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Originally Posted by VariousRen
If a character has a metal disadvantage, how aware are they of that disadvantage, and how much can they do to prevent that disadvantage from coming into play?
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It depends. Certainly some Disads could hardly help but be known to the character. It would be hard to have a severe Phobia and not know it (unless you have never been exposed to the stimulus for it, or
everyone has it...but in the latter case it would not exactly be a Disad anymore).
Many people are aware of their Disads, though they are usually referred to as 'character flaws' or 'weaknesses' or occasionally 'strengths'. A person with Bloodlust is likely to know it if he's been in violent situations much, though he may nor may not see it as a flaw in himself. Likewise, it's more likely than not that someone with Kleptomania knows there's something unusual about himself.
Other Disads are subtler. It would perfectly possible to suffer from Sadism or Xenophobia/philia and not recognize either trait as either disadvantageous, or even unusual. Lecherousness could easily be rationalized, especially if the character is often successful in pursuit of it. Gluttony or Greed are easy to rationalize, or even not even recognize or perceive.
It would be easy to be in denial about Stubborness, and probably in character: "I am NOT stubborn, how many times do I have tell you that?! I am NOT FREAKING STUBBORN! If I've told you that once I've told you that 3051 times!"
You could have the Honesty Disad and not recognize it in yourself, or even realize that it's unusual, and in most places and times it would be seen as a virtue, at least if not combined with really bad judgement.
But it all depends on the person and the Disad.
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For example, if I have a mage who has pyromaniac (SCN 15) does he realise that learning fire spells is a bad idea, and would he have to make a self control roll to turn down the opportunity to learn fire spells? Or, on the other hand, can the mage purposefully avoid fire spells to ensure that his mental disadvantage comes up far less often?
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That's entirely a matter of the character. You could have a very self-aware character who sees a love of fire in himself, and he might or might not have to do a self control roll to avoid
learning the spells if the chance came. This is where the 'roll playing' part comes in, there is more than one way to roll-play a Disad. You could have Pyromania but it only kicks in at point of action, that is, when there's an
immediate chance to start a fire. Or you could have it 'always on'. (The GM might reasonably say the first version is worth less points.)
In the first case, yeah, the mage would have to roll for self control every time a chance to learn fire magic appeared, and then roll at a worse penalty to not use it. The later mage could refuse to learn them, because he knows that once he knows them, he'll probably end up using them when he shouldn't.
(Sort of like some alcoholics can stay out of bars relatively easily, but can't stop themselves if they get inside. Or if I know I just can't resist Sara if she comes on to me, but for whatever reason I know I
should resist (one or both of us is married, she's a villainess, it could start a civil war, whatever), so I make a point of not being alone with her.)
People are not automatons, and Advantages and Disadvantages can be played in different but equally reasonable ways. Though if the player seems to be switching back and forth between the different approaches in a calculating way, it's quite reasonable to penalize the points.