Zoe Heriot's Advantages

[malloyd]

Originally Posted by Stormcrow

As I said, the show overstates Zoe's abilities.

Note that this is a show from an era when the actual abilities of computers were much less clear, and much less well known to the public (and scriptwriters) than they would be today. Indeed, actual [computers] in works of this vintage often fail to function anything like real computers (then or now).

I'd ignore any "like a computer" description in anything written before the mid 1980s, myself. Certainly in a human character, where is usually means a degree of logic computers don't really have anyway, mathematical ability they might or might not depending on programming, and an "emotionlessness" which might be closer but isn't really that much like inanimate objects either. Stat the displayed abilities, they probably have nothing to do with computers.

[Johnny1A.2]

Originally Posted by Stormcrow

Her name is spelled Heriot.

Zoe's abilities are a bit overstated in the show. She is impressive, but not inhumanly so.



I think it is that she is Oblivious. She's not nerdy in the sense of being uncomfortably awkward; she just can't connect people's non-logical actions with motivations. As it's said in the Second Doctor Sourcebook for Doctor Who: Adventures in Time and Space, "Zoe is extremely logical and often seems detached from whatever is happening around her. She is not emotionless, but has trouble relying on her instincts"

She also has a very high Intelligence, Photographic Memory, Lightning Calculator, a very high Mathematics (Pure) score, and very high Computer Operation and Computer Programming scores. Her Tech Level is probably 10, likely with some split-leveling happening there for various fields like computer technology. Her Appearance is probably Beautiful,

If not Very Beautiful. Zoe was one of the most gorgeous of the assistants.

[Astromancer]

Originally Posted by Johnny1A.2

If not Very Beautiful. Zoe was one of the most gorgeous of the assistants.

I'd allow a repackaged version of Very Beautiful. Something like Amazingly Cute. People did react to Zoe's looks but rarely in a sexual way. People wanted to take care of Zoe not seduce her.

[whswhs]

Originally Posted by Astromancer

I'd allow a repackaged version of Very Beautiful. Something like Amazingly Cute. People did react to Zoe's looks but rarely in a sexual way. People wanted to take care of Zoe not seduce her.

Already covered by the rules: Very Beautiful plus Pitiable. "Pitiable means you are 'cute' instead of 'sexy'" . . . In principle you might combine it with either Androgynous or Impressive; either of those would give her a +4 bonus with all sexual orientations rather than +6 with straight men and lesbians/+2 with gay men and straight women. Whether that fits the audience reaction I leave to your judgment.

Though a point to watch out for is that characters on television are typically played by actors whose Attractiveness exceeds that of the characters! The scripts on Buffy made it clear that Willow Rosenberg was no better than average in looks in the fictional narrative, but Alyson Hannigan is at least Attractive and arguably Beautiful. How attractive does the narrative show Zoe as being, in terms of how in-universe characters respond to her?

(Decades ago a friend and I had visited a nearby convenience store. Two young women were in line ahead of us—and both of us took one look at them and fell silent. And I still remember the encounter now! That's the sort of behavioral response I'd associate with extreme levels of Attractiveness. And the key issue is not how you, in the audience, react, but how the other characters on the screen react.)

[Varyon]

Originally Posted by whswhs

Though a point to watch out for is that characters on television are typically played by actors whose Attractiveness exceeds that of the characters!

Also known as "Hollywood Ugly" - characters who are meant to be at-best average in appearance but played by actors/actresses who are anything but (largely because it's often tough to get big in the industry if you aren't at least above-average in the looks department). Sometimes attempts are made to make them less attractive, but most of the time it's a case of "Trust me, bro." As you note, you need to pay attention to how other characters react to the character. Generally speaking, this needs to be something where most characters who would be inclined to find the character attractive do so - a single (or maybe a couple) characters romantically pursuing (or at least clearly having a crush on) them isn't definitive - particularly if their interest seems to be more in their personality. Wynn from Noble Dead Saga is a good example - the covers she shows up on depict her as being rather attractive, and she has multiple potential suitors, but Magiere (who explicitly is attractive) typically gets all the attention, and of her two serious suitors one (Chane) is clearly primarily attracted to her mind and the other (Osha) seems to largely be interested in her because a) she's the only non-elven member of their expedition who he can converse with in his native tongue (and the only other one is his mentor who he can't really speak casually with) and b) she's one of the few people who has been genuinely nice to him (he's something of a failure, and not very attractive by human or elven standards, with his face frequently being compared to that of a horse). There's a guardsman who briefly shows some interest, but that appears to be a combination of protective instinct (she probably would qualify for the Pitiable trait), her exotic appearance (she's darker skinned than most people he's encountered), and the fact Magiere is clearly taken. When she's captured and subsequently held prisoner by the guards of a lecherous despot, he shows no interest in her beyond using her as bait for the rest of the party.

[Pursuivant]

To model super learning speeds. Check out the Accelerated Learning advantage from Social Engineering: Back to School. Level 1 costs 20 points, level 2 costs 40 points and each level doubles points from self study. Effectively, it's a leveled, focused version of ETS.

Alternately, use Wild Talent for a character that always seems to have just the right skill and handwave how they got their proficiency.

If you want house rules, when I was trying to create stats for Data from Star Trek: TNG, I expanded the Accelerated Learning advantage to allow extra levels. Each level halves the time required to gain a character point from self-study, up to a maximum of 20 levels (400 points). At that point, you can instantly learn any skill as long as you have access to suitable study materials.

Combined with regular ETS, Photographic Memory, and the Observation and Speed Reading skills, high levels of Accelerated Learning allow a character to rapidly absorb written data or perfectly mimic an action performed by someone else.

[Anthony]

In general you should ignore the description of how a fictional ability is claimed to work, and just emulate what it demonstrably does in the source material. The described set of abilities is adequately modeled with enhanced time sense, possibly with a limitation if it doesn't function in combat.

[Stormcrow]

Originally Posted by Anthony

The described set of abilities is adequately modeled with enhanced time sense, possibly with a limitation if it doesn't function in combat.

Seriously, no, Zoe doesn't have Enhanced Time Sense. She just knows how to rattle off facts when relevant or when not relevant, she's skilled and talented with computers, and she is skilled and talented at mathematics. She has no exotic origins. She doesn't have "extra time" to think about things; she's only really fast with her areas of training, and she's fast at these because she's skilled and talented, not because she's doing anything superhuman. She doesn't act before others in combat, she isn't especially good at combat defense (though she does know Judo), she isn't immune to projected images, she has no special ability to spot fast-moving objects, she can feel time pressure when she's working on a mental problem.

[Anthony]

Originally Posted by Stormcrow

Seriously, no, Zoe doesn't have Enhanced Time Sense.

I was going with the description above, since I don't actually know the character, and there isn't really another advantage that covers rapid data processing.

[Southern Cross]

How about Modular Abilities (Skills Only)?