Unusual Background
Steven Jones
Background? She was taught methods of torture and killing that are not
taught to U.S. military personnel.
David Johnston
<stev...@aapt.net.au> wrote:
>Would Ziva David's (from NCIS) Mossad training count as an Unusual
>Background?
No. She just has a high skill in Karate and Interrogation.
mcv
Only if it gives her a specific advantage unavaillable and unknown to
other people in the setting.
Dr. Kromm's rule of thumb for Unusual Background is that it should
guarantee that your special ability is nearly unique and unexpected.
Being a mage in a setting where magic is common is not an Unusual
Background. Being a mage in a setting where nobody believes in magic
is. Same goes for spionics. If in your setting nobody has heard of
the Mossad or the Mossad trains exotic special abilities that nobody
else has even heard about, then it justifies an Unusual Background.
A character who is really good at torture and some combat skills
in a setting where torture and combat skills are not completely
unknown, does not have Unusual Background.
mcv.
--
Science is not the be-all and end-all of human existence. It's a tool.
A very powerful tool, but not the only tool. And if only that which
could be verified scientifically was considered real, then nearly all
of human experience would be not-real. -- Zachriel
Peter Knutsen
[...]
> A character who is really good at torture and some combat skills
> in a setting where torture and combat skills are not completely
> unknown, does not have Unusual Background.
I agree.
There are guidelines in a number of 4E books, such as GURPS Supers.
For a 5 CP UB to be appropriate, the abilities must give the character a
*very* significant advantage. They don't have to actually be unknown in
the setting, but they have to be very rare.
--
Peter Knutsen
sagatafl.org
Korin Duval
<stev...@aapt.net.au> wrote:
I usually DON'T use U.Background in my campaigns.
I think a combination of Interrogation and Contacts could do the
trick.
She has no real advantage "out of the scope of the campaign".
However, you could charge, should one of your player ask, a 5-points
U.B. and call it a day, if you feel some Contacts are something like
unfair play. ^__^
Korin Duval
--
"Truth requires a great amount of courage;
Fiction requires a great amount of maturity."