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> Custom quality: Jaded, Critique, please
Tanegar
post May 11 2009, 09:21 PM
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The idea behind the Jaded quality is that the character has been around the block a few (hundred) times, seen pretty much everything there is to see, and wasn't impressed by much of it. The character's emotional spectrum is flattened to the point where only extreme stimuli can elicit any kind of response. The specific stimulus required by the character is chosen by the player, in similar manner to the specific behaviors grouped under the Poor Self Control quality from Runner's Companion. Take a look and tell me what bonus BP value would be appropriate.

For example:
Jaded (Combat)
The character might have suffered one too many concussions, have a form of post-traumatic stress disorder, or may simply be a low-level psychopath; regardless, he or she only feels truly alive in the midst of battle. The character suffers a -2 dice pool penalty to Perception tests other than those made to notice an opponent, booby trap or similar threat, a -4 penalty to all Social tests except Intimidation, must make a Composure (3) test in order to resist the urge to escalate any confrontation to violence, and additionally must make a Composure (5) test to break away from any combat before all opponents are killed or incapacitated.

Jaded (Sex)
The character just can't keep it in his (or her) pants. This is not quite at the level of pathological nymphomania, but the character craves sex above all other forms of stimulus. He or she suffers a -2 dice pool penalty to all Perception tests other than those made to notice a potential partner of the character's preferred gender and/or metatype, a -4 penalty to all Social rolls other than those directly related to seduction (either as the seducer or seduced), must make a Composure (3) test to avoid hitting on anyone he or she finds sexually attractive, and a Composure (5) test to refuse an offer of sex.
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BlueMax
post May 11 2009, 09:23 PM
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I am so cynical that I can't see how either of these relate to being jaded. They both just look like addictions.

I am however at work and not all of my mind is active. Something may have been missed.

BlueMax
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DWC
post May 11 2009, 09:29 PM
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I'd have to agree with the assessment that neither of these really seems jaded to me. Both of them seem to fall under the umbrella of the existing Poor Self Control negative quality. Jaded would imply bonuses to composure tests to represent being unimpressed or uninterested in everything, rather than additional composure tests to represent compulsive behaviors and impulse control problems.
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Synner667
post May 11 2009, 09:30 PM
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QUOTE (Tanegar @ May 11 2009, 10:21 PM) *
Jaded (Sex)
The character just can't keep it in his (or her) pants. This is not quite at the level of pathological nymphomania, but the character craves sex above all other forms of stimulus. He or she suffers a -2 dice pool penalty to all Perception tests other than those made to notice a potential partner of the character's preferred gender and/or metatype, a -4 penalty to all Social rolls other than those directly related to seduction (either as the seducer or seduced), must make a Composure (3) test to avoid hitting on anyone he or she finds sexually attractive, and a Composure (5) test to refuse an offer of sex.

Not sure that you understand what the word jaded means in this context...
...Someone who's sexually jaded isn't interested in ordinary/"vanilla" sexual pleasure.

What you've descried is sex addiction.

You're describing someone who might seek something other than "vanilla sex" - perhaps bondage, etc [lots of villains in the WH40K are jaded by sex, seeking pleasures that lead them to the Chaos gods].
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Backgammon
post May 11 2009, 09:47 PM
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From a purely mechanical point of vue, I find the penalties too harsh.
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Blade
post May 12 2009, 08:22 AM
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I don't really like them.

The first one will just give free BP to players who wants to play combat-only characters so players wanting to play them will take it and end up not being able to do anything outside of combat situations. They'll probably get themselves or their team killed because they'll nearly always escalate conflicts (what's the point of having a high charisma when all your social test suffer a -4 penalty? Hence low charisma, hence low composure) and they won't be able to retreat when in a bad situation.

