Weaknesses

Weaknesses and flaws are things about your character that work against them. They can be anything from physical drawbacks to social disorders. Now, giving your characters weaknesses is oftentimes the most difficult part of the creation process. What makes a good flaw? What might be fun for you to play? Since every character must have at least three flaws, we've compiled a list that people can choose from if they are having difficulties coming up with some on their own. (This does not mean you have to take anything from this list.) We also hope that this can help with the creative process, some flaws you could actually probably base a character around, or have it spark up ideas of your own. And hell. Some of these you may want to take just because it would be damn amusing to have in play.

One thing to keep in mind is that many weaknesses are great storylines in the making to overcome them. However, if you choose to pursue a storyline that overcomes one of your main three flaws, you will have to replace that flaw with another.

Additionally, please be sure to check the notices page to look over the things we can't allow any more of.

• Blind Someone shut out the lights.
  You cannot see. For whatever reason, either a birth defect, accident, effect of a disease, insane acid trip where you gouged out your own eyes, you don't have the visual aspect of the world.

• Deaf What was that?
  You cannot hear. You may choose the reasoning behind it. Some examples include: birth defect, trauma that blew out the eardrums, result of illness.
• Mute Singing in the shower isn't going to work out for you.
  You can't speak. This particular flaw can be used in a few different ways. One is trauma. We've all seen the movies where there's some person who saw something horrible and hasn't spoken since then. This could be you. (Note: if you overcome this during the game, it ceases to be counted as a weakness and if it was one of your main ones, you will need to replace it.) Or maybe you weren't born with working vocal chords. Maybe you were stabbed in the neck and didn't die, but it messed up your voice. Whatever reason you choose, sign language will be your new best friend, and carrying around a pad and paper is a good plan.
• Color Blind (Dyschromatopsia) Is it red or green? What's red?
  You're one of the people in the world who can't distinguish. You can choose how your character is color blind, going from the differentiating color blind duals which mean you are not completely color blind, or you may go with a total leech of color from the world.
• One eye Yarrrr. You're a pirate.
  Or no, not really(or really weirdly, considering our location) but you nevertheless have only one functioning eye. This does not mean your other eye is absent though it certainly can. It means for whatever reason, one of your eyes doesn't work whatsoever. This effects depth perception and can be a serious inhibitor to your life until it can be gotten used to or otherwise compensated for.
• Amputee How's it goin, Lefty?
  You're down a limb or two. How it happened is your choice (including birth defects in which case it can be listed as 'one arm' etc.) but you are physically missing one or more limbs.
• Allergies (severe) Hope you have your epipen handy.
  You have an allergy to something (your choice) and it really messes with you. Reactions can be from severe (hospitalization) to potentially fatal.
• Disfigured/Deformed At least the phantom of the opera guy wore a mask.
  Somehow, either from birth or some traumatic event, you aren't so pretty anymore. You're not even average. You're the poor guy in the supermarket that people try to pretend they're not staring at. This can also include other physical deformities, such as malformed limbs(a club foot for instance).
• Paralyzed Here's hoping they have wheelchair access.
  Something's happened in your life that's made you paralyzed from a point of your choosing down. You may choose para- or quadriplegic characters, though all limitations that go along with it must be observed.
• Diseased Have you had your shots?
  You're diseased. What you have is up to you, but you've got something, and for some reason, it isn't going away. (Even if it might be curable)
• Disease Carrier Hello, Typhoid Mary.
  You may want to lock yourself away in your home. You carry a disease that you do not suffer the effects from. What this is is up to you, but you cannot get rid of this flaw. You are forever a hazard to those you spend time with.
• Migraines Where's Bob? Oh, hiding in a dark room under the covers and crying? Right.
  You suffer from debilitating migraines often. At least once a month you're down for the count, and the world could be ending around you and you might not be able to lift a finger to help.
• Addiction Dude, hold on a second! I need my fix! Then I'll call 911, promise!
  You are addicted. What to, is your choice(though we do not count cigarettes or caffeine) generally it's serious drugs of some kind, but can be adrenaline, etc. You have to have it. It effects your life heavily, influencing your decisions to cater to whatever your addiction may be and often times is detrimental to everyone around you because the addiction comes first.

