Short Shot Posted June 24, 2005 Report Share Posted June 24, 2005 We've all met them. Heck, some of us ARE them. Smart people who have good ideas who are frequently proven correct, but for whatever reason just aren't listened to in a group. The group may eventually do exactly what this person said in the first place, but never until it is voiced by someone else. At which time you will here "That's what I said in the first place." I am currently building a character with this disadvantage by the name of Punky ("Call me Punky," he says morosely. "Since everyone calls me punk eventually, might as well answer to it up front.") Tactics 15- "Sure, I can tell you how we can beat them, but what's the point? You won't listen to me anyway until we've been pounded into mush first." My question is how to work this between the me in and the GM so it can be properly played out. I'd hate crit a tactics roll, have the GM explain exactly how to beat the bad guys with the other players listening and leave them sitting there unable to act on the information?! And please, please don't say pass notes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roy_The_Ruthles Posted June 24, 2005 Report Share Posted June 24, 2005 Re: The Rodney Dangerfield Effect i think you should just talk to the GM in private, that way the players won't have the right idea and then not be able to use it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dust Raven Posted June 24, 2005 Report Share Posted June 24, 2005 Re: The Rodney Dangerfield Effect Reputation: Not Worth Listening To or Taking Seriously 14-, extreme (20 points) Any time a character with this Disadvantage offers a suggestion, makes an observation or otherwise attempts to put in his two cents, he is generally ignored for some reason. This could be because he comes off as snobbish, arrogant or rude. Maybe he's just too pitiful to take note of. Perhaps he's just so cute and adorable nobody sees past it. Whatever the reason, if an original statement come out of his mouth, people will tend to automatically ignore it. This is written up as Reputation to provide a roll the character can make to try to be heard or noticed. If he rolls under his Rep, he fails and is overlooked or ignored. As for the in-game politics of dealing with the GM and such, there are two possibilities: You make your roll, the GM tells you what you know (in front of everybody), your character mentions it, everyone elses characters ignore it... then one of the other characters suggests it as if it was their own idea. Ta-da! No need to hide things from the players and you're all still playing in character. Two: Same as above, but the GM doesn't tell you anything (yet) and another character can't make any suggestions. You just go through the motions of telling everybody what you know, they ignore you and when it comes time for you to act, the GM will make simple "suggestions" to you or otherwise hint at what could be done or is going on. Technically, there's a third option that doesn't involve passing notes. If you and the GM both smoke (or if one of you do), time for a smoke break! Feel free to chat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vondy Posted June 24, 2005 Report Share Posted June 24, 2005 Re: The Rodney Dangerfield Effect Physical Limitation: Gets No Respect, Greaty, All The Time Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Super Squirrel Posted June 24, 2005 Report Share Posted June 24, 2005 Re: The Rodney Dangerfield Effect Distinctive Features: General Aura of Not Worth Listening To, Major Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bloodstone Posted June 24, 2005 Report Share Posted June 24, 2005 Re: The Rodney Dangerfield Effect Wouldn't a general lack of PRE also be in order here? You might want to buy limited PRE for presence attack defense though ("Easily Ignored, not Easily Impressed") Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Statikk HDM Posted June 24, 2005 Report Share Posted June 24, 2005 Re: The Rodney Dangerfield Effect Maybe there is a way to make this a little less crippling. Take the -5 on Dust Raven's suggestion and define the accepting culture as the group you are in. It doesn't make sense for a super squad to be saving the world with someone they don't respect for. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Logan D. Hurricanes Posted June 24, 2005 Report Share Posted June 24, 2005 Re: The Rodney Dangerfield Effect Reminds me of Cassandra Syndrome, except that you say that if someone else comes up with the idea too, others will listen. How about this: Nebbish: Telepathy 10d6 (Human class of minds); No Conscious Control (No choice on who recieves the info or how much; -2), Limited Power Must achieve level where target thinks it's their own idea (-1), Broadcast Only (-1/2), Does Not Provide Mental Awareness (-1/4), Incantations ("Hey, what if we..."; -1/4) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Supreme Serpent Posted June 24, 2005 Report Share Posted June 24, 2005 Re: The Rodney Dangerfield Effect Skill levels, useable by others, only to implement plan previously voiced, only after someone else also voices same plan. Powerguy: "Any ideas on taking this guy down?" Punky: "We've got to take his wand away from him." Powerguy: "Anyone?" Voleman: "What if we encase