Quirks

Quirks are an advanced optional rule that provides strong thematic and mechanical options for Player Characters.

• A Character may only ever have one Quirk.
• On average, a group of Player Characters with access to Quirks will be able to tackle more challenging situations than what would be normal for their level.
• If it makes sense in the story, a character may lose their current Quirk and gain a different one – discuss this with the group.

Using Quirks in your Game

Quirks should be seen as a mechanical and narrative reinforcement of your characters’ unique nature. Keep the following in mind:

• Quirks shape the game. Even the less impactful Quirk is a powerful statement about your character and their role in the story. If you pick Heirloom, you don’t just get “a cool sword” – you get an item with implications. If you pick Glorious Fate, the prophecy will become a major part of the game. Quirks will take the already heroic Player Characters and kick them up a notch, which can be prove a bit overwhelming. Think carefully before you use them!
• Freedom of choice. You don’t need a Quirk for your character concept to be valid. If your Identity is that of a “Heroine from the Past”, you shouldn’t feel forced to pick From a Distant World for that Identity to be relevant to the story.
• How to use Quirks. These options should be used to bring interesting situations into play, to give your character unique issues and problems to confront, and to provide additional mechanical support for their Traits.
• How not to use Quirks. These options should never be used to make your character stronger than the rest of the group, to steal the spotlight, or to bring sensitive topics that make others uncomfortable into play.

Quirk List

Agitator

You have been riling people up to fight against oppressors for years, perhaps for justice, perhaps for vengeance. Who is your current main target? Who or what did you lose because of your insubordination? Who or what is hunting you down?

When you rest inside or near a settlement, you may choose one option: you learn what the locals are mainly angry about or afraid of, or you create a contact that lives and operates in this area – give them a name and specialization, and the Game Master tells you what they ask of you (they might request a payment or need help).

Ancient Weapon

You don’t fear delving deep in the ancient ruins; from their cold tunnels you have retrieved an unusual weapon, which saved your life in more than one occasion. Where did you find it? When did you stumble upon a similar weapon, and who carried it?

Together with the rest of your group, create a rare custom weapon worth 1200 zenit or less.

This weapon should have an especially unusual and technological appearance; it can be a good idea to make it a firearm weapon and determine that similar items are rare and mysterious in your world.

Once per session (approximately four hours of play), the Game Master may give you 1 Fabula Point in order to have sudden complications arise due to the unique nature of the weapon (such as strange machines reacting to its presence, or monsters drawn to the special energy it emits). However, the weapon cannot be destroyed, damaged, lost or stolen without your permission as a Player.

Cognitive Ghost

You are a presence born within the depths of the soul network, straddling the line between demons and humans. Do you remember your earliest moments? What belief, memory or emotion do you embody? How did that shape your appearance?

Choose two damage types from air, bolt, dark, earth, fire, ice, and light. You gain Resistance to the chosen damage types. However, you also gain Vulnerability to a third damage type chosen from the list above.

You gain the ability to perform Rituals of the Ritualism discipline, and you may use these Rituals to transport creatures in and out of the soul network, as well as to gain information and track entities while inside the soul network.

Cursed

You bear the burden of a strange curse. Through which supernatural effects does it manifest? How did you become cursed? Was it a stroke of bad luck, or a form of punishment for something you did? How can the curse be lifted?

When you acquire this Quirk, describe the nature of your curse and tie it to one of the threats present in your world. Once this threat is resolved, you will finally have a chance to break free from the curse – describe how you expect this to happen.

Examples: weapons you wield often miss their mark; your mere presence instills a sense of dread; your magic has a tendency to trigger unintended results; creatures within arm’s reach of you feel sharp pain across their bodies.

When you are about to perform a Check, you may instead describe how your curse gets in the way and automatically roll a fumble (both dice are treated as if you had rolled a 1 on them). If you do, you receive 2 Fabula Points instead of 1, and generate an opportunity as normal.

