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| 9 | * ''TabletopGame/ArsMagica'': Most people born with the Gift of magic naturally cause deep distrust and unease in nearby people and {{animals|HateHim}}. MagicalSociety has strategies to deal with this, but RandomlyGifted children have to grow up with the distrust of their entire community; many are driven out or abandoned, especially if they cause harm with bouts of PowerIncontinence from abilities they don't know they have. |
| 10 | * ''TabletopGame/CallOfCthulhu''. One old issue of Wizard Magazine stated that ''Call of Cthulhu'' is the only game in which the player with the fastest speed lives the longest, and the only game in which ''no one'' wants the magic item. It doesn't help the original game was a ticking countdown from sanity to insanity: your character ''will'' go insane. It's just a matter of how fast. Of course, your character might not go insane. They have a good chance of dying before they hit that point. Needless to say, ending a Call of Cthulhu game with a living and sane character is unlikely at best. |
| 11 | * ''TabletopGame/{{Chaotic}}'': The Mipedian Warbeasts, while whey have massive energy pools and disciplines, all but two of the Warbeasts also have massive Recklessness values, causing them to take large amounts of damage whenever they attack. Additionally, of the ones that don't have Recklessness, one reduces the energy of all other creatures you control, and the other forces you to sacrifice another creature after winning combat, or it gets destroyed. |
| 12 | ** This can be averted with the exception of The Warbeasts that lack Recklessness with use of Conjurers, most of which reduce Recklessness damage to Warbeasts, if not negating the damage entirely. However, you'll then need a way to stop the enemy from simply [[ShootTheMageFirst sniping your]] [[SquishyWizard Conjurers]] [[ShootTheMageFirst first]]. |
| 13 | ** This can also be partially averted with use of the Stone Mail Battlegear, which negates all effects on a creature, however this has its own drawbacks in that it prevents movement and increases all damage dealt to the creature by 5. |
| 14 | * ''TabletopGame/{{Deadlands}}'': The Harrowed. Not many people get a second shot at life, even if it is in the "crawling your way out of the grave" sort of way. Being harder to kill (again) and manifesting some of the game's strongest powers sounds great... until your [[JekyllAndHyde personal demon]] takes over, often resulting in deaths among your [[TrueCompanions posse]]. The only player character type that has ''more'' power has ''even more'' [[{{Pun}} suck]]: [[OurVampiresAreDifferent vampires]]. |
| 15 | * ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' |
| 16 | ** Paladins are sometimes depicted as being such [[SlaveToPR Slaves To PR]] as to have little free will. Thus, they must do the most obvious "LawfulGood" action to any situation, even if the end result will obviously be bad, or else lose their powers or [[ThePunishment worse.]] Many have called this interpretation "[[LawfulStupidChaoticStupid Lawful Stupid]]". An important bit of GameplayAndStorySegregation; often it's not the paladin BlessedWithSuck but the ''player'', as it's the player who might want to cheat the system (Paladins generally take their oaths because they ''want'' to uphold Law and Good), and it's the player who might have to deal with a KillerGameMaster who will take any opportunity to force the Paladin to Fall, including forcing moral dilemmas and stripping powers at the slightest hint of an alignment infraction, forcing the Paladin to play strictly based on alignment or else not be able to play the class they like. |
| 17 | ** 9/10 of every template in the game (meaning you have some special heritage or similar background that grants you special ability). Yes, you are born 'special'. Yes, you get extra powers your {{Muggle}} compatriots don't get, on top of your normal race and class abilities. However, due to CompetitiveBalance, you get a Level Adjustment that means you are actually a lower level than your fellow party members, which means they have access to cooler toys and powers than you do. In addition to this, comes the role-playing aspects. The remaining 10% of the templates tend to be {{Game Breaker}}s, as the advantages vastly outweigh the loss of a level (unless you're [[LinearWarriorsQuadraticWizards a magic-user]]). |
| 18 | ** The 4e update tries to discard this trope, removing the "Must be LawfulGood" from Paladins, removing the capacity for classes to have their powers stripped from them altogether (no anti-magic fields or divine rebukes, for example), removing racial templates by trying to convert them to new races or just to generally less-powerful "bloodlines" (half-dragons being replaced by Dragonborn and the Vampire template being replaced by the Dhampyr bloodline and Vampire class, for example), and simultaneously lowering the power of wizards (and raising the power of other classes) while redesigning the way powers work so a wizard can never really run out of spells. [[BrokenBase Fans are divided.]] |
| 19 | ** ''TabletopGame/{{Eberron}}'': One of the Cataclysm Mage prestige class' features are self-related prophecies that are received on the 1st, 4th, and every 5th level after that, and must be completed to advance further in the class. The list of suggested prophecies vary from inconvenient-but-doable (walk in the Mournland for four days and four nights, drink water from the mouth of a serpent) to extremely dangerous (hold a dragon in your hand, swim across a lake of fire, sleep in a demon's bed), and one that just outright requires you to ''die''. Oh, and the final class ability will get every dragon in Eberron out for your head. |
| 20 | ** ''TabletopGame/{{Ravenloft}}'': Commit an evil act, and you may be subject to a Powers check. Fail one, and the Dark Powers "reward" you with a nice perk to your capabilities, along with a trivial penalty such as a small, but creepy change in appearance. Fail another, and you get a slightly smaller perk and a marginally more harsh penalty. Keep it up long enough, and you'll be getting slammed by heavy defects with negligible benefits... oh, and you'll become an NPC darklord, trapped forever in a domain that makes you Extra-Blessed With Megasuck. |
