How would you stat a Trouble Magnet?

[JulianLW]

Some fictional characters are Trouble Magnets: In the Wrong Place at the Right Time.

Spider-Man from the comics of my childhood seemed to be one of them; he always seemed to just happen onto a crime in progress or some other kind of trouble. (Could this have been because he was traveling fast and had a great overhead vantage point from which to witness crimes? Was it a part of his Danger Sense? His high Per? Are there rules anywhere for finding crimes by going on patrol? because now that I write that, it seems like it rings a bell....)

Sure, you could say that a tendency to stumble across a crime of some kind (large or small) is a plot device and doesn't deserve to be a PC trait but rather a feature of the campaign, but it's also a very distinctive feature of some fictional characters. And in a well-run game, aren't all disadvantages potential plot devices anyway?

So how might you stat this?

Would it be an advantage (maybe aspected) like Serendipity? or Danger Sense (Active +50%)? or Detect (Trouble)?

Would it be Unluckiness? (Would you have a -20% limitation on it for only criminal activity, maybe?)

Would it be something like Weirdness Magnet (Trouble Magnet)?

Or would you build it like the Monster Hunters disadvantage Enemy (Crime of the Week)?

I get that this is a disadvantage that could negatively affect an entire party, but Enemy is the same way. Most disadvantages have the potential to mess up the plans of an entire party.

So let's say a player tells you she wants to be the focal point for criminal activity the way Angela Lansbury was in Murder, She Wrote. Or a PC wants to get into the superhero business but doesn't want to just wander the streets in a jumpsuit picking on easy targets of opportunity. (There's a reason white-collar criminals so often get away with their crimes; not a lot of beat cops are hanging out in corporate offices just waiting to witness an embezzlement.) What if that player is in a game that has its own ongoing plot that's not necessarily related to crime-fighting?

How would you stat this kind of Nose for Trouble? Trouble Magnet? Unfortunate Coincidence?

Any thoughts are much appreciated!

[Anthony]

Mostly, this is PC, but if it helps the PCs get clues about the villain of the week it's also aspected serendipity, and if it gets the PC into trouble in excess of the normal PC diet it should have a disadvantage of some sort.

[WingedKagouti]

Originally Posted by JulianLW

Are there rules anywhere for finding crimes by going on patrol? because now that I write that, it seems like it rings a bell....

Supers pp. 91 & 107 has rules for patrolling an area.

[Aldric]

As you said, it's most likely a campaign trait, unless it's really something unrelated to the larger plot that keeps haunting a character in particular making it harder to pursue the real objectives.
While it's not exactly one, you could price it as an Enemy, while the individual criminals might not directly be after you, that's how it ends up anyway.

[David Johnston2]

Destiny: Become Famous as the World's Greatest Detective. The destiny steers you in the direction of clever and high profile crimes for you to solve. This can be done for any kind of trouble.

Weirdness Magnet (Crime aspected): This will attract crime to you, but it has to be strange crime and people will suspect you.

Reputation (Solver of problems): This means people with problems to solve will come to you.

[sir_pudding]

Compulsion (Murder Addiction)
Secret (Possible Death or Imprisonment)
Severe Delusion (I'm just an old harmless mystery writer)

[Michael Thayne]

Could be Unluckiness (though I'm not the biggest fan of that disadvantage as it can be hard to adjudicate). Also Monster Hunters established that Enemy (Unknown) can represent an "enemy of the week".

[Not another shrubbery]

Originally Posted by JulianLW

Some fictional characters are Trouble Magnets: In the Wrong Place at the Right Time.

Spider-Man from the comics of my childhood seemed to be one of them; he always seemed to just happen onto a crime in progress or some other kind of trouble. (Could this have been because he was traveling fast and had a great overhead vantage point from which to witness crimes? Was it a part of his Danger Sense? His high Per? Are there rules anywhere for finding crimes by going on patrol? because now that I write that, it seems like it rings a bell....)

Sure, you could say that a tendency to stumble across a crime of some kind (large or small) is a plot device and doesn't deserve to be a PC trait but rather a feature of the campaign, but it's also a very distinctive feature of some fictional characters. And in a well-run game, aren't all disadvantages potential plot devices anyway?

So how might you stat this?

Would it be an advantage (maybe aspected) like Serendipity? or Danger Sense (Active +50%)? or Detect (Trouble)?

Would it be Unluckiness? (Would you have a -20% limitation on it for only criminal activity, maybe?)

Would it be something like Weirdness Magnet (Trouble Magnet)?

Or would you build it like the Monster Hunters disadvantage Enemy (Crime of the Week)?

I get that this is a disadvantage that could negatively affect an entire party, but Enemy is the same way. Most disadvantages have the potential to mess up the plans of an entire party.

So let's say a player tells you she wants to be the focal point for criminal activity the way Angela Lansbury was in Murder, She Wrote. Or a PC wants to get into the superhero business but doesn't want to just wander the streets in a jumpsuit picking on easy targets of opportunity. (There's a reason white-collar criminals so often get away with their crimes; not a lot of beat cops are hanging out in corporate offices just waiting to witness an embezzlement.) What if that player is in a game that has its own ongoing plot that's not necessarily related to crime-fighting?

How would you stat this kind of Nose for Trouble? Trouble Magnet? Unfortunate Coincidence?

Any thoughts are much appreciated!

A variation of Weirdness Magnet, as you suggest. Could be the Mundane one that has been bandied about. I've proposed Crime Magnet before.

[JulianLW]

Thanks for all the replies, y'all! I suppose this kind of trait could appear in a lot of different ways on a character sheet, depending on how the player and GM want the mechanics to operate.

Originally Posted by WingedKagouti

Supers pp. 91 & 107 has rules for patrolling an area.

Thanks! I knew I'd seen something like this! I'll have to take another look at those pages!

Originally Posted by David Johnston2

Weirdness Magnet (Crime aspected): This will attract crime to you, but it has to be strange crime and people will suspect you.

Originally Posted by Not another shrubbery

A variation of Weirdness Magnet, as you suggest. Could be the Mundane one that has been bandied about. I've proposed Crime Magnet before.

Would you stat this at [-15] or with a -20% limitation for [-12]? Or would you do it some other way?

Originally Posted by sir_pudding

Compulsion (Murder Addiction)
Secret (Possible Death or Imprisonment)
Severe Delusion (I'm just an old harmless mystery writer)

Not exactly the character I am trying to build, but one that would be excellent for a totally awesome campaign!

Originally Posted by Michael Thayne

Could be Unluckiness (though I'm not the biggest fan of that disadvantage as it can be hard to adjudicate). Also Monster Hunters established that Enemy (Unknown) can represent an "enemy of the week".

I agree on both counts. Torn between Enemy and Weirdness Magnet. Though the more I think about it, the more Crime Magnet seems to me to be the way to go.

I think this might be a good solution:

Weirdness Magnet (Crime Only -40%) [-9]

Crimes - of all magnitudes - tend to happen when you are around, and you encounter criminals of all kinds with astonishing frequency. Over time, people who come to recognize that a pattern of criminal activity is associated with you will begin to react to you -2, possibly imagining that you are either a bad influence or are somehow causing crime to occur.

Opinions? Would you do this another way?

[Aldric]

Originally Posted by JulianLW

Opinions? Would you do this another way?

I already have, but this also works just fine for something that sidetracks the character from time to time. Enemy ends up similar, except with some raw numbers to represent the frequency and the level of threat, but since it's not intended as the main focus of the adventure, leaving it in the hands of the GM is fine.