History Main / ThatOneDisadvantage

* ''{{GURPS}}'' has Combat Paralysis and high-value (e.g. -40+ for a whole ''government'') Enemies. Both of them, however, pale in comparison to the Hemophila disadvantage, which makes ANY wound you suffer into either a royal pain in the ass, a life-threatening disaster, or a quick trip to the morgue.

* Dark Fate in ''LegendOfTheFiveRings''. Sure, it can save your bacon, but when the GM feels like it, you will betray everything your character holds dear, probably including the other players. Death is usually the result, although a FateWorseThanDeath is also a distinct possibility.

* Dark Fate in the old ''WorldOfDarkness'' games. The books try to make it sound appealing by pointing out your Dark Fate means you have an effectively open hand until it hits (unless it's your Dark Fate, what can the situation ''do'' to you?), but realistically, the Storyteller will hammer you with your Dark Fate as soon as you screw up one too many of his plans.
** Similarly, Life Saver in more than one of the Old [=WoD=] games, with the wrong group. Because isn't everyone a HeroicSociopath who is alright with butchering people?
* Bleeder in ''[[{{Firefly}} Serenity]]'' is like GURPS Hemophilia - any significant wound is death. "Things Don't Go Smooth" is another bad one (the GM can void any success he likes once or twice per game session, typically the "do or die" ones) - notable in that ''Mal'' has it.

* The Bloodfeeder for the Chaos Lord in [[{{Warhammer40000}} Warhammer 40k]]. When used in melee, you roll 2 six-sided dice and get that many plus 4 attacks in that round (keep in mind that, for a character, you should usually get about ''five'' attacks). That is, unless you roll a 1 on ''either'' die, in which your Chaos Lord [[MemeticMutation goes into a wrist-slitting]] [[{{Wangst}} emo mode]], represented by him taking an armor-ignoring wound and forfeiting ''all'' of his attacks that round, which more-often-than-not coincides with him getting obliterated in whatever melee he was a part of. No surprise, the fluff clearly points out in many places that [[AxCrazy "Khorne cares not from whence the blood flows"]]. The Chaos Marines have a number of ConfusionFu options in their codex, but the Bloodfeeder is by far the most self-destructive.

* ''MagicTheGathering'' gives us Lich, which turns life into card draw, makes it so you can't lose from zero life, puts you at zero life, and makes you sacrifice permanents instead of damage. If it leaves play, though, you lose instantly.

Clear requirement: it should be presented as a disadvantage from the beginning. It should not just be a less smart option, it should clearly be labeled as an intentional handicap. You should get something in return for it. It has to be voluntarily chosen. And it has to be a completely disastrous option that is plain not worth it.

* ''{{Exile}} 3'' had the Pacifist disadvantage. While it was technically possible to give this to a magic user and still have a semi-viable party member, in a game that is basically a series of [[DungeonCrawl Dungeon Crawls]] a pacifist is of limited utility.

** God help you if you're also a High Elf. (50% weakness to fire, so a Vampire High Elf under The Lord has 200% weakness to fire. Ouch.)

* One background option in ''{{Arcanum}}'' is "Nietzsche Poster Child", boosting EXP in exchange for increasing critical failure rate ("That which does not kill me can only make me stronger."). Given ''Arcanum'' has really annoying effects possible for critical failures (most are "deal damage to self", but also found are "receive injury that reduces stats and can only be healed by upper end healing items" and "your weapon breaks instantly" "Armor damaged" "get stunned and most likely die because the thing you were fighting now has a few turns of uninterrupted, unmissable attacks" and multiple of the above) and EXP is given like candy already, only a pure diplomat (who doesn't really make any rolls that can critically fail, plus doesn't get the game's insane amount of combat EXP) can make any use of it, and even then a background that boosts your persuasion stats (and the cap for them, as a stats's cap is based on its starting value) with a hit to combat stats may be better.

* The Moronic trait in ''{{Tropico}}'' is not a good trait to have as it bars you from getting colleges.

* ''{{GURPS}}'' has Combat Paralysis and high-value (e.g. -40+ for a whole ''government'') Enemies. Both of them, however, pale in comparison to the Hemophila disadvantage, which makes ANY wound you suffer into either a royal pain in the ass, a life-threatening disaster or a quick trip to the morgue.

** There is an Easy to Kill disadvantage. I repeat, there is an ''Easy to Kill'' disadvantage. While can be offset with plenty of Hp, DR, etc., it's rarely taken because it's only worth -2 points per level.
** Unique sounds cool until you find out it means that if anything ever changes the time line significantly (and you can only take it in worlds where this is possible) you not only cease to exist, [[RetGone you cease to have ever existed, anywhere, with no chance of ever being remembered]]. You can also take it in parallel universe settings, where it's closer to MinmaxersDelight - not only do you get disadvantage points for taking it, it gives you the Zeroed advantage (i.e. your character is [[{{Unperson}} not listed in any of the usual publicly-available records]]) for free.

