drawback

Description

Age

• [2 Points] Middle Age Your character begins the game just past the cusp of “middle age." His starting age will be 1d4 years past the minimum "middle age" prescribed for his race. Your character suffers a -1 penalty to P.S., P.P., and P.E. and gains a +1 bonus to IQ, M.E. and M.A.
• [4 Points] Old Age. Your character begins the game just past the cusp of “old age." His starting age will be 1d4 years past the minimum "old age" prescribed for his race. He suffers an additional -2 penalty to P.S., P.P., and P.E. and gains a +1 bonus to IQ, M.E. and M.A.
• [8 Points] Venerable Age Your character begins the game just past the cusp of ‘venerable age." His starting age will be 1 year past the minimum "venerable age" prescribed for his race. He suffers an additional -3 penalty to P.S., P.P., and P.E. and gains a +1 bonus to IQ, M.E. and M.A. He also suffers an -5 penalty to his Speed and an -1 penalty to his AR.
• [+2 Points] Special Handicap - Frailty: Your character suffers an additional -1 penalty to PE and PP rolls

Albinism

• [2 Points] Mild Albinism: Your character is unusually pale and suffers a -20% penalty to Disguise due to the difficulty of concealing his condition. He also suffers an -1 penalty to percePointion. If your character suffers lengthy exposure (4 hours or more) to powerful sunlight with little or no protection, he must make a PE save or suffer painful burns across the exposed areas of his body. These bums will cause the temporary loss of 1d4 points PP, which will return in 2d4 days with rest and care.
• [4 Points] Serious Albinism: Your character's hair and skin are not merely pale, but somewhere between snowy white and transparent. He suffers a -40% penalty to Disguise due to the difficulty of concealing his condition. He also suffers an -2 penalty to percePointion. If your character suffers even modest exposure (2 hours or more) to powerful sunlight with little or no protection, he must make a PE save or suffer painful burns across the exposed areas of his body. These bums will cause the temporary loss of 1d6 points PP, which will return in 2d4 days with rest and care.
• [+2 Points] Special Handicap - Hermansky-Pudlak Syndrome: This is an extremely rare form of albinism found almost exclusively (but not universally) in people of Puerto Rican descent. Its symPointoms are mild lung fibrosis (an inability of the lungs to expand or contract fully) and occasional bouts of bleeding, which is abstracted for game purposes to an -2 penalty to all PE saving throws.

Animal Antipathy

• [2 Points] Moderate Antipathy: Your character suffers an -10% penalty to all Animal Empathy, Handle Animal, and Ride checks. Dogs will bark at him, cats will hiss, and horses will buck and shy away. Any wild animals encountered will have their reactions toward your character become negative.
• [4 Points] Severe Antipathy: Your character suffers an -20% penalty to all Animal Empathy, Handle Animal, and Ride checks. Dogs will howl at him, cats will hiss and scratch, and horses may attemPoint to kick him. Any wild animals encountered will have their reactions toward your character shifted one column into the negative, and animals that are already hostile will attack your character in preference to anyone else nearby.
• [8 Points] Violent Antipathy: Your character suffers an -30% penalty to all Animal Empathy. Handle Animal, and Ride checks. Any wild animals encountered will have their reactions toward your character shifted one column into the negative, and animals that are already hostile will gleefully ignore anyone else nearby in their haste to hurl themselves upon your character. Lastly, any animal attacking your character gains a +1-morale bonus to its attack and damage rolls.

Bad Driver

• [2 Points] Simple inePointitude. Your character suffers an -20% penalty to all Ground based Pilot skills checks.
• [4 Points] Total inePointitude: Your character suffers an -40% penalty to all Ground based Pilot skills checks.
• [6 Points] Gruesome Incompetence: Your character automatically fails any Ground based Pilot skills check he is called upon to make.

Bad Shot

• [1 Point] Slight impairment: Your character suffers an -1 penalty to all ranged attacks.
• [2 Points] Routine inePointitude. Your character suffers an -2 penalty to all ranged attacks.
• [3 Points] Woeful inePointitude Your character is lucky he understands which end of the barrel the bullet comes out of. He suffers an -4 penalty to all ranged attacks.
• [4 Points] Perpetual Embarrassment: Opponents would rather be shot at by your character than by anyone else they know. He suffers an -6 penalty to all ranged attacks.
• [+1 or 2 Points] Special Handicap - Uncoordinated: Your character's positive PP modifier does not improve his ranged attack rolls. This special handicap may only be selected if your character has a PP score of 16 or higher. If at any time your character's PP score permanently drops below 16, simply add another -2 penalty to his ranged attacks. This handicap is worth 1 point for a PP score of 12-15 and 2 points for a PP score of 16 or higher.
• [+1 Point] Special Handicap - Ineffectual Shooter: Your character may never score a critical hit with a firearm. All critical hits rolled with a firearm will be treated as ordinary hits.

Bodily Marked

• [1 Point] Easily Concealed: Your character's permanent mark is quite indelible, but it is positioned to be very easily concealed beneath a watchband. behind a necklace. under a breast or an armpit. on the inside of a thigh. etc. Your character suffers a -5% penalty to disguise.
• [2 Points] Difficult to Conceal: Your character's permanent mark is positioned so that it may be hidden beneath relatively long clothing (full length shirts and trousers) but will be revealed by anything less. Your character suffers a -10% penalty to disguise.
• [3 Points] Glaringly Obvious: Your character's permanent mark is either so large or so located as to be impossible to hide; the middle of his forehead. for example. Your character suffers a -20% penalty to disguise.
• [+1 Point] Special Handicap - Invites Trouble: Your character's mark sends a signal to certain people that your character may be openly harmed or even killed. For example. some police states brand their criminals and enemies, and those markings would invite police and other authorities to arrest or attack your character if the markings were uncovered.

Butterfingers

• [2 Points] Withdrawing or stowing a carried item or weapon (in a holster or pack} are both treated as full-round actions for your character. Reloading a firearm with a box magazine or a speed-loader also requires a full round and reloading a firearm with an internal magazine or belt require two full-round actions. Your character suffers a -5% penalty to all Sleight-of-Hand checks.

Climate Aversion

• [2 Points] Cold Aversion If your character is averse to cold climates, he suffers a -2 penalty to all saving throws and -10% to skill checks in temperatures at or below 40 degrees Fahrenheit. He also suffers an -2 penalty to saving throws made against cold-based powers or area effects. Cold-weather clothing will not remove this penalty.
• [2 Points] Heat Aversion If your character is averse to hot climates, he suffers a -2 penalty to all saving throws and -10% to skill checks in tropical or desert conditions (or in artificial conditions of extreme heat, such as steam baths). He also suffers an -2 penalty to saving throws made against heat-based powers or area effects.
• [+1 Point] Special Handicap - Intense Aversion: Your characters aversion to the climate is so intense that he also suffers a -2 penalty to Defense and attack rolls while in it.
• [+1 Point] Special Handicap - Extreme Aversion: A character may possess both types of climate aversion, meaning that he will be comfortable only in relatively temperate climates.

Clumsy

• [2 Points] Slightly Clumsy: Your character suffers an -1 penalty to Parry/Dodge.
• [4 Points] Fairly Clumsy: Your character suffers an -2 penalty to Parry/Dodge.
• [5 Points] Very Clumsy: Your character suffers an -3 penalty to Parry/Dodge. Cover is your character's friend.
• [8 Points] Professional Victim: Your character suffers an -4 penalty to Parry/Dodge. May we suggest a comprehensive life insurance policy?
• [+l Point] Special Handicap - Uncomfortable with Armor:If your character wears armor of any sort, his Armor Rating is lowered by 1.

Disfigurement

• [1 Point] Slight Disfigurement: Your character suffers an -1 penalty to his PB score. Only his very close friends, family, and associates will disregard this penalty (GM ‘s discretion). Furthermore, your character will suffer an additional -5% penalty to Disguise, due to the difficulty of concealing his unusual features).
• [2 Points] Moderate Disfigurement: Your character suffers an -2 penalty to his PB score. Only his very close friends, family. And associates will disregard this penalty (GM’s discretion). Furthermore, your character will suffer an additional -10% penalty to Disguise, due to the difficulty of concealing his unusual features.
• [4 Points] Obvious Disfigurement: Your character suffers an -4 penalty to his PB score. Only his very close friends, family, and associates will disregard this penalty (GM ‘s discretion). Furthermore, your character will suffer an additional -20% penalty to Disguise, due to the difficulty of concealing his unusual features.
• [+1 Point] Special Handicap - Unusual Body Shape: Your character must have all his personal clothing and armor tailored to fit his disfigured form. Increase the base price of any armor or clothing so customized by 50%.
• [+1 Point] Special Handicap - Uniqueness: Your character suffers an additional -20 % penalty to Disguise.

Dull Reflexes

• [1 Point] Your character suffers an -1 penalty to his Parry/Dodge. This drawback may be taken multiple limes. up to a maximum Parry/Dodge penalty of -8.

Dwarfism

• [2 Points] Your character is one size class smaller than the adult normal. In the case of humans, this will make him a small creature. Apply all the appropriate modifiers. Your character suffers an -20% penalty to all intimidate and Disguise checks. He may occasionally suffer taunts and pranks from insensitive NPCs.

Easily Slain

• [2 Points] Your character dies at -5 hit points rather than at -PE hit points. Furthermore. he suffers a -2 penalty to any PE Save made to avoid instant death (as from massive damage, for example).

Easily Winded

• [2 Points] Slightly Out of Shape: Your character suffers a -20% penalty to all skill checks or -4 to saves made to reflect exertion over an extended length of time. Furthermore, when holding his breath. he is treated as though his PE score were 4 points lower than it really is.
• [4 Points] Obviously Out of Shape: Your character suffers a -40% penalty to all skill checks or -8 to saves made to reflect exertion over an extended length of time.. Furthermore, when holding his breath, he is treated as though his PE score were 8 points lower than it really is.

Flinching

• [2 Points] When an opponent triggers an attack within your character's threatened area, your character suffers a -4 penalty to initiative.

Forsworn From Firearms

• [2 Points] Moderate Revulsion: Your character steadfastly refuses to carry or use firearms, and usually regards those who do as being beneath contemPoint. In extreme cases, your character may attemPoint to pick up a firearm and use it for a purpose other than shooting someone else (cutting a rope, detonating an explosive barrel, etc.). The GM may call for an ME Save (-2) before allowing him to do so.
• [4 Points] Irrational Abhorrence: Your character refuses to even touch a firearm, even when his lite or the lives of others might be on the line. In utterly extreme cases (fate of the world hangs in the balance, for example) the character may attemPoint a very difficult ME Save (-8) in order to pick up a firearm and use it on an inanimate object.

Fragile

• [1 Point] Your character suffers an -1 penalty to his PE saving throw. This drawback may be taken multiple times, up to a maximum PE Save penalty -8.

Glass Jaw

• [2 Points] Wobbly: When an opponent scores a successful critical hit against your character with an unarmed attack or a bludgeoning weapon, your character must make a PE Save or become stunned for 1d2+1 rounds.
• [4 Points] Downright Delicate: When an opponent scores a successful critical hit against your character with an unarmed attack or a bludgeoning weapon, your character must make a PE Save with a -2 penalty or become stunned for 1d4+1 rounds.

Guileless

• [2 Points] Socially Unpolished: Your character suffers an -10% penalty to Bluff, Diplomacy, and Sense Motive.
• [4 Points] Fantastically Clueless: Your character suffers an -20% penalty to Bluff, Diplomacy, and Sense Motive.

Gullible

• [2 Points.] Your character suffers an -10% penalty to Bluff and Sense Motive. It's against his nature to challenge the word of others excePoint when he has direct proof that they're wrong, and his friends and allies will have many occasions to swat their foreheads in embarrassment at his gullibility.

Illiterate

• [2 Points] Your character cannot read, and therefore cannot have anything but basic skill knowledge, professions, or Craft/Repair skills that could reasonably be determined to require any element of book learning (GM's discretion). Your character also begins the game knowing only the spoken form of his native language.

