Minor Wierdness Magnet

[GodBeastX]

I was considering Weirdness Magnet and how it's a -15 with outright bizarre occurrences. But what would you make for a creepy weirdness magnet with about -5 where the off thing happens to you.

This often fits the unnatural theme of Horror. Light bulbs dim and flicker around you, sometimes even breaking. Things that are nearing the end of their life might just suddenly stop ("Well, that wheel was worn out pretty bad, guess I shoulda replaced it yesterday."). Objects sometimes break or malfunction leaving people going "Huh, that's odd". Creepy things still seek you out, but not as often. Just odd things and dark omens. Probably a -1 reaction instead of -2 from Weirdness Magnet.

What do people think?

[Walrus]

Those things about light bulbs and worn tires looks more like some sort of Lifebane to me.

[Genesis]

Lifebane (mechanical, +0%)? Kills off devices instead of houseplants? Cool. New houserule addition for my sci-fi campaign.

[johndallman]

Originally Posted by Genesis

Lifebane (mechanical, +0%)? Kills off devices instead of houseplants? Cool. New houserule addition for my sci-fi campaign.

"I'm not getting in a spaceship with someone who makes things like that happen!"

[WingedKagouti]

Originally Posted by Genesis

Lifebane (mechanical, +0%)? Kills off devices instead of houseplants? Cool. New houserule addition for my sci-fi campaign.

It might be worth more, depending on how fast it disrupts electronics and how important those electronics are to survive. Space travel for more than a day should probably be restricted to a living ship (like those from Biotech) if those are available. If space travel is important to the campaign, Lifebane (Mechanical) should probably only be allowed if living ships are available to the players.

Guns and personal equipment would also be affected over time, especially something with lots of electronics in it. The character should expect to go through several guns and communication devices over time and his allies will probably have to repair their own stuff fairly frequently.

Another feature of that would be complete incompatibility with any kind of cybernetics and possibly an immunity to nanomachines (both beneficial and hostile). And romancing a cyborg is not advisable for either of them. Some types of field medicine (including generic First Aid kits) may be useless to such a character depending on TL. It could push the vaule to -15 or possibly even -20 if the campaign setting is focused on electronics and bio-tech is rare/unreliable/has a social stigma attached.

[martinl]

Originally Posted by GodBeastX

I was considering Weirdness Magnet and how it's a -15 with outright bizarre occurrences. But what would you make for a creepy weirdness magnet with about -5 where the off thing happens to you.
...
What do people think?

WM is, IMO, -10 points of unluckness/inconvenience, a -5 pt reputation, and a perk: "cool stuff happens to me," rounded off to -15.

It's a bundled advantage for historical reasons, but break it up as you see fit. What you described seems to be "genre ambiance" (which is a setting rule, not a character thing), plus minor unluckiness/inconvenience, so -5 seems ok. If the light bulbs breaking/tires going out etc. regularly lead to life threatening situations however, consider -10.

[adm]

Originally Posted by Genesis

Lifebane (mechanical, +0%)? Kills off devices instead of houseplants? Cool. New houserule addition for my sci-fi campaign.

My Mother has this, with an added affect to toasters.

[Genesis]

Originally Posted by WingedKagouti

It might be worth more, depending on how fast it disrupts electronics and how important those electronics are to survive. Space travel for more than a day should probably be restricted to a living ship (like those from Biotech) if those are available. If space travel is important to the campaign, Lifebane (Mechanical) should probably only be allowed if living ships are available to the players.

Guns and personal equipment would also be affected over time, especially something with lots of electronics in it. The character should expect to go through several guns and communication devices over time and his allies will probably have to repair their own stuff fairly frequently.

Another feature of that would be complete incompatibility with any kind of cybernetics and possibly an immunity to nanomachines (both beneficial and hostile). And romancing a cyborg is not advisable for either of them. Some types of field medicine (including generic First Aid kits) may be useless to such a character depending on TL. It could push the vaule to -15 or possibly even -20 if the campaign setting is focused on electronics and bio-tech is rare/unreliable/has a social stigma attached.

Well, Lifebane as written is a pretty slow effect. It doesn't insta-gib everyone you shake hands with, obviously. It seems to work mostly on living systems that are "smaller" than you on some sort of metaphysical level....

I'd say that Electronic and Mechanical are two different versions of the disad, too - so take your pick between laser pistols and slugthrowers. I'd definitely apply either to beneficial cybernetics, and one or the other (depending on setting) to nanomachines. Cybernetics implanted on hostiles are probably not affected, by dint of not being in contact with the Bane character for long enough to rack up enough minor issues.

Yeah, it would definitely be a pretty big disad in some settings... I don't suppose +0% is anything like balanced, but it's a fun concept. It's a racial feature for Gremlins, obviously.

[Not another shrubbery]

Originally Posted by martinl

WM is, IMO, -10 points of unluckness/inconvenience, a -5 pt reputation, and a perk: "cool stuff happens to me," rounded off to -15.

It's a bundled advantage for historical reasons, but break it up as you see fit. What you described seems to be "genre ambiance" (which is a setting rule, not a character thing), plus minor unluckiness/inconvenience, so -5 seems ok.

This, except for the perk bit. I think that's actually a delusion on the owner's part.

[Jariel]

Weirdness Magnet really should be a leveled disadvantage like Delusion or Vulnerability. Personally, I've always thought of Weirdness Magnet as Enemy (Powerful Weird Force (-20); Rival (1/2) (since it's in between a minor inconvenience and someone wanting to kill you); Frequency of Appearance (9 or less) (x1)) (-10), plus Reputation -2 (-10) (Large class of people (1/2); All the time (x1)) (-5) for (-15) points total. The large class of people is anyone who has been adversely affected by your weirdness. You can adjust the overall cost based on how dangerous the weirdness is and how frequently you have to deal with it. Having "cool" weird things happen is a perk.
What you want sounds like Enemy (Creepy Weird Force (-20), Watcher (x1/4); Frequency of Appearance (9 or less) (x1)) (-5). I used Watcher since it sounds like you want creepy and minor inconveniences instead of something instantly fatal. The -1 Reputation would be another -2 points for -7 total.
You could also use Unluckiness (-10) and limit it to creepy/strange things since the text says you can choose a "theme" for your unluckiness. Or you could add an enhancement; maybe Cosmic (Not arbitrary or malicious events-only minor inconveniences) +50%, for (-5).
I like the Lifebane (Mechanical/Electronic +0%) (-10) idea. It would be a great way to justify an alien species with high biotech and no electronics.