Does Doesn't Eat or Drink include can't Eat or Drink?

[Otaku]

The old World of Darkness setting came to my mind as well.

Supernatural Feature seems to operate under the assumption that whatever the feature is, if it doesn't all but guarantee you're a Supernatural being, it will at least provide a vital clue to anyone whom you are trying to hide that aspect of yourself... and that it is supposed to matter in setting. In a setting where supernatural "monsters" are the norm and the only hangup from a Supernatural Feature is if a character personally doesn't care for its heritage, obviously the baseline values in Basic would be silly (granted, that sounds more like a silly campaign setting than a serious one).

So yes, if a being that has Doesn't Eat or Drink but cannot eat or drink in any meaningful capacity, which provides a clue as to its true nature to others that come in contact with it and that's somehow a bad thing, Supernatural Feature: Cannot Eat or Drink seems on par with Supernatural Feature: No Body Heat. In day to day living it can arouse suspicion, but it is more a risk if you get maneuvered into a position where it just doesn't make sense. If your particular brand of "Not normal" is largely or completely unknown, then I'd allow it as a Quirk as it would probably be mistaken for just that: an extreme personal quirk that might be indicative of some eating disorder.

[Peter Knutsen]

Originally Posted by NineDaysDead

I don't think Doesn't Eat or Drink includes can't Eat or Drink. I'd say it's a quirk at most.

Unnatural Features cost the same as Quirks. The only real question is whether Can't Eat and Can't Drink counts as one Unnatural Feature or two. GURPS seems to err on the side of miserliness, so probably it'd be one total.

[Kromm]

Although Doesn't Eat or Drink immunizes you against true digestive agents that must enter and be metabolized by a working digestive system, it doesn't provide any defense against swallowed contact agents, explosives, tracking devices, parasites, and other bad stuff that merely has to get past your mouth and into close proximity to your vital organs. Thus, if you can't ingest such things via your mouth, you enjoy a benefit roughly equivalent to a form of Injury Tolerance that isn't quite as good as No Blood [5] or No Vitals [5] . . . at the cost of social penalties in the highly specialized situation of being invited to a meal you can't avoid eating. Since the latter is something that even ordinary, living people have to deal with if they're worried about being poisoned but don't want to give offense, the implied Supernatural Features would be below the severity of No Body Heat [-5] – it isn't a surefire sign of being supernatural.

In the balance, I'd say that these facets cancel out whether they're worth 1 point and -1 point or 4 points and -4 points. I'd let the player choose whether they have both or neither as a zero-point feature for an individual, and I'd set that as a zero-point feature for anything defined by a racial template. Doesn't Eat or Drink would provide its full benefits either way.

With Feature (Can't Eat or Drink), you couldn't pass as a regular being that eats and drinks . . . but you also couldn't be tricked or forced into swallowing bad things, from tracking devices to grenades. You would have no "inside" accessible via whatever passes for your mouth. With Feature (Can Feign Eating and Drinking), you could pass as a being that eats and drinks . . . but you would also face whatever dangers can be concealed in what you eat or drink. The former feature has physical benefits and social drawbacks; the latter, social benefits and physical drawbacks.

There would, of course, be corner cases. Most of these would cancel out. For instance, magic potions might need to be swallowed more for ritual reasons than to be metabolized. Canonical ones created with the Alchemy skill aren't contact agents yet work instantly. There's no way they're metabolized – clearly, drinking has symbolic power. Since there are as many good potions as bad ones, that's a wash.

[Peter Knutsen]

Originally Posted by malloyd

As an Undead Lord of Darkness, you should be perfectly able to pour things down your own throat. Mind you, you might need to stand on your head for a while and have them pour back out occasionally to empty your stomach, but that's not so severe a drawback.

Most Wights in my Ärth setting are unable to pass as living Humans, including lack of body heat, and lack of respiration and the ability to eat (apparently those body parts atrophy after a mere few weeks of disuse), but a few are exceptions, having been boosted by their creators to do that very thing, so that they can walk among Humans and not attract attention.

[CoyoteGestalt]

Hmm, what would be a reasonable cost, then, for an enhancement Doesn't Eat or Drink (Unless They Want To)? - eg, a supernatural being that can go for years without food, but has the ability to metabolize food if they so desire (to get drunk, gain some magical or ultratech benefit that is inherent in the food, etc.)

[NineDaysDead]

Originally Posted by CoyoteGestalt

Hmm, what would be a reasonable cost, then, for an enhancement Doesn't Eat or Drink (Unless They Want To)? - eg, a supernatural being that can go for years without food, but has the ability to metabolize food if they so desire (to get drunk, gain some magical or ultratech benefit that is inherent in the food, etc.)

Switchable +10% (So 1 additional point) powers page 109. I would assume you would only switch it off when you had food in front of you, so you would never have to deal with starvation.

[CoyoteGestalt]

Originally Posted by NineDaysDead

Switchable +10% (So 1 additional point) powers page 109. I would assume you would only switch it off when you had food in front of you, so you would never have to deal with starvation.

Doh! Thank you. I hadn't thought that through.

[Flyndaran]

I don't buy it. I don't like advantages giving unstated disadvantages.
Not being able to eat is a clear disadvantage, not a null trait removing digestive poisons.

[Peter Knutsen]

Originally Posted by Flyndaran

I don't buy it. I don't like advantages giving unstated disadvantages.
Not being able to eat is a clear disadvantage, not a null trait removing digestive poisons.

I agree. It's either a combined -1 physical Quirk for both, or -1 each for Can't Eat/Drink.

[NineDaysDead]

Originally Posted by Flyndaran

I don't buy it. I don't like advantages giving unstated disadvantages.

While I also generally don't like advantages giving unstated disadvantages, many advantages do give the unstated disadvantage of making you stand out as different:

Doesn't Eat or Drink will make you stand out at social events where you need to blend in.

High levels of Regeneration or DR will make you stand out when getting injured.

Originally Posted by GURPS In Nomine page 141

Vessels heal quickly, with Slow Regeneration (1 hit point every 12 hours, in addition to normal healing; p.CI64). This can cause comment in hospitals . . .

High levels of ST and Speed and movement etc will make you stand out when you use your full abilities.