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<blockquote data-quote="PenguinKing" data-source="post: 163339" data-attributes="member: 2817"><p>That's kinda the attitude that prevents these things from working in the first place. If one lets a player take a "disadvantage", one has placed the onus on oneself to <em>make</em> it a disadvantage - and if one bothers to make an effort instead of dismissing it as a hopeless cause from the outset, one will find that any of the above can quite easily make life just as difficult for that particular character as any game-mechanical penalty. The only difference is that the game-mechanical penalty is "built in" and requires no adjudication or effort to apply - it's the "lazy DM's" balancing element, so to speak.</p><p></p><p>(Besides, even if a "disadvantage" only ends up working out as a story element - well, isn't it <em>worth</em> bribing your players a little to hand you such convenient, ready-to-use plot hooks? <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite2" alt=";)" title="Wink ;)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=";)" /> )</p><p></p><p> - Sir Bob.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="PenguinKing, post: 163339, member: 2817"] That's kinda the attitude that prevents these things from working in the first place. If one lets a player take a "disadvantage", one has placed the onus on oneself to [i]make[/i] it a disadvantage - and if one bothers to make an effort instead of dismissing it as a hopeless cause from the outset, one will find that any of the above can quite easily make life just as difficult for that particular character as any game-mechanical penalty. The only difference is that the game-mechanical penalty is "built in" and requires no adjudication or effort to apply - it's the "lazy DM's" balancing element, so to speak. (Besides, even if a "disadvantage" only ends up working out as a story element - well, isn't it [i]worth[/i] bribing your players a little to hand you such convenient, ready-to-use plot hooks? ;) ) - Sir Bob. [/QUOTE]
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