7.1 - Using Optional Flaws

Using Optional Flaws

V4.0 does not require a flaw and does not exchange flaws for permanent mechanical power.

Choosing a Flaw

You may choose one Flaw at character creation. A second Flaw requires GM approval. Write one sentence explaining how it appears in play and one boundary describing what it will not force the character to do.

Associations, Not Restrictions

Universal Flaws can fit any character. Ancestry-Associated Flaws may reflect a body's logistics or social visibility. Lineage-Associated Flaws may reflect an adaptation or supernatural manifestation. Heritage-Associated Flaws may reflect learned expectations, local obligations, diaspora tensions, or disputed history.

These labels are prompts, never prerequisites. Anybody may choose an appropriate Flaw from any category, and nobody must take one because of their ancestry, lineage, or heritage.

Inspiration

When a Flaw materially makes a scene harder, the GM can award Heroic Inspiration. This can happen no more than once per session from v4.0 Flaws.

The player can propose that a Flaw applies, but the GM decides whether the situation was consequential enough for Inspiration.

Safety

A Flaw is not permission to remove control of a character, introduce unwanted prejudice, or impose surprise body horror, addiction, romance, or trauma. Revise or replace a Flaw when it stops being enjoyable.

Mechanical Drawbacks

If a group wants a constant numerical drawback, create it separately and do not grant bonus ancestry talents in exchange. Numerical drawbacks require unanimous table consent because their impact varies sharply by class and campaign.

Changing a Flaw

A Flaw can change after a major life event, reconciliation, transformation, or downtime retraining. The change should preserve the amount of narrative pressure rather than punish character growth.