The approved list of Flaws as they apply to House Games.
Cursed (1-5): You have been cursed by someone or something. The curse is specific in nature and cannot be easily dispelled. Level of the flaw reflects how bad the curse is; a 1 point curse is annoying, a 5 point curse is likely life-threatening to you and/or to the people around you, and will at least make you and them incredibly miserable.
Echoes: (1-5) You display some of the signature characteristics of your unusual heritage/background. Perhaps milk curdles in your presence due to your Demonic blood, or electronics go haywire ever since you were abducted by Aliens. The value of this Flaw is determined by the referee, not the player.
Brittle bones (1-4): Your body just isn't capable of deal with impacts effectively. Bashing damage is +flaw rating to soak
Enemy: (1-5) You have an enemy, or perhaps a group of enemies, who seek to harm you. The power of the enemy depends upon how many points the player wishes to spend.
Tainted: (1-6) You are tainted (or damned) in the eyes of creatures who can detect such things including those wielding true faith and similar powers. You start with between 1-5 points of permanent taint, and if 5 points are taken, the flaw is worth one extra freebie point. This includes susceptibility to further taint, as is usual for tainted beings, and is nearly impossible to remove. Few creatures can survive with a permanent taint greater than their enlightenment. It is best if your particular taint is of a unique nature and cleared with the GM first.
Dark Secret: (1) You have some sort of secret that, if uncovered, could pose many problems for you. this could be a torture dungeon in the basement, or the actual gunman of the grassy knoll.
Deep Sleeper: (1) When you sleep, it is very difficult for you to awaken. You are -2 dice on all rolls if you get less than 8 hours sleep, and are likely to sleep through all but the most jarring events.
Defective Sense: (1) One of your senses is very poor. This is a non-correctable condition, and all Perception rolls relying on that sense are +2 Difficulty.
Nightmares: (1) You experience horrendous nightmares every time you sleep, and memories of them haunt you during your waking hours. Upon awakening, you must make a willpower roll (Diff: 7) or lose a die on all actions for that day. a Botched willpower roll indicated that, even when awake, you still believe that you are locked in a nightmare.
Prey Exclusion: (1) You refuse to harm a certain class of prey. You might refuse to harm children, women, mothers, policemen, accountants, or rich people. If you accidentally harm such an individual, you must make a conviction roll or lose a point in humanity (or corresponding path). (This Flaw was added for specific cases such as hunters, serial killers, would-be vampires, and other such predators. referees are free to deny a character this Flaw if it does not fit the particular character.)
Shy: (1) You are distinctly ill at ease when dealing with people and try to avoid social situations whenever possible. Difficulties for all rolls involving social interactions with strangers are increased by +2. If the character becomes the center of attention in a large group, difficulties are increased by +3.
Soft-Hearted: (1) You cannot stand to watch others suffer. you avoid any situation that involves causing someone physical or emotional pain, unless you make a willpower roll (diff 8). You must have a humanity rating of 7 or above to take this flaw.
Speech Impediment: (1) You have a stammer or other speech impediment that hampers verbal communication. the Difficulties of all die rolls involving verbal communication are increased by +2. You must roleplay this flaw whenever possible.
Twisted Upbringing: (1) Maybe your parents were cruel, or you spent a good deal of time in prison. Regardless, you are callous to the suffering of others. At character creation, you use Self-Control only to determine Morality; do not add Conviction.
Amnesia: (2) You are unable to remember anything about you past, yourself or your family, though your past might well come back to haunt you. your origins and the circumstances behind your amnesia are for the referee to determine, and she is encouraged to make it as interesting as possible.
One Eye: (2) You have only on eye - which eye is missing is up to you. The difficulties of all perception rolls involving eyesight are increased by 2, and the difficulties of all die rolls requiring depth perception are increased by 1. (This includes ranged combat.)
Anosmia (2): You possess no sense of smell.
Phobia: (2) You have an overpowering fear of something. Spiders, snakes, crowds, and heights are examples of common phobias. You must make a courage roll every time you encounter the object of your fear. The difficulty of the roll is determined by the referee, and if you fail the roll you must retreat from the object.
Disfigured: (2) A hideous disfigurement makes your appearance disturbing and memorable. The difficulties of all die rolls relating to social interaction are increased by two. You may not have an Appearance rating greater than 2.
Territorial: (2) You are extremely territorial, staking out a particular area as your home and react aggressively to trespassers. If another person enters your territory uninvited, you must make a self-control roll or immediately attack the interloper and continue attacking until the intruder is dead or has left your land. You are reluctant to leave your territory except in desperate circumstances.
Short: (2) You are well below average height - four and a half feet tall or less. You have difficulty reaching or manipulating objects designed for normal adult size, and your running speed is one-half that of a normally proportioned human
Vengeful: (2) You are vengeful by nature. Whenever you are wronged, you become obsessed with taking your revenge, and it is your overriding priority in any situation where you encounter the object of your malice. You may temporarily resist your need for vengeance by spending a Willpower point. Note that your vengeance does not have to be disproportionate, and you do not have to avenge trivial slights (such as being short-changed by a cashier).
