Destiny: Die at a specific moment

[PTTG]

The advantage/disadvantage Destiny includes the Major Advantage [10] level of impact, which allows the player to specify, broadly, how the player character will die... but fate retains the right to creative interpretations of the phrasing. Taking the Destiny "Will be slain by a King" in a modern American setting could result in a tragic car accident involving a busload of Elvis Impersonators.

Removing that flexibility by granting oneself foreknowledge of the exact moment your character will die (for instance, 3:19 August 7th 1823) is a powerful trait. Even more powerful if the GM has to play along with the spirit of the Destiny and can't rule that you are paralyzed or comatose until your time's up.

I figure that such a trait is effectively nigh invulnerability up until the point of death, and then the effects of Terminal Illness, with the special effect that outside danger approaches gradually as the time runs out.

So, Destiny: Die at a Given Time might be built as a compound of several traits:
Terminally Ill [-50], [-75], or [-100] points, for the time remaining before the expiration date. This represents the certainty that you have limited time. If your character has more than 2 years remaining at creation, they still get the effects of Terminally Ill for that given time, but by RAW there is no point value to this.
Serendipity (Limitation: Only to avoid Death or disabling injury -10%) [15]/level. The GM should recommend a level that's appropriate for the danger level of the campaign; The compound advantage is worth more in a more dangerous campaign! This represents your ability to avoid harm aside from outright death.
Destiny (Major Advantage: Doomed to die at a specific moment)[15]. This covers the remaining features, including the fact that fate will make way for you as you approach the front of Death's deli line.

This assures your character a death at a given time. The method and results are the consequence of your path to that moment. Furthermore, a certain amount of caution is still needed, as one can only stretch fate so far.

There are ways to enhance this further, of course. Ridiculous Luck on top of the Serendipity, or extra levels of Serendipity, allows Arthur Dent or Rincewind the Wizzard levels of destiny denial. Note that both characters had very expensive Unusual Backgrounds to enable their exploits. A much cheaper upgrade is simply selecting the form of death one awaits. Any form of death that isn't, itself, unusual for your line of work can be purchased as a perk [1]. In this case, knowing ahead of time is never any help, and the GM is free to twist your Serendipity to ensure it.

More flashy deaths, such as knowing ahead of time that you'll be struck by a nuclear bomb, demand that you buy the effects of the thing that kills your character as a one-use Advantage. The GM should probably pay close attention to what you're planning. Sneaking into the enemy base in order to be there the moment the bomb hits you is a pretty powerful ability.

I see this as useful for a few interesting edge cases, like time travel situations and maybe flashbacks (although normally in flashbacks everyone has a "narratively immortal" trait). And of course, curses, dire forecasts from roving sorcerers, and psionic visions of one's certain death all could use these rules.

Notes on potential balance corrections, alternative approaches, and forecasts of my own demise are welcome.

[johndallman]

Originally Posted by PTTG

More flashy deaths, such as knowing ahead of time that you'll be struck by a nuclear bomb, demand that you buy the effects of the thing that kills your character as a one-use Advantage.

"No-one here gets out alive."

[TGLS]

I'd treat it as Unkillable 2 or 3 balanced against Terminal Illness. The fact that Unkillable manifests as narrative contrivance instead of turning into a ghost and the like is immaterial. If the date is beyond the guidelines given for Terminal Illness, then just treat it as Unkillable 2 or 3.

[Curmudgeon]

Originally Posted by PTTG

The advantage/disadvantage Destiny includes the Major Advantage [10] level of impact, which allows the player to specify, broadly, how the player character will die... but fate retains the right to creative interpretations of the phrasing. Taking the Destiny "Will be slain by a King" in a modern American setting could result in a tragic car accident involving a busload of Elvis Impersonators.

Removing that flexibility by granting oneself foreknowledge of the exact moment your character will die (for instance, 3:19 August 7th 1823) is a powerful trait. Even more powerful if the GM has to play along with the spirit of the Destiny and can't rule that you are paralyzed or comatose until your time's up.

I figure that such a trait is effectively nigh invulnerability up until the point of death, and then the effects of Terminal Illness, with the special effect that outside danger approaches gradually as the time runs out.

Nice try but the player cannot specify, broadly or otherwise, how the player character will die. According to the description of the advantage [B48], “When you choose this advantage, you may only specify its point value. The GM will secretly determine the nature of your Destiny…” (emphasis mine) and “Be aware that this advantage gives the GM absolute license to meddle with your life*…”

*presumably your character’s life, not yours, but there may be a bit of overlap that spills over onto you.

