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Old 09-20-2018, 02:28 AM   #1
Maz
 
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Default "I got a [insert here] feeling about this"

How would you run a game with a character who has all of the following:

Empathy
Danger sense
Common Sense
Intuition

None of them are cinematic, but they come out at 55 pts altogether, which is a lot!


This person would be someone who could really "go with their guts".
-When they meet someone new they have a pretty good idea if they are trustworthy or not.
-When they enter an uncertain situation, they guess right more often than not.
-If danger is coming, they can smell it in the air before it hits.
-And if they are ever about to do something really stupid some little nagging voice in the back of their head tells them it's probably best to reconsider.



This would probably be incredible boring for a PC to have (for the GM at least). Intuition directly warn about it's plot-short-circuiting powers. But combined with the others it just becomes worse.


I am considering it for an NPC that are going to tack along the PC's as a guide into some supernatural dangers. My problem is that the Players won't really be able to tell the difference between an NPC with these traits and an incredible annoying NPC that the GM allows to always make the right choice and always just know whats the best plan. I think we have all had the misfortune to play a game where such an NPC where with you. ...so maybe I'll drop the idea.
The reason I wanted this character with them is that they need a guide and I do not want it to be someone who are smarter or better than the PC's and yet still has lived long fighting and surviving that fight against the supernatural. There IS magic in the setting. But I deliberately do not want this NPC to be magical... but still come of as having some sort of near-supernatural ability. She is just plain lucky and has a "good nose for things".
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Old 09-20-2018, 02:36 AM   #2
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Default Re: "I got a [insert here] feeling about this"

What is their IQ and Per?
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Old 09-20-2018, 02:37 AM   #3
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Originally Posted by evileeyore View Post
What is their IQ and Per?
I haven't decided yet, but yes that would determine how often these come into play. At IQ:10 it would't matter much ,but at IQ:12 they do... hmm, good point.
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Old 09-20-2018, 04:00 AM   #4
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Default Re: "I got a [insert here] feeling about this"

Exactly. IQ and Per 12+ and they will pretty much trust their instincts. With an 11, it's the same, except they'll have been wrong just enough to know they get false positives and that they can't just rely on Danger Sense to protect them.

10 and it's a crap shoot. Of course they'll trust their Danger Sense when it triggers, but they won't trust in it to keep them safe.
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Old 09-20-2018, 11:21 AM   #5
Mark Skarr
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Default Re: "I got a [insert here] feeling about this"

Really, with that advantage batch, I would expect the character to either be a glory hound or an adrenaline junkie. Otherwise, they'd never be an adventurer.

Empathy just lets you know what you feel about someone, not the truth. Just because you don't trust someone doesn't mean they're not telling the truth. A +3 bonus to Detect Lies is great and all, but they still get to roll against Acting to resist. And, if they're telling the truth, it doesn't matter what you roll. You wouldn't be able to tell that Bob has been possessed, just that there's something different about him. And if the Possesser has access to Bob's memories you'll be hard-pressed to convince others of that, assuming you can figure out that is what happened. Empathy doesn't tell you what's going on, just that you feel odd about Bob.

Just because you have the Common Sense advantage doesn't mean you have to listen to it. And really, it's more a meta advantage than a character advantage. We have the running joke that, if you're cautious enough to buy Common Sense, you don't need it. And if you're not, you wouldn't listen to it in the first place.

Danger sense. Pretty much awesome and useful no matter what. But, it's an immediate sense, not a preparatory sense. You get your tingle moments before something happens, not long enough to prepare. So, yeah, it's great, but just shouting a warning may not be enough for your friends to react and not get trounced.

Intuition shouldn't be used to short-circuit an adventure. Per the advantage description. The built-in bonuses/penalties for Intuition would make it harder to rely on. I look at it as the "neon sign" advantage, it points the player to clues, it's up to them to figure them out.
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Old 09-20-2018, 11:27 AM   #6
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Default Re: "I got a [insert here] feeling about this"

Remember, non-cinematic doesn't mean realistic, it's more a statement about the types of genres where the advantage might appear.
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Old 09-20-2018, 11:40 AM   #7
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Default Re: "I got a [insert here] feeling about this"

I could make an argument for K-2so from Rogue 1 having this suite of advantages. He read people well, warned of danger, told people when they were making mistakes, and even (almost) delivered the iconic line. He's not a bad template.

