
Why Do It
It can be an interesting way to reveal a foe’s abilities to players without them immediately being lethal, or to show just how much stronger the player is compared to his foe. Beyond flavor and information, I’d also attach an actual mechanical consequence to the Mind Battle:
One-sided Mind Battles: Winning means you know you have an edge, and grants an appropriate buff within the system you’re playing; either you strike with Advantage, your attacks are Enhanced etc. Losing means you’ve demoralized yourself, meaning you strike with Disadvantage, your attacks are Imparied etc.
Two-Sided Mind Battles: Winning means both you and the opponent are aware of your edge, which can be translated as a bonus on your attacks and your defense, or a debuff on their attacks. Perhaps they strike you with Disadvantage, while you strike with Advantage. Losing, naturally, means the reverse.
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