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  1. - Top - End - #1
    Firbolg in the Playground
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    Default What ability set would be bad IRL?

    So, there's been threads about RPG abilities that would be good, or what D&D classes one would take IRL, but what about abilities that would be *bad* to spontaneously develop?

    To make the challenge easier, this doesn't have to be bad for a fully clued-in Playground optimizer - you can even explain how it would be bad for someone with no gaming experience, or even someone from a parallel world where that particular system doesn't exist.

    Is it bad because they might not understand the consequences? Bad because it's hard to control? Bad because they might come to rely on it, and find that it fails when they need it? Bad because other people *would* recognize it, and fear/persecute them?

    Just how bad can we make this "gift" of abilities of an RPG character?

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    Default Re: What ability set would be bad IRL?

    Quote Originally Posted by Quertus View Post
    So, there's been threads about RPG abilities that would be good, or what D&D classes one would take IRL, but what about abilities that would be *bad* to spontaneously develop?
    High intelligence is linked to a host of problems, from loneliness (from inability to communicate meaningfully with most people who are ~30 IQ points lower or higher) to madness (from seeing the horrible truth of the universe).

    So any ability set with Int 20+ will arguably be bad IRL, especially if you pair it with Cha 8-.


    In terms of a class that's bad, 3.5e Fist of the Forest would be pretty awful in a modern, civilized society.

    Anything that made you look non-human could be troublesome, too.

  3. - Top - End - #3
    Firbolg in the Playground
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    Default Re: What ability set would be bad IRL?

    Quote Originally Posted by Nifft View Post
    High intelligence is linked to a host of problems, from loneliness (from inability to communicate meaningfully with most people who are ~30 IQ points lower or higher) to madness (from seeing the horrible truth of the universe).

    So any ability set with Int 20+ will arguably be bad IRL, especially if you pair it with Cha 8-.


    In terms of a class that's bad, 3.5e Fist of the Forest would be pretty awful in a modern, civilized society.

    Anything that made you look non-human could be troublesome, too.
    Ouch High Int, low Chr is painful.

    Any particular candidates for nonhuman appearance?

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    Ettin in the Playground
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    Default Re: What ability set would be bad IRL?

    Many combat-relevant abilities would be not great for most people. Even if fully controllable, just knowing that you had an inherent ability to cast even something like Magic Missile (as a level 1 sorcerer, for example) would be a massive mental strain.

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    Firbolg in the Playground
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    Default Re: What ability set would be bad IRL?

    Quote Originally Posted by Gnoman View Post
    Many combat-relevant abilities would be not great for most people. Even if fully controllable, just knowing that you had an inherent ability to cast even something like Magic Missile (as a level 1 sorcerer, for example) would be a massive mental strain.
    Are you suggesting that this would be *worse* than owning a knife, or a gun, to know that you could chant some magic words to get a similar effect?

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    Default Re: What ability set would be bad IRL?

    Quote Originally Posted by Quertus View Post
    Are you suggesting that this would be *worse* than owning a knife, or a gun, to know that you could chant some magic words to get a similar effect?
    The majority of humans don't carry a gun with them all or even most of the time, and at least a fair few very much wouldn't want to.
    Last edited by Unavenger; 2021-03-07 at 10:36 PM.

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    Default Re: What ability set would be bad IRL?

    Wild magic anything. We're hanging this on that "spontaneously develop" thing. With full player knowledge of the risks, possible metacurrency, players having (mostly) control over a character's involuntary reactions, and only risking a character sheet... some people say yes to wild magic abilities, bloodlines, prestige classes, etc. IRL? You're the non-consensual character who will get a potentially lethal or crippling surprise some day. And if you survive that first wild surge you'll always have to live with having a power that improves your life and has only a tiny chance of going terribly wrong. Really, it's as safe as driving a car. Right?

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    Default Re: What ability set would be bad IRL?

