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Originally Posted by SimonAce
Interesting. Is notary really worth a perk?
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I'm going to say, "No."
I published a
Pyramid article in which I presented Press Pass as a Perk. But I may have been wrong to do this.
An earlier discussion, which took place after the article was published, considered whether a doctor's license was a perk. I liked the idea that most licenses, passes, etc., if they are things anyone in a certain career should be able to get as part of the normal course of events, aren't perks.
A notary public would count as a 0-point feature, rather than a perk. According to...
http://www.answers.com/topic/notary-public?cat=biz-fin
...becoming one is pretty routine. It's a lot like buying equipment that you need permission to buy, like having to get a loan approved in order to buy a house. If a player wishes a character to be a notary public, it should just be noted as a 0-point feature.
In the same way, most people have a driver's license. Even if they are terrible drivers and should
not have a license. And doctors have medical licenses because doctors have to have a license to legally practical medicine. But it's part of the normal course of events that they would have a license if they had the skills to practice medicine.
A license is only a perk when it is highly unusual, like a special government permit to hunt out of season or to carry weapons with an LC rating that makes them only available to military personnel, etc. in most cases.
In fact, in many cases, not having a license should be a disadvantage. A doctor who has lost his license effectively has a version of Social Stigma (Criminal Record). If he was caught practicing medicine after having lost his license, there would be some pretty stiff penalties, too.
Not having a license that most people have should be a Quirk. Routinely doing something for which you need a license which you refuse to get or cannot get for some reason could be a Quirk, an Odious Personal Habit, a Secret, an Enemy, and/or something similar, depending on the activity.
For example, if someone in 21st century America doesn't have a driver's license (assuming they're an adult) it would be unusual enough, I think, to count as a quirk. Among other things, it is a social disadvantage that limits your activity. (It would also be a quirk if you had a license but refused to buy a car, if you lived in a place where this would be unusual--it would not count as a quirk if you lived in a city with good public transportation.) After all, if you have to drive without a license for some reason and get caught, you will be fined.
Habitually driving without a license would be another quirk, at least, maybe even a Compulsive Behavior.
Mark