Gemini Advantages/Disadvantages
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Another work in progress. I've just included the ones I've thought of so far. There will be as many as the fancy strikes me. Feel free to make conceptual suggestions on the discussion page (game effects and points cost should not be suggested, only what sort of style of advantage/disad you'd like to see.)
Advantages/Disadvantages: Natural abilities/traits that are not easily characterized as above.
Contents
Physical
Advantages
- Ajax Reborn: (8/16) You are very tough. you gain an extra block (4 boxes) of health levels. These count as additional “light” boxes. You may take a second level of this advantage with GM permission, but in this case the 4 additional boxes are additional "serious" wound levels.
- Vicious: 3/6/9/12/15: for each level, add +1 to damage you deal in close combat.
- Thick Skulled: 3/6/9/12/15: for each level, you may subtract 1 from any stun rolls
- Hardened: 3/6/9/12/15: for each level you may subtract 1 from any death saves.
- Fast: 3/6/9: for each level, you increase your movement by +2”. base movement is 6”
- Weapon Master: 3: you always count as having a familiarity with any personal weapon you pick up.
- Wheelman: 6: as weapon master, but for vehicles. Includes ships.
- Shipborn: 2: You were raised in deep space. You gain +1 to Zero G movement, Endurance when appropriate, *Contortionist when appropriate, etc.
- Natural Marksman 4: shots at extreme range are at difficulty 25 for you.
- Steady Hand: 4: You gain an additional +1 to skill rolls for every two levels you go down the time chart.
- Evasion: 5: ranged shots taken against you are always at +1 difficulty.
- Environmental Resistance: 3 per type of environment (ie cold, hot, damp, polluted, whatever)
- Yogi:2/4/6: Each level halves how frequently you have to eat and/or drink to remain functional.
- Poised: 3: you may reroll any failed Perform, Oratory, or Dance roll once.
- Night Owl: 3/5: for each level, halve the difficulty increase for performing tasks in the dark.
- Prometheus: 2/4/6/8/10: for each level, add 10% to your healing rate.
- G resistant: 3/6: all crew members are probably familiar with high G forces, but you are particularly resistant to this. Each level doubles the G forces you are able, at least temporarily, to handle. This may have significant effects on combat, though the exact effects must be roleplayed out.
- Good liver: 3/6: each level halves the effectiveness of drugs and/or poisons on you. This includes beneficial drugs.
- Feel No Pain: 8pts: you may take this advantage for Stamina or Resist Torture/Drugs or Carousing. Whichever skill you select it for, you may choose to automatically succeed on any roll of this type. If you do, the difficulty of the roll divided by 5 is how much damage you take in the process, in addition to any other damage inflicted.
- Bounce Back: 7 pts: You may make recovery rolls as a "zero phase" action (ie, it doesn't use up your next action).
- Fist of Legend: 4/8 pts: at the 4 pt level, your hand to hand attacks count as improvised weapons. at the 8 pt. weapon, they count as lethal weapons.
- Ambidextrous: 4 pts: you do not suffer the -3 penalty for using items with your off hand. Note that if you want to shoot two pistols, you will still suffer the -3 penalty for taking two actions in the same round (unless you take gunslinger, see background advantages below).
- Killer Immune System: 3 pts: you may add +3 to your toughness for the purposes of not succumbing to infection.
- One eye open: 5 pts: you may make perception rolls even when asleep: if you succeed, you wake up, although you don't have many details about what caused it.
- naturally rested: 3/6/9: each level halves the amount of sleep you need to not suffer penalties.
- Unperturbable: 3 pts: You may gain sleep-level rest regardless of the conditions around you: this type of rest is cumulative and may be summed over a series of short periods to keep you functioning well.
Disadvantages
- Electromagnetically unstable: 5 pts: your body, for whatever reason, will not accept cybernetic implants of any kind.
- Allergy: 1pt for something uncommon, 2pts for something very common. You're allergic to something: if you come into contact to it, you must make 5 stun saves or be temporarily incapacitated. If you fail more than 3 of these, you will die without medical attention.
- Scarring: You have some very visible, ferocious scars: 2 pts. Per -1 to attractiveness. Note that if your attractiveness falls to 0, you are hideously deformed.
- One eye: 3 pts: you are at double difficulty for all ranged attacks not made with a smartgun or a scope. You suffer -3 for any sight based awareness check.