Impaired Hand(s)

• [2 Points] Injured/Missing Fingers: Due to stiff or missing fingers, your character suffers a -5 % penalty to all Climb, Craft, Disable Device, Repair, and Sleight-of-Hand checks.
• [5 Points] One Handed: Your character's off hand was completely severed from his wrist, leaving him with nothing but a rounded and useless stump. This drawback has a variety of effects:
  • Your character cannot wield a weapon in his off-hand, nor use any shield with that hand, save a buckler which can be strapped to his forearm.
  • Your character may not wear rings or bracelets on his off hand. Magical items in the form of gloves or gauntlets may not be used if both must be worn to achieve the magical effect.
  • Reloading a firearm with a box magazine or a speed-loader also requires a full round.
  • Your character suffers a -10 % penalty to all Climb, Craft, Disable Device, Repair, and Sleight-of-Hand checks
  • Your character may not use ordinary bows, although he may load and fire crossbows as per normal.
  • Your character suffers a -1 penalty to all grapple checks.
• Special: The GM may see fit to assign penalties to actions not described here if the lack of an off-hand could be reasonably determined to hinder those actions.

Impaired Hearing

• [2 Points] Hearing Damage: Your character retains some auditory ability, but not much. He suffers an -30% penalty to Listen checks.
• [5 Points] Deafness: Your character automatically fails any Listen check, suffers a -4 penalty to Initiative.

Impaired Movement

• [2 Points] Limp: Your character's Speed is reduced by 5.
• [4 Points] Serious Limp: Your character's base Speed is reduced by 8. He suffers an -10% penalty to Climb. Jump, and Tumble.
• [8 Points] Hobbled: Your character cannot run or charge. His base Speed is reduced by 10 feet. He suffers an -1 penalty to Defense and a -20% penalty to Climb. Jump, and Tumble.
• [12 Points] Paraplegic: Your character is paraplegic. He has lost all use of his legs and must rely upon a wheelchair or other conveyance. If removed from such a device, he may move only by crawling while prone at a rate of 10 feet per round. At all times, he loses his PP bonus to Defense and grants attackers a +2 bonus to attack rolls, and automatically fails Climb, Jump, and Tumble checks.

Impaired Sense of Smell

• [1 Point] In addition to the obvious effects of this drawback, your character suffers a -2% penalty to any roll made to ascertain information by the sense of taste.

Impaired Sense of Taste

• [1 Point] Everything your character eats or drinks is as ?at and tasteless as distilled water would be to an ordinary person. This leaves your character unable to detect the subtle hint of drugs, poison, or putrefaction in anything he eats.

Impaired Vision

• 2 Points] Pour Vision: Your character suffers an -3 penalty to Search and Spot checks.
• [4 Points ] Terrible Vision: Your character isn't yet absolutely blind, but in practical terms he's pretty close. Your character suffers an -4 penalty to Search and Spot checks. Furthermore, he suffers a -1 penalty to all attack rolls due to his inability to judge the true position of opponents in combat.
• [6 Points] Truly Awful Vision: It isn't quite safe to let your character out on his own, he's always mistaking hostile ninjas for harmless pieces of lawn furniture, and vice versa. Your character suffers an -5 penalty to Search and Spot checks Furthermore, he suffers a -1 penalty to all attack rolls, as well as an -1 penalty to Defense.
• [8 Points.] Blindness: In addition to the obvious effects of blindness (automatically failing Search and Spot checks. for example). your character suffers a 50% miss chance in combat, loses any PP bonus to Defense, grants a +2 bonus to opponents‘ attack rolls, moves at half speed, and suffers a -4 penalty on most PP and PS-based skill checks, at the GM's discretion.

Impaired Voice

• [1 Point] Slight impediment: Your character suffers from a slight speech impediment, such as an occasional stutter. This impediment should be role-played continually but need only become severe when your character is under intense stress. The GM may call for an ME Save in times of crisis if your character wishes to try and maintain control over his voice.
• [2 Points] Damaged Voice: Your character is unable to talk above a harsh whisper and cannot shout or sing. This should always be role-played. Any Perform check involving a verbal element (save for singing) suffers a -20% penalty.
• [4 Points] Mute: Your character's vocal cords are missing or irreparably damaged. He may speak only in weak abstract noises, such as hisses and grunts. Otherwise. his communication must be limited to gestures and writing (if he is capable of such). It is expected that this drawback will be role-played at all appropriate times.

Impatient

• [2 Points] More of an Act before he thinks sort of person, the character will typically rush into situations before really understanding what may be at stake or could possibly go wrong. This Drawback give a +5 to initiative and a -10 penalty to PercePointion. He is truly always ready to leap before he looks!

Inattentive

• [2 Points] Distracted Your character suffers an -10% penalty to Listen. Search. and Spot checks.
• [4 Points] Clueless Your character suffers an -20% penalty to Listen, Search. and Spot checks.
• [6 Points] Thick as Concrete. Your character suffers an -30% penalty to Listen, Search, and Spot checks.

Inflexible

• [2 Points] Creaky Your character suffers an-2 penalty to Balance. Escape Artist. Jump. and Tumble checks.
• [4 Points] Stiff Your character suffers an-4 penalty to Balance. Escape Artist, Jump, and Tumble checks.
• [6 Points] Very Stiff Your character suffers an~4 penalty to Balance, Escape Artist, Jump, and Tumble checks, as well as an inherent -1 penalty to Defense.
• [+2 Points] Special Handicap – Arthritis: Your characters fingers are stiff and sore. As a result, he suffers an -2 penalty to Craft, Disable Device, and Sleight-of-Hand checks.

Light-Headed

• [2 Points] When your character would normally become staggered due to the accrual of nonlethal damage, he instead falls unconscious. When he suffers a successful stun attack, he must make a PE Save or instead fall unconscious for the appropriate number of rounds. Your character suffers a -2 penalty to all saving throws vs. sleep-inducing spells, powers, and drugs.

Lummox

• [2 Points]. Your character's positive PS modifier is not applied to his Base Attack Bonus whenever he uses a melee weapon or makes an unarmed attack.
• Limitation This drawback may only be applied to characters with a PS score of 12 or higher. If at any time the character's PS falls permanently beneath 12, apply an -2 penalty to all melee attack rolls instead.

Magic Vulnerability

• [2 Points.] Slight Vulnerability: Your character suffers an -2 penalty to all saving throws against spells and spell-like effects.
• [4 Points.] Moderate Vulnerability: Your character suffers an -4 penalty to all saving throws against spells and spell-like effects.
• [8 Points] Extreme Vulnerability: Your character suffers an -6 penalty to all saving throws against spells and spell-like effects.
• [8 Points] Dying of Magic: Your character suffers an -8 penalty to all saving throws against spells and spell-like effects.

Motion Sickness

• [2 Points] Woozy: Your character suffers a -20% penalty any time he attempts to take any sort of action while riding within or upon a moving vehicle.
• [4 Points] Nauseous: What's more, before your character may take any action while in or upon a moving vehicle. he must make a PE Save. Failure means that he will become nauseated until the beginning of his action in the next round.
• [+1 Point] Special Handicap - Total Vulnerability: Your character even suffers from motion sickness when he is the one controlling the vehicle.

Nervous

• [2 Points] Trepidatious: Your character suffers an -4 penalty to ME Saves made to resist fear, horror, shock, or demoralization.
• [4 Points] Traumatized: Your character suffers an -8 penalty to ME Saves made to resist fear, honor, shock, or demoralization.

Oafish

• [2 Points ] Fumble feet: Your character suffers an -10% penalty to Hide, and Prowl.
• [4 Points.] Omni-Bumbling: Your character is the anti-ninja. He suffers an -20% penalty to Hide and Prowl.

Obese

• [3 Points] Overweight: Your character suffers an -1 penalty to his Defense rating as he has difficulty moving nimbly when he needs to. Your character must also have all of his personal clothing and armor tailored to fit his over sized form. Increase the base price of any armor or clothing so customized by 25%. Lastly, he suffers a -20% penalty to Disguise because his corpulence is a rather memorable trait. On the positive side, he does gain a +10 % bonus to all Swim checks.
• [5 Points ] Very Overweight: Your character suffers an -2 penalty to his Defense rating as he has difficulty moving nimbly when he needs to. Your character must also have all of his personal clothing and armor tailored to fit his over sized form. Increase the base price of any armor or clothing so customized by 5o%. Lastly, he suffers a -30% penalty to Disguise because his corpulence is a rather memorable trait. On the positive side, he does gain a +20 % bonus to all Swim checks.

Old Injury

• [2 Points] Aggravating: Whenever your character sustains a successful critical hit, he suffers a -2 penalty to both PS and PP. These lost ability points must be recovered at the ordinary rate, with rest and care.
• [4 Points] Debilitating: Whenever your character sustains a successful critical hit, he suffers a -4 penalty to both PS and PP. These lost ability points must be recovered at the ordinary rate, with rest and care.
• [8 Points] Crippling: Whenever your character sustains a successful critical hit, he suffers a -6 penalty to both PS and PP. These lost ability points must be recovered at the ordinary rate, with rest and care. He also suffers a -10 penalty to his Speed score and a -2 penalty to attack rolls and Defense until he has rested for at least eight hours.
• Special This drawback may be taken in conjunction with Old Injury (II).

Old Injury (II)

• [2 Points] Bad Whenever your character sustains a successful critical hit, the damage multiplier of that critical hit increases by 1 (x2 becomes x3, x3 becomes x4, and so forth).
• [4 Points] Worse. Whenever your character sustains a successful critical hit the damage multiplier of that critical hit increases by 2 (x2 becomes x4, x3 becomes x5, and so forth).
• [6 Points] Pray For Deliverance Whenever your character sustains a successful critical hit, the damage multiplier of that critical hit increases by 2 (x2 becomes x4, x3 becomes x5, and so forth). Furthermore, your character suffers an additional 2d6 points of damage (added, not multiplied).
• Special This Drawback may be taken in conjunction with Old Injury.

Pacifism

• [3 Points] Self-Defense Only. Your character may only engage in acts of violence as a direct response to violent acts taken against himself or his close allies. In the event he witnesses a violent action that affronts his moral code or allegiance (for example, if he witnesses innocent bystanders placed in danger by a criminal). he may attempt to intervene in a non-violent fashion.
• [6 Points] Total Nonviolence. Your character may take no violent action against anyone, under any circumstance. His role in a time of crisis will be limited to rendering aid, healing, scouting and other non-confrontational forms of assistance.

Poor Fighter

• [2 Points] Ungifted: Your character suffers an -1 penalty to all attack rolls.
• [4 Points] Ungainly: Your character suffers an -2 penalty to all attack rolls.
• [6 Points] Embarrassing: Your character suffers an -3 penalty to all attack rolls.
• [8 Points] Disgraceful: Your character suffers an -4 penalty to all attack rolls.
• [10 Points] What’s Combat: Your character suffers an -5 penalty to all attack rolls.

Poorly Educated

• [2 Points.] At 1st level, your character suffers the loss of 4 EDU points.

Predictable Fighter

• [2 Points] Your character is incapable of using the full defense, aid another, trip, or disarm actions in combat.

Psionic Vulnerability

• [2 Points] Slight Vulnerability: Your character suffers an -2 penalty to all saving throws against psionic powers.
• [4 Points] Moderate Vulnerability: Your character suffers an -4 penalty to all saving throws against psionic.
• [6 Points] Extreme Vulnerability: Your character suffers an -6 penalty to all saving throws against psionic powers.
• [8 Points] Ding, Your Brain is Done: Your character suffers an -8 penalty to all saving throws against psionic powers.

Slow Healing

• [2 Points] Slow Healing: Your character recovers 1 hit point per evening of rest per two character levels (or fraction thereof). If he receives complete bed rest (24 hours per day, with no other activity), he may recover lost hit points at his regular rate.
• [3 Points] Slower Healing. Even full-day bed rest cannot improve your character's rate of healing.

Slow-Witted

• [1 Point] Somewhat Slow. Your character suffers an -2 penalty to his Initiative.
• [2 Points] Rather Slow Your character suffers an -4 penalty to his initiative.
• [3 Points] Nerves of Molasses. Your character suffers an -6 penalty to his Initiative.
• [4 Points] Molasses in January Your character suffers an -8 penalty to his Initiative.

Unathletic

• [2 Points] Slacker: Your character suffers an -10% penalty to Climb, Jump, and Swim.
• [4 Points] Sluggard: Your character suffers an -20% penalty to Climb, Jump, and Swim.

Uncoordinated

• [2 Points] Inept: Your character suffers an -10% penalty to Balance, Ride, and Tumble. Any check involving PP suffers a -4 penalty or skill involving dexterous movement (dancing or juggling. for example) suffers a -10% penalty.
• [4 Points] Hopeless: Your character suffers an -20% penalty to Balance, Ride, and Tumble. Any check involving PP suffers a -8 penalty or skill involving dexterous movement (dancing or juggling. for example) suffers a -20% penalty.

