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Old 06-29-2018, 03:14 PM   #1
johndallman
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Default [Basic] Disadvantage of the Week: Draining

Draining [-5 to -20] is a supernatural physical disadvantage. It’s a bit like a very specific Dependency, but is separate, and you can have both disadvantages. Once per day, at a standard time, you take 2 HP of damage. The only way to recover this damage is to take a daily dose of a specific substance. You can’t heal this damage naturally, magically, technologically or in any other way, no matter what your other abilities are. You can have Regeneration, but it does not help with this damage. If you are deprived of your required substance for long enough, you will die.

The disadvantage appeared in the 3e period, as “The Draining,” which was specific to vampires. The 4e version has been generalised, and is still part of Basic’s vampire template. Its value depends on the rarity and legality of the substance. Human blood is common and illegal, worth [-10]. Examples in GURPS supplements include some that are much weirder.

Bio-Tech has magic that can give a fetus this disadvantage (Ew), and there’s a DF artifact which uses Draining to make its owner dependent on keeping it. Fantasy, Horror and Monster Hunters have more kinds of vampire, and Transhuman Space: Changing Times allows this disadvantage for high-tech drugs.

This is another of those disadvantages that’s only important in specific settings. I’ve never seen it used, although it has potential for creating weird situations, and thus problems for PCs. Has it been significant in your games?
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Old 06-29-2018, 05:07 PM   #2
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Default Re: [Basic] Disadvantage of the Week: Draining

I wouldn't call it significant in anything I have ran but its a good thing to have in the toolbox. I could see it as a mundane disadvantage as well, say the White for the Jehm Haddar in Deep Space 9 which were a genetically created race.
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Old 07-01-2018, 11:26 AM   #3
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Default Re: [Basic] Disadvantage of the Week: Draining

Quote:
Originally Posted by Refplace View Post
I wouldn't call it significant in anything I have ran but its a good thing to have in the toolbox. I could see it as a mundane disadvantage as well, say the White for the Jehm Haddar in Deep Space 9 which were a genetically created race.
The other way to model the Jem'Hadar's "addiction" to Ketracel White as a straight-up Dependency. It all depends on how quickly you want them to collapse without their drug.

Thinking about it, Draining = Dependency, except that with Draining you lose HP first and have to recover them, and with Dependency you only lose HP if you don't get your periodic dose. Additionally, the HP loss is much more limited for Draining.

Draining should be Dependency (Daily, x3) which gives a cost of -90 for Rare substance, -60 for Occasional, or -40 for Common. It has an enhancement that you take damage prior to your dose, but a serious limitation that you max out at losing 2 HP per day, vs. 24 HP for Dependency.

Given the current cost for Draining, it's a -83% (-90/-15) limitation on Dependency, which we'll round down to -80%. Conveniently, the 2 HP you lose per day from Draining is 1/12 (8.3%) of the 24 HP you could lose in a day from Dependency.

So, that makes a reduced damage limitation for Dependency possible:

Slower Damage (-5%/level): You take damage from a missed dose at a slower rate than normal. -5% for 95% of normal, -10% for 90%, -15% for 85%, -20% for 80%, and so on, down to a maximum of -95% for 5% of the normal rate. For loss rates between "level" use the lower of the two cost limitations.

It also makes a Draining enhancement possible:

Draining (Variable): You suffer "proactive damage" from your Dependency. At the end of each time period, you lose 1 HP per level of this enhancement, although it automatically heals once you get your required "dose." Cost is +10% per level, but add +5% if the lost HP can only be healed by the appropriate number of doses of your "drug."

Edit: Not happy with these costs. The problem is that the rate at which you take damage due to a Dependency depends on the time period between doses.

x5 cost = 1,440 HP lost per day (1 HP/min)
x4 cost = 144 HP/day (1 HP/10 min)
x3 cost = 24 HP/day (1 HP/hr)
x2 cost = 4 HP/day (1 HP/6 hr)
x1 cost = 1 HP/day (1 HP/24 hr)
x1/3 cost = 1/3 HP/day (1 HP/3 days)
x1/10 cost = 1/14 HP/day (1 HP/2 weeks)

If you wanted to rationalize things, it might make more sense to start with a baseline of 1 HP/min and go up by an order of magnitude for each reduction in cost multiple

e.g.,
x4 = 144 HP/day
x3 = 14 HP/day
x2 = 1.4 HP/day
x1 = 0.14 HP/day
etc.

