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Character conflict
May. 11th, 2019 02:14 amI was re reading GURPS Dungeon Fantasy, which introduces character classes to the giant sprawling freeform thing that is GURPS. Which always irritates me. But has good and sufficient reasons ie if you start as a newbie and create something off one of the te,plates you will get a useful and playable character, and there's notes on party composition too so you mix the skills right there. Which is helpful, but...
I want to be a Bard with ethical objections to mind control. I have no problem with all spells being a song and dance, I just feel it should be a bigger deal that their core powers take free will away. ... also I want some light and shadow spells, maybe a dash of illusion, but the Bard spell list reckons those are Wizardry and Bards can only select from Sound, Knowledge, Communication & Empathy, and Mind Control. Giving up a quarter of your colleges for ethical reasons is a Story. ... it just leaves you with a big gap in your Bardic role. But in theory the same number of points should buy you something equally effective, so really just pouring at least 35 points into social skills and techniques should be able to mimic the 35 point mind control song. If you represented the restriction with a disadvantage I don't know what the point cost would be, but it would be kind of like a Vow where you could break it if you want to. And then you've got a Bard wandering around tempted to go dark side, by their understanding, because look at everyone else getting so much out of it, but no, they must not, for it is Wrong.
Even some of the Communication and Empathy spells give people a nudge to react the way you want them to. Which presents a potential ethical dilemma. And then if you decide to have privacy concerns about mind reading too...
That's someone with a nice internal conflict to play with
but they'd be the most annoying team mate
because they've sworn off doing what you'd hire them for.
Like you can have a Pathfinder Barbarian who wants to stay calm, but then it's every tortured werewolf or Bruce Banner, where the audience and team is pretty much waiting for them to hulk out.
My tendency to read god descriptipns and end up annoyed with all of them would make an awkward Cleric. Like, you can probably run one within the rules, be a servant of Good as an abstract concept, if the particular world allows. But then you've got no temples or rules or whatever? Nobody knows what they'll get around you? And actively choosing to not serve other people's gods might end up being like internet atheists. Attempting to convert everyone, only backwards.
Taking powers with a Pact limitation ie holy powers and then wanting to argue the theology probably results in power loss on the regular. Or what's the point of Pact?
And if you can have a set of binding enough rules without naming a deity to bind them to, that's ... interesting. To every other cleric. Who might have Opinions.
I read about the Test of the Starstone and decided to level up with the specific goal of Be A Better Deity, but it's a particluar adventuring party that would want you around to do that. I mean I think I found a multiclass build that gives me five spheres of divine magic, but it involves a lot of mucking around at low levels instead of charging off to be as good at stuff as expected.
... also I just sort of object to the whole divine/arcane distinction and decide to do both, but that isn't the most efficient way to do anything.
So a character who wants to understand and master the nature of magic is a classic of storytelling, but probably a bit annoying on your team.
Not that I have a gaming group at the moment.
But a tendency to want to pull things apart and figure out what the rules don't want you to do is not the most helpful thing in actual practice.
... I'm still thinking a person who was level one in like every alignment compatible class would be someone you would meet. It seems very Bardic, deciding to know everything. And they'd make friends along the way. It's just they'd end up able to do anything the rest of the party could, only worse. Which isn't really what you look for in a team mate.
A GURPS character who spent most of their points on Allies could end up being the theoretically underpowered heart of a team though. Like they'd be the organiser and get all sorts done.
... probably better as a Patron than a fellow player though. Knowing who you can get to do the thing not being the most exciting way to get things done.
I should look for game groups and actually use some of these rules.
I want to be a Bard with ethical objections to mind control. I have no problem with all spells being a song and dance, I just feel it should be a bigger deal that their core powers take free will away. ... also I want some light and shadow spells, maybe a dash of illusion, but the Bard spell list reckons those are Wizardry and Bards can only select from Sound, Knowledge, Communication & Empathy, and Mind Control. Giving up a quarter of your colleges for ethical reasons is a Story. ... it just leaves you with a big gap in your Bardic role. But in theory the same number of points should buy you something equally effective, so really just pouring at least 35 points into social skills and techniques should be able to mimic the 35 point mind control song. If you represented the restriction with a disadvantage I don't know what the point cost would be, but it would be kind of like a Vow where you could break it if you want to. And then you've got a Bard wandering around tempted to go dark side, by their understanding, because look at everyone else getting so much out of it, but no, they must not, for it is Wrong.
Even some of the Communication and Empathy spells give people a nudge to react the way you want them to. Which presents a potential ethical dilemma. And then if you decide to have privacy concerns about mind reading too...
That's someone with a nice internal conflict to play with
but they'd be the most annoying team mate
because they've sworn off doing what you'd hire them for.
Like you can have a Pathfinder Barbarian who wants to stay calm, but then it's every tortured werewolf or Bruce Banner, where the audience and team is pretty much waiting for them to hulk out.
My tendency to read god descriptipns and end up annoyed with all of them would make an awkward Cleric. Like, you can probably run one within the rules, be a servant of Good as an abstract concept, if the particular world allows. But then you've got no temples or rules or whatever? Nobody knows what they'll get around you? And actively choosing to not serve other people's gods might end up being like internet atheists. Attempting to convert everyone, only backwards.
Taking powers with a Pact limitation ie holy powers and then wanting to argue the theology probably results in power loss on the regular. Or what's the point of Pact?
And if you can have a set of binding enough rules without naming a deity to bind them to, that's ... interesting. To every other cleric. Who might have Opinions.
I read about the Test of the Starstone and decided to level up with the specific goal of Be A Better Deity, but it's a particluar adventuring party that would want you around to do that. I mean I think I found a multiclass build that gives me five spheres of divine magic, but it involves a lot of mucking around at low levels instead of charging off to be as good at stuff as expected.
... also I just sort of object to the whole divine/arcane distinction and decide to do both, but that isn't the most efficient way to do anything.
So a character who wants to understand and master the nature of magic is a classic of storytelling, but probably a bit annoying on your team.
Not that I have a gaming group at the moment.
But a tendency to want to pull things apart and figure out what the rules don't want you to do is not the most helpful thing in actual practice.
... I'm still thinking a person who was level one in like every alignment compatible class would be someone you would meet. It seems very Bardic, deciding to know everything. And they'd make friends along the way. It's just they'd end up able to do anything the rest of the party could, only worse. Which isn't really what you look for in a team mate.
A GURPS character who spent most of their points on Allies could end up being the theoretically underpowered heart of a team though. Like they'd be the organiser and get all sorts done.
... probably better as a Patron than a fellow player though. Knowing who you can get to do the thing not being the most exciting way to get things done.
I should look for game groups and actually use some of these rules.