[Basic] Disadvantage of the Week: Loner

[johndallman]

Loner [-5*] is a mundane mental disadvantage with a self-control roll. You like to be alone, or at least not have people too close. The disadvantage appeared in GURPS Uplift for 3e, as part of the species psychology system, but isn't limited to that; plenty of real people have something like it.

If someone is intruding on you, by watching you, getting too close or just hanging around, you need to make a self-control roll, or react to them as if you had Bad Temper and had failed a self-control roll for that. In fact, this is basically Bad Temper (only when being crowded, -50%). NPCs with Loner react to everyone at a penalty, from -4 with a 6- self-control roll to -1 with a 15- roll. The Uncongenial quirk is a smaller version. People with [-5] Odious Personal Habits like “Overly familiar,” or “Stands too close” will be extra-annoying to loners.

Loner is a moderately common option on published character templates. It tends to be found on assasins, demonologists, dragons, druids, hackers, hunters, necromancers, ninjas, thieves, and other less-than-social types. Banestorm has several kinds of sapient creature who are all Loners, and Bio-Tech can gengineeer it into you. Fantasy gives some exotic beasts Loner, Horror reckons Serial- and Psycho-killers all have it, and of course Madness Dossier can give it to you. Monster Hunters points out that telepaths may well adopt this disadvantage just to get some peace, and Social Engineering adds details on the societal effects of Loner. Space uses this disadvantage in the alien psychology rules, and makes it an option for many kinds of explorers, while Tactical Shooting makes it a symptom of PTSD.

We had fun with one PC who had Loner in our Reign of Steel/Action campaign set in Zone London. There were three SAS members, who stuck together by reflex, and an MI6 agent with Overconfidence and Loner, who was the intrusion specialist. So he'd go off on his own, and the rest of the party would wait until it became clear he was in trouble, and then go and rescue him.

Have any Loners disappeared without trace in your games?

[vicky_molokh]

I've taken it and seen it taken at various times, but I was never happy with the way it works. The Bad Temper bit seems like it's a 'Hollywood' version of a disadvantage: just has to be in-your-face, just has to be conveyed through audiovisual cues. I'd much prefer a variant which works like reverse Chummy, giving penalties when there's too many people around (at the milder level) or when even one other person is infringing on personal space (the stronger level).

[Icelander]

Originally Posted by vicky_molokh

I've taken it and seen it taken at various times, but I was never happy with the way it works. The Bad Temper bit seems like it's a 'Hollywood' version of a disadvantage: just has to be in-your-face, just has to be conveyed through audiovisual cues. I'd much prefer a variant which works like reverse Chummy, giving penalties when there's too many people around (at the milder level) or when even one other person is infringing on personal space (the stronger level).

Yeah, that seems a lot like what I imagine Loner to be. The addition of the Bad Temper mechanisms feels unnecessary, sort of like forcing all Loners to also have problems with controlling aggression, which doesn't fit nearly all fictional depictions.

[johndallman]

Originally Posted by vicky_molokh

I'd much prefer a variant which works like reverse Chummy, giving penalties when there's too many people around (at the milder level) or when even one other person is infringing on personal space (the stronger level).

The problem with that is that it gives a player strong motives to split up the party, and quite a few gaming groups don't cope well with that.

[Icelander]

Originally Posted by johndallman

The problem with that is that it gives a player strong motives to split up the party, and quite a few gaming groups don't cope well with that.

Well, a trait called Loner may probably be assumed to provide an incentive to split the party if someone takes it.

I usually prefer that PCs be gregarious, engaged extroverts who seek out NPCs to get to know and care about and look askance at any broody, introverted Loners. For one thing, without visual cues or copious descriptive notes, it's hard to know what characters who don't interact much with others are thinking or feeling. Inner monologues might work in some mediums, but I've never seen it done successfully in an RPG.

But while I might try to guide a player toward a character concept more suitable for a protagonist in a non-written, non-visual media, I don't expect that a trait named 'Loner' will be unsuitable for modelling quiet, non-confrontational introverts. After all, even if no player takes on such a role as a challenge, perhaps coordinating with a social butterfly PC who is meant to contrast and spur the Loner PC into bonding with his fellow PCs, I might want to use the trait to model NPCs.

[Dalin]

Originally Posted by johndallman

The problem with that is that it gives a player strong motives to split up the party, and quite a few gaming groups don't cope well with that.

Yeah, but even in party-based DF games where everyeone may have SoD (Adventuring Companions), I can see a character who prefers to be away from the others. I picture a scout, thief, or maybe barbarian, who volunteers to scout, keep watch at the edge of things, and otherwise just keep a bit away from the group. The character is more likely to get into trouble, but it would be manageable. I could see this version of loner working well with some skill penalties: a thief who isn't cranky about it, but gets nervous and can't pick locks as well when the group is hovering; a scout whose perceptions are sharper when they're not distracted by the group; etc.

[Gumby Bush]

I would be inclined to ignore the "react as if having Bad Temper" as being just one particular gloss on the trait. It seems fair enough to simply require the character to do something to get the intruder out of their space. If they're supposed to be a quiet type, they close the book and walk away. Maybe hide in the bathroom with the book for several hours while they finish it away from the nosy guy... and where they won't be able to hear the rest of the party get ambushed.

Particularly when characters are being hunted or otherwise at risk when splitting the party, that seems plenty deadly.

That said, I tend to go with the quirk-level version instead.

As to the attribute-penalty modification, I've always avoided Chummy on account of the attribute penalty (preferring something like compulsive carousing), so I would be averse to using that mechanism... But a limited version of Confused (Only when over-stimulation is due to social stimulus -20%?) might work out.

[khorboth]

Loner has been very popular among my group where we haven't shied away from some one-on-one time with the GM. This has led to several instances where the GM has had to come back to the group of players and said that we can't have an entire group of loners, so some characters are going to have to change.

Our current Star Wars group has two Loners and two Chummy people which leads to some really interesting party friction. "Everybody come to the Galley, I made dinner! Let's play Sabaac!" "No."

[WingedKagouti]

Originally Posted by khorboth

Loner has been very popular among my group where we haven't shied away from some one-on-one time with the GM. This has led to several instances where the GM has had to come back to the group of players and said that we can't have an entire group of loners, so some characters are going to have to change.

I don't envy your GM at all, a "group" of mostly Loner PCs (and players wanting that kind of gameplay) would take a lot of effort to coordinate. Might as well run a bunch of mini 1-man campaigns instead, as everyone is already likely to be off on their own most of the time.

[vicky_molokh]

Originally Posted by WingedKagouti

I don't envy your GM at all, a "group" of mostly Loner PCs (and players wanting that kind of gameplay) would take a lot of effort to coordinate. Might as well run a bunch of mini 1-man campaigns instead, as everyone is already likely to be off on their own most of the time.

Not necessarily. In a way it would be quite interesting to see a campaign with a setup similar to the vampire revolt in Echopraxia.