| 21 | ** ''TabletopGame/ForgottenRealms'': The mad god Cyric's Seraph of Lies has been "blessed" by Cyric so that his own physical limitations cannot prevent him carrying out his god's will. This doesn't prevent him being injured or experiencing pain, tiredness, or hunger, it just means he can work through it. And, of course, is expected to. |
| 22 | ** Death Giants have incredible power both by the mere fact of being giants and because of a bargain their ancestors struck with dark forces that gives them the power to pull out the souls of their enemies to empower themselves. The cost of the bargain? Death Giants don't have an afterlife; when they die, their souls go to the Negative Energy Plane and are completely destroyed. |
| 23 | * ''TabletopGame/{{Exalted}}'': The entire world is blessed with suck. While [[FantasyKitchenSink every imaginable wondrous phenomenon is a possibility]] there, the presence of so many strong, unwavering wills with different opinions is destined to break out in a devastating conflict. The pre-release concept had this conflict resolved in the creation of the [[TabletopGame/OldWorldOfDarkness original World of Darkness]], and that's one of the ''best possible outcomes.'' |
| 24 | * ''Tabletopgame/FreedomCity'': The historical superhuman abolitionist Steven Mullray, aka Pathfinder, had SuperSenses that bombarded him with a constant barrage of stimulation so intense and unceasing he was in perpetual pain, others doubted his sanity, and ''they just kept getting stronger''. After the Civil War was over, he ended up leaping to his death from his own roof during a violent windstorm, as it drove him totally mad. |
| 25 | * ''TabletopGame/InNomine'': |
| 26 | ** Words, which both Archangels and Archdevils have, and which give power to their bearers at the cost of needing them to act in accordance with them. Angels' Words tend to be limited by BeingGoodSucks, while demons are sometimes given Words meant specifically to humiliate them or screw them over, like Taking Credit for Others' Work, or Stale Bong Water. |
| 27 | ** Undead are physically powerful, supernaturally powerful, and undying. However, most become saddled with powerful Needs and cannot stand beneath the sun. Even those without these drawbacks simply buy the immortality of their bodies at the cost of their souls; the spirits of the undead cannot survive their bodies' destruction, and simply stop existing where living humans would pass on to the afterlife. |
| 28 | * ''TabletopGame/InNomineSatanisMagnaVeritas'': Most scenarios take the form of discreet, undercover investigations amongst {{Muggles}}, and the {{Masquerade}} is sacrosanct (heh). So when one of your possible "powers" is "Incarnation in the body of a famous CEO/TV anchor/rock star/politician", well... Have fun trying to explain this paparazzi shot of you shooting holy lightning out of your eyeballs is really stage effects ''sans'' stage, or something. Or infiltrating the BigBad's lair with groupies in tow. |
| 29 | * ''TabletopGame/MiddleEarthRolePlaying'': Monsters, in general, are harmed more than benefited by the "gifts" given them by Morgoth and Sauron. They are strong, powerful, feared and ferocious, and often long-lived to the point of being immortal; however, most are also unable to breed on their own, they lack the capacity for truly independent thought, and often exist in a state of constant pain or anger. |
| 30 | * ''TabletopGame/MouseTrap1963'': Rolling small numbers and advancing slowly is advantageous, as it keeps that player away from the dreaded Cheese space. The players that roll big numbers and arrive at the end loop thereafter run a 1-in-6 chance of landing on the Cheese space, where they can only pray no other mouse lands on the Turn Crank space once the trap is completed. |
| 31 | * ''TabletopGame/{{Mythender}}'': Mythenders have the power to [[DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu fight the gods themselves and win]]. The downside? [[PowerIncontinence They can't switch it off.]] No matter how careful they are, they risk breaking mortals' minds just by existing in their general direction, while at the same time making those mortals see their humanity is the only way they can avoid [[HeWhoFightsMonsters turning into monstrous gods themselves.]] |
| 32 | -->You can break Thor's jaw, but getting a little girl to smile instead of running from your glorious and horrific visage? That doesn't come easy to those who wield Mythic power. |
| 33 | * ''TabletopGame/{{Paranoia}}'': |
| 34 | ** Firstly, due to problems in the cloning vats everyone in Alpha Complex is a mutant, with powers ranging from super-strength and the like, to the truly sucky like having a perpetually runny nose. However, because the crazed computer that runs the complex refuses to accept that its methods cause mutations, being a mutant means you're assumed to be a spy and are subject to immediate termination from the computer or (more likely) your teammates (who, as mentioned are also mutants), if ever someone notices that you are using your power. And anytime you try to ''use'' your mutation, something always happens. Whether that something is what you were hoping to happen is another question entirely. You ''can'' register your mutation (Friend Computer is merciful to those whose genetic templates were damaged by Commie Mutant Traitor sabotage), preventing you from getting shot if your power is noticed, but then you're subject to every "treatment" R&D thinks might apply, with the side effects thereof. Machine Empathy is a particularly suck to be blessed with, as the computer immediately notices it, and execution -- along with ''permanent erasure of your genetic template'' -- is immediate. |
| 35 | ** Also, for every mission in the game, you are assigned equipment to use including futuristic weapons such as tangler guns and plasma rifles, but also crappy things such as Heisenberg uncertainty projectors, personal force shields working on a fusion reactor kept stable by a hand crank, robots with obnoxious personalities, and small useless boxes with [[BillionsOfButtons loads of different]] buttons, dials and [=LEDs=]. These items are usually very valuable, and financial responsibility falls on the clone the equipment is assigned to. Characters are frequently denied access to documentation for the devices with the explanation that the character is not of a high enough security clearance to view the manual. The purest-essence of BlessedWithSuck comes when the team is given a mutant-detecting device... since everyone is a mutant, the only thing that results is non-stop beeping and a heightened chance of being shot. |
