How to design a super power that makes people vomit

[Wordsmith]

No, I'm not kidding.

So I'm interested in running a campaign involving superhumans, using an old Mutants and Masterminds sourcebook as a blueprint. In the sourcebook, there's a character sheet for an NPC who has the ability to make whoever looks at his face ill. I've been trying to figure out how to make this power work in GURPS, but I'm having some trouble. At first I thought Affliction, would work, considering that it allows you to make targets retch just by looking at them, assuming you have Malediction. However, the problem I have with Malediction is that it requires a contest of HT vs Will to work, whereas the NPC I'm trying to recreate has more of a passive ability. That is, he doesn't have to roll at all to make people sick--anyone who sees him has to beat a certain DC to avoid getting sick.

So how can I make this character work in GURPS? Also, its worth noting that this NPC can't turn his power off--he has to wear a mask that covers his face

[Paydalanw]

Originally Posted by Wordsmith

No, I'm not kidding.
At first I thought Affliction, would work, considering that it allows you to make targets retch just by looking at them, assuming you have Malediction. However, the problem I have with Malediction is that it requires a contest of HT vs Will to work, whereas the NPC I'm trying to recreate has more of a passive ability.

By RAW there no way to remove target Resistance Roll if target can have one.
But you can check:
Reliable +5%/+1
Cosmic (No Rule of 16), +50%
So when you affect someone who saw your face, you would roll at your full skill instead of capped at 16 (Rule of 16, B349), as high skill level means it's hard to beat your MOS.

[Plane]

Originally Posted by Wordsmith

However, the problem I have with Malediction is that it requires a contest of HT vs Will to work
..
the NPC I'm trying to recreate has more of a passive ability
..
he doesn't have to roll at all to make people sick
..
--anyone who sees him has to beat a certain DC to avoid getting sick.
..
can't turn his power off--he has to wear a mask that covers his face

If they need to see him, you'd take the Sight-Based limitation on your Malediction.

Something which attacks for free without you needing to make Attack maneuvers to shoot your Affliction is basically covered by the "Melee Attack"+ "Area Effect" combination allowed in PU4p4 which allows auras (normally restricted to those who touch you) to apply to those who touch the area around you instead.

If you want to minimize rolling, you could take the "No Die Roll Required" cosmic enhancement on PU4p8 combined with "Fixed Duration" (PU4p14)

Given that the effect (so long as you have effective skill 3 minimum) is that any failure on your roll is treated as MoS 0, you can have them roll to resist in their half of the quick contest first, and if they get a MoF, you don't need to bother rolling your half because it's pointless.

You normally would otherwise roll to determine Affliction's duration, but that need is gone since you now treat any success as a fixed margin of 3.

You're probably going to want to shift away from a Will roll since making it Will-based doesn't fit the concept of making it a passive ability.

I imagine something like you rolling your HT vs your target's will would make more sense, which you'd get by applying +20% on both halves to shift both rolls' target attribute.

Originally Posted by Paydalanw

By RAW there no way to remove target Resistance Roll if target can have one.

He said "anyone who sees him has to beat a certain DC to avoid getting sick" so it doesn't sound like he's going for that, just that he doesn't have to roll for the attack, which NDRR gives the effect of in a QC so long as they fail their roll. You'd only have to roll if they succeeded, to see whether or not you got a higher margin of success.

I thought I remembered some errata taking Reliable on Affliction (although people tend to buy up their Will rather than buying levels of Affliction anyway) but 'no rule of 16' sounds good.

[AlexanderHowl]

Originally Posted by Paydalanw

By RAW there no way to remove target Resistance Roll if target can have one.
But you can check:
Reliable +5%/+1
Cosmic (No Rule of 16), +50%
So when you affect someone who saw your face, you would roll at your full skill instead of capped at 16 (Rule of 16, B349), as high skill level means it's hard to beat your MOS.

You cannot have Reliable added to an attack power. Cosmic (No Rule of 16) would probably be a +300% enhancement, as it removes one of the basic protections from abuse in the game, unless you have an example of such an enhancement from the books.

[Wordsmith]

The three suggestions that you guys collectively gave me all sound promising. However, as far as I can tell, they all reference rules found in a sourcebook which I currently do not possess. Just to be clear, is this the one you're all referring to?

I'll have to look at it later and see which approach will work best for me.
Also Plane is correct--I still want there to be a resistance roll to avoid getting sick. I just don't want an attack roll preceding said resistance roll.

The idea of a HT vs HT contest sounds appealing to me too. Plane, I know you suggested HT vs Will, but it's not as though this character's appearance is so hideous that anyone who looks at them is compelled to vomit. His appearance, as far as I can tell, is normal. It's just that he somehow acquired an ability to make people nauseous, and it just so happens that the trigger is when some one looks at his face. So the reason the target makes a health check is to see how well they're able to handle nausea.

Thanks for the suggestions!

[AlexanderHowl]

In that case, use an Affliction with Malediction, the attack and resistance roll is the Contest of attacker's Will versus defender's HT. Alternatively, you could use Affliction with Area Effect, Contact Agent, Emanation, No Signature, and Selective Area, which allows results in an undetectable 'cloud' centered around you that avoids armor and only targets the people you want to target.

For example, you could have Affliction (Area Effect, 32 yards, +250%; Contact Agent, +150%; Emanation, -20%; Nauseated, +30%; No Signature, +20%; Retching, +50%; Selective Area, +20%) [60]. Anyone you target within 32 yards of you that fails a HT roll suffers Retching for minutes equal to margin of failure and nauseated afterwards for minutes equal to margin of error.

[awesomenessofme1]

One other thing. Is it an ability that can be turned on and off, or is always on? I believe Always On is a -10% limitation for attacks.

[AlexanderHowl]

Originally Posted by awesomenessofme1

One other thing. Is it an ability that can be turned on and off, or is always on? I believe Always On is a -10% limitation for attacks.

-10% for socially inconvenient abilities, -20% for abilities that are potentially dangerous to other people, and -40% for abilities that are potentially dangerous to the character. I would think that it would qualify for the second one.

[awesomenessofme1]

Originally Posted by AlexanderHowl

-10% for socially inconvenient abilities, -20% for abilities that are potentially dangerous to other people, and -40% for abilities that are potentially dangerous to the character. I would think that it would qualify for the second one.

I decided to look it up in Powers, and I found what I was remembering.

"This is a -10% limitation, as Afflictions are socially inconvenient but not physically troublesome for the user."

The Basic Set describes the -20% level as abilities that are "physically inconvenient". Nothing about danger to other people.

[Plane]

Originally Posted by awesomenessofme1

One other thing. Is it an ability that can be turned on and off, or is always on? I believe Always On is a -10% limitation for attacks.

I don't think you can take it for attacks unless they're Auras, because Aura is switchable by default and Always On prevents that.