Flaws

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Flaws are DisAdvantages of a psychological nature, indicating that the character is vulnerable to specific stimuli, having a certain probability to "trigger" on encountered provications or temptations.

(move this: Examples include the potential for sexual activity (the Sexual Orientation Flaw, worse if synergizing with the Lecherous Flaw), or for indulging in good food, drink, company or art (Flaws such as Gourmmet or Glutton, Fond of Drink, Sociable and Connoiseur), or provocations (Pride or Bad Temper), or (often unpleasant and politically incorrect) forms of bias of various shapes and against various types of targets (underestimation, hatred, e.g., against a particular sex, religion, ethnicity, race, culture, or sexual orientation or preference).)

Almost all Flaws are measured by a Roll Strength, the number of dice rolled being constant for each Flaw of each character, but with the RD depending upon the strength (magnitude) of the stimuli, and in the case of som Flaws also upon how long ago it was that the character last satisfied his need or urge.

It is possible to create and play a character who has no Flaws at all, but it is extremely expensive. Converely, only a small amount of compensatory points are given for choosing to create and play a character with many Flaws.

Flaw Poins

Flaw Points	Cost
6	-2 DP
7	-4 DP
8	-6 DP
9	-7 DP
10	-8 DP
11	-9 DP

Flaw Points	Cost
5	0 DP
4	3 DP
3	10 DP
2	20 DP
1	40 DP
0	80 DP

Flaw Points	Cost
12 to 13	-10 DP
14 to 15	-11 DP
16 to 17	-12 DP
18 to 20	-13 DP
21 to 23	-14 DP
24 to 26	-15 DP

Flaw Points	Cost
27 to 30	-16 DP
31 to 34	-17 DP
35 to 40	-18 DP
41 to 45	-19 DP
46 to 55	-20 DP
56+	-21 DP

Types of Flaws

There are four basic types of Flaws: Standard Flaws, Mandatory Flaws, Multi-Flaws and Special Flaws

Standard Flaws

Standard Flaws are most like those on certain other RPG systems. Lecherous, Bad Temper, Gluttony. They are vulnerabilities to potentially encountered triggers/stimuli/provocations, and must be rolled for whenever the character comes across a credible trigger at an appropriate RD (a "non-credible trigger" would be an RD higher than 12, although for low-magnitude Flaws, 2d12 and 3d12 ones, the GM can - and probably should - not demand rolls against RD 12 (or even RD 11 in the case of 2d12 Flaws)).

Some Standard Flaws have a subject, for instance it is a rare character who is prejudiced in some way against everyone (it is possible but is an unusual special case Standard Flaw). Rather the prejudice is against a specific defined target group, such as Jews, or heterosexuals, or Simulationists, or honest and honourable people.

In some cases a Standard Flaw also needs a flavour, for instance prejudice is never just prejudice but always takes a particular shape, in the form of underestimation, or verbal rage/attacks, or attempts (or desire) to physically hurt the target group. Usually this is defined by the name of the Flaw, for instance ther simply is no Prejudice Flaw. Instead there are a number of Flaws that represent various forms and shapes and flavour that prejudice can take.

Standard Flaws can have RD modifiers, e.g. a character with the Fond of Drink Flaw can have a +2 RD modifier for beers/ales and a -1 RD modifier for fruit wines. Thus he is less likely to "trigger" (higher RD) on beer and ale, and slightly more likely to "trigger" on cider and other fermented fruits, with a "normal" probability of "triggering" on meads and grape wines (on and more exotic beverages, such as kumiss).

Standard Flaws are subject to the usual rules on Similar Flaws.

Mandatory (Standard Flaws)

Each species in a Sagatafl world may be defined by having certain Mandatory Flaws, Standard Flaws that are biologically hardwired into the species at a certain level. Sometimes only a certain sub-species, or sex, or age category, or range of age categories, may have a Mandatory Flaw, but it is alwys biological in nature.

Humans of both sexes, for instance, manifest the Sexual Orientation Flaw upon leaving the childhood stage. The choice of Sexual Orientation is either Heterosexual or Homosexual (see further down) and is made at characte creation, even if the character starts a child and it will be many Years before the character leaves the childhood.

The Sexual Orientation Flaw marks them as being vulnerable to seduction from eligible targets, and therefore does not correspond fully to what present day people think of as sexual orientation. For instance one can envision a man in ancient Greece who has sex with his wife for the purpose of reproduction, but is completely immune to her allure, and likewise immune to seduction from other women, instead being vulnerable to seduction by other males (for added realism, he'd then have an RD penalty for young men, being more vulnerable to seduction from them, and an RD bonus for men his own age and older). To repeat: Sexual Orientation is not the same as sexual behaviour.

The Sexual Orientation Flaw is instictive and urge-driven and makes the character vulnerable to seduction.

Mandatory Flaws work like Standard Flaws, and in some cases can be modified by Special Flaws. Sexual Orientation can be modified by Special Flaws such as Lecherous, Reduced Sex Drive and Bisexual, the first two adding or subtracting dice from the Sexual Orientation Flaw, and Bisexual modifying the Sexual Orientation Flaw such that the character is vulnerable to seduction from both sexes.