| 36 | * ''TabletopGame/{{Rifts}}'' has Cosmo Knights, mortals who were TouchedByVorlons and turned into cosmic crusaders powerful enough to go toe to toe with starships. The drawback? They have to adhere to a very rigid code of ethics, which is overseen by a nigh omniscient entity who will not hesitate to strip the Cosmo Knight of their powers [[CantGetAwayWithNothing on the first offense]]. |
| 37 | * ''TabletopGame/RuneQuest'': Vampires are immortal and possess some frightening abilities, but are also severely handicapped by the various elemental curses placed on them by the gods due to their treachery (being fervently hated both by Humakt as undead and by Urox as Chaos isn't a good place to be either). Sunlight doesn't destroy them, but does take away their powers; to sleep, they require the desecrated soil of their own graves, as regular earth has rejected them. Their mist form is scattered by winds, but their greatest weakness is probably running water (a fact eagerly exploited by duck undead-fighters, of course...) A drop from the river Styx would destroy a vampire in an instant. In some versions, they're also extra vulnerable to swords as they're the image of the Death rune that they seek to escape from. |
| 38 | * ''TabletopGame/{{Shadowrun}}'': Being a cyberzombie does present some advantages. Because CyberneticsEatYourSoul, you can only get so much cyberware before you're clinically dead, but with some advanced science and powerful magic, your soul can be bound to your body long after you're dead, and now you're magic-resistant and nigh-invulnerable to boot. But ''wait.'' This is a procedure that involves you dying. If you can get past that, then you'll eventually have to face the fact that no matter what you do, your body, mind and soul intrinsically know that something is ''wrong,'' and all the fancy medication you take can only stop your body from failing and you going mad for so long. Additionally, the magic used makes you a walking beacon to every spirit in the Astral Plane, and since they see you as a giant black spot, they probably don't like you... but ''you'' can't see a damn thing in there. As well as your spirit going insane in your cursed husk of a body, [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking the procedure is very expensive.]] (As in, "some ruthless megacorp now owns you for the rest of your short life" expensive.) |
| 39 | * ''TabletopGame/{{Shogi}}'': Promoting a piece often gives them benefits in the form of new movement abilities. However, Silver Generals are pieces you ''do not'' want to promote. To elaborate: they can move one space at a time in one of five different directions, three of which are forwards and two of which are backwards diagonals. Promoting a Silver General turns it into a Gold General, which allows it to move in one of six different directions, including both strictly-horizontal directions and backwards directly behind its current space...''but'' it loses its backward-diagonal movements in the process. And since a Gold General that was promoted from a Silver General will be in the enemy's home ranks on the other side of the player's ranks, it's going to have a very hard time becoming useful compared to its Silver counterpart. |
| 40 | * ''TabletopGame/{{Summerland}}'': Drifters are unique among surviving humans for their resistance to the forest's psychic Call, allowing them to venture past minuscule enclaves and to travel between settlements. However, this resistance ultimately comes from severe psychological trauma or illnesses, and drifters are uniformly deeply unhappy and lonely individuals. |
| 41 | * ''Tome of Artifacts'' features a lot of really cool artifacts with potentially nasty downsides (being a ClingyMacGuffin, having a mind of its own, or being so completely evil that only a CardCarryingVillain would bother). One of the more interesting is the Lucky Coin, which has, among other powers, the ability that betting it in a game of chance will always result in you winning, and usually in the most impressive way possible. This sounds useful -- but that's the thing; you ''always'' win in a ridiculous manner if you bet that coin. After your third royal flush that game, the person gambling with you will almost definitely figure out that you're cheating somehow. |
| 42 | * ''TabletopGame/UnhallowedMetropolis'': Being a Dhampir initially sounds like a case of CursedWithAwesome: you age slowly, if at all; you can innately sense the undead; you can more easily seduce or intimidate others; you have supernormal eyesight and night vision; you're immune to vampiric mind control; you can heal wounds or strengthen yourself by drinking human blood; and your existence between life and (un)death renders you immune to all diseases including the Plague that turns people into animates as well as the London smogs, on top of making you invisible to an animate's Prey Sense. Then you get to the downsides: You're emotionally unstable, you have trouble '''not''' near-mindlessly attacking vampires the moment you become aware of their presence (and the Undead Sense means you don't even have to ''see'' them first), and when you die you'll turn into a vampire -- with only a 1 in 10 chance of being a sentient one rather than feral. |
| 43 | * ''TabletopGame/UnknownArmies'': Becoming almost any kind of magician requires developing obsessions and taboos that make it near-impossible to have anything resembling a normal life. How serious this gets depends on what specific path you follow. For example, Plutomancers gain magic by acquiring cold, hard cash -- then have to live like paupers because spending it nukes their powers. Personamancers master identity and masks by destroying their own sense of self. Dipsomancers find power in booze and cirrhosis -- and have no power unless they're drunk. Pornomancers enslave their sexuality to a porn star who seemed to ascend to a higher plane; they can only ever have sex by reenacting her sacred film scenes (which generally aren't as fun to perform as they are to view) or to make a profit, with sex for love or casual gratification draining their magical stores. These are some of the saner Adepts. |
