NO Cultural Familiarity - pricing

[pgb]

Is there any official pointer on (the cost of) allowing an individual to have NO Cultural Familiarity? This might represent a real mental problem like Low Empathy (but affecting a different set of skills), or just a very peculiar upbringing or origin.

What if the PC's origin is not that peculiar, but their native CF is going to be no use to them, and not buying the extra CF for the locale for the campaign is right conceptually for the character - at least as they start out?

In some cases the disadvantage would be easy to buy off, in others it would be difficult or impossible. But in the meantime, it is potentially a serious problem, and I'd like to price it appropriately.

Pricing it symmetrically with extra CFs, as a quirk, would seem far too stingy. But doing anything else is also a bit odd, since presumably there will be PCs around who HAVE bought the relevant CF for just one CP. It's not an anti-talent, since the PC may HAVE some of the skills it covers. It could be 3 levels of a group incompetence (pB166, 452) - by the book it would be -45(!), but comparison with other cases suggests -15 or -20. Maybe -30; I would like to have it levelled, so it could be bought off gradually.

I'm thinking about this from a GM point of view - so I'm not too worried about `abuse'. Perhaps it would only be available as part of a template... Or perhaps it would only be available if it was essentially permanent.

Thanks for any thoughts,

Paul.

[David Johnston2]

The assumption is that is that although Cultural Familiarities are pretty damaging to social skills, it's not that difficult to learn enough to get by. It costs only one or two points to buy one. Therefore not having the CF for the reference society is a Quirk.

[SCAR]

Not having a CF, even that of the reference society, is 0 points - like not having any other CF.
I can't see any good reason to give extra points for not having points in an ability.

If you don't speak the local language, are you going to given the character a disadvantage/quirk for Cannot Speak Local Language ?

[roguebfl]

The price for no Cultural Familiarity is figure exactr the same was as the price for being illiterate.

just like Cultural Familiarity your4 first one is free and to learn to write a second language at native level is [3] so being illiterate and not being able to read and write your own native language is [-3]

so being feral and having no Cultural Familiarity is worth [-1]

but if you were raised by parents and such not feral they you DO have a Cultural Familiarity even if it a very tiny obscure culture that is only exists in your tribe

[malloyd]

Originally Posted by roguebfl

The price for no Cultural Familiarity is figure exactr the same was as the price for being illiterate.

That would be my take to, it's worth -1 point, which is also what it costs to buy off.

But note that most of the ways you could reasonably have no Cultural Familiarity are justifications for, and may even require, a bunch of other disadvantages. When you've never met other people before Shyness and Clueless seem inevitable; language problems - if you don't learn *any* languages at all quite young, you may never be able to, and certainly won't become good with one, so buy off your native tongue, illiteracy, Stuttering, Cannot Speak; buy down your IQ and buy Per and Will back up for your lack of education; you aren't familiar with equipment either - consider Primitive (TL less than zero), and you don't get default rolls for, well much of anything (which is technically a 0 point feature I guess, but worth noting on your character sheet and I might give you a few points for it)

[RyanW]

Originally Posted by roguebfl

so being feral and having no Cultural Familiarity is worth [-1]

I agree. Just remember that a stereotypical feral person probably also has no native written language, no language at better than broken, dead broke, social stigma, etc. at their usual point values.

[roguebfl]

Originally Posted by RyanW

I agree. Just remember that a stereotypical feral person probably also has no native written language, no language at better than broken, dead broke, social stigma, etc. at their usual point values.

Yep many concepts need multiple building blocks to flesh out. that just have the core block isn't enough. And this is the biggest point of meta-traits and templates in the Books is to to per-assemble some of these concepts

[Kromm]

Yes, just as everybody is assumed to have 10 across the board in attributes, two arms that allow manipulation, two legs that enable ground movement, two eyes that give visible-light vision, and so on, everybody comes with a basic package of social abilities (a native Cultural Familiarity, Native-level comprehension of a language, Average wealth, Status 0, a personal TL equal to that of the ambient society, no Social Stigma, etc.). If you lack this stuff, then you have disadvantages:

• Bestial [-10]
• Dead Broke [-25]
• Innumerate [-5]
• Low TL [-5/level], down to banging rocks together at TL0
• No Cultural Familiarity [-1], equivalent to removing any other 1-point CF
• No native Language [-6], equivalent to selling back one's native language from Native/Native to None/None
• Social Stigma (Uneducated) [-5]

This is actually worse than an animal's lot in life, because animals don't have the form of beings that are normally socially adjusted, tool-using, object-counting sapients with language, and that are judged as such. (Granted, they have -50 points or worse for IQ 1-5, Will 10, and Per 10, but still.)

[pgb]

Thanks for all the responses. It seems clear that if I really want to think of this as "No Cultural Familiarity", then the cost should be -1. That was my original way of thinking about it, before I started comparing it with Low Empathy, Shyness, etc.

On the other hand, if I want to represent some deep-seated mental or social trait that is very similar mechanically to "No CF", but that can't be bought off readily (or at all) then I think it will be better to build a separate trait. The fact that I will probably end up with something very similar to "No CF" + "Taboo trait: can't acquire CF", but with radically different cost, is a bit odd at first sight, but maybe just reflects the fact that it ISN'T the same thing!

[Edges]

You could build it as an anti-talent from PU:3.