him in cheese?" Powerguy: "Worth a try. Let's go!" a few phases later... Powerguy: "My God! He escaped the cheese! Will nothing stop him?" Voleman: "I think the wand is the focus of his powers! Let's disarm him!" Powerguy: "Great thinking Voleman!" next person to try to get the wand away gets +X OCV, while Punky fumes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Short Shot Posted June 24, 2005 Author Report Share Posted June 24, 2005 Re: The Rodney Dangerfield Effect The actual disad is easy; I just have to discribe the effects. The game mechanics part was what I was concerned about. One thought was that after the GM announced the findings of the Tactics roll would be to have everyone ELSE roll an ego check to be able to follow the advice. Thoughts? Oh, and this is a new group forming from 3rd stringers so they might very well have problems initially accepting directions from this guy. After all, that's one of the reasons he didn't get picked up the previous two times. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Warp9 Posted June 24, 2005 Report Share Posted June 24, 2005 Re: The Rodney Dangerfield Effect Wouldn't a general lack of PRE also be in order here? You might want to buy limited PRE for presence attack defense though ("Easily Ignored, not Easily Impressed") Yes, IMO the "Rodney Dangerfield Effect" pretty much describes the effects of a very low PRE. And EGO can be used to defend against Presence Attacks, so I'd suggest going with that for defense. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dust Raven Posted June 24, 2005 Report Share Posted June 24, 2005 Re: The Rodney Dangerfield Effect Wouldn't a general lack of PRE also be in order here? You might want to buy limited PRE for presence attack defense though ("Easily Ignored, not Easily Impressed") You wouldn't need PRE only for defense. You'd still have EGO. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Warp9 Posted June 24, 2005 Report Share Posted June 24, 2005 Re: The Rodney Dangerfield Effect You wouldn't need PRE only for defense. You'd still have EGO. Didn't I just say that? Must be the "Rodney Dangerfield Effect" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dust Raven Posted June 24, 2005 Report Share Posted June 24, 2005 Re: The Rodney Dangerfield Effect Didn't I just say that? Must be the "Rodney Dangerfield Effect" So you did... but I didn't see it until after I posted. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Short Shot Posted June 24, 2005 Author Report Share Posted June 24, 2005 Re: The Rodney Dangerfield Effect Already sold back presence. He is sitting at -1d6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kristopher Posted June 24, 2005 Report Share Posted June 24, 2005 Re: The Rodney Dangerfield Effect We've all met them. Heck' date=' some of us ARE them. Smart people who have good ideas who are frequently proven correct, but for whatever reason just aren't listened to in a group. The group may eventually do exactly what this person said in the first place, but never until it is voiced by someone else. At which time you will here "That's what I said in the [i']first[/i] place." Story of my life. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prestidigitator Posted June 25, 2005 Report Share Posted June 25, 2005 Re: The Rodney Dangerfield Effect Psychological Limitation: "I told you so" (common, strong) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheEmerged Posted June 25, 2005 Report Share Posted June 25, 2005 Re: The Rodney Dangerfield Effect Well, this can be as simple as not buying the applicable PRE skills. Most people are more likely to listen to a good argument than the truth Personally I'd lean more toward making it a Psychological (inability to form a believable argument) or Social disadvantage (comes across as know-it-all, or tendency for "I told you so" whether or not he actually did). I can however see the logic behind the Reputation suggestion -- just make sure the character isn't allowed to "double dip" and get multiple sets of points for the same disadvantage. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Short Shot Posted June 28, 2005 Author Report Share Posted June 28, 2005 Re: The Rodney Dangerfield Effect Psychological Limitation: "I told you so" (common' date=' strong)[/quote'] Beautiful! Definitely going to add that in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sean Waters Posted June 28, 2005 Report Share Posted June 28, 2005 Re: The Rodney Dangerfield Effect Skill levels, useable by others, only to implement plan previously voiced, only after someone else also voices same plan. Powerguy: "Any ideas on taking this guy down?" Punky: "We've got to take his wand away from him." Powerguy: "Anyone?" Voleman: "What if we encase him in cheese?" Powerguy: "Worth a try. Let's go!" a few phases later... Powerguy: "My God! He escaped the cheese! Will nothing stop him?" Voleman: "I think the wand is the focus of his powers! Let's disarm him!" Powerguy: "Great thinking Voleman!" next person to try to get the wand away gets +X OCV, while Punky fumes. Storming. Sounds like every other game I've played in. Mind you I'm normally the one doing the ignoring We call this the 'Didn't Nichola say that a month ago?' effect Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.