    Quote Originally Posted by Quertus View Post
    Are you suggesting that this would be *worse* than owning a knife, or a gun, to know that you could chant some magic words to get a similar effect?
    I am a teacher, and i had some really bad kids sometimes. I really would NOT want to be able to cast magic missile at them, just like i would not want to bring a gun. In the heat of a moment i may do something i may regret
    In memory of Evisceratus: he dreamed of a better world, but he lacked the class levels to make the dream come true.

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    Firbolg in the Playground
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    Default Re: What ability set would be bad IRL?

    Telepathy 100', as per Outsider racial abilities.

  10. - Top - End - #10
    Firbolg in the Playground
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    Default Re: What ability set would be bad IRL?

    Quote Originally Posted by Telok View Post
    Wild magic anything. … Really, it's as safe as driving a car. Right?
    This one definitely depends on the nature of the "wild magic" (3e is pretty safe, for example), and how much of a gambler the imbued individual is.

    Quote Originally Posted by King of Nowhere View Post
    I am a teacher, and i had some really bad kids sometimes. I really would NOT want to be able to cast magic missile at them, just like i would not want to bring a gun. In the heat of a moment i may do something i may regret
    Fair enough

    Quote Originally Posted by NichG View Post
    Telepathy 100', as per Outsider racial abilities.
    And this could be bad because…?

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    Firbolg in the Playground
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    Default Re: What ability set would be bad IRL?

    Quote Originally Posted by Quertus View Post
    And this could be bad because…?
    The text of it is ambiguous, but suggests telepathic conversations not just transmission is possible. So that reads to me as some form of always-on awareness of valid targets of thought going on around you.

    If you live in a city, that could be a thousand people at any given time. Good luck sleeping...

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    Default Re: What ability set would be bad IRL?

    Quote Originally Posted by Quertus View Post
    And this could be bad because…?
    I don't know about NichG's motivation but personally I'm already a cynic bordering on misanthrope without knowing the deepest, darkest thoughts of everyone else.

    I guess there's always a chance I'd be pleasantly surprised but... well, I doubt it.

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    Default Re: What ability set would be bad IRL?

    Quote Originally Posted by Quertus View Post
    And this could be bad because…?
    Imagine that you have a twitter account, you auto-follow everyone within 100 ' and can't turn off notifications. That's like nightmare + hell + horror story all in one.
    Black text is for sarcasm, also sincerity. You'll just have to read between the lines and infer from context like an animal

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    Ettin in the Playground
     
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    Default Re: What ability set would be bad IRL?

    Direct, replicable proof of the existence of a deity in one's person might make social occasions somewhat awkward.

  15. - Top - End - #15
    Ettin in the Playground
     
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    Default Re: What ability set would be bad IRL?

    As has already been alluded to:
    1. Anything that makes you obviously monstrous (look like a troll, Marvel's The Thing, etc.) would have serious social complications.
    2. Anything that makes you innately hazardous (anything from being on fire to being able to cast magic missile) would have social and emotional/mental well-being consequences (how many people who have ever had suicidal ideation would have real problems with a lethal power which could not be taken away?).
    3. Anything that gives you massive control over others, or the world in general, could have self-identity concerns (I don't love that people die from preventable reasons, but in general I don't have a lot of control over that fact. If I did...).
    4. Anything that allows you to know things you'd rather not know (knowing what people really thought, knowing when and how you and your loved ones will die), or perhaps not be able to turn off (being a telepath in a large city)

    This is all part and parcel of the superhero genre (teenagers discover that they are mutants, The Thing, 'with great power comes great responsibility,' etc.) as well as classical mythology (examples being Herakles, Cassandra, etc.), and I think it has been explored exhaustively there.

  16. - Top - End - #16
    Firbolg in the Playground
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    Default Re: What ability set would be bad IRL?

    Quote Originally Posted by Mastikator View Post
    twitter notifications.
    Enough said.

    Best to *very quickly* get/make yourself a home in the middle of an empty parking lot.