| 44 | * ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer}}'': |
| 45 | ** Human mages can command the Winds of Magic to do their bidding in powerful ways, but are feared and hated by the vast majority of people in the human nations and distrusted by most religions, and are at constant risk of leaving themselves open to DemonicPossession. |
| 46 | ** The High Elven mage Teclis didn't get off easy either. Teclis is the single most powerful sorcerer anywhere, but his body is so weak that he needs regular doses of healing potion just to keep his heart beating. |
| 47 | ** Grom the Paunch is one of the most feared goblin warlords to ever live, due to a plate of raw troll meat he once ate. This meat gives him a HealingFactor and greater power than most other goblins, but offsets this with near-constant indigestion and flatulence. |
| 48 | ** ''TabletopGame/WarhammerFantasyRoleplay'' has the elves. They have the highest ability score total (two positive modifiers and no negatives), a base movement of 5 (about as fast as a horse), don't have to pay tuition fees to be a wizard and their Career list lacks many of the bad choices like the peasant. All those juicy bonuses are to make up for the fact that you're expected to put up with ''a lot of shit'', as the humans of the setting (who, PunyEarthlings or no, outnumber the elves massively) are superstitious and racist to the extreme. Elves in the Empire are occasionally subject to an "ear tax", two pennies to be paid [[FantasticRacism for being an elf]], on pain of removal of the ear. Attempting to {{invoke|dTrope}} CantArgueWithElves will get you on the receiving end of ScrewYouElves, delivered with a bludgeon or [[KillItWithFire lots of fire]]. In many rural parts of the Empire, lynching elves is practically a pasttime, and cosmopolitan cities aren't much better. |
| 49 | * ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40000'': |
| 50 | ** Psykers, especially amongst humans. The fate of the overwhelming majority of psykers in [[TheEmpire the Imperium]] is to die at their hands of their fellow humans, who hate and despise them. If they're ''lucky'', said death will just be a bullet through the brainpan or being burned at the stake. If they ''aren't'' caught and killed (or controlled by the Imperium, not a nice fate either), they usually go [[WithGreatPowerComesGreatInsanity insane]]. [[FateWorseThanDeath Or worse]]. Given the fact that Psykers gain their powers because they have a gate to the realms of soul-devouring demons and endless, sanity shredding horrors ''in their brains'', they're practically the living embodiment of this trope. Just to round it all off, they are also extremely susceptible to DemonicPossession. |
| 51 | ** Chaos gifts in general are like this. They can grant you great power, but [[TheCorruption mutate your form]] with each upgrade. The careers of successful Chaos followers ultimately end at one of two destinations: as a [[DemonOfHumanOrigin Daemon Prince]] that transcends mortality, or as a gibbering [[AndIMustScream Chaos Spawn]], whose body and mind has been warped beyond recognition. |
| 52 | ** And if you think the fate of a psyker is bad, try being a blank. Blanks are people who have no warp presence whatsoever, meaning that Warp-energy cannot affect them, rendering them immune to psyker powers and daemonic possession. It also means that they are effectively soulless. This in turn means that ordinary humans are repulsed to the point of instinctive hostility by them, as all humans have some slight degree of psychic presence. Meaning they can't hold a job, can't have sex, unless they are willing and pay someone to dope themselves out of their skull and do it, can't have a family because no-one can stand to be around them, and if they walk into the same room as a psyker, the psyker will immediately double over in pain... Oh, and if one is caught by the Necrons, they immediately rebuild the blank in question into a biomechanical super-soldier. Being burned at the stake by your family suddenly doesn't seem so bad. Oh, and if the Imperium finds out about you, they'll put you in the Inquisition, and you can spend the rest of your (probably brief) life escorting Inquisitors on the most dangerous missions, where you can almost certainly count on encountering daemons, witches, and other nightmarish monstrosities. [[Literature/CiaphasCain Unless your name is Jurgen]], in which case you get to be the assistant to one of the most legendary heroes of the Imperium, with all the potential perks that would involve. |
| 53 | ** The Eldar were the most psychically gifted species in the galaxy, which helped bring about the downfall of their civilization when their decadence and perversion so disturbed the [[HyperspaceIsAScaryPlace Immaterium]] as to give rise to a Chaos god of, well, decadence and perversion. Then they got it again when Slaanesh, in addition to destroying their civilization, driving them to the brink of extinction, and also killed most of their gods, including the king of the Eldar pantheon, Asuryan. Asuryan, in his last act, distributed his power among the surviving Eldar, vastly increasing their already long lifespans and their already prodigious psychic powers, but also suppressing their fertility. This issue is worsened by their goddess Isha being an unwilling "guest" of the Chaos God Nurgle, since "fertility" is in her divine portfolio. As a result, they have been unable to come back from the brink of extinction, even after ten thousand years. |
| 54 | ** The Kroot are a species with CannibalismSuperPower, allowing them to mutate themselves and gain useful traits by consuming the flesh of other creatures. Thing is, if they eat too much of a particular kind of meat, they end up devolving into a new creature, usually one that loses its intelligence ''and'' its mutative ability. To put this in perspective, every animal on Pechor, the Kroot homeworld? Is actually a Kroot substrain that has become trapped as a mindless beast due to overindulgence in a certain kind of meat. Krootoxen are lumbering, gorilla-like herbivores, while Kroothounds are little more than dogs, for example. They also cannot eat Tyranids without side effects. The Tyranids are members of a HiveMind that spans beyond even the known galaxy and this is in their genes. Ergo, Kroot eating Tyranids might gain part of their collossal strength, but they might also be connected to the same Hive Mind, which would immediatly destroy their individuality. Same for anything Chaos-touched, only even worse. On the other hand, they figured out interstellar travel after eating some Ork Mekboys when otherwise their society is barely beyond hunter-gatherer level. |