- Lost limb: 5 pts: for legs, your movement is reduced to 1”, for arms, you can't do anything that requires two limbs. Note that this disad and the one eye disad are relatively low points because they can be easily replaced in a world with cybertech and vat grown limbs.
- Clumsy: 5pts: In non-combat situations, you must always reroll any successful dexterity roll. In combat situations, you must reroll only any successful stealth roll.
- Sensitive: 4 pts: Any sensory-damaging stimulus has a double effect upon you.
- Albino: 2 pts: For every hour you are exposed to sunlight without sunscreen, you must make a stun roll. Visually damaging stimuli have double effect on you. Social stigma in some socieities.
- Heart condition: 15 pts: If you fail either any stamina roll or a stun roll, make an immediate death save: if you fail, your heart stops. You will begin to suffer major physiological consequences in about 1 minute, and die within 5 or so. If you have cybernetic surgery that affects your circulatory system, you die of shock.
- Faint: 5/10: for each level, you are at -1 for stun saves.
- Fragile: 5/10: for each level, you are at -1 for death saves.
- War Wound: 4 pts: When entering any combat, make one stun save.
- Hairless: 1 pt: social stigma in some societies.
- Child: 15 pts: Your strength and Toughness are limited to 2, and your cool to 4. all but 5 skills are limited to 5 or lower without GM permission. Social stigma
- Aged: 6 pts: Your strength, dexterity, and toughness are limited to 4. you are at -1 to stun saves. Social stigma.
- Lightweight: 5 pts: you automatically fail any stamina or resist torture/drugs or carousing roll (pick one).
- Mute/Deaf: 3/6 pts: at the 3 point level, this disad is due to some mechanical problem, and can be repaired with cybernetics as with lost limbs/eyes above. At the 6 point level, it's in your brain, and will be much, much more difficult to change.
- Blind: 6/10 pts: same split as for mute/deaf.
- Fast Metabolism: 2/4/8: the opposite of "yogi" above.
- diseased: 1-20 points: like the "insane" disadvantage below, but for a physical ailment. For low level diseases (warts, genital herpes, whatever) you won't get anything but occassional social penalties. For more serious diseases, you can expect to get penalties to skill rolls/stats across the board. at 12 or above, you are contagious to other crew members merely by being around them. You may not take this disadvantage at 12 or above without GM permission.
- Princess and the Pea: 4 pts: you cannot sleep unless you are in your own bed with everything "just so".
- Deep sleeper: 1 pt: you may never make perception rolls when asleep, even if someone doesn't have stealth.
- Immune-Compromised: 4 pts.: Your immune system sucks, perhaps due to genetics, perhaps due to some nefarious attack by a biological/chemical weapon, perhaps because you're like Nate's characters and sleep with too many hookers. Reduce your toughness by half (round down) for purposes of fighting off infections.
Mental
Advantages
- Lightning Calculator: 3/6/9: at 3 pts, you can do geometry, algebra, and trigonometry in your head. At 6, you can do calculus, differential equations, etc. At 9 pts, you can do any mathematical problem in your head outside of those written by a mathematics professor specifically to stump you. You must have lighting calculator at 9 to have psycho-navigation.
- Master Strategist: 4/8/12/20: for the first three levels, you gain one temporary fate point per session only for strategy or tactics rolls. At the 20 point level, you gain these three re-rolls, AND a permanent fate point in strategy or tactics that regenerates EVERY session. No more than one PC in a campaign may have the 20 point level (if he/she gets killed, too bad, Alexander the Greats aren't born every day).
- Perfect Pitch:1pt:
- Speed Reading: 2 pts: You can read at 10x the normal speed.
- Eidetic Memory: 3/15 pts.: At the 3 point level, your memory is very, very good: you could draw a map from seeing it once, assuming you know how to draw and understand maps, or remember every name or number recited off a list in rapid succession. At the 15 point level, your memory is photographic and beyond: basically total recall. You can look at a page in a for an instant and then recite it verbatim. You can remember every face in a crowd that you have seen, given enough time, regardless of its size. You must have GM permission to take the 15 point level of this advantage.
- Unshakeable Faith: 5 pts: You may always take one free reroll if you are called upon to make a "path check" to see if your path decreases on account of your actions. However, if your path rating ever decreases, you lose this advantage permanently.