    Quote Originally Posted by Saintheart View Post
    Direct, replicable proof of the existence of a deity in one's person might make social occasions somewhat awkward.
    What are you thinking would grant this ability - especially the *proof* part?

    Quote Originally Posted by Willie the Duck View Post
    Anything that makes you innately hazardous
    Alas poor Radioactive Man. Always the (half) life of the party.

    Quote Originally Posted by Willie the Duck View Post
    Anything that gives you massive control over others, or the world in general, could have self-identity concerns (I don't love that people die from preventable reasons, but in general I don't have a lot of control over that fact. If I did...).
    "self-identity concerns"?

    Quote Originally Posted by Willie the Duck View Post
    Anything that allows you to know things you'd rather not know (knowing what people really thought, knowing when and how you and your loved ones will die),
    I can see that being… problematic.

    Quote Originally Posted by Willie the Duck View Post
    or perhaps not be able to turn off (being a telepath in a large city)
    That one's a classic.

    Quote Originally Posted by Willie the Duck View Post
    This is all part and parcel of the superhero genre (teenagers discover that they are mutants, The Thing, 'with great power comes great responsibility,' etc.) as well as classical mythology (examples being Herakles, Cassandra, etc.), and I think it has been explored exhaustively there.
    Well, I guess that that's the advantage of having a new audience.

    Besides, I imagine that they never… hmmm… parodied "first world problems" with a "Fight Club"-worthy meeting group of powered individuals discussing their problems. Or… made a team with powers that would make most jealous… who were all baffled/troubled by their powers long-term (in a way that doesn't make me eye roll or face palm).

    I'm guessing "exhaustively" is a bit strong of a stance. But I'll happily be wrong.

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    Default Re: What ability set would be bad IRL?

    There are whole trope pages dedicated to this concept. I'd start with the abilities noted there and then simply point to the myriad D&D methods of obtaining these abilities.

    Required Secondary Powers
    Blessed With Suck
    Too Awesome To Use
    Quote Originally Posted by The Giant View Post
    But really, the important lesson here is this: Rather than making assumptions that don't fit with the text and then complaining about the text being wrong, why not just choose different assumptions that DO fit with the text?
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  18. - Top - End - #18
    Ettin in the Playground
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    Default Re: What ability set would be bad IRL?

    Quote Originally Posted by Quertus View Post
    Are you suggesting that this would be *worse* than owning a knife, or a gun, to know that you could chant some magic words to get a similar effect?
    I can lock my gun up. If I can just wiggle my fingers and blast somebody that annoys me, I can't lock that up.

  19. - Top - End - #19
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    GreenSorcererElf

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    Default Re: What ability set would be bad IRL?

    Summoning and necromancy.

    Seriously, how long do you honestly think it would be before someone oopsed and unleashed a self replicating undead or got tricked by some outsider?

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    Default Re: What ability set would be bad IRL?

    Being a Barbarian - as in a Berserker - would be genuinely terrible in most any real-world context. Unbridled rage doesn't generally make your life better.

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    Default Re: What ability set would be bad IRL?

    Being Locatha, Drow (though shut-in is viable, and they can do night-shift), or Ranger or Druid as well.
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    Default Re: What ability set would be bad IRL?

    Quote Originally Posted by Kitten Champion View Post
    Being a Barbarian - as in a Berserker - would be genuinely terrible in most any real-world context. Unbridled rage doesn't generally make your life better.
    Nah, that would be great. Barbarians get to control their Rage; when it activates and when it deactivates. Unless you're a Frenzied Berserker or something similar, it's all upside. You basically have the ability to not just control, but to OVERCLOCK your adrenaline. Forget the combat applications; make millions playing pro football with your mild superhuman levels of strength and endurance. Limited duration sure, but that's where it being a Free action to activate/deactivate comes in. Just use it for key plays and sticky spots.

