A Question for 6th Edition players/gms

[phoenix240]

Do you allow Disadvantage points for Bases, Vehicles, Computers and Followers anyway?

[assault]

Why not? Especially if using Complications helps model them correctly.

 

Ah. But they probably shouldn't be mandatory, except perhaps for followers.

[Grailknight]

Yes, and they will show up slightly more frequently than the character's disadvantages. After all, they are a story hook on a story hook.

[Comic]

A good GM's job is to make the interesting elements of his players' characters more interesting, without betraying the players' trust that they are, for example, not going to find *surprise* their secret base used as Road Kill's private lounge, or that their DNPC wife turns out to be a shape-shifted amnesiac Dr. Destroyer slowly regaining her memories.

 

Or that the password for accessing their AI's update log is H@57urH@57urH@57ur.

 

You know, unless you're sure your players are into that sort of thing.

[Lucius]

Just to be clear, is the question

 

1. Do we allow Bases, Vehicles, Followers, to have Complications (Disadvantages) or

2. Do we reduce the cost of these game elements due to the Complications?

 

Lucius Alexander

 

Inquiring palindromedaries want to know

[phoenix240]

To clarify, I mean do you allow Complications that affect the cost of Bases, Vehicles, etc.

[TheQuestionMan]

Complications do not give cost breaks like disadvantages.

[phoenix240]

Just to be clear, is the question

 

1. Do we allow Bases, Vehicles, Followers, to have Complications (Disadvantages) or

2. Do we reduce the cost of these game elements due to the Complications?

 

Lucius Alexander

 

Inquiring palindromedaries want to know

 

Yes to both.

 

Edit: To use more correct 6ed terminology: Do you require a certain number of Matching Complications for Bases, Followers, etc,  are they strictly optional color that doesn't effect things one way or the other or even not allowed at all.

[Lucius]

Well, the issue hasn't come up much in games I run, but here's how I've been handling it.

 

You pay 1 for 5 for the total points of your Follower, Base, or Vehicle. They may have the same number of unComplicated points as the "sponsoring" character. So if the player characters are built on 125 points, plus up to 75 in Complications, plus XP, then a Follower could be built on up to 125 pts without using Complications, unless the Complications are essential to concept or desired by the player. Above that, it gets Complicated.

 

Points over that base point level require Complications, but I don't scrutinize the Complications the same way I do a Player Character's.  The Player Character is gaining points for their Complications, so they should always be Disadvantage-ous in some way, just as a Power's Limitations should represent issues that could come up in play. The player isn't getting any cost break for these Complications, so they don't have to actually hinder the player or player character. After all, if they did, why wouldn't they have an associated cost break?

 

Something that IS a major problem might get a Limitation on the cost of the Follower, but it would have to really be a major problem, you are ALREADY getting a big break on cost by paying on the 1/5 scale.

 

On Bases and Vehicles I'm inclined to be more lenient about allowing more unComplicated points, because it can be hard to come up with appropriate Complications sometimes.

 

I've also decided that Followers don't earn their own XP; mechanically they're part of the sponsoring character, and that character should spend points to improve the Follower. That hasn't actually come up yet.

 

Lucius Alexander

 

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