Disadvantages
- Forgetful: 5 pts: whenever your character has to remember something that the player has also forgotten, the character has forgotten even if the player is reminded out of character.
- Slow: 8 pts: you may not make a roll for any intelligence based task without moving it one slot down the time chart.
- Curious: 2/6 pts: at the two point level, this is a roleplaying thing. At the 6 point level make a cool roll or be compelled to investigate, push the red button, etc.
- Insane: 1-20 pts: You have some sort of psycho-pathology. A minor phobia of snakes would probably be worth 1-2 points, whereas full blown schizophrenia or sociopathy would be worth 20. You may not take this disadvantage at 8 points or above without GM permission.
- overconfident: 2 pts: this has no direct dice effects, and should be roleplayed
- Cowardly: 2/4/6/8/10: for each level, you have a -1 on any morale check you make.
- Rehabilitated: 5/10: people who commit crimes on the corp planets are very rarely thrown in prison: it's just too expensive, and they're criminals, right? Rather they get fined, executed, put on work detail (indentured servitude), sold into slavery, or hooked into the braindance (ie rehabilitation). Braindance is a carefully manipulated immersive interface run by an AI that supposedly reprograms a person's mind to remove the criminal element. The game effects of this are a mixture of a couple of other disadvantages: you have partial amnesia, you typically develop a minor psychopathology (2-3 pts/4-6 pts) and you have a serious aversion to behavior that is "patently criminal". Due to legal concerns, this actually means that you have to know that it is illegal in the location that you are at: if you do, you must make a cool roll (at -2 for the 10 point level, an additional -2 if it was the crime you got put in for) to not have panic attack like symptoms. At the 10 point level, you can also have braindance flashbacks: these happen at GM discretion and put your character in a catatonic state for variable amounts of time.
- Impatient: 7 pts: you may never go up the time chart in order to gain bonuses to your skill rolls. You have a -2 penalty to skills such as stealth where patience is of critical importance.
Technological
Advantages
- Combat Technician: 2/4/8/6/10: for each level, add +1 to your character's attempts to repair SDC at the end of each ship combat round
- Machine Spirit: 20/40/60/80/100: for each level, your character adds 1d4 to any technical raises made by him/her. This effect is reusable (ie, every turn this character operates a repair system/armor/just fixes shit, they get the bonus dice). When not in combat, EVERY technical roll made on the ship (by any character) gains +1 per level as long as the character is on board.
- Technical intuition: 5/10 pts: at the 5 point level, you may attempt a jury rig roll on any mechanical/electrical item regardless of whether you understand it or have an appropriate skill. at 10 points, you may attempt to actually fix any mechanical/electrical item, using whatever skill comes closest.
- Lovin' Care: 15 pts: With a successful appropriate skill roll, you may improve the quality of any item from either low or average to good.
- Pit Mechanic: 5 pts: you may move one slot up the time chart (ie faster) without penalty.
- Bilingual: 6 pts: your character is fluent in binary. this means that if your rig/computer console, etc. is set up for it, you count as being 2 down the time chart for every action you take (and thus, if you do it in regular time, you receive +2 to the action), to a minimum of a single combat action. The downside is, nobody else can use your computer without changing the settings.
Disadvantages
- Caveman: 4/10/20/40: at 4 points, you are unfamiliar with fairly advanced tech: cybernetics, genetic mods, and ship AI. At 10 points, you're backwater: you can't take any 'modern' technical proficiencies, and can only work with tech at the level of about the 21st century level of complexity. at the 20 point level, you're illiterate, with all accompanying problems with your education. At 40 points, you were raised in a box, by wolves, what have you. You know nothing of technology that can't be constructed out of rocks and sticks. GM permission is required for the 20 or 40 point levels of this disadvantage.
- Jargon: 2pts: your character is so obsessed with technology, particularly the internet, that your speech is littered with technical and obscure jargon. This may give you penalties or possibly even bonuses in some social situations, but it should be primarily roleplayed out.
- Mad Scientist: 10 pts: anytime you fail a technical skill roll, it is considered a fumble as if you had rolled a "1". Roll on the fumble table for the effect (we will be using other fumble table(s) than those in the CP2020 book). Anytime you actually have a fumble it automatically counts as a "catastrophic failure" (1 followed by another 1)
- No Space Legs: 2 pts: your character becomes violently ill in zero-g, suffering -2 to all rolls and being generally miserable.
