[Basic] Disadvantage of the Week: Trickster - Page 2

ravenfish · 05-30-2020, 02:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TGLS

In all honesty taking off the -1 per day without probably fixes it. 15 would only have a 50/50 of triggering over two weeks, 12 would trigger 60% of the time over 3 days, and anything lower is already triggering nearly all the time anyway.

Agreed. As a GM, if any of players wanted to take Trickster, I would drop that mechanic- as far as I can tell, Trickster is the only disadvantage in all of GURPS that has something like it, so I would be inclined to drop it in the name of symmetry even if it didn't conspire to make an already punishing disadvantage practically unplayable.

Dalin · 05-31-2020, 03:49 PM

I've seen this on a few PCs over the years, but nobody ever played it by the book. Those that took it only used it against foes and generally it just meant that they took risks, engaged in mockery, and tried to make their enemies look foolish. It did occasionally cause problems because of this (plans involving humiliating an enemy were almost never tactically optimal). Probably not worth the 15 points, though.

I'm pretty loose with making sure every disad point is earned though. If it makes a character distinctive and fun, I'm usually good with that.

WingedKagouti · 05-31-2020, 04:59 PM

I've considered taking Trickster for several charcters for thematic reasons, but the actual mechanics (target requirement, frequency of rolls and cumulative penality) just makes me back away very quickly.

The Compulsive Behavior suggestion makes far more sense to me.

Prince Charon · 05-31-2020, 08:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by WingedKagouti

I've considered taking Trickster for several charcters for thematic reasons, but the actual mechanics (target requirement, frequency of rolls and cumulative penality) just makes me back away very quickly.

The Compulsive Behavior suggestion makes far more sense to me.

A Quirk version of Trickster is probably better than the full Trickster disad for a lot of characters, but the Compulsive Behavior variant or the 'taking off the -1 per day without' idea do seem like good options as well.

05-31-2020, 03:49 PM	#12
Dalin Join Date: Dec 2009 Location: Saint Paul, MN	Re: [Basic] Disadvantage of the Week: Trickster I've seen this on a few PCs over the years, but nobody ever played it by the book. Those that took it only used it against foes and generally it just meant that they took risks, engaged in mockery, and tried to make their enemies look foolish. It did occasionally cause problems because of this (plans involving humiliating an enemy were almost never tactically optimal). Probably not worth the 15 points, though. I'm pretty loose with making sure every disad point is earned though. If it makes a character distinctive and fun, I'm usually good with that.

05-31-2020, 04:59 PM	#13
WingedKagouti Join Date: Oct 2007	Re: [Basic] Disadvantage of the Week: Trickster I've considered taking Trickster for several charcters for thematic reasons, but the actual mechanics (target requirement, frequency of rolls and cumulative penality) just makes me back away very quickly. The Compulsive Behavior suggestion makes far more sense to me.