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Old 07-25-2009, 03:30 AM   #1
captainktainer
 
Join Date: Jul 2006
Default Complicated mutant character

I've been running large, complicated games for years now, but I think I may have bitten off more than I can chew. I'm running a GURPS Fallout game (set in the Chicago Wasteland) in New York City, my first real campaign in two years (the last one I ran drove me - I do not exaggerate - to insanity). I have six players with a waiting list of three more, and each one is more complicated than the last. In addition to an amnesiac that isn't being played the way I built (thankfully, I can cheat and change the character sheet to reflect how she's playing the character), I have a GURPS neophyte who has built a hyper-badass super mutant character with a lot of really strange abilities. I've kludged together something that works... ish... but the way I've built them is going to be incredibly hard to run and, I feel, doesn't truly reflect the power of the abilities or the drawbacks the character faces. I could really, really use some help so I can make sure I have the balance right.

The character is a secret reconnaissance agent for the organization known as the "Enclave," which has done a lot of bioengineering and Science!-type stuff in their hidden bunkers. He participated in their "super soldier" program, and now bears a striking resemblance to Marvel's Captain America. His powers, and drawbacks, are as follows:

Enhanced Time Sense. This shuts down when he is exposed to a "kill switch" called FEV-X, which is at the very least in the hands of his masters in the Enclave. It also relies on some technological components, so it is vulnerable to Surge damage and other Electrical things, just like any cyber advantage.

V.A.T.S. This is a form of Accelerated Time Rate. It costs him bodily energy (lots of fatigue), can only be used a handful of times in a day without making his brain shut down entirely, and causes him to become very impulsive and bloodthirsty. It also shuts down when exposed to FEV-X. After the activation time of the ability has run its course, his whole body slows down for a few seconds as it tries to adjust to a normal speed, causing him to function as if he had Reduced Time Rate.

Hard to Kill 5. The resistance to final metabolic shutdown disappears when he is exposed to FEV-X.

Regeneration and Regrowth. His body very quickly rebuilds itself according to his revised genetic plan. These shut down when he is exposed to FEV-X, and additionally shut down when thyroid-active compounds are introduced into his body. Basically, iodine sends his metabolism into haywire and keeps him from healing from these advantages. He requires a daily dose of a rare and very hard to reproduce substance known as Hyper-FEV in order for these advantages to function; the only people who know how to produce it are his masters in the Enclave. If he heals damage through Regeneration, he has to eat much more food than normal (Increased consumption 1); if he has to replace a body part, he has to sleep much more (Extra Sleep 5).

In addition to this, he requires a daily dose of Hyper-FEV to survive. There is only one known source, his body will rapidly age without it, and his body will eat itself from the inside if he doesn't get his daily dose.

If he is given the substance FEV-X, his body will quickly eat itself from the inside (see a pattern here?), leading to death in about ten to fifteen minutes. And a bunch of those advantages listed above will just stop working.

Oh, yeah, and Iodine to him is unbearable. Tincture of Iodine will cause him great pain, iodine gas drives him off, and of course he stops healing from the two advantages listed above if iodized salt or medicines containing iodine are introduced into his system. This reflects his altered bodily chemistry, which prevents him from benefiting from many medicines.

I've built these advantages and disadvantages in the following ways, using the limitation Hindrance (taken from Unkillable) that I really don't like using, and using Weakness just because I couldn't come up with a better temporary disadvantage to reflect the fact that certain advantages wouldn't work when exposed to a certain substance:

V.A.T.S. Altered Time Rate 1
(Costs Fatigue 4, -20%; Limited Use (4), -20%; Temporary Disadvantage (Bloodlust), -10%; Temporary Disadvantage (Impulsiveness), -10%; Temporary Disadvantage (Weakness (FEV-X)), -5%.) 35 points
Linked to it is: Decreased Time Rate
Trigger: Altered Time Rate, one second per use, -80%. -20 points

Enhanced Time Sense
Temporary Disadvantage (Electrical), -20%; Weakness (FEV-X), -5%. 34 points

Hard to Kill 5
Weakness (FEV-X), -5%. 10 points

Regeneration
Very Fast (You recover 1 HP per second), +100; Temporary Disadvantage (Increased Consumption 1), -10%; Temporary Disadvantage (Restricted Diet: rare Hyper FEV), -40%; Hindrance (Iodine), -15%; Weakness (FEV-X), -5%. 30 points

Regrowth
Temporary Disadvantage (Increased Consumption 2), -20%; Temporary Disadvantage (Extra Sleep 5), -10%; Temporary Disadvantage (Restricted Diet: rare Hyper FEV), -40%; Hindrance (Iodine), -15%; Weakness (FEV-X), -5%. 8 points

Dependency (Hyper FEV)
Rarity: Rare, -30; Illegal, -5; Frequency: Daily (Lose 1 HP per hour after missing a daily dose), x3; Aging (Age 2 years for each HP lost due to this dependency), +30%. -135 points

Weakness (FEV-X, 1D/Min) -10 points

Unusual Biochemistry -5 points

Revulsion (Iodine) -10 points (I'm actually the most okay with this, even though it's usually listed as a "supernatural" disadvantage - the in-game effects are the same)


You understand why I'm tearing my hair out over this, even though I've decided that I can be flexible about durations and the like. How can I build these advantages and disadvantages in a more mechanically elegant and balanced way? Am I missing enhancements and limitations in the basic set or Powers that would make my life easier? Should I get the Funny Farm on speed-dial?

