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Old 05-04-2021, 01:24 PM   #1
Plane
 
Join Date: Aug 2018
Default expanding "Uncontrollable" trigger situations

B116's criteria for when you need to make will rolls to prevent your ability acting include "stressful situations".

What about situations that aren't necessarily stressful but where you're just excited?

Like in this example where a tendency to point at something enthusiastically tends to cause a freeze-beam to shoot out.

I'm wondering if maybe "self-control for a mental disadvantage" might include something like "compulsively point and shout at important things when first spotted" ?

I can't think of what trait to call that, I don't think it would be Compulsive Behavior since that's supposed to take up a lot of time or money per B128.

I thought maybe Odious Personal Habit (B22) ... but that doesn't involve a self-control roll.

If always doing it gave a -2 to reactions and was worth -10 then maybe taking "Not Odious Personal Habit" counter-advantage to counteract it and some degree of Unreliable (B116) could emulate how other mental disadvantages work? Like if you took -80% it would cost [2] and work out to a net [-8] and call it "Usually Points" rather than "Always Points" ?

I don't know if rolling Unreliable on abilities would always count as a stressful as a trigger for an Uncontrollable roll... maybe not the "free" rolls, but perhaps just on the ones where you spend 1 FP per attempt?

I'm also wondering about how to get the freeze ray (I'm guessing Binding would emulate turning water into ice?) to only activate when you fail the self-control roll (not when you pass it) because it wouldn't really make sense to prevent yourself from pointing at something but then still shoot out an ice beam.

To do that I'm thinking if you took a "Not Uncontrollable" counter-enhancement to counter that limitation (like F130's "not having Divided Magery +40%") and then applied a limitation to it, that could work?

Accessibility of "Only while succumbing to (disadvantage with self-control roll)" (PU8p5) applied to "Not Uncontrollable" seems like it could work out to "I only make my will roll to resist using the ability if I fail the self-control roll".

Since you use the unmodified size of the disadvantage (-10) then -10% applied to Not Uncontrollable +10% would make it +9%, meaning the net Uncontrollability would only be -1% and only save points on [100+] Binding.
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Old 05-04-2021, 01:32 PM   #2
Stormcrow
 
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Ronkonkoma, NY
Default Re: expanding "Uncontrollable" trigger situations

The GM can be flexible about what "stressful situation" means. "Your ability tends to manifest itself at undesirable or inappropriate times." In the clip you linked to, the character IS in a stressful situation in that they're trying to find a hiding place, presumably during a game of hide and seek. It doesn't have to be nail-biting stress. In a comedic game, this is enough. Save the nail-biters for serious, deadly games.
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Old 05-04-2021, 02:16 PM   #3
Plane
 
Join Date: Aug 2018
Default Re: expanding "Uncontrollable" trigger situations

Yeah maybe I'm going too by the letter since it only says fright checks (finding a hiding spot isn't scary) and mental disads.

Mechanic-wise though you're not seeing ice randomly shoot out when trying to find a hiding spot (stress of searching for what you can't find) but rather when a spot is actually located, which should in theory reduce the stress.

Unless the stress is somehow "I'm afraid of ruining the hiding spot", but I don't think ice would shoot out to freeze adjacent water if the gesture was prevented.

If you have an ability which normally doesn't require pointing with hands require that, Accessibility (Supernaturally Appropriate) "requires gestures" (PU8p5 left) could be appropriate, but I don't know if that's the right thing for Affliction/Binding since I think you need to already designate whether the beam comes from eye(s)/hand(s)/mouth(s) and more be intended for stuff like Telepathy which wouldn't.

Regardless of whether gesturing is inherent/added would it make sense for that gesture to also mitigate situations where Uncontrollable applies?

Seems kind of broken because say you had Burning Attack (Uncontrollable) instead of "my fire could attack any ally around me" it could be as innocuous as "flames shoot where I point my hand" so you could just point your hand at some empty hex to prevent your allies from getting hit?