Under weight

• [2 Points] Slender: Your character suffers an -1 penalty to grapple checks and to melee damage rolls. His lift/carry capacity is 75% of that nominally allowed for his PS score.
• [4 Points] Emaciated: Your character suffers an -2 penalty to grapple checks and to melee damage rolls. His lift/carry capacity is 50% of that normally allowed for his PS score. He also suffers an inherent -1 penalty to all PS ability checks and PS-related skills.

Unexceptional

• [2 Points] Lackluster: Your character may never have any natural ability score higher than 15. He may never have a skill percentage higher then 80%.
• [4 Points] Extreme Mediocrity: Your character may never have any natural ability score higher than 12. He may never have a skill percentage higher the 50%
• Special. The character may still increase his abilities above the listed maximum via the use of magical items or other artifacts, provided they are acquired during the normal course of play.

Unhealthy

• [2 Points] All numerical fatigue penalties (to PS and PP) are doubled for your character. His allowed light load is decreased by 10 pounds, his medium load is decreased by 20 pounds, and his maximum load is decreased by 30 pounds. He suffers an -1 penalty to all saving throws against poison and disease.
• Note If your character is also Underweight (see above), apply the percentile decrease in his lift/carry capacity before subtracting the totals listed here.

Unlucky

• [3 Points] Lower Luck by 2D6 (to a minimum of 3) You are an example of Murphy's law. If anything is going to go wrong it is going to be centered on you.
• [+3 Points] Cursed: Any time your character rolls a natural 1 or 01 on a skill check, that skill check fails in the most picturesque and potentially complicating fashion possible, at the GM‘s fiendish discretion. Whenever your character rolls a natural 1 on an attack roll, he drops the weapon he used to make that attack roll, injures himself in some way with it, and ensures that somehow he is unable to make his next attack.

Weak Constitution

• [2 Points] Moderately Weak: Your character suffers an -2 penalty to all saving throws made to resist poisons, drugs, and diseases.
• [4 Points] Weak: Your character suffers an -4 penalty to all saving throws made to resist poisons, drugs, and diseases.
• [6 Points] Very Weak: Your character suffers an -6 penalty to all saving throws made to resist poisons, drugs, and diseases.
• [8 Points] Extremely Weak: Your character suffers an -8 penalty to all saving throws made to resist poisons, drugs, and diseases.

Weak-Willed

• [1 Point] Your character suffers an -1 penalty to his ME saving throw. This drawback may be taken multiple times, up to a maximum ME Save penalty of -8.

GM Option: Drawback Synergy

• - 1 Drawback Point for mild synergy
• - 2 Drawback Points tor dangerous synergy
• - 3 Drawback Points for suicidal synergy

Condition

Description

Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome

• [3 Points] HIV POSITIVE: Your character has been infected by the HIV virus. This does not necessarily mean that he has developed AIDS yet with a careful lifestyle and the assistance of complicated drug treatments, the development of full blown AIDS can be staved off for an increasingly impressive length of time. An HIV-positive character suffers an -2 penalty to PE Saves due to the side-effects of his anti-retroviral drug regime. Failure to maintain drug treatment will invite the progression of the disease into AIDS. Furthermore, your character may occasionally suffer medical and social hassles due to his infection. The Ostracism Drawback would be appropriate in some areas of the world. Progression of Disease: For every two game weeks in which the character does not receive his drug treatment, there is a cumulative 5% chance that the disease will progress to the point of genuine AIDS. If this happens in play, no additional Drawback Points are awarded for the worsening of the character's condition.
• [7 Points] AIDS: Your character's immune system has become damaged to the point where he is considered to have a full-blown case of AIDS. Your character suffers a -2 penalty to his general PE Save and a -6 penalty (cumulative with the -2) to all PE Saves made to resist diseases. AIDS patients frequently suffer serious illness or death from what are called "opportunistic infections," that is, diseases that are normally easily held in check by a healthy immune system. Your character must also maintain his drug treatment on a continual basis, or the -6 penalty to Saves against disease will become a -8 penalty (after one week without drugs, lasting until they are next taken).
• Special This drawback may be combined with the Weak Immune System drawback, if you don‘t like your character very much. The character may still acquire a magic item or artifact that confers resistance against disease, provided he does so during actual play rather than at or before 1st level.

Asthma

• [1 Point] Nuisance Asthma: Your character suffers an -2 penalty to all skill checks or saves made to reflect exertion over an extended length of time.
• [2 Points] Mild Asthma: Your character suffers an -1 penalty to all PE Saves and an -4 penalty to all skill checks or saves made to reflect exertion over an extended length of time. Furthermore, when holding his breath, he is treated as though his PE score were 2 points lower than it really is.
• [4 Points] Serious Asthma: Your character suffers an -2 penalty to all PE Saves and an -6 penalty to all skill checks or saves made to reflect exertion over an extended length of lime. Furthermore, when holding his breath, he is treated as though his PE score were 4 points lower than it really is.
• [6 Points] Severe Asthma: As per Serious Asthma Furthermore, whenever your character makes a skill check or save to reflect exertion over an extended length of time (carrying weights, running, holding his breath. etc.), he must make a PE Save or suffer an asthma attack. An attack will last for 2d10 minutes, and for that duration will confer a -2 penalty to attack rolls, skill checks, and Defense due to wheezing, coughing, and anxiety.
• [8 Points] Crippling Asthma. As per Serious Asthma. Furthermore, whenever your character makes a skill check or save to reflect exertion over an extended length of time (carrying weights, running, holding his breath, etc.), he must make a PE Save or suffer an asthma attack. An attack will last for 4d10 minutes. and for the duration will confer a -4 penalty to attack rolls. skill checks, and Defense due to wheezing, coughing, and anxiety. During this time, the character must refrain from taking further violent or energetic action (running, charging, or taking an attack action in two or more rounds in a row), or an additional 1D10 minutes will be added to the duration of the attack for each such action.
• [ +2 Points] Special Handicap - Allergy Trigger: Any time your character is exposed to large amounts of dust, smoke, or any other nose/throat irritant (GM‘s discretion), he must make a PE Save. If your character has mild or serious asthma, he will suffer a -2 penalty to attack rolls and skill checks for 2d6 rounds (this penalty is cumulative with the event of subsequent bouts of allergic irritation). If your character has severe or crippling asthma, he will suffer one of his usual attacks.

Clubfoot

• [2 Points] Your character suffers an -15% penalty to Balance and Jump.

Diabetes (Type l)

• [5 Points ] Your does not produce character is capable of living a full and exciting life, but must do so at the expense of a number of inconveniences:
  • Your character suffers one of the following three health problems. either select one at 1st level or roll randomly on a d6:
    • l-2: Diabetic Skin Condition: Your character suffers an -1 penalty to his MA score.
    • 3-4: Eye Trouble: Your character suffers an -1 penalty to perception.
    • 5-6: General Health Trouble: Your character suffers an -1 penalty to all PE Saves.
  • Failure to maintain insulin treatment will invite problems, as discussed below:
  • Your character is dependent upon arti?cial insulin, and generally must inject himself with it twice every twenty-four hours for maximum effectiveness. Each 2 hour period that passes without an insulin infusion will bestow a -2 penalty to PE upon the character; this penalty will last until the character again receives an insulin injection and rests for at least eight hours. This PE penalty is cumulative; a character that reaches a PE score of 0 will enter a diabetic coma and die.

Diabetes (Type ll)

• [2 Points] Your character is capable of living a full and exciting life, but must do so at the expense of a number of minor inconveniences, not as bad as those faced by Type l diabetics:
  • Your character suffers one of the following three health problems; either select one at 1st level or roll randomly on a d6:
    • 1-2: Diabetic Skin condition: Your character suffers an -1 penalty to his PB score.
    • 3-4: Eye Trouble: Your character suffers an -1 penalty to all Search and Spot checks.
    • 5-6: General Health Trouble: Your character suffers an -1 penalty to all PE Saves.
  • Your character is somewhat dependent upon his medications to assist in controlling his condition. Each week that passes without a dose of the character's usual medication will confer a -1 penalty to the character's PE score. This penalty is cumulative. A Type II diabetic negligent enough to reach a PE score of 0 in this fashion will enter a diabetic coma and die.

Epilepsy

• [2 Points] Mild Epilepsy: Whenever your character is forced to make an ME save, there is a 25% chance (non-cumulative) that he will have what is called a “simple partial seizure." During such a seizure one part of the character's body (typically an arm or a leg) will begin to twitch and spasm uncontrollably. This seizure will last 3D6 rounds, imposing a -1 penalty to attack rolls and -5% to skill checks for the duration.
• [4 Points] Moderate Epilepsy: Whenever your character is forced to make an ME save, there is a 30% chance (non- cumulative) that he will have what is called a “complex partial seizure." In addition to the usual physical seizure effects, your character ‘s consciousness and memory may be briefly impaired. During such a seizure one part of the character's body (typically an arm or a leg) will begin to twitch and spasm uncontrollably. This seizure will last 3d6 rounds, imposing a -1 penalty to attack rolls and -5% to skill checks for the duration. Furthermore, there is only a 50% chance (non-cumulative, and rolled for each allowed action) that the character will be able to take any action he desires. ln place of any lost action, the character will mumble unintelligibly and fiddle with his clothes or equipment for a few seconds. This does not render him helpless.
• [8 Points] Severe Epilepsy: Whenever your character is forced to make an ME save, there is a 35% chance (non-cumulative) that he will have what is called a “tonic-clonic convulsive seizure," also known as a “grand mal." Your character will fall to the ground for 1d8+2 rounds, during which time he will be unable to take any conscious actions. Though he is not helpless, he is considered prone for all defensive purposes, and opponents entering or leaving his threatened areas do not trigger attacks from him. He may not sustain spells or other powers through such a seizure.
• [ +2 Points] Special Handicap Photosensitive Epilepsy: Although widely popularized, this is an extremely rare form of epilepsy (approximately 3-5% of epileptics are affected by it). A photosensitive epileptic may suffer seizures through exposure to flickering patterns of lights, including but not limited to strobe lights, video games, and certain dance or party lighting effects, as well as flashy magical spells and other visual abilities. Whenever your character is exposed (GM's discretion) to flickering lights, there is a 40% chance (non-cumulative) that he will have a seizure appropriate to his level of epilepsy. This percentile chance must be re-rolled for every five rounds (thirty seconds) of continual exposure to flickering lights.
• Note: After an epileptic character has experienced (and recovered from) a seizure. he will not be susceptible to another one for a minimum of ten minutes. Photosensitive epilepsy is the sole exception.

Hemophilia

• [4 Points] Hemophilia. Whenever your character is injured by a piercing, cutting, or slashing weapon (basically, anything with a sharp or penetrating edge), he will continue to lose 1 hit point per round thereafter due to blood loss. This blood loss will continue for 2d8 rounds, and may only be halted by a successful first aid roll or the use of a magical healing spell or a similar power.
• [8 Points] Severe Hemophilia Whenever your character is injured by a piercing, cutting, or slashing weapon (basically, anything with a sharp or penetrating edge), he will continue to lose 2 hit points per round thereafter due to blood loss. This blood loss will continue for 2d8 rounds, and may only be halted by a successful first aid roll or the use of a magical healing spell or a similar power.
• Note Subsequent injuries will not cause a cumulative loss of hit points due to bleeding, however each subsequent injury will extend the duration of the bleeding by an additional 1d6 rounds.

Multiple Chemical Sensitivity

• [2 Points] Mild Sensitivity: Whenever your character enters a crowded area or a space that would be ?lled with scented chemicals (restaurants, public restrooms, etc.). there is a base 40% chance (rolled once every ten minutes or so) that your character will be exposed to a substance that will set him off. If he is exposed, he will suffer a fairly standard allergic reaction, watery eyes, runny nose. sneezing, and tightness in his throat and chest. This episode will last for 1d6 minutes and will in?ict a -1 penalty to attack rolls, - 5% to skill checks, and -1 to Defense upon the character for the duration.
• [5 Points.] Severe Sensitivity Whenever your character enters a crowded area or a space that would be ?lled with scented chemicals (restaurants, public restrooms, etc), there is a base 70% chance (rolled once every ten minutes or so) that your character will be exposed to a substance that will set him off. If he is exposed, he will suffer an unusually debilitating allergic reaction, swollen eyes, runny nose, painful sneezing, and tightness in his throat and chest. This episode will last for 2d6 minutes and will inflict a -2 % penalty to attack rolls, skill checks, and Defense upon the character for the duration. Furthermore, he will suffer a total penalty of -4 to all Spot and Concentration checks.
• Note: lf your character encounters a large concentration of any triggering chemical (particularly in an enclosed area), the GM may increase the percentile chance of an allergic episode at his own discretion. Friends and allies of your character may prevent allergic episodes by avoiding the use of strong perfumes, deodorants, aftershaves, and similar substances. Of course, even a single person wearing a powerful scent can trigger a full-on allergic attack if they get close enough to your character (GMs take heed), so Caveat Emptor.