• Insane You so crazy! Now get the hell off my lawn.
  You're cracked in some significant way. Whether it's because you have had a screaming mental breakdown or you developed a mental illness, or you've had it since birth, it's there. And it isn't really going to go away. While mental illness can be treated, the vast majority of it is simply learning to cope with the symptoms. Meaning it's not going to suddenly clear up. It can be anything from Schizophrenia to Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, but something is fundamentally wrong with the way you view or deal with the world.

• Overconfident Oh, I've got that covered, no problem! I'm the best person around to deal, don't worry!
  You? Are the bomb. Or, well, you're decidedly not the bomb. You just happen to think you are. This? Tends to land you into situations you can't possibly handle. Because you really can't pull off what you think you can. Unfortunately, this also puts everyone with you at risk if they're depending on you to be able to do what you say you can.
• God Complex I'm the king of the world!
  You think you are invincible and it never occurs to you that you are, in fact, not. You never think twice before doing things which could be classed as terminally stupid. You think you can handle any situation, despite all evidence to the contrary.
• Low Self Esteem I'm sorry, I suck.
  This might be your most common phrase. Your trouble is that even if you're proficient at something, you can't seem to give yourself credit for it. You don't have a very high opinion of yourself, and this causes various problems with the world around you. For one, you're more likely to mess everything up if you don't have the confidence to back things up. It can also wear on social relationships as your continual self doubt can get trying for others to deal with on a constant level.
• Compulsion You have a quirk that you can't get past.
  It's a tick, some minor little thing you can't get yourself not to do. It's like OCD, only it pertains to just one little thing as opposed to everything. For example, due to some internal paranoia switch being flipped permanently to 'ZOMG THEY'RE OUT TO GET ME!!!' Susie feels the need to wipe her fingerprints from anything she touches outside of her home. She may even deliberately wear clothing with long sleeves to pull down over her hands to avoid even leaving them. Not everyone will understand why they have a certain compulsion.
• Personality Disorder Dude, what is the matter with you?
  It may be something you can't do much about. You have a personality disorder which dictates odd and often times destructive behavior. There are several different types. Your specific one will need to be chosen at character creation, and played consistently.(No, we're sorry, but True Love does not fix your disorder. It just makes you lucky you found someone that patient.)
• Phobia (Severe) Why are you hiding in the car? That's...that's a butterfly.
  Irrational? Certainly. Stupid? Probably. But that's what a phobia is. It's irrational, crippling fear over something. While phobias can range from mild to severe, a true weakness must be a severe one. It cannot be something you can get over or ignore for any length of time. If you are afraid of heights? Someone else will have to come over to climb the ladder to change that lightbulb for you. Keep in mind, if it's something that will not affect your character in any way during the course of the game, you may be asked to change it to something that may. Because while Alektorophobia (Fear of chickens) may be a real and serious phobia, it probably isn't going to be something that will come into play for you (perhaps unless you have a friend who insists on eating at KFC all the time...but still, NO.)
• Paranoid What are you doing calling me on a cell!? Landlines ONLY! They're listening, you know!!!
  You? Are That Guy. The one who's conspiracy theories are lingering around the back of your head, if you aren't loudly vocal about them. Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean they aren't out to get you, and you're convinced they are. Now, this isn't only limited to crackpot government paranoia. It is possible to just be driven to a point where you mistrust the world around you and have to second guess everything and everyone that crosses your path. This means you have trouble making friends as they have to pass through that stage where you're convinced there's an ulterior motive involved, and even after that it may lose you friends considering you may never actually fully trust them. Trust with you could very well be sacred, and you don't hand it out unless you're absolutely sure.
• Burn Out I can't do this anymore.
  You're burned out. You've hit the end of your rope. You're spent, used up, emotionally drained. You just can't be bothered, or just can't care anymore. They've seen too much, lost too many friends and lost faith in themselves. They take a look around and see that nothing matters.
• Death Wish Rock n roll. You guys hang back. I got this.
  Bluntly put, you want to die – you’re just not interested in doing it yourself. Some people with a death wish simply cannot bring themselves to take the pills, or pull the trigger and just keep hoping that fate will do the job for them, others may wish to go out in a blaze of glory. Whatever the reason, you go out of your way to put yourself in situations which may – indeed, probably will – get you killed. That suicide mission from which there is no possible hope of return that’s looking for volunteers? You are the front of the cue there, baby and you consider Russian Roulette a fun hobby.
