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Old 12-15-2017, 08:33 PM   #1
swarmyard
 
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Default 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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Death by Heartbreak is a unique form of death to elves. While heartbreak and chronic depression may drive a human to occasional suicide, elves face a sudden chance of death when they encounter severe personal tragedy. If someone the elf deeply loved dies (or suffers a fate worse than death, GM's discretion), the elf must succeed on a Will save (anything of 14 or higher fails). If they fail this check, they die instantly of heartbreak, sensing the death even across great distances. The GM may reserve this instant death for romantic love if she wishes, or she may extend it to cover close family and friends. Chronic depression is less immediate but is practically a death sentence to an elf. If the elf fails to resist chronic depression for 3 days in a row, they die instantly of personal heartbreak as the elven soul was not meant to feel such pain.
I wasn't sure how to cost this is GURPS 4e. Thoughts?
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Old 12-15-2017, 08:54 PM   #2
mr beer
 
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Default 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.
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Old 12-15-2017, 09:02 PM   #3
Kelly Pedersen
 
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Default 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.
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Old 12-15-2017, 09:05 PM   #4
David Johnston2
 
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Default Re: Death by Heartbreak disadvantage

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Originally Posted by swarmyard View Post
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.



I wasn't sure how to cost this is GURPS 4e. Thoughts?
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.
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Old 12-15-2017, 09:09 PM   #5
mr beer
 
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Default Re: Death by Heartbreak disadvantage

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Originally Posted by David Johnston2 View Post
I would make it an increase to the value of a Dependent or a Sense of Duty.
This is good because it solves the problem of the Disadvantage being worth different points to different characters.
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Old 12-15-2017, 10:50 PM   #6
Celti
 
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Default Re: Death by Heartbreak disadvantage

Quote:
Originally Posted by Kelly Pedersen View Post
I'd call this a variant on Weakness. [...] I'd suggest stealing the Heart Attack enhancement from Affliction (+300%), and replacing the HT roll that normally allows with a Will roll instead.
The pricing for that actually works out reasonably well in terms of the Side Effect and No Wounding modifiers. Side Effect is worth +50% plus the cost of the enhancement from Affliction, while No Wounding is -50%; thus, Weakness (Heartbreak; Based on Will, +20%; Side Effect, Heart Attack, +350%; No Wounding, -50%) would require a roll versus Will at -1 for every 2 points on the damage roll for Weakness, but not deal any injury.


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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Old 12-16-2017, 03:31 AM   #7
Daigoro
 
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Default 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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