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GM Treats (Called 'Character Disadvantages' in other games) are compulsions
and problems that your characters have. They are called GM Treats because
they give the GM a bulletproof excuse to make your life miserable. On
the plus side, GM Treats give you additional character points that you
can use to make your character unfairly powerful. However, if your GM
is anything like me, you'll find the trade is not anywhere close to
worth it.
GM treats can only be purchased during character creation. The GM can
refuse to allow treats in his/her/it's game, but they are encouraged
in order to further distinguish a character.
Okay, that's a lie. They're encouraged because they cause chaos and
strife, and as a GM, that's your job.
GM Treats are ranked according to their severity. A GM Treat worth 1
point is more appropriately classified as a quirk--it won't seriously
affect the character's performance in most situations, but should be
reflected in a roleplaying sense. The GM should only inflict this kind
of drawback on a player against their will if they're not expressing
it themselves. More severe versions of these disadvantages, on the other
hand, should affect them against their will on a regular basis. A 1-point
boozer, for example, should hang around in bars and roleplay alcohol-soaked
mischief sessions every so often. A full-blown alcoholic, on the other
hand, will show up drunk to critical contract meetings even when he
tells the GM that he's not going to. (Rather like real alcoholics try
to convince themselves they're not going to drink...) They will require
successful mojo rolls (of varying difficulty) to resist their compulsions
even when those compulsions are obviously a bad idea.
Penalties from minor versions of drawbacks are replaced by the more
severe version--for example, the -4 penalty for Downright Faustian replaces
the penalty for Ass Ugly. You still recieve the points for both.
There are no advantages to go with these simply because most advantages
can be reflected by purchasing non-combat skills. We may add a list
of such skills as time goes on.
You cannot purchase GM Treats for single, death-match style battles
against other players, and you should be ashamed that you thought about
it.
Psi-Tard (+2 points)
For whatever reason, this character just doesn't grasp psionic powers.
This character can never learn psionic skills or maneuvers.
Olympian Psi-Tard (+3, requires Psi-Tard)
Not only are you too clueless to use psychic powers, but you can't handle
it when anyone else uses them on you--you pretty much panic and compulsively
bend over for anyone who tries. Other characters do not need to BEND
when targeting this character with psionic powers. If your crew as a
whole is targeted by a power (or you choose a target), the enemy may
use that power once per turn without BENDing.
Uncontrollable Psychic Power (+0, requires a
psionic skill)
Your natural psionic power is much higher than most--so high, in fact,
that it's hard for you to control. There are often side-effects when
you use it and it sometimes comes on of it's own accord. You have to
be careful what you think, lest your powers accidentally activate while
you're watching TV or on the crapper.
Once per battle, you may use one of your psychic powers without BENDing.
Roll a D12--on a roll of 4 or less, the power affects one of your crew
(enemy's choice) in addition to your target. The GM is also obligated
to activate your power at sadistically inappropriate times.
Ass Ugly (+2)
You are not only considered horribly unattractive by your own species,
but by pretty much all of them--even those who don't know what you're
supposed to look like. -1 to all stack numbers when socializing.
Downright Faustian (+2, requires Ass Ugly)
You're not just unattractive--you're utterly repulsive, and it probably
isn't just your face anymore. -4 to all stack numbers when socializing.
Spacer Hygiene (+1)
You don't typically shower. -2 to all stack numbers when socializing
with people who aren't used to it.
Gay (+1)
While you probably don't mind this, some people are assholes to gay
people and members of the Sanctious Galactica consider them an 'abomination.'
-2 to stack numbers when socializing with rednecks or members of the
Sanctious Galactica (assuming they know that you're gay).
Flaming (+2, requires Gay. Cannot be taken by
Zarigians.)
Not only are you gay, but you're a walking stereotype. EVERYONE can
tell that you're gay. Even animals.
Flaming, but Straight (+3, requires that you
NOT have Gay. Cannot be taken by Zarigians.)
Everyone can tell that you're gay. Even animals. The problem is, you
actually *aren't.* People treat you differently just because you're
great at coordinating colors and were raised using the word 'Fabulous...'
This leads no no end of awkward and embarassing situations.
Boozer (+1)
You very much enjoy Der Booze. You're not out of control, per se, but
you won't turn down a drink when it's cheerfully offered, and you spend
a large chunk of your paychecks on hooch. You love it so very, very
much.
Raging Alcoholic (+2, requires Boozer)
You don't drink because you like it, you drink because you need it.
It's the only way you can deal with the overall suckyness of life in
general. You officially Have A Problem, but the fact is, you don't care--you'd
rather have a problem if it means you get your medicine.
Pig (+1)
You very much enjoy The Ribs. As an angel patron of Vortogg's, Horgsnod's
31 Flavors and all the other colon-defiling delights of modern agriculture,
you have managed to accumulate quite the spare tire. While you can still
run fast and hit hard when you need to, you do tend to get tuckered
out pretty fast. You spend too much time, money and thought on food.
Unbelievably Fat Bastard (+3, requires Pig)
To you, food is the alpha and omega of life. Everything else is just
a distraction. It is the daily pleasure that makes life worth it, and
you seek to maximize it whenever possible. As a result, you're basically
an orca. You pretty much automatically fail anything that involves athletics,
with the exception of things like football, belly-butting and bar brawls.
Pornfiend (+1)
You're the result of a world in which naked women/men/narxblosh are
simply a mouse-click away. You have porn hidden all over your ship and
most of your money is probably being saved for a trip to the pleasure
bogs. You tend to bandy about words and phrases that aren't exactly
comfortable for people who aren't as inundated with filth as you are
(you talk about everything in terms of tachyons) and your hard drive
is always full, no matter how big it is. And your favorite word in all
the collected literature and culture of sentient life is 'boobies.'
