Double-Edged (or Shifting) Luck

[JCurwen3]

I was wondering how to build that special kind of dramatic / tragic Luck or Serendipity that you sometimes see in fiction and myth (and sometimes real life), where the protagonist always seems to dodge that bullet or "pull-through", or not be in the wrong place at the wrong time... and every time it's plausible that a bad outcome (specifically, death or egregious physical harm) could be avoided by them, something along the same lines happens instead to someone that is close to them (e.g. the bullet misses but ricochets and hits a loved one, a close friend or dependent gets into the car with the car bomb instead, etc), like a Patron, Ally, Dependent, fellow party member, or someone to whom if something happened the character would either feel bad (complete with game effects) or suffer nasty social consequences (negative Reputation, potentially legal difficulties or suits, etc).

This person just somehow has a knack for surviving and staying in one piece. They don't know how or why, and certainly can't control it. They never actually gain on benefit from it, but rather it keeps them alive and kicking and (usually, at least in the long run) without a scratch and in good health. And each time that this happens, someone else that's important to them suffers something similar instead, wherever plausible / possible.

I thought of either Luck and / or Serendipity (you probably need modified versions of both to capture this) as a base. But after that I'm lost.

[johndallman]

IIRC 3e had a version of Unluckiness a bit like this, which didn't affect you, just your companions. This was not good for your popularity with your fellow-players, and I suspect this would have the same problem.

[Anthony]

Jinxed (3e) was utterly broken. In any case, it sounds like a limited form of serendipity.

[JCurwen3]

Originally Posted by johndallman

IIRC 3e had a version of Unluckiness a bit like this, which didn't affect you, just your companions. This was not good for your popularity with your fellow-players, and I suspect this would have the same problem.

If it affected only companions, then things would be a bit brighter; maybe your adventuring buddies may not be too fond of you, and a "jinxed" reputation would follow you around. On the other hand, if your Dependent or Ally dies, then one way or the other you lose character points; if the former keeps getting hurt, you'll be losing out on earning bonus points, and if the latter keeps getting hurt eventually it may become impossible to justify in-game your Ally not abandoning you. And also, this does protect you. I would want to base it on Luck or Serendipity (with an adequate limitation and / or maybe a kind of Cursed or something) because I want this to be levelled (as per Luck or Serendipidty), and because it actually only ever hurts anyone important to you if (1) you would otherwise have gotten hurt / killed and (2) if the other person gets hurts or killed it screws you in at least some modest game mechanical way that doesn't involve direct physical injury.

[starslayer]

I can't think of a way to make this cost LESS then the underlying luck advantage, however if you link it to an affliction that gives the target unluckiness (or at least tries)- then every time you use your luck someone around you may get an affliction of bad luck for some period of time.

Example:

Luck 1 (15) + link +10% (17)
Affliction 1 (unluckiness) +link +10% (~17)

Total 34; every time you use your luck someone around gets hit with the unluck affliction; it currently CAN be targeted, so you can focus your unluck on an enemy, but if there are no enemies in reach...

[aesir23]

Since the misfortune is entirely in the hands of the GM I'd call it a Nuissance Effect. Exactly how much it's worth varies with the severity of the misfortune and how much NPCs matter in the game.

I wouldn't make it a habit to inflict these effects on the other PCs very often, for the obvious reasons. But if someone else in the party had Unluckiness or Cursed, well that's just good synergy :)

[JCurwen3]

Originally Posted by starslayer

I can't think of a way to make this cost LESS then the underlying luck advantage, however if you link it to an affliction that gives the target unluckiness (or at least tries)- then every time you use your luck someone around you may get an affliction of bad luck for some period of time.

Example:

Luck 1 (15) + link +10% (17)
Affliction 1 (unluckiness) +link +10% (~17)

Total 34; every time you use your luck someone around gets hit with the unluck affliction; it currently CAN be targeted, so you can focus your unluck on an enemy, but if there are no enemies in reach...

See, then it costs more. And actually it's just all drawbacks:

(1) Luck (or Serendipity) is limited to only preventing physical harm, injury, and death. I guess this is Aspected, -20%? Or more, or less?

(2) You may survive intact (or even without a scratch), but someone important to you is harmed similarly instead. You always lose something (bonus CP if a Dependent is hurt, and their CP value if a Dependent or Ally is outright killed, not to mention a bad Rep) as a result of the "shifted misfortune" and it never helps or is targetable. In fact, it doesn't have anything necessarily to do with being physically close to you, only important to you (loved one, friend, ally, someone for whom you have a Sense of Duty, or even an NPC that you need alive but don't care about otherwise like a hostage or someone that knows something... or a fellow PC barring any other plausible alternatives and if it fits). It might be, similar to one of the examples I listed, that you were supposed to attend a meeting at a designated location, you got held up or were otherwise unable to attend, and a friend went in your place, and it turns out it was the target of a terrorist bombing that might've have taken you out instead (this one is more a Serendipidty effect).

Of course I'd only allow this kind of thing in a game where NPCs and social relationships with them were important...

[aesir23]

Another option would be:

Destiny (Your Loved ones will all come to harm. Mitigator: Don't Use Luck)

[JCurwen3]

Originally Posted by aesir23

Another option would be:

Destiny (Your Loved ones will all come to harm. Mitigator: Don't Use Luck)

Huh. Very interesting take on this. I like it! Pretty sure I'll do the "when you don't get hurt others do" aspect this way. This sounds like a Major Destiny in an NPC / social-heavy campaign and a Minor one in anything less, with... -60% Mitigator value (with the obvious Prerequisite advantage(s)).

For the other bit, for the Luck to prevent only physically bad things (disease, harm, death) but never lead to net positives or profit, is Aspected, -20% a fair value, or should it be lower or higher? Would it be reasonable to apply the same limitation to Serendipity (to avoid, for instance, nasty coincidences like being in the wrong place at the wrong time rather than potentially benefit from fortuitous coincidences like being in the right place at the right time), or is that a more (or less) serious limitation on Serendipity than on Luck?

[PK]

Originally Posted by JCurwen3

I was wondering how to build that special kind of dramatic / tragic Luck or Serendipity that you sometimes see in fiction and myth (and sometimes real life), where the protagonist always seems to dodge that bullet or "pull-through", or not be in the wrong place at the wrong time... and every time it's plausible that a bad outcome (specifically, death or egregious physical harm) could be avoided by them, something along the same lines happens instead to someone that is close to them (e.g. the bullet misses but ricochets and hits a loved one, a close friend or dependent gets into the car with the car bomb instead, etc), like a Patron, Ally, Dependent, fellow party member, or someone to whom if something happened the character would either feel bad (complete with game effects) or suffer nasty social consequences (negative Reputation, potentially legal difficulties or suits, etc).

Luck and/or Serendipity with Nuisance Effect, Something bad happens to someone the PC cares about (-10%). As long as the player understood fully that this would never be a useful add-on in any way (e.g., if it's only him and the bad guy standing there, that doesn't mean the bad guy gets it by default!), I don't see a problem.

The jinx may also develop a negative Reputation from this, if it's obvious enough.