Mechanics/techniques to incentivize disadvantages

[philosophyguy]

I've been reading a lot of FATE materials lately for RPG inspiration, and one of the things I like is the idea of the compel. In short, players are encouraged to create complications for their characters because they can earn fate points by accepting complications stemming from their character aspects into the story. What I like is that the players have an incentive to create plot complications: it's not solely up to the GM to create the challenge.

I'm wondering if there are similar mechanics or GM techniques that can be used in a GURPS context. What experiences do others have with encouraging players to actively invoke their disadvantages instead of just leaving them written on the character sheet?

[Anaraxes]

If you use any of the bits in Impulse Buys, you could use a similar mechanism for earning that currency. Earn a benny point when your Disad comes up. Same with Destiny Points or the points for wildcard skills in Monster Hunters.

You can also reverse the usual xp penalty for poor RP and turn it into a reward for good RP, making a point of handing out the additional CP when Disads make the story interesting. I remember an old system for D&D that gave characters traits, and rewarded them with xp when they came into play. Same net effect, but with a positive spin rather than the negative one. ("You did well and so you earned 4 xp this session" comes across better than "your RP sucked, so instead of 5 xp you only get 4".)

In all honesty, though, in my usual group it's not an issue. People don't take Disads solely for more points. They take them because they think they'd make the character interesting, and so want them to come up in play. Sometimes the problem is even the other way around, keeping the character's personality and various scenes from being overrun by the Disads as players ham it up. Trying to weasel out of your chosen Disads would get you one of those looks from around the table. And even when you're resisting the Disad, that's generally taken as an opportunity for that player to seize the spotlight for at least a few sentences about their struggle with themselves before giving it, or not. So there are social enforcement mechanisms, as well as purely mechanical ones.

[vicky_molokh]

Originally Posted by philosophyguy

I've been reading a lot of FATE materials lately for RPG inspiration, and one of the things I like is the idea of the compel. In short, players are encouraged to create complications for their characters because they can earn fate points by accepting complications stemming from their character aspects into the story. What I like is that the players have an incentive to create plot complications: it's not solely up to the GM to create the challenge.

I'm wondering if there are similar mechanics or GM techniques that can be used in a GURPS context. What experiences do others have with encouraging players to actively invoke their disadvantages instead of just leaving them written on the character sheet?

There's the Ham Clause in Action.

Though as far as FATE-like things go, I'm more interested in the idea of compels done by players against NPCs or the scene or the campaign. Not sure if that falls under the umbrella of this thread's interest in incentivizing disads - after all, technically the GM should already factor all those in when GMing!

[Donny Brook]

Originally Posted by philosophyguy

I've been reading a lot of FATE materials lately for RPG inspiration, and one of the things I like is the idea of the compel. In short, players are encouraged to create complications for their characters because they can earn fate points by accepting complications stemming from their character aspects into the story. What I like is that the players have an incentive to create plot complications: it's not solely up to the GM to create the challenge.

I'm wondering if there are similar mechanics or GM techniques that can be used in a GURPS context. What experiences do others have with encouraging players to actively invoke their disadvantages instead of just leaving them written on the character sheet?

In the campaign I am launching soon, I plan to give a bonus CP point for drawing in a Disad during play.

[philosophyguy]

Originally Posted by vicky_molokh

Though as far as FATE-like things go, I'm more interested in the idea of compels done by players against NPCs or the scene or the campaign. Not sure if that falls under the umbrella of this thread's interest in incentivizing disads - after all, technically the GM should already factor all those in when GMing!

Compels also interest me. I know they are under the GM's control in the sense that the GM can create a scenario that exposes the disadvantage. What I like about FATE is the mechanical reinforcement for players accepting that challenge.

I wonder if putting a Daredevil-style clause on each disadvantage (like +1 on skill rolls for the scene when voluntarily invoking, or getting a defying point that can be used later) would accomplish the goal.

[dataweaver]

Consider ditching the value of a disadvantage and instead going with a character point whenever it hinders the character. That is, nothing up front but potentially unlimited points earned in play.

[Daigoro]

Originally Posted by dataweaver

Consider ditching the value of a disadvantage and instead going with a character point whenever it hinders the character. That is, nothing up front but potentially unlimited points earned in play.

That would make minor disadvantages much more valuable than major ones.

[dataweaver]

No; it would make used disadvantages worth more than unused ones.

[Anaraxes]

To distinguish "minor" and "major" Disads in the GURPS sense, you'd need a mechanic that gave more reward points for severity of the hindrance as well as the frequency. GURPS CP probably don't have that granularity, though (compared to numbers like D&D xp).

[Leynok]

Originally Posted by Anaraxes

To distinguish "minor" and "major" Disads in the GURPS sense, you'd need a mechanic that gave more reward points for severity of the hindrance as well as the frequency. GURPS CP probably don't have that granularity, though (compared to numbers like D&D xp).

This is probably the reason why I've never picked up this kind of thing.
Plus, you also have some Disadvantages like One Arm that are passively being a nuisance. How often should you take a point for being unable to use two handed weapons, use a shield and sword or dual wield?