It doesn't really have to have anything to do with illithids, I just need some flaws for Lame, my changeling rogue. He works as a cunning assassin, and I can't find any flaws that would work. Any ideas?
You could make a flaw and call it Lame. It could reduce your base speed and give you a penalty on Tumble and Jump.
Dragon 328 has a bunch of new flaws. Most of them are meant to be taken by a particular race but they are easily adapted to be applicable to all races.
It doesn't really have to have anything to do with illithids, I just need some flaws for Lame, my changeling rogue. He works as a cunning assassin, and I can't find any flaws that would work. Any ideas?
Hmmm...[digs out his homemade PDF of all the Flaws from UA and various issues of Dragon Magazine (#324-329, 333)]...
- Curious or Inattentive - You're easily distracted, especially while studying your intended targets.
- Feeble - You've chosen to be an assassin because stalking and slaying from the shadows is favorable to toe-to-toe combat.
- Grudge Keeper - You're pissed at yourself that your death attack failed, you can't quite see straight in the ensuing fight.
- Haunted - Strange, ghostly sounds uncontrollably emit from you; possibly the restless souls of past marks?
- Shaky - Makes it tough to be a sniper.
- Skulker - You really prefer to stay in the shadows, so much so you tend to empty your bladder if you have to enter melee.
- Unreactive - Your myopic assassin's eye is so focused it leaves you rather susceptible to attacks.
That's just from skimming through the list, you may find others that fit the overall feel of your character even better. I didn't include any stats as I wasn't sure if that was okay though I did mention above the issues of Dragon Magazine that had Flaws articles (you can get the ones from the UA from the Hypertext SRD) I hope this helps. I love using Flaws, wish I'd gotten to propose them with character generation in our current campaign. Too late now.
- Chris Shadowens
The better ones (ones with the best roleplaying opportunities) I give an asterick to.
1. Absent-Mindedness
2. Addiction*(even better, make it performance enhancing like an addiction to cats grace potions....todays MLB player)
3. Amnesia*(fantasy version of Jason Bourne)
4. Bad Temper
5. Berserk
6. Bully
7. Callous*(too easy)
8. Difficulty Learning (Experience gain impossible - this would suck)
9. Chauvinistic*(fantasy version of James Bond)
10. Chronic Depression
11. Code of Honor*(won't kill someone in cold blood despite being an assassin. This could be fun)
12. Combat Paralysis(...not so fun)
13. Compulsive Carousing*(see #9)
14. Compulsive Gambling*(see #9)
15. Compulsive Generosity
16. Compulsive Lying
17. Compulsive Spending
18. Compulsive Vowing
19. Cowardice(one could argue assassinations in their own right is cowardly)
20. Delusions
21. Dyslexia
22. Edgy
23. Extravagance
24. Extreme Fanaticism
25. Fanaticism
26. Flashbacks*(see #3)
27. Glory Hound
28. Greed
29. Honesty
30. Illiteracy
31. Impulsiveness
32. Intolerance
33. Intolerance (Religious)
34. Jealousy
35. Kleptomania*(steals a souvenier from those he offs - which could end up being his undoing at the end)
36. Laziness
37. Lunacy
38. Necrophilia
39. Nightmares*
40. Nosy
41. On the Edge
42. Paranoia*
43. Phobias*(Snakes. I hate Snakes.)
44. Post-Combat Shakes
45. Pyromania
46. Sadism
47. Self-Centered
48. Selfish
49. Trademark*(leaving a calling card)
50. Voices/psychotic
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Heh.
I did this once with a rogue/infiltrator type. Big into sleuthing, sabotage, infiltrating, etc. The flaw we worked in to his sheet was NARCOLEPSY!
The DM gave me something quite cool in return; I forget. It was my idea, though. I wanted to play a high-society, Robert DeNiro-type infiltrator who sometimes fell asleep in the middle of the burgle. I asked the DM what he'd give the PC in return; I forget what we worked out. This was pre 3E; feats didn't exist. It was fun to play -- a serious campaign and character, mind you, Ramos just had to make a roll a few times each mission or fall asleep on the job.
-W. E. Ray
*** Reposting below as something happened to my original post (even though it shows up in my Recent Posts section. ***
It doesn't really have to have anything to do with illithids, I just need some flaws for Lame, my changeling rogue. He works as a cunning assassin, and I can't find any flaws that would work. Any ideas?
Hmmm...[digs out his homemade PDF of all the Flaws from UA and various issues of Dragon Magazine (#324-329, 333)]...
- Curious or Inattentive - You're easily distracted, especially while studying your intended targets.
