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The God Machine chronicle rules update introduces the idea of conditions in place of various rules, one of which is flaws.

The leading text in that chapter explains how to replace flaws with conditions, stating that the ST may choose to allow the characters to start with a persistent condition:

Persistent Conditions

Some Conditions are marked as Persistent. These Conditions are tied inexorably to the character (replacing the Flaws in the World of Darkness Rulebook). Persistent Conditions may offer one Beat per game session when they complicate the character’s life. With Storyteller permission, players may take Persistent Conditions for their characters at character creation. Persistent Conditions may be resolved permanently only with a specific and impressive effort, along with Storyteller discretion.

The issue is that no distinction is made between the good, the bad, and the ugly.

Some conditions are only negative (The good - maps back to flaws exactly) , some are only positive (The bad - clearly not flaws, taken as merits perhaps but at what cost?) And some are mixed (The ugly - have to be split into flaws and merits...what cost and what do you keep when you lift the flaw?).

In my case my ST is not using all the new rules, and is not using conditions or beats. I want to reconcile the new Conditions with the old system as I'd like to be able to make my character 'obsessed' with something. A condition satisfies that exactly, but has both positive (9-again on roles relating to my obsession) and negative (no 10-again rule on anything else).

In general how should I handle this?

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  • \$\begingroup\$ Let me see if I understand: Your ST doesn't want to use conditions or beats. Nevertheless, there's a condition that you want to take because it suits the character precisely on a mechanical level. Do you still want the XP boost that would ordinarily come from a flaw/condition, or is it just the 9-again/no-10-again that you want? \$\endgroup\$
    – Jadasc
    Apr 10, 2014 at 20:40
  • \$\begingroup\$ @Jadasc I'd like a sensible guide for reverse engineering the conditions. I'm after the 'condition' for the thematic benefit to my character, if it makes mechanical sense to be a flaw then I'll take the occasional XP boost when it comes up, but that's not my main goal. \$\endgroup\$
    – AncientSwordRage
    Apr 10, 2014 at 21:11
  • \$\begingroup\$ What is it the character is obsessed with? \$\endgroup\$
    – redlamp
    Jun 7, 2014 at 15:31

1 Answer 1

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The World of Darkness (WW55000) covers Derangements (p96) which is where I would normally look for a behavior like Obsession, if not as a flaw.

I like the mechanic described in the question, but see how it could be exploited and therefore up to Storyteller approval. Derangements and mental flaws like these may have mechanical benefits, but often come with hardships that are hard to track on a character sheet and sometimes ignored by the player or overlooked by the ST.

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