Drawback

Description

Aggressive

• [2 Points] Your character tends to strike first and think later (Recieves +2 to Initiative rolls); he assumes hostility on the part of strangers and unknown beings, and he believes that they are logically expecting hostility in return. Threats and demands are the only forms of negotiation he understands, and the only forms he is likely to respect. Cracking a few skulls, in his opinion, is usually the only way to get people to listen to reason. Your character is not necessarily murderous, and his friends and allies can talk him out of foolish courses of action, but they had best do so quickly!
• Special. Your character suffers a -20% penalty to any Diplomacy check made against any character used to more civilized methods of persuasion than totally overt threats.

Airy/Flaky

• [2 Points] Perhaps your character has a particularly spaced-out personality, and speaks in flowery language full of references to nebulous mysticism. Perhaps he dresses like an aggressive gypsy version of Elton John. Possibly he writes a series of self-help books discussing his encounters with anal-probing aliens from another galaxy. Whatever his problem is, his friends can endure it, but strangers find it off-putting. In addition to the obvious roleplaying consequences of this drawback, your character suffers an -10% penalty to intimidate checks, and may suffer a variable penalty to MA in other circumstances when interacting with strangers.

Amnesia

• [2 Points] In addition to the obvious difficulties this can cause, the character is also quite obsessed with discovering what his mind is concealing. Any time the chance presents itself to explore the mystery of his past, the character will have to exert an incredible force of will (The GM may even call tor a ME save) to resist it.
• Special. Psionic or magical examination of the characters mind will be unable to reveal any of the secrets behind his amnesia, beyond general flickers and glimpses of vague clues.

Billy the Kid Syndrome

• [2 Points] At fairly regular intervals, complete strangers show up in your character's life and challenge him to some sort of contest relevant to his abilities (for example, if your character has a reputation as an inhumanly fast video game player, opponents will be looking for a showdown with his game of choice). They don't take "no" for an answer and they're not always sporting or accommodating when your character is busy.

Boastful

• [2 Points] Loudmouth: Your character cannot discuss himself or his friends without embellishing the facts and exaggerating the details. Unlike most veteran soldiers and bar regulars, he doesn‘t regard this behavior as a playful sort of game, he's a compulsive braggart with some personal deficiency or thirst for attention. He cannot bear to be upstaged, and will exaggerate his stories to the point that demands will usually be made for him to prove his claims, which he usually can't.
• [4 Points]. Violent Loudmouth: What's worse, your character will inevitably start a confrontation or threaten violence to defend his obviously outrageous and exaggerated stories. The more he lies, the more incredulous the reaction of those around him, and thus the angrier her gets.
• Special If your character must bite his tongue when discretion is obviously called for, he may attempt an ME save to do so. If he must bite his tongue as a matter of life or death, he can swallow his pride for a short while without an ME save.

Cold Fish

• [2 Points] Your character isn't necessarily condescending or disdainful about the habits of other people. He's just far removed from any ability to appreciate those habits. Imagine him as an alien presence, forever trying to comprehend what‘s going on around him and forever failing. Frequently, it‘s more comfortable for him to withdraw from contact with others than to tolerate exuberance, rashness, relaxation, and camaraderie Although he may value others, he has few ways of expressing this value. He gives praise only rarely and matter-of-factly, because he does not grasp that others might enjoy it. His emotional displays are generally limited to anger and its near-cousins.
• Special. At the GM‘s discretion. your character may suffer a -2 penalty to certain MA-based skill checks made against strangers or new acquaintances.

Compulsive Liar

• [2 Points] You will be expected to roleplay this behavior an acceptable percentage of the time; failure to lie often enough may result in the GM telling certain lies on your character's behalf. Your character may attempt to force down his compulsion in moments of great need, with an ME save

Cowardly

• [3 Points] Your character will frequently attempt to maneuver himself physically to place others between himself and danger. He has very little shame about cringing displays of cowardice. While he won't completely abandon close friends in need, he certainly won't step boldly forward to risk his neck on their behalf. He'll do the minimum necessary (fleeing with an unconscious friend over his shoulder, for example, as opposed to fighting the gang member that knocked the friend unconscious). Whenever possible, he will fight in the least honorable and risky way imaginable, taking cover or using high-powered weapons even if such actions aren‘t strictly necessary.
• [+1 Point] Special Handicap – Yellow: Your character suffers a -2 morale penalty to all saves against fear, horror, and demoralization effects.
• Special: This drawback exerts a powerful pull on your character‘s actions. It may be combined with other personality conflict drawbacks, provided that when one cancels out the other the character will still suffer some penalty. For example, a cowardly character would never imagine leaping into a freezing river to save a drowning pack animal. However, a cowardly miser would do so in an instant if that pack animal carried his bags of treasure, exposing himself to extreme risk without thought of his usual cowardice, While the characters cowardice is temporarily subsumed, his behavior could by no means be termed healthy.

Criminal Honor Code

• [2 Points] Your character is expected to adhere to the following rules. Breach of a criminal “code” will generally result in violent reprisals from other criminals if the breach is discovered.
  • Never go to the authorities when you have been wronged by another
  • never inform the authorities of wrong doing by another
  • Personal insults and affronts must be settled personally
  • to ask someone in power to protect or compensate you is unworthy and cowardly
  • Courts of law are for chumps and weaklings
  • Justice must be of an equal measure to the crime; injury for injury, theft for theft, death for death
  • A direct personal insult (to one's manhood, womanhood, or sense of honor) must be met with a duel or with murder if a duel is not accepted
  • Never, under any circumstances, forgive any insult or injury on anyone‘s terms but your own, after full satisfaction has been achieved. The sole exception is when you are forced to extend forgiveness by a criminal figure in authority over you
  • Never betray a close friend; Never reveal information to anyone that would be harmful to a friend
  • In turn, never forgive a betrayal by a former friend.
  • Note Adherence to a criminal code of conduct may require ritualized gestures of loyalty to other, more powerful criminals, as well as other minor lifestyle details that can be settled between player and GM before a campaign begins.

Criminal Record

• [2 Points] Lesser Crime: Your character never hurt anyone, but he did do something stupid and illegal, possession or transportation of mild drugs, perhaps, or a bit of check fraud or similar con artistry, or a prank that soured into accidental vandalism or theft.
• [3 Points] Multiple Lesser Crimes Your character has an established history of misdemeanors and minor crimes— perhaps he is a habitual trespasser or vandal, or likes to pick fights and make empty threats. Your character may be considered somewhat infamous in a small area (his native city), and will gain a +1 bonus (whether he likes it or not) to Reputation checks made by law-enforcement personnel in that area.
• [4 Points] Serious Crime Your character committed a felony in which no one was injured— computer hacking, perhaps, or automobile theft, or a major con scheme. Your character may be considered somewhat infamous in a small area (his native city), and will gain a +2 bonus (whether he likes it or not) to Reputation checks made by law enforcement personnel in that area.
• [5 Points] Violent Crime. Your character didn't necessarily hurt anyone, but at the very least he put others in danger. Assault and battery, Arson, armed robbery, and kidnapping are all possibilities, as is manslaughter or murder. Your character may be considered infamous in a sizable area (his native city and surrounding regions), and will gain a +4 bonus (whether he likes it or not) to Reputation checks made by law-enforcement and media personnel in that area. Your character will almost certainly face restrictions on his ability to purchase weapons and his ability to vote or hold a job (GM's discretion. dependent upon local laws and customs).
• [6 Points] Multiple Violent or Serious Crimes Your character has a record involving several violent or unusually audacious felonies. Your character will definitely be considered infamous in a sizable area (his native city and surrounding regions), and will gain a +6 bonus (whether he likes it or not) to Reputation checks made by law enforcement and media personnel in that area. Your character will almost certainly face restrictions on his ability to purchase weapons and his ability to vote or hold a job (GM‘s discretion, dependent upon local laws and customs).
• [+3 Points] Special Handicap - On Parole. Your character remains on parole for his last conviction. Although he has some freedom of movement and activity, he is required to report to his parole officer on a daily basis, avoid contact with known criminals, and prove that he is seeking or holding down a legal job. Violation of any of these strictures may be treated very harshly your character could even be returned to prison. This may put quite a damper on a life of adventure and excitement. Your character will remain on parole for at least two years of game time. Limitations The ‘On Parole” handicap may only be selected if your character is attempting to live (or present the illusion of living) an open and legal existence. It may not be selected in conjunction with the Poor Reputation (Wanted) special handicap. Furthermore, any character with a Criminal Record worth 3 or more Drawback Points will almost certainly be disbarred from the possibility of future service in a military or law enforcement capacity (though exceptions are always made, especially in the fictional worlds of adventure games). GMs, please take note.

Cruelty

• [2 Points] Your character is not necessarily murderous. nor does he even necessarily like his cruel streak. Nonetheless, he feels a definite thirst for cruel, punishing solutions to his life's problems, he desires those who interfere with him to suffer a commensurate degree of aggravation, pain, and loss before he overcomes them. A straightforward and sporting victory is an empty one, according to his heart. Clever cruelties fill him with joy, after all, he is not a mindless brute, but rather a shaper of punishments to fit the nature of each crime. This is differentiated from the Vindictive drawback; a vindictive character is relentless in his pursuit of revenge or redress, but he isn't necessarily savage and uncouth in gaining it. A cruel character doesn't need to dash off and seek vengeance for every little wrong done to him, but when he does overcome an opponent, only a ME save will allow him to overcome his cruel impulses.

Dark Desire

• [2 Points] This is not an idle fascination for your character, it is the core of his very existence, a black secret that he shares with no one. At all times, your character is pondering, scheming, seeking information, and carefully moving himself in what he believes to be the proper direction for his goal. It's not so much that he's working in opposition to the plans of his 'friends and allies' it's that he considers them ultimately superfluous tools to be used and discarded when necessary. Although your character is infinitely patient, at the very end of his quest, when the goal is in sight. there is no betrayal he will not make and no bond he will not forsake to grasp what he has always desired. Special If your character attains his dark desire, it won't happen after a month or two of adventuring. It will happen after years, or, more likely, decades. The attainment of a dark desire will almost certainly turn your character into an antagonistic NPC under the GM‘s control, so it is essential for full dramatic impact that this drawback be kept as utterly secret as possible.

Debt of Honor

• [2 Points] Moderate Debt. Over the course of the unfolding campaign. your character will be called upon to perform three substantial services for an NPC. These services will test the characters abilities and will contain assorted challenges and dangers. If your character fails to heed the call when his services are requested. something unfortunate will happen to him, he and his friends will very likely be targeted for violence by the character he has spurned.
• [4 Points] Substantial Debt As above. save that your character will be expected to carry out six substantial services for the NPC over the course of the campaign. The nature of the NPC (crime boss, occult researcher, reclusive megalomaniac, etc.) should be such that he feels no real emotional connection to your character. Your character will therefore have no idea how much of a risk he is facing when he undertakes each service. The nature of each service will also probably be contrived to minimize potential reward for your character, especially when the NPC wants something of value retrieved or an enemy wiped out. These missions are duties lo be discharged, not opportunities to acquire loot and glory,
• [+2 Points] Special Handicap - Certain Weirdness: Oh, no. The nature of the NPC is such that the errands assigned to your character are certain to involve unusually bizarre inconveniences, particularly strange requirements, and especially weird or occult obstacles. The GM may disallow the use of this handicap in campaigns that do not feature occult/weird elements.
• Special The NPC won't mind at all if other characters accompany yours out of friendship or duty, but he won‘t offer them a single penny in compensation for their time and effort.

Dependency

• An illegal drug
• A legal but expensive drug
• A unique substance that the character must make or distill on his own.

Dependent

• [2 Points] Your character must work to protect his own identity and the identity of his dependent(s). If the dependent(s) were ever to be revealed to your character’s enemies, they would make the perfect hostages. The dependent has a great deal of emotional loyalty to your character but cannot offer any practical assistance. This Drawback may be taken multiple times, provided that each new Dependent is geographically separated from the others (for example. Two grandparents would qualify as one Dependent if they lived together and two Dependents if they lived in different cities).

Divisive Destiny

• [2 Points] This is a Drawback that will almost certainly have a greater impact as the character gains levels and experience. The further along he progresses toward his desired goals, the more he will splinter his family and culture, and the more painful (or bloody) the greater conflict will become. Note: This drawback can have a great deal of bearing on the nature and outcome of any given campaign, and may be more appropriate lo campaigns with supernatural elements. Even for a secondary Drawback, this one requires the explicit permission and cooperation of the GM.

