This should not be confused with the similarly named Disadvantage Dependents
Cost: Variable
Dependency is an exotic physical Disadvantage where you need to ingest a substance, touch or carry an object, or spend time in an environment in order to survive.
Unlike Draining that damage can presumably still be healed though.
Base cost[]
- Rare (potion): -30 points.
- Occasional (virgin’s blood): -20 points.
- Common (human blood): -10 points.
- Very Common: -5 points
- Illegal: additional -5 points
Multiplier[]
- Constantly (x5): Lose 1 HP per minute without the substance
- Hourly (x4): Lose 1 HP per 10 minutes after missing an hourly dose
- Daily (x3): Lose 1 HP per hour after missing a daily dose.
- Weekly (x2): Lose 1 HP per six hours after missing a weekly dose.
- Monthly (default): Lose 1 HP per day after missing a monthly dose.
- Seasonally (x1/3, drop all fractions): Lose 1 HP per three days after missing a seasonal (three months) dose.
- Yearly (x1/10, drop all fractions): Lose 1 HP per two weeks after missing a yearly dose.
Fantasy[]
GURPS Fantasy 132-133 mentions the rarity classes:
- Rare: "A single site, such as a specific tree or building"
- Occasional: "A small physical region, such as an island, mountain, or river, or a political region such as a county or large city" .. "as a rule of thumb, any area that can be crossed in a day counts"
- Common: "An environment, such as desert or jungle, or a continent or country"
- Very Common: "An entire physical realm, such as the land or the oceans or the underworld"
It's unclear how to deal with Moveable sites. Anchored shifts from -80% to lesser value in that instance.
Regarding mana:
- pg 30 "In most fantasy worlds, mana is Very Common", page 132 reiterates this
- pg 108 Faeries, who need it Constantly (x5) are worth -25, agreeing with 30 for a base cost of -5 for VC
- pg 113 Lich defines it as merely Constantly, worth -50 due to a base cost of 15 for C
Horror analyses[]
Two target the vitality of living beings
- H66 "Dependency (Sexual Energy; Nightly) [-30]" for Succubus (a Threshold Entity)
- "Nightly" instead of "Daily" is just semantics due to Succubi being Nocturnal (can't move/feed in day)
- H93 (left) "Dependency (Infants’ Breath; Illegal; Daily) [-45]" for Lilitu (a Specter)
In both cases acquiring the "dose" needed to mitigate the dependency is represented by the Leech advantage.
Lilitu steal 2 HP per attack while Succubi steal 2 FP (until FP is 0, then HP instead) per attack, in either case recovering 2 HP per attack.
- This means that Succubi are more sustainable feeders, since FP recovers faster than HP.
- on the other hand, Succubi must turn substantial to feed. They do not have "Affect Substantial" on their insubstantiality like Lilitu do. They rely on using abilities like Sleep (or tiring out a foe with Erotic Art) to lower defenses before using Leech.
There is some irony here: stealing "breath" from a baby would make more conceptual sense as FP than HP, specifically Leech w/ Hazard of "Suffocation". This could remove the need for "Choking" entirely: Choking causes Suffocation which is basically a loss of FP as a resource: Leech Hazard USES that FP to restore the Leecher's HP and fulfill "draining" costs!
- this better fits "steal breath" than "prevent from breathing"
- this also would logically make a Doesn't Breathe baby immune to a Lilitu: as written they are only immune to the Affliction but NOT to the Leech, which just goes ahead and takes HP regardless of whether or not the Affliction setup succeeds. Lilitu Dependency should just more accurately be worded as "Baby's HP" since that's the only "dose" they steal.
The "sexual energy" the succubi steal OTOH might be redone as "Hazard: Lost Sleep" rather than just raw HP. They do after all have "Sleep" and "Nightmares" abilities. But while it's believable insomnia would prevent regenerating lost sexual energy, the problem that creates is not needing to sleep would make you immune to succubi's Leech taking your FP
- There isn't really an "FP lost to sex" type of Hazard with unique effects different from usual FP. It's probably some kind of insubstantial energy rather than a physical substance (like how stealing "ectoplasm" might be Hazard: Dehydration)
Presumably some quantity of HP amounts to a "dose" to counteract a dependency (prevent HP loss at end of day).
- Probably what would happen is first lost HP is gained and once the Lilitu or Succubi is at full HP, any further "surplus HP recovery" goes to pay off the "daily dose" requirement which then gives them 24 hours of freedom.
- since both cases involve restoring HP, it's unclear what the ratio should be for FP, since that is generally easier to get back.
- since FP only is -50% for dependency, probably a 2:1 ratio would work: so if 1 HP qualified as a "daily dose" then you'd need 2 FP. It might be that 2 HP is considered a daily dose (1 HP per 12 hours) since both creatures have level-2 Leech: there's no example of a level-1-leech being designed to have that fulfill it's
- if 2 HP is considered too low and easy (keep in mind the 15 minutes of consecutive readies a succubus needs to prep each attack though...) the GM could always set the amount as being higher, since we're never told what quantity a 'dose' is
- since FP only is -50% for dependency, probably a 2:1 ratio would work: so if 1 HP qualified as a "daily dose" then you'd need 2 FP. It might be that 2 HP is considered a daily dose (1 HP per 12 hours) since both creatures have level-2 Leech: there's no example of a level-1-leech being designed to have that fulfill it's
- since both cases involve restoring HP, it's unclear what the ratio should be for FP, since that is generally easier to get back.
One possible guideline would be to require 24 HP to be the "daily dose" since that would be the amount of HP lost per day (1 HP per hour) when a dose is missed. That would mean twelve attacks from either creature.
- Twelve attacks at 15 minutes TET-readying-prep per attack would mean a Succubus would need to commit three whole hours towards leeching sexual energy to avoid injury. This could feasibly be done with a single victim since 10 minutes of rest restores 1 FP: a sleeping victim recovering 6 FP per hour could nearly keep up with the 2x4=8 FP/hour a Succubus is capable of draining. The net loss is only 2 FP per hour, meaning she'll probably fill up 24 HP's worth before they hit zero and suffer HP loss.
H93 (right) Ardat-Lili is like a mix between both creatures. It is based on the Lilitu but swaps out it's Infant's Breath dependency for the Sexual Energy dependency of the succubus.
- a major difference is that unlike the succubus which assumes both genders and seduces both genders, the Ardat-Lili can only take on a female form and can only leech men
The Ardat-Lili lacks "Affects Substantial" on it's linked Affliction+Leech combination, so like the Succubus it needs to become substantial. UNlike the succubus, there is no requires sexual intimacy on the Leech. There isn't even Contact Agent on it: but there IS contact agent on the linked affliction of Ecstacy
- link is actually a HORRIBLE deal in this case because the Ardat-Lili only has the affliction as basically a 1-shot attack (requires prep requires 60 consecutive concentrates to allow for a new use) so the "two attacks per action" benefit is lost after that first attempt and then they go on just making Leeches
Link is probably intended to allow a surprise attack, but it would be simple enough to try to induce ecstasy, and then just make a separate attack the next second if it succeeded. There's marginal benefit in beginning the leech immediately, since a failed roll will give at least 1 minute of a helpless foe, and if the roll doesn't fail, it makes more sense to flee to re-prep it.
Thaumatology[]
GURPS Thaumatology 212 per http://forums.sjgames.com/showpost.php?p=737669&postcount=3 has a note for Alternate Form. "Assuming my natural form" is Very Common and given examples for constantly (minute) and hourly
pg 212 also borrows Fatigue Only from Vulnerability for Dependency. Perhaps that could be floated to Draining too.