Obsessions motivating "all actions"

Stormcrow · 10-27-2022, 10:35 AM

We must remember that this is a game rule, not an element in a life simulator. When it says "You must rationalize all of your actions as an attempt to reach your goal," remember that "your actions" refers to the actions that you direct your character to take during the game. You don't need to announce your rationalization for eating and drinking every time you eat and drink, but if someone asked you why you're stopping to eat and drink instead of marching on to accomplish your goal, you certainly would say that you need to eat and drink to stay alive and accomplish your goal. (And, of course, you aren't required to discuss your Obsession with others. "Why are you stopping to eat when the Dark Lord you want to kill still lives?" "Shut up, I'm eating.")

The purpose of the disadvantage is twofold, as with most mental disadvantages with control rolls: to give players a hook for roleplaying that will earn them bonus character points when they play it up, and to force characters to take actions that the player got extra character points for saying they'd do. Obsession works according to these two purposes perfectly: players have the goal they're Obsessed about as a roleplaying hook, and the Obsession forces their characters to sometimes take actions they don't want them to take.

The problem with "all actions" needing to be justified isn't with Obsession, it's with the perverse player who wants to poke at the rules and say, "Oh yeah? Do you have to justify going to the bathroom? Do you have to justify every breath? Do you have to justify wearing purple socks instead of pink socks?" The insanity comes from these ridiculous questions, not from the disadvantage. If you just take the disadvantage as it's obviously meant to be taken, where the character has an overriding motivation for what they do, there's no problem with Obsession.

But yes, if you have an Obsession, then any action you want to take that deviates from that goal must pass a control roll. What constitutes deviation may not be clear-cut: walking a mile to the south when your Obsession is about something to the north may not be a deviation if going south helps you make progress toward accomplishing your goal. Obsession doesn't mean stupidly charging headlong toward an overpowering enemy if the goal is to defeat them.

10-27-2022, 10:35 AM	#3
Stormcrow Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: Ronkonkoma, NY	Re: Obsessions motivating "all actions" We must remember that this is a game rule, not an element in a life simulator. When it says "You must rationalize all of your actions as an attempt to reach your goal," remember that "your actions" refers to the actions that you direct your character to take during the game. You don't need to announce your rationalization for eating and drinking every time you eat and drink, but if someone asked you why you're stopping to eat and drink instead of marching on to accomplish your goal, you certainly would say that you need to eat and drink to stay alive and accomplish your goal. (And, of course, you aren't required to discuss your Obsession with others. "Why are you stopping to eat when the Dark Lord you want to kill still lives?" "Shut up, I'm eating.") The purpose of the disadvantage is twofold, as with most mental disadvantages with control rolls: to give players a hook for roleplaying that will earn them bonus character points when they play it up, and to force characters to take actions that the player got extra character points for saying they'd do. Obsession works according to these two purposes perfectly: players have the goal they're Obsessed about as a roleplaying hook, and the Obsession forces their characters to sometimes take actions they don't want them to take. The problem with "all actions" needing to be justified isn't with Obsession, it's with the perverse player who wants to poke at the rules and say, "Oh yeah? Do you have to justify going to the bathroom? Do you have to justify every breath? Do you have to justify wearing purple socks instead of pink socks?" The insanity comes from these ridiculous questions, not from the disadvantage. If you just take the disadvantage as it's obviously meant to be taken, where the character has an overriding motivation for what they do, there's no problem with Obsession. But yes, if you have an Obsession, then any action you want to take that deviates from that goal must pass a control roll. What constitutes deviation may not be clear-cut: walking a mile to the south when your Obsession is about something to the north may not be a deviation if going south helps you make progress toward accomplishing your goal. Obsession doesn't mean stupidly charging headlong toward an overpowering enemy if the goal is to defeat them.