Double Life

• [2 Points] Your character's "civilian" identity is respectable and well known enough (or his job is sensitive and prestigious enough) that connection to your character's adventuring identity could irreparably damage it. At regular intervals, your character may have to take part in social or work functions to "keep up appearances“ when he would rather be adventuring
• [+2 Points] Special Handicap - Wanted Double : Your character‘s adventuring identity operates outside the law and is sought by legal or governmental authorities on a number of charges. Use this special handicap rather than the Poor Reputation or Criminal Record drawbacks when dealing with a secondary identity. After all, while Bob Johnson can be arrested or subpoenaed, his alter-ego, the Caped Avenger, keeps no mailing address.

Driving Obsession

• [2 Points] Your character can feign temporary disinterest in his driving obsession. but it really is his reason for living. He will not long tolerate any distraction from it, and he will tolerate no sarcasm or teasing as a result of it. lf your character attempts to set aside his driving goal, he will find himself tormented by everything from nightmares to waking hallucinations— at the GM's discretion, this psychological punishment will make life increasingly unlivable until the character resumes the duties dictated by his obsession. This obsession will definitely come between your character and the long-term relationships most of us take for granted, especially love and family.
• [+2 Points] Special Handicap - Specific Sense of Duty: Your character's driving obsession has led him to adopt a very specific "duty" that he tasks himself to carry out as though it were mandated by a higher authority. Compare and contrast with the actual Duty/Responsibility Drawback. Your character keeps at his task because he is whipped by his personal mental demons, not because he owes anyone else a service. This duty should take a very clear form (such as “patrol this area regularly for crime/supernatural events" or “guard the members of a specific family at all times, without their knowledge"), and the character should be willing to sacrifice himself for it without hesitation.

Duty/Responsibility

• [2 Points] Unchallenging/Occasional Duty’ Your character either carries out his duties only part of the time or has an extremely unchallenging duty, requiring him only to carry out orders and assignments. A reserve military officer might qualify for the former; a rookie beat cop would qualify for the latter.
• [4 Points] Substantial/Challenging Duty Your character spends most of his waking hours every week in the pursuit of his duty, and must occasionally make important decisions on his own authority— a homicide detective or any other professional law-enforcement officer would qualify for this level of Duty/Responsibility.
• [6 Points] important/Challenging Duty Your character's duty is the focus of his life, and he spends a bare handful of hours every week doing anything not related to it. A staff officer in a sensitive military position (nuclear missile silo duty, for example) would qualify for this level of Duty/Responsibility.
• [+2 Points] Special Handicap - Hazardous Duty: Although danger is a part of the life of any d20 adventure game character, your character doesn't even have the option of choosing when and how he will face many of the dangers in his life. He has volunteered for a position of enhanced risk, and his superiors will frequently order him into risky situations, perhaps even suicidal ones, regardless of his opinion on any given mission.
• [+2 Points] Special Handicap - Restricted Movement: Your character, by the nature of his duty, is confined to certain areas and facilities even when he is technically “off-duty.“ This handicap is particularly appropriate to military personnel, who are not usually free to enter or leave military bases as they please and must formally request extended leaves well in advance of their desired date.
• [+1 Point] Special Handicap - Restricted Contact: Your character is not allowed to freely communicate with those outside of the establishment he serves. Any letters or phone calls he sends will be monitored. He may expect to be completely out of touch with friends and relatives at regular intervals. and he may also expect to have his contact with certain individuals barred for security reasons.
• Note: This Drawback may be quite harmful to group cohesion in certain campaigns. For example, a U.S. Army Special Forces officer may have some difficulty adventuring with a party of three biker gang members. The bikers have freedom of movement nearly everywhere save on the soldier’s base, and he can hardly be expected to leave it any time he likes to hang out with them.

Estranged

• [2 Points ] Your character carries a great weight of mixed frustration and regret about this situation. and will spend much of his time contemplating it, often at the expense of good humor or good fellowship. He will get no aid from his family or his society; indeed, he will be reluctant to go near them, even when circumstances seem to require it. A good GM will weave this estrangement throughout an ongoing campaign. ensuring that it rears its head from time to time to turn some satisfaction or new happiness into ashes in your character's mouth.
• Special: While reconciliation is not impossible, it will only come at the end of a long effort by both sides, an effort that the other side may not be willing to make even if your character is.

Explosive Temper

• [2 Points] When something happens to make your character angry, he must make an ME save to avoid flying completely off the handle. While he's bad enough when he makes that save. he's a terror when he fails it. He will kick objects, throw things, threaten his friends and allies, disorder everything around him, start fights, and throw himself heedlessly into potentially foolish combat. After a temper tantrum has spent itself, your character will generally sulk, making himself miserable company for an hour or two.
• Special This differs from the Aggressive drawback in that your character might not even want to be a terribly violent person. His bouts of rage might be accurately described as incidents of possession, his temper consumes him, and he doesn’t particularly enjoy it, but it happens nonetheless.

Greed

• [2 Points] The lure of wealth seems to draw a curtain down over your character's better judgment. Any chance for easy money (heck, any chance for not-so-easy money, too) has your character wetting his lips, rubbing his hands together, and trying to think up some scheme (often quite ludicrous) whereby he can get away with said money. Curiously enough. once he's got his hands on a new pile of cash, he tends to do with it as he pleases and thinks no more of it. lt‘s the acquisition of riches that sets his blood on fire. not the hoarding of them. At the GM‘s discretion, your character may be forced to make an ME save to successfully turn down a money making opportunity unless pressing, life or death business is keeping him occupied.
• Special This drawback does not make the character a kleptomaniac. He suffers no compulsion to take things that are clearly owned by people he likes, fears. or respects.

Heroic Code: Fair Play

• [2 Points] Your character refuses to flank others, shoot anyone in the back, take opponents unaware, or attack anyone lying prone upon the ground. In moments of drastic need. your character may attempt an ME Save to override this habit.

Heroic Code: Honesty

• [2 Points] Your character may not take the Bluff skill or the Gambling skill. Furthermore, he absolutely refuses to tell lies except in the direst of circumstance, even to “bad guys," and refuses to exaggerate, gamble. or even lie on behalf of others. In moments of drastic need, your character may attempt an ME save to override this habit. Special Your character may still conceal his non-adventuring secret identities and assume false names and faces.

Heroic Code: Law and Order

• [2 Points] Your character refuses to pick locks. break and enter, interrogate suspects without turning them over to the police first, commandeer vehicles or property from ordinary citizens, etc. Basically, if it involves anything more than patrolling and confronting criminals or villains engaged in obvious acts of mischief and mayhem, your character tut-tuts at it. ln moments of drastic need, your character may attempt an ME save to override this habit.

Heroic Code: Loyalty

• [2 Points.] Your character is incapable of abandoning a friend or ally, even if it would make sense to do so, even in foolish or suicidal conditions. Come hell or high water, your character prefers to fight side by side with his friends and will die doing so if that's what fate decrees. Your character is rarely the one that gets sent running for help.

Heroic Code: Mercy

• [2 Points] Merciful Your character cannot intentionally kill another person, nor allow another person to die when action on the hero's part could save them. Your character will consider even an accidental death to be his complete responsibility and will therefore exercise extreme caution with his powers and abilities.
• [4 Points] Remorseful: Furthermore, your character has extreme difficulty dealing with the guilt caused by a death that he could have prevented. If he accidentally causes or fails to prevent (provided such prevention was in his power at all) a death, he will shut down emotionally for 1D4 weeks as a reflection of his anguish, All saves are at -3, Skills at -15% and loses 2 attacks.

Humorless

• [2 Points] Your character might even be friendly, sociable, and capable of enjoying himself, he simply does not laugh or grasp why anyone else laughs. His earnest sincerity and genuine lack of comprehension are alien and often disquieting to those who don't know your character. Occasionally, his failure to understand the nuances of humor will cause him to miss the subtext of an important social interaction or give someone the false impression that he is making fun of them. In addition to the roleplaying consequences of this drawback. Your character will suffer a -40 % penalty to any Perform check where an element of humor is involved in the performance.

Impulsive

• [2 Points] Your character hates to wait for advice, confer on a plan or procedure. or put off any decision that can (in his opinion) be made immediately. When his under-utilized common sense does take hold, he will still be forcefully opposed to what he thinks of as "dithering and dickering," and will tend to quickly aggravate others with his insistence upon rapid, decisive action.
• Note: This drawback is differentiated from Aggressive; an impulsive character isn't after violence per se, merely decisive action. An aggressive character, provided he can keep a watchful eye on his target(s) of choice, has no trouble making careful preparations for violence provided that violence is imminent.

lnferiority Complex

• [2 Points] Your character is extremely sensitive about small things that he imagines reflect the contempt others feel for him. lf asked to take the lead on the trail, he'll assume it's because he's thought unimportant enough to be risked. lf asked to take the rear, he'll assume it's because they think him boring If asked to take the middle, he'll assume it's because they don't think he's skilled enough to handle himself in the front or the rear. While your character is usually able to subsume his festering resentment beneath a layer of jagged humor or false conviviality it occasionally boils over and causes extreme discomfort for everyone around him. Sometimes, your character also takes foolish and unnecessary risks in an effort to demonstrate his skills.

Insatiable Curiosity

• [2 Points] Whenever your character is confronted with a chance to learn something new and interesting, especially if relevant to his current adventure or investigation, he must make a ME save against a DC set by the GM in order to keep his mind on whatever else he needs to be doing.

Intolerant

• [2 Points] Your character's overt hostility (which goes as far as name calling, fight picking, and boorish public behavior, but not as far as malicious mayhem such as arson or murder) will generally be an embarrassment to his friends and allies. It might also get him and the rest of the adventuring party into regular trouble with NPCs (especially politicians, police officers, bartenders, business owners, soldiers, etc.) of the appropriate race. Your character suffers a -4 penalty to certain MA-based skill checks made against characters of the appropriate race or social group, as well as against other, more enlightened NPCs who find your character's prejudice contemptible.

Kleptomania

• [3 Points] Your character feels constant urges to steal things, and loves nothing more than the secret thrill of getting away with his thefts. At restaurants. he will steal silverware; when left with unattended purses or coats he will lift small valuables from them. If your character is a professional criminal, so much the better, but big thefts are how he makes his living, not how he gets through the day. If your character isn't trying to steal from others (even his close friends, alas) often enough, the GM may begin enforcing theft attempts upon him (possible ME save allowed to resist the kleptomaniac impulses in moments of danger or crisis). This can be a very tricky drawback for a character to live with, so caveat emptor.

Lazy

• [2 Points] Your character suffers an-1 penalty to ME saves and to all Profession skills due to his lack of ambition and discipline. He will constantly attempt to shirk or avoid work and his attention to detail is somewhat lacking; this can be either amusing or irritating to his friends, depending upon the circumstances.

Lecherous

• [2 Points] Your character finds it difficult to resist the lure of any chance to be near potential romantic entanglements. Just as a drunkard dreams of wine bottles, beer cans, and shot glasses, your character dreams of healthy young flesh, flirtations, and brief but passionate romantic affairs. Your character is continually hopping in and out of beds (or trying to, if his lechery exceeds his personal charm) and wasting many long hours at bars, clubs, and restaurants cruising for a new conquest. Your character must make an ME save to avoid the urge to make a pass at a potential partner whenever the opportunity presents itself (save in dire moments of emergency). This can cause no end of complications for the character and his allies when time or discretion is of the essence.

Lone Wolf

• [2 Points] Your character has an extremely difficult time working with others in groups and getting along in such arrangements for any length of time. If forced to tolerate the continual presence of others, he will be a grating, sarcastic, and generally divisive influence when he's not ditching the others lo do things his own way. He will frequently find excuses to "scout ahead" or “take care of some personal business," ensuring that he won't often be close at hand when he's needed in an emergency.

Macho/Spartan

• [2 Points] The central function of this drawback is that your character will get on others’ nerves with amazing regularity. Furthermore, your character will routinely refuse to do things the easy and comfortable way. Beds? Beds are for sissies. Heavy clothing in freezing weather’? Hey, freezing weather's good for you. Grin and bear it! Your character's macho assumptions may sometimes leave your adventuring party without vital tools or clothing when entering a hazardous situation. Even when freely offered creature comforts, your character will utterly disdain their use. The GM may call for an ME save if your character attempts to back down from a direct challenge to his machismo. If acceptance of creature comforts is a matter of diplomatic importance, your character will make every effort to appear content with them, while making every private effort to shun them that he can.