- Unique Style: 4 pts: Your repairs are "unorthodoxt": anything you have repaired suffers a -2 penalty for subsequent repairs by anyone other than you. Also, if you wish to use technical systems on your ship, you should designate any that are "yours": only you may use these in combat.
Background
Advantages
- Grudge Borne Fury: 2/4/6: Against a foe type of your choice, your experience allows you to better predict the enemies actions. For each rank, add +2 to your effective tactics skill against that type of enemy.
- Grizzled Veteran: 2/4/6/8/10: for each level of this ability, you gain +1 cool for Morale purposes only. You must have GM permission in order to take this ability above two levels.
- Gunslinger: 8 pts: If you have the ambidextrous advantage, you may attack with two pistols and have it count as a single attack.
- Natural Born Killer: 20 pts: your character may designate his shots as either AP or normal rounds (this is different from AP weapons), even if he/she does not have the appropriate ammo.
- Access: 1-10: This may eventually get moved to the backgrounds section, although it doesn't really matter practically. You have access to something (whether you should or not): databases, corporate buildings, military bases, whatever. at 1-3, it's a single location or a fixed information set of limited use. 4-5, it's a set of locations or a moderately useful database. at 6-7 it's a very useful database or valuable locations. 8+ requires GM permission.
- Favor: 1-5: somebody owes you one, but only one (if it's more than one, you should probably buy them as a follower. At 1, it's one medium risk activity. at 5, you can ask them to risk their lives and that of their crew/team/unit/department once.
- Hideout: 3/6/9/12: at 3 pts, this is an unmarked house/apartment in the slums of some planet. at 6, it's an abandoned basement, or a secret forest treehouse. at 9, it's an old mining base on an asteroid or a secret tunnel with a bunker under a military installation. At 12, it's a corporate penthouse or something similarly impregnable. you must have GM permission to take this at 12.
Disadvantages
- Hunted: 2/5/8/11/15 : there is a warrant for your arrest/price on your head/longstanding grudge by somebody. The reason for this and the party involved is up to you and/or the GM. At two points, it's somebody who's an annoyance at best. at 5, their wimpy but potentially dangerous in the wrong circumstances. at 8 points, their about as bad ass as you, maybe a little more. at 11, they're nasty or have a lot of influence, and at 15 they're extremely powerful (the Aeneans, a megacorp, etc.). You must have GM permission to take the 15 point level. Add two points if you don't know who's hunting you.
- Enemy: 2/4/6/8/10: having an enemy is different than being hunted. hunters are actively trying to get you, and they will definitely show up now and again to try and do that. Enemies just hate your guts and, given the opportunity, will make you miserable/kill you. The progression in power level is similar as for hunted, except that GM permission is not required for the 10 point level (it should be taken with caution, however.) Add 2 points if you don't know who it is.
- Debt: 2/4/8/12: at the two point level, the debt is fairly minor, but still outside your means unless you really make it big (on the order of a few thousand credits). You have some time to pay it off, although interest is accruing. At 4 points, the debt is significant and you can no longer afford to just pay off the interest. At 8 points, the debt is huge, but still monetary (tens of thousands of credits). At 12 points, you must restitute something incredibly valuable or rare (a precursor artifact, a ship, etc.), and you have to do it sooner rather than later. You must have GM permission to take the 8 or 12 point version of this disad.
- Nega-rep: 1-10 pts: like the reputation background, but in the other direction. the higher the nega-rep, the worse it is and/or the more people know about it. The Twins is a big place, so you can always get away from it, at least for a while...
- Amnesia: 4/8 pts: At the four point level, your memory of your history is either spotty or stops at some point in the past. At the 8 point level, you remember nothing of your life before starting to serve on the crew.
- Dependent: 4/8 pts: You have a person/people that depend upon you in some way. You must make sure they are safe and well at the four point level; at the 8 point level, you have to support them financially as well.
- Favors: 2/5/8/12: at the two point level, somebody can call on you once for a medium risk job to even a score, and you might even make some money out of it. at the Five point level, they either have something on you that means they can keep calling the favor in, or they can make you do it once and your crew incurs the cost. At 8, it's the same as five, except for high risk jobs. At 12, they can ask you to basically do whatever they want, as often as they want. You should work out with the GM who this "someone" is.
