Jaid Re Gremlins: I don’t want to beat the point to death, and I appreciate your willingness to go along with the GM Staff’s ruling. However, I want to clarify the issue from our point of view isn’t the Gremlins flaw specifically, it’s how it interacts with the rest of your character.
For a simplified example, if you had a hacker who had gremlins, you’d have no questions from us. It would be approved no problem.
However, your low-tech weaponsmith will never be affected by it, as you’ve written him. Therefore, the only way it could possibly be a problem for you is if you screwed up your teammates’ stuff.
That’s one problem we have with it; it’s only good at screwing over your allies, so why would they want you onboard?
You’ve carefully addressed that by saying he will never touch his teammates’ stuff, but then if that’s the case, it doesn’t negatively affect anyone. So how is something that has no negative a flaw?
Your counterargument is essentially:
QUOTE
giving up any possibility of hacking anything, using any kind of cool shadowrun tech, using any number of cool weapons, taking penalties on building stuff because he's using inadequate tools, etc... all that isn't an effect? you don't perceive any drawbacks to that? he doesn't dare touch a commlink to get a plan for building stuff, which means he's not only giving up a bonus for having an AR plan, he's taking a penalty equal to log - 5 to his building test. he's sacrificing the incredible utility of having a smartgun linked via DNI, he's giving up instant communication with the gang, he's giving up the ability to use the matrix to communicate with his contacts, he's giving up the ability to even try such simple tasks as searching the matrix for information, he's giving up all kinds of skillsofts... and none of that qualifies as impacting him?
In another shadowrun game, I might agree with you. To some extent, limiting an ability/advantage/opportunity a character would normally have is a flaw, much like a geas limits a magician’s ability to do something he would normally be able to do, except now he can’t, in certain circumstances.
The problem with your argument is it overlooks the nature of our game. Not having any of the options you listed above is
normal for denizens of Kingsgate.
Your character not having any of those opportunities does not put him at a relative disadvantage because everyone else in our little world is in the exact same boat. So no, none of your examples qualifies as impacting him, because everyone else is laboring under the same problems already. Lacking all of the things you listed is the default condition. Thus anyone who has any of those things is at an
advantage relative to everyone else, because unlike a traditional shadowrun game, not having those things is the rule, not the exception.
Your use of Legion’s daylight geas is therefore flawed, because unlike everyone else, Legion actively loses something during the daylight. He cannot do what he would normally do, which is a disadvantage. Furthermore, not being able to operate in daylight at maximum capacity is a disadvantage relative to everyone else in the game world, most of whom have no such problems. Finally, for him to choose not to act in daylight is a possibility, but a significantly less viable and significantly more problematic option than your surrendering all the ‘high-tech’ stuff SR has to offer, since as I stated above, that’s already the default condition for people in our game.
In a world where a baseball bat and a bad attitude is a viable arsenal, and the wireless network is completely subject to the whims of fate (read: rely on it and I guarantee you’ll get hammered for doing so), lacking access to technology is not a disadvantage.
I bring all this up because the larger issue is the flaws you’ve proposed to replace Gremlins, such as Spirit Bane, Simsense Vertigo, and Sensitive System, demonstrate a similar disconnect with what we consider a flaw.
Spirit Bane is rarely likely to be a problem in our game, given the relative lack of magical opposition, but depending on what type of spirit you pick, I may consider this.
Simsense Vertigo simply isn’t a flaw for your character concept, and Sensitive System isn’t either, for the same reasons as Gremlins.
How often will your character use Simsense in situation that matters, even without Gremlins? Simply put, for your character concept he won’t. What is he going to do, try to use AR or VR to help him Build a Better Tomahawk?
Your character will almost never use AR, VR, or Simsense in a situation in which having a -2 will be an issue in any way, shape, or form, and when he does experience the penalty, it will not be in a situation in which failure creates any kind of genuine problem. So I fail to see how this is a valid flaw.
Sensitive System for a character with no cyber, is extremely unlikely to ever be in a position to afford any cyber at all, let alone any cyber that would cause this flaw to have a material impact, is not a flaw either. Basically, it costs you twice as much essence if you want to buy something you can’t afford, that you won’t have the opportunity to get, and can’t obtain in a large enough volume (Essence Cost). Again, functionally you will not have any drawbacks from this flaw.
The overarching problem the GM Staff has with Gremlins (and your proposed replacements) is that
for your character concept, they simply do not have any drawbacks. Your character concept has been built in a way to circumvent any of those flaws having any material impact.
Now if Blade was a hacker, I would allow Simsense Vertigo, Gremlins, and probably even Sensitive System, because there is no question for that concept, any or all of those is a problem.
So the issue as it stands is not any particular flaw, it’s how you are trying to build them into your character in a way that prevents them from actually being flaws.
That is the root of our problem with Gremlins, and as long as you attempt to take that approach that will be our problem will any flaw you take.
Therefore, as far as what we need from Blade, it’s not necessarily the character concept or the flaws we have an issue with. In fact I think you’ve provide a solid amount of detail on him so far, although I’d have to discuss with the others how much more, if any, additional information we want.
Our issue is the disconnect in your understanding of what a flaw is with ours, and how we expect flaws to interact with character concepts. Until we can get that straightened out, there’s no point moving forward, because any numbers you come up with on your character sheet will be rejected because the flaws you take won’t be ones we will grant you BP for.
I hope that clarifies our position and rationale on our rulings so you can understand where we’re coming from, adjust accordingly, and we can move you on with the recruitment process!