Everyman Complications

[dmjalund]

Inspired by another thread, I was thinking What hangups would almost everyone in a particular campaign (PCs, & NPCs alike) have?

 

so - in Modern America, vs Ancient China, vs say humans in the Star Trek universe - or whereever, would they differ, if so how?

[CrosshairCollie]

Re: Everyman Complications

 

I wouldn't call these 'Everyman Complications'. I'd call them 'stuff that is simply not major enough to get points for'.

[Christopher]

Re: Everyman Complications

 

I wouldn't call these 'Everyman Complications'. I'd call them 'stuff that is simply not major enough to get points for'.

According to the book you don't get points for everyman-Complications(6E1 417). Don't let the fact that CvK is required in some champion games fool you, that is something different.

 

Let's got some from the other thread:

"Will to Live" (doesn't want to be killed)

"Shame" (doesn't want to ben naked in front of most people)

"Machine Mind"

[Xavier Onassiss]

Re: Everyman Complications

 

...and of course "Dependent on air."

[CrosshairCollie]

Re: Everyman Complications

 

According to the book you don't get points for everyman-Complications(6E1 417). Don't let the fact that CvK is required in some champion games fool you, that is something different.

 

Let's got some from the other thread:

"Will to Live" (doesn't want to be killed)

"Shame" (doesn't want to ben naked in front of most people)

"Machine Mind"

 

Aaaaand another good reason for me not to play 6e. Thank you.

[ghost-angel]

Re: Everyman Complications

 

Aaaaand another good reason for me not to play 6e. Thank you.

 

Try not to get too high up on that horse of yours - it says the same thing in 5ER p328.

 

Nice try though.

[Xavier Onassiss]

Re: Everyman Complications

 

Try not to get too high up on that horse of yours - it says the same thing in 5ER p328.

 

Nice try though.

 

Amen. We're all mature enough to enjoy Hero without engaging in "Your favorite (version of this) game sucks." antics.

[The Main Man]

Re: Everyman Complications

 

Wait, I can't have Dependence on Air? Damn, those were always the easiest 35 points.

 

Seriously though, while there are many "Complications" that should go without saying, I have had a campaign or two in which the PCs had common Complications that pertained to a group template but did not account for Complication totals. I see nothing wrong with that kind of approach to "Everyman Complications."

[Christopher]

Re: Everyman Complications

 

For a japanes setting perhaps:

Honor before Life

Obey your Masters

 

In a christian/medieval setting:

Low Status

Believer

Superstition

 

Mostly applicable:

Triskaidekaphobia or Tetraphobia

In the disc world, magicians have: "Fear of the number between 7 and 9"

[CrosshairCollie]

Re: Everyman Complications

 

For a japanes setting perhaps:

Honor before Life

Obey your Masters

 

In a christian/medieval setting:

Low Status

Believer

Superstition

 

Mostly applicable:

Triskaidekaphobia or Tetraphobia

In the disc world, magicians have: "Fear of the number between 7 and 9"

 

I don't really see where those are 'everyman' disadvantages, because not everybody, regardless of setting, is going to have them. Obviously not everybody in a Japanese setting has 'Honor before life' or 'Obey your masters', because there were Ronin, for example. Guys like Copernicus and Galileo, I don't think would qualify for 'believer' or 'superstitious'.

 

I sit duly chastised and corrected re the 5 to 6 issue of 'Everyman' Disads, though I play 5e un-Revised and have not found any reference to such in that book. So, House Ruled.

[Christopher]

Re: Everyman Complications

 

I sit duly chastised and corrected re the 5 to 6 issue of 'Everyman' Disads' date=' though I play 5e un-Revised and have not found any reference to such in that book. So, House Ruled. [/quote']

Fine for you. Not the point of this thread.

Please contribute or stop talking about unrelated things, that is not nice or helpfull.

[Manic Typist]

Re: Everyman Complications

 

Fine for you. Not the point of this thread.

Please contribute or stop talking about unrelated things, that is not nice or helpfull.

 

Acknowledging that someone else was right about an issue pertaining to the thread's purpose is an entirely valuable and welcome contribution to a thread.

 

Premature, unsolicited, unsanctioned, uninformed, heavy-handed attempts to police a thread are probably not. Probably.

 

Threads are threads, not rulers. They can wiggle a little bit and that's a good thing.

[ghost-angel]

Re: Everyman Complications

 

I sit duly chastised and corrected re the 5 to 6 issue of 'Everyman' Disads' date=' though I play 5e un-Revised and have not found any reference to such in that book. So, House Ruled. [/quote']

 

No worries mate, just trying to keep the version slighting to a minimum.

[Xavier Onassiss]

Re: Everyman Complications

 

Wait, I can't have Dependence on Air? Damn, those were always the easiest 35 points.

 

Seriously though, while there are many "Complications" that should go without saying, I have had a campaign or two in which the PCs had common Complications that pertained to a group template but did not account for Complication totals. I see nothing wrong with that kind of approach to "Everyman Complications."