If you ever manage to break the curse, immediately gain a Heroic Skill of your choice (you may even choose a Heroic Skill whose requirements you do not satisfy, unless they include a Skill you don’t have). This includes choosing a Heroic Skill for a Class you do not have

Empty Hands

You have forsaken the use of weapons, instead purely relying on your hands and feet. Did you develop this fighting style out of necessity, or was it a choice? Is it because of your monstrous anatomy? Did your blade take one too many lives in the past?

Your attacks with unarmed strikes deal 6 extra damage. This amount increases to 10 extra damage if you are level 30 or higher.

Additionally, while you have no weapons or shields equipped (aside for unarmed strikes), you gain a +1 bonus to Defense and a +1 bonus to Magic Defense.

Enigmatic Relic

You possess a strange weapon capable of shaping the weave of reality, an artifact from a forgotten past (or perhaps even a far away future). How did you obtain it, and how did you discover the basics of its functioning? Who is trying to take the relic from you?

Together with the rest of your group, create a relic: a rare custom weapon (see page 112) worth 1200 zenit or less. The relic is an artifact, may only be destroyed through a PC’s Sacrifice, and may only be stolen from you or lost due to a Surrender.

As long as a Player Character or Villain has the relic equipped, they may perform the Skill action to have it manifest a power of their choice from among the following:

• (PCs only) Ask the Game Master a single question. The Game Master answers truthfully and describes the visions shown by the relic.
• Choose a discipline from among Chimerism, Elementalism, Entropism, Ritualism, and Spiritism. Until the end of the scene, any character who has the relic equipped may perform Rituals of that discipline and their MP cost is halved.
• Until the end of the scene, all attacks with the relic deal 5 extra damage, and all damage dealt ignores Absorptions, Immunities and Resistances. Additionally, the character may immediately perform a free attack with the relic.

The second and third options are cumulative with themselves. For instance, using the second option for Chimerism three times within the same scene will make it so that Chimerism Rituals cost 1/8th of the normal MP.

After the relic manifests a power while in the hands of a Player Character, it generates 1d6 Paradox Points. If the relic’s Paradox Points ever reach 10 or higher, all Paradox Points are immediately lost and the Player rolls a d6:

• 1–4: the relic becomes completely inert and cannot be equipped until a specific condition is fulfilled (the Game Master decides what it is).
• 5–6: the relic unleashes a terrible and unprecedented force, causing death and destruction, a serious alteration of time and space, or even the advent of a new threat for the world (Game Master’s choice).

When a Villain uses the relic’s power, it never generates Paradox Points.

If you Sacrifice yourself and the relic is not destroyed as part of the Sacrifice, it remains a part of the campaign with all the above rules intact, but can now be lost or stolen like any other object (it can still only be destroyed through a Sacrifice).

Fettered Heart

For many years you have obeyed the precepts of a certain person or authority; you built your entire existence upon them. Now, however, you begin to see those rules in a darker light, and your heart falters. When did you first doubt them?

You may acquire this Quirk only if your character’s Theme is Doubt, and your Theme cannot be changed in any way as long as you have this Quirk.

When you acquire this Quirk, create a Bond towards the Non-Player Character or institution that shaped your life up to now. This Bond begins with three emotions of your choice, and cannot be lost or erased in any way as long as you have this Quirk (you can still reassign its emotions during Resting scenes). Additionally, create three commandments that are crucial to that NPC or institution: each commandment must be something you must always do or something you must never do.

Examples: the Lord of Dragons (always obey a dragon, never show your weakness, never extinguish fire); the Pale Church (always side with the faithful, never doubt the word of a Priest, never lend your ear to a demon).

The first time you break a commandment during each scene, you immediately suffer the shaken and weak status effects and lose half your current Hit Points and Mind Points (rounded down), but also gain 2 Fabula Points. If you break a commandement during a Resting scene, you will suffer the penalties after the recovery granted by that Rest.

If you break multiple commandments during the same scene, the penalties and Fabula Points only apply to the first violation.

