07-13-2013, 02:15 AM | #1 | ||
Join Date: Aug 2004
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Wizards - Social Stigma + Social Regard? Help!
I'm putting together a small advantage/disadvantage package for wizards in my new fantasy campaign. The campaign is DF-like, but not quite so campy or over-the-top. Plus social situations, status etc will matter.
Wizards are meant to be rare and dangerous folk. From the campaign intro: Quote:
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07-13-2013, 02:35 AM | #2 |
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: Eindhoven, the Netherlands
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Re: Wizards - Social Stigma + Social Regard? Help!
I'm not sure you need to charge for an unusual background. "Rarity" has less to do with Unusual Background than rebalancing a package and/or discouraging people from trying something. That is, PCs are generally going to be rare and special people anyway. There's no reason to charge them extra "for being a hero," but you might want to charge them if they want, say, to use psionic powers in your fantasy campaign, because they're generally not allowed and will upset the balance of your game, but you feel that charging them X points makes it acceptable.
As for the social regard/stigma, I certainly wouldn't bother, just like I wouldn't give someone +will and -will, or +ST or -ST. Both are just granting Reaction modifiers in pretty much the same way (as opposed to, say, Beauty and Social stigma, which are reaction modifiers that apply under completely different circumstances). Instead, I would reflect that passage in one of three ways. I would either say that people react to mages strongly, and then add +2 to any high rolls or -2 to any low rolls and force a reroll of anything of a 10, and call that a 0 point feature, or I wouldn't bother and treat fluff as fluff (that is, it affects the story strongly in a narrative fashion, but has little mechanical weight: ie, people always really notice mages strongly, and a neutral reaction is very standoffish, and a negative reaction is very frightened, and a postive reaction is very worshipful), but otherwise they have the same kinds of reaction ROLLs. Finally, I might consider allowing players to purchase reputations on the kind of magic they practice. A known necromancer? Negative reputation. Known healer? Positive reputation. So, in the end, I suppose my package for your rich and evocative description would be: Magery 0 [5] And that's it. GURPS can be very deep and nuanced, but that doesn't mean that you have to have crazy, complicated templates. GURPS can also be very simple and still evocative, especially when you understand how features work (especially in regards to what you allow, rather than force, players to purchase)
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My Blog: Mailanka's Musing. Currently Playing: Psi-Wars, a step-by-step exploration of building your own Space Opera setting, inspired by Star Wars. |
07-13-2013, 02:54 AM | #3 |
Dog of Lysdexics
Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: Melbourne FL, Formerly Wellington NZ
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Re: Wizards - Social Stigma + Social Regard? Help!
Unusable background is only semi-related to rarity. It only charged in the cases where the rarity causes the ability isn't a consideration as a possibility as a cause, such that it will neither be looked for as a cause nor would people take precautions against it, assuming normal precaution would not indirectly also protect against it.
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07-13-2013, 04:22 AM | #4 |
Join Date: Jul 2005
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Re: Wizards - Social Stigma + Social Regard? Help!
You could do it the way ARS MAGICA does. Give the wizards Reputation bonuses when they earn them but tie the magical gift (Magery in GURPS terms) to an effect that makes people's flesh creep when they meet a wizard and instantly distrust them.
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Michael Cule,
Genius for Hire, Gaming Dinosaur Second Class |
07-13-2013, 04:42 AM | #5 |
Dog of Lysdexics
Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: Melbourne FL, Formerly Wellington NZ
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Re: Wizards - Social Stigma + Social Regard? Help!
BTW what is the Social Stigma providing that Social Regard (feared) isn't granting?
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07-13-2013, 06:59 AM | #6 | ||||
Join Date: Aug 2004
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Re: Wizards - Social Stigma + Social Regard? Help!
Hmm... now that I go back and actually read the entry for Social Regard, it explicitly states:
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As for other people's ways: thanks everyone for the responses so far. Some thoughts: Quote:
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This is a fair point. Maybe simply Social Regard (Feared) is the way to go after all. Hmmm.... Last edited by Joe; 07-13-2013 at 08:59 AM. |
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07-13-2013, 07:07 AM | #7 | |
Night Watchman
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: Cambridge, UK
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Re: Wizards - Social Stigma + Social Regard? Help!
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07-13-2013, 09:28 PM | #8 | |
Banned
Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: Europe
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Re: Wizards - Social Stigma + Social Regard? Help!
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It might be better to use a set of levelled UB Perks, such as 1 CP UB per level of Magery, or per full 10 CP in Magery if the character has Limited Magery, i.e. Limited with One-College or Gadget or similar. And likewise 1 CP UB per level of magic-like advantage, such as Oracle, See Invisible and so forth. All the magic-like supernatural trais that you want to make rarer in terms of world demographics. Or you can total up the final CP cost of such traits (i.e. after Limitations, including Power Limitations) and charge a 1 CP UB Perk per 10 CP. Or per 15 CP or per 5 CP, or whatever sounds right to you. |
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07-13-2013, 09:32 PM | #9 | |
Banned
Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: Europe
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Re: Wizards - Social Stigma + Social Regard? Help!
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07-13-2013, 10:06 PM | #10 | |
Join Date: Dec 2007
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Re: Wizards - Social Stigma + Social Regard? Help!
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