Does Unluck Really Screw You?

[Dust Raven]

After reading in the "unpopular disad" thread, I got to thinking.

 

To GMs: When a player takes Unluck... do you really screw then? What exactly to do you do when a character has Unluck?

 

To Players: When you've taken Unluck, or seen a fellow player take Unluck for his character, what have you seen the GM do because of it?

 

I'm looking for ALL kinds of stories here, not just the horror stories (I took Unluck and the GM kept killing my character!). I'm really wondering if Unluck has really earned its reputation for being a GM carte-blanche to screw over a character and the character standing next to him.

[Guest Black Lotus]

Re: Does Unluck Really Screw You?

 

 

I don't have any Unluck stories, but I do know one thing: GMs should try not to look for reasons to screw the players over, regardless of the circumstances. A lot of people see roleplaying as gamemaster versus the players, and that's a bad line of thinking. I condone unbiased, impartial, and even-handed decisionmaking on the part of the GM.

[Roy_The_Ruthles]

Re: Does Unluck Really Screw You?

 

never seen a character with unluck outside the character creation phase. Wish i could see it work. I'd not use it to go hunting, but i'd use it liberally in dramatic moments like with action dice or drama dice in 7th seas and Spycraft

[Dust Raven]

Re: Does Unluck Really Screw You?

 

I don't have any Unluck stories' date=' but I do know one thing: GMs should try not to [i']look[/i] for reasons to screw the players over, regardless of the circumstances. A lot of people see roleplaying as gamemaster versus the players, and that's a bad line of thinking. I condone unbiased, impartial, and even-handed decisionmaking on the part of the GM.

 

Agreed. In cases like that, it's definatley not the system's (and Unluck specifically) fault, it's pure GM mallace.

 

While I'm looking more for examples from games where the GM is otherwise not out the get the players, I suppose enough stories where a GM that was and liked to use Unluck as his sword might help shift some of Unluck's rep to a different target.

[Killer Shrike]

Re: Does Unluck Really Screw You?

 

After reading in the "unpopular disad" thread, I got to thinking.

 

To GMs: When a player takes Unluck... do you really screw then? What exactly to do you do when a character has Unluck?

 

To Players: When you've taken Unluck, or seen a fellow player take Unluck for his character, what have you seen the GM do because of it?

 

I'm looking for ALL kinds of stories here, not just the horror stories (I took Unluck and the GM kept killing my character!). I'm really wondering if Unluck has really earned its reputation for being a GM carte-blanche to screw over a character and the character standing next to him.

Unluck is the best Disadvantage of them all, because it intrinsically creates plot hooks and opportunities for roleplaying.

 

The true test of a hero is in how they overcome adversity. Unluck offers an open tap to adversity, thus making it the most heroic of Disadvantages.

 

I've got a million in play examples of Unluck in action, but rather than bother list them Ill instead point to a well known example of a character with 5d6 Unluck -- Spiderman. All the annoying, inconveniencing, frustrating little life issues he has are perfect examples of Unluck in action. Both Spiderman movies show this off, particularly the second one.

[Guzalot]

Re: Does Unluck Really Screw You?

 

As a GM I have rarely encountered PC's with Unluck. When I have I generaly used it in non-combat situations and at dramaticly appropriate moments. These created opportunities for roleplay and I didn't try to be malicious with it (I hope). For example: The character just foiled the villain and needs to get across town for a business meeting in his Secret ID. His unluck comes up and, oops, he gets stuck in traffic. Will he abandon his vehicle and use his superpowers to make it on time (and risk exposing his ID) or risk the wrath of his boss? As has been noted, the Spiderman movies are great examples of unluck in action.

[prestidigitator]

Re: Does Unluck Really Screw You?

 

Does Unluck Really Screw You?

Yes, but in a fun way.

 

Actually, I too have never GMed for a player who has been willing to keep Unluck (I say, "keep," because players have even wanted to change pregenerated characters I have created for play so that they get rid of this Disadvantage). However, I have dealt with similar character disadvantages in other systems (such as WoD). I really do try to make things amusing, and not really screw characters in a way that the players are going to get majorly upset about. It usually winds up tying into the story, although I can get a little merciless about it in general when PCs get too cocky.

