New Disadvantages

The GM is welcome to develop new disadvantages. The guidelines given under New Advantages apply here as well – but note that it is easier to abuse disadvantages than advantages. A badly designed advantage might be too powerful, but it costs points, so it isn't a free lunch. On the other hand, a disadvantage that does not restrict the character gives away points. It is a free lunch! Remember the "golden rule" of disadvantage design: A "disadvantage" that does not limit the character is not a disadvantage.

Modifying Existing Disdvantages

You can turn existing disadvantages into new ones using the processes recommended for advantages: rename, redefine, combine, modify, and fine-tune. For instance, you could combine the modified disadvantage Weakness (Sunlight; 1d/30 minutes; Variable, -40%) [-9] with the quirk Distinctive Features [-1] and rename it "Albinism," giving you a new disadvantage worth -10 points. There are a few additional points to note when doing this kind of thing.

Some existing disadvantages are essentially "user-defined." This property makes them particularly useful for building "new" disadvantages. The most versatile traits of this kind are Addiction, Code of Honor, Compulsive Behavior, Delusions, Dependency, Destiny, Disciplines of Faith, Dread, Fanaticism, Increased Life Support, Intolerance, Maintenance, Obsession, Odious Personal Habits, Phobias, Restricted Diet, Revulsion, Sense of Duty, Susceptible, Unnatural Features, Vows, Vulnerability, and Weakness.

When combining multiple disadvantages to create new ones, remember that advantages can be added to the mix, reducing the value of the composite disadvantage. For instance, a positive Reputation can be associated with a "good" personality trait (such as Honesty or Sense of Duty) that is considered a disadvantage in GURPS because it restricts the hero's choice of actions. If the restrictions outweigh the reaction bonus, the overall trait is still a disadvantage.

Finally, when you apply limitations to a disadvantage, remember that they reduce the points gained from the disadvantage. For instance, if you apply an Accessibility limitation worth -40% to a -15-point disadvantage, it becomes a -9-point disadvantage. See the "special limitations" throughout the list of disadvantages for examples of suitable limitations. (A few disadvantages have special enhancements that increase disadvantage value, but these are less common.)

Brand-New Problems

The guidelines for creating totally new disadvantages are similar to those for designing entirely new advantages:

1. Situational penalties to attributes. Assume that each -1 to an attribute is worth a basic -10 points for ST or HT, or -20 points for DX or IQ, and then reduce the final cost to reflect the limited circumstances under which the penalty applies. For instance, Susceptible to Poison (-2) is -2 to HT (base cost -20 points), reduced to 40% its normal value because it applies only to rolls to resist poison – which are common enough but still a specialized use of HT – for a net value of -8 points.
2. Penalties to skill rolls. Handle skill penalties using the Incompetence quirk. This gives -1 point for each -4 to a specific skill. These skill penalties are not symmetrical with the skill bonuses given on new advantages. This is intentional! It reflects the reality that most players select skills for which their characters have an aptitude and ignore those at which their characters are inept. The Incompetence penalty can be changed to -3 or -5 without much effect on game balance, but it must apply to a reasonably common skill to be worth points at all.
   Price a blanket penalty to an entire group of related skills exactly as if you were pricing a Talent, but with minus sign in front of the cost. This makes a penalty to a group of skills a far more serious disadvantage than a penalty to one skill. This reflects the fact that it is difficult to work around ineptitude with every skill in a large, useful category.
3. Penalties to reaction rolls. Reaction penalties use the Reputation rules. As explained for new advantages, these modifiers need not be actual Reputations – they could as easily be due to looks, a supernatural aura, etc.
4. Unique disabilities. You can only price unique disadvantages by comparison. Look at comparable disadvantages in the system and assign a similar point value, and then adjust it if the new disadvantage is more or less limiting than the existing one.

Finalizing the Cost

The final cost of a disadvantage equals the sum of the costs of its component parts, modified for rarity as the GM sees fit. A rare disadvantage is sometimes worth more points because it is less likely to be treatable, or because it is more likely to generate shock and disgust on a bad reaction roll. A common disadvantage may be worth fewer points by the same logic – that is, it is easy to circumvent using technology, or its social ramifications are mitigated by others' indifference.

In general, though, the point value of a disadvantage won't be that of the "opposite" advantage with a minus sign in front. This is mainly because most traits in GURPS are asymmetric, skewed toward the human norm and biased toward adventuring heroes. For instance, One Arm is a serious disadvantage worth -20 points because having only one arm severely limits skill use, while Extra Arms are a mere 10 points apiece because additional arms rarely benefit most skills. It is also important to realize that for adventurers, there are many qualities where either extreme is an effective disadvantage (for instance, Curious and Incurious) or advantage (consider Common Sense and Daredevil).