Code of Conduct Limitations

[Wanderer]

This idea aroused some controversy, which somewhat clouded the feedback, so I'm taking it to an higher court in search of a complete answer...

 

Is it legitimate to give the Only In Heroic Identity Power Limitation to a character (e.g. a super-hero or a ninja) that NEVER uses any superhuman abilities (including persistent ones) while in civilian identity, out of a deep-rooted psychological imperative to preserve its Secret Identity or its cover, even if it has no separate "civilian" and "heroic" physical forms?

 

Similarly, reasoning from analogy with the "Only When Serving The God's Purposes" Limitation, is it appropriate to give a character a similar "Only When Following Code of Conduct" Power Limitation to a character (e.g. super-hero, wizard, martial artist) whose special powers only work (out of either some mystical prohibition, or psychological conditioning) as long as it respects some broadly-encompassing code of conduct, such as a 20-25 Psych Lim (like any of, or a combination of, Protect The Innocent, Honorable, Code Vs. Killing, Will Not Harm The Innocent, Will Not Murder, Will Not Kill In Cold Blood, Code of the Hero, Chivalric Code, Code of Vengeance, Code of the Chinese Knight-Errant, Bushido Code, Buddhist Monk's Code) ? What would be the appropriate value for such a Lim?

 

In both cases, the psychological conditioning is assumed to be so deeply ingrained that it is IMPOSSIBLE for the character to get around it, unless by changing the circumstances that activate the prohibition, and to break it on the spur of the moment, no matter the situation (i.e. as it might be possible, with a negatively-modified (-5) EGO roll, for a normal Total Psychological Limitation), but only extended reconditioning (i.e. expending experience) could eventually remove it.

 

Would be appropriate to take the Code(s), both as a Limitation to the Powers, and as Psychological Limitation Disadvantages?

 

Would would be the appropriate value for a "Only When There Are No Mundane Witnesses" Limitation, for a character whose supernatural powers do not work if normals are in a position to notice them (for a "secret magic" campaign, where the existence of magic and the supernatural is a secret) ?

[Steve Long]

Whether any given Limitation is appropriate is up to the GM. For some GMs and some campaigns, what you're describing might be entirely acceptable (though an "unbreakable" Psychological Limitation, if it's any sort of Disadvantage at all, is usually represented as a Physical Limitation or the like so that it can't be overridden with Mind Control). For others it won't be.

 

Similarly, the appropriate value for a non-standard Limitation is for the GM to decide, since it depends on the circumstances of the campaign. The Limited Power Limitation offers some useful guidelines, but ultimately it's up to the GM to decide.