Just wondering what people think about how anagathics in chargen are handled. My thoughts:
1. Making players pass a Social roll is a great idea. I was already doing something like this in my games under the old rules, albeit in a mushier way (players had to talk me into believing their character could access anagathics, and that probably wasn't going to work for a private in the army with a low social score).
2. I haven't decided whether I like the greater cost. At .2 - 1.2 MC a term, you are pretty much either guaranteeing characters who take anagathics start with major medical debt or else letting your players roll on Dilettante's asset table for their career benefits. I'm not sure I like being straightjacketed that way -- if a player got anagathics because he was a well-connected super spy the agency didn't want to age into retirement or because he was a powerful baron or whatever I don't want to have to start the game with "Oh, by the way, you got all those drugs on loan and now we are going to spend the next five sessions dealing with your crippling medical debt." Characters who do well in certain careers can get millions of credits in ship ownership stakes gratis, I don't see why they can't get millions of credits worth of anti-aging treatments too. I think I am going to experiment with something in between the old rule's 1d6*2,500 credits per term and this books 1d6*200,000 credits per term. Maybe 10k?
3. I'm actually not sure whether in the rules as designed the characters should have to pass a social roll every term they take anagathics or if they only have to do it once and from that point on can take the drugs any term they want provided they are willing to incur the debt. The first way seems pretty punitive, since over three terms it guarantees, more or less, withdrawal and rapid aging when they fail one of their 10+ rolls. The second way seems not punitive enough, since the characters get four rolls before they even start aging to hit that 10+ number. I think I am going to let my characters make one 10+ social roll at the end of their fourth term. If they pass it they can get anagathics for as many terms as they want after that, if they fail they are poop out of luck.
Anyways, summary: I like the idea of "players shouldn't be able to easily get anagathics in chargen," and like the idea of giving them a punishing social roll to get the drugs. I'm not so sure I like the idea of "if characters DO manage to get anagathics in chargen, they should face crippling medical debt and the certainty of withdrawal and rapid aging after a few terms." If the goal of the second thing is to encourage characters to leave chargen after only a few terms, the GM can just cap chargen at three or four terms.
1. Making players pass a Social roll is a great idea. I was already doing something like this in my games under the old rules, albeit in a mushier way (players had to talk me into believing their character could access anagathics, and that probably wasn't going to work for a private in the army with a low social score).
2. I haven't decided whether I like the greater cost. At .2 - 1.2 MC a term, you are pretty much either guaranteeing characters who take anagathics start with major medical debt or else letting your players roll on Dilettante's asset table for their career benefits. I'm not sure I like being straightjacketed that way -- if a player got anagathics because he was a well-connected super spy the agency didn't want to age into retirement or because he was a powerful baron or whatever I don't want to have to start the game with "Oh, by the way, you got all those drugs on loan and now we are going to spend the next five sessions dealing with your crippling medical debt." Characters who do well in certain careers can get millions of credits in ship ownership stakes gratis, I don't see why they can't get millions of credits worth of anti-aging treatments too. I think I am going to experiment with something in between the old rule's 1d6*2,500 credits per term and this books 1d6*200,000 credits per term. Maybe 10k?
3. I'm actually not sure whether in the rules as designed the characters should have to pass a social roll every term they take anagathics or if they only have to do it once and from that point on can take the drugs any term they want provided they are willing to incur the debt. The first way seems pretty punitive, since over three terms it guarantees, more or less, withdrawal and rapid aging when they fail one of their 10+ rolls. The second way seems not punitive enough, since the characters get four rolls before they even start aging to hit that 10+ number. I think I am going to let my characters make one 10+ social roll at the end of their fourth term. If they pass it they can get anagathics for as many terms as they want after that, if they fail they are poop out of luck.
Anyways, summary: I like the idea of "players shouldn't be able to easily get anagathics in chargen," and like the idea of giving them a punishing social roll to get the drugs. I'm not so sure I like the idea of "if characters DO manage to get anagathics in chargen, they should face crippling medical debt and the certainty of withdrawal and rapid aging after a few terms." If the goal of the second thing is to encourage characters to leave chargen after only a few terms, the GM can just cap chargen at three or four terms.
