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Old 11-02-2011, 07:26 PM   #61
Critical
 
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Default Re: how useful is Luck?

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Originally Posted by Fred Brackin View Post
Only attempt thsi _after_ you finish using Mind Control (Permanent) on your GM.
Do you attempt the Mind Control before or after you acquire instantaneous Visualization? It seems like if you do the latter first, your Mind Control will be far more likely to be successful.
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Old 11-03-2011, 09:14 AM   #62
Kromm
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Default Re: how useful is Luck?

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Originally Posted by Ultraviolet View Post

In the first one a player had two different characters both with Luck [15], back then it was something you activated *before* the roll.

In 4th ed another player took Luck [15] for his Scam-artist character. It works a lot better when allowed to use after an important roll fails.
Please note that this contrast is fictitious, though. The text of Luck never indicated that it had to be declared before the roll. In First through Third Edition, the rules simply didn't indicate when Luck had to be declared! Some gaming groups went with "before" while others preferred "after," but Steve's actual answer in Roleplayer was "after." All Fourth Edition did was bring that FAQ to the masses . . . it didn't truly change anything. This one of those interesting situations where a Third Edition house rule is remembered more often than the actual rule, resulting in a Fourth Edition clarification looking like a change.
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Old 11-03-2011, 10:47 AM   #63
Michael Cule
 
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Default Re: how useful is Luck?

Luck is being able to look at the dice roll that has just doomed your beloved character and say:

"Nah! I'm luckier than that!"

It can be annoying to GMs and players who don't have it but it is worth it. I have players who will take it in every GURPS game if they can. They don't seem to feel the more frequent or more powerful versions are worth investing in but that may say more about the tempo of my games than anything else.
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Old 11-04-2011, 03:37 AM   #64
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Default Re: how useful is Luck?

I actually had a pretty interesting situation crop up during a recent game. A player was mind controlled by a witch and told to launch a grenade toward one of his allies. He rolled exceptionally well, but then decided to use Luck and chose to accept a worse roll. It saved the lives of his allies.
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Old 11-04-2011, 09:50 AM   #65
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Default Re: how useful is Luck?

I've seen Luck used to fail fairly often, most often in those circumstances: when someone was under duress or mind control, and asked to use his abilities to act against his morals. In my former fantasy campaign, there were several cases where Luck ended up used this way.

I've also seen Luck used on an enemy's attack roll to make him hit when he missed. The reason? So that the defender could use some nasty parry-based ability, like a sword that disintegrates other swords, or just a Judo parry that would set up Arm Lock.

And I've seen Luck used to fail a roll to notice something that would distract a character with a disadvantage, from gold for a PC with Greed to pretty girls for a PC with Lecherousness. I regard this as legitimate . . . the player gave up a limited asset to avoid his disadvantage, so in effect he was inconvenienced.
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Old 11-04-2011, 12:05 PM   #66
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Default Re: how useful is Luck?

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Originally Posted by Johnny Angel View Post
I actually had a pretty interesting situation crop up during a recent game. A player was mind controlled by a witch and told to launch a grenade toward one of his allies. He rolled exceptionally well, but then decided to use Luck and chose to accept a worse roll. It saved the lives of his allies.
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Originally Posted by Kromm View Post
I've seen Luck used to fail fairly often,[...]
This makes me wonder what discount Luck (only to increase the chances of a success) would be. Not worth much I'm sure (-5%, maybe), but it fits certain concepts.
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Old 11-05-2011, 10:22 PM   #67
Peter Knutsen
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Default Re: how useful is Luck?

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Originally Posted by aesir23 View Post
This makes me wonder what discount Luck (only to increase the chances of a success) would be. Not worth much I'm sure (-5%, maybe), but it fits certain concepts.
I think there's enough meat in the various luck-traits t warrant a small Power-Ups PDF.
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