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Old 03-25-2011, 09:03 PM   #111
LemmingLord
 
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Default Re: Resistance to Sex Appeal

Buying resistance to sex appeal is cheaper than you think.

(0pt feature) asexual: character doesn't find anyone "sexy," get's a +4 to resist most attempts to seduce or a +2 if seduction is based on taking advantage of the character's other personality traits (i.e. a greedy asexual may well be "seduced" by someone who clearly wants to part with cash in the attempt; a selfish asexual may well be "seduced" by someone of higher status). Character is at -4 to acting, performance or sex appeal roles where the character's actual enjoyment of the sex act would make a difference.

(1pt perk) particular tastes: character has a "type" that they find sexy and nothing else is all that interesting to them, get's a +4 to resist most attempts to seduce or a +2 if seduction is based on taking advantage of the character's other personality traits. Character is at a -2 to acting, performance or sex appeal rolls against those not of their type.

(-5/10 pt obsession): automatically resists any seduction attempt that doesn't seem to be a stepping stone to their goal. -4 to resist any seductino attempt that clearly would get the character closer to their goal. Automatically fails to resist any seduction attempt that would clearly get them to their goal...
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Old 03-25-2011, 09:14 PM   #112
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Default Re: Resistance to Sex Appeal

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Originally Posted by LemmingLord View Post
Buying resistance to sex appeal is cheaper than you think.

(0pt feature) asexual: character doesn't find anyone "sexy," get's a +4 to resist most attempts to seduce or a +2 if seduction is based on taking advantage of the character's other personality traits (i.e. a greedy asexual may well be "seduced" by someone who clearly wants to part with cash in the attempt; a selfish asexual may well be "seduced" by someone of higher status). Character is at -4 to acting, performance or sex appeal roles where the character's actual enjoyment of the sex act would make a difference.

(1pt perk) particular tastes: character has a "type" that they find sexy and nothing else is all that interesting to them, get's a +4 to resist most attempts to seduce or a +2 if seduction is based on taking advantage of the character's other personality traits. Character is at a -2 to acting, performance or sex appeal rolls against those not of their type.

(-5/10 pt obsession): automatically resists any seduction attempt that doesn't seem to be a stepping stone to their goal. -4 to resist any seductino attempt that clearly would get the character closer to their goal. Automatically fails to resist any seduction attempt that would clearly get them to their goal...
Page references for these specific rules?

Bill Stoddard
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Old 03-25-2011, 09:26 PM   #113
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Default Re: Resistance to Sex Appeal

Strong will, Indomitable and the like work.

Also I allow Resistance as a Perk just as Ghostdancer does

I treat "asexual" a bit different. Its a quirk and merits a -1 reaction sometimes. I just assume that they can neither make nor be effected by Sex Appeal.

Of course IMC influence skills other than intimidate are rarely used and sex appeal, never. In many many years of gaming I've seen exactly it used once, in a Top Secret game I ran and that was only done as I was (with the players OK) teaching the player the differences between my perceptions male and female tradecraft.

A sa general rule most groups I game with prefer action games YMMV of course
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Old 03-25-2011, 09:57 PM   #114
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Default Re: Resistance to Sex Appeal

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Page references for these specific rules?
houseruled. page 1 of the lemminglord handbook. follow me and I'll take you far. (off a cliff!)
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Old 03-25-2011, 09:59 PM   #115
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The modern West has had some tendency to regard these as rare and exotic activities, largely because the modern West, until recently, didn't talk about them a lot; Kinsey caused massive cultural shock waves when he published statistics on nonprocreative sexual acts. But that was the result of a sustained religiously driven campaign to (a) make those acts sins, (b) punish them as crimes (for many centuries, sodomy carried the death sentence!), and (c) suppress even discussion of them.

