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Quirks
Quirks represent attributes that a character has. They serve not only to help define your character, but also to convey mechanical advantages and serve as the basis for some Spells. While these quirks are important for gameplay, there is no need to worry excessively about what initial quirks your character should have, as you will have an opportunity to gain more throughout the game.
Players may choose up to 7 quirks, adding up to +1 or 0.
| Quirk type | Meaning |
|---|---|
| + | This quirk gives some manner of advantage and has a value of +1 |
| - | This quirk gives some manner of disadvantage and has a value of -1 |
| + AND - | This quirk gives both advantages and disadvantages and counts as 1 quirk, having a value of 0 |
| 0 | This quirk conveys no advantage/disadvantage and has a value of 0 |
Personal Quirks
These Quirks represent various aspects of a character. Players will gain advantages/disadvantages in certain scenarios based on their Quirks. This list is not exhaustive and Quirks not mentioned in this list will be present in the game.
| Positive Quirks | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Brawler (+) | There is nothing quite like being in a brawl, fists a flying, barrels rolling, and blood dripping down your assuredly broken nose. This is your element, and you know how to start, direct, and even end a brawl. |
| Tough (+) | You’ve taken a few blows here and there, but you still stand strong. It’ll take a lot more than a few monster scratches or angry dung beetles to keep you down. You’re more resistant to anything that could hurt you or slow you down. |
| Agile (+) | You’re light on your feet and rarely find yourself unable to move around something. You find yourself able to stay on your feet a lot easier than others, as well as performing acrobatic tasks easier. Parkour! |
| Escape Artist (+) | For some reason or another you have become skilled at getting out of sticky situations, especially ones where you are captured with no way out. Doors, ropes, chains, and locks can’t stop you. |
| Gamer (+) | You’re a pro gamer. If there’s a board game or card game in the Sanctuary, you’ve probably already won a league for it. This vast experience in winning means you’re able to strategise easier, meaning your plans may come to fruition quicker. |
| Pickpocket (+) | You have a very specific set of skills, and amongst those skills you can usually liberate people of their most loose belongings. You’re pretty good at not getting caught, but of course you can never be too careful. |
| The Pen Is Mightier (+) | You are a person of words and pictures rather than swords and shields. And you have honed your craft, liable to write flowing prose and create detailed illustrations which can influence political figures and art appreciators. |
| Diplomatic (+) | No matter what you say, you just can’t seem to annoy anybody. You could insult someone straight to their face, but the way you said it was just so polite and sweet they couldn’t bring themselves to get angry with you. You’re also good at using this to make other people get along. (Note that while this works on NPCs, you can't convince a PC just by saying “I have 'Diplomatic'”). |
| Reputable (+) | You’re kind hearted and people know it. When you do good things for people, they’re more likely to be grateful and pay you back in some way. |
| Negative quirks | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Monster food (-) | Your family has a long history of being eaten by monsters, and now monsters can easily pick you out from a crowd as easy pickings. Monsters will be more likely to target you when faced with a choice of targets. |
| Flammable (-) | Burning stuff is less fun when you’re the one burning, which happens a surprising amount. If you had a nickel for every time you’ve been set alight, you’d have a few nickels, which isn’t a lot, but weird that it’s happened that much. You’re more vulnerable to being put on fire. |
| Inaccurate (-) | You think that you might not be a particularly good shot. You think you might have managed to hit your next door neighbour with that arrow. You think you shouldn't be allowed to use a bow. Projectile weapons are clearly not your forte. |
| Dark secret (-) | You’ve done something. Bad. Your place at the Sanctuary could be at stake if this comes out. Whether it was a drastic misuse of magic, a criminal act, or something unspeakable, you’ve spent your life making sure no one else finds out. Please tell GMs what your secret is when taking this Quirk at character creation. |
| Nemesis (-) | You’ve irked someone, and now they will make you pay. You’ve both lived in the Sanctuary for a while and have been making each others life unpleasant for about just as long. Please include a brief description of your rival, who will be an NPC, when taking this Quirk at character creation. |
| Please, tell me more (-) | Whenever you start talking, people stop listening. There's just something about that dry tone, those excessively long sentences and the superfluous words that makes it difficult for people pay attention. You find that convincing people of something is more difficult because of this. |
| Faulty compass (-) | Didn't you pass that street just a few minutes ago? Doesn't that house look a little familiar? Directions completely elude you to the point that you could probably find a way to get lost in your own home. You find it difficult to explore and search locations. |
| Oblivious (-) | You've heard of detectives, solving cases from the smallest details. You don't quite see how they do that. You've stared long and hard at many a scene, only for not a single hint to appear. You find that investigation doesn't really seem to get you anywhere. |
| Clumsy (-) | You've never quite gotten the handle of hammers, chisels, saws, and frankly most tools overall. To you, a hammer is more a way to ruin materials than mould them into something. Whatever the tool, you struggle to use it for its intended purpose. |
