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Old 04-09-2020, 04:53 PM   #1
johndallman
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Default [Basic] Disadvantage of the Week: Stress Atavism

Stress Atavism [-10 to -20] is an exotic mental disadvantage, with a self-control roll, normally only available to characters who species were “uplifted” from animals. The uplifting is not perfect; under stress, you may (partially) revert to animalistic behaviour. This disadvantage appeared during the GURPS 3e period, probably in GURPS Uplift.

You need to make a self-control roll when stressed by anger, fear, injury or tiredness. If you fail, you revert, suffering one of the consequences below, according to the disadvantage value. Once the stressful situation has ended, you need to recover from this disadvantage: make a self-control roll every minute. You get +2 if someone tries to help you calm down, and an additional +2 if they have Empathy or Animal Empathy. If you fall unconscious before the stress ends, you automatically recover when you wake up. Optionally, you can have additional mental disadvantages while reverted. Take those with a 50% limitation, and add the net cost to that of your Stress Atavism before multiplying for the self-control number.

Once you’ve failed your self-control roll, then with the [-10] version, you need to make an IQ roll for each sentence you try to speak, and cannot operate complicated machinery, although you can try to use weapons at -4. At [-15], you also have to make an IQ roll to understand speech, rolling for each sentence, and if you are attacked or challenged, you need to make a self-control roll to avoid acting on your animal ancestors’ instincts. At [-20] you always act on instinct and cannot speak or understand speech. You cannot use weapons, except to the extent that your animal ancestors could.

Stress Atavism is a very common disadvantage on GURPS templates for uplifted creatures, and thus naturally features in Bio-Tech, which also has a drug that makes it worse. Infinite Worlds has Reich-5 “Mules” with parachronozoid glands implanted in them, and Power: The Weird features animals uplifted by somewhat more ethical techniques. Reign of Steel: Will to Live has Zone Caracas bioroids with this disadvantage, and Space considers aliens that have a seasonal variant. Template Toolkit 2: Races considers uplifts and Thaumatology has shapeshifting rituals. Transhuman Space: Changing Times has uplifts similar to those of Bio-Tech, and Zombies uses it for former zombies.

One of the Transhuman Space campaigns I’ve played had a scenario based on a K-10A who’d got stuck in Stress Atavism; he was rescued by a Felicia bioroid, which wasn’t perhaps the best choice, but she was the party member with DX. Has this disadvantage entertained in your games?
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Old 04-09-2020, 05:17 PM   #2
jason taylor
 
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Default Re: [Basic] Disadvantage of the Week: Stress Atavism

Couldn't a mild form of that be applied to normal sophants to simulate PTSD?
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Old 04-09-2020, 08:49 PM   #3
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Default Re: [Basic] Disadvantage of the Week: Stress Atavism

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Originally Posted by johndallman View Post
Optionally, you can have additional mental disadvantages while reverted. Take those with a 50% limitation, and add the net cost to that of your Stress Atavism before multiplying for the self-control number.
Wow, I never noticed this before. Seems like cheese to do this then take SC6 on Stress Atavism. You'd get full price for the disad without it affecting you that often.
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While I do not think that GURPS is perfect I do think that it is more balanced than what I am likely to create by GM fiat.
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Old 04-09-2020, 11:10 PM   #4
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Default Re: [Basic] Disadvantage of the Week: Stress Atavism

It is definitely from GURPS 3E Uplift 1st Ed. It was originally intended to define imperfect "uplifting" to full sapience as demonstrated by Uplifted Chimpanzees, Dolphins, and other species.

It is a handy racial disadvantage suitable for defining negative instinctive behaviors for non-human creatures.

One aspect often missed is the fact that you can "imbed" additional disadvantages into Stress Atavism. Combined with the Accessibility or Trigger limitation this is useful for portraying creatures that only "freak out" and exhibit certain disadvantages under certain conditions. This makes it useful for portraying certain types of PTSD (as Jason Taylor has mentioned) as well as Frankenstein's Monster-type freak-outs for constructs or robots.

For example, Stress Atavism (Severe. Special Modifier: Berserk, Bloodlust) [-30*] is a really vicious fault for a constructed creature like a golem.
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Old 04-10-2020, 01:56 AM   #5
johndallman
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Default Re: [Basic] Disadvantage of the Week: Stress Atavism

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Originally Posted by jason taylor View Post
Couldn't a mild form of that be applied to normal sophants to simulate PTSD?
PTSD seems to have a very wide range of possible symptoms. This idea might fit a limited set of them, but won't do the job entirely. Tactical Shooting has a section on PTSD (Shell Shock, p. 34) with a list of possibly applicable disadvantages.
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Old 04-10-2020, 02:32 AM   #6
kirbwarrior
 
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Default Re: [Basic] Disadvantage of the Week: Stress Atavism

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Originally Posted by johndallman View Post
PTSD seems to have a very wide range of possible symptoms.
For any real life issues being translated into GURPS, I'd just look into how it would affect this person and buy the disads that best cover that. Most IRL issues are far more finicky than the easy to quantify gameable disads intentionally written to be playable.

But I do like the idea and wonder how it might work and play with Mitigator.
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Old 04-10-2020, 06:56 AM   #7
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Default Re: [Basic] Disadvantage of the Week: Stress Atavism

I actually had one PC with this. He was a werewolf in a supervillains game. Other than that, I haven't seen it in play at all.
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Old 07-18-2020, 06:31 PM   #8
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Default Re: [Basic] Disadvantage of the Week: Stress Atavism

I'm a little surprised that more hasn't been made out of the idea of giving this to werewolves and other Alternate Form-style shapeshifting into bodies of normally Bestial species. You've mostly mastered keeping your human mind at the forefront, but under stress the beast takes over...

The OP mentions shapeshifting rituals, but I'd think this would almost be standard for classic therianthropes - able to be bought off partially or completely with experience, but on that first full moon (or whatever) the newbie shifter is almost certain to lose control.
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