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Old 01-01-2023, 05:49 AM   #1
johndallman
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Default [Basic] Advantage of the Week: Rapier Wit

Rapier Wit [5] is a mundane, but silly, mental advantage. You are sufficiently verbally adroit that you can use words to stun opponents in combat. This advantage first appeared in GURPS IOU for 3e and is not usually appropriate for serious games.

This advantage relies on talking being a free action in the GURPS combat system, as a way of gaining an extra way of inconveniencing opponents. To use it, win a quick contest of Public Speaking against your opponent’s Will. If you win, they are mentally stunned and if you critically succeed, they also take 1HP of injury, via a convenient accident. Loosing the quick contest means nothing happens; if you critically fail your roll, your opponent is enraged, which may set off disadvantages like Berserk or Bloodlust.

Anyone who’s Unfazeable is immune to Rapier Wit, and those who are Clueless or have No Sense of Humor give you ‑2 to your roll. Clearly, they need to be able to hear and understand you: note that Public Speaking takes penalties for lack of the right Cultural Familiarity, and for language ability below Native. You can try to affect a group, but you’re at ‑1 per person in it above one, and the whole group needs to have something in common that you know about, so that you can use it. Presumably, if some of them lack a quality that you’re trying to exploit, the attack only produces “Huh? Well, let’s hit him anyway.”

In GURPS supplements, Rapier Wit mostly shows up in genres that aren’t completely serious. Action Facemen and DF Bards and Swashbucklers use it, and Fantasy allows Celtic bards to use it for Afflictions. It’s also available to Horror’s Evil Clowns, and the memetic horror of Madness Dossier makes it positively plausible. Powers provides a specific enhancement: Words of Power, +100%, for using words with supernatural power (not the same thing as the Words of Power on p. 178 of Thaumatology) and alternative skills to use with the advantage; The Weird has an example ability built this way. Social Engineering can use Rapier Wit in a contest of insults, and it’s quite common in Tales of the Solar Patrol.

I’ve never used Rapier Wit myself, or seen it played. I am glad I’d finished running Infinite Cabal before I noticed the two kinds of Words of Power: one of the PCs might have tried it with the really dangerous kind.

How has Rapier Wit gone over in your games?

Last edited by johndallman; 01-03-2023 at 06:09 AM. Reason: Fix markup
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Old 01-01-2023, 06:58 AM   #2
Christopher R. Rice
 
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Default Re: [Basic] Advantage of the Week: Rapier Wit

I've used it a couple of times. It's a pretty broken trait overall - way underpriced for what it does.
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Old 01-01-2023, 12:10 PM   #3
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Default Re: [Basic] Advantage of the Week: Rapier Wit

As written, I consider it cinematic.
In realistic campaigns I require either actual knowledge of something idiosyncratic about the target, or an Observation roll before the attempt.

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Old 01-01-2023, 12:39 PM   #4
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Default Re: [Basic] Advantage of the Week: Rapier Wit

Quote:
Originally Posted by Christopher R. Rice View Post
I've used it a couple of times. It's a pretty broken trait overall - way underpriced for what it does.
I vaguely think that [10] is a better price for what you get, but it probably depends on how the GM runs it.
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Old 01-01-2023, 12:50 PM   #5
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Default Re: [Basic] Advantage of the Week: Rapier Wit

I had one player try it. It was super unbalanced.
My house rule now is it's not a free action it's an attack.
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Old 01-01-2023, 01:30 PM   #6
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Default Re: [Basic] Advantage of the Week: Rapier Wit

Quote:
Originally Posted by Prince Charon View Post
I vaguely think that [10] is a better price for what you get, but it probably depends on how the GM runs it.
It's not. Not really.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Tinman View Post
I had one player try it. It was super unbalanced.
My house rule now is it's not a free action it's an attack.
Even then. It's still off.

The equivalent build is something like:

Affliction (Accessibility, Only on sapient creatures, -20%; Area Effect, 32 yards, +250%; Aura, +80%; Melee Attack, Reach C, -30%; Nuisance Effect, -1 per extra target, -50%; Requires Public Speaking vs. Will roll, -20%; Sense-Based, Hearing, -20%) [29]

*Inability to affect non-sapient targets: Accessibility, only on sapient creatures, -20%. This is as per GURPS Psionic Powers, p. 71, but the limitation there could be interpreted as a little more strict than this, meaning that the limitation value could be worse.
*Requires a quick contest of Public Speaking: "Skills for Everyone" (GURPS Powers p. 162) says replacing an attribute roll with a hard skill that serves no purpose other than activating the power is a 0 point feature. Using Public Speaking is more beneficial than this, as it's an IQ/A Skill that defaults to IQ-5 ("Power Skills" are hard and default to IQ-6), that has a use outside of activating and controlling the power.
*Affecting one extra target per -1 to the chance of success: As far as I know, there are no equivalent limitations for this. However, let's say it's no more punishing than Dissipation (-50%). This makes it at best -50%.
*Area Effect, 32 yards (+250%) - hearing range.
*Aura (+80%) - for the free action. Arguably broken.
*Malediction 1 (+100%) - ignoring DR.
*Melee Attack, Reach C (-30%) as required by Aura
*Selective Area (+20%) - so you can hit a select group.
*Sense-Based, Hearing (-20%) - because you must speak.
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Old 01-01-2023, 01:43 PM   #7
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Default Re: [Basic] Advantage of the Week: Rapier Wit

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Originally Posted by Christopher R. Rice View Post
Even then. It's still off.
Absolutly, for only 5 you can have an AOE stunning attack. Changing it from a free action to an attack helps mitigate it's power but does not solve the advantage being way over powered. It does mean that my player wasn't stunning & attacking every round.
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Old 01-01-2023, 02:01 PM   #8
Christopher R. Rice
 
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Default Re: [Basic] Advantage of the Week: Rapier Wit

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Originally Posted by Tinman View Post
Absolutly, for only 5 you can have an AOE stunning attack. Changing it from a free action to an attack helps mitigate it's power but does not solve the advantage being way over powered. It does mean that my player wasn't stunning & attacking every round.
So did you feel that change alone was still okay? (I'm not being a jerk or superior or anything, our game tastes are similar and I'm curious how you as a GM felt it stacked up between the changes.)
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Old 01-01-2023, 08:47 PM   #9
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Default Re: [Basic] Advantage of the Week: Rapier Wit

Quote:
Originally Posted by Christopher R. Rice View Post
Area Effect, 32 yards, +250%; Aura, +80%; Melee Attack, Reach C, -30%; Nuisance Effect, -1 per extra target, -50%
I realize you're probably doing Aura instead of Emanation to account for it being a free action instead of a ready, but that introduces a whole other set of problems like how auras get switched on and off and can be left on while unconscious.

Also one key thing about the -1 per extra target is they needed to be 'a group' and you need to "know something the entire group has in common".

This also implies you need to know something about the original target, too.

Auras will hit people who surprise-attack you but Rapier Wit will not (you must be aware of them)
Free-action attacks are still made during other maneuvers.

I'm also pretty sure you can't do it during a "Do Nothing" maneuver while stunned, whereas an Aura would stay on.

I'd really just allow +20% "reduced time" to make "free action" attacks because it's likely not that big a deal if you limit it to 1 free action per maneuver.

It ends up being more expensive than "Extra Attack" for the really huge advantages where it would matter.
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Old 01-01-2023, 09:25 PM   #10
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Default Re: [Basic] Advantage of the Week: Rapier Wit

Rapier Wit should probably also only allow one attempt per person.
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