09-18-2020, 03:10 PM | #1 |
Join Date: May 2010
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Life of a Weirdness Magnet
I like DFRPG's re-write of the Weirdness Magnet disadvantage, since by making spellcasters able to sense weirdness magnets, it removes any question that it is a significant disadvantage. But it raises some questions about what the life-history of a weirdness magnet is going to be like—particularly a spell-casting weirdness magnet, since having every spellcaster react to you at -2 might be a barrier to getting trained as a caster in the first place. One option is the one taken by the "Uncle Seamus" pregen, where is Weirdness Magnet status is implied to be "lifetime of thaumatological misfortunes". But this seems less natural for, say, a cleric weirdness magnet. What ways are there to turn someone into a Weirdness Magnet? Or are there reasons a Weirdness Magnet might get trained as a spellcaster in spite of a reaction penalty?
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09-18-2020, 03:29 PM | #2 | |
Join Date: May 2007
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Re: Life of a Weirdness Magnet
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More interesting reasons include: The weirdness is "side effect" of Talent or Blessing that allows the person to work magic. Maybe it only began manifesting after training was well under way; maybe it was actually far worse before he learned to mostly control his powers. The weirdness is a manifestation of the warping of fate that ensures that the person will "live in interesting times". Such people are virtually guaranteed to have many opportunities to serve [insert cause here], and so training him (and shaping his morals appropriately) was only logical. If the people living around the person are going to face rains of squid, and strange gods passing by on their way to borrow a cup of sugar, it seemed better for all concerned that he be given the powers needed to properly clean up after the messes that inevitably ensue.
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09-21-2020, 08:52 PM | #3 |
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: Most definitely alone
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Re: Life of a Weirdness Magnet
Maybe she wasn't a Weirdness Magnet, but had a particularly interesting miscast while she was being trained?
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09-22-2020, 09:13 AM | #4 | |||||
GURPS Line Editor
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: Montréal, Québec
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Re: Life of a Weirdness Magnet
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With that out of the way . . . There's always "a training period filled with magical misfortunes." Presumably, before you were so good at spells that you could bravely delve into dungeons and rely on them, you were . . . not good at spells. Somebody had to finish last in the graduating class, after all. Possibly you went into the temple or academy with ordinary bad luck, and came out with all kinds of problems caused by your bad luck shifting from "I slip on banana peels" to "banana peels magically appear just so I can slip on them, and some bananas talk," because magic can be that way. In effect, you cursed yourself, perhaps by not saying the magic words the right way, or maybe by reading the Wrong Books before you were ready. Quote:
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Sean "Dr. Kromm" Punch <kromm@sjgames.com> GURPS Line Editor, Steve Jackson Games My DreamWidth [Just GURPS News] |
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09-22-2020, 09:41 AM | #5 |
GURPS Line Editor
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: Montréal, Québec
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Re: Life of a Weirdness Magnet
The biggest message here, though, is that abilities and disabilities don't interact before play begins. That's how you can start with One Hand despite having HT 14 and Rapid Healing, know Two-Handed Sword skill despite having One Hand, be Struggling yet trade five quirk points to have a total of $3,000 worth of gear, and so on. Somehow, you got amazingly unlucky or lucky before your career started, and ended up with an exceedingly improbable combination of traits and equipment. But that's just backstory – a fluke that might never occur again! – and doesn't have to be possible in your adventures going forward.
Personally, I have a thing for PCs whose current state suggests a completely different character sheet at some unspecified time in the past. Stuff like "I was training to be a wizard, until . . .," "I used to be pretty, until . . .," and "I was a real king once, you know?" is a lot of fun to roleplay.
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Sean "Dr. Kromm" Punch <kromm@sjgames.com> GURPS Line Editor, Steve Jackson Games My DreamWidth [Just GURPS News] |
09-22-2020, 11:01 AM | #6 | |
Join Date: Sep 2016
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Re: Life of a Weirdness Magnet
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One of the really great “until...” options in DFRPG is the simplified fright check rules, and how they can give just blanket -x points in disadvantages. Failing a big fright check from seeing elder things, demons, or angry faeries could easily warp reality or cause a link with such forces to justify getting weirdness magnet, even in play. |
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09-22-2020, 01:59 PM | #7 |
Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: Saint Paul, MN
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Re: Life of a Weirdness Magnet
Kromm's perspective widens the array of possible backstories for characters too. As a player wanting to take Weirdness Magnet, I have a lot of flexibility. I could make it a curse-from-birth type of thing and weave it into my story fully. Or it could have happened the moment before the first adventure starts and I get to role-play my character suddenly coming to grips with the negative reactions and bizarre happenings. Either could be a lot of fun!
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09-22-2020, 02:27 PM | #8 |
GURPS Line Editor
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: Montréal, Québec
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Re: Life of a Weirdness Magnet
It's essential to keep a very open mind about what all traits represent. Is high ST slabs of muscle on a chiseled frame, sheer bulk and the brains to throw it around effectively, or an iron will to push the body hard when dishing out and receiving punishment? Is a skill something taught and learned, or natural talent for a narrow task? Is Weirdness Magnet an inborn destiny, a self-inflicted curse, a "wound" left by an external event, or even a challenge willingly accepted from a patron deity? Such decisions make two characters who are close on paper – a common result of working from templates – totally different people.
The DFRPG intentionally discards the somewhat simulationist, realism-oriented bias of its parent system. The box on p. 8 is a big hint: You can have whatever age, height, weight, and sex you want, and it has no effect at all on any of your abilities. Your 4'11", 70-year-old granny can be a tough-as-nails barbarian woman with ST 17. Heck, you can have shocking-pink hair and eyes with no whites, like someone straight outta anime. This is kitchen-sink adventure fantasy . . . go wild!
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Sean "Dr. Kromm" Punch <kromm@sjgames.com> GURPS Line Editor, Steve Jackson Games My DreamWidth [Just GURPS News] |
09-23-2020, 10:38 AM | #9 | |
Join Date: Dec 2012
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Re: Life of a Weirdness Magnet
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09-23-2020, 10:41 AM | #10 | |
Join Date: May 2010
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Re: Life of a Weirdness Magnet
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