[Basic] Disadvantage of the Week: Truthfulness

[johndallman]

Truthfulness [-5*]is a mundane mental disadvantage, with a self-control roll, but not a self-imposed disadvantage. You are no good at telling lies, for either moral or emotional reasons. You need to make a self-control roll to lie by omission, or to make one at -5 to actively tell an untruth. This disadvantage dates from GURPS 1e, but was revised for self-control rolls at 4e.

If you fail a self-control roll, you can’t help revealing the truth, or you lie so badly that it is obvious. This disadvantage has synergy with Easy to Read, but has to be carefully distinguished from Honesty, which is about not breaking the law. Acting takes the -5 penalty from this disadvantage when used to lie, and Fast-Talk always takes that penalty.

Truthfulness is a fairly common disadvantage option on published templates. Banestorm’s Julnari Dervishes take a Vow not to lie, which is different, and Bio-Tech has a TL10 drug that inflicts this disadvantage. As for so many disadvantages, Power-Ups 6 has quirk-level versions, but that’s about it for additional rules.

I’ve never used this disadvantage as such as a GM, but Infinite Cabal had significant NPCs who carefully avoided lying. One was Infinity’s liaison with the PCs, who decided early on that lying to these powerful people from strange cultures was a poor idea, and much later actually told them about it. Others included various deities, a Platonic ideal of an ambassador, and Ouroboros, who felt that telling lies is pointless when speaking is handicapped by having to keep your tail in your mouth all the time.

The only PC of mine who’s been Truthful that I recall was a Reign of Steel SAS medic, who just wasn’t a face-man, and could accept others being economical with the truth. Occasionally, a piece of total truth like “We are desperate men,” said when holding up a Zone Washington police station, was actually useful.

Until I did the reading for this article, I had a mistaken idea that Truthfulness was difficult to Afflict. That goes on the list for an Affliction-(ab)user, someday, along with Gullibility.

How has Truthfulness played in your games?

[ericthered]

I've noted in the past that Divine Curse (Must tell truth) is often a better fit for supernatural beings that literally cannot lie, especially if they can be deceptive. The cost is still based on truthfulness though.



I have records of several character sheets with truthfulness, but none of those games ever got off of the ground. In the type of game I usually play or run truthfulness can be a big deal.

[Rupert]

My current game has several Truthful PCs. They're Honest as well. Watching the players trying to weasel round these can be entertaining sometimes. Other times it's frustrating.

[NineDaysDead]

Originally Posted by ericthered

I've noted in the past that Divine Curse (Must tell truth) is often a better fit for supernatural beings that literally cannot lie, especially if they can be deceptive. The cost is still based on truthfulness though.

Where's that from?

[Ulzgoroth]

Originally Posted by NineDaysDead

Where's that from?

Well, Divine Curse is an infinitely-variable Disadvantage that's right in Characters, so it's from the Basic Set.

That specific example might have been put in print somewhere else though.

[Celjabba]

Originally Posted by Ulzgoroth

Well, Divine Curse is an infinitely-variable Disadvantage that's right in Characters, so it's from the Basic Set.

That specific example might have been put in print somewhere else though.

In "Casey et Andy" Satan have Divine Curse (Never tell an outright lie)

[khorboth]

I've played this a few times and have seen it regularly among PCs. I put it on my personal character sheet as well, much to the consternation of my friends and family who wish I'd believe in the existence of harmless lies.

The interesting thing for me is that I've seen 3 solid interpretations of it which all work for the disadvantage as written.

1) philosophy: "Lying is wrong and I won't do it under any circumstances. Even to save a life."

2) ineptitude: "Don't trust me with a secret. I have more nervous ticks than a center for lime disease research. Sure, I could lie IN THEORY, but I break out in sweats, can't make eye contact and blush crimson."

4) lack of understanding: "What do you mean by 'lie?' Say something not true? On purpose? Why? I don't understand." This can work well for non-humans. The bears in His Dark Materials have this version. I also used it on an animal companion paired with Gullible.

[David Johnston2]

I've never seen it in RPGs, but there are fantasy novels where the fay-folk are constrained never to tell a direct lie and therefore almost never say anything directly.

[NineDaysDead]

Originally Posted by ericthered

I've noted in the past that Divine Curse (Must tell truth) is often a better fit for supernatural beings that literally cannot lie, especially if they can be deceptive. The cost is still based on truthfulness though.

Truthfulness (N/A*) [-12] Would mean you can never tell any falsehoods and always blurt out the truth.

*page 60 Zombies

[Phil Masters]

It strikes me as a plausible sort of disad for a Nice Guy-type hero who's just too gosh-darned good to be comfortable lying. It's also genuinely restrictive without being crippling, so long as the party has at least one faceman type who can stretch the truth when the mission needs it. My most recent PC ended up with it because I needed the poi... uh, because they're a bit of a nerd, in a transhumanist martial arts buff sort of way, and their socialisation needs work. (They are also an Oblivious Workaholic.)

However... My second most recent PC also had it, but promptly bought it off after a couple of sessions. (Strictly speaking, reduced it to a quirk, "Truthfulness with friends and family".) He's a motor-mouthed extrovert, blatantly but loosely inspired by Luis in the Ant-Man movies, who I conceived as talking too quickly to be able to think of a convincing lie before he spoke, and anyway he was brought up by his grandma (God rest her soul), who impressed on him that lying was a sin (and she was a bruja which means that he's not entirely certain whether she's either lookin' down on him from above or likely to come back to haunt him if he does wrong but either way he ain't gonna risk it). However, an even more crucial part of his character concept was Fast-Talk skill (not so much a skill more a lifestyle), which was getting clobbered for -4 by the disad, which annoyed me too much.

I still say that he should be capable of fast-talking the exact words truth...