The second one can be a bit more interesting (makes the character extremely vulnerable to character of his preferred gender à la City Hunter) but I'd actually change the social modifier to apply only on the resistance rolls against characters of his preferred gender (even in seduction situations). There's no reason why the character would have problems with other social situations. Same for the perception modifier, I'd have it only apply if there are any interesting people around. There's no reason why the character should be distracted deep inside a secure facility. This could make it interesting, but it doesn't fit the "jaded" name.
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BookWyrm
post May 12 2009, 02:58 PM
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QUOTE (Tanegar @ May 11 2009, 05:21 PM) *
The idea behind the Jaded quality is that the character has been around the block a few (hundred) times, seen pretty much everything there is to see, and wasn't impressed by much of it. The character's emotional spectrum is flattened to the point where only extreme stimuli can elicit any kind of response. The specific stimulus required by the character is chosen by the player, in similar manner to the specific behaviors grouped under the Poor Self Control quality from Runner's Companion. Take a look and tell me what bonus BP value would be appropriate.

For example:
Jaded (Combat)
The character might have suffered one too many concussions, have a form of post-traumatic stress disorder, or may simply be a low-level psychopath; regardless, he or she only feels truly alive in the midst of battle. The character suffers a -2 dice pool penalty to Perception tests other than those made to notice an opponent, booby trap or similar threat, a -4 penalty to all Social tests except Intimidation, must make a Composure (3) test in order to resist the urge to escalate any confrontation to violence, and additionally must make a Composure (5) test to break away from any combat before all opponents are killed or incapacitated.

Jaded (Sex)
The character just can't keep it in his (or her) pants. This is not quite at the level of pathological nymphomania, but the character craves sex above all other forms of stimulus. He or she suffers a -2 dice pool penalty to all Perception tests other than those made to notice a potential partner of the character's preferred gender and/or metatype, a -4 penalty to all Social rolls other than those directly related to seduction (either as the seducer or seduced), must make a Composure (3) test to avoid hitting on anyone he or she finds sexually attractive, and a Composure (5) test to refuse an offer of sex.



While this is a good posting, I'd have to agree with the consensus that these Flaws don't necessarilly fall under the heading of "Jaded". They read more like addictions.
Change "Jaded (x)" to "Penchant (x)". That way, it's not quite an addiction nor is it a full-on fetish.

Being "jaded" means the character had a detachement-outlook to that particular....well, outlook. "Jaded (sex)" would mean that they feel/believe that they've experienced all the required stimulus that sex provides and barely feel any of the emotional rush that said act used to provide.
"Jaded (Combat)" is similar, only applying to combat situations.
In such circumstances, the character's thought or quote would be: "Here we go, the same-old same-old." with a hint of boredom.
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Heath Robinson
post May 12 2009, 04:09 PM
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Jaded - Positive Quality
Cost: 5 BP (10 BP if the character possesses a Quality that causes them to take additional Composure or Fear checks in any circumstance)
Having long since seen it all, things have ceased to draw the normal emotional response.

Add 2 extra dice to Composure and Fear checks.


Short, sweet, useful. The threshold mechanism and DP statistics means that this represents a flattened emotional response perfectly fine. If you want the character to be vulnerable to a certain kind of stimulus then you add the appropriate negative quality (generally poor self control). Being Jaded in a game where you are expected to encounter horrible things and run up against spirits that frighten normal people is a good thing.

You could probably boost the bonus to 3 with no major change in utility.
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Zurai
post May 12 2009, 04:28 PM
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People are clearly misreading, here. The qualities don't represent being jaded about the subject, they're representing being jaded about everything except the subject.
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Draco18s
post May 12 2009, 06:03 PM
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QUOTE (Zurai @ May 12 2009, 11:28 AM) *
People are clearly misreading, here. The qualities don't represent being jaded about the subject, they're representing being jaded about everything except the subject.


Except that someone who's jaded (except for combat) wouldn't become a "a low-level psychopath" from "head trauma."

As written these are poor self control slash addiction negative qualities, and the rules in the books for those two already exist and cover the condition quite well.

Jaded means "no emotional response" so "Add 2 extra dice to Composure and Fear checks" is perfect.

As a side note:

My group instituted a cumulative -1 dice pool penalty to composure checks after every successive composure check against the same flaw (mentor spirits, etc.) because mages who have to make these checks tend to have 8 to 15 dice to make 2 or more successes.

Jaded IMO would reduce this -1 to a -(1/2) round down. So a pool of 8 is 8, 7, 7, 6, 6, 5, 5, etc.
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