- Beneath You: varies in pts: in certain societies, specific types of work are only done by certain castes/strata/whatever. You come from such a society. As such, you may never take any skills of a certain type (technical, artistic, combat, whatever): the more limiting your choice is, the more points this is worth (typically 5-10).
Social
Advantages
- Zeroed: 2/5/8 pts: at the 2 point level, add +2 to attempts by other characters to get info on the character in question. at the 5 point level, the character's secrets are impossible to discover, while common information is at +4 difficulty. at the 8 point level, there is no information on the character available anywhere.
- Animal Magnetism: 3 pts: You automatically succeed on your seduction rolls against targets that have failed a carousing and/or resist torture/drugs (if appropriate) roll this scene.
- Multiple Identity: 2/4/8/6/10: at 2 and 4 pts, you have either 2 or 3 identities, respectively, with full ids, addresses, credit cards, etc. At 6, you've got 5 identities. At 8 you've got a dozen. You must have GM permission to take six or more points in this ability.
- Guardian Angel: 10/20 pts: this advantage is like the Mentor background, but murkier. At 10 points, there is some figure, who's identity you do not know, that looks out for you. You may define for yourself which arena of your life they tend to help out in (combat, finances, getting into glitzy clubs...), though they may make an appearance elsewhere. In general, they are a significantly powerful person, although they are limited by "normal" restrictions: ie, if they helped you out 2 days ago on Nestor 3, and then you pack up and fly to Diomedes, chances are very poor that they'll help you right away again. At 20 points, the guardian angel is almost supernatural: they are wherever you are and can pull out all sorts of crazy shit. Note that a Guardian angel doesn't *always* show up: they have their own agenda
- Innocuous: 2 pts: You are a master of fading into crowds. You add +5 to your stealth in crowds.
- Fashionable: 3 pts: Your character makes anything look good, and/or can turn any look into the new style. You may make rolls that involve looking good (personal grooming, etiquette, etc.) regardless of whether you have had time to prepare, supplies, etc.
- Well-Connected: equal to your Contacts rating in pts: Normally, contacts are just that: people you have some sort of business relationship with. This advantage raises that relationship level just a bit: not to allies or friends, but your contacts like you, and may do you favors as long as you don't ask too often.
- True love: 2 pts: in situations that involve your "true love" (this must be a sentient entity)you gain +2 to your cool stat.
- Agitator: 2 pts: You gain +5 to any oratory or command or similar roll if the crowd you are trying to influence is at least 10x the size of the difficulty of the roll (ie, for a 15 difficulty, the crowd would have to be 150, while for a 30 difficulty, the crowd would have to be 300 for you to get the bonus).
Disadvantages
- Slave: 5/10: at the 5 point level, the character is a freed slave. This carries social stigma and exposes the character to the risk of re-enslavement, since he has little in the way of identity. At the 10 point level, the character is an escaped slave. You may add 2 points to this disadvantage if you have obvious marks on you that identify you as a slave.
- Party Animal: 3/6/9: anytime you have the opportunity to engage in an activity that might require you to either make or resist a carousing and/or seduction roll, make a cool roll or dive right in. at 6 pts., you're at -1. At 9, you automatically fail unless you spend a temporary fate point.
- Erased: 3 pts: This disad. works like zeroed, except that you don't have any identity-type information on yourself either. No photo ID, no credit card: every electronic record of you has been eliminated, at least the public ones. It differs from zeroed in that secret/police/corp records of you may still exist, and in that you have no proof of who you are, etc. either. This will significantly restrict the backgrounds you will be able to take.
- Identity Theft: 2pts: There is someone out there who has stolen your identity. They're pretty good, so your attempts to block them have so far failed. Occassionally, things they did, or bought, or whatever, come back to you.
- Outed Spy/Assassin: 10/8 pts: 8 points for spy, 6 for assassin. Whether it is true or not, somebody successfully accused you of being a spy or an assassin, two fairly notorious professions (another notorious job could be substituted here if you like). This disadvantage is similar to nega-rep, in that you've essentially got a bad rep. The major difference is that along with having the things you did (or that somebody says you did) be a source of potential enemies, some people will try to kill/blackmail/ruin/etc you just because of your supposed job.