| 55 | ** The Tau have almost no warp presence, much like Blanks, but also do not creep people the hell out. It also means they do not fall prey to Chaos (at least not as easily as other races) because they flat out can't hear the whispers of the Dark Gods. The downside is that they have absolutely no concept of the Warp at all and are unable to utilize warp-based technologies, such as Warp Jump on starships. They can get close and "skim" on the rim of the Warp, but this means that they're basically playing hopscotch across the galaxy's streets while everyone else are in racecars. |
| 56 | ** The Astronomican allows for plotting of the Warp, which allows for safer routes for Imperial forces that minimizes daemon attacks and can adhere to some semblance of a schedule. It's why the Imperium can still function despite the galaxy-wide empire. However, it's also ''really'' bright in the Warp, which is implied to be the reason the Tyranids (a highly psychic-sensitive race) are invading the galaxy. It also needs to consume a thousand psykers a day to keep functioning. |
| 57 | ** Sergeant Lukas Bastonne of Cadia's EideticMemory makes him a genius tactician in chaotic battlefields, but it also means he's constantly tormented by the faces of all the men who have ever died under his command. [[BrokenBird This little facet has really done a number on him]]. |
| 58 | * ''TabletopGame/WarhammerAgeOfSigmar'': If you die a hero's death, Sigmar may choose you to be Reforged as a Stormcast Eternal. Congratulations, you're now a magically-enhanced SuperSoldier who is reborn after dying. Unfortunately, every time you do die, not only do you go through the agonizingly painful and spiritually traumatic Reforging process again, you lose part of your soul because Nagash, the God of Death, is a jealous asshole who despises anyone he views as tampering in his domain. Between the trauma of Reforging and losing part of your soul, you also lose some of your memories (not to mention that some of the background information states that Sigmar locks away a significant chunk of a Stormcast's memories of their mortal life during their initial Reforging to make them more focused on fighting the threats the Stormcast Eternals were made to kill to begin with). |
| 59 | ** And since Nagash's failed attempt to kill literally everything in the Mortal Realms screwed up magic everywhere, Reforging has become a lot riskier, with complications ranging from changing you from right- to left-handed or vice-versa, gaining glowing eyes or hair, zapping anyone who touches you, or causing weird cravings or allergies, all the way up to dying a final death and ending up in Nagash's clutches. |
| 60 | * ''Literature/WearingTheCape'': In ''[[https://www.wearingthecape.com/rpg RPG]]'s [[https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/254472/Wearing-the-Cape-Barlows-Guide-to-Superhumans Barlow's Guide to Superhumans Sourcebook]], Iri Pegason, an ultra class telekinetic with a hallucinogenic drug induced breakthrough guided by childhood fantasy, is forever frozen at the age of sixteen, the age that he was when he experienced his breakthrough, and has been a homeless perpetual teenage stoner for ten years or so. Iri is ageless and biologically immortal (will not die from any natural cause) but is not fully immortal -- he is not nigh invulnerable and can die from violent or un-natural causes. That's the blessing along with being a powerful and skilled telekinetic (including telekinetic flight). The suck is that he constantly in a state of the post-hyperspace ideation phase of a DMT trip. He can cloud it and gain some mental function by smoking marijuana, but that is only a partially mitigation. This means that while being an amazingly powerful telekinetic with eternal youth, his mind is constantly addled by the effects of marijuana or hallucinogenic drugs (DMT). Also, while sexually functional and 'adult enough' to function as an adult with effort, is noticeably shy of being a full grown adult and will never fully grow up (partial case of '{{Not Growing Up Sucks}}' -- fuzzy zone age-wise, character doesn't think it sucks, readers might in same situation) |
| 61 | * ''Franchise/TheWorldOfDarkness'': Being a supernatural creature is quite often a blessing with suck: |
| 62 | ** ''TabletopGame/ChroniclesOfDarkness'': |
| 63 | *** ''TabletopGame/BeastThePrimordial'': Beasts basically have a nightmare in the effigy of a powerful mythological monster as a soul, granting them all the power related to said creature, as well as [[LongLived an extended lifespan]] and [[EldritchLocation a personal dimension in the Primordial Dream known as a Lair]]. However, said nightmare monster [[HorrorHunger hungers for fear and suffering]], meaning you have to keep hurting, abusing and scaring people in some way to keep it fed. Try letting it starve, and it will take matters into its own hands by assaulting people in their dreams, causing nightmares everywhere around you. On the other hand, if you feed it ''too'' much, the monster will fall asleep inside the Lair and you will lose all these neat powers, leaving you as a normal human until you manage to wake it up. And just to make it worse, [[ParanoiaFuel anyone in your surrounding could suddenly turn into a super-powered psychopath obsessed with killing you]]. |
| 64 | *** ''TabletopGame/ChangelingTheLost'': Changelings' magical abilities are a cold gift when you can never be sure TheFairFolk won't show up one day and drag you back into Arcadia to serve the wretched life of a slave. Oh, also, [[spoiler:this isn't really about slavery, that's just how they present it because Fae are essentially living a LARP. It's actually about ''reproduction'', and the end goal of creating changelings is to create new True Fae.]] |