Multi-Flaws

Multi-Flaws are rather like Standard Flaws, except much broader in scope. Often the combine several real and/or hypothetical Flaws into one package, such as with Immature, Party Animal, Multi-Phobia and PTSD. To balance this, they are weaker in roll strength, thus a typical Multi-Flaw is 2d12 or 3d12 for a severe case, whereas a typical Standard Flaw is between 3d12 or 4d12, or 5d12 or 6d12 for severe cases.

Immature marks the character as being emotionally and developmentally immature, and combines elements of Lecherous, Overconfidence and Bad Temper, all at weak strength but in combination adding up to something that is noteworthy and rich in dramatic potential.

Party Animal combines elements of Sociable, Fond of Drink, Lecherous, and...?

PTSD stands for Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome, and combines elements of Nightmares, Violent Reactions and Flashbacks.

Multi-Phobia

Comfort-Seeker

Intermediate Stage Multi-Flaws

Because Multi-Flaws are so broad, sometimes the right place to be, that which truly and precisely nails down that particular aspect of the mentality of the envisioned character concept, lies between two roll strengths, for instance for one character Party Animal 2d12 is a bit too weak, while Party Animal 3d12 is a bit too strong. For these cases, use the intermediate version, which gives the Multi-Flaw an Edge, so that for one type of stimulus it counts as one dice strength higher. For instance, Party Animal (Sociable) 2d12 means the character rolls 3d12 for casual carousing temptations and 2d12 for all other Party Animal-style temptations.

Special Flaws

Special Flaws usually modify other Standard Flaws or Mandatory Standard Flaws, and so are only legal to take if the character already has the affected other Flaw.

A few Special Flaws may be stand-alone Flaws that produce some special effect other than having a Roll Strength.

Rules on choosing Flaws

A Special Flaw must not be chosen unless the character also has the Standard Flaw or Mandatory Standard Flaw that is the prerequisite for the Special Flaw.

Tweaking Flaws

Sadly, it is not possible to turn this into an exact science, so the GM is going to have to eyeball it.

Players can apply RD permanent modifiers to their Flaws, this having the effect of increasing or decreasing the likelihood of the Flaw triggering when the character encounters specific kinds of stimuli.

For instance a character who has the Bisexual Special Flaw can have a positive or negative RD modifier for each or both sexes. He might be Sexual Orientation 2d12 but have a -2 RD modifier for females, meaning that he's more likely to "trigger" on potential female sex partners than on potential male sex partners.

RD modifiers can have any magnitude up to about +/-4 or 5. Anything above that tends to make the Flaw either nonexistent (it will almost never trigger anyway) or extreme (it will almost always trigger), both of which are boring and undesirable.

Players are prohibited from applying positive RD modifiers that largely or complete decreases the chance of the Flaw ever triggering, for instance by taking an RD bonus (=less likely to trigger) for Fond of Drink for beers/ales and also taking an RD bonus for wines, these (in many medieval areas) being the two most common types of alcoholic beverages by a wide margin. It should be permitted in a setting where alternatives such as ciders and meads are very common, however.

Players who choose to apply RD modifiers to their characters' Flaws during character creation must avoid giving the appearance of applying more positive modifiers than negative ones. Strive for balance. Or if balance is not desired, choose the appropriate Special Flaw.

The GM has every right to step in, if a player tries to abuse the system by applying many more of one type of modifier (negative or positive) than the other, and to fix the problem by ordering the player to take the appropriate Special Flaw. Or if that is too extreme a measure (because the overweight of plusses or minusses is small), to order the player to change the bonuses a bit so that they appear more balanced.

In general, though, it is unlikely to be a problem except in a very few cases, and almost all players can relax and just jot down as many -1 and -2 and +1 and +2 RD modifiers as they feel like, as well as the occasional +3 or -3 one. Try to think about the various sub-types of stimuli that may be encountered within the world.

Magic and Flaws

Temporary Mundane Flaws

In a few cases, mundane means, often in the form of extremely high social Skills, or stats (such as Appearance or the Charisma attribute, or the ability to Dazzle), may temporarily "saddle" a character with a Flaw, often in the form of Loyalty or Infatuation (or Fearful). These temporary Flaws often have a randomized duration, rolled for by the GM in secret, and after that interval the Flaw may disappear completely, or continue on for another interval in diminished Roll Strength, before disappearing completely.

Temporary Magical Flaws

Magic is rather more likely to "saddle" a character with Flaws, although the types are often the same as above: Loyalty, Infatuation or Fearfulness. The Duration of such effects is rather more formal, and tends to be deterministic in nature (based on spell level or similar) rather than randomized. There may be a fading interval, often of the same length as the initial Duration, or the temporary Flaw may disappear completely after the Duration.

Temporary Flaws and permanent Flaws

In a few cases, a character may be "saddled" with a temporary Flaw, through mundane or magical means, but already have that Flaw in permanent form.

For such cases, a rule is required to determine what the effect is, for the duration of the temporary effect.