• Cowardice I'll be back here. Behind the six feet of steel and nowhere near the line of fire. Have fun.
  You are the biggest chicken known to man. Even when you really want to be helping, you just can’t bring yourself to do it – somehow you always end up running away, or hiding under the bed. It might be because you don't care about what happens to others. Or it may be you just have a very deep seeded survival instinct that's kicked into overdrive. Maybe it's because you're simply afraid of everything. However it's manifested, when the shit hits the fan you are out of there.
• Curiosity Oh it won't hurt just to peek, right?
  Well, it might. Often times, it probably will. But you really can't help it. You just have to know. Closed doors bug you. Locks are the bane of your existence. You have an insatiable curiosity that you really can't seem to shake, even when it may be in fact, fatally stupid to poke around with whatever you're dying to know.
• Clueless Huh?
  You don't get it. You just don't get it. This is true with most things. You're the person who doesn't understand most of the world around you, and it may only hit you a few days later what actually happened. This doesn't necessarily mean you are stupid. It just means you don't process the world around you terribly well all the time. This often means you exasperate everyone around you when everyone else has figured things out and you're still staring blankly.
• Superstitious omigodomigodomigod...
  Maybe you studied too much folklore for your liberal studies credits in college. Maybe you had that million year old grandmother who was the most superstitious person on the planet, and you got it from her. Or, you just believe in this shit. Whatever your reason, you're a highly superstitious person. And not to the point where you can ignore it, either. It's not a casual thing for you, it's real. And anything you can do to counteract trod upon superstitions, you will do.
• Pathological Liar Oh my god! I totally know exactly what you're talking about, it happened to me too! What a coincidence!
  For whatever reason, you and the truth are really only passing acquaintances. You're not friends. You don't travel in the same circles at all. You lie. Pretty much at the drop of a hat, all the time. It is not something you carefully calculate, either. It's just there, coming out of your mouth as you're talking to people. Most of them are mostly harmless white lies, but they're present. It's also not something you can help. Even if you're aware you're doing it(which not everyone is) it's simply part of the way you're wired. It's as easy and normal as breathing to you, and that isn't going to go away just because you've lost a few friends because of it. You'll just make new ones! They should last for a while. Maybe.
• Hypochondriac I have a headache. ZOMG! IT'S GOT TO BE A TUMOR!!!
  You are constantly afraid that you're sick. Whether at the first sign of a cough you're convinced you have pneumonia to headaches equating brain tumors, you overreact over your health constantly. It means you're much less likely to engage in any sorts of activities that may cause you injury or get you ill, which limits your interactions considerably. In some cases, hypochondriacs will read about odd conditions or go out of their way to research diseases, and then become convinced they have them.
• Sexual Fetish Now where did I put that chicken...
  There's something kinky about you. And generally speaking, it's also something you require to gain satisfaction from sexual encounters. Without it, nothing quite does it for you. It is the focus of your sex life, and anything less is unsatisfying. This can lead to a lot of distress with partners, particularly if they do not share in their enthusiasm for your chosen fetish.
• Perversion It's perfectly normal! ...for otters. Stop looking at me like that.
  There's a wire crossed somewhere in you. It might be in your emotional responses, it might be otherwise, but there's something off with you, specifically in certain areas. In short, that ain't normal. You choose what your perversion is at character creation. It can be(and often is) sexual in nature, but it doesn't have to be. Examples include more extreme sado-masochism, furries, the need to keep any bones from meat you've eaten in a tin box under your bed...
• Oppositional Defiant Disorder Fuck off. It's not my fault anyways, why are you looking at me? You got a problem? Huh, punk?!
  It's in your nature to be That Guy. You know the one. You were the kid in the principal's office every day for bullying. Now, you're the asshole at every party that makes others uncomfortable, winds up in a fight and kicked out before the night's over. You pick fights with others for no reason, you deliberately are contradictive to things people say even if there's nothing to back up your point of view. You don't take orders, you can't follow along with the rest of the class, and you go out of your way to make everyone around you miserable. You have a horrible temper, little to nothing can set you off, and watch out after that happens. You just can't not twist the knife every time you get a chance...it's all their fault anyways, right?