| 65 | *** ''TabletopGame/DemonTheDescent'': Demons, having Fallen, now have individuality and freedom... but the God-Machine wants them either dead, or brought back, for its own inscrutable ends, and it has a ''very'' long reach. Unfortunately, demons need to stick close to G-M facilities in order to replenish their supernatural energies. Say what you will about being a changeling, but at least you don't have to stay near your former master's domain to maintain your supernatural powers. In addition, demons also have perfect control over how they express themselves, and over the truth content of what they say (they can say something objectively true and have it read as a lie, or have a lie read as objectively true). As a result, demons can never completely trust their fellows, because they can never really be sure of their true intentions. |
| 66 | *** ''TabletopGame/DragonTheEmbers'': Dragons are intelligent, fire-breathing, flying reptiles gifted with supernatural powers, immortality, and a natural gift for leadership, along with a human form should they want to walk among mortals. However, their immortality comes from their Heart, which they removed from their body and use as a SoulJar; should anything happen to it, they will instantly die, and you can be damn sure people ''will'' try to get their hands on it, either to destroy it or to devour it in order to become dragons themselves; because of this, Dragons usually become paranoid, living in fear that someone might find their Heart and instantly put an end to their immortal life. Because they lost the ability to have draconic children in the DealWithTheDevil they made to become immortal, the only way to create new dragons is by having a mortal devour an old one's Heart, so [[DyingRace their species no longer multiplies and is gradually dying]]. They also ''need'' to be worshipped or obeyed by mortals to survive, otherwise they will [[TakenForGranite fossilize]]. And that's not even getting to the [[EldritchAbomination Deep Ones]] who are out to trick them into giving up ''more'' organs through deals... |
| 67 | *** ''TabletopGame/GeistTheSinEaters'': Sin-Eaters are unkillable. They don't live forever, though. However, any time they're killed their Geist can bring them back to life... by killing a random person, whose final moments are the first thing the Sin-Eater sees when they come back. Oh, and if they die enough, their soul is shredded, and if their Geist doesn't just let them die, it's driven insane by what's left of them and becomes even more murderous. Further, as much as most of them like to pretend they've simply [[SharingABody got a ghost hitching a ride on their soul]], the fact of the matter is that the Bound and their Geists have been [[FusionDance made one and the same]]. This means that [[MurderIsTheBestSolution destroying your own Geist]], while possible, is usually a very bad idea, as might be expected from ''killing half of yourself''. Just to add to the fun, [[HearingVoices having a (frequently debauched) mental passenger]] and being [[PowerIncontinence unable to stop ]][[ISeeDeadPeople seeing the unquiet dead]] without making a conscious effort is a very good way to [[WithGreatPowerComesGreatInsanity go ]][[GoMadFromTheRevelation mad]]. Growing in power means a Sin-Eater has to start taking up some affectations of the dead; they need Anchors to hold onto their power -- as any Mage will tell you, having to keep items with a sympathetic connection to yourself is never a helpful thing -- and as their power grows, they need to spend more and more time in the Underworld; by Psyche 10, they'll be spending half their time in the Underworld. That said, most of the Sin-Eaters are going to [[CursedWithAwesome try and enjoy themselves]], given that what they do helps people (dead people, but people nonetheless), they are guaranteed to live a long life and die contented (meaning they won't leave behind a ghost themselves) and the alternative to being a Sin-Eater is being, well, ''dead''. |
| 68 | *** ''TabletopGame/GeniusTheTransgression'': Geniuses can make [[WeirdScience wonders of impossible science]] to do almost anything... but as soon as a [[{{Muggle}} mortal]] gets their hands on it, it'll [[GoneHorriblyWrong break, explode or worse]]. Aside from that though they don't have it ''too'' bad, at least until they [[WithGreatPowerComesGreatInsanity become more powerful]] and have to control the burning light of [[TouchedByVorlons Inspiration]]. Because if they don't [[ComesGreatResponsibility show restraint]], [[HeroicRROD things]] [[JumpingOffTheSlipperySlope can]] [[MoralEventHorizon get messy]]. Inspiration also tends to mess with your personal life; your Wonders are a massive money sink, and your [[TechnoBabble Jabir]] makes it difficult to use your intelligence for anything practical. Scientists have it the worst, as becoming Inspired kneecaps their ability to keep doing what they love and makes them look like complete nutcases to their former peers. That they're ''still'' one of the less-sucky splats is says more about just how much it sucks to be some of the ''other'' kinds of supernatural. |
| 69 | *** ''TabletopGame/HunterTheVigil'': The Hunters, oddly enough, might be considered to have it easiest; most of them are ordinary mortals without any superpowers. The catch? They get to go up against all of the above supernatural creatures... without any superpowers. Then there's the toll hunting can take on an ordinary life. Oh, and there's the risk of turning into the antagonist in a SlasherMovie, too. Those few Hunters who ''do'' get superpowers often find things don't get any easier. In addition, Hunters can be used as antagonists to ''further'' outline the Blessed With Suck side of being a supernatural. Mechanically, mortal skills tend to be just as powerful and significantly more generally applicable than anything but certain Vampire disciplines and the Geist Boneyards. A hunter going up against a werewolf, for instance, is with a bit of preparation not much more outmatched than if he were going against a mortal kung-fu master, given that the silver thing is common knowledge. |
