Most Feared Disadvantage

[Edsel]

Are there any particular disadvantages that are particullary unpopular amoung your players?

 

In our group it seems to be Unluck. I have been playing Hero/Champions since 1st Edition and have seen hundreds of player characters and in all that time I have noticed that a player character with Unluck is exceeding rare. There almost seems to be a phobia assocaited with it. Whenever new players are introduced to the game the experienced players will often caution them against even considering Unluck as a disadvantage. I find this odd since our group has no vindictive GMs who would exploit such a disadvantage disproportionately. Is the fear of Unluck just a localized phenomena or have you experienced it as well?

[MitchellS]

Re: Most Feared Disadvantage

 

I think unluck has a stigma because it's entire left up to the GM as to how he wishes to use it against the player. Some GM's go over the top in making things miserable for the players. Unlike many other disads unluck is entirely based in opinion, and that makes it unfavorable to many.

[Fox1]

Re: Most Feared Disadvantage

 

Unluck.

 

No one has ever willing taken it.

[Badger]

Re: Most Feared Disadvantage

 

Well if I was "accurately" creating myself, I would have to give myself about 5d6 Unluck (with electronics only). But yeah, I have never thought about using it for any of my characters. Then, again I havent used Luck much either.

[Rapier]

Re: Most Feared Disadvantage

 

We've got a couple characters with Unluck. DNPC is more rare.

[Egyptoid]

Re: Most Feared Disadvantage

 

my character the "failed green lantern" Cosmo-Knite

has Berserk. I was like the first to take that in our

game group in like 8 years.

[AmadanNaBriona]

Re: Most Feared Disadvantage

 

I freaking LOVE Unluck. My longest played FH character had 5 dice worth. A Norse warrior (and later galdor vitki, or runesmith) who hunted the undead and was Hel-blar (Black as Hel... accursed by a wight who had "eaten" his fate). But then again, I'm fond of Epic games based on epic poetry, which involve a lot of tragedy.

I honestly can't say there's any disad that causes distinct fear and loathing in my campaigns.

[yamamura]

Re: Most Feared Disadvantage

 

<<>>

I generaly take unluck as a "I need 5 or 10 points and then I am done" disadvantage. Luckily the people I get to play under don't abuse it. On the other hand, I tend urge people not take unluck when I am running as it is likely I will never get around to doing anything with it. If there was way for people to play their unluckiness themselves.

[AmadanNaBriona]

Re: Most Feared Disadvantage

 

<<>>

I generaly take unluck as a "I need 5 or 10 points and then I am done" disadvantage. Luckily the people I get to play under don't abuse it. On the other hand, I tend urge people not take unluck when I am running as it is likely I will never get around to doing anything with it. If there was way for people to play their unluckiness themselves.

 

Well, I'm a bit of a masochist, but I tend to remind my GM's when it might be appropriate for my unluck to come into play. I figure its no different than reminding the GM of my psyche limits. I'm not playing to win, here...I'm playing to have a good time, and if unluck is there to make my chatacters life hell, then by all means, make it hell

[CrosshairCollie]

Re: Most Feared Disadvantage

 

Vulnerability. Hands down, the last-ditch, teeth-pulling, 'I don't care how much sense it makes, I don't want to do it but I'm ten points shy on disadvantages!' disadvantage that NOBODY wants, and I've seen several people just save back XP to get rid of the Vulnerability before doing ANYTHING else.

 

To a degree, I understand. It's the premier 'combat disadvantage', and since most games involve some degree of combat, eventually you're going to get hosed by it, or at least threatened to be hosed by it ... and if you take a Body Vulnerability, you're looking at potential death.

 

I tend to look at it from the other angle. If I'm, say, 2x Stun from Electrical Attacks, I know it's there. I know exactly what it'll do, and as often as not, I'll be able to see it coming ("Beware ... THE ELECTROCUTIONER!" "This one's yours, guys. I'll vacate the civilians."). I know it means 'watch out for electrical attacks, power lines, etc.

 

On the other hand, damn near everybody takes 40-50 points of Hunteds, and a cleverly used Hunted can screw a PC far worse than a Vulnerability.

[Captain Obvious]

Re: Most Feared Disadvantage

 

I think I'm the only guy from any group I've played with who took Unluck. Maybe it should be increased in value....

[Badger]

Re: Most Feared Disadvantage

 

I like using the Enraged/Berserk one. Hunteds I usually only take one (maybe 2 if 2nd is an 8- and aint Mo Pow). I like to take a rivalry if I find out a PC (or NPC ally) is going to be a complete opposite in terms of personality/philosophy than mine. I tend to take Psych Lims a lot. But hey I like playing with Psych Lims, playing them realistically seems to be my talent (no jokes about my sanity please )

[Hermit]

Re: Most Feared Disadvantage

 

Unluck. We use a lot of luck rolls, good and bad, perhaps too much so, so Unluck is usually the dead last thing they get.

