Let's Talk Disads: Limitation Alternates

[Labrat]

This came up on the 'Enraged/Beserk' thread that I thought could merit a tangential discussion.

 

The way that 'Slightly/Infrequently/All The Time' measures are used leads to too many questions, you almost have to be clairvoyant to decide how much Phys/Psych/Soc Lim to buy at the beginning of a game.

 

Should Penalties to CHARs and Skills be allowed to be bought with Disads? Lets look at a Physical Lim example. Should a character, say my eight-fingered dwarf, be allowed to buy -1 OCV for 3 pts worth of Disads, and/or -2 DEX (only applies when two-hands are needed, -1)? I would say 'yes' and this could open up a whole new field of Disads to explore, with more open fields Disads could be better tailored to the PCs. That's always good.

[AmadanNaBriona]

Re: Let's Talk Disads: Limitation Alternates

 

Not only do I think its a fine idea, but I have a few characters lying around where I have done exactly this.

I also support the idea of allowing Disads with Limitations (subject to GM's approval, of course)

 

One semi-Han Solo homage character in my old Star Hero campaign had 4d6 Unluck (only on his ship and ship related activities -1)

[Robyn]

Re: Let's Talk Disads: Limitation Alternates

 

I also support the idea of allowing Disads with Limitations (subject to GM's approval' date=' of course)[/quote']

 

Thanks!

 

This made perfect sense to me, and I found myself statting them out with an ease bordering on the intuitive, but the book didn't have rules for reducing the point value of Disads by putting Limitations on them.

 

It's just like basic math. The division still works the same, only you're using negative numbers instead.

[Manic Typist]

Re: Let's Talk Disads: Limitation Alternates

 

I think it is fine, as long as the GM and player lay out the exact SFX and mechanics of how they intend it to work.

[Vurbal]

Re: Let's Talk Disads: Limitation Alternates

 

Not only do I think its a fine idea, but I have a few characters lying around where I have done exactly this.

I also support the idea of allowing Disads with Limitations (subject to GM's approval, of course)

 

One semi-Han Solo homage character in my old Star Hero campaign had 4d6 Unluck (only on his ship and ship related activities -1)

I don't have a problem with limitations on disads, but for something like this I would probably just tell the player to buy fewer dice of unluck. IMO whether it applies to his entire life or is always related to his ship is just SFX. The number of dice is the only thing that matters when it comes to points because that determines the frequency/severity. OTOH I suppose if there were significant enough periods of time away from the ship I guess I could see the limitation.

 

I once had a Champions character with unluck that always happened to his friends and family. No limitation on the disad - just the way the unluck manifested itself.

[Robyn]

Re: Let's Talk Disads: Limitation Alternates

 

I once had a Champions character with unluck that always happened to his friends and family. No limitation on the disad - just the way the unluck manifested itself.

 

I would have given him the friends and family members as DNPC's for that

[Derek Hiemforth]

Re: Let's Talk Disads: Limitation Alternates

 

I think this is a fine idea, as long as the player is mature enough not to abuse it, and can work out the details with the GM.

[AmadanNaBriona]

Re: Let's Talk Disads: Limitation Alternates

 

I don't have a problem with limitations on disads, but for something like this I would probably just tell the player to buy fewer dice of unluck. IMO whether it applies to his entire life or is always related to his ship is just SFX. The number of dice is the only thing that matters when it comes to points because that determines the frequency/severity. OTOH I suppose if there were significant enough periods of time away from the ship I guess I could see the limitation.

 

I once had a Champions character with unluck that always happened to his friends and family. No limitation on the disad - just the way the unluck manifested itself.

The thing is, with Unluck as the specific example, the number of dice controls BOTH the frequency of occurance and the maximum severity of the effect. As such, reducing the dice but not limiting the effect would cause two things...

#1) Less catastrophic effects occuring on shipboard... including, if one is a literalist, nothing that effects the rest of the party (it takes 4 levels of effect to cause major badness that effects friends as well).

Ergo, no Hyperdrive Failure just as the Star Destroyer is bearing down in attack mode.

#2) Unlucky event that occur to the character outside of the ship.

This is probably more "realistic", assuming that you consider Unluck to be constrained by realism. BUt it's not what the player wanted for his character. Another option, and one we considered, is to give the SHIP Unluck. Except we wanted it to come across more like the character, who was an amazing pilot, was jinxed. No matter what he was flying, bad breaks always seemed to happen to him.

Another example I could cite would be Madmartigan from Willow. The best swordsman in the land, but he goes for more than half the movie before he ever manages to lay his hands on a blade, despite his best efforts.

[Vurbal]

Re: Let's Talk Disads: Limitation Alternates

 

The thing is, with Unluck as the specific example, the number of dice controls BOTH the frequency of occurance and the maximum severity of the effect. As such, reducing the dice but not limiting the effect would cause two things...

#1) Less catastrophic effects occuring on shipboard... including, if one is a literalist, nothing that effects the rest of the party (it takes 4 levels of effect to cause major badness that effects friends as well).

Ergo, no Hyperdrive Failure just as the Star Destroyer is bearing down in attack mode.

#2) Unlucky event that occur to the character outside of the ship.

This is probably more "realistic", assuming that you consider Unluck to be constrained by realism. BUt it's not what the player wanted for his character. Another option, and one we considered, is to give the SHIP Unluck. Except we wanted it to come across more like the character, who was an amazing pilot, was jinxed. No matter what he was flying, bad breaks always seemed to happen to him.

I'm not saying there's anything wrong with your way, just that I would just handwave it being specific to the ship. Since the frequency goes down the severity automatically goes up to compensate and the same effect is achieved. It should come out at the same cost and effect either way.

[Vurbal]

Re: Let's Talk Disads: Limitation Alternates

 

I would have given him the friends and family members as DNPC's for that

We talked about doing it that way, but since it would involve a bunch of changing DNPC's for various situations and there would be no rhyme or reason to their power level or how frequency different individuals would be involved it made more sense to use unluck.

[Robyn]

Re: Let's Talk Disads: Limitation Alternates

 

We talked about doing it that way' date=' but since it would involve a bunch of changing DNPC's for various situations and there would be no rhyme or reason to their power level or how frequency different individuals would be involved it made more sense to use unluck.[/quote']

 

I can see that. I just read that part and started thinking "Family and friends to whom bad things happen all the time? Sounds kinda familiar . . . "