Quote:
Originally Posted by whswhs
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I would tend to look at that sort of thing primarily as a political superpower, though I'm not sure if GURPS provides the requisite advantages to define such a superpower straightforwardly.
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I'd probably stat many things the Dr does as powers. I know it is is the 'easy way', but I think it is the best way to define many of the Dr's capabilities. This power could be something like:
Code:
Affliction
Negated Advantage: Positive Reputation +1 (Competent Leader, whole country)
Negated Advantage (Over time): X levels of Status
Disadvantage: Negative Reputation -1 (Incompetent Leader, whole country)
Mostly Permanent
Misc modifiers for targeting, triggering, limited use, etc
A small penalty to reaction rolls and social skills would likely spell the end of success for a politician in most circumstances, and would be disastrous if the politician is in any kind of precarious position. Negating the status helps ensure a complete downfall.
To put this into a real game, I'd use a house rule and let the negated positive reputation be anything related to being a popular or well-thought-of politician for maybe 2x or 3x the cost, as well as allowing both reputations to match any smaller scale to (eg, for local politicians the negative would only extend to their district, with the bonus that the area of the negated reputation doesn't have to be 'whole country').
The word trigger made me think of another way to think about it - perhaps the doctor has something more like an affliction that gives reaction bonuses that he can end with a trigger. After all, he was involved in the events that led to Harriet Jones looking like/being a hero etc. Maybe he 'gave her his blessing' back then, and then rescinded it the time of this downfall. If not as an actually power, this is very much how his attitude towards her appeared - pleased and impressed at their first meeting, then disappointed and angered when he caused her downfall.