Large breasts, feature or perk?

[zorg]

Originally Posted by Icelander

I'll bet you're the sort who would flip through an exciting book to read the ending immediately, too. ;)

Aww, you know, I'm a fast reader. :)

...and amazingly enough, this thread is STILL somewhat on topic!

[Mgellis]

Back to the original question...

Normally, I would treat this as part of Apperance (and I leave it to the players to determine exactly what is covered under an appearance level...the reaction modifier stays the same so everything else is just a 0-point feature).

I would, however, allow a player to take either a quirk or a perk related to this feature.

As a quirk, the body parts in question are out of proportion, enough to draw attention. (They don't have to be freakish, although the quirk would cover this, too, but they are large enough that people usually notice them.) They don't help your normal reaction roll; in fact, the ones who are drawn to you are usually the ones you wish would stay away, etc. Some men might even assume that you are stupid because of this condition (which might be useful in some campaigns but will mostly just be annoying.) It may also be harder to find clothes, wear disguises, etc. Basically, this condition is rarely useful and generally a nuisance.

As a perk, it would not improve overall reaction rolls, but would give a +1 to skills like Fast-Talk and Sex Appeal.

It all comes down to the mechanics. The cup size is simply a 0-point special effect.

Mark

[Icelander]

Originally Posted by Mgellis

I would, however, allow a player to take either a quirk or a perk related to this feature.

Or combine both effects you described for an effective 0 point feature. ;)

[Ze'Manel Cunha]

Originally Posted by Mgellis

As a perk, it would not improve overall reaction rolls, but would give a +1 to skills like Fast-Talk and Sex Appeal.

That's excessive, I can't see how Fast-Talk would apply, and the Sex Appeal would be restricted to a smaller group than you may think, because many of the targets of the roll wouldn't be influenced by larger breasts for anything else other than having sex.*

What you'd want to do is build a positive/negative reaction modifier, giving a +1 for people who like large breasts and a -1 for everyone else.
(Depending on the stereotype the person with large breasts is taken less serious, as being less intelligent and often assumed to be less willing to work by others who believe people use large breasts to get out of doing work.)

Then add in the artificial breast implants and people will often think that that person is in the sex industry, a stripper, or someone's trophy toy and again people get treated even less seriously.

Clothes also need to be more specifically tailored, which makes them harder and more expensive to find.

I used to be in the medical insurance business and one of the regular things we'd have to make a coverage/denial call on was on whether or not to allow breast reduction surgery for women with large breasts.
So medical complications, clothing costs and aesthetic issues can easily make this a negative point trait.


*Going back to the Hollywood influence of blondes and large breasts, the stereotype is still that while men prefer blondes/large breasts in someone they're having a one night stand with, they prefer and will marry proportional brunettes to raise a family with.

[nerdvana]

Originally Posted by Ze'Manel Cunha

What you'd want to do is build a positive/negative reaction modifier, giving a +1 for people who like large breasts and a -1 for everyone else.

I would take this a step farther... +1 for those who like large breasts, -1 for those who dislike them and +0 for everyone else. But then I'd have to decide the feelings on this for every NPC in my game... some games this might make sense for, others not so much.

[Icelander]

Originally Posted by nerdvana

I would take this a step farther... +1 for those who like large breasts, -1 for those who dislike them and +0 for everyone else. But then I'd have to decide the feelings on this for every NPC in my game... some games this might make sense for, others not so much.

Or state that for every NPC which you didn't have the time or energy to specify, the value was 0.

It's fair enough and only as complex as you make it. ;)

[Kromm]

If a player is taking this for a PC, then the player almost certainly plans to use it to advantage. Therefore, it ought to have a nominal positive cost. I would say that it's an appearance-related Perk on par with Fur, Honest Face, or Sanitized Metabolism. Like a Shtick perk, what it actually does will depend on the player's plans for the PC. Some will want it to serve as a very occasional bonus to social skills, including Sex Appeal, adjudicated at the GM's whim: "Yeah, I think Rocco is a boob man, so you get +1 to Streetwise here." Others will want it to function in Russ Meyer mode: "Sure, you can use 'em instead of your fists for punching damage. Hold him down and start pounding." I'm sure there are freakier ideas.

Those who want to get realistic should remember to tack on Bad Back [-15] and Distinctive Features [-1]. But to be honest, the sorts of players likely to want this kind of thing as a perk aren't going to want such consequences.

[nerdvana]

Originally Posted by Kromm

Those who want to get realistic should remember to tack on Bad Back [-15] and Distinctive Features [-1]. But to be honest, the sorts of players likely to want this kind of thing as a perk aren't going to want such consequences.

And there is the comment that defines why (outside of very specific campaign types) I'd not even really consider allowing this in my games.

[Xplo]

As always, the solution is to stat the effect, not the description.

"My character has big breasts." So what? 0 points.
"My character has big breasts, and they make her more attractive." Buy a better Appearance.
"My character has big breasts that look weird and turn people off." Buy a worse Appearance.

And so on.

[Christopher R. Rice]

Originally Posted by Kromm

If a player is taking this for a PC, then the player almost certainly plans to use it to advantage. Therefore, it ought to have a nominal positive cost. I would say that it's an appearance-related Perk on par with Fur, Honest Face, or Sanitized Metabolism. Like a Shtick perk, what it actually does will depend on the player's plans for the PC. Some will want it to serve as a very occasional bonus to social skills, including Sex Appeal, adjudicated at the GM's whim: "Yeah, I think Rocco is a boob man, so you get +1 to Streetwise here." Others will want it to function in Russ Meyer mode: "Sure, you can use 'em instead of your fists for punching damage. Hold him down and start pounding." I'm sure there are freakier ideas.

Those who want to get realistic should remember to tack on Bad Back [-15] and Distinctive Features [-1]. But to be honest, the sorts of players likely to want this kind of thing as a perk aren't going to want such consequences.

I go away for a mere six hours and come back to find the thread grossly bloated and Kromm Talking about the Director of Faster ***** Cat, Kill Kill...its like I stepped into the twilight thread...

Back on Topic, that was kind of what I was thinking if a PC is asking about something like this most of the time they are going to want to use it. A Perk/Quirk seems reasonable and useful to me. But going into the area of Bad Back...if they are that big...go get surgery seriously.

-Goes back to happy watch guard land-

Ghostdancer