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Old 04-13-2011, 10:11 AM   #21
JCurwen3
 
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Default Re: Alternate Form that's a Split Personality?

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Originally Posted by Kalzazz View Post
I was totally thinking of Samurai Deeper Kyo
I checked that out on Wikipedia (seems cool!). Yeah, pretty similar concept, to model that you'd also need a similar build as well. The fictional trope of the hero or anti-hero that has a powerful (often superhuman) Alternate Form that has a distinct and sometimes malevolent personality and identity is common enough that it should be playable under GURPS (and thanks to everyone's help here - with a special shout out to SuedodeuS - it is). Hopefully one day someone here wants to do something similar and finds this thread, or I stumble upon their thread and offer them some guidance after not only having built but GMed a player with a build like this.
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Old 04-13-2011, 10:49 AM   #22
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Default Re: Alternate Form that's a Split Personality?

Heh, the first thing which popped to mind for me was Pandora Breedlswight and Hugo, from Ironwood, which probably dates me a bit.

Hugo only went away after having sex, and he looked different each time he appeared...


I'd do it as an Enemy (Possessed, seized at 1/3 HT), then give the enemy a spirit like template which involves seizing and incorporating the victim's body into its materialized form which happens only when its summoning condition is met.

Exorcism can be a decent banishment requirement, especially if the exorcism only breaks the current possession.

Mind you, I'm not sure I'd allow a player to play both the target and the enemy.
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Old 04-13-2011, 10:50 AM   #23
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Default Re: Alternate Form that's a Split Personality?

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Incidentally, although it may not be ipso facto the canonical description of a Delusion in GURPS, check out the clinical Indicators of a Delusion. I think it helps to get a better handle on the thing.
That seems about right for -10 and -15 Delusions. -1 and -5 Delusions may simply be viewed by the medical profession as sub-clinical eccentricities, of course.

For game purposes, it seems to me that a Delusion needs to be demonstrably false, or be generally believed to be demonstrably false. That gets you out of the problems with religions.

Someone with small Delusions may also be able to rationalise them, in the sense of admitting that "yes, here is a situation where it isn't true at present but it will be soon, and it also applies in other examples", and so on.
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Old 04-13-2011, 12:12 PM   #24
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Default Re: Alternate Form that's a Split Personality?

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Hugo only went away after having sex, and he looked different each time he appeared...
I'm guessing either Hugo didn't know he'd go away, or that he was Lecherous?

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Originally Posted by Ze'Manel Cunha View Post
I'd do it as an Enemy (Possessed, seized at 1/3 HT), then give the enemy a spirit like template which involves seizing and incorporating the victim's body into its materialized form which happens only when its summoning condition is met.

Exorcism can be a decent banishment requirement, especially if the exorcism only breaks the current possession.

Mind you, I'm not sure I'd allow a player to play both the target and the enemy.
That works too. As far as player playing target and enemy, I probably would normally agree with you. But first, these are special circumstances - if the player didn't play the Enemy, his PC would be out of play sometimes and all he'd be doing is just sitting around, not to mention that I would have to take on yet another NPC; that and the player knows that I reserve the right to veto any suspiciously "positive" thing he tries to do in that form and also to outright take over roleplaying the Enemy form (and penalize him in terms of earned CPs) if I deem the player isn't playing it right (in addition we would step away from the group for a minute or two at a time to discuss what the beast might do next so I'm kept in the loop but the other players aren't.

And the other thing is this player is a real star roleplayer, and is almost like an assistant GM in coming up with ideas, building things out, and also reigning himself in - quite the anti-munchkin. So I'm not worried. But I also realize not all players are like that...
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Old 04-13-2011, 12:32 PM   #25
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Default Re: Alternate Form that's a Split Personality?

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That seems about right for -10 and -15 Delusions. -1 and -5 Delusions may simply be viewed by the medical profession as sub-clinical eccentricities, of course.

For game purposes, it seems to me that a Delusion needs to be demonstrably false, or be generally believed to be demonstrably false. That gets you out of the problems with religions.

Someone with small Delusions may also be able to rationalise them, in the sense of admitting that "yes, here is a situation where it isn't true at present but it will be soon, and it also applies in other examples", and so on.
That's right. See, this is why I like using the clinical indicators for Major and Severe Delusions points. In my mind, even if their delusional beliefs are true (or turn out to be true), and even if everyone knows it (or finds out about it), if their belief matches up with enough of the indicators for clinical delusions, I let them have (or keep) some of the Delusion's points, but the disadvantage is worth +5 more (Major Delusion is -5 instead of -10, Severe Delusion is -10 instead of -15).

Because there's something wrong and sick about that strongly held and influential a belief that one isn't even willing to consider the possibility, even for the sake of a hypothetical scenario, that their belief might be untrue - and that "wrongness" and "sickness" in GURPS terms will manifest as reaction penalties from people who don't believe with as much intensity.

For instance, we all generally know (and believe, because it's demonstrably true) Earth is round and revolves around the Sun. But I know if I encountered someone that got entirely irrational and belligerent whenever a discussion led to talk about how people used to (and perhaps that a very small minority still do) believe in a Flat Earth geocentric model, or got out of his mind if anyone suggested a hypothetical where this false idea was true (like maybe starting a campaign on a Flat Geocentric Earth), I would react at a penalty against that person; they'd seriously rub me the wrong way because there'd be something very wrong - delusional - about them. You could argue this is more an OPH, but in the end they lead to the same game effect so what's in a name? Anyway, just how I play it.
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Old 04-13-2011, 12:37 PM   #26
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Default Re: Alternate Form that's a Split Personality?

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I'm guessing either Hugo didn't know he'd go away, or that he was Lecherous?
Well, Pandora could summon Hugo Wormfire by calling for him, and Hugo considered sex payment for being summoned, but a SM+1 hetero male demon didn't always have the same taste in partners as a gorgeous female bi pirate captain, so sometimes he stuck around for a while...


Oh, and Lecherousness is a mild term when you're talking about the Ironwood setting, Bill Willingham is known more for "Fables" with DC Comics and the rpg art he did while working for TSR as a staff artist, but Ironwood was quite memorable.
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Old 04-13-2011, 07:18 PM   #27
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Default Re: Alternate Form that's a Split Personality?

You could give the entire party a delusion. No one is going to believe them when they say their friend is possessed by a demon, unless that is a fairly common circumstance in the game world...

And don't forget stress atavism as a possible Disad.
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Old 04-13-2011, 07:19 PM   #28
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Default Re: Alternate Form that's a Split Personality?

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Bill Willingham is known more for "Fables" with DC Comics and the rpg art he did while working for TSR as a staff artist, but Ironwood was quite memorable.
Bill Willingham worked for DC Comics? That's news to me.
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Old 04-13-2011, 07:45 PM   #29
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Default Re: Alternate Form that's a Split Personality?

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This (p. B130):

"If your Delusion turns out to be true, you don’t have to buy it off until the other players realize it’s true."
That should not be takes as a mandatory requirement that the Delusion be bought off. It would be perfectly fine (possibly even more sensible in some cases) to allow the player to take a related disadvantage to replace the old one.
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Old 04-14-2011, 07:17 AM   #30
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Default Re: Alternate Form that's a Split Personality?

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Bill Willingham worked for DC Comics? That's news to me.
He does right now, and for about the last decade. Fables is an ongoing series, with spinoffs.
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