Perk - use Will to avoid unconsciousness

[Anders]

Will of Iron

You roll against Will rather than HT to stay unconscious when badly injured (p.B419).


This is essentially an Attribute Substitution Perk, except it doesn't affect a skill. Although Will is cheaper than HT, Hard to Subdue is cheaper still so I don't think its particularly unbalanced. And there are examples of people who stay awake from sheer willpower in literature and builds where it makes sense. The name needs work though.

Thoughts?

[Blind Mapmaker]

If you tag on some prerequisites like High Pain Threshold or Trained by a Master, I don't see a huge balance problem with this. HT is useful, after all and staying conscious is - if anything - counterproductive if your goal is staying alive (unless you face mostly inhuman foes). It makes the character more useful and fun to play in combat and that is always good in my book.

The one remaining issue is not that Will is underpriced, but that IQ including Will an Perception is too insanely useful. If you don't have a problem with that, then the perk won't be a problem either.

Now that I think about it, how about allowing this perk only for characters who have bought up their Will from IQ? Two or three levels would make sure that the perk isn't a no-brainer for your mages and scholars.

[johndallman]

Originally Posted by Blind Mapmaker

Now that I think about it, how about allowing this perk only for characters who have bought up their Will from IQ? Two or three levels would make sure that the perk isn't a no-brainer for your mages and scholars.

That seems like a decent idea. It should require more than one level, so as to distinguish those who have spent enough on Will to buy a point of HT, from characters who have bought a level of Will as part of buying IQ in instalments.

[dripton]

In 3E, the Stay Conscious roll was HT modified by Strong/Weak Will. So there's definitely precedent for this idea.

[Anaraxes]

Or rather than have the Perk do a straight attribute substitution, use the Will bonus to the HT roll. That is, HT + (Will - IQ).

Or make it a house rule for everyone rather than a purchased Perk, and it makes weak Will have an effect as well.

[Peter Knutsen]

Originally Posted by Anaraxes

Or rather than have the Perk do a straight attribute substitution, use the Will bonus to the HT roll. That is, HT + (Will - IQ).

Or make it a house rule for everyone rather than a purchased Perk, and it makes weak Will have an effect as well.

As I understand it, Will isn't of much use in GURPS, in a world without supernatural phenomena that must be resisted, so that could be a very good change.

It'd change Will from being a true sub-attribute and into being some kind of floating bonus, but I don't see that as a real problem.

[Leynok]

I've made and used a perk that was like that with a different name (forget right now), along with another one "Will to survive" which also let me use it for death checks.
Makes sense for those characters in anime or other shows, who don't fall simply because they refuse to.

[JP42]

Had to really think about it, but came up with an alternate name that I would use were I to implement this perk: Intestinal Fortitude.

[Dammann]

The Perk makes sense, and I may just offer it in my own games. It seems very appropriate to lots of genre types.

Originally Posted by Peter Knutsen

As I understand it, Will isn't of much use in GURPS, in a world without supernatural phenomena that must be resisted, so that could be a very good change.

I don't know about that- using Extra Effort in combat requires a Will roll. I suppose that games without magic effects resisted by Will, it has decreased utility. I don't agree that that is its main role, though.

[vicky_molokh]

Will has many uses, but many GMs are running genres where those rolls are rarely requested, so it does seem that it is only good against magic. (Incidentally, Combat Extra Effort is not one of them, but regular EE is.)