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Old 11-07-2019, 07:34 PM   #41
tbone
 
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Default Re: [Basic] Disadvantage of the Week: Pacifism

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Originally Posted by Pursuivant View Post
For -10 or more points, you must capture foes rather than killing them in combat, although you can kill them, or allow them to be killed, at a more appropriate time. (e.g., an Aztec warrior who takes captives to be sacrificed to his gods or a flesh-eating monster who captures its prey first and determines who gets eaten first later)
Maybe this also applies to Bond and Batman villains? "Welcome to my unnecessary, elaborate, and surprisingly unsupervised death trap."
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Old 11-07-2019, 07:39 PM   #42
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Default Re: [Basic] Disadvantage of the Week: Pacifism

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Maybe this also applies to Bond and Batman villains? "Welcome to my unnecessary, elaborate, and surprisingly unsupervised death trap."
Supers defines that as a variant version of Trademark.
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Old 11-07-2019, 08:57 PM   #43
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Default Re: [Basic] Disadvantage of the Week: Pacifism

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Originally Posted by AlexanderHowl View Post
Combat Reflexes is almost a requirement for being an adventurer in my games, as it defines the difference between being a 'hero' and being a bystander. In fact, I have often thought that GURPS should have it as a baseline for PCs and make it a disadvantage to not have it, something I do in many of my campaigns.
Not everybody runs GURPS as a campaign about combat monsters. My current campaign is about a band of merchant adventurers seeking their fortunes by sailing to distant shores; they're not primarily fighters. One of my past campaigns was about fourteen-year-old students of magic at the University of Worminghall; CR wasn't in the standard "student" package and I don't think any of them could afford it.
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Old 11-09-2019, 07:10 AM   #44
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Default Re: [Basic] Disadvantage of the Week: Pacifism

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Originally Posted by Phil Masters View Post
However, I could see a soldier having something that amounts to Code of Honour (Bound by the Geneva Convention or equivalent).
This is an interesting CoH variant, guaranteed to make you unpopular with certain types of player characters. In some ways it's the opposite of Bloodlust.

I agree that the "Rules of Engagement" pacifism variant is handled just as well by CoH: Soldier if you must scrupulously follow rules of engagement dictated by military superiors. It could also just be part of a Duty to a particular organization.

Likewise, Killing Ritual might just be part of Code of Honor (Aztec Warrior or Cinematic Villain) or just a Vow.
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Old 11-10-2019, 12:19 PM   #45
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Default Re: [Basic] Disadvantage of the Week: Pacifism

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Originally Posted by Pursuivant View Post
I agree that the "Rules of Engagement" pacifism variant is handled just as well by CoH: Soldier if you must scrupulously follow rules of engagement dictated by military superiors. It could also just be part of a Duty to a particular organization.
I think the difference in that last case is that Pacifism or CoH is something you believe in, so you will make efforts not to do the thing or to be involved, and may feel you have to stop your companions doing it too; while with Duty you might just make an effort to cover it up.
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Old 11-10-2019, 07:20 PM   #46
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Default Re: [Basic] Disadvantage of the Week: Pacifism

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I think the difference in that last case is that Pacifism or CoH is something you believe in, so you will make efforts not to do the thing or to be involved, and may feel you have to stop your companions doing it too; while with Duty you might just make an effort to cover it up.
Good point. I hadn't really considered the difference between internally- and externally-supplied motivations.

Duty can easily require someone to behave in a fashion at odds with internally-driven motivations like Code of Honor, Pacifism, Sense of Duty, or Vow.

Based on that idea, Pacifism (Rules of Engagement) - where YOU feel bound to behave in certain ways when dishing out violence - is distinct from Duty. That makes it a potentially useful new Pacifism variant. (Killing Ritual is better handled as CoH, Trademark, or Vow.)

A Pacifism (Rules of Engagement) disad should fall into the cost range of similar existing versions of Pacifism like Cannot Harm Innocents (-5) or Cannot Kill (-15). Assume a maximum cost of -15 points and put the equivalent of Accessibility Modifiers on it reduce the cost as appropriate. For example, "Cannot Harm [Broad Class of People]" might be worth -5 to -10 points.
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Old 11-11-2019, 11:18 AM   #47
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Default Re: [Basic] Disadvantage of the Week: Pacifism

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Originally Posted by Pursuivant View Post
A Pacifism (Rules of Engagement) disad should fall into the cost range of similar existing versions of Pacifism like Cannot Harm Innocents (-5) or Cannot Kill (-15). Assume a maximum cost of -15 points and put the equivalent of Accessibility Modifiers on it reduce the cost as appropriate. For example, "Cannot Harm [Broad Class of People]" might be worth -5 to -10 points.
Even if that class of people is broad, it is important to consider that those aren't the most important people in that regard. It is usually far more important to be able to harm the ones who are trying to kill you, than it is to be able to harm non-combatants.

To a lesser extent, it is the same as a reputation with "everyone who I will not meet in the adventure". That might include almost everyone in the world, but it still shouldn't be worth much.
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