Tuesday, December 11, 2007

Lordy lordy, Jordy!


Giving diseases to players, sounds like so much fun until you do it. Tons of fun rules seem to go that way, rules designed to maul injure or disfigure some ones character. I've found crippling handicaps being handed out, not really a game enhancer. GURPS Goblins, the whole supplement is built around forcing your players into making characters who are physically and emotionally crippled. Drunks too, every character is a raging alcoholic. Sure, you get to talk in a cockney accent, rob, steal and maul indiscriminately, but most normal things will send you running due to all of your phobias. "It's dark out? Nope, can't go out today, got a fear of that. Plus, we have to cross the Thames, can't do that, afraid of water. Guess I'll just sit here and get drunk, roll on the inebriation table a few times." To top that off, every month on the date of your birthday, you have to roll for a new disease. Super fun, ran it twice.

5 comments:

Infamous Jum said...

That pretty much fits the description of the only GURPs game I've every played, except that it was supposed to be an Illuminati game. Can you blame me for wanted to be a nuclear physicist and except knife fighter, even at the cost of becoming a psychotic hobo that smells of urine? No, no you cannot.

Infamous Jum said...

er, replace "wanted" with "wanting", and replace "except" with "expert". And replace "dog" with "son", and "kind of" with "repeatedly".

skeleri said...

Yeah, drawbacks and disadvantages do not always equate heightened role play, they more often mean nonsensical silliness.

Infamous Jum said...

Still, I'll always regret not getting a chance to play my 1 armed legless fighter in Hackmaster. Why, thats chock full of roleplaying potential! I could, you know, I could get a dog and a small cart, and the dog could pull me through the dungeons, and... you get the idea.

skeleri said...

It worked for those guys in Two Crippled Heroes. You could get a board with wheels on it to scoot around on, a pet monkey, and you're good to go. Maybe make you like a tank, surround you with shields, give you a lance, then just roll you into the goblins.