Quirks, Non Quirks & general silliness .

[jason taylor]

Some for me are; always has a messenger bag or duffle with several E-readers, a power pack and at least two Swiss Army Knives. Likes keychain pendants and wallet chains.

Some for another character might be: fanatical about order (Dr. Shaun Murphy), Never pays debts (Thomas Magnum), convinced that he never sticks his neck out for people (Rick Blaine), thinks shunning son except during Talmud argument will make him better (Rebbe Saunders), affects Goth costume (Abby Scuito), wears purple robes (Ambassador Deleen), tradition-obsessed enough to make Maimondes shake his head (Deleen and Lenier), goes way to far about being a proper Klingon (Worf).

[Racer]

What about characters based on well known fictional weird characters OR real life people who'd have more than 5 Quirks ?

Homer Simpson & Sheldon Cooper spring to mind on the fictional side ( Sheldon would probably fill two pages ) & Nichol Tesla & Winston Churchill for real life ones .
I have mild Aspergers & have quite a few - I also attended a Special Needs Boarding School for six years & was regarded as 'normal' compared to some of the other pupils .

One chap was - shall we say - totally looney tunes . Repeat same phrase a few times & he'd start screaming "THAT'S ANNOYANCE ! You'll get DONE !" ; ask him politely to open some curtains & he'd totally meltdown ; wouldn't wear any clothes that 'made him look like a gypsy' ; would compare food/people/vehicles/landscapes to obscure art works ; wouldn't eat yellow/golden food - butter & cornflakes were way out ; had his own cutlery but fine with sharing crockery ; would climb up side of school building & 'get stuck' about 7 feet up & have to be 'rescued' ... I could go on & on , but suffice to say he's by far the oddest character I ever met . Years after he absconded from our school , we found out he became a world renowned expert on surrealist art ... somehow that didn't surprise us & would suit him down to a tee ! ;-)

I've seen mention of Characters having more than x amounts of Disadvantages & given some examples I give above , could see 10pts of Quirks being fitting for some odder characters . As people have said , so long as they are relevant to the Campaign , I could see them working .

[Icelander]

Note that if Quirks are taken as Disadvantage Embellishments, they count against the Disadvantage limit (if any), but not the five Quirk limit.

Also, a lot of small 'q' quirks could instead be defined as low point value Disasvantages and/ or a collection of thematically related quirks can instead be expressed on a character sheet as Compulsive Behaviours, Delusions, Odious Personal Habits or others.

Basically, as long as a player is defining his character better and making him a more memorable and distinct character, I'll work with the player to fit each and every trait on the character sheet, as long as the character is a match for the setting and game premise. So, for GURPS IOU, few silly things are off-limits, but for GURPS Special Ops¡ the character might have to be able to plausibly get through a psych evaluation.

[Culture20]

Originally Posted by coronatiger

As a GM, I may veto quirks that I'm reasonably certain will never come up in play in a meaningful way (like the Koalas). And I won't go out of my way to make one PC's quirk relevant (like creating a bunch of NPCs named Emma/Malcolm). ...

You’re missing a chance to have a giant koala on a billboard or eucalyptus trees above a place the characters must rest. Being deathly afraid of something that doesn’t come into play is why it is a quirk and not a phobia.

[Kax]

Originally Posted by Racer

What about characters based on well known fictional weird characters OR real life people who'd have more than 5 Quirks ?

Homer Simpson & Sheldon Cooper spring to mind on the fictional side ( Sheldon would probably fill two pages ) & Nichol Tesla & Winston Churchill for real life ones .
I have mild Aspergers & have quite a few - I also attended a Special Needs Boarding School for six years & was regarded as 'normal' compared to some of the other pupils .

5 Quirks, the strongest/most commonly encountered, plus 5 pt. OPH "Has extensive list of obtrusive quirks."

Originally Posted by Racer

One chap was - shall we say - totally looney tunes . Repeat same phrase a few times & he'd start screaming "THAT'S ANNOYANCE ! You'll get DONE !" ; ask him politely to open some curtains & he'd totally meltdown ; wouldn't wear any clothes that 'made him look like a gypsy' ; would compare food/people/vehicles/landscapes to obscure art works ; wouldn't eat yellow/golden food - butter & cornflakes were way out ; had his own cutlery but fine with sharing crockery ; would climb up side of school building & 'get stuck' about 7 feet up & have to be 'rescued' ... I could go on & on , but suffice to say he's by far the oddest character I ever met . Years after he absconded from our school , we found out he became a world renowned expert on surrealist art ... somehow that didn't surprise us & would suit him down to a tee ! ;-)

5 Quirks, the strongest/most commonly encountered, plus 10 pt. OPH "Has very extensive list of very obtrusive quirks to the point of significant effect on his life."

