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01-10-2020, 03:45 AM | #1 |
Night Watchman
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: Cambridge, UK
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[Basic] Disadvantage of the Week: Revulsion
Revulsion [-5, -10 or -15] is a physical disadvantage that appeared at GURPS 4e. It is normally supernatural, but mundane versions are possible, to represent extreme allergies and similar conditions. It was created as a generalisation of the 3e disadvantages Allergic Susceptibility and Cyber-Rejection.
You have an extreme reaction to some substance that is reasonably harmless to normal people. The value of the disadvantage depends on how common the substance is. Very common substances are [-15] reasonably common ones [-10] and occasional ones [-5]. The examples on p. B151 seem to be for TL8 temperate environments; at lower TLs, smoke and wood would often be more common than metal. If you breathe or touch the substance, you need to make a HT roll. On a failure, you have a -5 penalty to all attributes and skills for 10 minutes. Ingesting the substance is worse: if you fail the HT roll, you’re at -5 to attributes and -10 to skills for 10 minutes. While this reaction is likely to make you determined to avoid the substance, this disadvantage is different from Dread: you can think about it, make plans, use protective equipment, and so on. Revulsion can be a Temporary Disadvantage side-effect of Discriminatory Smell, and is often used to add supernatural weaknesses to monsters: Horror has some examples for ghosts and werewolves, and Power-Ups 6 has quirk-level versions. I don’t think I’ve ever used Revulsion as a GM, and certainly not as a player. Looking at it has caused me to realise that afflicting it could be quite useful; what uses has it seen in your games?
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01-10-2020, 05:20 PM | #2 |
Join Date: Dec 2018
Location: Hirakata, Osaka, Japan
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Re: [Basic] Disadvantage of the Week: Revulsion
Could one use it for a substance with an analogous property to that which kryptonite exerts on Superman in a supers, or similar, setting?
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01-10-2020, 05:23 PM | #3 |
Night Watchman
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: Cambridge, UK
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Re: [Basic] Disadvantage of the Week: Revulsion
Sounds plausible to me.
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The Path of Cunning. Indexes: DFRPG Characters, Advantage of the Week, Disadvantage of the Week, Skill of the Week, Techniques. |
01-10-2020, 05:24 PM | #4 |
Join Date: Dec 2018
Location: Hirakata, Osaka, Japan
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Re: [Basic] Disadvantage of the Week: Revulsion
It seems a good candidate for tacking on afflictions as well.
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01-10-2020, 09:16 PM | #5 |
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Wellington, NZ
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Re: [Basic] Disadvantage of the Week: Revulsion
I've never seen it in play.
Reading the description immediately brings up some questions. It seems obvious (but isn't spelled out) that after a failed HT roll if still in contact with the stuff after 10 minutes you'd roll again. It's not clear how often you recheck if you made your roll. I'd assume every 10 minutes until you get away from the stuff. After experience with high point-value characters with monster HT levels, I'd like to see an HT penalty that gets worse every time you make the roll to resist, to stop HT 16+ characters ignoring the disad for hours at a time. It also seems like the sort of thing where some degrees of severity might be in order.
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Rupert Boleyn "A pessimist is an optimist with a sense of history." |
01-11-2020, 12:46 PM | #6 | |
Join Date: Sep 2008
Location: near London, UK
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Re: [Basic] Disadvantage of the Week: Revulsion
Quote:
Being able to Afflict against something very common seems like a potential fight-ender: in the high-tech games I tend to play and run where people don't run up their HT to high levels, 15 points to take someone out of the fight with a failed HT roll is a great bargain.
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