After breaking your commandments 6 times, ignore any further violation unless it happens in the presence of a Villain who follows or embodies your commandments. If you’re ever unsure whether a situation fits the criteria of this Quirk, it is you who always have final say. Be as honest and sincere as you can.

Upon your 7th violation, you lose this Quirk and change your Theme to one of the following: Belonging, Guilt, Justice or Vengeance. Then, you immediately gain a Heroic Skill among those available for your Classes (you may even choose a Heroic Skill whose requirements you do not satisfy, unless they include a Skill you don’t have). Finally, you recover all HP and MP and recover from all status effects. From now on, the strength of your Bonds is always treated as being 1 point higher (for instance, a Bond with three emotions will have a strength of 4).

Fugitive Experiment

Engineered within a secluded laboratory, you are a being with no precedents. The world is not ready for you, and neither were your creators. How did you escape? What are you searching for? Who was the first person to show you kindness?

When a rule or ability requires you to spend 100 or fewer Hit Points, Mind Points, or Inventory Points, you may suffer 1d8 Instability Points to ignore that cost.

At the end of each session (approximately four hours of play), you lose 1d6 Instability Points (to a minimum of zero).

If your Instability Points ever reach 10 or more, you are immediately reduced to 0 Hit Points and must Surrender. The consequences of this Surrender should be closely tied to you losing control of your abilities. Then, you lose all Instability Points.

Glorious Fate

There is a prophecy surrounding you, a prophecy of hope for a better world. Who spoke or wrote that prophecy? Do you embrace your destiny, or are you crushed by its weight? Did someone plant seeds of doubt in your heart?

When you acquire this Quirk, write down the prophecy, and what it foretold. Do this with the collaboration of everyone else in the group, tie it to a known threat or emergency in your world, and describe what sign or omen marks you as the person supposedly destined to fulfill that prophecy.

Examples: “The boy with the ruby necklace will bring back water to the Desolate Plains”, or “The Branded One shall destroy the Chaos Dragon”.

At the end of each session (approximately four hours of play), before assigning XP, think carefully and honestly about what happened during the session and choose one of the five options below. The choice is yours to make, but it’s often a good idea to talk about what happened with the rest of the group.

• The prophecy was fulfilled: lose this Quirk, fully restore your Hit Points and Mind Points, recover from all status effects, and gain a Heroic Skill from those available for your Classes (you may even choose a Heroic Skill whose requirements you do not satisfy, unless they include a Skill you don’t have).
• You acted in accordance to the prophecy: fully restore your Hit Points and Mind Points, and recover from all status effects.
• You acted neither in accordance to nor against the prophecy: nothing happens.
• You acted against the prophecy: gain 1 Fabula Point.
• The prophecy can never be fulfilled: lose this Quirk, gain 6 Fabula Points, and gain a Heroic Skill from those available for your Classes (you may even choose a Heroic Skill whose requirements you do not satisfy, unless they include a Skill you don’t have). Once the first or last option is chosen, the role of the prophecy in your world comes to an end. Even if later on in the campaign it appears that a situation might match the words of the prophecy, the effects of this Quirk will no longer be in place: you are free to shape your destiny and act based on your inner moral compass. Or perhaps you always were?

Heirloom

You possess one or more pieces of equipment that boast unique properties. Are those items something passed down in your family, or a gift from someone you hold dear? What strange or dangerous rumors surround these items? Who would do anything in their power to take them from you?

You obtain a single rare item worth 1200 zenit or less, or two rare items worth up to 800 zenit each. You may choose these items from the available lists or design them together with the rest of your group.

Once per session (approximately four hours of play), the Game Master may give you 1 Fabula Point in order to have sudden complications arise due to the unique nature of the item(s) you carry (such as rival duelists or strange monsters drawn by its magic). Items acquired through this Quirk cannot be destroyed, damaged, lost or stolen without your permission as a Player.

