So. I am terrible at remembering my PC's disads. I almost never weave them into any given storyline, some of my players are inclined to take disads that they don't want to roleplay, and I'm bad at penalizing them via lower CP rewards because I only realize iin retrospect that they even had Impulsive and were cautious and careful throughout a whole session, and even when I'm playing I often forget to roleplay ALL the disads I took, or roleplay quirks as a larger part of my personality than larger point disads.
Additionally, I usually run relatively cinematic games. While I am big on "the dice fall where they may," I'm also big on providing some way for people to nudge probability in their favor. Generally Luck, but sometimes Destiny Points or other things. For a while I've been trying something where instead of Self Control Rolls, I give a single use luck reroll to be spent later to players whose PC's are inconvenienced by their disads (and otherwise banned the Luck advantage, spending some points on Luck just gives you an extra point at the beginning of each session). But given half the time I forget what disads the PCs have, this hasn't helped prod them towards making in-character choices as much as I had hoped.
So, I was kicking around solutions to "immediate in-game incentives for roleplaying" as well as "I am terrible at keeping track of everyone's disadvantages.". I tend to run horror themed games (or at least games with common horrific elements), and I was thinking about some of the advice in GURPS: Horror about dealing with characters who are like "instead of going into the graveyard at night with shovels and shotguns, let's all move to Belize.". I like the solution in Monster Hunters (and an earlier version in Supers) that is basically a " Why We Fight" package of disads pushing people towards conflict.
Anyways. What I was thinking was:
1) No points for disads with Self Control Rolls or Frequency Checks.
2) Everyone has to take a Motivation. This can change over time, but it is the thing that makes your PC do stuff that is fun but probably bad for their health. Generally broader than any single disad (like in MH).
3) Everyone takes a Flaw. This can also change over time. It's the thing that sometimes sidetracks you from persueing your goals. This is usually a bit more narrow, more on par with a single mental disad or an enemy showing up.
The GM can offer any sort of metagame narrative currency (I call mine "Luck Points", but any of the stuff from Impulse Buys would work I think) to pull you into adventure via your Motivation, or to sidetrack your progress by getting you to do something stupid because of your Flaw. But it's always voluntary. You can choose not to succumb in any particular instance, you just don't get any cinematic dice-fudging points. Since you're not getting any points for the Motivation or Flaw, it's not like you're getting anything for free if you choose not to succumb, and it just means your character is a mild letch instead of Peppie LePeau if your flaw iis Lecherous but you rarely succumb to it.
And on my end, I only have to remember two things per PC. As well as avoiding rules arguments about what any particular disadvantage does or doesn't say you should have to be doing. (I'm looking at you, Honesty.)
Concerns I see:
1) What about building racial templates? If there is a race with Bloodlust, or Gluttony, or Greed (or all three), how does that combine with the individual PC's Flaw? Right now I'm thinking the points for that still factors into the racial template costs, but you add a second racial flaw (like Demon, or Dwarf) that packages the disads together and can also be used to pull characters into trouble, as generally everyone has a pretty decent idea of the kinds of things Demons tend to get sidetracked by.
2) How is this different from FATE points? Well, FATE games generally most of the action is primarily driven by point spends, and compelling dramatic things via them. With GURPS all the generally realistic rules framework is still there, resolving most of the action normally. Ideally, the point turnover will be much lower, and thus most of the action won't be really driven by whacky hijinks of various PCs (unless that's the kind of game you're looking for, I guess). It's just when it comes to rolling to see if your character manages to dodge out of the way of the possessed '68 Dodge Charger, the PC who was a smartass to a cop earlier will get to roll a couple of extra times to see if he makes it compared to the one who kept his trap shut and did what the officer said.
3) I would like to use the Stress and Derangement rules from Horror, and especially the idea that your current Stress level penalizes your self control rolls, but I can't figure out how to incorporate "you are stressed out so succumb to your Flaw more frequently" into this system elegantly. Ideas?
Responses I would rather not get:
1) Stock system is fine, you're just doing iit wrong.
2) I don't like cinematic probability altering metagame currencies.
3) Everyone just needs to be better role players.
