12-15-2017, 08:33 PM | #1 | |
Join Date: Jun 2014
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Death by Heartbreak disadvantage
My gaming group is making the leap to GURPS 4e from 3e, and our usual DM built a disadvantage for Elves (essentially Tolkien elves) called Death by Heartbreak [-30] for 3e.
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12-15-2017, 08:54 PM | #2 |
Join Date: Mar 2013
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Re: Death by Heartbreak disadvantage
I don't like it as a racial Disadvantage because it seems to me that how much of a problem it is to any given character depends on the player. They can simply make sure they don't have any deeply loved ones, now it's not a Disadvantage. Conversely, a character who has a wife, family and two close companions that he adventures with is going to be making some death checks.
If a character is going to have to make a Will check once in their game life or die, that sounds like it's worth maybe -5 points. |
12-15-2017, 09:02 PM | #3 |
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: Saskatoon, SK, Canada
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Re: Death by Heartbreak disadvantage
I'd call this a variant on Weakness. You'll have to set the rarity of "heartbreak" depending on the style of the campaign - personally, I'd put it at Rare, but some games might peg it at Occasional. Then, you need to account for the fact that it doesn't just do damage, it's literally "roll Will not to die". That's the tricky part, as there's no canonical modifier for Weakness to do that. I'd suggest stealing the Heart Attack enhancement from Affliction (+300%), and replacing the HT roll that normally allows with a Will roll instead. Weakness's normal frequency of damage modifier would instead become how frequently someone could potentially be killed by heartbreak - the "cooldown", as it were.
So, if you decide Heartbreak is a Rare condition, but an elf could possibly be slain by it with only a minute gap between separate heartbreaking events, the final cost of the disadvantage would be -40 points, whereas if heartbreak is an occasional condition, but heartbreaks less than a half-hour apart just "merge", the final cost would be -20 points. |
12-15-2017, 09:05 PM | #4 |
Join Date: Dec 2007
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Re: Death by Heartbreak disadvantage
I would make it an increase to the value of a Dependent or a Sense of Duty. (Or a limitation on Ally.)
Last edited by David Johnston2; 12-16-2017 at 01:19 PM. |
12-15-2017, 09:09 PM | #5 |
Join Date: Mar 2013
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Re: Death by Heartbreak disadvantage
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12-15-2017, 10:50 PM | #6 | |
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: USA, Arizona, Mesa
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Re: Death by Heartbreak disadvantage
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In terms of appropriateness, though, I agree with others in this thread — treat it as variations on the Sympathy limitation for Allies (p. B38). Sympathy that kills the person is -50%; Resistible, Will+0 is -30%; thus for Allies you would take Sympathy, Resisted by Will, -35%, while I would price it for Dependents or Sense of Duty as +50%. |
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12-16-2017, 03:31 AM | #7 |
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: Meifumado
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Re: Death by Heartbreak disadvantage
Would it be worth building as a Terminal Illness with a Mitigator? Not sure how the Will roll would work though in this case.
Also, it is worthwhile statting this out for various game reasons, such as having on Allies' character sheets, but I wouldn't recommend it for PCs. This avoids the GM just saying, "Oh, your mother just died a thousand miles away, make a Will roll or die."
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