Hundred Faces

You can disguise yourself as pretty much anybody else. Does this ability come from special gadgets, psychic powers, or a unique physiology? Who was the first person to see through your deception? Whose trust did you lose because of it? Who tried to hire you for an unsavory operation, and how did you respond?

If you are away from prying eyes, you may use the Skill action and spend 1 Fabula Point to disguise yourself as another creature of humanoid size and shape. If the creature is someone you had a chance to meet, observe or research, you may also adopt their voice and mannerisms.

Your disguise will reliably fool any soldier-rank creature, but elite- and championrank creatures might see through it due to a failed Check or opportunity. If a Villain is present on the scene with you, they may spend 1 Ultima Point to reveal your true identity through sheer coincidence or superior intuition.

Inventor Prodigy

You have a burning passion for technology and strange devices. What innovative yet dangerous discovery have you made, and which shady company is trying to steal that information from you? How do they plan on using it?

Once per conflict scene, if you need to spend Inventory Points, you can instead ignore that cost.

You may initiate Projects. If a Project requires a special ingredient or material, you may spend 1 Fabula Point to declare you have that item with you. If you do, the invention must have a terrible flaw (see Core Rulebook, page 134)

Neo-Human

You represent the next evolutionary stage of humanity (or at least, one possibility). What gives away your nature? Do you conceal it? Do you have a mentor or someone you deeply respect? Which entity or organization is keeping a close eye on you?

When you acquire this Quirk, choose Dexterity, Insight, Might, or Willpower.

When you join a conflict scene, you may choose one option: you increase that Attribute by one die size (up to a maximum of d12) or, if its base die size is d12, you treat it as having a current die size of d20 during Checks you perform (only during Checks, and regardless of status effects). The chosen effect lasts until the end of the scene.

When you choose one of the above options, the Game Master gains an opportunity which can be spent during the current scene or later, to showcase the unexpected collateral effects of your abilities (such as drawing the attention of a psychic entity, alerting the authorities to your presence, or damaging the continuum).

Old Transport

You own an old vehicle that you love dearly. Unfortunately, the cursed thing barely holds together and won’t stop causing you trouble. Did you build this vehicle yourself, or did you receive it from someone? What very specific flaw or quirk makes it unique? What makes it extremely recognizable? You obtain a transport of your choice from the Core Rulebook (page 125), such as a land vehicle, a ship, or even an airship. The size of this transport is enough to accommodate you and the rest of your group, plus two or three guests, but it is unfit for combat.

Once per session (approximately four hours of play), the Game Master can give you 2 Fabula Points in order to make the transport’s engines fail, cause an enemy missile to damage its hull, or introduce similar story-based complications. However, the transport can never be destroyed without your permission.

Planet Oracle

The stream of souls itself speaks through your mouth, its suffering carved in centuriesold scars caused by pollution and ruthless experimentation. How does that pain manifest before your eyes? How was this connection formed?

When you cause one or more allies to recover Hit Points and/or Mind Points, each of those allies recovers 5 additional Hit Points and/or Mind Points and you choose a status effect from among dazed, enraged, poisoned, shaken, slow, and weak: each of those allies recovers from the chosen status effect. The recovery effect increases to 10 Hit Points and/or Mind Points if you are level 30 or higher.

You also gain the ability to perform Rituals of the Spiritism discipline.

Repentant Enforcer

You were part of a gang, armed group, police force or military unit. Your hands and heart are stained with the blood of innocents. What shocking event led to your defection? Who do you believe will never forgive you, and why are they right not to?

You may acquire this Quirk only if your character’s Theme is Doubt or Guilt, and your Theme cannot be changed in any way as long as you have this Quirk.

When you acquire this Quirk, describe the organization you worked for, name the Villain who leads it, and list their three main strategies. That organization becomes a threat for your world.

Examples: the Galaxy Crossroad Corporation (led by Aaron Callisto) who seize natural resources from planets, diminish worker rights and colonize outer space; the Deluvian Security Forces (led by Natalia Caiden) who use excessive force, traffic prototype magitech armaments and spread misinformation; the Peckerson Private Company (led by Ezra Allen) who sabotage peaceful protests, intimidate civilians and infiltrate unions.

