10-25-2017, 04:02 PM | #1 |
Join Date: Oct 2006
|
"Passions" mechanic in GURPS
Pretty much what it says on the tin. I developed some houserules for bringing Passions into GURPS from Pendragon/Mythras/BRP; see below. These can be used instead of, or in addition to, Disadvantages and other social/mental traits; the mechanics of default Disadvantages and these Passions guidelines seem to overlap fairly well with some oversight. My personal intention is to combine them, utilizing Passions for big overarching character motivations and Disadvantages for purely limiting and narrow/specialized “edge” cases.
I’m putting them out here for other people to use or poke holes in. Feedback and suggestions are always appreciated, and of course, enjoy. Passions background: Passions originate in Pendragon as far as I know, but were included in Mythras more recently. Mythras is basically a setting-less Runequest 6. It's an RPG in the Basic Roleplaying d100 family. I will not go into exhaustive detail/advice here on actually using and developing them in play; for that, I would recommend checking out Mythras. This will be a fairly basic mechanical rundown. Passions description (for the unfamiliar): Passions represent several things – Loyalties and allegiances, strongly held beliefs or ideals, and emotion felt towards someone or something. A Passion is composed from the simple combination of a verb (subvert, torment, uphold, loyalty to, love, desire) and a noun (person, place, organization, ideal, object/substance); this combination results in something like "Passion: Subvert the Church," "Love of my Country," or "Seek Sir Gallahad's respect" (or even "Desire the Iron Throne"). They are a simple character-centric mechanic designed to encourage the pursuit of in-game character arcs and to drive conflict and maintain active character goals organically within the game world. In short, they provide skill bonuses in situations where you are pursuing your Passion, stand in for ordinary willpower where a Passion is at risk, influence/interfere with your actions depending on the strength of the passion, and they also compete with each other when multiple Passions are at odds (to see which one your character ends up aligning with in a given situation). They are designed to be added, removed, changed and “inverted” (love to hate, respect to subvert, etc.) smoothly in-game. In BRP, they act like unique skills which have special effects depending on the circumstances and the strength/level of the Passion. GURPS Passions (Houserules): Note: the following assumes you are familiar with "GURPS Power-Ups 5: Impulse Buys" as well as the articles "Impulse Control" from Pyramid #3/100 (thanks, Christopher!) and "A Full Complement" from #3/65 (or Action, etc.). Though, you should be able to get the general idea without those. Passions are treated like special attributes (special thanks to Jachra for his input) rather than an ‘ordinary’ Disadvantage + control number. There are no hard limits on the number of Passions one character can possess or acquire; each Passion stands alone with its own rating, though they can and do interact. Adding Passions at character generation or in play is free (costing no character points regardless of the Passion’s nature or numeric rating); a new character may begin with up to 3. There is no hard minimum or hard cap to the number of Passions a character can possess, only what's meaningful to the player and the GM and what you're willing to put up with in play. Passions can be raised+lowered, gained+lost, or even corrupted+inverted+renamed in play as is necessary and appropriate. Passions are intentionally designed as a "loose" mechanic that gains more from situational interpretation during play than through strict mechanical codification. They're designed to be fairly interpretive even in Mythras. That being said, some guidelines follow. • Each Passion functions like an attribute, rather than a Disadvantage w/control number (default value begins at 10, then modified by relevant skills and applicable traits from both the owner and subject of the Passion. If you have “Passion: Loyalty to Captain Cutler”, you might start at base 10 but end up adding + 2-3 from Cutler's high Leadership/Public Speaking/Psychology levels, with more modifiers +/- level of his Charisma or Reputation/Rank/Destiny/Appearance, etc. (maybe another +1 from the PC himself being Chummy) and end up at a total of 14 or 15. These same modifiers (except Chummy!) might apply even if you *hate* Captain Cutler, instead!Also, see: http://forums.sjgames.com/showpost.p...55&postcount=6 Last edited by Antiquation!; 10-29-2017 at 11:58 PM. Reason: Clarity (thanks again Jachra!), trimmed a few oversights, addition (thanks RyanW) |
10-25-2017, 06:21 PM | #2 |
Join Date: Dec 2011
|
Re: "Passions" mechanic in GURPS
Yay, I got credited.
I find this interesting. Dunno if I'd use it myself, but fun.
__________________
Robots 4e - Conversion of Robots to 4e. Force as Esoteric Skills - For SW campaigns. |
10-25-2017, 06:40 PM | #3 | |
Join Date: Oct 2006
|
Re: "Passions" mechanic in GURPS
Quote:
It has a more "narrative" flavor to it, and lacks concrete/comprehensive rules (though if I noodle on it I can probably build and refine a better skeleton) which makes it impractical for many types of players/GM's/campaigns, but I think it's a fun tool if you're trying to encourage big, dramatic stories and drive + highlight a less codified part of character growth/change.
__________________
- Danny Last edited by Antiquation!; 10-25-2017 at 06:45 PM. |
|
10-25-2017, 07:58 PM | #4 |
Join Date: Oct 2016
Location: Calgary AB
|
Re: "Passions" mechanic in GURPS
This is very well thought out and presented, thank you (both). Looking forward to trying this in GURPS, I've tried it in the other games you mentioned and it always added to the campaign very nicely.
|
10-25-2017, 08:23 PM | #5 |
Join Date: Oct 2006
|
Re: "Passions" mechanic in GURPS
Thanks, I'm glad to be able to make it available in some form to others. I hope it works to your satisfaction!
__________________
- Danny |
10-27-2017, 01:50 AM | #6 |
Join Date: Oct 2006
|
Re: "Passions" mechanic in GURPS
Two additional guidelines:
• Consider using the detailed modifiers for Continued Relationships from page 43 of "GURPS Social Engineering" for guidance during situations where a Loyalty or Love or similar might either come into question or strengthen due to the actions of one of your Passion's subjects, or for modifiers bestowed by a long-lasting relationship.
__________________
- Danny Last edited by Antiquation!; 10-27-2017 at 10:35 AM. |
10-27-2017, 08:34 AM | #7 | ||
Join Date: Jan 2006
|
Re: "Passions" mechanic in GURPS
Quote:
Quote:
|
||
10-27-2017, 08:41 AM | #8 |
☣
Join Date: Sep 2004
Location: Southeast NC
|
Re: "Passions" mechanic in GURPS
One thing that jumps out at me is the skill cap. If you really hate Captain Cutler (Passion 18), it's easy to pretend to like him. But if you dislike him just a little (Passion 4), it's virtually impossible.
Ah, ninja'd. So I'll suggest a fix: Instead of capping, opposing a passion higher than the base attribute applies a penalty equal to the difference. I would also only do replacement for higher passions for the same reasons. Being mostly indifferent (Passion 4) should not make things more difficult than being completely indifferent (no passion at all).
__________________
RyanW - Actually one normal sized guy in three tiny trenchcoats. Last edited by RyanW; 10-27-2017 at 08:49 AM. |
10-27-2017, 08:57 AM | #9 |
☣
Join Date: Sep 2004
Location: Southeast NC
|
Re: "Passions" mechanic in GURPS
And the first time you have to ignore the enemy to save a friend, you realize just how handicapped your neuroses can leave you.
__________________
RyanW - Actually one normal sized guy in three tiny trenchcoats. |
10-27-2017, 09:58 AM | #10 | |||
Join Date: Oct 2006
|
Re: "Passions" mechanic in GURPS
Quote:
Quote:
Quote:
RyanW, I do like your suggestion about adjudicating a penalty based on the difference in relevant Passion ratings between two characters.
__________________
- Danny |
|||
Thread Tools | |
Display Modes | |
|
|