 

Actually, I had to generalize this a great deal for my SF setting due to aliens that breathe different atmospheres. Instead it's Dependence on [Native Atmosphere]. So some characters need Life Support: Self-Contained Breathing to survive in our atmosphere. (As an aside -- the fact that a 35pt complication can be negated with a 10pt Power is probably significant.)

[Christopher]

Re: Everyman Complications

 

As an aside -- the fact that a 35pt complication can be negated with a 10pt Power is probably significant.

Then it wasn't a 35 Points Disad, the Atmosphere is "easily avalible" and it only hinders him "Infrequently".

 

Also, the above one in a thousand(ronin) or one in a Million(Galileo) isn't very helpfull for Everyman (read norman Normal) Complications.

Of course there can be heroes that don't have shame for being naked but I think the majority stil doesn't want to go to nudism beach (while following the "dresscode").

And frankly I have no reason to believe that Galileo was a unbleiver. He just had Problems with the church, that doesn't mean you can't still believe.

[Zedwimer]

Re: Everyman Complications

 

Actually, the lack of what might initially be perceived as an "everyman Complication" for a setting might itself be the real Complication in that setting. If most characters in the setting are Believers, then being a Non-Believer is the real Complication. If most characters in a setting believe in Honor Before Life, then Lacking Honor Before Life is the real complication. If most characters in the setting possesses Modesty Towards Nudity, then Lacking Modesty Towards Nudity would be the real Complication. And so on.

 

It's not just whether a Complication represents something you are forced (or encouraged) to do, it's sometimes also a matter of whether doing (or believing in) something -- or not doing (or believing in) something -- will get you in trouble.

[Manic Typist]

Re: Everyman Complications

 

Actually' date=' the [i']lack [/i]of what might initially be perceived as an "everyman Complication" for a setting might itself be the real Complication in that setting. If most characters in the setting are Believers, then being a Non-Believer is the real Complication. If most characters in a setting believe in Honor Before Life, then Lacking Honor Before Life is the real complication. If most characters in the setting possesses Modesty Towards Nudity, then Lacking Modesty Towards Nudity would be the real Complication. And so on.

 

It's not just whether a Complication represents something you are forced (or encouraged) to do, it's sometimes also a matter of whether doing (or believing in) something -- or not doing (or believing in) something -- will get you in trouble.

 

Which is why the books say pretty much exactly this.

[Lucius]

Re: Everyman Complications

 

I believe it's already part of Hero canon (perhaps I recall it from an earlier edition) that for characters (or at least superheroes) who lack either some degree of Code Vs Killing or something like Casual Killer, the "default" position is "Reluctant to Kill" for zero points. This makes sense to me.

 

I think the topic is worthy of discussion, but I am sure it can be problematic, even more so than "Everyman Skills" and for some of the same reasons. Consider for example the fact that Transport Familiarity is usually on the list. I didn't get a driver's license until I was 39.

 

To address Crosshair Collie's objection, I don't think "Everyman" literally means "absolutely 100% of the population has this, no exceptions."

 

I'm sure in American cities that have decent public transportation there are plenty of people who don't drive. I'm also sure that there are modern Americans who would be unphased in suddenly confronted with unexpected nudity, or unmoved if they stumble upon a fresh corpse that's been messily disemboweled, or who would readily kill someone who forces a violent confrontation on them without hesitation or remorse. That doesn't necessarily in my opinion mean that Transport Familiarity should be off the list of Everyman Skills, or that certain "Everyman Psychological Complications" shouldn't be assumed by default.

 

 

Lucius Alexander

 

Everypalindromedary Skills

[Tasha]

Re: Everyman Complications

 

Aaaaand another good reason for me not to play 6e. Thank you.

 

Also in both editions Everyman Disads is listed as optional Rule. Though honestly it's been kind of an unsaid rule for pretty much every edition of the rules.

 

The idea that most Normal Modern Americans probably have a "Reluctance to Kill (uncommon/Moderate)" as a default has been talked about and is an understood default in most Champions Campaigns I have been in.

"Follows the Law" is another common Modern Psych Limit. As most people won't violate the law.

"Uneasy around Violence" or "Avoids Violence" Is something common.

[Lucius]

Re: Everyman Complications

 

"Follows the Law" is another common Modern Psych Limit. As most people won't violate the law.

 

I would argue that while many people would follow the law by default, most people won't violate the law if they could get caught.

 

I'd consider this an Everyman Social Complication, "Subject to law, custom, and possible orders from authority figures."

 

Just as a soldier with "Subject to Orders" might choose to disobey and risk the consequences if caught, an ordinary citizen might ignore a red light or a police officer directing traffic, and face the possible fallout of doing so.

 

Lucius Alexander

 

Social Complication: Palindromedary

[dmjalund]

Re: Everyman Complications

 

Social Complication: Palindromedary

Don't you mean Subject to Palindromedary?