 

Vulnerability and Enraged/Beserks are distantly behind.

[AmadanNaBriona]

Re: Most Feared Disadvantage

 

truthfully, thinking about it, probably the most avoided disad in my games has been full Berserk. Enraged's are not uncommon, but I make VERY sure to point out the "utter lack of target discrimination or self defence" aspects of Berserk and thus characters really only take them to represent characters who are subject to full on psychotic breaks, rather than the "Woot! Berserk is like, Cool, Man! I can get more points just to be like Wolverine? Sweet!" syndrome.

 

If you can't tell, Berserk is also a Disad that I, as a GM, tend to rule fairly harshly on.

[Roy_The_Ruthles]

Re: Most Feared Disadvantage

 

Unluck. It's asking the GM to screw with you more than normal. On the other hand i've never seen a berserk character.

 

The only character i've seen with Unluck, has an equal amount of Luck, so that fate wildly shifts around him. Never actually seen him played

[Dust Raven]

Re: Most Feared Disadvantage

 

Oddly enough, it's Unluck in my games. But I'd have to say Susceptibility and Vulnerability are close seconds. I say that primarily because only one character in my group has unluck, and he only took it because he wasn't taking Susc or Vul and still needed 10 points.

 

My least favorite is Enraged/Berserk, particularly Berserk. At least with Unluck, I can react to everything the way I want too, but I don't EVER want to hand my character over to the GM for any reason.

[prestidigitator]

Re: Most Feared Disadvantage

 

My least favorite has to be Dependency. You basically either die immediately or get no points for the Disadvantage. Wheeee.

[Vondy]

Re: Most Feared Disadvantage

 

Unluck, though I have one player whose terrified of having a vulnerability based on the notion that he'll only see the FX of the vulnerability if he takes it. Not true, but to each his own. The truth is, aside from seeing how they define a character and using them to semi-predict a character's actions, I only use a character's disadvantages as story seeds and plot developments. As a result, most of my players have figured out disads (like hunteds) are a good thing because they translate into air time and center stage for their characters.

[Lord Mhoram]

Re: Most Feared Disadvantage

 

Unluck.

 

Rare occasionsof Vulnerability or suseptability.

 

The rationall being that disads are there as story hooks, and problems for the character, but the player is not having any fun if he is not playing the character so anything that might hasten unconsiuosness is generally not used.

[Tim]

Re: Most Feared Disadvantage

 

Yeah, Unluck seems to top the list, for my group also.

 

Of course then the players take mystery disads instead.

[Bloodstone]

Re: Most Feared Disadvantage

 

Gotta agree with Unluck.

 

My dice screw me over often enough that I don't need to take a Disadvantage to make it worse

[Ghost Archer]

Re: Most Feared Disadvantage

 

Most feared? Vulnerablity. No one likes them, everyone avoids them like the plague even to the point of taking large chunks of Unluck (3+d6). I think the problem is my players don't want to risk getting taken out in one or two phases. Vulnerabilites never bother me in character creation, and no Disad scares me as a GM or player.

[BNakagawa]

Re: Most Feared Disadvantage

 

Berserk. Nobody around here wants to lose control of their character.

[Super Squirrel]

Re: Most Feared Disadvantage

 

Poor, Unlucky, and sadly, Code vs. Killing seem to be pretty unpopular in my games.

[Lord Zod]

Re: Most Feared Disadvantage

 

My favorite disadvantages are Psychological limitations. Every character has a personality, might as well get points for yours. Yay, I can get extra points for playing my character a certain way, the way I planning on playing him. Technically, I'm loading up on these even after I've reached the limit and don't get points for them anymore, because I'm just defining my character's personality. Sure they limit the actions you can take and can make certain goal difficult to achieve, but generally I find that they enhance the characters. I don't see them as being in the way because my character would have done things that way anyway. I've played hero system about 6-12 hours a week in the past year and in that time I've played 3 different characters. I've made an ego roll to resist my psychological limitations twice, and only because they conflicted. Once they even helped me out by allowing me to resist mind control.

 

I think Hunted and Rivalry also fun ones. Every hero has enemies, might as well get points for them.

 

My least favorite ones are Unluck because its so subjective and Berserk because it tends to require people to have you put down. That's not to say I would never take them though. In the game I GM, I banned Berserk because I figured the PCs had enough reasons to fight already.