The necessity of complications/disadvantages

[sentry0]

I like 6th edition's handling of Complications being less numerous and, by extension, a little more important.  Complications/Disadvantages are a breath of fresh air compared to the traditional alignment systems and other systems that attempt to sum up an entire character's motivations in 2 words.  Not to mention the number of arguments started by people on the nature of Good and Evil as they apply to fantasy games, I wouldn't say I like these philosophical debates these systems of morality cause in some games.

 

What works in my Hero games is to write the character's background so that the Complications taken are reflected in the past motivations and actions.  It makes for a believable character to say, "Karl enlisted and picked up the sword to defend his family and friends from the enemies of the crown after living in fear for his life on the kingdom's border." than "Karl's Lawful Good."  One answer is boring and generic the other has something to work with motivation-wise.  A story arc revolving around keeping the characters' home safe or DNPCs out of harm's way is hopefully more engaging to this player and the other players.  Get people to bake the motivations into the character Complications and background story and you have a more cohesive picture and place to start playing from and planning games.

 

It's a gigantic positive feature that is sometimes misunderstood as a chore.

 

[Christopher R Taylor]

Well who could argue with such a well-dressed cat

[Tech]

Easy... hold up some catnip.... they'll come to see your point-of-view.

[DeleteThisAccount]

If nothing else, they sometimes serve as a way to make things about your PC come up in game.

 

Like, I *could* simply mention the fact that I've got this tattoo from whatever mystical mentor trained me, or that his old archnemesis is now looking for me, the best of his old enemy's students, to prove his superior magic, or even that I look very strange to people who view souls ever since mine started that change that my magic causes to a caster's spirit. But then everyone can feel free to ignore it totally to go right back to some other thing that they wanted the game to be about.

 

But by having disadvantages and complications become an option for a PC, you suddenly have that way of letting everyone know, the things I want to add to the game as a whole include...

[Opal]

On 7/22/2023 at 1:32 PM, Scott Ruggels said:

In the old days (1981), Disads were an eye opener, and they were looked at as something to increase the points budget for your character. Two Hundred and Fifty points was the upper limit, but to get there was a lot like scrounging for change in the couch cushions, so I tended to build up to around 220, and then carefully add disads to increase the budget. My most successful Champions character started at 241 points. Careful selection of Disads really forced one to think about the whole character. Not just the powers.

Disads in the early game presented an interesting RP/Story dynamic that was missing from other games, precisely because they were a player decision. 

D&D had a brutal psych lim called Alignment restrictions, but it was imposed by a few classes. (D&D also had limitations, like spells all were 1/day, but they were also just foisted on you.)

With disads not only did you choose difficulties for your character, yourself, you influenced the world and stories they'd be in.  Hunteds were the most obvious example, of course.  

 

What I found as I delved into building characters with the original Champions, was that building powers, then "paying for them" with disads resulted in either an unfinished character or one that was less fun to play. While if a character idea quickly filled out disads, it was an easy build and more fun to play.

 

Another thing I noticed as revs rolled was that the original 100pts and declining value disads lent themselves to "balanced" characters, while the ever higher point totals of successive eds necessitated hard campaign caps (which everyone would touch)...

 

Edited September 17, 2023 by Opal

[unclevlad]

Alignment restrictions only applied to some classes.  The bigger issue was the incredibly narrow interpretation of what alignment meant.

[starblaze]

On 7/22/2023 at 12:59 PM, GDShore said:

OH, I forgot to describe the Tourist's attire, Bermuda shorts in flourescent lime green, a Hawaiian print shirt, a straw hat and flip flops with knee high socks.

You suffer a flash attack just looking at him!