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Old 11-28-2005, 05:55 PM   #1
Tiger Maggot
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Default Mentally retarded characters

How would you handle various types of retarded characters? I was watching Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome the other night and it occurred to me I've never really seen much info on designing someone with Down's, or any other serious learning disabilities. It seems cheap to just assign a very low IQ and be done with it.

Granted, I realize very few people would play someone that messed up except as a really special roleplaying challenge, but think of the potential for "Master Blaster" types or Dependents. Blaster (the Down's Syndrome afflicted half of Blaster Master) was a very tragic foe, and kidnapping a retarded Dependent makes a bad guy come off as REALLY crusty. I'm sure someone out there would possibly want to have Bleh (Drawn Together) do a cameo in a campaign too.
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Old 11-28-2005, 06:27 PM   #2
Lord_Kjeran
 
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Default Re: Mentally retarded characters

Chello!

There's a girl who has Downs that goes to my church...she is one of the sweetest persons I've ever met. If one doesn't do a new disad, I'd go with some of the following: unattractive or ugly, absent-mindedness, bad grip, bad temper, confused, curious, delusions, disturbing voice, dyslexia, easy to read, gullibility, ham-fisted, hidebound, indecisive, klutz, oblivious, overweight, short attention span, shyness, stuttering.

Any combination of the above could be used to simiulate some of the behaviors I've seen in Downs patirnts or the mentally challenged.

Tony
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Q: GM, are you using the d20 rules system?
A: No. GURPS is fun. D20 games are not fun. The GM says so.

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Last edited by Paul; 11-29-2005 at 10:06 AM.
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Old 11-28-2005, 06:46 PM   #3
Toubrouk
 
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Default Re: Mentally retarded characters

I agree with Lord_Kjeran but i would also add to his list social stigma (Andrew Hackard gave us a good example) and sterile (Not so long ago, mentaly challenged used to be sterilized when they reached puberty).

we can also add to the list all the disavantages (or advantages!) that mentally challenged can get in any given world.

A huge drop of I.Q. is useless; 8 or 9 is taxing enough.
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Old 11-28-2005, 07:22 PM   #4
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Default Re: Mentally retarded characters

Chello!

Yeah, I'd say about 8 is about as low as you'd want (or need to go)...part. with disads like hidebound or guillibility.

And I didn't list social stigma...you're right about that. Would Patron be appropriate if you had a legal guardian? There is also the real possibility of not having a say in your legal affairs....probably covered by social stigma.

Tony
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Anthony N. Emmel
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Q: GM, are you using the d20 rules system?
A: No. GURPS is fun. D20 games are not fun. The GM says so.

Playing d20/3.5 makes Baby Jesus cry.
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Old 11-28-2005, 07:29 PM   #5
Ze'Manel Cunha
 
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Default Re: Mentally retarded characters

Quote:
Originally Posted by Toubrouk
A huge drop of I.Q. is useless; 8 or 9 is taxing enough.
8 or 9 is within normal average variation, for modeling the truly "special" you have to start at IQ 7 and head lower.
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Old 11-28-2005, 08:03 PM   #6
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Default Re: Mentally retarded characters

Chello!

Go any lower than 7 with the right disads and you will truly cripple the charcater though. Remeber IQ doesn't just model staright IQ...combined with some of those mental disads....

Tony
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Anthony N. Emmel
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Q: GM, are you using the d20 rules system?
A: No. GURPS is fun. D20 games are not fun. The GM says so.

Playing d20/3.5 makes Baby Jesus cry.
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Old 11-28-2005, 08:21 PM   #7
Toubrouk
 
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Default Re: Mentally retarded characters

Quote:
Originally Posted by Lord_Kjeran
Would Patron be appropriate if you had a legal guardian? There is also the real possibility of not having a say in your legal affairs....probably covered by social stigma.
In the case of a legal gardian, i believe it would fails into the same realm of a children (Dead Broke+Social Stigma+Patrons:Parents). You change the Patron and you modify the frequency of appearance by how much the legal guardian really cares.

Wealth is also a possible disavantage. Someone mentaly challenged would have a hard time getting a well-pay job.
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Old 11-28-2005, 08:33 PM   #8
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Default Re: Mentally retarded characters

Quote:
Originally Posted by Ze'Manel Cunha
8 or 9 is within normal average variation, for modeling the truly "special" you have to start at IQ 7 and head lower.
I am not a big fan of a really low I.Q. stat. I believe that an I.Q. of 8 with some chosen mental disavantages would be an handicap enough. Let's remember; between 8 and 10, in GURPS terms, you got a increased chance of sucess of 50%. This is why i don't believe we need to drop the I.Q. bellow of 8 for a mentally chalenged. If you go for 7 and lower, any mental disavantage resisted by I.Q. became a jail.
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Old 11-28-2005, 08:38 PM   #9
Ze'Manel Cunha
 
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Default Re: Mentally retarded characters

Quote:
Originally Posted by Toubrouk
I am not a big fan of a really low I.Q. stat. I believe that an I.Q. of 8 with some chosen mental disavantages would be an handicap enough. Let's remember; between 8 and 10, in GURPS terms, you got a increased chance of sucess of 50%. This is why i don't believe we need to drop the I.Q. bellow of 8 for a mentally chalenged. If you go for 7 and lower, any mental disavantage resisted by I.Q. became a jail.
IQ 8 should be about as common as IQ 12, and they both have the same relation to IQ 10.

I have a couple of threads regarding how stats interact...
There's this:
Charting 4e Attributes
http://forums.sjgames.com/showthread.php?t=5170

and for low point fun there's:
Average People: Characters [0] to [-50]
http://forums.sjgames.com/showthread.php?t=5020

Then there's this snarky one I toned down:
Defining Human Average, the new paradigm in 4e. & What's up with Talents?
http://forums.sjgames.com/showthread.php?t=4993

Edit: There aren't any disadvantages resisted by IQ.
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Last edited by Ze'Manel Cunha; 11-29-2005 at 12:08 AM.
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Old 11-28-2005, 08:49 PM   #10
Tiger Maggot
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Default Re: Mentally retarded characters

Thanks for the help.

Next question: would you waive the normal limit on Disadvantage points, but give them less points to spend so it more or less balances? I don't really see a retarded character being worth much more than 50 points, and that assumes a Blaster.
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