- Irritating: 3/6/9/12/15: your character grates on people's nerves, almost to a mystical degree at higher levels. for every level, subtract -1 to any social rolls in which having people like you (ie, NOT intimidate or command, where fear/hatred may work just as well, but lots of others) is important. An important caveat to this disadvantage is that unlike most minuses, if the minus here takes you to 1 or below, you should treat this as a fumble. Be careful about taking this disadvantage at high levels, because it may get you into fights much more often than your character can handle...
- Ditzy: 4 pts: your character is not stupid, but always comes across that way. you suffer a -2 in any skill attempt where being perceived as intelligent might be important. Also, expect to get a lot of frustrating treatment from NPCs.
- Culture Shock: 3/6: Your character comes from a society which has significantly different mores, taboos, and expectations than the majority of societies in the Gemini. At the 3 point level, this mostly causes trouble for other people, while your character simply is doing things "his way". At the 6 point level, your character is also very offended when people do things "their way". What dice penalties you take will depend greatly on the culture you come from, but this is primarily a roleplaying disad. Note that your culture must be very odd to not fit in in the Gemini, and also that the cultural limitations must differ from your Path "hierarchy of sins".
- Cosa Nostra: 9/14 pts.: Your character must attempt to honor any *reasonable* request made by other members of the crew: you may attempt to talk them out of things, but if they ask for your help, even if it is a stupid/pointless idea, you will help them. At the 14 point level, even if it's suicide, even if it means embarassing yourself, you will do it if it means helping your crew. At any level, this may be a good disad. to conceal from the other players...
- Secret Identity: 4/8 pts: You've got something to hide about who you are. At the 4 pt. level it's something potentially embarrassing, stigmatizing, or something that could stick you with a hunted or enemy disad if it came out. At 8, it's a big deal, like being a spy or assassin.
- Dark Secret: 3 pts.: you did something bad at some point, something that could get you into very serious trouble if it was revealed.
- short tempered: 4 pts: your character isn't good at the whole "self control" thing: you are at -2 for skill rolls where being perceived as calm, friendly, warm, etc would be useful. You are also at a -2 for any rolls that involve "keeping your cool": someone trying to goad you into a fight, etc. Finally, Anytime the player of this character gets upset about something in game, their character also flies off the handle about something of the player's choice: this can be completely trivial and/or irrelevant to the situation (if I, the GM, think you are taking this disad. as a license to have your character be pissed off all the time, you can expect to get the "Cosa Nostra" disad from me...)
- Zealot: 8/15 pts: This disadvantage may only be taken with GM approval...the 10 point level only with very good reason. At the 5 point level, you expect those under you (followers, allies, and potentially crew members, depending on your relationship with them) to follow the tenents of your path at a level equal to half of yours, rounding down. At the ten point level, you expect those under you to adhere to your path at a level equal to yourself.
- Loyal: 7/11 pts: like cosa nostra, but for a PC of your choice (or the GMs choice if this is GM assigned).
- Chatterbox: 2/5/8/12: whether it's from a loud mouth or just a strange presence, your character influences the ability of those nearby to concentrate. For each level, anyone around you attempting an action that requires concentration or attention to detail is at -1.
- lonely: 4 pts: your character will never go do anything by him/herself unless strictly ordered/instructed/asked to: if given a choice, he/she will always try to get another PC to accompany them.
Supernatural
Advantages
- Daredevil: 3/6/9: for each level, you gain +1 to ANY skill roll in which you are attempting some sort of “death-defying” maneuver. If there is not serious risk to you or your teammates, this bonus will NOT apply.
- Sanctity: 20 pts.: For whatever reason, people always assume the best possible motive for your actions. This doesn't mean that they fool themselves about what you did, just why you might have done it. This has no "hard", dice-rollin' effects on the game, per se, but is more of a roleplaying effect. Important note: Sanctity does NOT affect PCs.
- Dangerous: 3/6/9: Something about you exudes threat. This is a mixture of reputation, status, and perma-intimidation. Any rolls in which being perceived as scary or violent might be beneficial receive a +2 per level. Of course, situations where this might not be so good get minuses as well.
- Battle Sense: 20 pts: you must have tactics of +7 or better to take this advantage. Any advantages gained from attacking by surprise, by snap shot, or from behind are negated when the attack is directed against you. Your positioning, lines of sight, and state of preparedness are always bordering on perfect. In addition, if an enemy commander has succeeded in a strategy roll, the GM will tell you this once you walk into the location for which the strategy was devised.