** At the highest level of Terminally Ill, your character will suddenly drop dead after a year or so; however, since that's its only effect, it still be a MinMaxersDelight if you don't expect the campaign to last that long, though that's quite a real gamble if your GM hasn't let you know anything that could be used to gauge that at character creation.
** Reduced Time Rate makes it so a character takes twice as long to perform any non-combat tasks, and in combat you declare all your actions (like punching that guy in front of you), then wait a turn, then perform those actions (like punching the air where that guy was last round)
* Dark Fate in ''LegendOfTheFiveRings''. Sure it can save your bacon, but when the GM feels like it you will betray everything your character holds dear, probably including the other players. Death is usually the result, although a FateWorseThanDeath is also a distinct possibility.

*** While the 75 free points you get for it are a massive advantage, especially for a low-level character, there's no way any GM worth the name isn't going to take a huge amount of pleasure in making you regret it. One of the jokes in Pyramid (the GURPS magazine) revolved around a disadvantage called Spontaneous Human Combustion - also probably a bad one to take.

** There is an Easy to Kill disadvantage. I repeat, there is an ''Easy to Kill'' disadvantage.
*** It can be offset with plenty of Hp, DR etc, but it is rarely taken because it's only worth -2 points per level.
** Unique sounds cool until you find out it means that if anything ever changes the time line significantly (and you can only take it in worlds where this is possible) you not only cease to exist, [[RetGone you cease to have ever existed, anywhere with no chance of ever being remembered]].
*** You can also take it in parallel universe settings, where it's closer to MinmaxersDelight - not only do you get disadvantage points for taking it, it gives you the Zeroed advantage (i.e. your character is [[{{Unperson}} not listed in any of the usual publicly-available records]]) for free.

** At the highest level of Terminally Ill your character is unlikely to make it through a half-dozen sessions.
*** And is still considered MinMaxersDelight because it has no effect other than making the character suddenly drop dead after a year or so.
** Reduced Time Rate make it so a character takes twice as long to perform any non-combat tasks, and in combat you declare all your actions (like punching that guy in front of you), then wait a turn, then perform those actions (like punching the air where that guy was last round)

** While The Atronach, double magicka in exchange for no magicka regain from resting, is played up to be this in game, it is more annoying than deadly with a decent knowledge of the game (i.e., potions that restore magicka better than resting are light weight and free at any mage guild if you are a member and that the sign also absorbs the blessings at altars for free restores.) It works as an EliteTweak in the end.

* The Apprentice birthsign is even worse than the Lord in ''{{Oblivion}}''; you get 100 more magicka, but at the price of a 100% weakness to magic. If you're also a High Elf, then fire, frost, and shock damage spells are dealing ''125%'' more damage to you.
* One background option in ''{{Arcanum}}'' is "Nietzsche Poster Child", boosting EXP in exchange for increasing critical failure rate ("That which does not kill me can only make me stronger."). Given ''Arcanum'' has really annoying effects possible for critical failures (most are "deal damage to self", but also found are "receive injury that reduces stats and can only be healed by upper end healing items" and "your weapon breaks instantly" "Armor damaged" "get stuned and most likely die because the thing you were fighting now has a few turns of uninterupted, unmissable attacks" and multiple of the above) and EXP is given like candy already, only a pure diplomat (who doesn't really make any rolls that can critically fail, plus doesn't get the game's insane amount of combat EXP) can make any use of it, and even then a background that boosts your persuasion stats (and the cap for them, as a stats's cap is based on its starting value) with a hit to combat stats may be better.
* In Pokémon, Archen and its evolution, Archeops, have the Defeatist ability. It halves both their attack and special attack stats when their health is at or below 50%.

** Actually being a Pacifist made you able to take other nice benefits and retain a reasonable XP progression. This was the result of trade-offs: you advance slower or faster depending on your mix of edges and flaws. And it was certainly possible to keep one spellcaster busy doing nothing but healing and buffing, especially since, in Exile, buffs stack.

** Actually being a Pacifist made you able to take other nice benefits and retain a reasonable XP progression. This was the result of trade-offs: you advance slower or faster depending on your mix of edges and flaws. And it was certainly possible to keep one spellcaster busy doing nothing but healing and buffing, especially since in Exile buffs stack.

