help building a disadvantage

[reverse_atomic_roger]

I'm running a supers game, one of my players want to try to replicate a trait they've seen in a show called Alphas. I haven't seen it.

Apparently this character has a sort of rolling amnesia. She can only remember the last two months of her life. So if the bad guys capture her and are nice to her for two months, she'll likely switch sides.

The amnesia is limited to her conscious memory though, so if she learns a skill that requires muscle memory, she's good at that forever.

Since its quite a dark setting, the player has suggested that his character might have been put through a brutal and horrific training regime to teach lots of skills, then tied to her bed for two months so she doesn't feel bad about it.

Anyway, I looked d at total amnesia, with a limitation to represent the fact that it doesn't cover the latest two months, but I have no idea how to value it. And presumably there'd need to be some sort of modifier for the fact that its ongoing, the character will never have more than two months of memory.

Any thoughts?

[johndallman]

Think carefully: do you really want this, and its effects, in the game? It just screams "TV scriptwriter's trick to avoid the need for consistent plotting" and I'd reject it on those grounds alone.

For a TV series where everything is controlled by the writer and director, it may work. It might work in a 1:1 game, if you're a fan of Phillip K Dick-style unreliable reality. But in a several-players game, the other players will have memories, and may even keep notes. The effects of the disadvantage will be greatly reduced by that, and making it worth the points it sounds like will require heavy-handed and arbitrary GMing.

But if you're determined to have it, you need to look at Cannot Learn with a mitigator as well as Amnesia.

[Not another shrubbery]

Anterograde amnesia has come up in the forums a few times, especially in relation to the film Memento. You can search on those keywords to find the threads if you're interested. It's usually considered a variation of Cannot Learn.

[David Johnston2]

Originally Posted by johndallman

Think carefully: do you really want this, and its effects, in the game? It just screams "TV scriptwriter's trick to avoid the need for consistent plotting" and I'd reject it on those grounds alone.

For a TV series where everything is controlled by the writer and director, it may work. It might work in a 1:1 game, if you're a fan of Phillip K Dick-style unreliable reality. But in a several-players game, the other players will have memories, and may even keep notes. The effects of the disadvantage will be greatly reduced by that, and making it worth the points it sounds like will require heavy-handed and arbitrary GMing.

But if you're determined to have it, you need to look at Cannot Learn with a mitigator as well as Amnesia.

No, it's the opposite of Cannot Learn. People with Cannot Learn still remember events. They just can't acquire new skills. It's basically a hugely mitigated Amnesia, plus a quirk.

[johndallman]

Originally Posted by David Johnston2

No, it's the opposite of Cannot Learn.

It's more complicated than that:

Originally Posted by reverse_atomic_roger

The amnesia is limited to her conscious memory though, so if she learns a skill that requires muscle memory, she's good at that forever.

So skills not involving muscle memory can be learned, but then vanish. What skills those are is another issue, but I reckon IQ-, Will- and Per-based skills start with a presumption of being lost and have to be justified individually. Which is another reason I don't regard this as playable.

[LemmingLord]

Amnesia with a 0 % adjustment. You would be penalized in a longer range game for using information your character should have forgotten.

[reverse_atomic_roger]

Thanks for the replies guys. I might suggest my player go with a different concept. But I'll look up those other threads that were mentioned first.

Thanks again