Relentless Zoomonkey (+2, requires Pornfiend)
You just never seem to stop. People who know you won't let you use their
bathrooms. They are terribly embarassed anytime you excuse yourself
to go 'powder your nose' in a public place. It's mortifying. You, of
course, either don't care or just think it's hilarious.
Ironically, you're practically indifferent to real girls.
Junky (+5)
While most people content themselves with their addictions to booze,
deep-fat-fried cheese and porno, you've got one of those 'Real' addictions.
An addiction to something you can't find at the store. Modern narcotics
won't necessarily kill you quickly, but you don't have any illusions
that they're good for you, and they're definately damned expensive.
You know they're bad and all that...it's just that life SUCKS so much
without them.
Desperate Little Crackwhore (+3, Requires Junky)
Not only are you addicted to something bad, it's something that's more
bad, more illegal, more expensive, and more 'Going to kill you' than
most. Maybe you got addicted to some unrefined snarfhocker drug or maybe
you were slipped a special cocktail by a treacherous fixer in the Reticuli
slums. You now have only two choices--die from the stuff, or wish to
God you were dead without it. At least the die option gives you a few
months of happiness.
Casual Stoner (+3, cannot buy Junky or Crackwhore)
You have a fetish for 'Chemical Experimentation,' but you've got enough
common sense to stay away from the hard stuff. You content yourself
with smoking streakite weed, popping over-the-counter stimulants and
drinking mouthwash. Most of it won't kill you--as far as you know--but
it sure does make you entertaining. Especially when you introduce your
new friends to one another, fully aware--in the clearer parts of your
mind--that you don't know which ones are imaginary and which ones aren't.
GhazPORK Worshipper (+5)
You tend to be impulsive, mischievous and slightly insane. While you
may or may not actually be a member, you find you get along very well
with the disciples of the Church of GhazPORK. While it's great fun,
there's a big drawback to being around people who think like that. Any
time you (the player) joke about your character doing something, you
must succeed at a mojo roll (difficulty 5) to stop your character from
actually doing it.
Bountied (+3)
You tried telling them that it was like that when you got there, but
they just didn't believe you. You start the game with a $20,000 credit
bounty on your head.
Hunted (+5, requires Bountied)
You tried telling them that it was like that when you got there, but
when they pumped your stomach and found it was full of brains, that
seemed to prejudice them. You start the game with a $100,000 credit
bounty on your head.
Racist Dickface (+2)
You tend to judge people based on their race more easily than most.
You subscribe to your own personal stereotypes and your experiences
with any member of a given race will tend to influence your views of
that race as a whole. You like some races more than they deserve and
dislike others more than they deserve. When choosing this drawback,
you must also name at least one race that you just loathe.
Spineless (+3)
You have strong instincts towards self-preservation, and what's more,
you think 'Bravery' is just the politically correct term for a complete
lack of foresight.
Whenever a battle is obviously going against you, you will always surrender
or retreat--even if it means leaving others behind. In the unlikely
event that it really is that important to you--which it shouldn't be--you'll
have to make a Mojo roll of 10 to convince yourself that sticking around
and getting killed really is, somehow, a good idea.
Lazy (+5)
You really hate work. You can stay on task when it's really important,
but the rest of the time, you just don't want to. There may well be
plenty of things you'd like to get done, but actually doing them is
too much of a pain in the ass. As a result, your character is not allowed
to use it's 'Down Time' (Time between missions, etc.) for anything productive.
You can't tinker with shield generators or conduct thorough investigations
into people's backgrounds or study an alien culture. You just goof off
and play video games.
However, every lazy person has their random obsessions or things they've
had to do for so long that they've gotten used to it. To reflect this,
you are not considered quite as lazy when it comes to anything you actually
have a skill for--you can use it often enough to recieve it's bonuses,
even if you still aren't quite as dedicated about it. (Thus, you CAN
tinker with shield generators if you have Shield Design as a skill.)
On the plus side, apathy can be a powerful weapon against temptation.
You gain +3 to your stack numbers any time you're trying NOT to do something.
(Resisting coercion, mind control, addictions, GhazPORKian tendencies,
etc.)
Shopaholic (+7)
You have a problem with money. Specifically, you spray it out with both
hands whenever you possibly can. You don't necessarily mean to, you
don't necessarily like it--you just buy stuff. All the time. Trying
to control your spending is so uncomfortable that you always cave after
just a few days, and when you earn ten grand, it causes you to spend
twenty.
Your character must spend a certain amount of money every week. This
amount is equal to 20% of the most money you have ever had--if your
character ever had $100,000, he must spend $20,000 every week, even
if he only has $25,000 total. This continues until you go broke. If
you have any form of credit available to you, you do not count as broke
until all of your credit is maxed out. If you don't choose things to
spend the money on, it goes away anyway, spent on useless crap that
you probably tossed in the closet or threw away.
Once you finally go completely broke, your maximum is reset to 0--you
no longer have to spend money until you have a positive balance again,
and the amount you must spend per week is based on your maximums since
the last time you went broke.
Shithead (+2)
You are tactless, rude, insulting and petty. At least, that's how people
see you. You may not hold any real malice towards your fellow beings,
you may not want to offend them, but your personality is just flat out
abrasive for some reason. Either that, or you just enjoy pissing people
off.
Shitheads cannot gain any mojo bonuses when interacting with people.
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