| Ambiguous quirks | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Half human, half … (+ AND -) | A magic Spell cast by a mage more powerful than you, or maybe the result of a perfect ritual, you’re no longer fully human. Maybe an arm is replaced by a scorpion tail, or your neck is now a lions mane, there’s definitely its pros and cons. Please tell GMs what your non-human half is is at Character creation. |
| Gossiper (+ AND -) | You chatter a bit here, tell a few lies there, and at the end of the day you know a bit more than you probably should. Every session, one of your acquaintances won’t be able to hold a secret it any you’ll hear a bit of gossip. How trustworthy are your friends though? |
| Invisible (+ AND -) | Whether it be in a crowded city square or an empty alleyway people seem to have difficulty noticing you. A very useful skill for less-than-legal pursuits, but quite troublesome when you actually need someone's attention. |
| Cultist (+ AND -) | All this nonsense about equivalent exchange grinds your gears. You know the real source of magic in this world - your omnipotent demon lord. You have an unending devotion to your lord, and you know it works because whenever you make sacrifices to them you are able to cast a spell. Your irregular beliefs can easily spark hostility in those more passionate about magic, but at the very least the rest of the cult will always have your back. Please include a brief description of your cult when taking this Quirk at character creation. |
DIY Quirks
Players are encouraged to go ahead and create their own Quirks if they have any ideas. In order to do so, choose the appropriate Quirk below and described the proposed Quirk and its effects during character creation (if the Quirk is problematic, you will be informed and allowed to change it to resolve any problems). Players may create only one Quirk of each type (as listed below).
| Quirk | Meaning |
|---|---|
| A Keepsake (+) | Design an item that your character will own and can be used through out the game. Examples: Chronicles of the Death Knight: This book describes the most epic battles and unexpected victories, as well as theories on their mysterious disappearance of a feared warrior (may or may not be fan fiction). Knowledge from this book will be made available to the player. Big Bag of Sand: It’s in the name. Super effective against people who don’t like sand. After all, it's coarse, and rough, and irritating, and it gets everywhere. Sand from the bag can be used for whatever purposes the player desires. Floating Bag: Storage for cool mages. Who needs to lug around all their heavy stuff when you can just throw it into your neat bag. It sometimes even listens to you, but maybe that’s just the magic playing up again… Particularly heavy objects can be carried with the help of this item. Sending Stones: You possess a pair of enchanted objects that allow for direct communication between you and whoever possesses the other half of the object (with the both party's prior consent). This is simulated by a separate Discord channel for the two of you, that allows you to communicate without delay, and that is impossible to eavesdrop on. Let a GM know if you are establishing or severing such a link. Note: This can be an NPC, but please note that the GMs may not be able to respond immediately as they may be occupied elsewhere. |
| A Talent (+) | Design a positive Quirk that conveys some sort of advantage. Examples: Historian: You know your stuff. You’ve been in the library for about as long as the librarian, studying away at the endless texts. You’re more likely to know about in game lore that happens around you. Trapper: It’s an art, trap making. You have to understand your target better than they do themselves. What will make them fall for a trap, how will they get trapped, and how will they remain trapped? You’ve answered these questions successfully for more species than you can imagine, and are now a master of trap construction. Intimidating: They say people tremble when you walk into a room. They don’t even have to look at you to feel your terrifying aura sneak up on them. With such an atmosphere about you, it is nor surprise that the art of threatening people comes to you naturally. |
| A Hindrance (-) | Design a negative Quirk that conveys some sort of disadvantage. Examples: Old Wound: Some scars don't heal. You are living proof of that. You've learnt to live with it, but still you find that it flares up every once in a while, impeding progress on your current task. Acrophobia: You don't feel very comfortable at great heights, never understood why those mages wanted to take to the sky. You find that your muscles tense and everything becomes more difficult to do when far above the ground. Rude: You just… don’t get customs. You grew up in a place where words were used to convey important information, not stroke egos or soothe blistered tempers, and you're bringing these words with you. Still, this attitude has not served you well in fostering relationships or mediating conflicts. |
| An Ambiguity (+ AND -) | Design and ambiguous Quirk that conveys both an advantage and a disadvantage. Examples: Honest: You find it very difficult to tell a lie. On the one hand, you’re usually trusted due to your honesty. On the other hand, any attempt at lying from such an inexperienced tongue will most certainly be called out. Destructive: Everything has a weakness, this world's weakness is you! You have a knack for destroying things, and know the structural weaknesses of most common objects. However, you are perhaps a little too good at destroying things, since you tend to do so even unintentionally. A Favour: You know some powerful people and they are willing to help you. However, nothing comes free, so in return you might have to help them as well. Please include a brief description of the nature of this favour when taking this Quirk at character creation. The description can be very vague, in which case the GMs will fill in the gaps. |
Affiliation Quirks
These represent the social relationship between different social groups. Players will receive some secret information and will have an advantage/disadvantage interacting with the appropriate faction based on the chosen quirk.
