Why use Virtues and Flaws?
Plenty of games do not have a virtues and flaws system, and of course the system adds to the complexity of character design for players. More narrative systems tend not to have this mechanism, although there might be an instruction to take some negative character trait this is not explicitly 'balanced' by a merit (I'm thinking of Heroquest and Over the Edge for examples). Other game systems do not have anything equivalent.
One argument for using them is to personalise the character. This seems more important in a game that means the characters will meet others that are similar to them. If there is a community of x type of vampire, mage, wizard or whatever a player might want to make their wizard of type x stand out.
Another argument for using them is that they can act as a signal to the person running the game that a player wants to explore a particular part of the game world. Of course this could also be achieved by just talking beforehand about what people want to get out of the game.
Arguments against using them include the increase in complexity during character design, and they encourage a more min-maxing approach to character development.
Beware the economy of trading flaws for build points
In WoD games flaws could be balanced by merits, or could be balanced by gaining bonus points to spend during character creation. In part because the whole bonus point for character creation and experience point for character development was so badly out of alignment this could lead to some very out of kilter beginning characters. That by itself would only be a problem if the player then used that to hog more screen time than other players.
In AM flaws have to be balanced by virtues. However, there are virtues which give the equivalent of build points, for example Skilled Parens. The shorter the chronicle the more benefit a player's character gains from this trade off. Although if you are like me that just adds to the general feeling of being overwhelmed by all the choices available.
Flaws that affect the whole group should be balanced by virtues that aid the whole group
In white wolf games the 'Enemy' type flaws might affect the whole group, expecially in those games like Werewolf, Mage and Changeling that encouraged the group to play together; the whole pack would have to deal with the enemy. In games like Vampire, and some Exalted games characters would have personal goals that the enemy could try to thwart that would not negatively affect the whole group. This could lead to all sort of issues, a pack could easily deal with a single enemy; and I have seen some people that run games make the enemy powerful enough to be a credible threat to the group, at that point other characters should also get virtues to make up for the flaw.
In AM these types of flaws would probably be better as Covenant flaws, balanced by a Covenant vritue. This might also apply to some of the other Story flaws.
Then there are flaws like Blatent gift that mean that the rest of the group have to make up for the deficency in some way. It is those flaws that I think should be balanced by virtues to the other characters and not just the character with the flaw.
Flaws that are not flaws
Various of the personality flaws just seem like character description rather than flaws. Across systems I have a particular dislike of over confident.
Final thoughts
Flaws for personalisation seem more important for grogs, and some companions (i.e. companions that don't have a supernatural aspect). Magi have a lot of personalisation options through the choice of Techniques and Forms.
I think one of the most important rules in a system that provides a benefit for taking a flaw is that the flaw has to actually have a measurable disadvantage to count.
ReplyDeleteThis mechanic is typically structured in a Gamist fashion (merits increase probability of success, flaws reduce the probability of success).
A Narrativist system would need to be built differently - merits are things that increase a characters story telling opportunities whereas flaws are things that decrease them.
For example, blindness is a flaw in a Gamist system, but a merit in a Narrativist system.
Blends into the background could be a merit in a Gamist system by improving a characters stealth abilities, but a flaw in a narrativist system because they get overlooked by others, and so their actions rarely have consequences.