[Basic] Disadvantage of the Week: Low Empathy

johndallman · 05-03-2019, 02:32 AM

Low Empathy [-20] is a mundane mental disadvantage, representing an inability to understand emotions, including your own. This severely handicaps your social interactions. It appeared in Compendium I for GURPS 3e.

You may not have the Empathy advantage, or the Callous or Oblivious disadvantages. You have -3 on a long list of social-interaction skills which rely on understanding other people's feelings, including all the Influence skills. You can still learn the affected skills: this is not a collection of Incompetence quirks. You still have normal emotions yourself, unless you have further disadvantages about that.

This disadvantage is an important part of the Automaton meta-trait, which is used for minds with deficiencies in self-awareness and creativity. This applies to some aliens, less advanced AIs and many magical constructs and undead. Low Empathy is rare on character templates, even as an option. It shows up on a few for people who don't socialise, do it very poorly, or do it mainly through violence. Bio-Tech has uplifted animals who suffer from it, as do various kinds of DF9 Summoners, and Angels. Plenty of Horror opponents have Low Empathy, as do some Madness Dossier PCs, even without the drugs that can give it to anyone. Martial Arts has this disadvantage as a possible result of brain injuries, and Power-Ups 3 uses it in evaluating the value of an anti-talent. Reign of Steel: Will to Live robots have it even if they aren't Automata, and Space uses it in the alien species personality rules. The Thaumatology series uses it for some sapient magical items, Alchemical Baroque fairies, and Urban Magics lost souls; Transhuman Space: Changing times uses it for all LAIs. Ultra-Tech has AIs that have a sense of humour, and Low Empathy, who are pretty poor comedians, but not as bad as the wide variety of Zombies with this disadvantage.

The only Low Empathy characters I've played have been THS LAI assistants. It's vaguely amusing to keep getting social things somewhat wrong, but I find it hard work to keep up for more than a few minutes. How has this disadvantage played in your games?

WingedKagouti · 05-03-2019, 03:32 AM

From personal experience, Low Empathy could also represent an aspect of Autism. Having some level of Autism can have a severe impact on your understanding of emotions without preventing you from having emotions yourself. Oblivious may be a better fit in milder instances of Autism, but there are definitely cases where Low Empathy is apropriate.

Flyndaran · 05-03-2019, 08:02 AM

I tend to put this on perhaps too many characters as it's mainly just a not too exaggerated form of what I had growing up. Heck, it might perfectly fit how I was until around age 13. So it doesn't feel inhuman or really that weird, even though I know it is.

In game mechanics, it's a penalty to social skills, and not much else. When in a team, that's not much of a problem. But when alone, that would be debilitating.

WingedKagouti · 05-03-2019, 08:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Flyndaran

I tend to put this on perhaps too many characters as it's mainly just an exaggerated form of what I had growing up. So it doesn't feel inhuman or really that weird, even though I know it is.

I could definitely see the game having -1 and -2 penality variants of Low Empathy, similar to Shyness having multiple levels with different penalities.

Flyndaran · 05-03-2019, 08:30 AM

I fully agree. If I'm being optimistic, I could say that I've now improved to Oblivious in my 40s. If so, then I had to have progressed through those hypothetical middle forms.
But for some games that may be too "fiddly" or granular. Many gamers may just want Oblivious for "nerdy/socially awkward", and Low Empathy for "alien/outsider".

The Colonel · 05-03-2019, 09:01 AM

How would this tie into something like narcissistic personality disorder? (Which, as I understand it, is what we used to call "being a psychopath").

As I understand it, that condition is meant to involve a complete lack of empathy but the ability to recognise and manipulate emotional responses in others? Might that just be indicative of someone who has bought off the skills penalties?

Also, presumably this disadvantage should provide protection from some forms of fright checks (or at least a resistance bonus)? Specifically for anything that implies an aspect of relating to someone else's suffering...

Presumably if you play the sort of elevated stringency campaign in which PCs are expected to have some level of pacifism disad or to buy it off, this could be used as an alternative.

jason taylor · 05-03-2019, 09:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Colonel

How would this tie into something like narcissistic personality disorder? (Which, as I understand it, is what we used to call "being a psychopath").

As I understand it, that condition is meant to involve a complete lack of empathy but the ability to recognise and manipulate emotional responses in others? Might that just be indicative of someone who has bought off the skills penalties?

Also, presumably this disadvantage should provide protection from some forms of fright checks (or at least a resistance bonus)? Specifically for anything that implies an aspect of relating to someone else's suffering...

Presumably if you play the sort of elevated stringency campaign in which PCs are expected to have some level of pacifism disad or to buy it off, this could be used as an alternative.

That is two senses of the word. There is being perfectly able to accept others as humans (but unable to sense their feelings). And vice-versa being able to sense their feelings (but indifferent to them except insofar as found personally useful).

The first might be found in a heroic Spock-like character. The second in a femme-fatale.

WingedKagouti · 05-03-2019, 10:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Colonel

How would this tie into something like narcissistic personality disorder? (Which, as I understand it, is what we used to call "being a psychopath").

As I understand it, that condition is meant to involve a complete lack of empathy but the ability to recognise and manipulate emotional responses in others? Might that just be indicative of someone who has bought off the skills penalties?.

That actually sounds closer to the Callous disadvantage. Characters with Callous can recognize emotions in others and may even be very skilled at manipulating those emotions, they just don't have empathy for anyone but themselves. It's even technically possible to have the Empathy advantage along with Callous for a character that is really good at deciphering the emotions of others, but only uses that knowledge to further their own personal goals.