    Nah, the real curse would be being something like a Blight Druid, with this ability:

    Miasma (Ex)
    Starting at 5th level, if a blight druid is adjacent to a creature at the beginning of its turn, the creature must succeed at a Fortitude save with a DC of 10 + 1/2 the druid’s level + the druid’s Wisdom modifier or become sickened for 1 round. A creature of the animal, fey, or plant type that fails its save is nauseated for 1 round and sickened for 1 minute thereafter. If the creature makes its save, it is immune to this effect for 24 hours, as are creatures immune to disease.

    This ability replaces trackless step and resist nature’s lure.
    Most always on Aura style abilities would be similarly bad.

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    Firbolg in the Playground
     
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    Default Re: What ability set would be bad IRL?

    Quote Originally Posted by Quertus View Post
    What are you thinking would grant this ability - especially the *proof* part?
    Being a Cleric, Paladin, or Divine Soul Sorcerer mostly. Even if someone looks at your Divine Intervention abilities and says that they're "just weird spells", they would have a much harder time if one of the spells you cast is Commune and you can reliably talk to God 5 times per day. To say nothing of what would happen if you were a Cleric of one deity and you met another Cleric who could similarly demonstrate that they were in contact with a different deity, immediately disproving monotheism.

    Other spells like Contact Other Plane or Planeshift would have a similar effect on any religion whose creation story says that there is only one 'Earth' with sentient life upon it.

    "self-identity concerns"?
    Imagine that your magic power is mind control. You can enforce your will on another person and keep them under your thrall for as long as you like, controlling them like an extension of your own body, indefinitely. They have no free will, but what you choose to give them.

    So... Who are you? What are you? Can you even remember which of the two bodies you control is your 'real' one? Can you even understand what 'your real body' means? Could you even let go if you wanted or needed to? What if you could control 2 other people? 5 more? 50? What if one of them dies while under your direct and unassailable control - is a part of you dead now, too?

    If you could even get over the cripplingly immense pressure of being responsible for so many other people then you'd probably have to be some flavour of psychopath, which would only get worse as your control became more complete and your inhibitions weakened further. The human psyche isn't built to be a Hive Mind, even if we didn't know already what Absolute Power does to it as well!

    Besides, I imagine that they never… hmmm… parodied "first world problems" with a "Fight Club"-worthy meeting group of powered individuals discussing their problems. Or… made a team with powers that would make most jealous… who were all baffled/troubled by their powers long-term (in a way that doesn't make me eye roll or face palm).
    It kind of has, in a few fairly mainstream examples. The Pixar movie Wreck-It Ralph is probably the biggest and most recent one I can think of - the Bad Guys Support Group, wherein the villains of video games get together and engage in group therapy to discuss the pressures and expectations placed on them for just doing their jobs.
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    Default Re: What ability set would be bad IRL?

    "Pact magic", especially with a devil, is a very bad sign for your soul after death.

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    Default Re: What ability set would be bad IRL?

    I think the worst would be Pathfinder Sorcerer, Aberrant Bloodline. You would literally turn more and more into a freak over time. Even as early as 5th level, you grow long weird wiggly arms. And by 20th level (I think?) Your body has become so messed up that you're immune to critical hits! Think of how messed up that would be, slowly turning into an alien creature. Your life would become a body horror story essentially. I would rather eat week old moldy old rolls than endure such a fate.

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    Default Re: What ability set would be bad IRL?

    Quote Originally Posted by Wraith View Post
    Being a Cleric, Paladin, or Divine Soul Sorcerer mostly. Even if someone looks at your Divine Intervention abilities and says that they're "just weird spells", they would have a much harder time if one of the spells you cast is Commune and you can reliably talk to God 5 times per day. To say nothing of what would happen if you were a Cleric of one deity and you met another Cleric who could similarly demonstrate that they were in contact with a different deity, immediately disproving monotheism.
    All that proves is that you personally believe your magic is granted by a deity. It doesn't prove the deity's existence. You say you talked to a deity? Cool, get in line behind every prophet in history. You have miracles to back it up? That just proves the existence of magic, not the existence of Mystra. And miracles can be faked, so it might not even prove the existence of magic!

