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Old 11-22-2019, 03:52 AM   #1
johndallman
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Default [Basic] Disadvatage of the Week: Post-Combat Shakes

Post-Combat Shakes [-5*] is a mundane mental disadvantage with a self-control roll. You suffer significant mental after-effects from being involved with combat, which might put you off the whole idea. This disadvantage seems to have appeared in Compendium I for GURPS 3e.

After a fight has ended, you need to make a self-control roll, which may have penalties for gory or gruesome events, at the GM’s option. If you fail it, treat it as if you failed a Fright Check: roll 3d, add the margin of failure, consult the Fright Check table and apply the results immediately. This goes well with Berserk or Flashbacks, and might be an intermediate stage in buying off Pacifism (Reluctant Killer).

Post-Combat Shakes is a fairly common disadvantage option on templates for characters who aren’t experienced with violence, and shows up on a few who are acquiring that experience, such as TL6 infantrymen. Fantasy: Portal Realms recommends it as a one-off occurrence for people who didn’t know they had Combat Reflexes, while Madness Dossier has drugs to cause this disadvantage. It’s a part of the Psionic Powers crippling rules, and of Tactical Shooting’s PTSD rules.

From experience in play, this is a disadvantage that bites surprisingly hard if you have a self-control roll of 12- or worse and fights are commonplace events in the game. You fail often enough that you start accumulating additional quirks and suffer fairly time-consuming reactions. If you just want to be someone who’s morally troubled by combat, take an appropriate quirk.

How has Post-Combat Shakes played in your games?
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Old 11-22-2019, 11:44 AM   #2
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Default Re: [Basic] Disadvatage of the Week: Post-Combat Shakes

One of my early 4e characters took this disadvantage, because I didn't know the system well yet; the first time it came up, he managed to acquire an extra 10-point Phobia. I don't think I've even considered taking the disadvantage again without houseruling the effects.

It appears on several templates in Dungeon Fantasy and in the DFRPG (which has alternate fright check rules). I'd never consider taking it in such a game, and warn people off of it.
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Old 11-22-2019, 12:14 PM   #3
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Default Re: [Basic] Disadvatage of the Week: Post-Combat Shakes

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Originally Posted by Harald387 View Post
I don't think I've even considered taking the disadvantage again without houseruling the effects.
Yeah, anytime I see the fright table I steer clear. A house rule for making such effects temporary was suggested in the thread about phobias. I think it applies here as well.
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Old 11-23-2019, 08:42 PM   #4
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Default Re: [Basic] Disadvatage of the Week: Post-Combat Shakes

I've seen it a few times in various recent campaigns. A dragon-blooded wizard in one of my current DFRPG games* has it. It's often taken as a lesser form of cowardice or pacifist. In longer campaigns, it seems to be on the list of disads that the player will slowly buy off (or replace) as the character evolves. Nobody has gained any dramatic new disads from it yet, but the aforementioned wizard is likely to see a lot of action, so we'll see how that goes.

* DFRPG + additional races from DF3.
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Old 11-25-2019, 03:03 AM   #5
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Default Re: [Basic] Disadvatage of the Week: Post-Combat Shakes

Frequent fright checks will eventually make a character unplayable, and taking this disadvantage is asking for fright checks after one of the more common sorts of PC activity. A lot of people will be twitchy and useless for a bit after an exciting situation (adrenalin/epinephrine leaves lots of interesting chemicals washing around the bloodstream, producing effects which one can learn to overcome), and it would be good to be able to emulate that in GURPS, but this is a much bigger version.

It's unfortunate that the peaked probability curve of 3d6 means that "gain a new quirk" shows up way more often than one might like it to (most fright checks are only failed by a point or two in the games I've played).
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Old 01-24-2021, 03:12 PM   #6
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Default Re: [Basic] Disadvatage of the Week: Post-Combat Shakes

I have this AND Combat Paralysis, so I am useless in a fight.

After 3 weeks game time I am adjusting my disadvantages around, as my character changes. I am looking to change my Combat Paralysis to something else combat related (Pacifism of some sort), and changing my PCS to a lower number, both so I am no longer a hindrance in a fight.

My only weapon skill is Knife (10) because I am just a guy off the street (so I say) that sells dishwashers.
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Old 01-24-2021, 10:32 PM   #7
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Default Re: [Basic] Disadvatage of the Week: Post-Combat Shakes

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Originally Posted by xlyce View Post
I have this AND Combat Paralysis, so I am useless in a fight.

