Steve Jackson Games - Site Navigation
Home General Info Follow Us Search Illuminator Store Forums What's New Other Games Ogre GURPS Munchkin Our Games: Home

Go Back   Steve Jackson Games Forums > Roleplaying > GURPS

Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
Old 05-02-2019, 10:18 PM   #1
Engurrand
 
Engurrand's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2010
Location: Wormtooth Nation
Default [MH] Watched

Many monster hunters settings revolve around the idea that monsters are secret, and so must be the ones who hunt them. Reasons vary but often involve some variant of "the public isn't ready to know!" In -some other game- there's a cabal of powerful vampires who would be wiped out if humans knew about them, and so meet out swift retribution on anyone who reveals the supernatural. In any case, secrecy isn't strictly necessary; many historical and fictional monsters were hunted openly, from Dracula to the Van Meter Visitor, and in such cases "nobody would believe us!" is sufficient to explain why the world is not transformed by the latest yeti sighting. But an obligation to shroud monster hunts in secrecy forces the PCs to use fewer guns and explosives, and can add a variety of interesting political or spy-thriller type problems to any monster hunt.

For those interested in enforcing a gamified secrecy, I've been tinkering with the following rules:

Noticed and Watched
Noticed represents the the short-term attention of casual observers. Over time, that kind of attention builds up into a kind of reputation, leading to becoming Watched. Watched represents the accumulating interest of inconvenient parties. This almost always includes the police, the press, and conspiracy theorists, but may also include monsters, as well as youtube mystery hunters, spies, counter-spies, treasure seekers, scientists, and amateur cryptozoologists or other fringe personalities as the setting allows. It is most appropriate in settings where breathless amateurs discuss strange sightings in internet forums that are accessible to all, but variants could be used in any setting where those interested in the occult have arcane means of communication. Over time, those who are Noticed again and again eventually become Watched. Being Watched is at first an inconvenience, and eventually turns into enemies who want to put you in a jar for study, or in whatever will suffice as a permanent grave.

Noticed
Any time a character acts in a way that might draw attention (eg greater-effect spells, vampire accidentally posing in front of a big mirror, warrior sword-fighting in public), the GM rolls against the collective average perception of anyone who might witness the feat, plus the character's Watched rank, and up to +10 for particularly egregious displays (turning into a werewolf on a crowded paris subway). On a success, the audience took note; mark any character who was visibly involved with a level of Noticed. Characters not obviously involved may attempt acting or stealth rolls as appropriate to avoid gaining Notice. If the audience critically succeeds, immediately add a rank of Watched to all involved. Characters may have any number of ranks of Noticed - there is no upper limit, though for anyone with more than 17 levels, serious consequences are inevitable.

At the end of any hunt in which any character was Noticed, roll once for each Noticed character against [20 minus their ranks of Noticed]. Zeroed grants a +5. On a success nothing happens. On a failure, that character gains a rank of Watched. On a critical failure, convert all that character's ranks of Noticed into ranks of Watched. All ranks of Noticed are shed at after these rolls are made, no mater the outcome.

Watched
In addition to making you more likely to be Noticed, the GM should apply your Watched rank as a penalty to any roll to request help from a patron or contact (eg administration to ask the agency for a grenade launcher). The GM may also apply your levels of Watched as a bonus to various kinds of rolls the monster makes, like rolls to figure out that you're in town, or to research your weaknesses and strategies. This is essentially a reputation.

A character's maximum level of Watched is 5. After that, convert further Watched into permanent social disadvantage points (usually enemies, although reduced rank, lost allies, etc are valid at GMs discretion.) If the character had Secret (supernatural creature) as a trait, then the secret is most likely out! Convert it into its appropriate value of additional disadvantages.

At the end of any hunt in which no Watched was gained, someone who is Watched may make an IQ roll, with success meaning she sheds 1 level of Watched. The assistance of a skilled propagandist, with Propaganda at 12+ and access to appropriate facilities, gives a +1 to this roll, and the propagandist may roll against their skill once a hunt to erase another level of Watched.

What do you think?
__________________
"Guys, I think maybe this whole time we've been the villains."
Engurrand is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-03-2019, 04:44 AM   #2
coronatiger
 
Join Date: Apr 2018
Location: Trondheim, Norway
Default Re: [MH] Watched

Interesting concept. If I GM a game where secrecy is a big deal, I may incorporate a variant of this.
__________________
You don't need to spend 100 CP on Status 5 [25] and Multimillionaire [75] to feel like a princess, when Delusion [-10] will do.

Character sheet: Google Drive link (See this thread for details.)

Campaign logs: Chaotic Pioneering / Confessions of a Forked Tongue
coronatiger is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-03-2019, 08:03 AM   #3
Michele
 
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Udine, Italy
Default Re: [MH] Watched

Interesting, although I, as the GM, would probably just take decisions in that direction on a case-by-case basis. I'd try to tie this all in with the idea of Enemy (Watcher). If for nothing else, because the verb is the same and because it makes sense that the first enemy who notices you and starts Watching you is an entity that will normally do that.
__________________
Michele Armellini
GURPS Locations: St. George's Cathedral
Michele is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-03-2019, 08:46 AM   #4
Engurrand
 
Engurrand's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2010
Location: Wormtooth Nation
Default Re: [MH] Watched

Quote:
Originally Posted by Michele View Post
Interesting, although I, as the GM, would probably just take decisions in that direction on a case-by-case basis.
In my family's MH game we've been doing exactly that for 5ish years. It works fine, but there is a problem: if players can't reason about the way their actions will result in consequences then the consequences can feel arbitrary and punitive. For example, the warrior got in sword fight on a street corner in broad daylight. does he gain a disadvantage Watcher? Probably not. But if he keeps doing it, should he? At what point? Hence, rules.
__________________
"Guys, I think maybe this whole time we've been the villains."
Engurrand is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-03-2019, 03:07 PM   #5
Apollonian
 
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Shoreline, WA (north of Seattle)
Default Re: [MH] Watched

This reminds me of the Heat mechanic from Night's Black Agents, which exactly represents how much official attention vampire-hunting rogue secret agents attract. It also reminds me of the Basic Action Difficulty mechanic from GURPS Action. You might take a look at those if you want to refine this in play.
Apollonian is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Tags
masquerade, monster hunters

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Fnords are Off
[IMG] code is Off
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump


All times are GMT -6. The time now is 05:06 PM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.9
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.