- Nine Lives: 18 pts: regardless of whether you have a dot in storytelling remaining (or ever had one in the first place), you always count as having one permanent storytelling point for purposes of avoiding death. Note that unlike normal permanent storytelling expenditure, there will be significant consequences, caveats, etc. attached to your survival with this advantage: furthermore, if you use this advantage, and then do something stupid to further complicate the situation (read: do anything that does not contribute to your speedy recovery to health and hearth), you immediately lose this advantage, permanently.
- In the Nick of Time: 20 pts: In any situation where your character *could* potentially just happen to walk into a situation involving PCs, you automatically do if the OTHER involved PCs request it. If they don't, you're in the same boat as anyone without this advantage.
Disadvantages
- Laughable: 3/6/9: The opposite of dangerous. Even if you've got a bloody knife in your teeth and a shotgun in your hand, its hard for people to take you seriously. you get -1 per level to rolls where you are trying to be threatening (like intimidate) or powerful (like command).
- Selfless: 10 pts: your character may never have fate points spent on him/herself (including his/her own fate points). The upside of this is that the character may spend his/her fate points on other characters. This disadvantage may only be taken if the character has at least a two in the storytelling attribute.
- Dark Fate: 25 pts: During the campaign, your character will die. Not only will your character die, but it will likely be at a crucial moment when your character's survival is critical to the group. The mechanic for this is partly blatant plot manipulation by the GM, and partly that the GM, when your dark fate comes for you, can force you to automatically fail ONE roll (such as, for instance, a death save...). You must have GM permission to take this disadvantage.
- Unfocused: 10 pts: This disadvantage may be taken in two forms, both worth the same amount: you may choose to have either no path AND no focus, or just no focus. If you choose to have both no path and no focus, the GM may at some point assign you a path based on a consistent pattern of behavior on the part of your character.
- Obvious Target: 5/10 pts: if given an even choice between two PCs as targets, an NPC making an attack will always choose you. This disad. is worth 5 points if the player chooses it, but 10 if it is GM assigned.
- Unlucky: 10 pts: your character may only use storytelling points for plot alterations, never for rerolls. You may only take this disadvantage if you have at least 2 in the storytelling trait.
- Uninspired: 6 pts: flip side of unlucky: your character may only use storytelling points for rerolls, never for plot alterations. only for storytelling 2+.
Equipment
Advantages
- Attunement: 20 pts: Any piece of equipment you use is treated as if it were one level higher on the quality chart, maxing out at excellent. this effect only works for you.
- Careful Maintenance: 6 pts: you may add 1 point to any reliability roll you are called on to make, unless the dice roll is a natural 1. This advantage should be appropriately roleplayed.
- Pack Rat: 8 pts: Once a session, at the cost of a temporary fate point, your character may find (either in his bunk or on his person, or wherever) an item of his or her choice worth no more than 50 credits. The choice of item is subject to GM approval. This Advantage should be appropriately roleplayed.
- Unbreakable: 5 pts: no piece of your equipment ever counts as completely destroyed: it can always be repaired, although the extent of repairs may require a very long time or a lot of money.
Disadvantages
- Electromagnetic Anomaly: 10/20: at the ten point level, your character's most valuable technological item breaks (but is repairable) at the end of every storyline/adventure. At the 20 point level, the item either breaks irreparably, or this effect occurs at the end of each session (!).
- Superstitious: 5 pts.: the character suffers a -3 penalty to any actions performed with equipment that is not either explicitly his/hers or part of the ship loot (from the prologue only, not later acquired loot).
- Snob 5/10/25/40: Each level raises the minimum quality of goods you will use: 5 for good, 10 for excellent, 25 for best, and 40 for custom. best and custom restrictio as disadvantages require GM permission.
- Wasteful: 7/9 pts: your character may never have cash in his/her account or possession after leaving port (ie, all money must be spent as soon as it is acquired, at the earliest convenient opportunity): if the character has failed to spend it all, the rest of the money disappears, having been presumably spent on knicknacks, booze, gamblin' whatever. At the nine point level, the character must spend at least 50% of this money on one fairly specific activity (booze, hookers, gamblin', ammo, whatever). This specific activity is subject to GM approval.
- Klutz: 5 pts: all equipment is at -1 reliability.
- Travel Light: 5 pts: your character has all encumberance limits reduced by half.