Distinctive Features: Leitmotif

[Marcus Impudite]

The concept is as follows:

 

The game universe has a "soundtrack" that is audible only to the audience and those characters who have spent the points on the appropriate sensing ability. Within this universe, those individuals who are important in the grand scheme of things each have a unique leitmotif (or motif for short) associated with them. The downside to having a leitmotif is, of course, that it makes it difficult if not impossible to have the element of surprise against enemies who can hear the soundtrack.

 

As GM how much would you give characters for this as a DF?

[Hugh Neilson]

Depends on how common the ability to sense it is.  Certainly less than standard DF,

[Tjack]

As a game mechanic it should only be heard by a character who’s not operating in the normal realm of reality.  Like Deadpool as a Hero and Freak that villain who could see everyone around him as write ups. 
 

   Do you mean everybody DOESN’T have a theme song picked out for their character already playing in their heads when they play? 
  My two favorite characters were a What If Bill Maxwell got the Greatest American Hero suit who’s theme was Shakedown by Bob Seger.  “It’s a given L.A. law there’s someone faster on the draw, no matter who you are I’m gonna take you down.”

  And a What If Nick Fury got the Super Soldier Serum who had the classic Secret Agent Man. “Odds are you won’t see tomorrow.”

       What have the rest of you folks got?

[Greywind]

Galaxina: every time someone mentioned the blue star a sound was heard.

[Duke Bushido]

If it takes a special detect to hear it, I wouldnt consider it as a Disadvantage at all.  It qouls be like taking "can be seen behind walls by characters with X-Ray vision" as a Disadvantage.

 

Still, its a neat idea. 

 

Now if all the "major players" can just hear it be default, or if anyone with this soundtrack can hear anyone else with it....  Well, even then, i'd be hard-pressed to call it a Disadvantage since its more of a "thats just how the world works" kind of thing.

 

I would definately see the disadvabtage if ony major players had the soundtrack but everyone could hear it, but I can see the upsise too, particulalry for characters with a strong reputation (and it would prerty much wreck any chance of having a secret identity.    :😆  .  even then, though, I think a middle-of-the-road distinctive features would cover it.

 

 

but don't worry: someone will be along shortly to explain why I am wrong. 

 

 

[assault]

Not a disadvantage for Darth Vader, but a special effect of his presence.

 

For Anakin, probably not a disadvantage either, since he was hanging around with Force users all the time. They would be prime examples of people who could hear such things.

 

Actually all Force users could potentially take a DF, if they don't know how to cloak it. Doubtless that would be part of Jedi and especially Sith training.

[IndianaJoe3]

18 hours ago, Marcus Impudite said:

The concept is as follows:

 

The game universe has a "soundtrack" that is audible only to the audience and those characters who have spent the points on the appropriate sensing ability. Within this universe, those individuals who are important in the grand scheme of things each have a unique leitmotif (or motif for short) associated with them. The downside to having a leitmotif is, of course, that it makes it difficult if not impossible to have the element of surprise against enemies who can hear the soundtrack.

 

As GM how much would you give characters for this as a DF?

 

Its value would depend on how many people can hear it. If only a few oddball characters can, it's probably not worth anything.  If all the major characters can, it's probably considered an uncommonly-used sense.

[LoneWolf]

Can the song be heard over other noise?   If so how loud does the noise need to be.  If the song can be drowned out by loud noises it would probably be considered concealable.  If it can only be heard in quite environments it would be easily concealable.  But it is heard over all other noise it would be unconceivable.

 

When someone hears the song what is their reaction.  If the people who hear the song immediately attack the sources, that is an extreme reaction.  If the people who hear the song consider the source to be a major threat and take appropriate action that would be a major reaction.  Otherwise it would just be noticed and recognized.   

 

Since only a few people can hear the song that would be major effort, so it will take off 10 points from the cost.  So if it can be concealed by loud noise and the person hearing does not have a major or higher reaction it would be worth 0 points.  If it is heard over everything and the person hearing it automatically tries to kill the source it would be worth 15 points.  
 

[archer]

On 8/27/2021 at 2:57 PM, Tjack said:

As a game mechanic it should only be heard by a character who’s not operating in the normal realm of reality.  Like Deadpool as a Hero and Freak that villain who could see everyone around him as write ups. 
 