Melancholy

• [2 Points] This is not merely a phase, something has happened to your character to rob him of joy and exuberance. Although he keeps a sense of humor, it's wry and cynical, frequently exercised at the expense of others. Your character often speculates on the nature of death and on the manner of the death that awaits him, regardless of whether or not such talk discomforts those around him. When injured or left in a state of extreme pensiveness, your character is quite lackadaisical, and will be more of a detriment than a benefit to anyone struggling to survive nearby. If your character does find the will to carry on, it's only because he's found something new to amuse him for a little while.

Miser

• [2 Points ]. Your character balks at spending a single nickel more than absolutely necessary for anything, from the food he eats to the places he sleeps in and the weapons and equipment he trusts to save his life. Your character has very little dignity where his wallet is concemed, and will gladly sleep in the back seat of a car and wear the same clothes for six months straight, no matter how much better he could do for himself.

Mistaken Identity

• [2 Points] Limited Recognition: Your character has the equivalent of a 2 Point Nemesis: Villain (a dangerous NPC (and that NPC's circle of friends and allies)) who thinks your character is someone else, someone he needs to hunt, hinder, or punish
• [4 Points] Widespread Recognition: Your character is widely mistaken for another individual who has offended or alarmed a great many people. His life will be more constantly and deeply disrupted by this problem.
• [+1 Point] Special Handicap - Perfect Double: Your character really is an exact physical double of the NPC he's being confused with, although very small details birthmarks, scars, etc. may be different, only the closest friends and associates would be able to reliably tell the two apart, and then only with time and observation.

Monetary Debt

• [2 Points] Significant Debt: If the NPC is a vicious and dangerous character (crime boss, loan shark, terrorist warlord) the debt owed is set at $75,000. If the NPC is merely firm and unfriendly (disapproving relative, large bank) the debt owed is $100,000.
• [4 Points] Massive Debt It the NPC is a vicious and dangerous character (crime boss, loan shark, terrorist warlord) the debt owed is set at $150,000. If the NPC is merely firm and unfriendly (disapproving relative, large bank) the debt owed is $200,000.
• A vicious NPC denied payment on the amount owed will resort to intimidation and violence. A firm and unfriendly NPC denied payment will resort to repossession of goods, lawsuits, and slashing your character's credit rating. If your character fails to make one or more of his regular payments, or somehow displeases his creditor without entirely defaulting on the repayment, compound interest may begin to accrue on what he still owes (necessitating one or more extra payments) and a new repayment schedule may be forced upon him. It is possible that the NPC creditor may be willing to occasionally negotiate the substitution of a service tor one or more payments.

Nemesis: Govemment

• [2 Points] Minor Nemesis The nemesis is a local power figure (city bureaucrat, small-town mayor) or a relatively weak or distant agency.
• [4 Points] Moderate Nemesis The nemesis is both popular and powerful (mayor of a huge city) or an agency with a respectable reach.
• [6 Points] Major Nemesis: The nemesis is a dangerously powerful national figure (senator, vice-president) or a formidable agency such as Ml-5 or the CIA.
• [8 Points] Daunting Nemesis. The nemesis is either a pivotal world figure (President of the United States, perhaps) or a major coalition (NATO) with worldwide striking power.

Nemesis: Legal

• [2 Points] Hassle: The nemesis is a local ambulance-chaser, persistent it not overly menacing.
• [4 Points] Major Hassle: The nemesis is a cunning and experienced partner in a decently-sized firm with branches in several cities.
• [6 Points] Big League Trouble: The nemesis is a legal juggernaut, one of the ten most powerful firms in North America or Europe, with offices all over the place and a team of lawyers assigned lull-time to your character's case.
• [8 Points] The Stuff of Nightmares The nemesis in question has a branch office dedicated entirely to pursuing your character's case, twenty-four hours a day. Private detectives are after your character, a dozen summons await him at any given time. and civil suits are pending in a dozen jurisdictions. Pray for death.

Nemesis: Media

• [2 Points] Flea-Biter: The nemesis is a small-town reporter or editor, or a tabloid nutcase.
• [4 Points] Muckraker: The nemesis has some clout, as an editor or award-winning reporter for a major city newspaper or TV station.
• [6 Points] Big Name: The nemesis is a national media figure an established syndicated columnist read by millions or a major network TV journalist seen by tens of millions.
• [8 Points] Angling for A Pulitzer: The nemesis is an entire publishing chain or a major national network, full of celebrities and researchers clamoring for your character's head on a pike.

Nemesis: Organization

• [2 Points] Local Trouble: The organization is either very weak and overextended, or its power is confined to a relatively small area.
• [4 Points] Cause for Concern. The organization is fairly large and competent. Your character will have to watch his back wherever he goes.
• [6 Points] Lurking Danger: The organization has quite a reach and the resources to back a major power play. Your character had best have all of his cards up his sleeve when he takes them on, they're certifiable bad news.
• [8 Points] Big, Big Trouble: The organization is perhaps one of the shadowy masters of the world, capable of striking anywhere on earth at any time, with agents and resources in hundreds of places, ready and willing to make your character's life rather miserable.
• [+1 Point] Special Handicap - Unusual Powers: It the organization has access to powers (psionics, magic, supernatural abilities, abilities, etc.) that your character and his allies do not, the GM may consent to allow an extra Drawback Point for this special handicap.

Nemesis: Villain

• [2 Points] Minor Antagonist: The nemesis is directly comparable in power and ability to your character, though he doesn't show up very often.
• [4 Points] Competent Antagonist: The nemesis is directly comparable in power and ability to your character, and he takes a much more frequent interest in bothering your character.
• [6 Points] Major Antagonist: The nemesis is more powerful and able than your character, with significant resources at his command, and he takes everything very, very personally.
• [8 Points] Grounds For Suicide: How could it be worse? The villain is a total nightmare. He's your characters superior in every human sphere, he dresses better, he has more friends and more money, he has a seemingly endless supply of ninja assassins, and he spends a great deal of money to ensure that the local TV stations only play late-night movies that your character can't stand.
• [+ 1 Point] Special Handicap Lieutenant: If the villain has a noteworthy lieutenant (not as powerful as the chief villain, but still competent enough to enhance the villain’s capabilities significantly) the GM may consent to allow one or more (in the case of multiple lieutenants) extra Drawback Points.
• [+1 Point] Special Handicap- Unusual Powers: If the villain has access to powers (psionics, magic, supernatural abilities, etc.) that your character and his allies do not. the GM may consent to allow an extra Drawback Point for this special handicap.

Nightmares

• [2 Points_] Occasional Nightmares There is a 40% chance per period of sleep that your character will experience extremely vivid and lengthy nightmares. The character must make an ME save; failure means that the character will be mentally fatigued the next day. While he can still run and charge, he will suffer a -5% to all skill checks, and he will suffer a -1 penalty to all of his attack rolls. These penalties last until he is next able to sleep undisturbed. These penalties last until he is next able to sleep undisturbed.
• [4 Points] Frequent Nightmares There is a 65% chance per period of sleep that your character will experience extremely vivid and lengthy nightmares. The character must make an ME save, failure means that the character will be mentally fatigued the next day. While he can still run and charge, he will suffer a -10% to all skill checks, and he will suffer a -2 penalty to all of his attack rolls. These penalties last until he is next able to sleep undisturbed.
• Special If the character is an arcane spellcaster, this drawback is worth an additional two (2) Drawback Points. A bout of nightmares will rob the character of a single prepared spell slot of each level he can cast for the next day. For example, if a character that can prepare two 1st level spells suffers a bout of nightmares, he will only be able to prepare one 1st level spell the next day.

Obnoxious

• [2 Points] Your character is one or more of the following things— loud, rude, impatient, arrogant, intrusive, insensitive, bombastic, crude, strident, and/or narrow-minded. In addition to the roleplaying burden of these traits, your character suffers a -4 penalty to all Diplomacy checks.

Ostracism

• [2 Points] Limited Ostracism Your character experiences occasional taunts from strangers, and often finds himself subjected to epithets or unpleasant scrutiny. Sometimes, shops or restaurants won't admit him, but he's relatively free from actual violence.
• [4 Points] Severe Ostracism Your character faces a society with a deeply-entrenched suspicion of his kind, and as a result experiences constant discrimination, embarrassment, disdain, and occasionally even threats or physical assaults.
• [5 Points] Sanctioned Ostracism: The prejudice your character faces is officially sanctioned by the government of the society in which he lives He is formally treated as a second-class citizen, if he enjoys any rights at all, and must often submit himself to “security registration" and restricted movement patterns. Legal and police authorities will be no help at all if he is persecuted, threatened, or injured.
• Special This Drawback may only be taken with explicit GM permission, as it is obviously highly dependent upon the nature of the campaign world.

Overcautious

• [2 Points] Your character will drag his heels on virtually everything, he doesn’t see himself as indecisive, but in essence that's his problem, while there’s much to be said for caution, it cannot sense in every situation, and your character's friends and allies are to get aggravated with him at regular intervals for his love of “thorough consideration.“

Overconfident

• [2 Points] Your character scoffs at the idea that “discretion is the better part of valor," He won’t back down from a fight, he dislikes calling for reinforcements, and he has a habit of constantly underestimating any danger or opponent placed in his way. Your character might be forced to make a ME save (difficulty relatively high) any time he attempts to withdraw from danger or back down from a challenge.

Pompous

• [2 Points] Your character always acts as though he owns the place he's standing in and everyone nearby happens to work for him. While your character might mean well and be a perfectly lovely person, he speaks and acts in a fashion that, while perfectly natural to him, is either ludicrous or grating to almost everyone else. He never uses a ten cent word when a five dollar word is available, takes too long to say just about everything, and relaxes only when inebriated or somehow mind-controlled.
• [+1 Point.] Special Handicap – Condescending: What's worse, your character continually acts as though nobody around him truly understands anything as well as he does (or, indeed, is capable of doing so even under optimum %s). He makes a constant show of explaining things to people that don't necessarily need them explained.
• [+1 Point] Special Handicap - Snob: Perhaps most aggravating of all, your character is simply incapable of enjoying anything unless he is simultaneously denigrating the taste or accomplishments of someone else. His continual disdain for the opinions, habits, and possessions of others is bound to get on someone's nerves sooner or later. His lack of tact inflicts an-2 penalty to all of his Diplomacy checks.

Poor Reputation

• [2 Points.] Suspicious/Untrustworthy. The precise nature of the reputation should be left to the GM, as appropriate to your character's background. If your character is law-abiding, he might have a reputation as a suspicious and unsavory person. It your character is already an unsavory person, he might have a reputation among other unsavory people as an oath-breaker, or potential informer, While this reputation won't make anyone attack your character on sight, it will make virtually everything he tries to do more difficult. Contacts won't take him seriously, police officers or criminals (or both) will hassle him on the streets, and so forth. This drawback will provide a +3 bonus to all Reputation checks made by appropriate NPCs when attempting to identify your character. lf your character is successfully identified, he will suffer -30% penalty on checks involving the following skills for the duration of the encounter: Bluff, Diplomacy, Intelligence, and Perform.
• [4 Points] Presumed Corrupt/Malicious/Awful: As above, but worse and/or more widespread. If your character is law-abiding, he might find himself slandered as anything from a murderer to a crooked businessman. If your character is already an unsavory person, he might have a reputation among other unsavory people as a definite oath-breaker or informer. This drawback will provide a +6 bonus to all Reputation checks made by appropriate NPCs when attempting to identify your character. lf your character is successfully identified, he will suffer -40% penalty on checks involving the following skills for the duration of the encounter: Bluff, Diplomacy, Intelligence, and Perform.
• [+1-4 Points] Special Handicap – Wanted: Your character is sought by legal or governmental authorities for crimes he may or may not have committed. Compare and contrast with Criminal Record (page 34); a character with this handicap has not yet been caught. The more serious the charges, and the wider the area of the hunt for him, the more this handicap is worth (GM's discretion). Special Handicap Bounty: [+1-3 Points] One or more governments (or wealthy private citizens, or criminal organizations) in the region where your character has a poor reputation have put up a reward for his capture or death. The more this bounty is worth (GM's discretion), the more points it provides, as the more interest it will arouse. This is not entirely the same as a Nemesis drawback (pages 43-44), as the threat comes from random and unknown bounty hunters, skip tracers, and assassins rather than a consistent enemy.