The Empathy advantage says nothing about being a nice person, it's purely about deciphering the emotions of other people. And Low Empathy is the disadvantage version, you may be unable to understand emotions, but you aren't a bad person for that and you may even feel for others (even if you don't understand the emotion you're feeling).

David Johnston2 · 05-03-2019, 10:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Colonel

How would this tie into something like narcissistic personality disorder? (Which, as I understand it, is what we used to call "being a psychopath").

Not at all. NPD is best represented with Bully (and Callous).

jason taylor · 05-03-2019, 11:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by WingedKagouti

That actually sounds closer to the Callous disadvantage. Characters with Callous can recognize emotions in others and may even be very skilled at manipulating those emotions, they just don't have empathy for anyone but themselves. It's even technically possible to have the Empathy advantage along with Callous for a character that is really good at deciphering the emotions of others, but only uses that knowledge to further their own personal goals.

The Empathy advantage says nothing about being a nice person, it's purely about deciphering the emotions of other people. And Low Empathy is the disadvantage version, you may be unable to understand emotions, but you aren't a bad person for that and you may even feel for others (even if you don't understand the emotion you're feeling).

Couldn't Callous represent a jaded person rather than a bully?

05-03-2019, 02:32 AM	#1
johndallman Night Watchman Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: Cambridge, UK	[Basic] Disadvantage of the Week: Low Empathy Low Empathy [-20] is a mundane mental disadvantage, representing an inability to understand emotions, including your own. This severely handicaps your social interactions. It appeared in Compendium I for GURPS 3e. You may not have the Empathy advantage, or the Callous or Oblivious disadvantages. You have -3 on a long list of social-interaction skills which rely on understanding other people's feelings, including all the Influence skills. You can still learn the affected skills: this is not a collection of Incompetence quirks. You still have normal emotions yourself, unless you have further disadvantages about that. This disadvantage is an important part of the Automaton meta-trait, which is used for minds with deficiencies in self-awareness and creativity. This applies to some aliens, less advanced AIs and many magical constructs and undead. Low Empathy is rare on character templates, even as an option. It shows up on a few for people who don't socialise, do it very poorly, or do it mainly through violence. *Bio-Tech* has uplifted animals who suffer from it, as do various kinds of *DF9* Summoners, and Angels. Plenty of *Horror* opponents have Low Empathy, as do some *Madness Dossier* PCs, even without the drugs that can give it to anyone. *Martial Arts* has this disadvantage as a possible result of brain injuries, and *Power-Ups 3* uses it in evaluating the value of an anti-talent. *Reign of Steel: Will* to Live robots have it even if they aren't Automata, and *Space* uses it in the alien species personality rules. The *Thaumatology* series uses it for some sapient magical items, *Alchemical Baroque* fairies, and *Urban Magics* lost souls; *Transhuman Space: Changing* times uses it for all LAIs. *Ultra-Tech* has AIs that have a sense of humour, and Low Empathy, who are pretty poor comedians, but not as bad as the wide variety of *Zombies* with this disadvantage. The only Low Empathy characters I've played have been THS LAI assistants. It's vaguely amusing to keep getting social things somewhat wrong, but I find it hard work to keep up for more than a few minutes. How has this disadvantage played in your games? __________________ The Path of Cunning. Indexes: DFRPG Characters, Advantage of the Week, Disadvantage of the Week, Skill of the Week, Techniques.

05-03-2019, 03:32 AM	#2
WingedKagouti Join Date: Oct 2007	Re: [Basic] Disadvantage of the Week: Low Empathy From personal experience, Low Empathy could also represent an aspect of Autism. Having some level of Autism can have a severe impact on your understanding of emotions without preventing you from having emotions yourself. Oblivious may be a better fit in milder instances of Autism, but there are definitely cases where Low Empathy is apropriate.

05-03-2019, 08:02 AM	#3
Flyndaran Untagged Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Forest Grove, Beaverton, Oregon	Re: [Basic] Disadvantage of the Week: Low Empathy I tend to put this on perhaps too many characters as it's mainly just a not too exaggerated form of what I had growing up. Heck, it might perfectly fit how I was until around age 13. So it doesn't feel inhuman or really that weird, even though I know it is. In game mechanics, it's a penalty to social skills, and not much else. When in a team, that's not much of a problem. But when alone, that would be debilitating. __________________ Beware, poor communication skills. No offense intended. If offended, it just means that I failed my writing skill check. Last edited by Flyndaran; 05-03-2019 at 08:21 AM.

05-03-2019, 08:30 AM	#5
Flyndaran Untagged Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Forest Grove, Beaverton, Oregon	Re: [Basic] Disadvantage of the Week: Low Empathy I fully agree. If I'm being optimistic, I could say that I've now improved to Oblivious in my 40s. If so, then I had to have progressed through those hypothetical middle forms. But for some games that may be too "fiddly" or granular. Many gamers may just want Oblivious for "nerdy/socially awkward", and Low Empathy for "alien/outsider". __________________ Beware, poor communication skills. No offense intended. If offended, it just means that I failed my writing skill check.

05-03-2019, 09:01 AM	#6
The Colonel Join Date: Jul 2006	Re: [Basic] Disadvantage of the Week: Low Empathy How would this tie into something like narcissistic personality disorder? (Which, as I understand it, is what we used to call "being a psychopath"). As I understand it, that condition is meant to involve a complete lack of empathy but the ability to recognise and manipulate emotional responses in others? Might that just be indicative of someone who has bought off the skills penalties? Also, presumably this disadvantage should provide protection from some forms of fright checks (or at least a resistance bonus)? Specifically for anything that implies an aspect of relating to someone else's suffering... Presumably if you play the sort of elevated stringency campaign in which PCs are expected to have some level of pacifism disad or to buy it off, this could be used as an alternative.