* The Bloodfeeder for the Chaos Lord in [[{{Warhammer40000}} Warhammer 40k]]. When used in melee, you roll 2 six-sided dice and get that many plus 4 attacks in that round (keep in mind that, for a character, you should usually get about ''five'' attacks). That is, unless you roll a 1 on ''either'' die, in which your Chaos Lord [[MemeticMutation goes into a wrist-slitting]] [[{{Wangst}} emo mode]], represented by him taking an armor-ignoring wound and forfeiting ''all'' of his attacks that round, which more-often-than-not coincides with him getting obliterated in whatever melee he was a part of. No surprise, the fluff clearly points out in many places that [[AxCrazy "Khorne cares not from whence the blood flows"]]. The Chaos Marines have a number of SchrodingerFu options in their codex, but the Bloodfeeder is by far the most self-destructive.

* The Bloodfeeder for the Chaos Lord in [[Warhammer40000 Warhammer 40k]]. When used in melee, you roll 2 six-sided dice and get that many plus 4 attacks in that round (keep in mind that, for a character, you should usually get about ''five'' attacks). That is, unless you roll a 1 on ''either'' die, in which your Chaos Lord [[MemeticMutation goes into a wrist-slitting]] [[Wangst emo mode]], represented by him taking an armor-ignoring wound and forfeiting ''all'' of his attacks that round, which more-often-than-not coincides with him getting obliterated in whatever melee he was a part of. No surprise, the fluff clearly points out in many places that [[AxCrazy "Khorne cares not from whence the blood flows"]]. The Chaos Marines have a number of SchrodingerFu options in their codex, but the Bloodfeeder is by far the most self-destructive.

* One background option in ''{{Arcanum}}'' is "Nietzsche Poster Child", boosting EXP in exchange for increasing critical failure rate ("That which does not kill me can only make me stronger."). Given ''Arcanum'' has really annoying effects possible for critical failures (most are "deal damage to self", but also found are "receive injury that reduces stats and can only be healed by upper end healing items" and "your weapon breaks instantly" "Armor damaged" "get stuned and most likely die because the thing you were fighting now has a few turns of uninterupted, unmissable attacks" and multiple of the above) and EXP is given like candy alreddy, only a pure diplomat (who doesn't really make any rolls that can critically fail, plus doesn't get the game's insane amount of combat EXP) can make any use of it, and even then a background that boosts your persuasion stats (and the cap for them, as a stats's cap is based on its starting value) with a hit to combat stats may be better.

[[AC:CollectibleCardGame]]
* Dark Fate in ''LegendOfTheFiveRings''.
** [=L5R=] is rife with these. Momoku, which removes the ability to spend void, is not even close to worth the 10 Character Points you get. The creators have noted that disadvantages in their system are supposed to be deadly, not a minor handicap, and taking one is supposed to be handing the GM an excuse to ruin you.

* One background option in ''{{Arcanum}}'' is "Nietzsche Poster Child", boosting EXP in exchange for increasing critical failure rate ("That which does not kill me can only make me stronger."). Given ''Arcanum'' has really annoying effects possible for critical failures (most are "deal damage to self", but also found are "receive injury that reduces stats and can only be healed by upper end healing items" and "your weapon breaks instantly" "Armor damaged" "get stuned and most likely die because the thing you were fighting now has a few turns of uninterupted, unmissable attacks" and multiple of the above) and EXP is given like candy alreddy, only a pure diplomat (who doesn't really make any rolls that can critically fail, plus doesn't get the game's insane ammount of combat EXP) can make any use of it.

* "Palms Like Sieves" in Hackmaster.

* "Palms Like Sieves" in HackMaster.

* The Lord birthsign in ''{{Morrowind}}'' gave your character a semi-decent healing spell in return for turning him or her into kindling (100% weakness to fire). Enjoy Vampirism (50% weakness to fire). On top of that, the healing spell is immediately made useless by the infinitely superior 'Hearth Heal' spell that can be bought by almost any NPC that sells Restoration spells. The Lord's healing spell heals 2HP per second for 30 seconds while Hearth Heal heals 20-80HP immediately, making it quicker and able to heal more HP overall. Characters who major in Restoration even start with this spell, making The Lord birthsign even more useless.

* The Apprentice birthsign is even worse than the Lord in {{''Oblivion''}}; you get 100 more magic points, but at the price of a 100% weakness to magic. If you're also a High Elf, then fire, frost, and shock damage spells are dealing ''125%'' more damage to you.

* The Lord birthsign in ''{{Morrowind}}'' gave your character a semi-decent healing spell in return for turning him or her into kindling. Enjoy Vampirism.
** God help you if you're also a High Elf.