 

However, in character creation I have typically given the disclaimer (not in Hero) that the thing is a disadvantage, and I will take full liberty in exploiting it as GM. Funny that the only system in which I haven't given this disclaimer is the one in which players seem to be most frightened of it....

[AmadanNaBriona]

Re: Does Unluck Really Screw You?

 

In my old JI campaign, I often recomended that if players hadn't any already, they might want to add equal dice of Luck and Unluck... its PERFECT for a pulp game.

I drove more dramatic pulp element with one or the other than any other single game mechanic.

And I was always disappointed with the way my fellow GM's never really put the screws to my two epic characters. My accursed Norseman, with his 5d6 Unluck was never as doomed as he should have been... later in the campaign when I became the primary GM, I kept him around as a NPC and used him ruthlessly just to show my friends how to abuse an Unlucky character without ruining him. My other big unluck character was in our Epic Celtic campaign... every character had Susceptibility: 6d6 Unluck if Geasa broken. Frequency based on number of personal Geasa the characters had (as oposed to the required cultural ones).

Enforced the genre better than any other single element in the game.

[Barton]

Re: Does Unluck Really Screw You?

 

Several of characters have unluck and I have played characters with unluck. It is fun both cases.

As a player I had three levels of unluck (bought down to 1 level and kept it there) for a powered armor character. It was a Marvel based game so we were fighting the Hulk and my unluck came up as I was flying. The GM said the rocket boots just slowly failed and I was able to land safely... next to the very mad Hulk. My last words in the fight were "Hi Hulk..." before Hulk smashed him into next week.

For my players unluck is annoying, but fun. Sometimes the unluck "helps" them. For example, one of my players had is unluck activate and cause him to fall during an attack (he of course missed his attack completely on his enemy). But the villians left him alone the next round and he got the drop on them.

[Edsel]

Re: Does Unluck Really Screw You?

 

In my many years of being a Hero System GM I can't recall ever seeing a player with the Unluck disadvantage. That's not to say that there have not been some in my games, its just that it is so rare I don't remember any. Even if someone did have a character with Unluck I'd likely forget about it since I am not used to seeing it.

[CrosshairCollie]

Re: Does Unluck Really Screw You?

 

I wasn't part of this game, but I heard about it frequently ... this one event turned off a player from ever touching Unluck, and while it may have been overblown, it was kind of funny.

 

The group was a bunch of government agents, but they were all odd characters ... not odd like some of the horror story characters from another thread (no prehensile genitalia or 'THE AMAZING HAMMER-WHEEL'), but just slightly offbeat characters like a canine robot the size of a bus.

 

Anyway, they were on a mission to bust a drug smuggling operation, and things had gone by absolutely swimmingly, not through any particular effort on the part of the players. Good skill checks, good hit rolls, good damage, no teamwork ... and since things were going 'too well', the GM asked around to see who had Unluck. Only one character had it ... but she had 4 dice of it. The GM rolled it publically.

 

1. 1. 1. 1.

 

After a momentary pause for everybody to metaphorically wet their collective pants, the GM starts declaring what all happens. First, a stray shot hits a fuel drum, which sets the docks they're fighting on ablaze with an explosion. The explosion rocks the dock, dropping two characters (the robot, who can't swim, and someone with some variant of 'Fear of Water') into the bay. The remaining character on the docks did not fall through, because he had a Fear of Fire. I can't remember what happened to the fourth, but it just wasn't good.

 

As a GM, I usually only break out unluck in the situation where things are going too well, and it's not really the PCs doing. If they're winning a fight, but it's a tough, close fight and the PCs are pulling it out by the skin of their teeth, then I don't roll the Unluck ... but if they're waltzing through it without trying, then I will.

[AmadanNaBriona]

Re: Does Unluck Really Screw You?

 

 

As a GM, I usually only break out unluck in the situation where things are going too well, and it's not really the PCs doing. If they're winning a fight, but it's a tough, close fight and the PCs are pulling it out by the skin of their teeth, then I don't roll the Unluck ... but if they're waltzing through it without trying, then I will.

