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Old 08-15-2020, 11:27 AM   #31
Astromancer
 
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Default Re: [Basic] Disadvantage of the Week: Weirdness Magnet

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Originally Posted by Phantasm View Post
I've all but banned Weirdness Magnet from my games because it seems more of a setting feature than a personal trait. That there's one player who gives it to every single one of his characters even when I say "no exotic/paranormal traits" doesn't help. (He also tends to use Lifebane and Frightens Animals the same way.)

That said, I've used a variation from Supers - Origins Magnet - to good effect. Haven't gone with Monster Magnet from MH yet, but like Enemy (Monster of the Week), it might be a personal trait or a setting feature.
You weren't using it right. It's not about them, it's about how ordinary people treat them. The respectable landlady who won't rent to them. The jobs they can't get. The people who blame them for all the weirdness. It is a specialized unlucky (they blame you) with a side of (obnoxious thrill seekers want to exploit you).
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Old 08-15-2020, 12:54 PM   #32
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Default Re: [Basic] Disadvantage of the Week: Weirdness Magnet

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Originally Posted by Astromancer View Post
You weren't using it right. It's not about them, it's about how ordinary people treat them. The respectable landlady who won't rent to them. The jobs they can't get. The people who blame them for all the weirdness. It is a specialized unlucky (they blame you) with a side of (obnoxious thrill seekers want to exploit you).
I've always run it as -2 to reactions from a smallish set of people (plus the tinfoil hat brigade getting in your way) being worth about -5 points, and the other -10 being roughly the same as (aspected) unluckiness, but being spread out as a bunch of low-grade nuisances over the course of the session rather than one major unlucky break. As a GM, I confess a certain fondness for weirdness magnet. I am of the school that firmly believes that, when an adventure is flagging, it is almost always improved by having an entity burst through the door with a gun, and a PC with weirdness magnet means I don't have to worry about tying that back to the main plot.

---

The Dungeon Fantasy Roleplaying Game suggests, alongside impromptu weirdness and -2 to reactions from wizards and priests:

"Whenever the manifestation of freaky beings, disturbing artifacts,
dimensional portals, or other strangeness depends on
the dice, the GM has carte blanche to pester or confound you
without rolling; you’re the perpetual “random” party member."

That might be worth taking as good advice even in non-DF games.
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Last edited by ravenfish; 08-15-2020 at 12:59 PM.
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Old 08-15-2020, 03:04 PM   #33
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Default Re: [Basic] Disadvantage of the Week: Weirdness Magnet

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Originally Posted by AlexanderHowl View Post
It is mentioned in the Quirk supplement. It is called Realistic Weirdness Magnet.
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Originally Posted by awesomenessofme1 View Post
No, it isn't. The only "quirk supplement" is Power-Ups 6: Quirks, which contains no references whatsoever to Weirdness Magnet.
I also was unable to locate it in Power-Ups 6: Quirks.

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Originally Posted by kirbwarrior View Post
That as you have it written is just Weirdness Magnet in a less cinematic campaign. It's just as debilitating with the same -2 reactions [-10] plus 'stuff happens enough to inconvenience' [-5]
Right, which does not match what I said earlier about it being an aspected form of Unluckiness. Well, not entirely, anyway. The last few posts have given me more to think about.
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Old 08-15-2020, 03:15 PM   #34
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Default Re: [Basic] Disadvantage of the Week: Weirdness Magnet

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Originally Posted by AlexanderHowl View Post
It is mentioned in the Quirk supplement. It is called Realistic Weirdness Magnet.
Actually, it is in GURPS Power-Downs 1: Quirks (Compiled by Ted Brock), which is a fan made supplement.
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Old 08-15-2020, 03:21 PM   #35
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Default Re: [Basic] Disadvantage of the Week: Weirdness Magnet

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Originally Posted by Celjabba View Post
Actually, it is in GURPS Power-Downs 1: Quirks (Compiled by Ted Brock), which is a fan made supplement.
And as a fan-supplement, compiled mainly off a thread on this forum, it's entirely not official. (I should know; I compiled it.)
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Old 08-15-2020, 03:23 PM   #36
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Default Re: [Basic] Disadvantage of the Week: Weirdness Magnet

How to be a Gurps GM suggest it is like a weaker version of Cursed, with effects more strange than anything.

I like the suggestion in Psis to make it a disadvantage offered to people with Probability Alteration powers.

As a GM, I like the disadvantage.
Perhaps it sometimes doesn't disadvantage the player as much as it should for it's cost.
But it is a great tool to introduce events, go over too calm period in the game, or instead provide a random event because I need to think ...
And it is always good for some fun and/or drama depending on the mood needed.

As a player, I like taking the disadvantage just too see what weird oddities the GM will find to mess with us.
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Old 08-15-2020, 03:35 PM   #37
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Default Re: [Basic] Disadvantage of the Week: Weirdness Magnet

Hm...

Cursed: When you go to see the king to get the reward, the guards confuse you for an outlaw, and you land in prison while the rest of the party gets feted at a big banquet and receive big rewards.

Weirdness Magnet: You get a reward, but it's weird and not terribly useful (i.e. a sword that turns to rubber whenever you hit something.)
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Old 08-15-2020, 03:44 PM   #38
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Default Re: [Basic] Disadvantage of the Week: Weirdness Magnet

In my Dungeon Fantasy campaign, I have it increase the chance that wandering monsters will be warped, being giant or dire or having a template. In short, you're saying that you want tougher random encounters. In addition, once a session, if there's someone with Weirdness Magnet in the group, I have some random event happen that I preroll on the Mythic GM Emulator. Sadly, I often forget to have this event.
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Old 08-16-2020, 05:01 AM   #39
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Default Re: [Basic] Disadvantage of the Week: Weirdness Magnet

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Originally Posted by Astromancer View Post
Weirdness Magnet is meant to be a social disadvantage. It doesn't need to annoy you, it means you're surrounded by those who either see you as an obnoxious trouble maker or a source of cheap thrills. It's a social handicap.
It's a Mental and Supernatural disadvantage that only has a direct social penality for characters who understand what a Weirdness Magnet is and that the Weirdness Magnet is one. And thrill seekers etc. will only follow the character/party around if they figure out the character/party is a source of strange events.

The real effects are being inconvenienced by random weird stuff happening at inopportune moments and loot having the potential to be really strange. Sure, some of those things will likely have an effect (usually negative) on whatever the character wanted to do at the time, but there's no guarantee that it will have a social impact. And it certainly isn't helpful if you're trying to maintain a regular job.
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Old 08-16-2020, 07:42 AM   #40
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Default Re: [Basic] Disadvantage of the Week: Weirdness Magnet

The main issue l have with Weirdness Magnet is the way it is often leveraged against the entire party instead of just the player. It's basically a disadvantage for the whole party, but only one player gets the extra points for taking it. A creative GM could probably find ways to mess with the player without messing up the whole group, but my experience and reading these forums tell me that's very far from the norm. Personally, I ban it from games I run because I don't want the headache. I'm writing/running an entire game, I don't want to take the time to come up with weird red herring encounters as well.
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