01-10-2017, 02:48 PM | #1 |
Join Date: Mar 2013
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Trickster - what is this exactly?
Like in topic - because description in Basic Set doesn't tell me any specifics, and we're never know what exact behaviors/effects etc. should this disadvantage trigger... Presently we play Dungeon Fantasy campaign and swashbuckler want to get this disadvantage, but I can't tell him exactly what is this, what it's not, what he should exactly doing, in which situations yes and in which no, etc. etc...
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01-10-2017, 02:53 PM | #2 |
Join Date: Sep 2004
Location: Canada
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Re: Trickster - what is this exactly?
"Trickster" is that jackass fratboy who keeps pranking people, as much as it is Brier Rabbit or Bugs Bunny.
I played a gnome trickster in a DF game. After a run where she had no good opportunities to prank bad guys, she basically imploded on her Self Control roll. She cast Sleep on the Catfolk martial artist while he was asleep (to *keep* him asleep), and then shaved him. And tidied up all the fur too, because magic is the prankster's best friend. Poof, no fur. Poor guy.
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01-10-2017, 02:57 PM | #3 |
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Saskatoon, SK
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Re: Trickster - what is this exactly?
It seems fairly straight forward to me. If you fail your SC roll, you need to pull a practical joke on someone/thing that will cause you serious trouble if you are caught. Be creative.
If in civilization, go find someone - a guard, a noble, a Barbarian, whatever. If in a dungeon, i would consider taking a risk to embarass a monster while scouting or do a risky move in combat which would be humiliating but doesn't particularly do damage.
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01-10-2017, 03:10 PM | #4 | |
Join Date: Sep 2004
Location: Canada
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Re: Trickster - what is this exactly?
Quote:
For the barbarian Tricksters, consider the "atomic wedgie"[2], which if it's not written up as a Martial Arts technique yet, it should be. [1] For English-as-a-second-language readers, this refers to sneaking up behind someone and yanking their trousers down in front of a large audience. Generally they get to keep their underpants in place, but sometimes you get a critical success and they loose everything. [2] Grabbing an unfortunate male victim's underwear waistband from behind and yanking it up and over their head. The things children do to each other, I swear.
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01-10-2017, 03:36 PM | #5 |
Join Date: Jun 2006
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Re: Trickster - what is this exactly?
Keep in mind you get a *lot* of points for this. It isn't just you stage fun pranks that mildly irritate people (that would be more like -5*) At -15* it is on par with you do suicidal stuff (On the Edge is -15*), or are regarded by everybody as worthy of being slain on sight (Social Stigma: Monster is -15 for all the time, and you don't suffer it until you pull a prank, so when it kicks in you do something that makes everyone believe you *worse* than a man eating monster?). You can and should regularly be compelled to do dangerous stuff to set up pranks, play them on murderous people you could absolutely never win a fight with and openly claim credit, and/or do stuff that will get you hanged if you ever return to this town. And those companions who brought you here probably deserve a good whipping for their insolence too....
Played as written for the points, it's a fairly crippling problem that more or less precludes ongoing social relationships - which for a DF setting that only has the one Town could be Really Bad. That said, it's one of those disadvantages most players and GMs treat as a lot less serious than they probably should.
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01-10-2017, 04:17 PM | #6 |
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Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: Forest Grove, Beaverton, Oregon
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Re: Trickster - what is this exactly?
Tricksters troll the guy with temper problems and access to weapons.
They keep going past good humor, decency, common sense, and even self preservation instincts.
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01-10-2017, 05:14 PM | #7 | |
Join Date: Sep 2007
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Re: Trickster - what is this exactly?
Quote:
Like a number of the advantages in Characters, this one seems to be pretty extreme. Maybe it should be, given that it's -15 points. There are other Disads that are also adventure-failing and likely lethal, not in fun ways. As written, these aren't just cute bits of characterization. I'm always torn over not properly enforcing the Disad as described, which means letting players get away with free points and thus penalizing the people that didn't go for the game-wrecking problems. Or trying to figure out if the author was just overly enthusiastic when those Disads were described. Perhaps we'd be better off with toned-down versions for fewer points. |
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01-10-2017, 05:52 PM | #8 | |
Join Date: Sep 2004
Location: Canada
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Re: Trickster - what is this exactly?
Quote:
-5 and -10 versions of Trickster can be compared to Compulsive Behavior and Obsession, as Trickster is arguably a variation of those disads. It also sheds light on how bad the default -15 Trickster is.
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All about Size Modifier; Unified Hit Location Table A Wiki for my F2F Group A neglected GURPS blog |
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01-10-2017, 06:55 PM | #9 |
Join Date: Jun 2006
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Re: Trickster - what is this exactly?
Probably. That jackass frat boy everybody hated upthread probably has the -5* point form. Anybody in the modern world who had the -15* form is in jail for vandalizing police stations, if not worse.
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-- MA Lloyd |
01-10-2017, 09:44 PM | #10 |
Join Date: May 2007
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Re: Trickster - what is this exactly?
I think, as written, Trickster probably works best for a grifter-type character who is addicted to the thrill of the con.
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