- Feeble - You've chosen to be an assassin because stalking and slaying from the shadows is favorable to toe-to-toe combat.
- Grudge Keeper - You're pissed at yourself that your death attack failed, you can't quite see straight in the ensuing fight.
- Haunted - Strange, ghostly sounds uncontrollably emit from you; possibly the restless souls of past marks?
- Shaky - Makes it tough to be a sniper.
- Skulker - You really prefer to stay in the shadows, so much so you tend to empty your bladder if you have to enter melee.
- Unreactive - Your myopic assassin's eye is so focused it leaves you rather susceptible to attacks.
That's just from skimming through the list, you may find others that fit the overall feel of your character even better. I didn't include any stats as I wasn't sure if that was okay though I did mention above the issues of Dragon Magazine that had Flaws articles (you can get the ones from the UA from the Hypertext SRD) I hope this helps. I love using Flaws, wish I'd gotten to propose them with character generation in our current campaign. Too late now.
- Chris Shadowens
RPG Superstar 2013
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Some quick ideas:
Shapeshifter enmity. For some reason, your own people don't like you much. They make your guises difficult for you to assume, calling you by different names, showing up to protect people from the jobs you take, etc. Lycanthropes, changelings, dopplegangers, anything with alternateform: they just don't see you in the same class when it comes to their abilities.
Actually lame: Your land speed is reduced by 10 feet. You take a -2 penalty to jump and tumble chacks, and your DM has to at least read the section on charging over surfaces, whether or not they ever force you to roll for a tumble check on a cavern floor.
Shell shock: you lose focus and balance when assaulted by loud noises. Being surprised by or failing a save against sonic effects causes you to be (pick one: dazed, stunned, shaken, confused) for one full round.
Screwed: The gods have a wager on how long til they see you in person. When you fail any sort of save, you take normal effects even if an ability or effect would allow you to shrug it off. Thus improved evasion does not prevent you from taking full damage on failed Reflex saves, or harpies might captivate you into lifethreatening situations with the benefit of a second save. Also, read charm person. : }
Sucks To Be You: When you roll a 1 on a d20 for any reason, you fail that check. This includes caster level checks, skill checks, ability checks (such as grapple). Regardless of the total score or opposed result, you screw the pooch.
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Cursed: The gods simply don't like you, even your own. Any time you make a roll that comes up less than 6(before modifiers), its treated as a natural 1.
Haunted: You are haunted by a ghost, in this case, someone you killed(preferably an innocent or a Good person). This ghost is seen and heard only by you. The ghost follows you around constantly, and is quite bothersome. It may even try to be your conscience(you bad, bad killer! :P). While neither you, nor the ghost can effect each other directly(it can't hurt you, you can't damage it), the ghost can interfere with your activities indirectly. It can obstruct your view, which will impart penalties to rolls based upon vision(Spot, Search, Ranged Attacks, and so forth); as well as make noise, imparing your hearing-based rolls(Listen, Sense Motive{in conversations}, et cetera). Anything that requires concentration(such as Hide, Move Silently, Open Lock, Disable Device, and such) will also suffer due to the constant distraction. You may even have trouble getting a good night's sleep.
Schizophrenia: You hear voices. Many voices. Voices that don't like you. Voices that tell you to do things. Things you don't want to do. You have to keep making will saves to keep from doing the things the voices tell you to do. You also suffer penalties to concentration and hearing based rolls as with Haunted.
Multiple Personality Disorder: You are more than you seem. Actually, you are many. You occassionally blackout, at which point another you takes over. One who, while having all the same Ability scores, may be of a different class, age(mentally), even gender(again, mentally). This you can have differing alignments, differing agendas, and so forth. There could be several. They may or may not hate you.
Haunted will probably be the most enjoyable to play. Cursed could be fun, too. MPD would definitely be the most difficult, as the most accurate way to play it would be to have multiple character sheets.
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RPG Superstar 2013
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While we're mentioning real mental disordersas flaws, a good one for an assassin might be obsessive/compulsive disorder. Everything has to be perfect - including your planned murder. If any details are out of place, you an't perform. You become irritable and distraced. You may even have a physical reaction. This can be as meaningless as a change in guard personnel, even though operationally nothing about your assignment changes, you still have to postpne and begin planning anew.
Related, maybe every assasination has to be carried out in a unique way, or you have a calling card or MO that must be observed.
You could make a flaw and call it Lame. It could reduce your base speed and give you a penalty on Tumble and Jump.
Dragon 328 has a bunch of new flaws. Most of them are meant to be taken by a particular race but they are easily adapted to be applicable to all races.
I think i like that one! So would it be -2 to each?