Is this a fair way to roleplay the "Attached" drawback?

[toxicpie]

A white dragon appeared from out of the snow, and in the surprise round used its breath weapon. I survived but it blew my swashbuckler's hat, the object of his Attached drawback, off. I couldn't see it, it was buried under snow.
The way the GM and other players ruled it was that I had to find my hat before attacking the dragon, reasoning I'd be too concerned about the hat to be unable to anything but single-mindedly make sure it was safe and back in my possession. That's how we played it and it worked out fine, but I did have my doubts.

Would having this very strong, irrational attachment to your item really make you disregard completely your own life, and that of your comrades? Written down it actually makes more sense that it seemed at the time, but how do you guys play it?

[Maezer]

Technically the listed penalty only a -1 to will, -2 vs fear. But its seems you are playing a little loose with the rules (which is fine as I am all for GM story telling), as technically your hat probably should not have fallen off in the first place to a white dragons breath attack.

My best advice would be talk to the GM. Try to find a penalty you both think is fitting for story telling purposes. Or maybe ask if you can give up whatever bonus trait you got, to clear the drawback entirely and then you should be relatively free and clear to roleplay your attachment to your hat any way you please.

[Rynjin]

Ummm...no.

"I am attached to this object" does not mean "I am willing to die rather than let it out of my sight for a few moments while I FIGHT A DRAGON".

You do like Luffy. Somebody f+&~s with your hat, you rearrange their internal organs with your fist.

[Gentleman Wizard]

toxicpie wrote:

Would having this very strong, irrational attachment to your item really make you disregard completely your own life, and that of your comrades? Written down it actually makes more sense that it seemed at the time, but how do you guys play it?

No, it doesn't make sense. In a more serious game you would have a right to complain, but I'm sure your GM (and the other players) got a few good laughs out of your clownish (GM required) behavior.

If it continues to irritate you, just let your GM know that it does. He probably knows (deep down) that he was just having a bit of fun with you and would probably be willing to stop.

[Blackwaltzomega]

toxicpie wrote:

A white dragon appeared from out of the snow, and in the surprise round used its breath weapon. I survived but it blew my swashbuckler's hat, the object of his Attached drawback, off. I couldn't see it, it was buried under snow.

The way the GM and other players ruled it was that I had to find my hat before attacking the dragon, reasoning I'd be too concerned about the hat to be unable to anything but single-mindedly make sure it was safe and back in my possession. That's how we played it and it worked out fine, but I did have my doubts.

Would having this very strong, irrational attachment to your item really make you disregard completely your own life, and that of your comrades? Written down it actually makes more sense that it seemed at the time, but how do you guys play it?

It's a strong, irrational attachment, not a psychosis. I could see someone being unreasonably shaken by losing their item of attachment, but unless your character is literally insane in regards to the item they would not disregard their own survival and that of their comrades to look for their hat, irrational attachment or no.

[toxicpie]

Okay, thanks a lot, guys! Next session tomorrow, I'll see if the question comes up again. :)

[Kelvar Silvermace]

I agree with everyone else--with one exception: I *do* think it is possible for a white dragon's breath to blow a hat off. It should be like a horrible gust of cold air--worse than anything we have on Earth, in all likelihood. If that can't blow your hat off, then it isn't much of a dragon.

Also, where are these drawbacks located?

[Thanael]

Drawbacks are reverse traits.

[Paladin of Baha-who?]

If frantically searching for your hat took one round or less, it's not unreasonable. Like Indiana Jones, you're willing to take a moment of risk for something you care about.

[Rynjin]

Paladin of Baha-who? wrote:

If frantically searching for your hat took one round or less, it's not unreasonable. Like Indiana Jones, you're willing to take a moment of risk for something you care about.

Spending 6 seconds searching for your hat while a dragon is getting ready to crush you is the act of a very stupid person, no matter how much you like your hat.

[Dave Justus]

"The way the GM and other players ruled it was that I had to find my hat before attacking the dragon"

This is probably too strong of an effect for a trait. However, it would not be unreasonable for you to choose to grab your hat. Player choice is pretty important to maintain unless there is good reason, and a trait shouldn't over-ride player control of a character. But I would consider going for the hat to be good role-playing.

And it honestly wouldn't be a bad tactical position either, since an unattended object could be easily destroyed or it could possibly move further in the scuffle, being lost forever.

[Chengar Qordath]

Personally, I would say a lot of it has to do with how hard/dangerous it would be to retrieve the hat. There's a big difference between taking suicidal risks and/or leaving your teammates in peril to recover your hat versus, say, spending a move action to pick it up off the ground.

[Koshimo]

if thats the way the DM is ruling it that the breath attack can blow off your hat i would say if you make the first reflex save the hat does not fall off if you fail the initial one then you get a second reflex save to try and catch the hat before it falls

[Deighton Thrane]

It sounds like this is an over-reaction to the attached drawback. It's possible with certain drawbacks to almost never affect the character while the trait they allow for can be incredibly useful. The attached drawback is probably the worst offender in this category. So it seems to me that this was an attempt to make the drawback relevant, however even I, who doesn't like the drawback system very much, and the attached drawback even less, think it's beyond the scope of a drawback to be able to keep a character from dealing with an obvious threat to his/her life.

[Dave Justus]

Although as far as I am aware, it isn't fully detailed out in mechanics, the Dead Man's Headband certainly suggests that environmental effects can blow off a hat.

Also, I absolutely think that regardless of how someone tries to manipulate the rules, a drawback that never has consequences isn't a drawback at all and the GM should fix that in some fashion, although preferably letting the player know what changes he plans make first and allow the player to change or drop the drawback (and bonus trait of course) in response to rules changes.

[Ian Bell]

The ruling about having to pick the hat up makes no sense. Why wouldn't you just apply the normal penalty of the drawback?

[OilHorse]

Rynjin wrote:

Paladin of Baha-who? wrote:

If frantically searching for your hat took one round or less, it's not unreasonable. Like Indiana Jones, you're willing to take a moment of risk for something you care about.

Spending 6 seconds searching for your hat while a dragon is getting ready to crush you is the act of a very stupid person, no matter how much you like your hat.

I dunno, Indy almost lost an arm for his hat.

[Rynjin]

OilHorse wrote:

Rynjin wrote:

Paladin of Baha-who? wrote:

If frantically searching for your hat took one round or less, it's not unreasonable. Like Indiana Jones, you're willing to take a moment of risk for something you care about.

Spending 6 seconds searching for your hat while a dragon is getting ready to crush you is the act of a very stupid person, no matter how much you like your hat.

I dunno, Indy almost lost an arm for his hat.

Nobody ever claimed Indy was very smart, so he gets a pass.

[Kudaku]

It's worth noting that in the hat scene Indy makes sure he gets to safety before thinking to recover his headgear... He also does the exact same thing with his whip in another scene.

I could absolutely picture your character making some irrational decisions regarding his hat (such as staying out in the cold too long while digging through the snow to find it), but turning your back on a white dragon to recover your lucky hat seems more like a crippling psychiatric issue than a personality quirk.

I'd also suggest looking into a hat chin strap!