Re: [DF] Why isn't Detects as Evil more of a disadvantage?
 

I didn't say that if your player was evil that other evil beings will single you out to attack you. I am saying that is you are evil other evil beings will be no more likely to be friendly than to a neutral person. A good person will likely be attacked.

Re: [DF] Why isn't Detects as Evil more of a disadvantage?
 

Really? How often do you figure people use their Detect Good inside their own temple against their own personnel? I mean it's possible, sure, but I doubt it's S.O.P. every time you run into Bob from Accounting unless they are really running a tight ship.

Re: [DF] Why isn't Detects as Evil more of a disadvantage?
 

One thing I think is neat about the Detect ability in GURPS is that it comes with the ability to analyze with an IQ roll. So you don't only get to know the direction to the nearest source of evil, but you get to know some details as to what KIND of evil you are talking about.

Venial sinners can register differently from mortal sinners, excommunicated sinners, traffickers in dark powers, creatures of darkness and those tainted by such things.

Re: [DF] Why isn't Detects as Evil more of a disadvantage?
 

Honesty, Sense of Duty, Charitable and so on are disadvantages.

Re: [DF] Why isn't Detects as Evil more of a disadvantage?
 

Yes, but those would not give you away if you are in areas of evil. And yes monsters and evil clerics and unholy warriors will attempt to use this power or cast this spell on those they do not know because the forces good are one of the biggest problems for evil organizations. In some dungeons where the monsters are sitting in a room waiting to be killed this is not a problem but in dungeons where players have to infiltrate something like an evil temple being good is a problem. In most active dungeons (dungeons where the monsters and evil NPCs work together) it is almost suicide to attack head on because all of the forces of evil will attack at once. The best way to be in these types of dungeons is to keep a low profile and use guerilla tactics. Detecting as good will not allow you to keep a low profile IMO.

Re: [DF] Why isn't Detects as Evil more of a disadvantage?
 

What does Detect (Good) detect then if not characters with "good" traits?

Re: [DF] Why isn't Detects as Evil more of a disadvantage?
 

It detects items and stuff imbued with good too. But I don't have a problem with this power itis just that a PC that detects as good is at a big disadvantage in a DF game. They have to find some way to obscure their goodness or they have to never interact with any of the NPCs or monsters that can detect good.

Re: [DF] Why isn't Detects as Evil more of a disadvantage?
 

Would False Aura hide a person that detects as good? Could it make him/her detect as evil?

Re: [DF] Why isn't Detects as Evil more of a disadvantage?
 

It boils down to an implicit but system-wide decision to disregard the phenomenon of Distinctive Feature, and treating it as some Quirk-magnitude thing, instead of looking at the true potential for inconvenience for the character.

I've gone a different route in Sagatafl, one more like that taken in Hero System, although in the actual case of Alignment (which works more like I believe it does in D&D4, than in previous editions, in that very few characters have Alignment[1]) the Distinctive Feature mechanic isn't used for it, because Alignment doesn't just make one detectable by supernatural means (e.g. a Sense Holiness Power), it also makes one vulnerable to certain attack types that are harmless when used against the unAligned, and makes one more vulnerable against other attack types, e.g. a Blessed Weapon that does double damage against Evil-Aligned targets.

(It may also make one vulnerable to certain beneficial effects of Powers from the opposed Alignment, although in some cases that doesn't make sense. It strikes me as very unChristian to be unable to heal a Satanist, for instance.)

As for GURPS, one thing you could do is look into the Noisy Limitation, and consider applying it to some Advantages, such as Power Investiture, Blessed and True Faith. It's not the way the RAW meant Noisy to be used, I'm fairly sure, and you should probably also halve the Limitation value of Noisy (IIRC there are two versions, -20% and -40%, so maybe halve those to -10% and -20%), because it can only be detected via supernatural means (Hero System has a similar rule for its Distinctive Feature, and this is implicit in Sagatafl as well).

This has the effect of making a character that has both Blessed and True Faith, as well as several levels of Power Investiture, very noisy indeed, but then again if someone has all of that, then he is a beacon of supernatural power, not entirely unlike the "Gandalf was here" scene from "Fellowship of the Ring".

In Sagatafl, I just treat Alignment as a seperate DisAdvantage, in six levels but with only the two lowest levels available to mortals, and with it being a prerequisite for Divine Powers. An ordinary priest or monk or hermit with some Divine Powers would (/should) have the first level, while a high-powered character like a Saint or Paladin should have the second level. Someone that is 1/8 angel might have the third level, and so forth.

(Someone with no Divine Powers can have either mortal level.)

So that's another option in GURPS. -5 CPs for the first level, -10 CPs for the second (I tend to dislike GURPS' pentophilia, but in this case I think -5/-10 CP are good values), and it becomes a legit DisAdvantage REquired Limitation on Powers (possibly even a mandatory one), with most normal Powers only being eligible for the -5 CP version, but some of the more extreme powers that I imagine are in DF11 (which I don't have yet) having the second level as a prerequisite (and therefore also being eligible for a -20% Power Limitation, vs a -15% Power Limitation on more normal Powers).

Except when this gets funky. Imagine you have a regular Healing Power gimped with all sorts of -10% gestures and -10% Incantations, and no Enhancements. That's clearly a low-level power, so it requires the -5 CP version of Alignment: Good, and is eligible for the -15% Power Limitation (-10% as per the RAW in DF, IIRC, and then another -5% because 1st level Alignment is required).

Then imagine a much more powerful version of Healing, with Gesturss and Incantations removed, and Enhanced with Ranged and a couple of levels of Reduced Fatigue Cost. That's clearly a strong power, so it requires the -10 CP version of Alignemnt: Good, and is eligible for the -20% Power Limitation.

But what happens if a character has the weak version, and upgrades to the strong version? Does the base Power, Healing -20% Gestures/Incantations also become eligible for the extra -5% Limitation? Or only the "add-ons"?

I can't see a clear answer. It's not a lot of points, either way. We're talking -5% on a base 30 CP Advantage. But I ascribe a high value to answers being clear. And obvious.


[1] And Sagatafl's Alignment rules have been in a state of flux anyway, for the last many years, in that Good vs Evil Alignment doesn't fit my Ärth setting at all, and I've been unsure what to use instead (e.g. different Alignment for Pagan Kelts vs Pagan Norsemen[1], or same?). Chances are I'll go with Divine, Infernal and Pagan, with no strong "vs" involved. Which, incidentally, might also work for GURPS DF, e.g. for Druids. If it isn't implicit already, in its distinction between Good, Evil, Bunny and Elder (Druids would be Bunny Alignment).

[2] ISTR you're working on a setting that is in some ways much like my Ärth setting.


PS. As for the Noisy Limitation, it could get strange, e.g. if a player also puts Noisy on his character's Energy Reserve. Then again, that Noisy would probably only apply when the character draws from the Energy Reserve, and you could get a fairly neat simulation of paganism if you slap some kind of Sacrifice Required Limitation onto Energy Reserve, in order to recharge it. (Which is one of the things that DF: Clerics failed to do.)

Re: [DF] Why isn't Detects as Evil more of a disadvantage?
 

In my Ärth setting, if an Infernal creature, or an otherwise "evil" (whatever that means) creature who can Detect Alignment, encounters a Human who detects as having 2 levels of Good Alignment, then the creature is more likely to flee than to attack, on the assumption that the Human is some kind of butt-kicking Paladinic warrior, or a Saint with vast Divine Powers.