CoH: discretion?

[jason taylor]

This is an add on to the regular CoH of appropriate occupations. It would include never betraying a customer's secrets. This could be relevant to a courtesan or a more geisha like semi-platonic hired escort. It would also be relevant to a bartender or other entertainers that might come across personal secrets.

It would be relevant to any profession that is likely to involve confidences. This includes familiar ones like cleric, and attorney. It also could be given for Mercenaries, assassins, cat burglar's working on commission. Courtiers, Diplomats, military personal, spies, journalists.

In the more extreme forms the holder would have to be willing to face prison at least for the sake of clients. A spy that carries an L-pill is of course an obvious example.

[Anthony]

It's either a quirk or a 5 pointer, depending on whether you're the type of person who knows the types of secrets where you can go to jail for not revealing them.

[whswhs]

If there be trouble to Herward, and a lie of blackest can clear,
Lie, while thy lips can speak and a man is alive to hear.

(Rudyard Kipling, "Certain Maxims of Hafiz")

I'd call that either an inherent assumption of CoH (Professional or Gentleman) or a one-point quirk that adds an extra specification to how the disadvantage manifests.

[jason taylor]

Thomas Magnum in the reboot once had spend a night in a lockup for contempt when he refused to give his client's secrets away.

The judge that ordered that later hired Magnum because someone was trying to fix a trial by blackmailing the judge. She decided that Magnum's credit was sound (essentially he bought reputation points).

[Anthony]

I would note that some people actually have this as a perk or advantage, in that they have a specific exemption to rules on testifying.

[Ramidel]

It's part of a five-point Professional or Pirate's CoH.

[cmdicely]

Originally Posted by Anthony

I would note that some people actually have this as a perk or advantage, in that they have a specific exemption to rules on testifying.

That’s not really the same kind of thing as the CoH though; its a legal immunity that doesn’t mean you won’t tell, it just means you can’t be forced by the State. You could have that without the CoH, vice versa, or both together. (It might come with a social or legal prohibition tied to the immunity, which I guess is conceptually a kind of Duty accompanying the Legal Immunity, but usually it should be non-Hazardous and low enough frequency of appearance to not be worth points.)

Of course, if you have the legal immunity and it applies to the same set of secrets as the CoH, it should reduce the value of the CoH (probably to no more than a quirk in most circumstances), since it reduces the potential consequences of upholding the CoH.

[WingedKagouti]

Originally Posted by cmdicely

Of course, if you have the legal immunity and it applies to the same set of secrets as the CoH, it should reduce the value of the CoH (probably to no more than a quirk in most circumstances), since it reduces the potential consequences of upholding the CoH.

To expand a bit, CoH is priced for how invonvenient it is to follow and not for the consequences of breaking it. When taking a CoH you're expected to follow it unless it conflicts with another disadvantage and breaking it in other circumstances should fall under Bad Roleplaying™.

Originally Posted by B127

You must do more than pay lip service to a set of principles to get points for a Code of Honor. You must be a true follower of the Code!

If your culture expects discretion/confidentiality from your profession, CoH: Discretion should rarely be more than a perk on its own.

[jason taylor]

Originally Posted by cmdicely

That’s not really the same kind of thing as the CoH though; its a legal immunity that doesn’t mean you won’t tell, it just means you can’t be forced by the State. You could have that without the CoH, vice versa, or both together. (It might come with a social or legal prohibition tied to the immunity, which I guess is conceptually a kind of Duty accompanying the Legal Immunity, but usually it should be non-Hazardous and low enough frequency of appearance to not be worth points.)

Of course, if you have the legal immunity and it applies to the same set of secrets as the CoH, it should reduce the value of the CoH (probably to no more than a quirk in most circumstances), since it reduces the potential consequences of upholding the CoH.

It is not hard to arrange ways to circumvent this.

Parishioner tells Father Jones that he saw a mob killing because he was burglarizing the place it happened.
Court calls Father Jones to testify. Father Jones refuses.
Rival gang suspects Father Jones knows something. Rival gang are Chinese not Italians and hence unconcerned about priestly sanctity.

[David Johnston2]

Originally Posted by cmdicely

That’s not really the same kind of thing as the CoH though; its a legal immunity that doesn’t mean you won’t tell, it just means you can’t be forced by the State. You could have that without the CoH, vice versa, or both together. (It might come with a social or legal prohibition tied to the immunity, which I guess is conceptually a kind of Duty accompanying the Legal Immunity, but usually it should be non-Hazardous and low enough frequency of appearance to not be worth points.)

Of course, if you have the legal immunity and it applies to the same set of secrets as the CoH, it should reduce the value of the CoH (probably to no more than a quirk in most circumstances), since it reduces the potential consequences of upholding the CoH.

I disagree. When you are Blind but invest in Daredevils super senses you still get the full value for blindness. Furthermore "You are required to testify in court about what that guy at your bar told you" is only one situation where pressure might be put on you to be indiscreet and it's not even one of the more common scenarios. And of course there is no code of honor that has only one tenet. A "code" that only has a single tenet is a Vow.