Value of Disadvantage that forces you to shapeshift involuntarily?

[Dragondog]

Originally Posted by David Johnston2

If it's Uncontrollable and you lose control then once you have transformed you have to make a will roll to regain control and change back. You can do so once a second but the odds are pretty good that you'll make a 14-roll. Thus there will likely be a delay of no more than one second before you regain control once you start trying to do that.

But it's not Uncontrollable, as Uncontrollable doesn't do what I'm looking for.

Originally Posted by KarlKost

I think somebody is trying to adapt Werewolf the Apocalipse to Gurps, yes?

No, I am not. I got the idea from the Bitten TV-show, but the details may not be the same.

[whswhs]

See Disadvantageous Alternate Form on page 46 of GURPS Template Toolkit 2: Races.

[David Johnston2]

Originally Posted by Dragondog

But it's not Uncontrollable, as Uncontrollable doesn't do what I'm looking for.

I'm not sure what you're looking for. Uncontrollable causes an advantage to activate...some of the time...when the character is under stress. That sounded like what you were looking for but apparently isn't.

[kirbwarrior]

Originally Posted by Pursuivant

If the players can figure out a way to turn the shapeshifter PC into an asset

I agree with most of your post, but not this. Something can very well be a disadvantage even if it could be turned into an asset. The most obvious ones explicitly state this; All forms of extra weight give bonuses to Swimming and resisting Knockback, Callous gives +1 to Intimidation and Interrogation under certain circumstances, and even Clueless gives +4 to resist Sex Appeal. And Easy to Read is an upside to characters who don't plan on lying (making it a great candidate for Controllable Disad)!

Berserk especially feels relevant because it's basically a "mundane" version of this. You get bonuses that help keep you alive, and if you can get yourself in a room with your foes and without your allies then you can abuse the free +4 to surviving and the lack of move penalties from damage while the foes try to flee from a battle that went south. But Berserk is definitely a disadvantage and even has a fairly common and controllable trigger: "Be somewhere dangerous to you and your loved ones".

Originally Posted by Plane

They also put it on page 18 of GURPS Horror 4e.

You aren't the first person to tell me this and won't be the last. One day I'll remember this book exists, thanks.

[Christopher R. Rice]

There is also the GURPS Powers Designer's Notes, see here.

[KarlKost]

Originally Posted by kirbwarrior

You aren't the first person to tell me this and won't be the last. One day I'll remember this book exists, thanks.

Gurps Horror is actually a very very good book, I had no expectations about it before reading it and oh boy, I got totally surprised, so much so that I moved it to my "Essentials" paste, while Fantasy and Magic are in my "Fantasy" paste (but Thaumatology is in the "Essentials")

[Dragondog]

Originally Posted by David Johnston2

I'm not sure what you're looking for. Uncontrollable causes an advantage to activate...some of the time...when the character is under stress. That sounded like what you were looking for but apparently isn't.

But it comes with a number of undesirable side effects, that I mentioned on page 1 of this thread, but that I don't mind mentioning here again.

* Any roll of 14+ fails.
* "On a failure, the GM takes over your ability, playing it as though it were an entity of a prankish or hostile nature."
* "After each uncontrolled act, you get another Will roll to control your power."

Originally Posted by whswhs

See Disadvantageous Alternate Form on page 46 of GURPS Template Toolkit 2: Races.

All I want it to do is activate the change. Once the person has changed form, it no longer has any effect. So Disadvantageous Alternate Form unfortunately doesn't work for me.

[kirbwarrior]

Originally Posted by KarlKost

Gurps Horror is actually a very very good book, I had no expectations about it before reading it and oh boy, I got totally surprised, so much so that I moved it to my "Essentials" paste, while Fantasy and Magic are in my "Fantasy" paste (but Thaumatology is in the "Essentials")

Does it have much that Powers or others books don't? Most of what I've seen is either in a book I commonly use (Powers, Power Ups, and to a lesser extent Psionic Powers) or something very much for Horrors (I don't see myself ever using Corrupting). Every book has something worthwhile in it, I just generally forget to check Horror because I assume I'd only look there for horror-themed things when usually it ends up being tangentially related things I'm looking for (such as False Memories, Disad Shapeshift, and various Leech modifiers).

Originally Posted by Dragondog

All I want it to do is activate the change. Once the person has changed form, it no longer has any effect. So Disadvantageous Alternate Form unfortunately doesn't work for me.

I once had a character that took Alternate Form with a trigger attached to Split Personality. Looking back on it I realize that the user is allowed to resist the change. If you're not allowed to make a Will Roll, I'd at least double the value of Uncontrollable or U. Trigger to signify a lack of ability to resist. I'd also rule the ability itself isn't harmful (because the part you don't have control over is the transformation itself), so combining that with Unconscious Only should help build the power how you want.