Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="Celebrim" data-source="post: 6008048" data-attributes="member: 4937">Yes, but does it actually figure into the author's calculus, or more to the point, into the player's calculus?  Very often these flaws are equivalent to taking the Weak Will disadvantage in GURPS in order to buy more Intellect.  The net effect is to be at least as strong willed as you would have been otherwise, only now you have more build points to spend.  If the flaw is completely compensated, then it puts no real burden on the author inventing the story or the player using the character.  It exists only as fluff, to be trotted out when you wish to display some ennui or angst, but which is discarded when it comes time to actually accomplish something.Only very rarely do such things actually create a complication.  Again, Elric is great example of this sort of optimization.  Supposedly his health and strength is a wreck, but the black sword more than perfectly compensates.  And, if he is deprived of the black sword - willingly or unwillingly - why he's such a masterful alchemist that he can brew potions that fully compensate in their place.  Elric's disabilities are far more frequently mentioned than they ever have actual impact on what the character can accomplish.  After some perfunctory whines about having to take his medicine, he's good to go.  It might as well be all a placebo and Elric a hypochondriac for the difference it would make.</blockquote>