EXACTAMUNDO!!!!!

Almost word for word the way I've described my Unluck philosophy.

Tho..to tell you the truth, there is a second time I'm prone to rolling unluck. If a player is doing something radically against the genre of the the game in question, I'll often pop out unluck to "thwart" their plans.

Occasionally ticks them off, but in the long run they usually thank me.

example:

One JI game, our Strong Jawed Hero, explorer type, was watching the lost temple in the jungle from a distance through his rifle scope. This was the moment he got to discover that a "lost" member of the expedition was in fact the leader of the natives. He decided that he was going to snipe the bad guy for his treasonous ways. A smidgen of unluck ensured that a native happened to step in the way of the bullet, thus preserving the life of the master villian so the rest of the plot could advance.

[Vondy]

Re: Does Unluck Really Screw You?

 

I roll a characters unluck at the beginning of a session and count body as though I was rolling normal damage. That's the number of times "something bad happens" during a session. Its usually not major stuff. A weapon jams (but not at the critical moment that turns the character to paste if they don't get their shot off), someone reacts badly after a borderline interaction roll, a car breaks down when they're in a hurry to get somewhere, etc. Sometimes it actually adds color the the scenario or adds an opportunity for characterization. For most characters with unluck this is once or twice a session. I have seen gamemasters who go overboard with it. they roll at every possible opportunity and interperet things in the worst possible way for the player. Unluck should be low-key and flavorful, not a club to beat your players with.

[John Desmarais]

Re: Does Unluck Really Screw You?

 

After reading in the "unpopular disad" thread, I got to thinking.

 

To GMs: When a player takes Unluck... do you really screw then? What exactly to do you do when a character has Unluck?

 

As a GM I use Unluck just as often as I use Luck (whenever it seems appropriate and I remember the character has it) and with the same degree of effectiveness. So, the characters are not getting screwed any more often than thery are benefitting from it. It's a 5 to 15 point disad and should be treated as more or less the same as any other smal point disad.

[zornwil]

Re: Does Unluck Really Screw You?

 

I use it fairly traditionally for when the character is doing well - and I remember to roll it! Then it's usually some sort of mild or semi-serious reversal (like VDM, I won't put a PC in mortal jeopardy, at least not unless their character concept calls for it so that they took many d6 of Unluck). Other than that an occasional minor inconvenience, preferably humorous. But I can't remember the last Unluck PC...hmm, better check sheets again, too...

[Vondy]

Re: Does Unluck Really Screw You?

 

In my games I give all players the right to demand a luck-unluck die (they could do it once per seen, I guess, but generally those who do only do so once or twice per session). If they do, I roll a D6. A 6 is getting lucky, a 1 is getting unlucky, and a 2-5 results in absolute respect for how the dice fall for their character (which means sacrificing my soft-touch). Its always suprised me that the players who dread and complain about unluck the most (and never take it) are the ones most enamoured of the luck-unluck die and the one's who request it the most.

[CourtFool]

Does Unluck Really Screw You? And if so, how much does she charge?

 

I wonder if gamist/fear of gamist mentality is a major factor in taking or not taking Unluck. Just wonderin' out loud.

[Fox1]

Re: Does Unluck Really Screw You?

 

In my many years of being a Hero System GM I can't recall ever seeing a player with the Unluck disadvantage. That's not to say that there have not been some in my games' date=' its just that it is so rare I don't remember any. Even if someone did have a character with Unluck I'd likely forget about it since I am not used to seeing it.[/quote']

 

You saw Spiderman in play with it, 3d6 of both Luck and Unluck. He was ran very rarely however.

 

That's the only one of two that I can recall either from those years or any before or since.

 

The second I forced on a character, but I did so with the promise that it would only represent certain types of 'issues' and it was taken at the 2d6 level.

 

Frankly unluck seriously risks the problem of getting old.

 

Halfway through Spiderman 2 for example my wife was at the "just shoot him and let's watch a movie that's more fun" point. The movie went on to be wonderful even from her PoV, but that reaction points out the danger of the unluck disadvantage nicely.