Making the character subservient or in some other way weak would go a long ways in helping the PCs keep the feeling of the game being about them. Adding in an abrasive personality to go with the advice doesn't hurt, and is not unreasonable given how often the character is right.

In fantasy, maybe a gnome who has enhanced dodge, poor fighting skills, an odious personal habit or two, insists on going with, and has the money to fund the group on the adventures? Add on unfortunate habit of saying "I told you so" when he's right and sulking when wrong, and you have someone they are stuck with and listen to grudgingly.
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Old 09-20-2018, 11:43 AM   #8
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Default Re: "I got a [insert here] feeling about this"

Quote:
Originally Posted by Anthony View Post
Remember, non-cinematic doesn't mean realistic, it's more a statement about the types of genres where the advantage might appear.
Exactly, most Fantasy games I've seen are non-cinematic, but that doesn't make them realistic.

Let me elaborate on my original post a bit:

With Empathy, you only get the roll when you first meet someone, or are reunited after an absence. So, you make that roll when you first meet Bob.

Bob is a drug dealer and human trafficker. You make your IQ roll and you don’t trust Bob. The GM tells you that you get a bad feeling about Bob. That’s it. He doesn’t tell you that you get the feeling Bob sells drugs and people, because that’s not really a feeling.

You ask Bob where the Totchkey of Plot Device is. Bob has no idea. He genuinely has never seen it nor has had any contact with it. He tells you as much. With your bad feeling of Bob, you’re predisposed to not believe him. So, you request a Detect Lies roll. The GM makes it in secret and you succeed. They tell you that you believe that Bob is telling you the truth. Well, you know that Bob is a bad person, so how do you react to that news?

Common sense can’t help you here. The GM has told you what you know. If you decide to continue interrogating Bob, that’s not really stupid, it’s just incorrect and a waste of time.

You’re not in any Danger, so, Danger Sense is a bust.

You could, again, ask the GM to roll against your Intuition to see if you think he’s telling the truth. Which, I wouldn’t allow, because you have a logical way of choosing. But let’s say you get one, getting another roll against it. Well, this roll doesn’t get the +3 bonus from Empathy, but, the GM says sure. They roll again, and again, you succeed, and the GM tells you, yep, it seems that he is telling the truth.

Now you have to wonder if you had a series of bad rolls, or Bob, a person you simply know is bad, is innocent of what you’re accusing him of.

--

Now, you meet Bobbie. She’s a sweet, friendly mother of three. Goes to church every Sunday and makes cakes for every bake sale. When you meet her, you get a good feeling.

You ask her about the Totchkey of Plot Device, and she knows about it, but the Big Bad has threatened her family if she tells anyone. You don’t get another Empathy roll to determine that. Unsurprisingly, she lies to you about it. You decide to request a Detect Lies roll, and again, in secret, you succeed. You know she’s lying. But, that goes against your feeling for her.

Again, not really getting an intuition roll, because there are logical ways of choosing. Common Sense doesn’t help. And neither does Danger Sense.

So, you’re again in the unenviable position of dealing with a person you don’t trust, but have strong feelings about.

ETA:
Common Sense is not “this is a bad idea” it’s “this is phenomenally stupid.”

Danger Sense works right before something bad is about to happen. Dodge.

Empathy is not Mind Reading. You get feels not facts.

Intuition lets you make wild guesses that tend to be right, but it’s not an intelligence analysis skill. But, when all the evidence points to Bob and not Bobbie, it is more likely to point you to Bob, and not Bobbie.

When everything works well, they’re going to be the compass that points the party to the correct answers to solve the adventure. When things backfire they’re going to be a massive time sink. This character would be interesting to watch the Player grow as they learned how their abilities worked and developed their own intuition to determine when they should or should not trust their character’s feels.

Last edited by Mark Skarr; 09-20-2018 at 11:55 AM. Reason: Added some additional thoughts.
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