Disadvantages

Arrogance

This is a Negative Attribute (mentioned on p. 64). Arrogance causes a hero to take a highbrow approach toward others, demeaning them and showing little faith in their capabilities. Whether this is because of class arrogance or some kind of exaggerated code of honor is up to you. Arrogance should affect Tests on Social Talents.

Astral Block

Your hero regenerates only 1d6 – 1 ASP per period of rest; Intuition Rolls to retrieve lost Astral Points and for rituals to increase your ASP total receive a Difficulty Increase of 2 points. Only heroes who take the Spellcaster Advantage may take this Disadvantage. It cannot be taken together with the Astral Regeneration Advantage.

Bad Hearing

Your hero’s hearing ability is impaired. While he is still able to perceive loud sounds, he can no longer hear whispering. All perceptions Tests that rely on hearing receive a Difficulty Increase of 5 points. Also, communicating in a language he knows only slightly becomes harder (with the exact effects at the Highlord’s discretion).

Claustrophobia

This is a Negative Attribute. Your hero feels severe uneasiness when having to enter narrow corridors, low-ceilinged rooms, and similar structures; advise Highlord as to appropriate penalties. Some possible game effects are listed in the summary entry “Negative Attributes” (p.64).

Code of Conduct

Your hero must have at least three firm rules of conduct governing his life and his actions, to which he adheres even in the face of utmost adversity. Should the hero ever break with these principles (for instance, to save his life), he should suffer restrictions to his actions for a period of time depending on the severity of the action (at the Highlord’s discretion). Typical Codes of Conduct are religious codices or the code of a noble knight.

Color-Blind

Your hero can perceive only shades of gray; this may cause Difficulty Increases to various Tests (Highlord’s decision depending on the situation). This also incurs a negative modifier of 4 points to all Ranged Tests at long range (more than 50 paces). This modifier does not apply when other penalties due to bad visibility (fog, darkness) are already in effect.

Curiosity

This is a Negative Attribute. Your hero feels a compulsion to take an immediate look at anything that seems to be even remotely interesting, regardless of any risks. Curiosity is a typical example of a Negative Attribute that does not actually disadvantage a hero, but rather forces certain patterns of action upon him.

Elven Worldview

Elves are not entirely of this world, something that most elves would freely admit. They regard most things, creatures, and actions in this world with a peculiar view as to how everything might be related. They also have a somewhat detached view of outsiders, due to their longevity. On the downside, this means that elves need to learn much more about connections and relations—or at least, apparent connections and relations—before they feel ready to act upon them. They must spend an additional 50% Adventure Points (plus all other modifications that might apply) if they want to improve Talents, Gifts, or Spells, or want to learn Special Abilities. Thus, an improvement that would normally cost 4 points will cost 6 points for an elf. The exceptions to this are Talents in which elves are granted bonus points due to their race (body control, dance, perception, sneak, survival, paint/draw, play instrument, and sing), Elfsongs, and three pre-selected elven heritage spells (if using the elven professions, you have to choose the spells listed therein). These increased costs do not apply during hero creation and thus have no influence on the expenditure of Talent GP or Spell GP.

Fear of [smt]

This is a catch-all entry for a number of Negative Attributes. They require the hero to react in an exaggerated manner in certain situations or encounters. Such fear might quickly turn into panic, preventing a hero from taking sensible actions. A hero’s phobias are usually determined by culture and origin, but sometimes also by key experiences in his life. Whatever phobia you choose, it can qualify for the GP cost bonus only if it has the potential to actually impede your hero in play and to go beyond the normal urge for self-preservation. For instance, Fear of Albino Lions is far too specific to be valid, while Fear of Highly Aggressive Poisonous Snakes is not a Disadvantage at all, since most sensible creatures are afraid of highly poisonous snakes. Phobias that can be triggered rather frequently (such Fear of Spiders or Fear of Fire) gain you 3 GP per 2 points in this Negative Attribute, while those that are triggered less often net you only 1 GP per point in the Negative Attribute. Some phobias (e.g., Fear of the Dark or Fear of the Sea) have special consequences or effects and have entries of their own.

