No person or character is perfect. People can be envious, hateful, and ignorant, and they can suffer from bouts of anger, mental illness, and physical disabilities. Flaws and Complications represent these imperfections, and their primary purpose is to breath life into characters by giving them personal demons to struggle against.
Mechanically, Flaws and Complications are optional traits players can take to give themselves more Character Points with which to build their characters. These points can be used however the player wants; they can boost their Base Characteristics, learn new skills, acquire additional traits, or develop new Powers as if they were building a free-form character. Game Masters should put a cap on how many points characters can acquire from taking Flaws and Complications, and they should check in with players to make sure both that their Flaws and Complications are restrictions that actually affect their play and that they are actually playing to their negative attributes, though how the Game Master forces characters to confront their issues is entirely up to them.
Flaws[]
Flaws are personality traits that negatively influence how the character interacts with others and how they conduct themselves. These are usually traits the character has at least partial control over, meaning players can buy off and replace Flaws with the Game Master's approval, though usually players should only do this to change to Flaws that more naturally fit how they play their character. Every Flaw is worth 5 extra character points. The available Flaws are:
- Addicted: The character can't live without a particular substance, and if they go for too long without it, their physical or mental health begins to suffer.
- Aloof: The character works best alone and gets distracted when people get too close.
- Arrogant: The character is confident to the point of madness, believing themselves to be innately superior to all others unless proven otherwise.
- Cowardly: The character is adverse to taking on challenges they are not guaranteed to complete, and adversity makes them cower in fear.
- Entitled: The character believes they are owed the world due to their position and upbringing, and they will be sorely disappointed by reality.
- Gluttonous: The character cannot stop thinking about food, and when they eat they stuff themselves to the point of sickness.
- Greedy: The character can never have enough of whatever they want, and they will go to extreme lengths to fulfill their desires.
- Lustful: The character is either A) sexually promiscuous to the point of foolishness, or B) quick to desire human company based on appearance alone.
- Masochist: The character takes great pleasure in suffering, whether it's inflicted upon themselves or others.
- Naive: The character is too trusting of others. They always give others the benefit of the doubt, even if they have committed horrible crimes.
- Obsessive: The character is fixated upon a particular subject, whether it's vengeance, keeping everything in their vicinity tidy, or performing a single behavior over and over.
- Obstinate: The character has certain subjects they have strong opinions about and refuses to compromise on them, even in the face of overwhelming evidence that they are wrong or if their rigidness causes problems for their allies.
- Paranoid: The character is constantly watching their back is suspicious of everyone, seeing threats where there are none.
- Prejudiced: The character irrationally hates a particular ethnic group or type of creature.
- Reckless: The character ignores all obstacles or potential threats, no matter how dangerous the odds against them are.
- Short-Sighted: The character ignores long term consequences in favor of short-term gain.
- Simpleton: The character has no great aspirations and a difficult time grasping complex subjects, needing them to be reduced to easily understood terms.
- Sloth: The character is lazy, taking the easiest possible route to solving problems, even if they are incorrect.
- Wrathful: They character is quick to anger and holds grudges for a notoriously long time, either demanding immediate restitution or taking revenge as soon as possible.
Complications[]
Complications are personal issues that characters typically have no control over but none-the-less have to deal with. These problems can range from unresolved anger, mental or physical disabilities, and strings of bad luck. Sometimes, complications manifest as other characters, such as arch-enemies hell bent on killing the character, alternate personalities, or persons dependent on the character for help. Players cannot change their character's complications after they have been taken, though the Game Masters can alter the character's Complications based on in-game circumstances
- For Example: Tathafien has a Ward he must look after, representing a pet cat he's particularly attached to. One day, a villain finds out Tath has a pet cat and kidnaps it in an attempt to coerce him into doing something he wants. Tath refuses and also fails to save the cat, meaning his Ward is dead and will no longer have any bearing on his actions. Instead of giving him a new cat he has to save, the Game Master decides to replace the Ward with a Mental Handicap compelling him to rescue any cat he finds in danger.
The available Complications are:
- Enraged: The player becomes unreasonably angry and difficult to control in a pre-defined circumstance.
- Hunted: The character is being tracked down by someone who seeks to humiliate or kill them.
- Involuntary Change: The player transforms into another form that inconveniences them according to a pre-determined condition.
- Mental Handicap: The character suffers from a mental condition that severely hampers them in their day-to-day activities.
- Negative Reputation: The character committed or was accused of committing an act in their past that continues to color how other people react to them.
- Physical Handicap: The character has a physical disability that handicaps them in their day-to-day activities.
- Social Handicap: The character has a personal-life issue that can cause them difficulties
- Unlucky: The character suffers from extraordinary bad luck that hits them at the worst possible times.
- Vulnerability: The character takes more damage from attacks of a pre-determined type.
- Ward: The character has another person they are trying to protect.