Bill Stoddard
For some time, I've been working on the thesis that much of the condemnation of non-reproductive sex acts ultimately stems from the Catholic church's rejection of and conflict with Catharism and various Cathar influenced sects, many of which encouraged such acts as a form of birth control. Of course, it's been a difficult thesis to prove.
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Old 03-25-2011, 10:22 PM   #116
dcarson
 
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Default Re: Resistance to Sex Appeal

While some people will have a negative reaction having someone who is more anything than you pay attention will often get positive results. So an attractive person of the wrong sex, a wealthy person even if you don't care about money, a powerful politician of the other party. You may not care about what they are offering but the fact that they are offering is itself a positive reaction bonus.
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Old 03-25-2011, 10:26 PM   #117
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Default Re: Resistance to Sex Appeal

Count me among those who don't believe that lack of access to reliable contraception reduces anyone's vulnerability to Sex Appeal used as an influence skill. I'd say that Sex Appeal is the skill in instances like:

1) Using a few flowery phrases and smoldering looks to talk the scullery maid into letting you onto the estate after the moon rises.

2) Flirting with the landlady in pursuit of the local gossip. (Sherlock Holmes pulled this once or twice, as I recall).

3) Being dashing enough so that the governor's daughter won't have you hanged as a pirate.

4) Looking adorably goofy enough that the lady of the house forgives you when your antics have destroyed her sitting room. (the Ashton Kutcher effect?)

None of these involve any actual sex.

I'd also point out that while unmarried ladies of good breeding had to preserve their "virtue" or "reputation" in many times and places, often the rules were looser for the lower classes, for already married women (sometimes after she'd borne a son to the patriarch of the household, fidelity became less important), and for widows. Certainly what happens after a woman who should be "chaste" gets knocked up is a staple of period romances and tales... obviously it happened.
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Old 03-26-2011, 06:40 AM   #118
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Depends what you mean by "heterosexual." The basic rule is "if they're not even potentially interested in you, don't bother to roll." That applies if they're asexual, or exclusively interested in the sex that you are not, or in a species that you are not, or if they have a relevant Vow or Code of Honor (a seriously meant marriage vow is equivalent to a vow of chastity—in fact, it is a vow of chastity, by the exact technical definition of the word).
Vow: Chasitity is different from asexual. I was trying to make that point with Charles the Conscript, though I didn't give him the Vow. A Vow, Code of Honor, or Disciplines of Faith that prevent sex would NOT make you immune to Sex Appeal. Not available is not the same as not interested. It might give a similar bonus to one of the lesser "not interested" forms, since you're aware you can't go through with the implied promise. But it might not: the implied promise isn't really on the table in all Sex Appeal attempts anyway.
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Old 03-26-2011, 07:37 AM   #119
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Default Re: Resistance to Sex Appeal

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Vow: Chasitity is different from asexual. I was trying to make that point with Charles the Conscript, though I didn't give him the Vow. A Vow, Code of Honor, or Disciplines of Faith that prevent sex would NOT make you immune to Sex Appeal. Not available is not the same as not interested. It might give a similar bonus to one of the lesser "not interested" forms, since you're aware you can't go through with the implied promise. But it might not: the implied promise isn't really on the table in all Sex Appeal attempts anyway.
Well, that's true. But it would make it much less likely that you would respond to an Influence roll to get you into bed, however much you might want to.

Bill Stoddard
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Old 03-26-2011, 08:13 AM   #120
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Well, that's true. But it would make it much less likely that you would respond to an Influence roll to get you into bed, however much you might want to.

Bill Stoddard
Alan the alien is an alien infiltrator in a superscience human disguise. Since he's not actually human, he's not sexually attracted to any humans, and Sex Appeal attempts by humans will automatically fail when used against him. However, he's sufficiently devoted to his cause (and not disgusted by interspecies sex) that other influence rolls may convince him to have sex. For example, Claire the collaborator is working with Alan, and is attracted to his human disguise. She convinces him (using Fast-Talk) that it would be better if they pretended to be a married couple as a cover, and that it would be more effective as a cover if they actually had sex.

Peter the priest has Disciplines of Faith that include chastity; he is also strictly heterosexual. Sex Appeal will not be able to convince him to have sex, nor will Fast-Talk or simply a high Status/Charisma/Attractive person asking. However, Barbara the beggar could still use Sex Appeal to convince him to let her sleep in the church, just as she could use Fast-Talk. Bob the Beggar could use Fast-Talk, but not Sex Appeal. If it were a science fiction campaign, Darlene the (uplifted) dog beggar would also be able to use Fast-Talk but not Sex Appeal.
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