That's why I'm thinking to make it worth fewer points you could take "Not Uncontrollable" and limit that so it's Controllable except when you succumb to a disadvantage like "my hand is pointing to an inopportune spot".

Kind of like for example how all Cyclops needs to do to stop his uncontrollable eye-beams is shut his eyes or aim them somewhere convenient. That's way less problematic than "any ally within 100 yards could get hit"
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Old 05-04-2021, 02:27 PM   #4
Stormcrow
 
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Ronkonkoma, NY
Default Re: expanding "Uncontrollable" trigger situations

Quote:
Originally Posted by Plane View Post
Yeah maybe I'm going too by the letter since it only says fright checks (finding a hiding spot isn't scary) and mental disads.
Well, no, it says stressful situations "including" fright checks and self-control rolls. That "including" means it doesn't have to be exclusively triggered by these.

Quote:
Mechanic-wise though you're not seeing ice randomly shoot out when trying to find a hiding spot (stress of searching for what you can't find) but rather when a spot is actually located, which should in theory reduce the stress.
You mean in the clip? The character hadn't secured a hiding spot, just wondered if the fountain would be a good one.

In any case, it would be up to the GM to decide when the character is feeling stress. This would be based no small part on the tone of the campaign. If it's comedic, and accidentally freezing things is supposed to be funny, then triggering it during a game of hide and seek is appropriate. If it's serious, and accidentally freezing things would just be a nuisance, then triggering it during a game of hide and seek might not be appropriate.

Quote:
If you have an ability which normally doesn't require pointing with hands require that, Accessibility (Supernaturally Appropriate) "requires gestures" (PU8p5 left) could be appropriate, but I don't know if that's the right thing for Affliction/Binding since I think you need to already designate whether the beam comes from eye(s)/hand(s)/mouth(s) and more be intended for stuff like Telepathy which wouldn't.
The character is gesturing and monologuing because it's a cartoon. People don't usually talk to themselves and point at the things they're talking about like that. You have to grant them some license for it being a cartoon. In a comedic game, I'd expect the player to say something like, "Can I hide behind that fountain?" then the GM says, "I dunno. Make a Will roll." If it's failed, the GM continues, "Oops! You just iced the fountain while you were considering it!"
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Old 05-04-2021, 05:05 PM   #5
Plane
 
Join Date: Aug 2018
Default Re: expanding "Uncontrollable" trigger situations

Quote:
Originally Posted by Stormcrow View Post
The character is gesturing and monologuing because it's a cartoon. People don't usually talk to themselves and point at the things they're talking about like that.
TBH this is something I sometimes do when I'm alone to focus my thinking, so I could totally see it being a mental disadvantage for people compelled to habitually do it.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Stormcrow View Post
You have to grant them some license for it being a cartoon. In a comedic game, I'd expect the player to say something like, "Can I hide behind that fountain?" then the GM says, "I dunno. Make a Will roll." If it's failed, the GM continues, "Oops! You just iced the fountain while you were considering it!"
I think I remember a writeup for uncontrollable somewhere where the IQ roleplaying the ability can be your own or a foreign intelligence, so maybe "how you end doing the bad thing" is left up to GM storytelling?
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Old 05-04-2021, 05:46 PM   #6
Stormcrow
 
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Ronkonkoma, NY
Default Re: expanding "Uncontrollable" trigger situations

Quote:
Originally Posted by Plane View Post
TBH this is something I sometimes do when I'm alone to focus my thinking, so I could totally see it being a mental disadvantage for people compelled to habitually do it.
Oh, sure, everybody does it from time to time. But this character isn't being depicted as someone compelled to do it habitually; talking and gesturing to yourself so the audience can follow your thoughts is just a screen trope to transmit that information that would otherwise be unknown to the audience.

And you wouldn't want to give someone a Compulsive Behavior of talking to themselves and gesturing just as an excuse for them to be pointing at things that their completely unrelated Uncontrollable ice power can zap, except in an extremely slapstick game.
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