That aside: What does everyone think? Are there any unintended consequences of this that I've missed? Are there any other situations you can think of that would lead to perverse incentives of players not actually roleplaying what's on their character sheet more frequently under this system? Does it knock into any other parts of the system that I've missed?
Mucking about with disadvantages
Additionally, I usually run relatively cinematic games. While I am big on "the dice fall where they may," I'm also big on providing some way for people to nudge probability in their favor. Generally Luck, but sometimes Destiny Points or other things. For a while I've been trying something where instead of Self Control Rolls, I give a single use luck reroll to be spent later to players whose PC's are inconvenienced by their disads (and otherwise banned the Luck advantage, spending some points on Luck just gives you an extra point at the beginning of each session). But given half the time I forget what disads the PCs have, this hasn't helped prod them towards making in-character choices as much as I had hoped.
So, I was kicking around solutions to "immediate in-game incentives for roleplaying" as well as "I am terrible at keeping track of everyone's disadvantages.". I tend to run horror themed games (or at least games with common horrific elements), and I was thinking about some of the advice in GURPS: Horror about dealing with characters who are like "instead of going into the graveyard at night with shovels and shotguns, let's all move to Belize.". I like the solution in Monster Hunters (and an earlier version in Supers) that is basically a " Why We Fight" package of disads pushing people towards conflict.
Anyways. What I was thinking was:
1) No points for disads with Self Control Rolls or Frequency Checks.
2) Everyone has to take a Motivation. This can change over time, but it is the thing that makes your PC do stuff that is fun but probably bad for their health. Generally broader than any single disad (like in MH).
3) Everyone takes a Flaw. This can also change over time. It's the thing that sometimes sidetracks you from persueing your goals. This is usually a bit more narrow, more on par with a single mental disad or an enemy showing up.
The GM can offer any sort of metagame narrative currency (I call mine "Luck Points", but any of the stuff from Impulse Buys would work I think) to pull you into adventure via your Motivation, or to sidetrack your progress by getting you to do something stupid because of your Flaw. But it's always voluntary. You can choose not to succumb in any particular instance, you just don't get any cinematic dice-fudging points. Since you're not getting any points for the Motivation or Flaw, it's not like you're getting anything for free if you choose not to succumb, and it just means your character is a mild letch instead of Peppie LePeau if your flaw iis Lecherous but you rarely succumb to it.
And on my end, I only have to remember two things per PC. As well as avoiding rules arguments about what any particular disadvantage does or doesn't say you should have to be doing. (I'm looking at you, Honesty.)
Concerns I see:
1) What about building racial templates? If there is a race with Bloodlust, or Gluttony, or Greed (or all three), how does that combine with the individual PC's Flaw? Right now I'm thinking the points for that still factors into the racial template costs, but you add a second racial flaw (like Demon, or Dwarf) that packages the disads together and can also be used to pull characters into trouble, as generally everyone has a pretty decent idea of the kinds of things Demons tend to get sidetracked by.
2) How is this different from FATE points? Well, FATE games generally most of the action is primarily driven by point spends, and compelling dramatic things via them. With GURPS all the generally realistic rules framework is still there, resolving most of the action normally. Ideally, the point turnover will be much lower, and thus most of the action won't be really driven by whacky hijinks of various PCs (unless that's the kind of game you're looking for, I guess). It's just when it comes to rolling to see if your character manages to dodge out of the way of the possessed '68 Dodge Charger, the PC who was a smartass to a cop earlier will get to roll a couple of extra times to see if he makes it compared to the one who kept his trap shut and did what the officer said.
3) I would like to use the Stress and Derangement rules from Horror, and especially the idea that your current Stress level penalizes your self control rolls, but I can't figure out how to incorporate "you are stressed out so succumb to your Flaw more frequently" into this system elegantly. Ideas?
Responses I would rather not get:
1) Stock system is fine, you're just doing iit wrong.
2) I don't like cinematic probability altering metagame currencies.
3) Everyone just needs to be better role players.
That aside: What does everyone think? Are there any unintended consequences of this that I've missed? Are there any other situations you can think of that would lead to perverse incentives of players not actually roleplaying what's on their character sheet more frequently under this system? Does it knock into any other parts of the system that I've missed?
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