[Fox1]

Re: Does Unluck Really Screw You? And if so, how much does she charge?

 

I wonder if gamist/fear of gamist mentality is a major factor in taking or not taking Unluck. Just wonderin' out loud.

 

Speaking for my Gamist self and using my defintion there of...

 

Unluck does carry with it the danger of overturning the results of successful and skilled play, perhaps hours thereof.

 

When it happens it will happen in a out of left field "what the heck happened?" manner that can completely deflate the Gamist mindset.

 

So no, I wouldn't expect it to be a favored disadvantage for such people.

[atlascott]

Re: Does Unluck Really Screw You?

 

Here are some examples of how I have used Unluck in a Champs campaign:

 

 

"Wow, we are all exhausted from barely being able to escape Mechanon...oh crap, are those Minutemen....?"

 

"Excellent work, Mr. Brick--pulling the roof down on the enemy superteam is GREAT work! Oh wait...has anybody seen The Leprechaun? {sounds of muffled Leprechaunesque moaning under the building}"

 

"Nice shot, Energy Lad! You Sunburst Blast really knocked that villan back into that wall...which is now falling towards us..."

 

I will occasionally use unluck to make a character lose an action due to slipping, or other change environmental problem. If the roll is really bad, it can make the hero look like a schmuck or unheroic to the crowd--or even the whole team.

[Guest Confusinator]

Re: Does Unluck Really Screw You?

 

I used to buy Unluck all the time for my PC's. Curious also. I always did that, because I thought it would make the game more exciting by presenting some unknown factors into play.

 

However, my experience is that the GM often forgot about the Unluck.

 

On time though, I was playing a goof-ball character called Yo-Yo, a gadgeteer based around toys. He was chasing a villian (The Fox if I remember correctly). Yo-Yo was attempting to spring-board off an awning in front of a greengrocer's store and land on top of the car the villian was fleeing in. The GM remembered my Unluck, and I found myself falling through the awning and right into a display of tomatoes.

 

A bit later, Yo-Yo was in the chase again, this time he was trying to get on a bus. He runs up to the door, there is a check of my unluck, and Yo-Yo finds himself confronting probably the only bus driver in the world that has a no leniency policy on loading passengers once the door is closed. I think I remember him calling me a freak too. Yo-Yo had to watch in humiliation and a cloud of diesel fumes as his arch-enemy waved at him from the back window.

 

To me, Unluck is added flavor. I like dealing with adversity.

[CrosshairCollie]

Re: Does Unluck Really Screw You?

 

I roll a characters unluck at the beginning of a session and count body as though I was rolling normal damage. That's the number of times "something bad happens" during a session.

 

Just to check, do you mean Normal STUN damage or Normal BODY damage?

[Vondy]

Re: Does Unluck Really Screw You?

 

Just to check' date=' do you mean Normal STUN damage or Normal BODY damage? [/quote']

 

"I count body damage as though I was rolling normal damage."

[ghost-angel]

Re: Does Unluck Really Screw You?

 

I've got one character with Unluck, because the GM has a house rule that a full Brick Type has to have at least one dice of it. I've got two.

 

When the game was foused on "beat up the bad guy" the Unluck usually meant I became knocked out when I was teetering on the edge of conciousness, or something unhappy occured on the playing field - like all four of the enemy decided to focus on little old me, that kind of thing.

 

As the character progresses in points and the game shifts slightly towards a politcal game and less from superheroic the Unluck is almost never rolled, but the GM has made my character work twice as hard for the same level of recognition and standing as the other characters. Basically I start off any social situation with some form of disadvantage appropriate to the session that night..

 

It has never interfered with the game to any point that I consider it unfair or not worth the disad - it has, on manyh occasion, provided me with more opportunties and challenges to roleplay that I might otherwise encounter - so the Disadvantage has turned into a RP Opportunity for me.

 

Taken in that light, in the game I'm in, I have no problems with the Disad and may use it on future characters more often.

[CrosshairCollie]

Re: Does Unluck Really Screw You?

 

"I count body damage as though I was rolling normal damage."

 

*insert sound of computer user cleaning his glasses*

 

Thank you.