06-13-2021, 08:23 AM | #11 |
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: Lawrence, KS
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Re: Going Berserk on your friends?
There is nothing in the definition of Berserk that says you won't attack your friends. In fact, it says explicitly that if you run out of foes, "you start to attack your friends," and it instructs you to "Treat any friend who attempts to restrain you as a foe!" No exception is made for those toward whom you have Sense of Duty. And I don't think one should be made; if people actually are your friends, it's likely that you will treat them as if you had some measure of Sense of Duty toward them, and particularly as much as would prevent you from attacking them, whether you've taken it as a disadvantage or not. The category of "friends" logically includes "people toward whom you have a Sense of Duty."
And I think that the likelihood that you may attack your friends when in battle mode is one of the biggest reasons that Berserk is actually a disadvantage. Without that element, it would be much less of one. Okay, it would cause you to charge into battle, but it's widely testified that PCs rarely die in combat and that many GMs will fudge dice rolls to prevent it; I don't think that's enough of a problem to make this a major disadvantage. If you have that combination, I would not penalize you for bad roleplaying if your character goes berserk and attacks their companions; I would say that you didn't choose to do so, but had it forced on you by the dice rolls. And I think the aftermath, when you come back to yourself and discover that the people you would risk your life to help have been hurt by your rage, is an opportunity for some really interesting roleplaying.
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Bill Stoddard I don't think we're in Oz any more. |
06-13-2021, 09:20 AM | #12 | |
Join Date: Sep 2019
Location: UK
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Re: Going Berserk on your friends?
It's one possible kind of scenario you might want to play, some players might not want to. But it's certainly a classic one.
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In V:tM the Code of Honour feature (otherwise much like GURPS's Code of Honour) does give you a bonus on any Willpower rolls to resist doing something that would be against the particular Code of Honour, including, I presume, resisting frenzy. However, possibly relevant to this discussion, in V:tM Code of Honour is the equivalent of an Advantage - you pay points for it, rather than being given points for it. In V:tM Willpower rolls are a huge part of the game - frenzy, rotschreck (the "nope I'm outta here" version of frenzy that results from failing the equivalent of a Fright Check), enemy vampires trying to hypnotize your character, the whole mess that is blood bonds - and apparently the advantage that a Code of Honour gives you in those is worth more in that kind of game than the inconvenience of having to follow it.
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06-13-2021, 10:38 AM | #13 | |
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: Panama
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Re: Going Berserk on your friends?
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In the 3ed GURPS Vampire the Masquerade the rules used Will, now we have Self Control rolls for each disadvantage that can be controlled. But the situation is the same. I see no reason to reduce the chances of losing control and I think doing that diminish the disadvantage a bit. I thik each case is special and that is a GM call if anything but if disadvantages are not enforced they are just free points and decoration and not the good opportunities for role playing they should be. |
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06-13-2021, 10:55 AM | #14 | ||
Join Date: Mar 2010
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Re: Going Berserk on your friends?
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I wouldn't permit such a limitation in my games. This reads as an attempt to game the disadvantage into being a beneficial trait. If I was convinced to do so against my better judgement, it would be Mitigator ("Sense of Duty"; Vulnerable Mitigator), -60% |
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06-13-2021, 03:35 PM | #15 | |
Join Date: Mar 2013
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Re: Going Berserk on your friends?
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Any gm that allows such a character is... not advising their players properly.
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A little learning is a dangerous thing. Warning: Invertebrate Punnster - Spinelessly Unable to Resist a Pun Dangerous Thoughts, my blog about GURPS and life. |
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06-14-2021, 12:12 AM | #16 | |
Join Date: Apr 2005
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Re: Going Berserk on your friends?
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I agree, but there are exceptions. Good roleplaying, dramatic necessity, and genre conventions can also trump RAW if the GM feels that it is appropriate. For example, in a campaign based on fairy tales, the power of True Love might overcome Berserk, particularly if the object of the True Love can make a successful skill roll (Fast Talk, Psychology, or Sex Appeal all seem likely). |
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06-14-2021, 12:59 AM | #17 | |
Join Date: Jun 2006
Location: Sweden, Stockholm
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Re: Going Berserk on your friends?
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Also, it can be appropriate for PCs, especially someone who only has it in an alternate form (werewolves), or monsters with hair-trigger tempers like VtM-style vampires.
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"Prohibit the taking of omens, and do away with superstitious doubts. Then, until death itself comes, no calamity need be feared" |
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06-22-2021, 06:28 PM | #18 |
Join Date: Sep 2018
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Re: Going Berserk on your friends?
I'm done with players trying to use things they got free points for, and normally get XP for, as a way to get even more benefit. You can define your character in positive traits just as easily as you do in negative traits. As others pointed out a Sense of Duty is just a Higher Purpose to look after people that doesn't help you. And I really believe no disadvantage should offer you a mechanical boon unless it's specifically stated in the rules.
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06-27-2021, 06:55 AM | #19 | |
Join Date: May 2021
Location: Eastern Kentucky
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Re: Going Berserk on your friends?
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Is he inaccurately quoting the book? |
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06-27-2021, 03:55 PM | #20 | |
Join Date: Mar 2013
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Re: Going Berserk on your friends?
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By RAW, you will attack friends after all the enemies are downed, unless you can make a self-control roll. It is a disadvantage, after all.
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A little learning is a dangerous thing. Warning: Invertebrate Punnster - Spinelessly Unable to Resist a Pun Dangerous Thoughts, my blog about GURPS and life. |
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Tags |
berserk, berserker, mitigator, sense of duty |
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