Silver cord

The silver cord is an aspect of how Projection (limitation) for the Insubstantiality advantage worked on page 128 of GURPS Fantasy published in February 2006.
==Powers==
In April 2006 in GURPS Powers there was no initial mention of this on P56 under the new notes for the ability which also included a limitation of the same name which otherwise seems to operate the same. Nor is there any cord mentioned on P44 in the overview of the Projection modifiers for other advantages, such as Projection (enhancement) for Clairsentience (advantage), or the floating of the -50% limitation from Insubstantiality to Jumper and Warp.
==Fantasy==
The initial description of the silver cord in Fantasy was very limited. The function it served was:
*linking the projected consciousness to the body left behind (but will not notice physical sensations)
*instantly drawing back the user if that linkage was "threatened" including examples:
**injury to body causing HT roll for survival
**attempt at mental possession of body
**attempt at spiritual possession of body
===Fantasy benefits===
The original (February) version of the Projection limitation also had TWO interesting benefits:
:Normally you start out where your physical body is,
::but if you have the ability to perceive a distant place,
:::you can materialize there,
::and if you can see some immaterial realm such as the spirit world,
:::you can enter it.
The later (April) version of that limitation did not include them, just:
:you step out of it
===Fantasy drawbacks===
The lack of physical sensation (short of life-threatening injuries causing HT rolls to survive at NEGATIVE hit points) makes the Fantasy/Horror version extremely vulnerable to having the body harmed while the Projector is away.
This is less the case in the Powers version of Projection:
:All HP and FP losses come out of the same pool, regardless of which form suffers them.
:The projection suffers any negative effects: shock, stunning, etc.
Although that can be a bad thing (someone can interfere with your projection actions by hurting your body) the good thing about it is that shock from losing even a meager 1 HP, would instantly notify the projection that the body is being injured, prompting them to return.
*this however is OPTIONAL: it's not forced like with the Fantasy version
The Powers version also has a "snapback" when projections are knocked unconscious. This is very useful since it can remove the projection from a dangerous situation. It's effectively an emergency version of Warp. Although one "steps out" of the body, there is clearly no need to "step back in" via physically traveling/flying back to it.
The Fantasy version does not snap back when unconscious: it snaps back when there's an HT roll to survive. So it's possible for an "unconscious projection" to be captured and KO'd and interfered with for a long time. This is especially a problem for Unkillable characters since they never make HT rolls to survive (they skip them) meaning they could easily be knocked out and captured with small chance of accidentally killing them or sending them back.
==Psionic==
In 2009, pg 14 of Psionic Powers did not mention Projection under the overview of Insubstantiality modifers. The book draws heavily on GURPS Powers and probably assumes people got the info from there. That said, it appears to draw on both the Powers version AND the version preceding it in GURPS Fantasy, because it reintroduces the silver cord with distinct new rules.
The first (very confusing) mention of the silver cord is under Astral Armor, which on PP26 precedes it's prerequisite Astral Travel.
*PP27 follows up by calling it the slim silver cord under The Astral Plane green box.
The new criteria (absent in Fantasy) is that it "fades to invisible after about 20 feet", a distance of less than 7 yards.
The context here appears to be "from the projector" as in the outer plane it "points to" the projector's body.
*so for example, there does not appear to also be implied a 7-yard cord visible coming from the body
"Fades to invisible" presumably means someone with See Invisible would be able to see the ENTIRE length of the cord in the outer plane, following the projection all the way back to the body.
*this is less clear in the inner plane since it "floats around randomly" and it's not entirely clear what linear relationship the "inner" plane has with the "outer" plane that overlaps the material world
**
===Injury===
The ability to injure the cord is never mentioned in Fantasy or Horror. Psionic Powers calls it Vitals (a x3 injury modifier, usually) which (different from usual) can only be targeted by a Cutting Attack. Normally cutting attacks cannot target vitals (though they can target the Groin which is removed by the No Vitals advantage: the sublocation of the torso should probably be called Torso Vitals while the groin could be called Pelvis Vitals) and in basic set only Impaling/Piercing attacks could (Martial Arts added a Crushing option)
"There is no special penalty to defend against this attack" indicates that the cord can probably "dodge" attacks aimed at it.
*parries or blocks should probably only be allowed if the cord is targeted in a hex it occupies that is in reach of the astral projector's weapon or shield
No special effects of the cord being attack are mentioned, so presumably this would just risk death to the projector if targeted by a standard Cutting Attack w/ Affects Insubstantial.
Astral Sword is a special case where it uses Symptoms to convert that injure into the negation of the Insubstantiality advantage. Conceptually, doing enough damage with this ending the ability is perceived as "severing" the cord, to cause a "snapback".
==Horror==
In 2011, pg 16 of GURPS Horror (ignoring Powers and Psionic Powers) reprinted the F128 version verbatim.
Category:Concepts