Absent Minded: (3) This Flaw may not be taken with the Merit Concentration. Though you do not forget such things as Knowledges or skills, you do forget names, addresses, and when you last ate. In order to remember anything more than your own name and the location of your home, you need to make a Wits roll or as a last resort, spend a willpower point.
Anachronism: (3) You are an anachronism. You must subtract 3 dice from any action that requires you to interact with modern technology.
Deformity: (3) You have some kind of deformity - a misshapen limb, hunchback, clubfoot, etc. - which affects your physical abilities and interactions with others. A hunchback, for instance, would lower a character's Dexterity by two dots and increase the difficulty of die rolls relating to social skills by one. It is the responsibility of the referee to determine the specific effects of the deformity chosen.
Driving Goal: (3) You have an obsessive, driving goal which takes precedence over everything else in your life.
Lame: (3) Your legs are damaged, which prevents you from running or walking easily. You are forced to walk with a cane or possibly leg braces, and have a pronounced limp to your stride. Your walking speed is one-quarter that of a normal human, and running is impossible.
Lifesaver: (3) You believe that every person has an inalienable right to live. You automatically lose a point of Enlightenment if you cause a person to be killed, by action or inaction. [Note to new players: It is possible to have a very high regard for human life WITHOUT taking this flaw. This is a serious, character-defining flaw that should not be taken lightly.]
One Arm: (3) You have only one arm. Choose which, or determine randomly at character creation. It is assumed that you are accustomed to using you remaining hand, so you suffer no off-hand penalties. However, you do suffer a two-dice penalty to any Dice Pool where two hands would normally be needed to perform a task. A character may not take this Flaw along with the merit Ambidextrous.
Mute: (4) You cannot speak. you may communicate with the referee and describe your actions, but cannot talk to player or referee characters unless everyone concerned uses linguistics dots to purchase a commonly understood sign language or you write down what you wish to say.
Deaf: (4) You cannot hear, you may not listen to electronic or vocal media, and the difficulties of many Alertness rolls are increased by three.
Glass Jaw: (4) You have a 50% chance of being knocked out for 1d10 minutes any time you do not successfully soak any damage taken to your head. You're the guy who always misses the battle, or gets eaten by the victorious monsters afterward. Don't worry though, if they eat you: you're unconscious! Shant feel a thing.
Hemophilia (4): Your blood does not clot normally. When reduced to hurt in lethal damage, you begin to degenerate. If reduced to wounded or below, you lose one health level every 30 seconds until you receive proper medical attention.
Oath Breaker: (4) You have violated a sacred vow. You are marked as an Oath Breaker to ANY effect that determines even cursory elements of your nature (Aura, Telepathy, Empathy, etc). Entering into future contracts, pacts, bargains, and similar agreements of a supernatural nature is next to impossible and almost always ends horribly. The laws of neutral grounds, depending on the area, may not apply to you, putting you at a distinct disadvantage in such areas. Oath Breakers may also find it difficult or impossible to progress in rank beyond a certain point amongst many factions and organizations. Depending on the nature of your Vow there may be some remaining antipathy as well.
Dark Fate (5): You are doomed to suffer a horrible demise, or otherwise have some sort of icky unpleasant fate. You are aware of this, and it can kinda make you rather depressed… (Dead within ten games, otherwise, knock yourself out!). The referee can declare any single roll of yours a Botch once per session. You may not have Luck or Charmed Existence.
Outsider (5): You have not established yourself in society. Perhaps you were raised by wolves, grown in a clone vat, or ended up in this dimension by mistake. You start with 0 points in all backgrounds, you do not have citizenship in any country, and you have no official identity or license of any sort. You may or not speak a relevant language as your one "given" language (perhaps you only speak an obscure alien dialect, Latin, or some other useless language).
Weak-Willed: (5) You are highly susceptible to mind-affecting magic and social abilities such at Intimidate or Leadership. All difficulties to resist such effects are increased by +2. Your willpower trait may never raise above 4.
Mayfly Curse: (5 or 10) You age at a faster-than-normal rate. If under a 5-point Mayfly Curse, you age 1 year for each month that passes. If under a 10-point Mayfly Curse, you age 1 year for each week that passes.
Blind: (6) You cannot see. characters can compensate for the loss of vision by becoming more sensitive to other sensory input, but visual cues and images are lost to them. Actions involving hand-eye coordination are very difficult to perform, especially under stressful conditions. Difficulties of all Dexterity-based rolls are increased by +2.
Paraplegic: (6) You can hardly move without assistance, such as a pair of crutches or a wheelchair. Even then it can be painful and cumbersome to do so. The referee and you should take care to roleplay this Flaw correctly, no matter how difficult it makes things. A character may not take this Flaw along with the Merit Double-Jointed.
Degeneration: (9) You do not heal naturally. Instead, you degenerate; you lose health levels over time unless action is taken to prevent the Degeneration. (A zombie that is gradually rotting would be an example of a creature with this Flaw.)
Giftless: (9) You have some pressing need to spend every single one of your Gifts just to see the next House Game. Perhaps you are a terminal cancer patient with a month to live or made a bad deal that has come due with the wrong guy from Hell. Whatever the reason, you'd better be a resourceful desperado since you aren't getting anything like the kickbacks the other High Rollers get. You can never get Gifts for anything other than the privilege of seeing the next game.