Greed

This is a Negative Attribute. Your hero’s greed for riches and treasure sometimes lets your hero behave irrationally. This Disadvantage applies not only to gold or treasure, but also magical artifacts, potions, or anything else that may be of value. See Negative Attributes for possible game effects.

Inaptitude for [Talent]

Your hero is remarkably poor at one particular Talent. This means that he must invest more Adventure Points when advancing the chosen Talent; costs are calculated according to the next column to the right on the Advancement Cost Table (i.e., the more expensive one). This Disadvantage can be taken only once per hero, and it must be applied to one of the Basic Talents (see p. 75). A hero with this Disadvantage may not take Inaptitude for [Talent Group of Choice] using the same group that the chosen Talent is from. Generation Points gained depend on the Talent chosen, as follows.

Combat Talents, Social Talents, Nature Talents, Lore Talents, or Artisan Talents, as well as the Physical Talents of carouse, dance, hide, sing, and swim: –4 GP All other Physical Talents except those listed above: –8 GP A hero may not advance a Talent during hero creation for which he has an Inaptitude. Any Inaptitude must be approved by the Highlord.

Inaptitude for [Talent Group]

Your hero is remarkably poor at one particular Talent Group (i.e., Combat Talents, Physical Talents, Nature Talents, Social Talents, Lore Talents, Languages/Scripts, or Artisan Talents). This means that he must invest more Adventure Points when advancing the chosen Talent; costs are calculated according to the next column to the right on the Advancement Cost Table (i.e., the more expensive one). This Disadvantage can be taken only once per hero. A hero with this Disadvantage may not take Inaptitude for [Talent of Choice] using a Talent from the chosen Talent Group. Generation Points gained depend on the Talent Group chosen: Languages/Scripts: –5 GP Social Talents, Nature Talents, Lore Talents, and Artisan Talents: –10 GP Combat Talents: –15 GP

Physical Talents

A hero may not advance any Talent during hero creation for which he has an Inaptitude. Any Inaptitude must be approved by the Highlord.

Lame

Your hero is stricken with a lame leg, a fractured knee, or something similar. He loses 2 points of Agility (this applies to his Agility maximum) as well as 1 point of SD (although this cannot fall below 1). Additionally, he loses 1 point of Base AT and 2 points of Base PA. This physical impediment cannot be corrected later in the game, not even by the best of prosthetics or magic.

Low Attribute

One Attribute, which was assigned only 8 points while spending Generation Points, is now lowered to 7. Improving this Attribute later in the game costs twice the usual points. The chosen Attribute may not be one for which the hero will gain a class or culture bonus. This Disadvantage can be chosen more than once, but only if applied to different Attributes. Low Resistance to Magic (–3 GP each): Your hero is more susceptible to the influences of magic than others. His Resistance to Magic may not be lowered by more than 3 points by taking this Disadvantage more than once, nor may it drop below zero. Night-Blind (–10 GP): All of your hero’s negative modifiers due to bad lighting conditions are doubled. The negative modifiers due to complete darkness are unaffected (see p. 106).

Negative Attribute

Negative Attributes represent all those small and not-so-small differences between reality and the hero’s view of life. Since reality is usually the stronger of the two, heroes sometimes suffer from phobias or compulsions that are governed by the subconscious and cannot be controlled by the hero (as opposed to Code of Conduct, for example, which the hero must observe willingly). Typical Negative Attributes are Arrogance, Claustrophobia, Curiosity, Fear of Heights, Fear of [Insects, Spiders, Reptiles, Rodents, Fire, Water, and others], Fear of Open Spaces, Fear of the Dark, Fear of the Dead, Fear of the Sea, Greed, Pathological Cleanliness, Prejudice, Superstition, Vanity, Vengefulness, and Violent Temper.

Obligations

Your hero has entered into a special obligation with a social, arcane, or religious group. He may not (and should not want to) violate these obligations. This is similar to the Code of Conduct Disadvantage (see p. 62), except that an obligation is much more serious and confers stronger penalties for violation (even if involuntary or unknowing). The Disadvantage often implies that your hero must take commands from the group to which he is committed, and that he often travels in their employ or at least under their orders, which may limit his freedom of choice during adventures.