   Do you mean everybody DOESN’T have a theme song picked out for their character already playing in their heads when they play? 
  My two favorite characters were a What If Bill Maxwell got the Greatest American Hero suit who’s theme was Shakedown by Bob Seger.  “It’s a given L.A. law there’s someone faster on the draw, no matter who you are I’m gonna take you down.”

  And a What If Nick Fury got the Super Soldier Serum who had the classic Secret Agent Man. “Odds are you won’t see tomorrow.”

       What have the rest of you folks got?

 

Point of Know Return by Kansas

[Tjack]

7 minutes ago, archer said:

 

Point of Know Return by Kansas

  For what character and why?

[archer]

9 minutes ago, Tjack said:

  For what character and why?

 

For ATW, who tends to push things to the point of no return...and also because the song is awesome.

 

For Crane, my longer-running character, never really had a theme song as such.

 

[Steve]

It’s a DF that can’t be hidden but can only be detected by a limited group or special senses. I don’t have my books handy, but I think that is in the 5-10 point range. It’s probably just a noticeable thing, not something that would cause a strong reaction.

 

interesting idea.

[dmjalund]

14 minutes ago, Steve said:

It’s a DF that can’t be hidden but can only be detected by a limited group or special senses. I don’t have my books handy, but I think that is in the 5-10 point range. It’s probably just a noticeable thing, not something that would cause a strong reaction.

 

interesting idea.

some music choices could cause extreme reactions. Like f a Darth Vader character came with a "Sunshine Lollipops and Rainbows" soundtrack

[Tjack]

1 hour ago, dmjalund said:

some music choices could cause extreme reactions. Like f a Darth Vader character came with a "Sunshine Lollipops and Rainbows" soundtrack

That might be even worse.  Kind of like hearing “Stuck in the middle with you” during a torture scene. 

[archer]

I had an NPC hero who had his own theme song he played whenever he showed up. I don't remember the song anymore. He was an annoying wannabe with some minor powers who thought he was much more cool and powerful than he actually was. Superhuman strength compared to a normal but not much strength for a superhumanly strong person, if you know what I mean. Flight but fairly slow. Fairly low-powered energy blast. A striking appearance. Utility belt with an array of low-powered gadgets inspired by James Bond and superhero movies. Depended on Flash a lot and wasn't very careful to make sure that it only hit the enemy rather than the enemy plus heroes and bystanders who are trying to get away...

 

The main use for his Flight power was to try to get to the cameras first and give interviews which would show up on the nightly news. You know, like leaving the actual fight in progress to go warn the reporter and camera man that this was a dangerous situation and that they should move back for their own safety. And then answer the reporter's questions about who it was the PC's were fighting and get his account of whatever assistance they were giving him as he handled the situation.

 

He's the kind of guy who'd show up at Comic-Con as a guest who charges for autographs, signed pictures, and selfies with fans. And if Comic-Con didn't think to invite him, he'd track down and pester everyone associated with Comic-Con until he was invited to be a guest.

 

He wasn't really a bad guy but he kind of wanted his superheroing hobby to turn into his day job and he too often let that be the first impression of who he was when dealing with other heroes.

 

I wasn't really trying to point balance him because he was a NPC so I didn't treat his quirkiness of playing a theme song announcing his arrival as some sort of character sheet disadvantage. I mean, it was often a disadvantage in real life but not on his character sheet.

 

He was actually using a device to play the music so I guess his compulsion to play it could have been treated as a psychological complication.

[Derek Hiemforth]

I'm not sure why there's any question over this, really. Everything you need for it comes right out of the box as a normal part of Distinctive Features:

 

Presumably, the leitmotif always plays, and there's nothing the character can do to conceal it from those who can hear it. Therefore, the concealability factor is Not Concealable (base 15-pt. Complication). The reaction factor would be dependent on how characters react in-game. You said the leitmotif would only be detectible by people who spent points on the appropriate Unusual Senses (-10).

 

So it's a Distinctive Features Complication worth 5 points if it's noticed and recognizable, 10 points if it causes a major reaction, or 15 points if it's an extreme reaction.