| 70 | *** ''TabletopGame/LeviathanTheTempest'': Leviathans are {{Eldritch Abomination}}s with [[PersonOfMassDestruction enough power to destroy entire cities]]. They also have [[BlueAndOrangeMorality a naturally inhuman mindset]], instincts urging them to [[AGodAmI consider themselves gods]], and MindRape people around them whether they want it or not. Some of the people they drive insane end up becoming [[AnimalNemesis Ahab]], obsessed with finding and slaying them. Despite all their powers, Leviathans are not invincible, and can actually be hurt or killed by mortals with enough firepower, which is ''very'' likely to happen considering the ravage they cause. Since their species exists only in low number, they usually are utterly without guidance, and there is en entire society of monster hunters out to get them for more than legitimate reasons. From the same game, Atolls, otherwise normal humans who MindRape Leviathans in much the same way Leviathans MindRape humans. At ''best'', you're TheKidWithTheLeash to a horrifically traumatized EldritchAbomination, trying to impose some level of guidance on your charge while always having to watch your words, lest your criticism grow a shade too harsh and tear your charge's mind to shreds. At worst, you've acquired an inhuman stalker who is literally addicted to your presence, thinks nothing of leveling cities or starting wars to get at you, and has the power and followers to actually ''do so''. |
| 71 | *** ''TabletopGame/MageTheAwakening'': Being a Mage isn't, in and of itself, a bad thing. Sure, you can do stupid things with magic and blow yourself up, but you could do that with mundane explosives, and you can accomplish amazing feats. The world the Awakening opens up, however, is a different matter. You've basically just been Red-pilled and escaped ''Film/TheMatrix'', and the magical equivalent to the Machines (the Exarchs) want to control every possible source of magic, like you. There's a gaping hole in the universe that's inimical to all existence, and is especially attracted to magic- which usually ends really badly for the mages (like you). And then there are the Banishers, mages who hate other mages ([[RuleOfThree like you]]]), and seek to kill them all to end what they see as the source of everything wrong with the world (and given the Exarchs, they're not always wrong). |
| 72 | *** ''TabletopGame/MummyTheCurse'' Mummies are, for all intents and purposes, immortal. They don't actually get to ''enjoy'' it for very long, though; they're usually awoken for a purpose, and when that purpose is completed, they return to their sleep. In addition, when they rise from the tomb, they're at the very peak of their power, but their power steadily ebbs away over time, until it finally runs out, sending them back into slumber. [[spoiler: They can be free of this perpetual cycle... if they're willing to accept the loss of most of their power in the process.]] The Deceived manage to add both extra Blessing and extra Suck to the pile. Where other Arisen can technically be perma-killed if you destroy every trace of their ''sahu'' and erase every record of their existence so they can't be called back, the Deceived will be resurrected by Fate itself if enough time passes. Nothing short of the complete metaphysical destruction of the universe can permanently take down a Decieved. Unfortunately, they get this status by virtue of having the unhinged remnants of one of their SemiDivine guildmasters fused to their soul for all eternity, capable of twisting their body and mind to its own inscrutable whims. |
| 73 | *** ''TabletopGame/PrincessTheHopeful'': Princesses are gifted with holy magic literally running on ThePowerOfLove, which they must use to smite evil and [[HopeBringer bring light and hope back to the world]]. Problem is, they must do so in the ''[[CrapsackWorld World of Darkness]]'', where evil has pretty much already won. Their main opponent is [[TheCorruption the All-Consuming Darkness, a mindless cosmic force made of everything evil festering in all the places it has tainted to corrupt people, gradually warping them in mindless monsters]]; its minions include a multitude of vicious, dangerous opponents with {{Lovecraftian Superpower}}s who will gladly attack your loved ones if that can help them win. Princesses themselves have to lead an exhausting double-life that leaves no room for a normal life, and they are empathic to such a level that [[AllergicToEvil evil and corruption literally causes them pain and suffering]] which they can [[ItNeverGetsAnyEasier never become inured to.]]. Oh, and if they cross the DespairEventHorizon, they lose their powers and will at best eventually die of despair, and at worst turn into [[FallenHero Dethroned]], a warped, monstrous parody of their former selves which [[HorrifyingTheHorror even the forces of Darkness run away from]]. |
| 74 | *** ''TabletopGame/PrometheanTheCreated'': Prometheans, despite their supernatural strength and [[AlchemyIsMagic impressive alchemical powers]], [[WalkingWasteland turn the world miserable]] and [[TorchesAndPitchforks drives humans insane]] through their mere presence, are hunted by Pandorans (twisted entities made when an attempt to create a Promethean fails) that long for their flesh, and their only way out is ToBecomeHuman. |
| 75 | *** ''TabletopGame/SirenTheDrowning'': Sirens are [[SirensAreMermaids mermaids]] who can wield [[MagicMusic Verses]] whose only limits are the [[SemanticSuperpower Introductions, Opuses and Conclusions she knows as well as her own creativity]], can swap between their humans and mermaid forms, [[LovecraftianSuperpower can wield special mutations on their mermaid form]], are rather badass in the [[SuperNotDrowningSkills water]], and in general are very LongLived. Of course, this power and ability comes at the tradeoff of the knowledge of TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt is on the horizon, having the mental stability of a plank of wood, take the [[TheFourLoves definition of love]] to a whole new [[{{Yandere}} obsessive level]], the factor that their powers and form [[GlamourFailure don't have any masquerade protection that makes people forget it or rationalize it away]] but instead [[CoverBlowingSuperpower enforce them into their mermaid form]] which is quite terrible on land. Oh, and your flesh is an ImmortalityInducer that one antagonist splat always wants to get their hands on. |