** The Apprentice birthsign is even worse than the Lord; you get 100 more magic points, but at the price of a 100% weakness to magic. If you're also a High Elf, then fire, frost, and shock damage spells are dealing ''125%'' more damage to you.
*** Actually, in ''Morrowind'', weakness/resistance to "magic" didn't influence elemental or poison effects, which required "resist <element>". It was changed in ''Oblivion'', but the birthsigns and racial bonuses were not rebalanced. This did indeed the Apprentice rather awful, and also made the Bretons' permanent 50% magic resist ridiculously good.

* ''{{GURPS}}'' has Combat Paralysis and high-value (e.g. -40+ for a whole ''government'') Enemies. Both of them, however, pale in comparsion to the Hemophila disadvantage, which makes ANY wound you suffer into either a royal pain in the ass, a life-threatening disaster or a quick trip to the morgue.
** There's actually a whole bunch in GURPS; woe on anyone who takes the disadvantages Cursed or Unluckiness - you're just begging the GM to be a dick towards you at the worst possible time. Here's the actual description for Cursed:
---> ''Like Unluckiness, but worse. Whenever anything goes wrong for your party, it happens to you, first and worst. If something goes right, it misses you. And any time the GM feels like hosing you, he can, and you have no gripe coming, because you are cursed.''
*** While the 75 free points you get for it are a massive advantage, especially for a low-level character, there's no way any GM worth the name isn't going to take a huge amount of pleasure in making you regret it. One of the jokes in Pyramid (the GURPS magazine) revolved around a disadvantage called Spontaneous Human Combustion - also probably a bad one to take.
** Klutz and Total Klutz likewise ''encourage'' the GM to screw with you in their description. "The GM should be creative in inventing minor torments."
** There is an Easy to Kill disadvantage. I repeat, there is an ''Easy to Kill'' disadvantage.
*** It can be offset with plenty of Hp, DR etc, but it is rarely taken because it's only worth -2 points per level.
** Unique sounds cool until you find out it means that if anything ever changes the time line significantly (and you can only take it in worlds where this is possible) you not only cease to exist, [[RetGone you cease to have ever existed, anywhere with no chance of ever being remembered]].
*** You can also take it in parallel universe settings, where it's closer to MinmaxersDelight - not only do you get disadvantage points for taking it, it gives you the Zeroed advantage (i.e. your character is [[{{Unperson}} not listed in any of the usual publicly-available records]]) for free.
** Slave Mentality requires you to make a rather difficult roll "before you can take any action that isn't either obeying a direct order or part of an established routine." And to do anything other than fold to social influence requires ''GM permission'' and another difficult roll. As the book says, "rarely appropriate for [=PCs=]"!
** Also, maximum point value enemies are [[RuleOfCool really fun.]]
** At the highest level of Terminally Ill your character is unlikely to make it through a half-dozen sessions.
*** And is still considered MinMaxersDelight because it has no effect other than making the character suddenly drop dead after a year or so.
** Reduced Time Rate make it so a character takes twice as long to perform any non-combat tasks, and in combat you declare all your actions (like punching that guy in front of you), then wait a turn, then perform those actions (like punching the air where that guy was last round)
* Dark Fate in the old ''WorldOfDarkness'' games. The books try to make it sound appealing by pointing out your Dark Fate means you have an effectively open hand until it hits (unless it's your Dark Fate, what can the situation ''do'' to you?), but realistically, the Storyteller will hammer you with your Dark Fate as soon as you screw up one too many of his plans.
** Similarly, Life Saver in more than one of the Old [=WoD=] games, with the wrong group. Because isn't everyone a HeroicSociopath who is alright with butchering people?

* The Moronic trait in ''{{Tropico}}'' is not a good trait to have as it bars you from getting colleges.
* Bleeder in ''[[{{Firefly}} Serenity]]'' is like GURPS Hemophilia - any significant wound is death. "Things Don't Go Smooth" is another bad one (the GM can void any success he likes once or twice per game session, typically the "do or die" ones) - notable in that ''Mal'' has it.
** Although this shouldn't be too much of a surprise, considering it's named after one of his lines.
* The highest level of Coward in ''All Flesh Must Be Eaten''. Buy it and your character will never play any real role in the game ever again.

* {{Dragon}} Magazine #325 has the Superstitious flaw. If you create a character with a crippling phobia of magic, maybe adventuring just isn't for you.

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** Slave Mentality requires you to make a rather difficult roll "before you can take any action that isn't either obeying a direct order or part of an established routine." And to do anything other than fold to social influence requires ''GM permission'' and another difficult roll. As the book says, "rarely appropriate for PCs"!

** Similarly, Life Saver in more than one of the Old WoD games, with the wrong group. Because isn't everyone a HeroicSociopath who is alright with butchering people?