The description makes it clear that it’s up to the GM, not the player, whether the Major Advantage level will take the form of dying in a specific manner. Indeed, it’s up to the GM whether to allow Destiny as an Advantage, at any level, in his campaign.

Your build ignores the nature of your destiny. You know the exact moment of your death, sort of. There is no Terminally Ill component for the period following the point of your death. Promptly (give or take 30 seconds [turns]) at 3:19 on August 7th, 1823, your character drops dead. By the way, was that a.m. or p.m.? In 1823, that would be local sun time, but after standard time is adopted, the GM can certainly play around with your character. It might still be local sun time, but your character may not realize that’s thirty minutes earlier (or later) than the standard time showing on his watch, and if you didn’t specify the time zone, maybe he’ll be decent and your character will drop dead over his bowl of cereal at 8:19 a.m. in Denver, Colorado because it’s 3:19 p.m. Universal Time (GMT) or maybe it’ll be “nineteen minutes past” some other hour since it might be 3:19 in a random time zone.

[Anaraxes]

Originally Posted by Curmudgeon

The description makes it clear that it’s up to the GM, not the player, whether the Major Advantage level will take the form of dying in a specific manner.

For that matter, the text makes it clear that even if the character learns the manner of his demise, that might not be particularly helpful. It's not a precise time, but more a matter of circumstance. See the examples: "die at sea" -- but the sea could flood your home, particularly if the gods get annoyed at you evading your destiny. Or "die by the hand of the emperor", when your slayer is only going to become the emperor in the future. In fact, it's rather more traditional -- and more interesting -- for a Destiny to be phrased in symbolic or metaphorical terms rather than a time in UTC with lat/long coordinates. The Advantage doesn't make you Unkillable when you don't really know that this specific creature can't kill you.

[Flyndaran]

So ominous but useless?

Like an old Twilight Zone episode where a man about to be hanged hears something as the rope breaks. He was told that he would only die at the feet of a lion. Being in an American city, he went on a giddy rampage certain never to go near lions.

The twist being that he eventually falls down the steps of a library, I think, breaking his neck at the feet of stone lions.

It's been a long time since I saw it, so may have mangled some details.

[Anaraxes]

Originally Posted by Flyndaran

So ominous but useless?

The "Major Advantage" version is only 10 points. Going by the CP metric, it's hardly like Unkillable 2, but not even as good as Danger Sense at avoiding danger. So, yeah. Not literally "useless", but also not known and exploitable invulnerability to anything bad, ever, in the entire game.

[NineDaysDead]

Originally Posted by PTTG

Terminally Ill [-50], [-75], or [-100] points, for the time remaining before the expiration date. This represents the certainty that you have limited time. If your character has more than 2 years remaining at creation, they still get the effects of Terminally Ill for that given time, but by RAW there is no point value to this.

-100 Terminally Ill (1 month).
-75 Terminally Ill (1 year).
-50 Terminally Ill (2 years) or Self Destruct [-10]; Short Lifespan 4 [-40] total -50 gives 2 active years.
-40 Self Destruct [-10]; Short Lifespan 3 [-30] total -40 gives 4 active years.
-30 Self Destruct [-10]; Short Lifespan 2 [-20] total -30 gives 8 active years.
-20 Self Destruct [-10]; Short Lifespan 1 [-20] total -20 gives 16 active years.
-10 Self Destruct [-10]; total -10 gives 32 active years.

[Curmudgeon]

Originally Posted by Flyndaran

So ominous but useless?

I wouldn’t call it either when it takes the form of an advantage. For dying in a specific manner, it’s closer to the proverb “the one born to hang need never fear the sea.” As an advantage, it’s probably more useful to think of Destiny as a contractual guarantee from the GM that your character will accomplish something that is significant within the campaign before he dies. Just how significant depends on how many points you put into it.

[sir_pudding]

Originally Posted by Flyndaran

So ominous but useless?

Like an old Twilight Zone episode where a man about to be hanged hears something as the rope breaks. He was told that he would only die at the feet of a lion. Being in an American city, he went on a giddy rampage certain never to go near lions.

The twist being that he eventually falls down the steps of a library, I think, breaking his neck at the feet of stone lions.

It's been a long time since I saw it, so may have mangled some details.

You seem to be combining two totally different episodes.