[Basic] Disadvantage of the Week: Vulnerability and Weakness

[ericthered]

I’ve never used these disadvantages as a GM, since I’ve never run traditional horror or dungeon-crawling under GURPS, and they feel a bit four-colour-superhero for my taste in PCs. The sole werewolf we fought in the occult WWII game was dangerous enough to make a silver knife and silver bullets fixtures on my equipment list: all wolves are werewolves in that setting, but few want anything to do with human concerns.

Have these disadvantages enlivened your games?

Monster Hunters is my default game for getting a quick group together, and Monster Hunters really leans into these traits, so I've used them a lot, even in their most basic forms. I had one player be an "Eastern Vampire" with a weakness to vinegar, which was interesting. I often make custom monsters for that game, and including new vulnerabilities and weaknesses for them. Or reusing old and common ones.

I use vulnerability quite a bit in more custom settings as well. I have a house-rule where a x1.5 damage modifier costs half of what a x2 costs. I've used that on crushing damage for liches and skeletons, and on some flying foes as well. I've built an alien race that strongly resembles an alien anthill and given them a vulnerability to poisonous gas. I've made a ritual that supernaturally strengthen warriors but give them a magical vulnerability to weapons based on copper.

I don't use weakness as much. Damage is just kind of boring, but...

Originally Posted by johndallman

Some interesting variants for these disadvantages were posted back in 2015, and it seemed worth linking to them.

There was another house rule we built back in 2014. I prefer that build, because the 2015 house rule is based on nocturnal, which is probably under-priced.

Either way, with one of those two rules, you can represent supernatural attacks that stun or place in permanent pain, which is useful. I can't say I actually use it much though.

Of course, most of the time, you don't actually need to figure out the point cost though, because these traits get stuck on monsters, not characters or even allies or enemies. It is important to be able to stat them as characters, but most of the time its as simple as declaring it so (and writing it down).

As a special case, I've used weakness to represent items whose destruction result in the death of the individual. I got the idea from Ravens 'n Pennies, and I seem to point it out to someone every year or so.

Originally Posted by Say, it isn't that bad!

Much of what tends to get Vulnerability or Weakness could more properly be phrased as other things, I think.

In GURPS, its important to know what a trait means independently of its English name. You're very much correct. Most of the time a "weakness" for a monster should be a limitation on a powerful defensive trait, rather than a substance that causes damage or a even an attack that does extra damage. Of course, including weakness or vulnerability in addition to the defensive limitation is often appropriate.

[Say, it isn't that bad!]

Originally Posted by ericthered

In GURPS, its important to know what a trait means independently of its English name. You're very much correct. Most of the time a "weakness" for a monster should be a limitation on a powerful defensive trait, rather than a substance that causes damage or a even an attack that does extra damage. Of course, including weakness or vulnerability in addition to the defensive limitation is often appropriate.

Very true. For example, in fiction it is often much easier to pierce a vampire's ribcage with a stake than it "should" be; this is both bypassing some sort of defence, and doing structural damage more easily than "would be expected".

Except (for instance) in Bram Stoker's Dracula, where they brought a mallet.

[RogerBW]

I think this shows a small flaw in GURPS: here's this disad for "normally-safe things hurt you", and this totally separate disad for "normally-dangerous things hurt you more". If it were computer code, I'd wonder why they hadn't been combined into a single subroutine.

Like John I don't often use this. It is coming up quite a bit in the current Monster Hunters game, though in the current scenario the climactic fight has arrived rather before the PCs expected it so they haven't done any research…

[johndallman]

There will be a short intermission in Disadvantage of the Week, because I'm about to have eye surgery - as in, about two hours from now.

[Anders]

Good luck!

Will you be doing Spell of the week next?

[coronatiger]

Originally Posted by Anders

Good luck!

Will you be doing Spell of the week next?

That project would take years, decades probably, especially if you include the spells from Magic and its "children" like Least Spells. But I am a big fan of the basic magic system, so I'd be happy to see this project realized.

[Anders]

420 spells in Magic, 52 weeks per year... that's eight years. He won't run out of material. :o)

[johndallman]

Originally Posted by Anders

Good luck!

Thanks, I seem to have had it. The eye aches a bit, but works; I will not be very active for a while.

Will you be doing Spell of the week next?

I'm going to finish the Advantage of the Week series next, and Otaku is happy with this. After that, Spell of the Week is too little material per week, and College of the Week is too much.

[TGLS]

College of the month?