Character Traits/Flaws/Points...........

[Tuzenbach]

So, I'm under the impression that the rules for character traits & disadvantages introduced in 2E Skills & Powers are making a comeback in Unearthed Arcana. Thoughts on this?

 

[Crothian]

If its true, we will see some of the owrse min maxing imaginible. That's what happend when skills and powers came out. People totally ignored the role playing aspects of the choices and went with the mechnically bonuses.

 

[Goddess FallenAngel]

If its true, we will see some of the owrse min maxing imaginible. That's what happend when skills and powers came out. People totally ignored the role playing aspects of the choices and went with the mechnically bonuses.

I disagree - in my experience (both with 2nd and 3rd editions), people who min-max will do so regardless of rules like traits and disads. On the other hand, people whose primary focus is character development and roleplaying will use those rules to support character concepts.

 

[LordOfBlah]

I had the chance to read Unearthed arcana very briefly but if you take a character flaw you get to take a bonus feat. You can take two flaws max and get two bonus feats. I kinda don't like that idea because I do see people abusing them. I think I might let it in my game if I get to roll randomly the flaw. For example why wouldn't a mage take the one flaw that makes you -2 on attack and dammage when in mele. They will pry only ever use mele attacks but for a hand full of times. There are a few flaws that totaly would not hinder one class but would screw another...some min/maxer will abuse this idea totally.

 

[Crothian]

Personally, I'd have the DM choose the flaw with input from the PC to make sure the flaw fits nad can't be taken advantage of.

 

[Tuzenbach]

Geez, I was once able to come up with 133 disadvantage points for this one character of mine. An ultra-unlucky Firenewt with bestial thirst, hunger, odor, frustration, secretions, Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, Dyslexia, phobia of water elementals, water, ice, ice trolls, sea monsters, allergies (gnomes), bestial cravings (halflings), powerful enemy.................I think they're fun! I can't really see how having ambidextriousness, being a fast healer, having keen smelling and taste with inherent immunities to poison & disease would make him "unbalanced", given the fact that he had all the other flaws to go with the traits. Mind you, being a Fighter/Engineer was made more interesting with the dyslexia disadvantage. How did the guy read blueprints? LoL!

Another character of mine not only was a coward and greedy, but had a severe phobia versus the undead. While the rest of the party fought skeletons, he'd have to run from them. Also, because he had the "Sharpshooter" Kit, he always had a -1 penalty with melee weapons. I thought it made the whole game-playing experience that much more entertaining.

 

[Silveras]

The Traits are previewed on the Wizards web site. Instead of working yourselves into a stew over what they MIGHT be, why not go look ?

As previewed, the Traits couple a related bonus and a penalty into a single package. The Nearsighted trait, for example, gives you +2 to Search checks and -2 to Spot.

 

[Crothian]

The traits seem fine. One has to select them for the cost of a feat. But above LordOfBlah mentioned that the flaws allow a person to acquire a feat; and that can cause problems.

 

[Heretic Apostate]

I don't believe the traits are bought at the cost of a feat. Since they're essentially zero-sum, they're not worth the cost of a feat, even for something as paltry as Toughness.

For instance, Aggressive is +2 to initiative, but -1 to AC. Initiative is rolled (generally) once per combat. So, you have a slightly better chance of hitting first, but if you don't kill each of your opponents with the first blow (and if you can't get them to line up one after the other), you are going to be more likely to be hit.

 

[Silveras]

IIRC from the preview, Traits are not taken in place of Feats. Because they are self-contained, a character can take some number (1 or 2 comes to mind) at creation -- and that's it. However, I am awaiting my copy of UA, and so will look to see as soon as it arrives.

[Edit: From the Preview column
"A character can begin play with up to two traits, chosen by the player at the time of character creation. Alternatively, the DM can require players to roll on Table 3-3: Character Traits to determine the traits possessed by their characters"]

As for Flaws, I am also curious to see how they are handled. LordOfBlah said he only had a brief look; there could be details he missed. I know the designers specifically mentioned that they wanted to avoid the same errors made in prior editions -- people taking an seldom-used penalty for a frequently-used bonus. I would not be surprised, therefore, to see some limits on what feat you can choose based on the Flaw.