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Old 10-25-2020, 07:13 PM   #1
David Johnston2
 
Join Date: Dec 2007
Default Divine Curse and Divine Blessings

Divine whims can be pretty darn whimsical. Really of course Curse and Blessing are a catchall category for any disad or advantage too exotic to be covered by the ones in the RAW regardless of whether they were literally inflicted by a deity. For example

Curse: Small reptiles fall from the victim's lips when she talks.

Curse: People will be skeptical when the victim is saying anything they believe to be true.

Curse: Cat magnet. Cats will always seek you out when you are within few hundred yards of them.

Blessing: Nobody can ever accurately describe you.

Blessing: Your body, clothing and implements will never become dirty or stained. In particular blood just flows off you without sticking at all.

Blessing: Intoxication does not impair your dexterity.

Got any ideas for more?
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Old 10-28-2020, 11:13 AM   #2
Alden Loveshade
 
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Default Re: Divine Curse and Divine Blessings

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Originally Posted by David Johnston2 View Post
Blessing: Your body, clothing and implements will never become dirty or stained. In particular blood just flows off you without sticking at all.
That sounds like the perk Sartorial Integrity from p. 14 of GURPS Power-Ups 2: Perks, although that also includes clothes not being torn. While the default for that perk is a person, I have a PC with a minor holy sword that never needs to be cleaned.

One of the most classic Curses would be Lycanthropy. And don't forget cursed objects such as the supposedly cursed Hope Diamond. And then there's the hound of the Baskervilles.
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Old 10-28-2020, 11:17 AM   #3
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Default Re: Divine Curse and Divine Blessings

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Originally Posted by Alden Loveshade View Post
That sounds like the perk Sartorial Integrity from p. 14 of GURPS Power-Ups 2: Perks, although that also includes clothes not being torn.
I'd say that body, clothing, and implements all rolled into one has got to be worth more than a Perk, or even three Perks. We can call it the Lizzie Borden Special.
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Old 10-28-2020, 01:17 PM   #4
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Default Re: Divine Curse and Divine Blessings

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Originally Posted by Gold & Appel Inc View Post
I'd say that body, clothing, and implements all rolled into one has got to be worth more than a Perk, or even three Perks. We can call it the Lizzie Borden Special.
Personally, I think that losing the benefit that your super suit never gets torn, but gaining that your body and implements don't get dirty, would still leave it in the single perk level. I would suspect some would rather have clothes that don't tear than not having to take a shower or clean items in their utility belt.

Speaking of Lizzie Borden, there's another possible Curse: no matter whether you're acquitted or weren't even charged with a crime, people will assume you're guilty. (A Curse reverse of the Honest Face perk, although the curse I think would be worth more than -1, with price based on how it affects reaction rolls. I'm trying to remember if something like that is already in a GURPS book. The suggested skeptical curse above is similar.)
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Old 10-28-2020, 01:28 PM   #5
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Default Re: Divine Curse and Divine Blessings

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Originally Posted by Alden Loveshade View Post
Speaking of Lizzie Borden, there's another possible Curse: no matter whether you're acquitted or weren't even charged with a crime, people will assume you're guilty. (A Curse reverse of the Honest Face perk, although the curse I think would be worth more than -1, with price based on how it affects reaction rolls. I'm trying to remember if something like that is already in a GURPS book. The suggested skeptical curse above is similar.)
I'm inclined to think that specific example was more Reputation -4 (Got Away With Murder), deserved or not...
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Old 10-28-2020, 01:38 PM   #6
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Default Re: Divine Curse and Divine Blessings

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I'm inclined to think that specific example was more Reputation -4 (Got Away With Murder), deserved or not...
It is, but you can't afflict Reputation. I'm actually reminded of a recurrent character from Murdoch Mysteries who just rubs cops the wrong way. Every cop who has a conversation with him suspects him of any crime in the vicinity even though he's always innocent. Functionally it's a bad reputation with police, but not because word about him is getting around. He just seems sus.
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Old 10-28-2020, 01:49 PM   #7
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Default Re: Divine Curse and Divine Blessings

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I'm actually reminded of a recurrent character from Murdoch Mysteries who just rubs cops the wrong way. Every cop who has a conversation with him suspects him of any crime in the vicinity even though he's always innocent.
That's the sort of disadvantage I'm thinking of, which could be a curse. You just "look guilty." It wouldn't have to literally be looks, just something about you that gets people thinking you're up to something no good.
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Old 10-28-2020, 03:24 PM   #8
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Default Re: Divine Curse and Divine Blessings

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you can't afflict Reputation.
Not by the letter of the rules (which specify "physical or mental" advantages and disadvantages), but I don't see why there should be an issue with it, at least in principle. It's no different than a sort of "anti-charisma", as it were, and you can Afflict Charisma, which is a mental advantage.
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Old 10-30-2020, 11:09 AM   #9
Alden Loveshade
 
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Default Re: Divine Curse and Divine Blessings

Don't know why this didn't pop into my head until now.

But one of my GURPS characters was interviewed online (along with me), and briefly contrasted curse and, well, technically not blessing, but wish.
https://wyrmflight.wordpress.com/202...den-loveshade/
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Old 10-30-2020, 01:54 PM   #10
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Default Re: Divine Curse and Divine Blessings

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Blessing: Nobody can ever accurately describe you.
From a gaming standpoint, this might be a blessing for some characters, but I feel that this is a curse.

Think of some simple cases.

You come back to your hometown after your father died to receive your inheritance. Too bad nobody can recall what you look like, so you get arrested as a fraud.

You are speeding, and the cops pull you over. Too bad that when they try to compare you to your driver's license photo, nobody can describe you.
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