Custom Lim: Fasting

[Sociotard]

Okay, I'm reading Ultimate Mystic right now, and it made me think of a nice limitation for clerics, pacters and religous mystics in general: Fasting. Basically, fasting would require you to give up something (traditionally all food and water, but often something else) for a certain amount of time.

Now, it looks like this should be a varient of Extra time. After all, if I get a -4 limitation for having to wait a day before a power activates, being forced to forgo food and water during the duration shouldn't give me any limitation smaller that -4. The question is, when should it be more?

Logically, when it becomes more limiting. Going without food doesn't become a problem until 2-3 day's pass (Heck, I've done two day's. I was dizzy, but not hurting). I say extra time is worth an additional 1/4 lim if it requires you to go without food to the point it starts causing mechanic-simulated problems. One day? you haven't started taking stun or body yet, so it's worth -4. Two full day's? -4 1/4. 1 Week? -4 3/4, and so on.

If the character is going without food and water, it's worth more, since he's getting it from two ends now. Since dehydration sets in at the 24 hour mark, we have 1 day becoming -4 1/4, Two day's -4 1/2, one week -5. well, I don't know many who can go a week without water, but some heroic characters might pull it off.

Ghandi has a supernatural ability to induce peace in the land, built as megascale mental transform. To do it, he must go on a fast for peace for about a week. He gets a -5 limitation.

There are other way's things can become limit-inducing fasts. Lets start with quirks and psych lims. For those not in the know, quirks are a gurps rule that some hero users import. basically, they're disadvantages that are so rarely limiting that they only give you 1 or 2 points. Try 'em, they're fun. Anyway, a character who must resist his own disadvantages (with lots of roleplayed weeping and gnashing of teeth) gets an automatic -1/4 slapped onto the extra time as soon as the timespan is long enough for the limitation to come into effect.

Example: Kel loves orange soda. He drinks it whenever he gets a chance, and generally carries a bottle of it with him. This means he has a 1 point quirk "loves orange soda". for kel, going 6 hours without orange soda, especially if he has access to his temptation, is miserable, so he'd get a -3 3/4

Higher levels of disadvantage may allow for more extreme limitations.

Example: Ariel is a 14 year old with some psychic talents. She has the ability to recieve visions of the future and past if she stay's in a dark enough room long enough (it forces her mind, out of desperation, to use talent so it can see something). However, she has Fear of the Dark, common total, the result of growing up in an abusive home. She has her clairsentience after spending 6 Hours in a no-light environment -4. Because of her disadvantage, she almost never uses this power, until her teammates, desperate to catch the serial killer before it's too late, resort to forcing her into a locked closet. (talk about a gritty Dark Champions game)

Dependence is another possiblity for creating fasting conditions

Example: A mystic in a victorian age game is addicted to cocaine (Dependence, must do a line at least once a day or suffer incompetence) (Uncommon, addiction) 10 character points). He buys the ability to summon a demonic spirit to his side, but this spirit loathes substance abuse. It won't come unless he has gone 1 week without, so the power has a -4 3/4

Thoughts? Comments?

[Greatwyrm]

I'm not real sure about Extra Time. I think Extra Time would mean you're taking all that time working on starting the power. If you can do other stuff while you fast, I'm not sure that's what you'd be looking for.

Maybe look at Side Effects as a base. How serious the fasting of whatever type would be and then add on Always Happens or whatever the modifier is. Not eating for a day or two would probably be -1/4, for a week -1/2, for a month or more -1, plus the mod for Always Happens.

[Sociotard]

No, the entry under extra time specifies that you can take other actions while you wait, and that if you can't take other actions while you wait the limitation is worth an additional 1/4. Kinda like throwing a burrito in the microwave.

[KA.]

Sociotard,
In the cases you describe, something like a monk that meditates and fasts in a temple for days to bring about an effect, I can see this as possibly okay.
You do know that the character cannot make any Attack rolls during this entire time?
And that any attack like this that is going to have a chance of working would have to be megascale?
Because if the target moves during the "build up" time, the attack doesn't hit, unless it would hit wherever the target is now.
Not saying that it would not be a good idea for something like 'praying for rain'.

I just wouldn't want someone following this thread thinking that you could buy a 20d6 EB 'Lightning Bolt' for 18 points, because you have to have fasted for a week before you zap someone.

Unless they just stand there for a week waiting to be zapped, of course.;)

KA.

[Dust Raven]

I really don't see needing to fast, or do without some activity or luxury, as being any more of a Limitation in most cases. If it's something absolutley necessary for survival (like food) it should only be a Limitation if it requires going a dangerously long time without it. Sure, monks can fast for a few days, but they don't seem to suffer any ill effects from it so it's not any more of a Limitation (it's just a SFX).

I definately wouldn't aware any extra points to a character that requires something they already have a Disad for. They've already got points from the Disad. If the fact they need to do something against a Disad to use a Power only increases the frequency of the Disad (or doesn't, if the Power turns out to not be used very often).

Otherwise, any required action or inaction would have to have an in-game detrimental mechanic to quallify for an additional Limitation, and is most easily covered Side Effects (such as a spell that requires the caster to draw out his own blood, causing damage, or fast for a week causing weakness, or remain awake for several days causing fatigue).