Quirks

Quirks

List of Quirks

A "quirk" is a minor feature that sets you aside from others. It has a negative point value, but it is not necessarily a disadvantage. For instance, a major trait like Greed is a disadvantage. But if you insist on being paid in gold, that's a quirk.

You may take up to five quirks at -1 point apiece...and if you do, you will have five more points to spend. You can also "buy off" a quirk later on by paying 1 point, but as a rule, you shouldn't do that. Quirks might have a small cost, but they are a big part of what makes a character seem "real"!

Quirks can be either mental or physical. This distinction implies for quirks exactly what it implies for advantages and disadvantages.

Mental Quirks

Mental quirks are minor personality traits. They are a contract between you and the GM: "I agree to roleplay these character foibles. In return, you agree to give me a few extra points to spend." However, you must roleplay them. If you take the quirk "Dislikes heights," but blithely climb trees and cliffs whenever you need to, the GM will penalize you for bad roleplaying. The points you lose this way will cost you much more than you earned for taking the quirk. So don't choose a quirk you aren't willing to roleplay!

This doesn't mean the GM should be inflexible about mental quirks. A player should be allowed to change a quirk if something happens during play to justify a noticeable change in his character's personality. The GM should also allow players to leave a few of their five "quirk slots" open during character creation and fill them in after the first couple of play sessions. The most interesting quirks often emerge as the result of roleplaying!

To qualify as a mental quirk, a personality trait must meet one of two criteria:

• It requires a specific action, behavior, or choice on your part from time to time. This need not take hours, or be especially inconvenient, but it must be something that you can act out in the course of the game; it cannot be totally passive.
• It gives you a small penalty very occasionally, or to a narrow set of actions. Negotiate the game effects with the GM. You may take almost any mundane mental disadvantage at quirk level, in which case the rules for that disadvantage are used as guidelines, although the effects will be much less severe.

Example: "Wears black" is not a valid quirk – it is completely passive, and there are no negative side effects. "Dresses like the stereotypical necromancer" is a permissible quirk if the player and GM agree that it gives -1 to reactions from unusually pious folk.

Physical Quirks

Physical quirks are physical disadvantages that are only mildly or rarely limiting. They do not require roleplaying, but they give specific, minor penalties in play.

Unlike mental quirks, you cannot normally change physical quirks – that would make no more sense than exchanging One Eye for One Hand, under most circumstances. Also, you must define physical quirks when you create your character; you cannot use them to fill open "quirk slots" once the campaign begins.