Magic items and Flaw modifiers

Permanent magical items made via religious methods (Divine magic, Lunar magic or Satanic magic) give RD modifiers to the wielder, depending on how powerful the item is (its Item Level) and on the religious background of the creator of the item.

Each such item will have a list of Flaws that it affects favourably (making them more likely to trigger, by lowering their RD) and Flaws that it affects disfavourably (making them less likely to trigger). For instance an item made via Divine magic, such as a sword blessed by a Christian monk or priest, would give an RD bonus to Flaws considered sinful or evil by Christianity, and an RD penalty by Flaws considered virtous or good by Christianity.

Players are allowed to invent their own Standard Flaws and submit them to the GM for approval, but they must be prepared for the possibility that the GM, during the campaign, declares such a player-proposed Flaw to be similar to one of the Flaws listed as being affected by the religiously created magic item, and therefore affected by it.

The same goes for official Flaws that were not listed on the magic item's sheet due to an oversight, in short Flaws that ought to have been listed but weren't.

Ignoring or violating Flaws

Characters sometimes have the option of paying to ignore a Flaw (Standard, Multi- or Special) by spending Willpower points (representing an extreme effort of will on behalf of the character), but apart from that, players have to adhere to Flaw Strength rolls, and roleplay their characters in accordance with the rolls.

Failure to do so will result in escalating penalties, starting with verbal warning from the GM to the player, then a written warning, then the player's character suffering eXperience Point penalties and Sanity Damage, and culminating in the non-roleplaying player being dismissed from the campagin, so that those who appreciate realism and roleplaying are rid of the nasty distraction.

Of course almost all players will quickly learn to roleplay their Flaw and their Flaw Strength Rolls, and so the drastic measures remain something that the GM must use only in extreme cases.

Advice

Flaws are a fun addition to the campaign, an excellent opportunity to roleplay, and a very valuable aid in reminding each single player that his character is not a piece in a game board, nor a robot, but rather a living, breathing human being with a complex and rich psychology, and a deep and flavourful personality.

Don't worry much about the number of Flaws, as long as your Flaw Points remain within the normal range of, say, 4 to 8 points. Just spend as many as you feel suits your character concept, to bring your vision of the character to life.

If your concept ends up at 3 Flaw Points, you may have a problem, and even more so if it ends up at only 2. Concepts with 1 or zero Flaw Points are very difficult to work with, and highly undesirable, and so the aDvantage Point cost is very high, to serve as strong discouragement. If you need help spending more Flaw Points, ask the GM. He's there to help.

Having 9-13 Flaw Points is not a big problem, but above that you start running into serious diminishing returns. You may want to play an Adrian Monk-like character, but the fact is that Sagatafl does not reward you for that desire with an appreciable amount of compensatory points, and if the campaign features anything like traditional PC party-style play, your psychologically crippled character would also realistically get thrown out from the party very quickly.

Unless the campaign is of a very unusual Psychodrama-style, create a character that has a high ability to function in a semi-hostile enviroment and who can work with and cooperative with others.

Please note

Roleplaying means roleplaying your character in a way that is realistic for him, not in a way that is realistic for you, nor for the kinds of - most likely - extremely average and normal people that you most frequently associate with. Thus the source of the individual realism is the character sheet.

The tabletop acting portrayal of the charater, if you have much interested in performing such a thing, is determiend by the Flaw Strength Roll, thus you first roll, and then the roll tells you how to roleplay. The roll tells you whether your character's Flaw triggered or did not trigger.

Do not get hung up on single events. Your character triggering or not triggering in one specific situation is howlingly irrelevant. What is relevant is the overall pattern that one can see after Weeks or Moons of observation. The conclusions that the other PCs can draw, about your character, after having adventured with him for several Weeks or Moons. Their ability to conclude that your character is Bad Tempered and is prejudiced against Jews but is not any more Lecherous than the average young man.

The conclusions are drawn on the basis of the outcome of many Flaw Strength Rolls, never just a single one, although it is realistic that characters earn nicknames from singular Flaw Strength Rolls, especially if the outcomes are spectacular. For instance a male character who fails to trigger on an extreme sexual stimuli, that of a very young and very attractive and very blonde and very approachable female, may well earn the flattering nickname of "The Strong-Willed". Or he may earn a nickname that suggests he's disinclined to follow heterosexual pursuits. Or of being faithful to his wife, girlfriend or other favorite sexual partner.

Mini-FAQ

Put in sub-sections (three ='s) each containing multiple Q&As, and insert a blank line between each individual Q&A.

sub-section

Q:
A:

The world

A section mainly for the GM, or worldbuilder, about the world impact of the phenomenon, e.g. an Item Creation Power, or an attribute or other stat that may sometimes be starkly high or low relative to the Human average.

World impact

Talk about the effect on the world that this phenomenon would realistically have (taking into account such facts of human nature as greed, ambition and sexual impulses).

The Ärth setting

Talk about how this trait appears and functions in the Ärth historical fantasy setting.

Design Notes

Talk briefly about what the purpose of the mechanic is. Omit this section if it is extrmely obvious to the target audience.

Quick mini-glossary

Explain terms of great relevance to the subject matter of the article here, but not terms that are of generally great importance (e.g. RD).