• Enemy Why is it everywhere I go with you, we're dodging sniper rounds?
  Well, that's because at some point in your existence, you pissed someone off. And they're no slouch. This isn't a vindictive mailman who bends your letters marked 'do not bend' and makes sure to rattle any packages with the world 'fragile' on them. This is someone who is actively out to either kill you, or ruin your life. They are driven, and unreasonable. Tea and cookies are not going to fix this. In fact, you have no idea how to go about stopping them--if indeed there is a way.

• Loner Go away, leave me alone.
  You have taken liking your own company to a whole new level and can probably list your social contacts on the fingers of one hand. You go through days without talking to people – you are the guy whose name people who you’ve worked with for years cannot remember. Whatever the cause – whether social ineptitude, a crippling speech impediment or just that you hate the world and everyone in it, you and other people? Don’t get along. And you want to keep it that way.
• Attention whore ME. It's all about ME, and anyone who doesn't see that is going to get an earful RIGHT NOW, damnit!
  You weren't hugged enough as a child, were you? You have to be in the spotlight, whether you are being adored, pitied, or chased after with pitchforks. For whatever reason, you have to have everyone's attention, and someone else spending time in your precious spotlight is just not acceptable. Because of this, you may be highly prone to jealousy.
• Naive Don't worry, it'll all work out.
  The world isn't a bad place. Not to you, anyhow. You see the world through rose tinted lenses. Whether it's from lack of experience, a sheltered upbringing, or a blind eye to the horrors the world has to offer, you just don't get bogged down by the bad. Which leaves you wide open, since you won't ever see it coming. You have yet to be disillusioned, and by now, it may be a hard lesson to learn once it does happen.
• Gullible Oh, right, that was sarcasm, right. Funny.
  You're one of those people who's easy to get. You don't really expect others to lie to you, even jokingly. So you often wind up being the last one to get the joke, because information you've been told before that was untrue you didn't understand 'til later. You're also easy to dupe into doing things. It's that inherent belief in people and what they say that does it. Unfortunately for you, it doesn't really seem to teach you a lesson. You just keep on trucking along.
• Anger Management Issues Oh, that is it, you're going down now!
  In short, you have a short fuse. It's easy to anger you, and you're not the most stable and rational of people when you snap. And you do snap. Often. When caught up in a rage, very little is safe. Personal property to people, you may just be breaking things. Unfortunately, you're also not the kind of person that when swept up in the full ride of the rage, that can be calmed down. You don't get talked down by family or friends, you break things, leave, and return later slightly less pissed off. More often than not, time is the only thing that works for you. Pity the people in your path.
• Uneducated ...oh. Yeah...sorry...didn't read that.
  Whether you dropped out at a young age, or for some reason you never got proper schooling, you don't have even a standard high school education level. This makes things like reading, math, etc difficult for you, and often times makes social interaction embarrassing. This does not mean you are stupid, but you most certainly don't know as much as the people around you and it can't be hidden forever. It will mean that you could be left in the dust even in discussions about literature or anything else you couldn't have learned off of daytime television. Even with common topics such as Shakespeare or the like--you haven't read it. So there's a lot out there that you won't understand or be able to talk to anyone about.
• Alpha Male Syndrome You best fall in line, boy, or we're going to have issues.
  You're the guy who knows how everything works. You're the guy who when given the opportunity, is giving out orders like candy. It's the driving need of your personality. You've got to be top dog, no matter what it costs you to get there. You cannot stand even for a while not being ahead of everyone else around you. You're the one who should be in charge, and damnit, you're going to be.
• Highly Competitive Oh that's nothing. Watch me...
  You can't stand for someone else to be better at something, can you? You hate when people are better off than you, or even worse off. Your aunt died? Well when I was five both of my parents were brutally murdered with the killer still at large, but you don't see me bitching, do you? You got a new bike? I have a new car. You got an A on your paper? I graduated early because of my brilliance. You can do 500 push-ups? I can do... just shut up already, 'kay?