After 3 weeks game time I am adjusting my disadvantages around, as my character changes. I am looking to change my Combat Paralysis to something else combat related (Pacifism of some sort), and changing my PCS to a lower number, both so I am no longer a hindrance in a fight.

My only weapon skill is Knife (10) because I am just a guy off the street (so I say) that sells dishwashers.
I did something similar.

We started out as 25 pt normals - the first session had us impressed into the British Army in 1752 and then shipped off to what would be Newfoundland, Canada. I had this idea - somewhat retconned - of a character out of his depth that would eventually grow into a hero. I think I started out with 1 point in rifle or pistol only because I was a gunsmith. Ended up with Gadgeteer and Gunslinger.

I started with Combat Paralysis for a few months, then replaced it with Post-combat Shakes and a related obsession; later still I replaced it with a vow to help people - similar to selfless - and eventually I bought Combat Reflexes. All this was over the course of about a year. He may have also started with Oblivious and replaced that with a heroic disad. There also was a progression of increasing control rolls.

It was a lot of fun - I had a decent HT so I didn't freeze TOO often and we didn't have to make a lot of Fright checks so my experience may not have been typical.
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Old 01-24-2021, 10:47 PM   #8
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Default Re: [Basic] Disadvatage of the Week: Post-Combat Shakes

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Originally Posted by RogerBW View Post
Frequent fright checks will eventually make a character unplayable, and taking this disadvantage is asking for fright checks after one of the more common sorts of PC activity. A lot of people will be twitchy and useless for a bit after an exciting situation (adrenalin/epinephrine leaves lots of interesting chemicals washing around the bloodstream, producing effects which one can learn to overcome), and it would be good to be able to emulate that in GURPS, but this is a much bigger version.

It's unfortunate that the peaked probability curve of 3d6 means that "gain a new quirk" shows up way more often than one might like it to (most fright checks are only failed by a point or two in the games I've played).
I'd say that's a problem with fright checks, which affects a lot more than one disadvantage, not a problem with Post-Combat Shakes. There have been many threads about that. Good point about the positioning of "gain a new quirk" in the table, I don't think I've heard that particular one before.
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Old 12-20-2021, 05:10 PM   #9
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Default Re: [Basic] Disadvatage of the Week: Post-Combat Shakes

I had a question about this: is this advantage triggered by combat, or just violence of any kind? Let me elaborate.

My character is in a firefight. Shots are traded over two or three minutes, back and forth, and afterward he goes to pieces. Makes sense. Adrenaline is running high, the character probably was in genuine fear for their own life, or at least their own safety, so they end up losing their lunch all over the pavement when the shooting stops.

However - if my character has someone tied up in a chair, and is reading them the riot act about how this person betrayed them, and then shot them in the head execution style - would this trigger it? It's not combat, per se, and my character was never in any danger. It was just an execution.

Or, for example, if I shot a door-sentry from 100 yards with a sniper rifle. Or even right behind them with a pistol. It's not really a 'fight'. It's violence, absolutely, but not a 'fight', not really 'combat'. In these situations, would the character trigger Post-Combat Shakes? I feel like it wouldn't.

What say you all?
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Old 12-23-2021, 07:54 AM   #10
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Default Re: [Basic] Disadvatage of the Week: Post-Combat Shakes

Quote:
Originally Posted by JanMikal View Post
I had a question about this: is this advantage triggered by combat, or just violence of any kind? Let me elaborate.

My character is in a firefight. Shots are traded over two or three minutes, back and forth, and afterward he goes to pieces. Makes sense. Adrenaline is running high, the character probably was in genuine fear for their own life, or at least their own safety, so they end up losing their lunch all over the pavement when the shooting stops.

However - if my character has someone tied up in a chair, and is reading them the riot act about how this person betrayed them, and then shot them in the head execution style - would this trigger it? It's not combat, per se, and my character was never in any danger. It was just an execution.

Or, for example, if I shot a door-sentry from 100 yards with a sniper rifle. Or even right behind them with a pistol. It's not really a 'fight'. It's violence, absolutely, but not a 'fight', not really 'combat'. In these situations, would the character trigger Post-Combat Shakes? I feel like it wouldn't.

What say you all?
I'd ask the player whether they considered violence or intense action their trigger. If the former, those executions trigger it. If the latter, they don't, but chases and the like might even if there is no actual violence.
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