11-01-2018, 10:47 AM | #1 |
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: Southern New Hampshire
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Odd Disadvantage Definition for Selfish
Hi all,
I couldn't find a previous thread about this with a quick search. I apologize if it's been addressed. The definition of the Selfish disadvantage is that you are self-important and status-conscious. You spend time striving for social dominance. Social slights might set you off like Bad Temper. This seems very focused on social standing, when the word "selfish" to me is more the opposite of altruism... meaning that you will make decisions to benefit yourself even at the cost of others. I think the definition as written in the book is closer to "Prideful" than selfish. So, am I alone in thinking this way? Or, where have I messed up my understanding? |
11-01-2018, 11:10 AM | #2 | |
Join Date: Dec 2007
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Re: Odd Disadvantage Definition for Selfish
Quote:
But at the same time, a Selfish (as opposed to "selfish") character isn't just a character who is angered any time its status is not respected. It's also a character who is strongly motivated to try to improve that status. It's a kind of Greed but not for money but for promotion. They steal credit and shift blame. They spread rumours about their rivals. They betray their side if the other side will offer them a higher position unless they have other disadvantages that temper their Selfish. They're not just proud, they're potentially treacherous. A merely "proud" character would probably be built with something like a Gentleman's Code of Honor. Last edited by David Johnston2; 11-01-2018 at 11:20 AM. |
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11-01-2018, 11:20 AM | #3 | |
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: Southern New Hampshire
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Re: Odd Disadvantage Definition for Selfish
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11-01-2018, 11:31 AM | #4 | |
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: Lawrence, KS
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Re: Odd Disadvantage Definition for Selfish
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Of course, you're free to change the name in your own campaign. If you want to call Acting "Deception" or Selfish "Socially Ambitious," no one will tell you not to. (I don't recommend "Proud," because that is already the name of the quirk-level version of Selfish, and you risk confusing experienced GURPS players who already know that definition.) But you're still going to need to know where to find the definition. I don't recommend keeping the name and changing the definition. The point value was worked out for the existing definition; if you adopt a different definition you are likely to need to refigure the point value too.
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Bill Stoddard I don't think we're in Oz any more. |
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11-01-2018, 11:46 AM | #5 | |
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: Southern New Hampshire
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Re: Odd Disadvantage Definition for Selfish
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I think I feel like the Acting skill is pretty accurate. |
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11-01-2018, 11:48 AM | #6 |
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: Southern New Hampshire
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Re: Odd Disadvantage Definition for Selfish
In the campaign I'm running, a real-world definition of Selfish is what I'm looking for, so I'm probably going to house-rule that a Selfish disadvantage is more about acting in one's own self-interest, even at the cost of other people.
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11-01-2018, 12:09 PM | #7 |
Join Date: Dec 2007
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Re: Odd Disadvantage Definition for Selfish
Only potentially treacherous. Many Selfish people will find that the best way to climb in the ranks is to be loyal to the organization, so they will be although they will be the rats who desert a sinking ship when they realize the object of their loyalty is failing and will take them down with it. Selfish is not Compulsive Backstabbing.
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11-01-2018, 01:05 PM | #8 | |
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: Lawrence, KS
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Re: Odd Disadvantage Definition for Selfish
Quote:
I'd also say, though, that if you do figure the point value from scratch, and end up with both a different definition and a different point value, you really need to warn your players to disregard what the Basic Set says. Otherwise you'll get inappropriate roleplaying.
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Bill Stoddard I don't think we're in Oz any more. |
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11-01-2018, 01:31 PM | #9 | |
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: Southern New Hampshire
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Re: Odd Disadvantage Definition for Selfish
Quote:
I am interested in getting input into a new Disadvantage called Selfish that replaces the one in the book for my home game. |
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11-01-2018, 01:55 PM | #10 |
Join Date: Sep 2004
Location: Canada
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Re: Odd Disadvantage Definition for Selfish
Actually, the CEO might very well be a psychopath. Psychopathy doesn't require violence at all - it makes a person who is otherwise predisposed to violence more likely to become violent, however, as people are about as important to them as chairs.
I've worked with a high-functional psychopath. He was unpleasant to deal with but he was actually trying to make a go of it in society. He just... had no understanding of e.g. why I might leave work without permission because I just got a phonecall that my mother was being carried away in an ambulance. Just didn't have the equipment to understand it. TV style "psychopathy" is psychopathy + other stuff, and they synergize in some horrible way. Obsessions, violent paraphilias, psychosis, etc. - Psychopathy is going to remove the normal forces that counteract these problems socially, because without psychopathy you'll still be dealing with guilt for hurting people for your own pleasure.
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