[IST Supers] Icepick's sexuality

[Kromm]

This seems very mountain/molehill, bordering on an excuse to discuss topics that many gamers would prefer to veil.

In the overwhelming majority of gaming groups I've been in for 45 years – and not just GURPS ones! – NPC-PC and PC-NPC interactions that aren't absolutely central to the story and essential to the plot follow a casual proposal-counterproposal approach: The GM/a player offers one possible story direction. The players/the GM either pursue it or reject it. In GURPS terms, no skills or reaction modifiers are required because no dice are rolled. It's pure roleplaying.

Still in GURPS terms, a quirk that dictates or at least strongly suggests always choosing "pursue" or always choosing "reject" as part of such roleplaying is entirely valid: You must roleplay your character pursuing or rejecting some activity or proposition in the game world. Thus, it requires a specific choice. As the rules state, this needn't take hours or be especially inconvenient; it simply cannot be totally passive.

In the case of the quirk in question, when the GM has a minor NPC exhibit interest in the character, it's good roleplaying for the player of the character to ignore it . . . which will sometimes be for the better (say, the NPC isn't trustworthy, or the interaction is a time-waster or distraction) and sometimes be for the worse (say, the NPC is a potential ally, or the scenario would be a fun side-quest worth a few character points). So, there's a real effect on play, even if it isn't absolutely mission-critical. Nothing in the rules for quirks says that quirks have to be mission-critical – only that they have to be roleplayed in a way that results in choices, actions, or small penalties. That's it, that's all.