"Jeff Richard" <richaje_at_...> wrote:
> > I'm not a HQ guru and not particularly experienced but I am
> opinionated. As far as I'm concerned all abilities can be flaws (and
> vice versa) depending upon context. So 'Disrespectful of Authority'
> would act as an ability (ie a positive thing) whenever the PC was
> trying to, ummm.... defy authority and it would act as a flaw whenever
> the PC was trying to suck up to authority - eg. persuade the clan
> thanes to grant a boon or provide support or whatever.
>
> In the case described by David, "Disrespectful of Authority" was being
> used to defy an authority figure - an Ernalda Priestess from another
> clan and tribe. It has been a negative augment when trying to get
> support from authority figures.
>
> Jeff
I handle flaws just the same way, too.
Not many of the characters in my HQ group have obvious Flaws right now, but many of the Personality Traits can be used as Flaws, depending on the situation played. "Hot-Headed," "Fearless," "Hate Lunars," and "Eclectic" are not always positive things to have. They can all work against you.
By the way, I noticed that many warrior characters are
likely to boost their combat ability/abilities with several Personality Traits at a time... If you got Hot-Headed, Fearless, Hate Chaos, Bloodthirsty Berserker, and Grim
all at 17, for example, they might often be used for no
other purpose than getting an automatic total +10 to a
fighting skill.
I allow that in my current game all the time, but I tell
players they'll have to announce using an augmentation.
If they forgot to add it in before the start of a contest,
they did not use that particular trait.
You just reminded me that I gave a Black Horse County Wizard in my group the flaw of being "Paranoid 18," since the description of the occupation in Hero Wars said that Wizards were usually "driven lamost to the point of madness." So, at least one little insanity or strange obsession seemed in order.
That very ability "Paranoid" might save the character's butt at one point, but could just as easily get him into trouble.
The interesting thing about the Traits and Flaws to me
was that when I ran HW for the first time, I came right
out of a Pendragon game with my friends, and I was
using the Personality Traits like the ones in Pendragon
on instinct... since it was the same name and both games
were by Greg Stafford. ;-)
I would even have characters roll "against" the target number of a trait to check whether they were going to
act "in character." That, however, is a Pendragon thing.
The HW and HQ rules don't state you ever have to do that.
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