| 76 | *** ''TabletopGame/VampireTheRequiem'': Vampires have great power and [[TheAgeless can never die of old age or disease]], but they're also locked in an eternal war with their SuperpoweredEvilSide, which they almost all lose eventually. This along with the [[HorrorHunger blood-drinking]] and the sun burning you to ash. Oh, and boredom. [[WhoWantsToLiveForever Lots and lots of boredom.]]. And the loneliness that comes with being driven to kill weaker and equally powerful vampires and avoiding stronger ones who are driven to kill you. |
| 77 | *** ''TabletopGame/WerewolfTheForsaken'': Werewolves are brutally powerful, [[HealingFactor capable of healing insanely fast]], LongLived... and locked in a war with the [[DarkWorld Spirit World]] and half of their own race. Plus the UnstoppableRage that, even when successfully directed away from innocents, causes a subtle aura that creeps out/drives off {{Muggles}}... and the consequences of mating with their own kind. |
| 78 | ** ''TabletopGame/OldWorldOfDarkness'': |
| 79 | *** ''TabletopGame/VampireTheMasquerade'': Being a vampire gets you immortality and cool supernatural powers, but also means you're constantly struggling for control of yourself against your new vampire instincts, you can't go out into the sun, you can't experience any human pleasures, and to top it all off, you're inducted into a society of ''vicious'' politicking where backstabbing, indentured servitude, and even MindRape are considered par for the course. |
| 80 | *** The various vampire clans often have nice perks but serious drawbacks. Malkavians have the ability to prophetize and mind-whammy others, but they're all insane -- every last one. Nosferatu are masters of stealth, but are ugly as sin and can never go among humans without various tricks. Ventrue often have good connections, charismatic, etc. But have to drink only a specific type of blood so they can't feed on animals in an emergency, and depending on what they feed on they will have to do quite a bit of planning to keep up their supplies. Toreador are charismatic, utterly charming artists who can blend into society but suffer CreativeSterility, their artwork while technically great comes off as soulless -- they also get sidetracked by pretty things (and "pretty things" can include the rising sun...and pain isn't enough to end the trance, so they'll just stand there going "ooh, shiny!" as they burn to death). Tzimisce are terrifying flesh-crafters and lords of the damned, but if they can't sleep with at least two handfuls of their native soil, depending on the edition they either lose half their dice pool until they have only a single die for every action, or lose massive amounts of Willpower--and once a character hits 0 Willpower, they take an automatic -2 penalty to every mental and social roll. Ravnos are masters of subtlety and deception (along with a few powers of the UsefulNotes/{{Romani}}), but they are keyed to a specific vice, which they must pursue whenever possible. Either that, or, in V5, they must constantly be on the move, lest the psychic echoes of their progenitor's firey destruction catch up to them and burn them to death from the inside. (Mechanically, this is up to ''ten dice'' of aggravated damage, the worst and hardest to heal type of damage you can take, if a Ravnos sleeps in the same place more than once in seven days.) |
| 81 | *** ''TabletopGame/WerewolfTheApocalypse'': The Gaia Garou can step into the spirit world, use mystical gifts, regenerate damage, and assume a [[WolfMan clawed, musclebound, eight foot tall battle form]] at will. However, they're prone to enraged frenzies, and if these occur too often, they can succumb to "Thrall of the Wyrm" and commit atrocities. Their battle form induces delirium in normal humans, so they must hide their true nature from society. Finally, they've been thrown into a nigh-hopeless cosmic war against one of the primal forces of the universe. The Black Spiral Dancers (Garou who serve the Wyrm) have all the strengths of the Gaia Garou and a powerful cosmic benefactor, but their mutations and insanity are considerable setbacks. Fomori (humans, animals, and shape-changers possessed by banes) are immune to the delirium and have a vast array of powers. Unfortunately, their bodies and minds are deformed from bane possession. To boot, they slowly lose their free will until the banes have reduced them to mindless puppets. |
| 82 | *** ''TabletopGame/ChangelingTheDreaming'': Changelings awaken to a world of magic and wonder that is invisible to most of the world. Note the "invisible" bit. A dragon can attack you in the middle of the street, and you have the options of fighting against it and coming off as a deranged individual swatting at the air... or choosing to ignore it, which invites disbelief into your soul, slowly killing your fairy half. That very background tide of disbelief and lack of dreams defines the World of Darkness, which is why fae society is very, very aware that it is slowly dying. While the more unforgiving versions of the game treat doing your taxes and working a 9-to-5 job as sprinkling your food with cyanide, the truth is, if there is something that keeps you from pursuing your dream, your fae soul will die, shutting you off from the world of magic... and if you delve into the magic too much, completely ignoring the mundane world, you will go insane and vanish into the Dreaming. |
| 83 | *** Anyone in the setting with True Faith. True Faith is defined as a deep, life-defining belief in something, whether it be Jesus, Allah, Tom Brady or the Invisible Hand of the Free Market. Individuals with True Faith can repel and injure vampires, calm werewolves, exorcise wraiths, disrupt mage's spells and even drive off fallen angels, and do all this simply by existing. However, someone with the depth of devotion necessary to turn faith into True Faith is by definition a raving fanatic of a type that makes other raving fanatics nervous. People with True Faith will have extreme difficulties interacting with people with who do not share their beliefs, or even those who hold to more moderate versions of the same, and their conduct, even when on the Path of Humanity, will quickly veer off into BlueAndOrangeMorality. Having True Faith will lead to you being either put on a piedestal and fast-tracked for sainthood, or ostracized and burned at the stake, with no middle ground. |
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