Last edited by captainktainer; 07-25-2009 at 03:31 AM. Reason: forgot a clarifying detail
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Old 07-25-2009, 11:54 AM   #2
captainktainer
 
Join Date: Jul 2006
Default Re: Complicated mutant character

To add a little information, all of this was done (mostly by hand) in GURPS Character Sheet. I know for a fact there's at least one mathematical error in there, though I don't remember offhand where.
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Old 07-25-2009, 01:28 PM   #3
Gold & Appel Inc
 
Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: One Mile Up
Default Re: Complicated mutant character

Quote:
Originally Posted by captainktainer View Post
V.A.T.S. Altered Time Rate 1
(Costs Fatigue 4, -20%; Limited Use (4), -20%; Temporary Disadvantage (Bloodlust), -10%; Temporary Disadvantage (Impulsiveness), -10%; Temporary Disadvantage (Weakness (FEV-X)), -5%.) 35 points
Don't forget that a Temp Disadvantage limitation can only provide a maximum point break of 80% of the value of the full-blown Disadvantage. This would make the ones above -8% each instead of -10%, though you could give them a harder self control check to bump that back up.

Quote:
Originally Posted by captainktainer View Post
Am I missing enhancements and limitations in the basic set or Powers that would make my life easier?
Rather than make his Weakness to FEV-X a Temporary Disadvantage on his powers, I would just give him the Weakness all the time (especially if he's supposed to lose his powers and then die in that order when exposed to it, which is kind of a lame dodge around the discount for powers that can be taken away unless the GM is equally willing to kill the PC as he is to incapacitate its chrome IMHO but I digress) and put Super -10% on all of his powers, which covers the existence of bizarre superscience serums or rays or whatever that disable the ability.
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Old 07-25-2009, 01:55 PM   #4
SuedodeuS
 
Join Date: Sep 2008
Default Re: Complicated mutant character

Is this character meant to be a mole? That is, is his purpose to infiltrate and blend in with some group, then undermine them so they aren't a threat to the Enclave? If so, this character won't work. He has clear superhuman abilities and relies heavily on a substance that can only be made by the Enclave. He'll be found out within a week, if not sooner.

If he isn't a mole (implying the rest of the group is allied with the Enclave), or you're OK with the disconnect of, essentially, Superman in his tights blending in seamlessly with normal humans (or he has a really, really good cover story), I do have some advice on building the character.

First off is the weakness to FEV-X. This is apparently only available to the Enclave, basically meaning it's insurance against his betrayal. In that case, use whatever Disadvantage he has to represent his loyalty to the Enclave (Duty or Sense of Duty) as the basis for a Pact Limitation. Thus, if he ever betrays them, he loses the ability. Of course, it will take time for them to actually hit him with the FEV-X, so cut the Limitation value in half or so. If he betrays them, and gets them as an Enemy (meaning it takes a while for them to reach him), he'll need to buy off the Pact Limitation to keep using it. You'll end up with a -5% (Technological Countermeasures) on it, and the Enemy will probably get a boost for "unusual abilities."
Alternatively, forget about the FEV-X weakness of his abilities and only give him the actual Weakness. I mean, really, does it matter if he can use them during the 15 minutes he's alive after exposure (15 minutes spent likely screaming in pain)? Not really. If he ever gets the Enclave as an Enemy, they do still get the "unusual abilities" bonus.

Next up is Iodine. Revulsion works perfectly. I'd probably only give the abilities that are turned off after exposure -5% or so (mundane countermeasures). Now, onto the abilities themselves.

V.A.T.S.: This system is really only meant (to the best of my knowledge) to regain some of the "turn-based" nature of the older Fallout titles. As GURPS is already turn-based, this is unnecessary. Also, although it slows down the game, this is really only for aesthetic purposes. The actual, real effect seems to be, essentially, the same thing as the GURPS Advantage Gunslinger - you don't have to Aim. Thus, personally, I'd build V.A.T.S. - if I built it at all - as a modified version of Gunslinger.
That said, if you want an ATR ability like what you've described, I'd recommend the Aftermath Limitation rather than a Linked Decreased Time Rate. This is a variant of Temporary Disadvantage, where the disad comes into play after the Advantage turns off. It has half the cost of Temporary Disadvantage. By default, however, it lasts as long as the Advantage was used, so it might not fit exactly what you want.


I think the rest of what you have actually works fairly well (keeping in mind what I said about FEV-X and Iodine above). You should probably drop the "Requires Hyper-FEV" from Regrowth, and probably decrease it to -10% or so on the Regeneration. If you run out of Hyper-FEV, you die. The fact you can't regrow limbs while dying isn't exactly a big deal. The lack of Regeneration (which would cancel out the effects of withdrawal) is, but I think -40% is too much of a discount.
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