Post/Author/DateTime	Post
nighttree 05-11-07, 10:37 AM	i could use suggestions for "fleshing out" a flaw I'm working on for a character. What I have is pretty rough. Outcast Either by accident of birth, or choice of actions, you have broken a cultural "taboo". As a result the people of your culture (or peoples with like cultural views) do not respond favorably to your presence. NPC of your culture (including NPC with similar cultural views at the DM's discretion) always have an "Initial attitude" of "Unfriendly" towards your presence. You take a -10 to your "Diplomacy" or "Charisma" roll to alter their attitudes. You take a -4 to all diplomacy checks with PC Characters that share your cultures views. Ideas or advice anyone ???
RobbyPants 05-11-07, 11:41 AM	You can create new flaws, but be careful: Flaws can unbalance your game. When creating flaws, keep a few issues in mind: A flaw must have a numeric effect on a character's specific capabilities. Flaws with primarily roleplaying or story effects have unpredictable effects on game balance. Flaws are generally bigger in magnitude than feats. That's because players always choose flaws that have the least impact on their characters, while taking feats that have the most. For example, while a feat affecting skills grants a +2 bonus on two skills, its counterpart flaw might impose a -4 penalty on two skills. A flaw must have a meaningful effect regardless of character class or role. That way, a player can't reduce the flaw's importance through multiclassing. For instance, a flaw that only affects spellcasters might seem reasonable-but for nonspellcaster characters, the flaw likely proves meaningless. Even if you restrict the selection of such feats to characters of specific classes, a player can easily select a spellcasting class at 1st level, choose two flaws that apply to spellcasters, gain the bonus feats, multiclass into a nonspellcasting class at 2nd level and thereafter proceed as a primarily nonspellcasting character. The player has sacrificed a level to gain two bonus feats, a tradeoff that appeals to some players. Similarly, a flaw that penalizes a character's Charisma based skill checks only has a significant impact on the party spokesperson-the quiet fighter or barbarian likely won't feel any impact from the penalties. (Emphasis mine) The idea is interesting, but the problem with this is that assuming the group has a spokesperson (other than the PC with this flaw), then the PC isn't really being pelalized. It could be interesting in a 1-on-1 game, but this would be better represented through RP fluff than with a mechanical flaw. my :twocents:
foxtail 05-11-07, 12:27 PM	You take a -4 to all diplomacy checks with PC Characters that share your cultures views. Not to mention that the Diplomacy skill doesn't technically work on fellow PCs.
nighttree 05-11-07, 10:33 PM	Good points...... Part of my issue is that I am trying to create a "generic" flaw..... For a "specific" character.....:uh-huh: Said character is a Hermaphrodite....which in their "culture" is normally "exposed" at birth. As a result He/She is considered "outcast" by most of the cultures in this setting....which i considered a big enough drawback to warrant a "Flaw"...... Maybe I need to give this some more thought....