A few sexual questions

[Anders]

Originally Posted by Bruno

I knew someone who was pretty likely a nymphomaniac and was in a serious monogamous relationship, with an accommodating spouse. They couldn't function at work unless they ran home at lunch for a quickie. Plus the one for starters and whatever the heck they got up to after work. Every. Day.

It's totally worth a Compulsive Behavior just for the amount of spare time consumed, even if you have a guaranteed, clean, and safe "supplier". Never mind periodically being short on sleep, and things like the "Augh I can't make it another 4 hours" eating on the run or missing meals because you're dashing back to your partner kinda stuff. That's severely constraining adventuring time.

And if they don't get their quicky, they should be affected by something like Absent-Mindedness or Short Attention Span.

[simply Nathan]

Originally Posted by wellspring

I think it's going to matter a lot what the nature of the campaign is. Call it an accessibility restriction. I've seen campaigns go five years without any rolls in the hay at all. In this case, if you have a supporting ability that allows you to force an NPC into bed, that's a totally different story from if you have to seduce them.

And I've never seen anything beyond a female NPC using some very blunt flirting on a low-Will PC to penalize his Merchant roll when she wanted to buy something from him and he was left to guard the store, and in a very silly campaign one PC realized the giant fox trying to eat the party was female and asked for her number (it was 5, because telephones were a very recent invention in the Lego Middle Ages).

[SolemnGolem]

Originally Posted by Varyon

I once designed a world where it would essentially be a Secret of the "Possible Death" level.

Having just finished a re-reading of The Handmaid's Tale, I can definitely think of how this might be the case!

[Bruno]

Originally Posted by Anders

And if they don't get their quicky, they should be affected by something like Absent-Mindedness or Short Attention Span.

They claimed splitting headaches as their typical "withdrawal" symptom (ie Chronic Pain). That's at least plausible; if they're having trouble naturally regulating their endorphins by any other method... It can also point to an underlying medical condition (chronic migraines?) that is being either treated through one or many of the released hormones, or just covered up by the regular release of endorphins.

I can't help but note that "approximately once every four hours" is the dosage schedule for tylenol and codeine.

That's assuming they weren't lying.

Another Note: Bad Temper is a symptom of chronic pain, many kinds of mood disorder, and just generally messing with peoples habits. Ergo, also a good "withdrawal" symptom choice.

[The Colonel]

Plenty of cultures a man known to be impotent might well be subject to a negative reputation "not a real man", or otherwise weak or effeminate, regardless of reality. They might even be treated as a eunuch - which may have specific cultural issues (up to and including disqualifying him from citizenship).

[Polydamas]

Originally Posted by Bruno

They claimed splitting headaches as their typical "withdrawal" symptom (ie Chronic Pain). That's at least plausible; if they're having trouble naturally regulating their endorphins by any other method... It can also point to an underlying medical condition (chronic migraines?) that is being either treated through one or many of the released hormones, or just covered up by the regular release of endorphins.

...

Another Note: Bad Temper is a symptom of chronic pain, many kinds of mood disorder, and just generally messing with peoples habits. Ergo, also a good "withdrawal" symptom choice.

I think that it would be great to write up some of the varieties of human experience, and show how to represent them with the generic traits in GURPS. Your acquaintance is different from someone who flirts with everything with two legs and no feathers, or someone who likes to be followed by a series of trophy-spouses. A wide range of traits depend on the surrounding society.

Someone can also have Social Stigma (Barren/Impotent) without having the quirk, if it happens that they and their spouse are not fertile together, they just don't want to have kids, both spouses figured out that they are more interested in the same sex and leave each other be ...

[Anaraxes]

Originally Posted by Bruno

I can't help but note that "approximately once every four hours" is the dosage schedule for tylenol and codeine

That's a property of the chemical. Both codeine and acetaminophen have a half-life in the body of about three hours (acetaminophen a bit shorter). If you want to maintain some effective level of concentration without a huge spike, you'll need to re-dose about every four hours.

[wellspring]

Originally Posted by whswhs

But I wouldn't adjust the costs of traits according to how likely the players are to take an interest in them in a particular campaign. I mean, I've run GURPS campaigns that were virtually combat-free; should I have made Combat Reflexes cost 1 point, or be a 0-point flavor trait? The way you deal with things that are never going to come up is tell the players not to take those traits. "This campaign is set in a world without mana; don't take Magery or spells."

OK, fair enough, but then what modifier would you give in those situations?

A sex-based attack should presumably get a hefty discount vs the same attack that can be used in a combat encounter as a normal melee attack. A sex-based buff or heal should probably get a discount but not nearly as big a discount.

[vicky_molokh]

Originally Posted by wellspring

OK, fair enough, but then what modifier would you give in those situations?

A sex-based attack should presumably get a hefty discount vs the same attack that can be used in a combat encounter as a normal melee attack. A sex-based buff or heal should probably get a discount but not nearly as big a discount.

Luckily, Succubi can fulfill your desire for carnal . . . knowledge.

Originally Posted by Horror 66

Leech 2 (Accelerated Healing,
+25%; Accessibility, Requires sexual intimacy, -25%;
Contact Agent, -30%; Steal FP, +50%; Takes Extra Time
10, -100%)

[Flyndaran]

Originally Posted by The Colonel

Plenty of cultures a man known to be impotent might well be subject to a negative reputation "not a real man", or otherwise weak or effeminate, regardless of reality. They might even be treated as a eunuch - which may have specific cultural issues (up to and including disqualifying him from citizenship).

Like our modern Western culture. Most keep it a secret more for personal embarrassment than Gurps Secret level loss of advantages.
It's also seen as an "old man" problem, not just effeminate. Or worse, many believe no one has it, because Viagra. That class of medication has good effect on only one cause of impotence, circulatory.