Risk-Addicted

• [2 Points] This drawback is quite like Overconfident and in fact, in terms of effects, the two are nearly identical. The difference is that a Risk-Addicted character is totally cognizant of the extreme danger of any given, situation and well aware that he might not be skilled enough to take on the entire world and live. and he simply does not care, your character never feels more alive than when his fate and fortune are hanging by a slender thread, and he seeks to put himself in such situations as often as possible. In short, he will rarely retreat, surrender, or back down from games of chance and risk. A ME save may be required if he ever wishes to exercise discretion rather than valor.

Stubbom

• [2 Points] Your character is aggravatingly certain that he knows best about everything. He will fight to have his own way just about all the time, asserts his authority over others even when he doesn't have any, and disregards the good advice of those who know better even when it's for his own clear good. In certain circumstances, your character may be allowed an ME save to swallow his pride and accept someone else's leadership without protest for some length of time.

Tongue-Tied

• [2 Points.] Your character is extremely socially handicapped, in a manner determined by agreement between yourself and the GM. In addition to suffering a -1 penalty to your character's initial MA score, you must roleplay one or more of the following shyness, hesitance, lack of assertiveness, and general submissiveness to virtually everyone around you. Your character may be required to make an ME save if he wishes to assert his presence or authority in anything but a life-or-death situation.
• Special: lf your character has the Leadership feat, he does not add his positive MA modifier (if any) to the Leadership check total.
• Special: This is a secondary drawback largely as a result of the roleplaying burden it places upon you. Playing a milquetoast is not for everyone, so think carefully before applying this to your character.).

Unsophisticated

• [2 Points] Your character displays the accents and personal habits customary to his place of origin; as a result of these traits, he is regarded as a hick, a rube, a redneck, or a provincial. Their presumption may be that he is anything from quaint and superstitious to downright stupid. Con artists and tricksters will single your character out for attention. And strangers in bars or restaurants will have plenty of choice witticisms and taunts to throw at him. At the GM‘s discretion, your character will suffer a -2 % penalty to most MA-based skill checks in situations where his origin could be considered a hindrance in the eyes of onlookers.

Vain/Dandy

• [2 Points] A character that is principally vain doesn't necessarily care about the quality of the clothes he wears, but he is absolutely fastidious about his image and his presentability. He bathes at every opportunity, dotes on his hair, flexes and poses, and generally seizes any opportunity to make himself look dashing. He’s the sort of person who polishes his boots twice a day even when on a trail in the wilderness. He cannot abide the feeling of uncleanliness, even when dirt on his face or clothes would help hide him from a nearby danger. He must make an ME save (GM‘s discretion) to tolerate a state of uncleanliness for any length of time.
• [2 Points] A dandy, in contrast, is a foppish clotheshorse with a preference for the comforts of civilization over the hard pleasures of the street or the wilderness. While a dandy can bear a bit of grime or sweat, he can do so primarily because he likes to keep a change of clothes (or several) on hand. When setting out on an adventure, he will inevitably try to haul along as many improbable and unnecessary fine things as he can get away with, and while his friends might occasionally appreciate that rare bottle of cognac while on the mountain trail, they won't be pleased to discover that he tossed out the GPS locator device to make room for it.

Vindictive

• [2 Points ] Your character has a vicious revenge complex, and is incapable of bearing up with dignity under insults or injury. Likewise, he is all but incapable of forgiving a slight or an injury and will go to elaborate (and frequently dangerous) lengths to secure his revenge. Although he does not ask that his friends and allies help him achieve his vengeance, he grows highly irate when they attempt to interfere. "Letting it go" is not in his vocabulary; strung together in that order, those three words are meaningless to him.
• Special (Dedicated Drawback Synergy) lf your character has a Criminal Honor Code, this drawback will exacerbate that beyond any rational limit. Your character, when wronged, will be a demon incarnate, thirsting for blood. This drawback, taken in combination with Criminal Honor Code, is worth one (1) additional Drawback Point.

Condition

Description

Anxiety Disorder

• [2 Points] Your character suffers an-1 penalty to both PE Saves and ME saves, as a result of the degradation of his physical and mental states due to a gnawing sense of worry. Roleplaying acute out- bursts of anxiety from time to time would not be inappropriate, however, bear in mind that this does not mean a constant stream of moaning and wailing

Bipolar Disorder

• [3 Points ]. Prior to each game session, the GM should roll 1d10 to determine which “phase" your character is currently in. On a roll of 1-4, he is completely normal. On a roll of 5-7, he is in a “depressive” phase, and on a roll of 8-10 he is in a “manic” phase. During a manic phase, the character should behave in an energized and enthusiastic manner, he is gung-ho for just about any challenge, ready to seize the day and live life to the fullest. He receives a +1 bonus to ME saves. During a depressive phase, the character will be plagued by feelings of intense worthlessness and bleakness; the pleasures of life hold no interest for him, and he may skip essentials such as eating or sleeping. He may entertain morbid or suicidal thoughts, and he will be bitter, morose company at best. A depressive character suffers a -2 penalty to all attack rolls, skill checks, and saving throws. At the GM's discretion, he may also suffer a -2 penalty to MA, If a game session covers the events of more than one day, the GM may re-roll to determine the character's phase at the beginning of each game day.

Chronic Confusion

• [3 Points] In addition to the role-played effects of this drawback, your character suffers an-2 penalty to Initiative checks, ME checks, Perception checks.

Delusional

• [2 Points.] From time to time the GM will feed you a description (without telling you that it's delusional, of course) of an event or encounter that your character will believe to be utterly real. Most of these delusions will fall apart when examined and refuted by other party members, but there should always be some tension about each incident, ls your character merely hallucinating again, or is there really a shadowy figure following the group from nightclub to nightclub?

Dissociative Identity

• Each time your character awakes from sleep, there is a 20% chance, non-cumulative, that his secondary personality will take over for 1D6+2 game hours (total rolled secretly by the GM).
• Each time your character is knocked or rendered unconscious, there is a 40% chance, non-cumulative, that his secondary personality will take over for 1D6+2 game hours once he regains consciousness.
• Each time your character suffers a state of panic, there is a 40% chance. non-cumulative, that his secondary personality will take over for lD6+2 game hours.

• [3 Points] Amiable Dissociation Your character's dissociative personality is fundamentally amiable to the main personality’s goals, lifestyle. and friends. Although he may have different preferred methods of action and will still have to cope with the confusion of any new situation he enters, the secondary personality will generally cooperate with whatever happens to be the plan when he assumes control.
• [5 Points] Neutral Dissociation: Your character's dissociative personality is unconcerned with or indifferent to the main personality's goals, lifestyle, and friends. The secondary personality may miss appointments, throw previous plans out the window. and otherwise disrupt the main personality’s life; not out of malice but rather out of guilt-free disinterest. From time to time, the secondary personality may be coerced or persuaded into pursuing one of the primary personality’s goals, especially in times of danger or crisis, though he will almost certainly insist that some plans made by the primary personality need to be changed.
• [7 Points] Difficult Dissociation: Your characters secondary personality is disdainful of or somewhat opposed lo the primary personality's goals, lifestyle, and friends. He will actively work to interfere with any of the primary personality's plans if he can, though he won‘t behave in a violent fashion toward any of the primary personality’s friends and allies. he won’t respect anything about them, including their personal possessions. The secondary may attempt to sabotage major areas of the primary personality ‘s life out of sheer spite.

Dyslexia

• [2 Points] Your character suffers a -15% penalty to any skill check requiring him to refer to written materials, and a -30% penalty to any skill check dealing solely with written material (writing a novel or decoding an ancient scroll, for example). Generally speaking, comprehension of written material will take your character about twice as long as it ordinarily should.

Narcissism

• [2 Points.] Your character's unbridled conceit, unrealistic self-estimation. and glaring thirst for recognition all combine to make him somewhat difficult to get along with. His behavior may be somewhat amusing in small doses, but over a long enough period of time it will probably become tremendously aggravating to his friends and allies. At the GM's discretion, your character may suffer a variable penalty (-1 to -4) to MA checks in situations where his narcissism may be expected to grate on the nerves of NPCs.

Narcolepsy

• [4 Points.] Relatively Mild Narcolepsy: Your character experiences frequent (but short) bouts of irresistible sleep. The GM should select an arbitrary point very early in any session of play; there is a 40% noncumulative chance at that point (rolled secretly by the GM) that the character will fall asleep (wherever he is and whatever he happens to be doing) for 1d6+1 rounds. The character will fall prone and be unable to defend himself; he will most likely be considered helpless. Every hour on the hour (in real time, not game time) from that selected point, there is another 40% chance that the character will experience a narcoleptic bout, no matter what he happens to be doing (unless he is already unconscious). If this point occurs during a break in play, check for narcolepsy immediately after play is resumed.
• [8 Points.] Severe Narcolepsy: Your character experiences more certain and sustained bouts of irresistible sleep. The GM should select an arbitrary point very early in any session of play; there is a 60% noncumulative chance at that point that the character will fall asleep (wherever he is and whatever he happens to be doing) for 2d6+2 rounds. The character will fall prone and be unable to defend himself; he will most likely be considered helpless. Every hour on the hour (in real time. not game time) from that selected point, there is another 60% chance that the character will experience a narcoleptic bout, no matter what he happens to be doing (unless he is already unconscious). If this point occurs during a break in play, check for narcolepsy immediately after play is resumed.
• [+2 Points.] Special Handicap- Cataplexy: Cataplexy is a neurological symptom frequently associated with narcolepsy. Whenever your character experiences an intense emotional reaction (gets angry, sad, violent‘ exuberant, tense, frightened, etc, at GM's discretion), there is a non- cumulative 40% chance that he will suffer a temporary bout of muscle weakness or paralysis. This bout lasts 1d1O rounds and inflicts a -2 penalty to attack rolls. saving throws. skill checks, and Defense for its duration.

Obsessive/Compulsive Disorder

• [2 Points] Mild OCD: As your character sees it, following his established procedures is even more important than the success of those procedures; all of the details, lists, and protocols he has established must be respected or he will get testy. While his anally-retentive personal habits make him difficult to get along with, no real damage is actually done when his procedures are disrupted; he gets irritated and even more unpleasant, but certainly not violent. Your character may even attempt an ME Save in moments of crisis to bite back his instinct and cast off his compulsions for a short period of time.
• [4 Points] Severe OCD. As above, but your character is even more stubborn and prickly when his quirks and procedures are not respected, to the point where he will start heated arguments or childishly refuse to participate in an ongoing plan or mission if he can't have enough time to do things his own way. Your character is not allowed an ME save to override his habits; his mind simply won't let him try. Your character expects the world to bend over backward to meet his needs and does not consider the possibility of the reverse.

Paranoia

• [l Point] Nervous Quirk: Your character's paranoid tendencies are somewhat restrained, but still an obvious part of his life. Work with the GM to define 3-6 very minor paranoid habits or superstitions that will frequently spice up the manner in which you portray your character.
• [2 Points.] Full-Blown Paranoia. Your character's paranoia is one of the defining features of his life. His constant paranoid quirks are clearly obvious to others. Though not dangerous, they range from amusing to irritating. In concert with the GM, select 3-6 major paranoid habits that your character will continually engage in; a few superstitious rules of behavior (“Never, ever arrive at an appointment right on time") would also be quite appropriate.
• [3 Points] Disruptive Paranoia. Your character's paranoia is so pronounced that it visibly interferes in his attempts to lead a normal life and interact with others. He will enact bizarre (and sometimes dangerous) security measures in his home or apartment, cancel appointments for no apparent reason, double back on his route three or four times when driving anywhere, hail one taxi and then sprint through traffic for another, the possibilities are endless. Work with the GM to define 3-4 solid and debilitating rules of superstitious behavior (“Sprinkle salt over any threshold before you enter a room; this will negate the supernatural power of the Banzai Gnomes”), as well as a bevy of lesser quirks and habits.
• [6 Points] Special Handicap: Your character is not only paranoid, but his paranoia is defined by the unshakable belief that there is One Root Cause for all of his fears and conspiracy theories, one “big bad“ that makes everything happen. This is a subject of frequent research and pontification on your character's part,

Phobia

• Snakes
• Enclosed Spaces
• Spiders
• Fire
• Darkness
• Guns and Ammunition
• Heights
• Bridges
• Water
• Automobiles
• Disease -
• Dirt/Uncleanliness
• Open Spaces
• Sharp Objects

