[IST Supers] Icepick's sexuality

[Anders]

In the Supers supplement from 2000 (?). there is a female villain named Icepick, who has the quirk "Not particularly interested in men."

Is this code for lesbian? Is this code for asexual? Is being a lesbian or asexual a quirk or a Social Stigma?

[Varyon]

I can't speak to Icepick (my guess based on the Quirk would be that she's heterosexual but has a low libido or otherwise doesn't have much interest in a relationship), but as for what the effects of a "deviant" sexuality would be, that would depend on the campaign setting. It's a Feature if nobody really cares, a Quirk if people are often prejudiced against it but not terribly so, and if society's reaction to it is worse than that, it could be any of Delusion (which doesn't mean the character is wrong, note), Social Stigma, Odious Personal Habit, negative Reputation, Enemy, and/or Secret (ranging from Embarrassment to Death/Exile). Note it could even be a Perk or better (Social Regard and/or positive Reputation) if your sexuality is generally celebrated and/or you can reliably get preferential treatment because of it.

[Phil Masters]

Originally Posted by Varyon

Note it could even be a Perk or better (Social Regard and/or positive Reputation) if your sexuality is generally celebrated and/or you can reliably get preferential treatment because of it.

Or if it effectively gives you high resistance to Sex Appeal and similar.

In this case (which by the way dates to 1991), I suspect that the writer wasn't thinking about non-heterosexual preferences so much as a classic "cold" personality - close to asexual, in more current terminology. She isn't impressed by high Appearance on male characters, may even get a small bonus against Sex Appeal-based influence rolls but also a penalty to any situation where being even slightly flirtatious would help her, can't easily judge where others' romantic interactions are going, and may be considered either an "icy b*tch" by shallow people or someone with admirably clear priorities by other business-first types. But it's only a quirk, so if someone criticals a Sex Appeal roll against her, she might decide to relax this one time.

[Anders]

Ok, thanks. :o)

[Varyon]

Originally Posted by Phil Masters

Or if it effectively gives you high resistance to Sex Appeal and similar.

That feels more like it would be a Feature, provided it comes with a similar penalty to use Sex Appeal and similar yourself - it's harder to make someone think/hope you're into them if you aren't actually attracted to them much at all.

Originally Posted by Phil Masters

In this case (which by the way dates to 1991), I suspect that the writer wasn't thinking about non-heterosexual preferences so much as a classic "cold" personality - close to asexual, in more current terminology. She isn't impressed by high Appearance on male characters, may even get a small bonus against Sex Appeal-based influence rolls but also a penalty to any situation where being even slightly flirtatious would help her, can't easily judge where others' romantic interactions are going, and may be considered either an "icy b*tch" by shallow people or someone with admirably clear priorities by other business-first types. But it's only a quirk, so if someone criticals a Sex Appeal roll against her, she might decide to relax this one time.

Yeah, this matches what I was thinking based on the wording of the Quirk.

[Polydamas]

Interpreting this label this reminds me of asexual identity: some people who identify as asexual have more and more creative sex than a lot of people who don't. Words mean different things to different people.

In GURPS 4th edition I would interpret this as her being obviously cool towards men. Sexuality is a Feature but behaving in a way which can offend a large demographic is a Quirk. Phil's suggestions are more articulate than mine.

GURPS 3e had some dubious Quirks, GURPS 4e emphasizes that they have to cause difficulty in some common situation.

[Donny Brook]

Whatever the exact meaning is, it doesn't make a proper quirk as it doesn't invoke character-actioned behavior.