Callous - Too much for character's personality?

[Mr Dalton]

So, one of my players has made a hard-ass sheriff character. He's taken the callous drawback, but I wonder if that's too much for the way he's described himself to me. He does fit the callous behavior in some ways, but it only applies to people who break the law. To anyone who follows the law, he has duty towards them and keeps to it. But he is a real hard-ass and if someone breaks the law, he rigidly enforces it and does not care about their reasons, or situation. The law is the law.
But callous seems to be more sociopathic than this, implying they don't care and only have an interest in other people's feelings in order to manipulate them for their own ends. So, is callous too much for how he wants to play his character? If not, is there a better one to fit his behavior? I don't really see one. Maybe a quirk version of callous, where it only applies if someone has broken the law?

[Ramidel]

Depends. I'm not seeing Callous in that description but that doesn't mean he doesn't have it. He could simply have a very rigid Code of Honor. Or he might not be capable of emotional consideration for anyone - but still protect them out of duty. The "Callous only to lawbreakers" idea seems a bit odd, though.

[JulianLW]

Originally Posted by Mr Dalton

So, one of my players has made a hard-ass sheriff character. He's taken the callous drawback, but I wonder if that's too much for the way he's described himself to me. He does fit the callous behavior in some ways, but it only applies to people who break the law. To anyone who follows the law, he has duty towards them and keeps to it. But he is a real hard-ass and if someone breaks the law, he rigidly enforces it and does not care about their reasons, or situation. The law is the law.
But callous seems to be more sociopathic than this, implying they don't care and only have an interest in other people's feelings in order to manipulate them for their own ends. So, is callous too much for how he wants to play his character? If not, is there a better one to fit his behavior? I don't really see one. Maybe a quirk version of callous, where it only applies if someone has broken the law?

Sounds like Intolerance (Lawbreakers) [-5] to me.

[Rupert]

Originally Posted by Mr Dalton

So, one of my players has made a hard-ass sheriff character. He's taken the callous drawback, but I wonder if that's too much for the way he's described himself to me. He does fit the callous behavior in some ways, but it only applies to people who break the law. To anyone who follows the law, he has duty towards them and keeps to it. But he is a real hard-ass and if someone breaks the law, he rigidly enforces it and does not care about their reasons, or situation. The law is the law.
But callous seems to be more sociopathic than this, implying they don't care and only have an interest in other people's feelings in order to manipulate them for their own ends. So, is callous too much for how he wants to play his character? If not, is there a better one to fit his behavior? I don't really see one. Maybe a quirk version of callous, where it only applies if someone has broken the law?

That seems fine for Callous to me, as long as keeping to his duty to the law-abiding is something that is done without great empathy or concern for their feelings. In other words, he's not doing it because he cares for their feelings, or even them, but because it's his code and obligation. He's doing it for himself, not for them.

[Anders]

Otherwise, Callous towards criminals is a perfectly acceptable quirk.

[whswhs]

Originally Posted by Anders

Otherwise, Callous towards criminals is a perfectly acceptable quirk.

Yes. See Extremely Limited Disadvantage in GURPS Power-Ups 6: Quirks. It has examples of Callous: Only toward children and only toward the elderly; only toward lawbreakers seems a fair analog.

[Varyon]

The apparent callousness could also be a side effect of an Obsession with enforcing the law; the Judge Dredd from the Sylvester Stallone movie of the same name functions like that (for example, arresting someone for hacking a food distribution robot in order to hide inside of it rather than wind up murdered by a bunch of terrorists). Alternatively (and potentially relevant for that interpretation of Dredd), Higher Purpose (Enforce the Law) would have a similar built-in obsession.

[Culture20]

Is the character the type of cop who will never give a warning, and instead watches a potential crime or driving infraction unfold before intervening? Then callous sounds right. Example: "I watched you staring at your cell phone for five minutes while walking and watched you walk into traffic causing the pileup. Cry me a river." A non-callous person would have called out a warning.

[malloyd]

I think they can overlap just fine. Oh look, sobing traumatized victim over there, let me go harshly interrogate her to get a record of the exact details....

[Alden Loveshade]

Originally Posted by whswhs

Yes. See Extremely Limited Disadvantage in GURPS Power-Ups 6: Quirks. It has examples of Callous: Only toward children and only toward the elderly; only toward lawbreakers seems a fair analog.

I would tend to agree--based on the character's description.

But it could be different if the character suspects basically everyone has broken a law. In real life in America at least, this is true of virtually everyone. (Depending upon the state, even very young children can be convicted of crimes as if they were adults.)