One-Eyed

Your hero has lost an eye during his life or has lost the ability to see with this eye. He incurs a negative modifier of 4 points on all Thrown Weapons Tests and all Missile Weapons Tests at targets of less than 10 paces distant. This physical impediment cannot be corrected later in the game, whether by magic or any other means.

Pathological Cleanliness

This is a Negative Attribute. Your hero feels extremely uneasy whenever he or something (or someone) in his surroundings is dirty. He will have trouble concentrating on anything except cleaning up at the first possible opportunity.

Prejudice

This is a Negative Attribute. Your hero has preconceived opinions about a certain group (members of a certain race or culture, one of the sexes, or certain ethnic groups). He will not back away from these opinions, even if challenged or presented with contrary evidence. Just like the Curiosity Disadvantage, this is a Negative Attribute that does not disadvantage a hero with die rolls, but forces certain patterns of action upon him. See Negative Attributes for possible game effects.

Prone to Illness

Your hero is susceptible to diseases of all kinds. When rolling Resistance Tests against disease, his CN is treated as if it were 5 points lower. Prone to Illness may not be combined with the Resistance to Disease Advantage.

Rage

Your hero falls into a blood rage (which the Thorwalians call Wealrage) whenever a certain event occurs. In most cases, this event is his own spontaneous anger (such as a successful Violent Temper Test), serious injury (failure of a Willpower Test after suffering heavy damage), or consumption of certain substances. Once in a rage, your hero employs his most dangerous weapon (including magic) against his most hated enemy—or the nearest person, if no enemy is in sight. His CO, AT, and HP are increased by 5 points. Parry becomes impossible, and the hero does not feel pain while raging. The rage lasts until the hero runs out of Endurance (losing 2 EP per combat action) and passes out. Thorwalians receive 18 GP instead of 15 when taking this Disadvantage.

Slow Regeneration

Your hero regenerates only 1d6 – 1 VP per period of rest; CN Rolls to retrieve lost Vitality Points receive a Difficulty Increase of 2 points. It cannot be taken together with the Rapid Healing Advantage.

Superstition

This is a Negative Attribute. Superstitions usually refer to items or circumstances that produce bad luck or misfortune as believed by the hero. If you take this Disadvantage, you must specify the exact nature of your superstition. Some superstitions are grounded in reality.

Ugly

This is the more severe version of the Unattractive Disadvantage. Everything described for Unattractive also applies for Ugly, except that the Difficulty Increase is 5 points instead of 2. Also, an Ugly hero will find it very hard to blend in with a crowd, since others are more likely to remember his face. Ugly may not be combined with Unattractive or with the Good-Looking Advantage.

Unattractive

This is the opposite of the Good-Looking Advantage (see p. 61). Your hero’s appearance is unattractive, even repulsive when compared to his species’ norm, leading to consequences in the reactions of his fellow men (or dwarfs or elves). All Social Talent Tests, as well as all Talents Tests involving interaction with others (those using CH as their basis) receive a Difficulty Increase of 2 points. The exceptions to this are Tests meant to intimidate someone else. The Highlord decides whether this Disadvantage works cross-species, and whether those accustomed to the hero’s presence become immune to its effects. The stronger form of this Disadvantage is called Ugly. These two Disadvantages may not be taken by the same player. Unattractive may not be combined with the Good-Looking Advantage.

Vanity

This is a Negative Attribute. A vain hero tries to look his very best and tries to be as impressive as possible at all times. This makes him easy to manipulate, since his ego might force him to go beyond reasonable behavior.

Vengefulness

This is a Negative Attribute. Your hero will always want revenge whenever he feels slighted, and doesn’t think about the consequences or weighing means against measures. While Violent Temper calls for immediate action, Vengefulness allows for careful planning and execution of the scheme of revenge.

Vertigo

This is a Negative Attribute. Your hero panics whenever he is in a situation where he might fall from a great height. In extreme situations, he might feel the “tug of the deep,” imagining that the abyss were about to devour him. See Negative Attributes for possible game effects.

Violent Temper

This is a Negative Attribute. Your hero has a tendency to overreact whenever he feels slighted in any way. This may lead to situations that will endanger him (and probably his comrades as well).