Qik
First Post
Traits were originally introduced as a way to give a character a "hook" into an AP, when the players might have really no idea what they might want or need in their character's background in order for the GM to work them into the game. I love all of the little situational bonuses that go along with the fluff of the traits. The idea was that you choose the fluff to fit the character, and take the bonus that came along with it.
I think this is where I start to have a hard time with dealing with traits, as well as a lot of the fluff that accompanies classes, features, etc. Personally, I tend to have a very specific idea of a character in mind, and very rarely am I able to find fluff that fits wholesale with my own conception. Traits are for me the perfect example of this: they're so specific (like the Princess trait - you have to be both royalty and a female) that I would never make use of most of them without either reskinning the fluff or mostly disregarding it (which, for better or worse, happens a lot).
I don't see Systole's proposal as a way to promote the purely mechanical aspect of traits so much as I see it as a way to allow one much freer reign in determining one's fluff. Which is a very different thing, and an important one to a player such as myself.
Don't get me wrong: what you say is totally valid, Mowgli. I just see the situation in a different light.