How much would you charge?

[JmOz]

While this is mostly about my fantacy hero game, this question has a wider application:

One of the characters want to be a prince of the kingdom who the King has decided to "humble" by making serve as a footsoldier in the army, the Prince's superiors will not know who and more importanly what he is. As such the prince gets sent to a far off part of the kingdom where it is more rustic, and nobility has little practical value.

So basicaly the question is this, if a perk is not going to be used much if any, how much should it cost...

[BNakagawa]

that sort of depends on what sort of game you plan on running.

If you're going to play a mostly realistic game, then maybe it isn't worth points, maybe it's a disadvantage... (especially if the kingdom's enemies camp out over the border or something.

On the other hand if being a prince entitles him to awaken damsels with a kiss where nobody else's lips will do, then maybe it's worth some points.

[Edsel]

You could always assign the Perk a limitation. The chart on page 299 of 5ER lists how much a limitation is worth based on how often the conditions to use the power occur. For instance Almost Never is a -2 Limitation. That way the character still has the Perk but he'll have to be ready to buy the limitation off when/if his identity becomes generally known or he returns to his rightful place.

[JmOz]

I do not allow limitations on perks, but the idea of useing it as a guideline is a good one...

[radioKAOS]

You could always assign the Perk a limitation. The chart on page 299 of 5ER lists how much a limitation is worth based on how often the conditions to use the power occur. For instance Almost Never is a -2 Limitation. That way the character still has the Perk but he'll have to be ready to buy the limitation off when/if his identity becomes generally known or he returns to his rightful place.

This is the way to go.

Or even just a 1pt placeholder for 'latent' or 'potential' perks/talents...

[JmOz]

This is the way to go.

Or even just a 1pt placeholder for 'latent' or 'potential' perks/talents...


GREAT IDEA

I LIKE IT, I USE IT, GOING TO REP YOU, WONDERFULL

[radioKAOS]

GREAT IDEA

I LIKE IT, I USE IT, GOING TO REP YOU, WONDERFULL

lol, um, thanks, but it's not really that much of a revelation... :)

[JmOz]

lol, um, thanks, but it's not really that much of a revelation... :)

But when one has there face to a tree, and does not know where the forest is, it is a great thing when someone pulls him away from the tree and making him see the forest

[Guyon]

If the perk will not ever be used, then it is mearly a colorful story and counted as background info. So no charge, and give him an atta-boy for writting up an interesting background.

[Dust Raven]

If the Perk is never going to be used, being a prince is just background fluff for the character and nothing more. Or pretty much what Guyon said.

If it is possible for the character to draw on his resources/status as prince of the kingdom, but he simply chooses not to (or is prohibited/discouraged from doing so), he should pay for the full Perk, but possibly take a Disad relating to why he doesn't call on it too often (Watched, Social Limitation, etc.).

[Guyon]

NIce addition Dust Raven

[Thia Halmades]

DR got there before I did. In other words, KAOS is correct, it should be notched as a placeholder. If they guy goes all Disney on you and reveals his identity and effectively takes over the army (should you let him, that is) then he has to not only pay for the perk, but likely pay the consequences of taking over the army (which aren't pretty either, I'm guessing).

[Dust Raven]

NIce addition Dust Raven

THanks. :)

[ChaosDrgn]

Personally I'd make it a limitation, have him pay it off over time witht he posibility of putting pints into a perk later on.

He may be prince, people may know him, but he has no power or any influence (unless it's from a childhood friend, never know).

[RDU Neil]

Without reading any other responses... my thought is "Zero"

Here is why...


For all story intents & purposes... the PC is NOT noble. Nobody knows him, he will not benefit from it, etc. Disads like "noble bearing" "haughty" whatever could come in to play... but charging for an ability that is not really relevant... nope.

I would, though, encourage the player to put aside EXP to purchase "nobility." At some point, if the game goes on, I'm sure it will become relevant and important that he truly is a prince. At that point... "BING" it is on the character sheet and comes into play.

Remember, my philosophy is that points represent player control over the character/story/game. If you have them pay points for something, that means they have some authority to drive the game, using that something. (The more points they pay, the more influence that ability/power/perk should have.)

YMMV

[prestidigitator]

Hmm...he's a prince. A prince without any power or influence in the area, but worth something to someone somewhere.... Sounds like good ransom potential, actually. :sneaky:

[ChaosDrgn]

hence the limitation I remarked about....

[Derek Hiemforth]

I'd probably go the way Dust Raven suggested. It sounds to me like he is technically a prince, and could (in extremis) call on those resources in a crunch. But he's essentially acting "undercover" right now, so he has a Secret Identity. I mean, if his superiors haven't been told he's a prince, then presumably he isn't supposed to tell them either, right?

If some yutz hassles Clark Kent, Clark deals with it -- even though he could easily put a stop to it using his superpowers -- because he doesn't want to blow his Secret ID.

It's not that the character doesn't have the Perk... it's that he's been ordered not to use the Perk. But if a situation was sufficiently grave, presumably he could be justified in violating his orders and exercising his status. For example, if the prince learned of a conspiracy to kill the king, I'm sure the king wouldn't mind if the prince did whatever was necessary to get warning to the king... even if that meant proving his princely status to someone and issuing orders.

So perhaps he does have an 8 or 10 point "Prince" Perk, but also has a 15 point Social Limitation offsetting it. Right now, he's actually at a net Disadvantage (as a noble having to suffer the ignominy of being bossed around). But as appropriate to the story, he might at some point "buy off" the Social Limitation, or transform it into a different Disad, etc.

[pinecone]

Yeah you can pay full and take a lim Secret ID, and replace it with Hunted when "lost" or pay 1 point for Perq. "Secretly the prince", or something inbetween...like "He's really the princess, but was gender swapped by the court wizard, so as nobody will recognise her ..."...;)