Flaws

Flaws are particular debilities and drawbacks. Players may select one or more flaws for their character, if they desire, but don't have to. Flaws are completely optional and carry no cost in points of any kind.

Flaws can add interesting quirks or qualities to a character that make them more fun to play or which help characterize them. For example, a player might select the Blind Flaw if she wants to play a legendary blind swordsman whose preternaturally keen hearing compensates for his lack of sight.

If a Flaw comes up during play and significantly inconveniences or harms the character, this presents an opportunity to gain solar experience. This only happens if the Flaw significantly harms or impedes the character— if the blind swordsman compensates for his blindness with Awareness Charms and triumphs over his enemies, then the Flaw has simply been a cool character detail in that scene—not a significant impediment or source of harm. If the same character had to follow a crimson-glass path through the Wyld to the freehold of a faerie noble, his blindness would become a significant problem once the road began to branch off into differently-colored paths leading to various dire fates, since, no matter how sharp his other senses, he has no way to “hear” or “feel” the color of the road.

A few example Flaws are listed below. Storytellers and players should feel free to design their own additional Flaws.

Addiction

The character is addicted to some substance. This is most often a drug such as alcohol or opium, but might be something more exotic or dangerous, such as Wyld addiction. Withdrawal symptoms impose a -1 penalty to all actions while the character is deprived of his fix, and the character may need to put himself in significant financial or physical jeopardy to satisfy his cravings.

Amputee

The character is missing a limb; whether this is a birth defect or a battle scar is up to the player. If missing an arm, the character suffers a -3 penalty to actions which demand two hands to perform properly. If missing a leg, the character treats all ground as difficult terrain.

Blind

The character cannot see. Perhaps she was born this way, or lost her eyes in battle, to misfortune, or as part of a draconian punishment. All actions which primarily depend on sight suffer a -3 penalty.

Deaf

The character can't hear, and suffers a -3 penalty on all Awareness rolls which are partially dependent on a sense of hearing. She's also likely to have communication difficulties in hectic situations where she can't read lips, such as combat.

Derangement

The character is afflicted, suffering some malady of the mind. All Derangements are of either Minor, Major, or Defining severity, and may be exploited by social influence as though they were an Intimacy. Resisting a Derangement is possible, but costs one Willpower point per session or day (whichever is longer) for a Minor Derangement, one point per session or day (whichever is shorter) for a Major Derangement, or one point per scene for a Defining Derangement. A few examples are provided below:

Hysteria

The character's emotions swing out of control when he botches a roll or is subjected to extreme stress or anxiety, causing him to lash out at others or attempt to flee into isolation if he fails a Willpower roll against difficulty 1 (for Minor), 3 (for Major) or 5 (for Defining).

Madness

Intense trauma has caused the character to withdraw from reality, experiencing hallucinations and violent emotional swings. These symptoms manifest when the character botches a roll, experiences intense anxiety, or runs out of temporary Willpower, unless she makes a Willpower roll against difficulty 1 (for Minor), 3 (for Major) or 5 (for Defining).

Megrims

The character is prone to black moods and depressive periods of despair and lassitude. Whenever the character botches a roll or drops to zero temporary Willpower, she must make a Willpower roll against difficulty 1 (for Minor), 3 (for Major) or 5 (for Defining). Failure prevents her from spending any Willpower for the next several days, except to temporarily suppress the Derangement.

Obsession

The character is fixated on a certain idea, person, action, or object. When it's present, the character will focus on it to the exclusion of more pressing concerns. When the character is out of temporary Willpower, he will drop what he's doing to seek out or indulge in the object of obsession unless he makes a Willpower roll against difficulty 1 (for Minor), 3 (for Major) or 5 (for Defining).

Paranoia

The character harbors delusions of persecution, and often mistrusts all those around her. Whenever the character is subjected to intense stress, this Derangement compels her to distrust all strangers, and negates the benefits of all her positive Ties unless she succeeds at a Willpower roll against difficulty 1 (for Minor), 3 (for Major) or 5 (for Defining).

Mute

The character cannot speak or make vocal utterances. All attempts at communication must be through writing or other non-verbal means.

Sterile

The character is infertile, and incapable of reproduction. They may or may not be capable of sexual congress, at the player's discretion, but they can never sire or bear children. This Flaw is most directly relevant to Dragon-Blooded characters, but might prove to be a problem for other characters as well.

Wyld Mutant

The character is visibly marked by the strangeness of abhuman lineage or the touch of chaos, condemning her to the distrust, fear, and hatred of most people she meets. This Flaw is most often possessed by Wyld mutants and beastfolk, and imposes a -3 penalty to social interactions with strangers (or outsiders, in the case of beastfolk enclaves or Wyld tribes).