Doug Limmer Posted April 4, 2003 Report Share Posted April 4, 2003 I have a question on how you would design a couple of disadvantages --- or even if they count as disadvantages at all. The first: the character is wanted. There's an outrageously large bounty on his head. It's believed he's caused a lot of destruction, and whole towns full of people flee in terror at the rumor that he's coming to their town. Sounds easy, right? Reputation, and Hunted? Except: nobody recognizes him. And, if they do notice he matches the description, they don't believe he's really the same person. So, what is this? A Secret Identity? Descriptive text not worth disadvantage points? Something else? The second: random chaos and destruction seems to follow this character (almost) everywhere he goes. Rarely does anyone ever get killed (or maybe even seriously hurt), but whole towns get levelled when he's around. Not through any direct action on his part, mind you; it just sort of happens. Is this a disadvantage of any sort? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blue Posted April 4, 2003 Report Share Posted April 4, 2003 Re: The Humanoid Typhoon Originally posted by Doug Limmer The first: the character is wanted. There's an outrageously large bounty on his head. It's believed he's caused a lot of destruction, and whole towns full of people flee in terror at the rumor that he's coming to their town. Sounds easy, right? Reputation, and Hunted? Except: nobody recognizes him. And, if they do notice he matches the description, they don't believe he's really the same person. So, what is this? A Secret Identity? Descriptive text not worth disadvantage points? Something else? Well, if it isn't possible to notice that this is the guy who is wanted, then I wouldn't give any points for it. However, if he actually transforms between secret identity and normal identity then I'd give him the reputation disadvantage. With an actual bounty on him he gets the hunted. But it there's no way to ever know it's him then there's no disadvantage and therefore no points. The second: random chaos and destruction seems to follow this character (almost) everywhere he goes. Rarely does anyone ever get killed (or maybe even seriously hurt), but whole towns get levelled when he's around. Not through any direct action on his part, mind you; it just sort of happens. Is this a disadvantage of any sort? Well, loads of unluck will catch up with you if you stay in any area for too long, so Unluck might figure into it. A generous GM might allow some kind of seperate disadvantage, but generally if it's not directly ruining the character's life then I don't give points. I do remember giving someone a "doomed to wander" disadvantage once that forced them to move on after only a few days anywhere, and that was worth around 20pts. In that case I didn't classify it as an existing disadvantage (Physical, Psych, etc.). I just let it stand alone as a new disad and gave it points like you would a psychological disadvantage (Frequent, very) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Monolith Posted April 4, 2003 Report Share Posted April 4, 2003 Re: The Humanoid Typhoon Originally posted by Doug Limmer Except: nobody recognizes him. And, if they do notice he matches the description, they don't believe he's really the same person. So, what is this? A Secret Identity? Descriptive text not worth disadvantage points? Something else? I would consider this to be a Hunted Disadvantage. If it were a Social Limitation, then people would recognize him and react accordingly. But since it is a Hunted, only law enforcement people have a chance of "knowing" who he is, and this is done with the Hunted roll. The second: random chaos and destruction seems to follow this character (almost) everywhere he goes. Rarely does anyone ever get killed (or maybe even seriously hurt), but whole towns get levelled when he's around. Not through any direct action on his part, mind you; it just sort of happens. Is this a disadvantage of any sort? I would look at getting the Side Effect (damages surrounding area) Limitation on the character's powers. It does not even have to be a combat power like Energy Blast. The character uses his Find Weakness, and the lamp post next to him breaks. The character uses his Nightvision, and windows break. Small effects like that can go a long way. I would also give the character some sort of Physical Limitation to represent that things are always breaking around him. And then on top of all of that I would just use a lot of GM caveat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zaratustra Posted April 5, 2003 Report Share Posted April 5, 2003 Vash's 'being Vash' could be described as Distinctive Features: Easily Concealed, Major Reaction. As long as he doesn't go gun-happy, he can pass by unnoticed. Maybe couple it with a 8- Extreme Reputation for the people that -do- know what he looks like, along with a positive Rep for people he has helped. For the 'danger magnet' effect, here's a novel approach: Hunted (by dangerous situations): More powerful than PC, Mildly Punish (Destroy everything around him, without killing), 14- (+5 for Vash being 'easy to find': 25) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kdansky Posted April 5, 2003 Report Share Posted April 5, 2003 Trigun rocks! You could also do that "destruction disadv." with Unluck (only affects the rest of the world). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr. Anomaly Posted April 6, 2003 Report Share Posted April 6, 2003 Originally posted by Zaratustra For the 'danger magnet' effect, here's a novel approach: Hunted (by dangerous situations): More powerful than PC, Mildly Punish (Destroy everything around him, without killing), 14- (+5 for Vash being 'easy to find': 25) Man, I LIKE this! It is SO stolen! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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