You managed to steal something from the organization: you obtain a single rare item worth 1000 zenit or less. You may choose this item from the available lists or design it along with the rest of your group.

At the end of each session (approximately four hours of play), if you hindered one or more of the organization’s strategies, or if you remedied some of the harm they have done, gain 1 Subversion Point.

If you’re ever unsure whether this happened during a given session, it is you who always has the final say. Be as honest and sincere as you can.

When you need to spend Fabula Points, you may instead spend 1 Subversion Point (regardless of the amount of Fabula Points required).

Once the Villain leading the organization is defeated and Surrenders, you lose this Quirk, permanently increase your maximum Hit Points and Mind Points by 10, and change your Theme to one of the following: Belonging, Duty, or Justice.

Revenant

You were brought back after death, unable to peacefully merge with the stream of souls. Do you know why or how this happened? How does your undeath visually manifest? Were you returned to your body, or displaced into a different one?

You are not considered a living creature and gain Immunity to dark damage and poison damage, but become Vulnerable to light damage. You are also immune to the poisoned status effect.

You do not need to breathe, eat or drink, but you still follow the normal rules for resting. You also recover Hit Points and recover from status effects as normal (contrary to undead creatures, effects that restore HP cannot be used to harm you).

Finally, whenever you deal damage, you may change its type to dark. Additionally, all dark damage you deal ignores Immunities and Resistances.

Rival Prodigies

You possess an incredible talent, making you one of the very best in your field… too bad you’re always one step behind your eternal rival! Who are they, and when did you last face off against each other? Who trained you, and what expectations do they hold about your future? What did you sacrifice to achieve this level of ability?

When you acquire this Quirk, choose what you specialize in: Rituals, Skills, or spells. Then, say who your eternal rival is: this Non-Player Character becomes a minor Villain (5 Ultima Points), and you create a Bond towards them, with 1 emotion chosen between admiration and inferiority.

When a rule or ability pertaining to your specialization requires you to spend Hit Points or Mind Points, you may spend 1 Fabula Point instead to completely ignore that cost.

However, while your rival is present on the scene and has 1 or more Ultima Points left, any Check you fail is automatically treated as if you had rolled a 1 on both dice and triggered a fumble (this means the Check cannot be rerolled and you immediately gain 1 Fabula Point).

If the rival has no Ultima Points but escalates into becoming a Villain of greater strength, they immediately recharge their Ultima Points: thus, the penalty described above will still apply. The only way to get rid of it is for your rival to die or to stop being a Villain.

Stolen Transport

You own a reliable transport that’s gotten you out of trouble quite a few times. Problem is, you kinda… borrowed it. What makes it unique? What kind of fuel does it run on? Who was the original owner, and why do they really want it back?

You obtain a transport of your choice from among those found on page 125 of the Core Rulebook (such as a land vehicle, a ship, or even an airship) or you obtain a spaceship (see page 79 of Techno Fantasy). The size of this transport can be medium or large. It is enough to accommodate you and the rest of your group plus a dozen guests, and it is fitted with armaments that allow for vehicle combat (see page 65 of Techno Fantasy).

Once per session (approximately four hours of play), the Game Master can give you 2 Fabula Points to introduce a narrative complication related to the nature of the transport or its original owner. However, the transport can never be destroyed without your permission.

Survivor

You are among the few who survived a natural catastrophe or the attack of a dreadful creature. Do you believe someone is responsible for this? Were you able to keep in contact with any other survivors? Do you think reconstruction is possible?

You may acquire this Quirk only if your character’s Theme is Guilt, and your Theme cannot be changed in any way as long as you have this Quirk.

Permanently increase your maximum Hit Points and maximum Mind Points by 5.

Choose one option: gain the ability to equip martial melee and ranged weapons, martial armor, and martial shields; or learn any one spell from the Elementalist or Spiritist lists; or permanently increase your maximum Inventory Points by 2.