And probably the /worst/ quirks are actually 5 pt. OPHs.

Originally Posted by Racer

I've seen mention of Characters having more than x amounts of Disadvantages & given some examples I give above , could see 10pts of Quirks being fitting for some odder characters . As people have said , so long as they are relevant to the Campaign , I could see them working .

The published characters use the Basic Set rule of, "as many Quirks as you like but you only get points from the first 5." Which should be the case for most people.

[jason taylor]

One I have is I like to name my things. My Kindles usually have Longfellow themed names. My Swiss Army Knives have various names though the Traveller Lite is Anduril and the SwissChamp is Angrist. My duffle is Princess* after a cat I used to be fond of.

*I have a second one named Cory. Which is derived from Kaur. Which of course means Princess.

[Donny Brook]

I'm pretty lenient with quirks. I don't htink they need to be particularly disadvantageous as long as they promote role-play. Here's my take on these:

Originally Posted by Racer

Always wears socks inside out .

Kind of insufficient influence in play. Might allow it among four other more substantial ones.

Deeply attracted to any female named 'Emma' / male named 'Malcolm' .

I would allow it in a setting where those names are reasonably well known.

Must eat at least two bananas a day . Gets stressed if they cannot .

That's okay IMO.

Terrified of Koalas - despite being based in late 19th Century South America .

Meaningless in the setting, so I'd say no.

Dislikes odd numbers , but '5' is okay ...

I generally ask players to flesh-out a behaviour to define 'dislike' in such quirks, but allow them.

Despite zero evidence , believes various in game FICTIONAL Characters are homosexual ...

I'm not sure what they mean by 'in game fictional character'.

Always gets lost in a specific town/city - even though they hardly visit there .

Might allow this along with four more substantial ones, but I'd need to understand the frequency of visiting more clearly.

Still uses a VCR .

I'd probably think this is too insignificant.

Collects the protective wax off Cheese whenever possible . Makes miniature sculptures from it .

Definitely allow this.

Always uses ridiculously obscure nicknames for other people , so that hardly anyone else knows who they are talking about .

I'd allow it.

Will only eat branded beans .

I'd allow it.

Goes mental if duvets are mentioned ...

Actually sounds too strong for just a quirk.

Always goes to the wrong Station/Airport/Library when collecting someone or something .

I'd allow it, but wouldn't take it!

Worries constantly about the Heat Death of the Universe .

I'd allow it, but they need to roleplay it.

Must ALWAYS play 'blue' in boardgames .

Insufficient playability, unless the campaign is likely to involve board games for some reason.

Prefers to have AT LEAST two backups for most household objects .

I would allow it, and make them pay a premium on Cost of Living.

Makes and stores homemade jam - never eats it ...

I would allow it and make them reduce time available for 'off-screen' activity.

Despite living in a fantasy setting , deep down doesn't really believe in magic .

Sounds more like it might be a Minor Delusion [-5].

Has perfect hearing but likes to watch television with the sound off & subtitles on .

Insufficiently relevant to game play.

Travels with own toilet seat ...

Sounds okay.

[Tigrah2k]

I am an OCD who hated odd numbers, but actually will accept integers of 5. So, that one isn't all that odd.

[Racer]

Despite zero evidence , believes various in game FICTIONAL Characters are homosexual ...

Originally Posted by Donny Brook

I'm not sure what they mean by 'in game fictional character'.

An example would be in a Harry Potter type campaign if a Hogwart's pupil character thought & said 'Martin Miggs The Mad Muggle' from Ron Weasley's comics was homosexual . Or any of the protagonists from the Beedle The Bard book of wizarding fairytales etc . This one stumped me & the GM too .

Think it was based on an old school acquaintance who seemed to think half of British Soap Opera Characters are homosexual , despite no evidence over 10+ years in some cases ... Just very odd & gaming group had a good laugh about it when it was mentioned .

[edk926]

A couple of these could be turned into a benefit. Example, a modern game featuring evidence of something found on a VCR tape that could only be viewed because the "Still uses a VCR" person was the only one that had a VCR player readily available.