    Quote Originally Posted by Wraith View Post
    Other spells like Contact Other Plane or Planeshift would have a similar effect on any religion whose creation story says that there is only one 'Earth' with sentient life upon it.
    Again, that doesn't really prove anything except that you believe you talked to, or traveled to, another plane of existence. Open a planar portal in a major metropolitan area and then maybe we can talk.
    Last edited by Troacctid; 2021-03-15 at 03:29 AM.

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    Firbolg in the Playground
     
    Griffon

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    Default Re: What ability set would be bad IRL?

    Quote Originally Posted by Troacctid View Post
    All that proves is that you personally believe your magic is granted by a deity. It doesn't prove the deity's existence. You say you talked to a deity? Cool, get in line behind every prophet in history. You have miracles to back it up? That just proves the existence of magic, not the existence of Mystra. And miracles can be faked, so it might not even prove the existence of magic!
    This is, of course, the problem with claiming ANY supernatural ability that could be generated from a D&D class.
    You say that you're a Wizard and that you can do magic? Or maybe you're just a pyrotechnics expert and you have a team of guys nearby hitting detonators according to code-words heard through a radio. What, you can only throw that "fireball" 3 times per day? Or maybe you just need me to go away for 8 hours so that you can reset the charges and hid all the evidence!

    The problem is, I probably could prove to a sceptic that my Cleric class-levels are real, but I'd quite literally have to do it one sceptic at a time - demonstrating a spell or ability just for them in a controlled environment to eliminate any possibility of obfuscation, to their satisfaction. Even then some people would just refuse whatever evidence I could provide because it was me giving it to them, just as Flat-Earthers still exist IRL.

    Hell, this is an argument that even exists within D&D - are Gods truly divine, or are they just immensely powerful beings who demand worship? Is there even a difference between the two things? That depends on whether you're asking a Wizard or a Cleric, to begin with.... There is a certain amount of good-faith required in the exercise that I couldn't necessarily get from everyone, but I think with time and strategy I could get enough people to believe me.

    Then again, this is assuming that my goal is to prove the existence of a specific deity. If my goal was to create upheaval in society in general, I'm one True Resurrection away from being able to prove or disprove the existence of the afterlife, the result of which will have heavy implications for any religion or culture and would be nigh-indisputable if I started with a finger bone and ended up with a breathing, talking Albert Einstein or Kurt Cobain doing a Q&A.
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    Default Re: What ability set would be bad IRL?

    Quote Originally Posted by Gnoman View Post
    I can lock my gun up. If I can just wiggle my fingers and blast somebody that annoys me, I can't lock that up.
    Magic missiles has verbal AND somatic components. The chance for that to go off accidentally are non-existent. The same goes for the vast majority of DnD spells.

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    Default Re: What ability set would be bad IRL?

    Quote Originally Posted by burpbot View Post
    Magic missiles has verbal AND somatic components. The chance for that to go off accidentally are non-existent. The same goes for the vast majority of DnD spells.
    Also a secret sauce known as effort and intention. Only wild magic has the option of unintended uncontrolled magic.
    Black text is for sarcasm, also sincerity. You'll just have to read between the lines and infer from context like an animal

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    Default Re: What ability set would be bad IRL?

    Quote Originally Posted by burpbot View Post
    Magic missiles has verbal AND somatic components. The chance for that to go off accidentally are non-existent. The same goes for the vast majority of DnD spells.
    Quote Originally Posted by Mastikator View Post
    Also a secret sauce known as effort and intention. Only wild magic has the option of unintended uncontrolled magic.
    I am pretty sure Gnoman's issue was not the fear of an accidental discharge, but instead the unsettling feeling of always having the ability to cause lethal damage to someone else -- at all times and in a way where you can't just say 'I'm not in the mindset to have control over someone else's continued existence right now'.

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