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Old 05-25-2022, 10:59 PM   #1
Coinage
 
Join Date: Jan 2018
Default Is a Non-Persistent Environment possible?

Hello everyone.

I was wondering about a new idea I had, and i am hoping for some feedback.

A character is basically something ghost-like. They are undetectable by most normal Mundane NPCs. They can also affect the substantial world. However, they cannot have any persistent changes in the environment.

For example, let's say the PC wants to enter a building, and they decide to punch their way through. They have super-strength, and the ability to affect substantial beings, so they opt to punch through the wall. However, within about 5 seconds, reality "resets", and the wall is repaired back to the condition it was in before the punch. This is enough time for the ghost-form to get into the building.

This also affects biological beings. Let us say the PC kills another character. Eventually, reality would reset, and the dead character would be resurrected as if nothing had happened.

Here is my solution: Just make it a part of the setting. As long as the players know about it before hand, then there is no problem.

What do you guys think? Or, do I need to make some more rules for this?
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Old 05-25-2022, 11:08 PM   #2
Lovewyrm
 
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Default Re: Is a Non-Persistent Environment possible?

What would be the purpose on being in the building or doing anything if five seconds later it resets?

Ghost takes a vase.
Vase returns to the original place after 5 seconds.

But perhaps some sort of super cosmic universal time snapshot based regrowth malediction attack?

This just seems very limiting, though.

Edit:
If nothing really matters then maybe the ghost is just living some sort of simulation.
Like, it's suffering from some major delusions/hallucinations and it's, well, just hallucinating it's actions.

That way you can still roleplay it and have your non persistent world, perhaps.

Last edited by Lovewyrm; 05-25-2022 at 11:25 PM.
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Old 05-26-2022, 01:08 AM   #3
Coinage
 
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Default Re: Is a Non-Persistent Environment possible?

It was an idea. I was trying to allow an incorporeal ghost to interact with the physical world, but in a way that removes any evidence. It's a sort of urban fantasy setting, where the existence of magic and monsters is kept hidden.
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Old 05-26-2022, 01:16 AM   #4
Lovewyrm
 
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Default Re: Is a Non-Persistent Environment possible?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Coinage View Post
It was an idea. I was trying to allow an incorporeal ghost to interact with the physical world, but in a way that removes any evidence. It's a sort of urban fantasy setting, where the existence of magic and monsters is kept hidden.
Well you can still do that, I just figured that a PC, a player character would be kind of pointless since everything done by that PC would be undone.
That said, even as an NPC, five seconds are a bit short.

Imagine you heard the crash of something breaking through a wall hard enough to shatter it (thunder already rattles buildings relatively well)
And by the time you look around it's like nothing happened.

Or even witnessing it.

Spoiler:  



If this ghost's actions were witnessed by too many, then that would not be an urban legend anymore but some legitimate "I'm moving away and never coming back" kind of deal.


Well, either that or people would get used to it, perhaps even expecting things to return back in 5 seconds. Which is kind of a fun angle.

It's all just very limited though. Like, a gimmick, even though it's somewhat substantial.
It might not be worth the trouble statting it out, etc.
If your GM allows it (or if you are the GM) then just let this character be what it is, and only stat out things that deal with defeating or helping it.
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Old 05-26-2022, 01:53 AM   #5
Coinage
 
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Default Re: Is a Non-Persistent Environment possible?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Lovewyrm View Post
It might not be worth the trouble statting it out, etc.
If your GM allows it (or if you are the GM) then just let this character be what it is, and only stat out things that deal with defeating or helping it.
Okay, sure. THanks for the input.
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Old 05-26-2022, 05:34 AM   #6
Aldric
 
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Default Re: Is a Non-Persistent Environment possible?

If everything resets, how does anyone even know something has happened ?
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Old 05-26-2022, 06:30 AM   #7
KarlKost
 
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Default Re: Is a Non-Persistent Environment possible?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Coinage View Post
It was an idea. I was trying to allow an incorporeal ghost to interact with the physical world, but in a way that removes any evidence. It's a sort of urban fantasy setting, where the existence of magic and monsters is kept hidden.
So... I guess it can be Insubstantiality with Affects Substantial with a Glamour -20% Limitation.

Since there will be no permanent consequences, your Ghost will indeed "affect the substantial", however that will be just a Glamour, sort of illusion.

The "reality reset" part is fluff, a special effect of the power
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Old 05-26-2022, 06:41 AM   #8
KarlKost
 
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Default Re: Is a Non-Persistent Environment possible?

So, with a Glamour Limitation on "Affects Substantial", you could drop books, break stuff and spook the living.

If the memories of the living also reset thou, then there is truly nothing here, and this would be a 0 points special effect.

If their memories DONT reset, then it could be used to spook them, or send messages, like typing stuff in a computer screen that shortly disappears, but in that case the living would soon begin to go mad.

Anyway, Glamour on "Affects Substantial" should do the trick IF the living keep the memories.

If not, it's just a 0 cost special effect.

HOWEVER

If EVERYTHING resets - including the memories of the living, but you still have to deal with solid objects like door and walls, then your insubstantiality should have a SERIOUS limitation - or become an outright disadvantage. A SERIOUS disadvantage.

Remember, with insubstantiality you dont need to open doors, and walls are nothing to you.
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Old 05-26-2022, 07:58 AM   #9
Lovewyrm
 
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Default Re: Is a Non-Persistent Environment possible?

Quote:
Originally Posted by KarlKost View Post
So... I guess it can be Insubstantiality with Affects Substantial with a Glamour -20% Limitation.

Since there will be no permanent consequences, your Ghost will indeed "affect the substantial", however that will be just a Glamour, sort of illusion.

The "reality reset" part is fluff, a special effect of the power
Glamour seems to be just a thing that changes someones perception of you.
Why would something like being insubstantial be affected by a glamour?

And why is resetting reality just fluff?

Just curious here.
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Old 05-26-2022, 08:18 AM   #10
Coinage
 
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Default Re: Is a Non-Persistent Environment possible?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Aldric View Post
If everything resets, how does anyone even know something has happened ?
That is the idea. Nobody knows what happened.

The idea is that the PC who is doing this is some kind of Ghost or Extraterrestrial Biological Entity (EBE) that cannot normally interact with the physical world. However, I wanted my players to be able to do something. So, I came up with this work around.
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