New and Custom Quirks?

[Boge]

I've recently played a character Agnostic in a setting with the Salem witch trials. If I tell them I don't believe in a God or I'm not sure, I'd be hanged for sure.

It's actually been more of a disadvantage for my character as I really have to tiptoe around what I say in order to not upset the wrong people. Oh, and he has Truthfulness as well. :(

So, in the right situations, a quirk can become quite damning.

[awesomenessofme1]

Originally Posted by Boge

I've recently played a character Agnostic in a setting with the Salem witch trials. If I tell them I don't believe in a God or I'm not sure, I'd be hanged for sure.

It's actually been more of a disadvantage for my character as I really have to tiptoe around what I say in order to not upset the wrong people. Oh, and he has Truthfulness as well. :(

So, in the right situations, a quirk can become quite damning.

Well, that's not a quirk, or at least it shouldn't be. As a GM, I would never let a player do that. You're basically taking Secret (Possible death) [-30] and only getting 1 pt's worth of value from it.

As for the general topic, I don't see the problem with it. There are plenty of roleplaying quirks that don't require that much effort.

[WaterAndWindSpirit]

I figured having an odd body temperature would make you stand up quite a lot on infrared sensors, which would have implications on things like the Shadowing skill.

[malloyd]

Originally Posted by WaterAndWindSpirit

I figured having an odd body temperature would make you stand up quite a lot on infrared sensors, which would have implications on things like the Shadowing skill.

I don't think it would. Your core temperature could easily vary by 5 degrees or so, plenty to misdiagnose you, without your surface temperature (and hence IR image) differing by more than the uncertainty brought on by the insulating value of your clothing (or body fat).

I think I'd generalize this trait - it's something like No Quite Human, you look human, but something about your physiology varies enough to give a penalty to Diagnosis or Physician or perhaps other anatomy dependent skills. This might be a weird body temperature, but it could just as well be your blood vessels don't run in the right places, or you have a blood antigen (and hence "blood type") humans don't, or that heavily vasculated mass in the middle of your brain isn't a lethal tumor, it's your mana organ....

[vicky_molokh]

Originally Posted by David Johnston2

And either way it would only qualify in a reference society where religiosity is standard.

I don't see such requirements in the official write-up of the Quirk:

Originally Posted by PU6:8

Atheist
You neither believe in higher powers nor observe an
organized religion. This quirk most often works like Shock-
ing Affectation (p. 15), earning -1 on reactions from people
with disadvantages or quirks suggesting faith (e.g., Reli-
gious). Unlike other Beliefs, it’s more a catchall than a unified
school of thought, so only those aware of why you made this
choice are likely to react especially well or receive bonuses to
manipulate you.

Originally Posted by PU6:15

Shocking Affectation
Conduct that elicits -1 to reactions from a small class of
people (e.g., priests, high-Status “gentlemen,” or the elderly) is
effectively a -5-point Odious Personal Habit with its point
value divided by 3, as for a Reputation with such a class
(p. B27)

[Phil Masters]

One quirk I recently came up with for a new PC; Sealed Juvie Record. The character was... not a good kid, and would definitely have Social Stigma (Criminal Record), except that he got his head straight before he hit the age of full legal responsibility. And fortunately, he was never mean, just irresponsible, and the local system keeps juvenile records adequately sealed.

So by and large, no one has cause to think the worst of him, unless they happened to know him back in the day (which mostly means his old partners in crime anyway), but a sufficiently annoyed cop, or a really nosy reporter, could find some juicy stuff on him, and anyone who somehow picked up hints might be more suspicious of him than his current basically legit activities justify.

(He’s a monster hunter, so “basically legit” is modulo some big guns and a tendency to cut corners, of course.)

[awesomenessofme1]

Originally Posted by Phil Masters

One quirk I recently came up with for a new PC; Sealed Juvie Record. The character was... not a good kid, and would definitely have Social Stigma (Criminal Record), except that he got his head straight before he hit the age of full legal responsibility. And fortunately, he was never mean, just irresponsible, and the local system keeps juvenile records adequately sealed.

So by and large, no one has cause to think the worst of him, unless they happened to know him back in the day (which mostly means his old partners in crime anyway), but a sufficiently annoyed cop, or a really nosy reporter, could find some juicy stuff on him, and anyone who somehow picked up hints might be more suspicious of him than his current basically legit activities justify.

(He’s a monster hunter, so “basically legit” is modulo some big guns and a tendency to cut corners, of course.)

That's almost exactly a part of the backstory for an Earthborn-background Shepard in the Mass Effect trilogy.

[Phil Masters]

Originally Posted by awesomenessofme1

That's almost exactly a part of the backstory for an Earthborn-background Shepard in the Mass Effect trilogy.

I get the impression it's actually fairly common (in some variation) for rogue-ish action-story characters, and probably not all that rare in real life. Sealed juvenile records are, I believe, a real thing in a number of jurisdictions, after all. (How common it is in reality would be hard to say, because this is, after all, a secret.)

[Dalillama]

Originally Posted by Phil Masters

I get the impression it's actually fairly common (in some variation) for rogue-ish action-story characters, and probably not all that rare in real life. Sealed juvenile records are, I believe, a real thing in a number of jurisdictions, after all. (How common it is in reality would be hard to say, because this is, after all, a secret.)

It could probably be worked out by finding out what percentage of such records are sealed compared to the annual number of juvenile offenders processed by the courts systems, but it would be a bit of a job.

[WaterAndWindSpirit]

Corrected Eyesight: You were born with an eyesight defect, but laser surgery corrected it. If your eyes are ever destroyed, healing magic restoring them will restore them in their original condition, and you will need another laser surgery to correct your eyesight defect yet again, and healing magic that cures permanent injuries will "cure" your eyes back to their pre surgery state unless the healer makes a successful Physicial-6 or Surgery roll to leave them alone.

It's an edge case, but in a setting I created, healing magic worked by restoring the body using it's "memory" as a basis, so it can cure any damage if you're skilled enough, and since healing works by restoring the body using it's "memory", well surgery is considered damage even if the results are purely positive.