Topic: Flaws in RMC?

[Nejira]

Back with a another idea/thought. I read the post about talents giving as rewards which made me think about using flaws with RMC. The idea is that by taking a flaw the player gets additional development points during character creation. A limit should be put on how many points you can gain from taking flaws to prevent it to become too unbalanced. I am thinking a limit equal to the amount of development points the character gains on his first level, or maybe just a set number as 40.

Examples on Flaws

Lesser Flaw
No real game mechanic penalty on these flaws as they are very limited in their impact on the character?s abilities. Its more a quirk than a flaw really.

EG: Male Pattern Baldness
Only men can suffer from this flaw. The character have lost most of his hair. Such a flaw is not much of a hindrance, except on the male pride. Optional this flaw may reduce the character?s Appearance by 5-10 points if it is being used in the campaign.

Minor Flaw
A flaw with a minor impact on the character?s abilities.

EG: Stutter
Characters who stutter have a difficult time communicating. A character which stutters suffers a -30 penalty on all Influence and Interaction checks. There is a 50% chance that the character will stutter at any time.

If a the character is a spellcaster the player may choose to have this flaw influence his spellcasting as well which increases the Flaw to a Major Flaw. A spellcaster who stutters take extra time to cast their spells (with verbal components). Increase the percentage to cast a spell by 30. Note: This may change once I get Spell-Law, right now I am basing it on RMFRP rules.

Major Flaw
A flaw with a major impact on the character?s abilities.

EG: Low Threshold of Pain
This flaw can make a character cry like a schoolgirl just from getting a splinter in his finger. A character with a low pain threshold is unable to stand pain and any modifier obtained from wounds due to pain is doubled. The pain may even become so great that the character passes out (penalty equal or greater to character?s SD bonus).

Greater Flaw
A flaw with a major impact on the character?s abilities which is constant.

EG: Blind
Blind characters have lost their vision. Although such a character cannot see (and suffers the full penalties), his other sense are heightened, especially hearing and touch. Characters starting off blind can hear better than a normal person of their race (+10 bonus for Perception maneuvers based on hearing, touch and smell). Many who are blind have little difficulty getting around, but their movement is cut in half because they must venture forth carefully.

Added spice to the campaign or a sure way to get unbalanced Player Characters?

[Cormac Doyle]

If you want your character to have a flaw - go right ahead.

There are No plans at this point (or any point in the forseeable future) to introduce flaws that grant any form of bonus, as they are rarely treated as anything other than a source of extra DP's or Talents, and are typically ignored in play.

[PiXeL01]

Flaw systems are always abused. It is impossible for someone to create a system that can be both balanced and without abuse of it. I ALWAYS ban the use of flaws in any game though talents/edges are always welcome if people want to spend the points on them

[Rasyr-Mjolnir]

Flaws can really help make for interesting characters. However, the only time they really get used properly is if the player likes using them.

For me, I like personality flaws, things that shape the way my character acts and reacts. I even once had a character who treated a talent as if it were a curse.

However, as the other pointed out, all too often players will take flaws to get the bonuses, and then ignore said flaws during play. Flaw systems that give things like DPs become a tool of power-gamers, and they reinforce power-gaming in players who normally are not power-gamers (because if they don't, they will have problems keeping up with those in their group who do).

ICE will not be introducing any sort of flaw system into RMC, at least not within the foreseeable future.

[Nejira]

Thanks for all your input. I mostly seen flaws as a way to add flavor to your character (and get rewarded for it). However, I can see the problem in reinforcing power-gaming in non-powergamers. Not sure I need more power-gamers