At the beginning of the game, players may choose 1 affiliation at most.
| Quirk | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Hunter (+) | You are a member of the Hunters. You will find that members of this faction are friendlier towards you. You will also gain additional information, which the average Hunter should have. |
| Grounder (+ AND -) | You are a member of the Grounders. You will find that members of this faction are friendlier towards you, but members of the Floater faction are more antagonistic. You will also gain additional information, which the average Grounder should have. |
| Floater (+ AND -) | You are a member of the Floaters. You will find that members of this faction are friendlier towards you, but members of the Grounder faction are more antagonistic. You will also gain additional information, which the average Floater should have. |
| Custodians of Reality (+ AND -) | You are a member of the Custodians of Reality. You will find that members of this faction are friendlier towards you, but the majority of mages outside this faction will be hostile to you should they find out about you allegiance. You will also gain additional information, which the average member of the Custodians of Reality should have. |
| Mafia (+ AND -) | You are a member of the mafia. You will find that members of this faction are friendlier towards you, but members of the military faction are more antagonistic. You will also gain additional information, which the average member of the mafia should have. |
| Military (+ AND -) | You are a member of the military. You will find that members of this faction are friendlier towards you, but members of the mafia faction are more antagonistic. You will also gain additional information, which the average member of the military should have. |
| Deep Circus (+) | Nobody knows what, where, who or how the Deep Circus is. Rumours and conspiracy theories have been flying around about them for just about as long as you remember. You haven't ever met any members, but that doesn't matter, does it? You've made the decision that you are a friend of the Deep Circus, whatever, wherever, whoever and however they are. You will gain additional information about the Deep Circus. |
Playstyle Quirks
These represent OC player preferences in gameplay and may be added or dropped at any point during the game by contacting the GMs.
Players may choose an unlimited number of these quirks (they do not count towards the quirk limit).
| Quirk | Meaning |
|---|---|
| No Sacrifice Too Great (0)1) | Actions have consequences, and you will be living proof. Encounters and interactions will be more brutal, and sacrifices will cost you dearly. |
| Who Would Love Someone (0) | Magic in this game works by making sacrifices of what you hold dear. But what if what one holds dear is someone else? Choosing this quirk means that should you develop a close bond with another PC (who has also taken this quirk) or NPC, them using magic could potentially directly affect you adversely. |
| Romance Me (0) | Take this if you are happy to potentially engage in romantic plot lines with NPCs. Taking this does not mean NPCs will automatically flirt with you, but indicates you would be open to it, if it were narratively appropriate. Not taking this Quirk will still allow you to engage in romance with other PCs, provided both parties agree to it out of character. |
| What Are We Here For, Just to Suffer? (0) | Everyone in Sanctuary has had an unpleasant history, it’s how you get magic. Choosing this quirk means that you will be open to talking about the darker elements of someones past. GMs will likely not focus on this, but it could come up if you choose this quirk. |
| Make Me Cry (0) | Watch the Sanctuary be destroyed again and again, mourn friends unmade with each reset, tackle with whether the sacrifices you will make are worth it. Take this quirk if you are happy to engage in an emotionally heavy game. |
| Fluff master (0) | Yes, the Sanctuary may be under attack. Yes, some world-shaking magical events may be taking place. Yes, your life may be on the line. Still, you just can't help but go visit that shop you've been frequenting the past few days and chat with the owner. Very interesting person, tells quite the tales too. Take this quirk in order to enjoy a more low-stakes plot. |
| Oh god, its horrifying! (0) | Some people like gore, some people don't. Take this quirk in order to opt into some more gruesome descriptions that usual. |
1)
AKA Hit Me Harder
quirks.txt · Last modified: 2022/05/04 23:30 by gm_ivan
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