Some Custom Quirks

[Lord Carnifex]

We've had the custom Perks thread go on with useful contributions. We've had GURPS: Power-Ups 2. But, so far as I can tell, the little downsides of life have been neglected lately. So, to start things off, here's a couple.

Religious Observance Essentially the Quirk-level version of Disciplines of Faith, this is some ritual that a character does on a regular basis, but doesn't dominate their time or thoughts. The observance can be daily, like saying prayers upon waking, mealtime, and going to sleep. Alternately, the character may feel obligated to attend a weekly religious service for three hours every week, or perform some other weekly ritual. Or the character may scrupulously observe a major yearly obligation like Ramadan or Lent, fasting as necessary. The sense of obligation to observe these rituals comes from within for the character, and he will perform them even if there is no outside social obligation to do so. Failing to observe the ritual can leave the character feeling edgy, distracted or out of sorts; if the character misses a daily ritual three or more times in a row, or two weekly rituals, the GM may assess a -1 penalty to Will rolls and to extended IQ based rolls for the distraction.

Regular Ritual A secular version of the above, the character has "something they do." Possibilities include always going to bed at 10 PM and getting up at 6 AM, insisting on obtaining and consuming a full dose of vitamin C every day, or taking time once a week to drink three shots of whiskey in honor of the character's three brothers overseas. Again, missing such a habit will result in the character feeling put out, with penalties to Will or IQ based rolls as the GM feels appropriate.

Ill-prepared Despite nominally owning the necessary tool kit for repair and crafting tasks, the character tends to find they are missing a few important components. Maybe the 10mm wrench is with the half-repaired bicycle in the garage, or the batteries to the cordless drill are dead. Normal repair or crafting rolls for the character are typically at an a -1 difficulty. Alternately, the character can roll on the appropriate repair or crafting skill at a time when collecting the appropriate tools is possible, e.g. not at the last minute or under fire. A successful roll allows the character to get everything together ahead of time.

Gloomy A quirk level Chronic Depression. The character has a tendency to look on the downside of most events. He tends to be pessimistic and cynical, expecting the worst from any situation and overlooking signs of hope or improvement. Too much of this, and the character may develop an Odious Personal Habit. On the upside, the character is usually not astonished when the very worst happens.