• [2 Points] Phobia. When your character is in the presence of the object of his phobia. he suffers a -20% penalty to all of his skill checks and -2 attack rolls and saving throws. Generally speaking, he may remain in moderate proximity to the object of his fear (while enduring the penalties described above) but will tie forced to attempt an ME save if forced to closely approach a phobia trigger or touch it directly.
• [4 Points] Severe Phobia: When your character is in the presence of the object of his phobia, he suffers a -30% penalty to all of his skill checks, and -3 to attack rolls, and saving throws. He will attempt to remove himself from proximity to the object of the phobia as fast as possible; each round in which he wishes to even remain in sight of the object (or venture back toward it) will require an ME save. Failure of any such ME save means the character will be unable to attempt another one for at least five rounds. If the need to get away from the phobia trigger interferes with other actions he might wish to take during this time, so be it- he flees first and thinks later.
• [6 Points] Extreme Aversive Shock: As per Severe Phobia, with two additions. First, the -2 penalty inflicted by the presence of a phobia trigger is bestowed upon the character's Defense score as well. Second. the first time the character enters the proximity of a phobia trigger (close enough tor the GM to award the above penalties), the character must make an ME save. Failure means that the GM should roll a d6 and consult the table below:
  • 1-2: Nausea Attack: The character becomes nauseated; he will remain nauseated as long as he remains in the presence of the phobia trigger, and for 1d6 rounds after leaving its presence.
  • 3-4: Panic Attack: The character will become panicked until out of sight of the phobia trigger; for 1 hour thereafter, he will suffer a -10% penalty to skill checks and -1 to attack rolls, cumulative with any other such penalties.
  • 5-6: Nervous Collapse: The character will immediately fall unconscious for 1d6 rounds; this means he will fall prone and be considered helpless. Upon recovering consciousness, he must make another ME save if he awakes in the presence of the phobia trigger. Failure means that the GM gets to roll that d6.
  With the exception of the situation described above under “nervous collapse," a character need make this ME save only the first time he encounters any given phobia trigger. Afterward, he will be subject to the standard conditions of Severe Phobia. If he flees the situation and returns, it counts as a new encounter, and he must make the ME save again.
• [+1-2 Points] Special Handicap - Common Trigger: If the GM determines that your character's phobia trigger is unusually common or widespread in his foreseen campaign, he may award an additional 1 or 2 Drawback Points tor that phobia, as appropriate.

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder

• [2 Points] Nervous Jitters: Whenever your character encounters a situation similar to his "trigger," he must make an ME save or suffer a -2 penalty to attack rolls and Defense for the duration of his proximity to the trigger.
• [4 Points] Disabling Flashback: Whenever your character encounters a situation similar to his “trigger,” he must make an ME save or suffer a -4 morale to attack rolls. skill checks, and Defense for the duration of his proximity to the trigger.
• [6 Points.] Panic Attack: Whenever your character encounters a situation similar to his “trigger,” he must make an ME save or immediately become panicked. Even after removing himself from proximity to his trigger, he will suffer a -1 penalty to attack rolls and skill checks for 1d3 hours.
• [+1-2 Points ] Special Handicap - Common Trigger: If the GM determines that your character's stress trigger is unusually common or widespread in his foreseen campaign, he may award an additional 1 or 2 Drawback Points for that trigger, as appropriate.

Quirk/Mannerism

• [1 Point] This drawback is for the delineation of any sort of nonviolent, non-disruptive quirk not covered by other available drawbacks. Possibilities include but are not limited to:
  • Character affects a speech pattem or accent clearly not natural to him
  • Character bobs and weaves drunkenly even when sober
  • Character speaks to animals without apparent irony or humor
  • Character frequently slurs his speech for no apparent reason
  • Character habitually wears coats or shins inside out for “good luck;"
  • Character always speaks in the third person or narrates his own actions
  At the GM’s discretion, a quirk or mannerism may inflict a -1 penalty to MA checks in certain situations; at all times, it inflicts a -10% penalty to Disguise due to the difficulty of consciously hiding it.
• Limitation A character may possess only one Quirk/Mannerism for which he receives a Drawback Point.

Tourette's Syndrome

• [1 Point] Simple Tics: Your character suffers from occasional “simple tics," which are completely involuntary physical actions or vocal outbursts. Motor tics include pulling at clothes, jumping, skipping, imitating others, furious scratching, and obscene gestures. Vocal tics include random grunts, snorts, laughs, whistles, coughs, or even short nonsense words. These tics should be roleplayed from time to time at the player's discretion. The character also suffers an -1 penalty to MA due to the off-putting social effect these tics have on strangers.
• [2 Points] Complex Tics: Your character suffers from occasional “complex tics," which last longer and are more involved than simple tics. Complex motor tics include sudden jerks, nods, waves, blinking, or facial grimacing. Complex vocal tics include strings of obscenities, imitations of speeches made by other characters, socially taboo phrases, or even strings of nonsense words and phrases. These tics should be roleplayed from time to time at the player's discretion. The character also suffers an -2 penalty to MA due to the off-putting social effect these tics have on strangers.
• Note. Outbursts of obscenity are referred to as "coprolalia," and may be disruptive in some gaming groups. When roleplaying this disorder, players may feel free to substitute milder epithets and terms in order to avoid offending or disturbing fellow players. Also, please note that a Tourette's sufferer need not be callous about his outbursts, in fact, many of them are mortified arid apologetic about the things that come out of their mouths during an outburst.
• [+2 Points] Special Handicap - Stress Trigger: Whenever your character is subjected to emotional stress (anger, fear, hatred. injury to a friend or loved one, etc), there is a flat 50% chance that he will experience a sudden and relatively long Tourette‘s outburst (2d6+2 rounds if precision is required). During such an outburst, he will suffer motor and vocal tics of the appropriate complexity level. The motor tics will inflict a -1 penalty to attack rolls and Defense, and the vocal tics ruin any attempt to hide or move silently. If the character can cast arcane spells, this special handicap is worth an additional 2 Drawback Points.
• [+1 Point] Special Handicap - Violent Outburst: Your character suffers from Tourette's tics of an unusually vehement or violent nature, though he won't feel at all violent, his hysterical, aggressive, and threatening out-bursts will often scare the bejeezus out of NPCs and strangers. The possibilities for plot complication are endless

Drawback

Description

Bane

• [2 Points] Moderate Bane: Whenever your character is struck by a weapon shaped from or incorporating his bane. the following must be noted:
  • All attacks with a bane weapon deal +1d4 damage against a vulnerable target. This damage is not in the event of a critical hit. Damage from a bane weapon can never be non-lethal; and
  • Even simple contact with the bane substance will result in 1D3 points of damage to a vulnerable target.
• [4 Points] Severe Bane’ Whenever your character is struck by a weapon shaped from or incorporating his bane, the following must be noted:
  • All attacks with a bane weapon deal +2d4 damage against a vulnerable target. This damage is multiplied in the event of a critical hit. Damage from a bane weapon can never be ncn-lethal; and
  • Even simple contact with the bane substance will result in 1d6 points of damage to a vulnerable target.
• [8 Points] Deadly Bane. Whenever your character is struck by a weapon shaped from or incorporating his bane, the following must be noted:
  • All attacks with a bane weapon deal +2d8 damage against a vulnerable target. This damage is multiplied in the event of a critical hit. Damage from a bane weapon can never be non-lethal.
  • A character struck by a bane weapon must make a PE Save or suffer the temporary loss of 1 point of PE, which must be healed in the usual fashion. This PE loss is cumulative, if the character is struck several times and fails more than one PE Save.
  • Even simple contact with the bane substance will result in 2d6 points of damage to a vulnerable target.
• [+2 Points] Special Handicap - Common Bane: Your character's bane substance is fairly cheap and widely available. iron, for example, is a great deal more common than silver.
• Note: Damage from a bane substance will negate natural Damage Reduction and fast healing alike.

Cursed

• [3 Points] Mild Curse The GM should secretly roll 1d10 at the beginning of each game session. This will determine the misfortune suffered by the character for that entire session, not to be revealed to him until necessary:

  d10 Roll	Misfortune
  1	-2 to Int
  2	-2 to PE Saves
  3	-2 to ME saves
  4	-1 to all saving throws
  5	-10% to all skill checks
  6	-1 to Defense
  7	-1 to attack rolls
  8	-4 to Initiative checks
  9	-20% to all skill checks
  0	-4 to all PP checks

• [5 Points.] Serious Curse The GM should secretly roll 1d1O at the beginning of each game session. This will determine the misfortune suffered by the character tor that entire session, not to be revealed to him until necessary:

  d10 Roll	Misfortune
  1	-4 to Int
  2	-4 to PE Saves
  3	-4 to ME saves
  4	-2 to all saving throws
  5	-20% to all skill checks
  6	-2 to Defense
  7	-2 to attack rolls
  8	-8 to Initiative checks
  9	-40% to all skill checks
  0	-8 to all PP checks

Dark Taint

• [3 Points] This drawback causes several problems:
  • Your character will register as vaguely "evil" to any spell or power capable of detecting such a quality. Although the impression will be mingled with that of his true nature, it will still be quite suspicious.
  • Your character only has a 50% chance of responding to any magic spell (or power) capable of healing him, cleansing a poison or disease from his body, or otherwise restoring his health. Any such spell cast upon him that does not take effect will be lost.
  • Your character will be unable to wield or activate items that are defined by the GM to be intrinsically “good;" such items will be totally dead in his hands and may even cause some pain when handled.
  • From time to time, strange events may take place around your character that will cause even his friends and allies to worry about him. Plants might wither at his touch, computers might shut off spontaneously, books might burst into flame, These events will not be continual, but may occur once or twice a month. and their exact nature is left to the GM's fiendish discretion.

Haunted

• [2 Points] Weak Poltergeist Your character is the subject of continual mischief as a result of this haunting— small objects will be moved or stolen, animals will be spooked, food and beverages will be spoiled, and so forth. Strange noises might wake him in the night, and vulgar or threatening notes might be typed on computer screens. While the haunting spirit doesn't have the power to harm your character directly, his life will be a bit messy and aggravating as long as the spirit lingers.
• [4 Points.] Strong Poltergeist The poltergeist's actions are more persistent and harmful. While still incapable of directly attacking your character, the spirit will misplace important objects (personal weapons, vital documents, car keys, etc.) and perform substantial acts of environmental sabotage (slashed tires, exploded home appliances, etc.) roughly 1d3 times per session (roll kept secret by the GM, of course).
• Special. This supernatural presence is extremely canny and difficult to get rid of. Religious blessings and genuine magic can drive it away for a while (it will return in 1D6 days), but only an extremely involving and costly divine or magic ritual (well beyond the reach of any 1st level character) will drive the spirit away (GM's discretion) permanently. The spirit may have difficulty following the character to other locations, at the GM's discretion.

Polymorphic Light Eruption

• [2 Points] Mild Polymorphic Light Eruption: Whenever your character is exposed to bright light without the benefit of protection (such as sunglasses), he will suffer a -1 penalty to all of his skill checks and attack rolls. Whenever he is exposed to direct natural sunlight, he suffers that penalty automatically and loses 1 hit point per round of exposure.
• [4 Points.] Moderate Polymorphic Light Eruption: The effects cf the drawback are doubled. In bright light, the character suffers a -2 penalty to all skill checks and attack. When exposed to natural sunlight, he suffers that penalty automatically and loses 2 hit points per round of exposure.
• [6 Points.] Severe Polymorphic Light Eruption: The effects of the Drawback are tripled. In bright light, the character suffers a -3 penalty to all skill checks and attack. When exposed to natural sunlight. he suffers that penalty automatically and loses 3 hit points per round of exposure.
• [8 Points.] Extreme Polymorphic Light Eruption: In bright light, the character suffers a -4 % penalty to all skill checks and attack rolls. When exposed to natural sunlight, he must make a PE Save or suffer 4d6 points of damage per round of exposure, as he bursts into flame. lf he makes his save. he will suffer only 2d6 points of irresistible damage. Special Handicap – Explosive: [+1 Point] If your character is reduced to 0 hit points by exposure to sunlight, he must make a PE Save or immediately explode. This explosion will kill your character instantly and deal fire damage in a ten-foot radius, 1d4 per level or hit die possessed by your character (whichever allows for a more powerful explosion). A PP Save is allowed for half damage in the event anyone else is caught in the radius of this explosion. The danger of explosion remains each round your character is exposed to sunlight.

Strange Attractor

• [2 Points] While the precise effects of this drawback are up to the GM, you should expect your character to suffer visitations of weirdness above and beyond that which is par for the campaign. Mobsters might decide to bury the bodies of a few of their victims in his backyard. He might start receiving all the incoming mail for two dozen Churches of Scientology. The cockroaches in his apartment might begin to display alarming hints of sentience, including the construction of small altars to him. All the money in his wallet might spontaneously transmute lo Confederate States of America currency, circa 1862. These effects should never be directly harmful, but will often be somewhat irritating.