Traveling Workshop

You own a transport that also acts as your shop and laboratory. How did you obtain it? How does it move, and what energy fuels it? What makes it extremely recognizable? Normally, how do people react to its passage?

You may only choose this Quirk if your character has acquired one or more Classes among Gourmet (see page 148 of Natural Fantasy) and Tinkerer (see Core Rulebook, page 210).

You obtain a land vehicle (see Core Rulebook, page 125). This vehicle is big enough to accommodate you and the rest of your group, plus two or three guests, but unfit for combat.

If a Project requires a special ingredient or material, you may spend 1 Fabula Point to suddenly stumble upon something similar in your workshop; if you do, the invention must have a terrible flaw (see Core Rulebook, page 134)

Stubborn Skeptic

This tale of monsters, demons, and magicks sounds like videogame nonsense. You're probably dreaming, or someone hypnotized you. Maybe it's a prank! Surely it won't turn out you're a wandering soul from Purgatory, or that you stumbled into a magical portal. You gotta admit though, your memories are a fair bit jumbled.

If you are about to receive the effects of an attack, a spell, a Skill, or any other game effect controlled by another creature (be it a beneficial effect, or a negative effect), you must roll 1d6:

• 1-4: the effects apply as normal, and you gain 1 Suspicion Point.
• 5-6: you disbelieve the effects, and thus do not receive them.

At the end of each session (approximately four hours of play), before assigning XP, roll 2d20. If you roll equal to or lower than your current character level, you gain 1 Suspicion Point. Then, if you have 20 or more Suspicion Points, you remember how you arrived here and the Game Master chooses one option: you remember a key clue regarding a threat that is present in your world; or you remember the existence of a new threat and receive a key clue about it.

When you regain your memories, a strange power awakens within you: you lose this Quirk and receive a Heroic Skill of your choice (you may even choose a Heroic Skill whose requirements you do not satisfy, unless they include a Skill you don't have). This includes choosing a Heroic Skill for a Class you do not have.

(Un?)faithful Servant

You are the right arm to another character, someone who could be destined to great things but is in dire need of your help, as well as showing a frequent lack of common sense. Which promise, debt, or oath binds you? What is your disposition towards them? What do you think is their most significant flaw? Have you ever thought you might be the one who deserves that spot? What secret have you kept from them?

When you gain this Quirk, choose another Player Character: that character becomes your liege. You both create a Bond towards each other; your Bond has one emotion chosen between loyalty and mistrust, and your liege's Bond towards you has one emotion chosen among admiration, inferiority, or mistrust.

Make sure whoever controls your liege agrees to this relationship and is looking forward to exploring the unique nature of this Quirk with you.

When your liege performs a Check, if you are present on the scene, you may offer your help: you will use the rules for Group Checks (Core Rulebook, page 50), but you automatically succeed on your Support Check. If this happens during a conflict scene, you do not lose your turn in the current round (thus ignoring the limitations in the rules for Teamwork, on page 76 of the Core Rulebook)

Whenever your liege accepts your help in a Group Check, you gain 1 Reliance Points

At the end of each session (approximately four hours of play), before assigning XP, roll 2d20. If you roll equal to or lower than your current character level, you gain 1 Reliance Point. Then, if you have 20 or more Reliance Points, choose one of the following options:

• Challenge: it is now time to put your liege to the test. Together with the Player who controls the liege, narrate a duel, a challenge or similar competition in which your liege must prove they do not need your help, and they succeed. Then, you lose this Quirk and gain a Heroic Skill of your choice (you may even choose a Heroic Skill whose requirements you do not satisfy, unless they include a Skill you don't have).
• Betrayal: the hour is dark, and you show your true colors. Together with the Player who controls your liege, narrate your betrayal and agree on an appropriate consequence (such as the loss of an important object, the resurrection of a terrifying foe, or a change of Theme for your liege). Then, your Player Character becomes a minor or Major Villain (Game Master's choice) and you create a new character.