Last edited by Pursuivant; 07-03-2018 at 03:41 PM.
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Old 07-01-2018, 11:41 AM   #4
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Default Re: [Basic] Disadvantage of the Week: Draining

When comparing Dependency to Draining, it is often better to have a monthly Dependency than to have Draining. A monthly Dependency gives you more points, you only have to take your dose once a month, and you take half the daily damage if you miss your dose. I think that a monthly Dependency reflects more contemporary interpretations of vampires and other similar creatures found in urban fantasy novels while Draining is more like the vampires of the old Hammer films.

Last edited by AlexanderHowl; 07-01-2018 at 11:44 AM.
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Old 07-02-2018, 05:13 AM   #5
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Default Re: [Basic] Disadvantage of the Week: Draining

Quote:
Originally Posted by Pursuivant View Post
Draining should be Dependency (Daily, x3) which gives a cost of -90 for Rare substance, -60 for Occasional, or -40 for Common. It has an enhancement that you take damage prior to your dose, but a serious limitation that you max out at losing 2 HP per day, vs. 24 HP for Dependency.
Yup. In the GURPS Rationalisation Project* these would definitely be rolled into one.

* for which I'm entirely aware that there's no time, no budget, and not a huge amount of demand.
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Old 07-02-2018, 06:03 AM   #6
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Default Re: [Basic] Disadvantage of the Week: Draining

Quote:
Originally Posted by AlexanderHowl View Post
I think that a monthly Dependency reflects more contemporary interpretations of vampires and other similar creatures found in urban fantasy novels while Draining is more like the vampires of the old Hammer films.
If I'm remembering my GURPS history correctly, Draining was introduced into GURPS via the Vampire: The Masquerade conversion. From there it wound up in the Compendium in a slightly more generic form, and then on into 4th Edition.
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Old 07-02-2018, 06:57 AM   #7
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Default Re: [Basic] Disadvantage of the Week: Draining

And VtM predates many of the contemporary urban fantasy novels (many of them were influenced by VtM though). The vampires of VtM are much more fragile that the vampires of contemporary urban fantasy when it comes to sunlight, they take the equivalent on 1d of damage every 3 seconds of exposure, which would probably be a 120 point disadvantage for GURPS.
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Old 07-02-2018, 10:11 AM   #8
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Default Re: [Basic] Disadvantage of the Week: Draining

Dependency and Draining really do feel like the same trait in different forms. Making them the same is probably as simple as figuring out a consistent way to vary loss rate and intake rate.


Draining is pretty much a worse deal than Dependency. People have compared it with a daily requirement and then capping the damage, but the loss rate is closer to a monthly dependency. Even then, the dependency does half the damage for double the points, requires the substance 1/30th as often, and doesn't do the damage in advance.
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Old 07-02-2018, 10:43 AM   #9
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Default Re: [Basic] Disadvantage of the Week: Draining

Quote:
Originally Posted by ericthered View Post
Dependency and Draining really do feel like the same trait in different forms. Making them the same is probably as simple as figuring out a consistent way to vary loss rate and intake rate.


Draining is pretty much a worse deal than Dependency. People have compared it with a daily requirement and then capping the damage, but the loss rate is closer to a monthly dependency. Even then, the dependency does half the damage for double the points, requires the substance 1/30th as often, and doesn't do the damage in advance.
While I can't be bothered digging up the exact Kromm-post on the topic, the difference I remember in the Draining's favour is you get your HP back once you have your dose - whereas Dependency does damage that you need to recover from normally.

I totally agree with you that Dependency is usually a better deal, since by the time you lose HP from a monthly Dependency you'd have already lost 60 HP from Draining.
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Old 07-02-2018, 10:46 AM   #10
AlexanderHowl
 
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Default Re: [Basic] Disadvantage of the Week: Draining

I agree, I think that it is best to ignore Draining and to treat the need for human blood as one or more of Addiction, Dependency (Monthly), and/or Restricted Diet (usually with some level of Reduced Consumption). You could have something similar to the effect of Draining with Addiction (Total, Human Blood) and Dependency (Human Blood, Monthly). It would be worth three times as much and still hurt less than Draining.
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