> The group I game with most regularly is very much into Champions and the
> Hero System. One thing that will probably not go well with them is the idea
> that you don't get "points" back for taking Flaws. Can anybody explain to
> me why the designers decided to do it this way? I'd like to be able to
> anticipate my group's inevitable objections.
Just to get more interesting and characterised role-play. I've done that a number of time in the past, for example in a Rolemaster game where I decided that my character would be part of a dead order of knights who could never ignore a "damsel in distress". I never got back any points for that or any special benefit (the order was dead, there was no support of any kind to be had), more the contrary as the GM used and abused the situation having me rescue a number of "maidens" which all got us in a lot of trouble.
But in the end, everybody benefited from that because of all the scenario hooks and interesting situations we found ourselves in. And my character was pretty interesting to play (everybody groaned "Oh no, not again" everytime I said "but, if I'm not mistaken, she's a woman and in danger, right ?")...
Like yourself, I found this HW rule a bit strange at first glance, but I find that I like it a lot now.
If you want actual compensation, you could always say to your players : alright, you don't get back any points _now_, but roleplaying the flaw correctly might give you additional Hero Points in the future for good role-play (see HP rewards). Thus, in the future, they would be able to use these HP to either buy the flaw of (if they find it cumbersome and / or ininteresting) or to buy additional other things and keep the flaw.
Also, IMHO, flaws are thing that you might very well pick-up on a Heroquest...
Philippe
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