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View Full Version : New Flaw: Social Naivete



Scarlet-Devil
2011-01-29, 06:44 PM
Ever wanted to play a sociopath, man-raised-by-wolves, or a brilliant scholar who becomes a stuttering moron in social situations? (And get something in exchange for it)

Well that's what this is for.

Social Naivete (or alternatively, Worldly Ignorance, etc)
You have no empathy for other people, are shy and bookish by nature, or are otherwise socially inhibited.

Effect: You take a -4 penalty on [Gather Information, Diplomacy?] and Sense Motive checks.

How is it? Unbalanced? UA points out that a flaw that penalizes charisma based checks will potentially have no impact if the player choosing it decides to just avoid talking altogether; on the other hand, it follows the rule that flaws should give greater penalties than feats give bonuses, Sense Motive is wisdom based, and arguably more important to a 'quiet' character than other social skills, and DMs can potentially have a fun time forcing the character into situations where the penalties really count (it's practically a rule of DMing that you should occasionally take advantage of the character's weaknesses anyway, right?).

Seraphiel
2011-01-29, 06:49 PM
Well I'm no expert on balance, but I feel like it'd be sort of an easy flaw to take, haha. Not everyone wants to make a talker character, and most people can get by without those skills, especially since they're in a party. =x

I guess what I'm trying to say is, flaws should negatively affect all sorts of different characters to maintain balance. Otherwise it's just going to lead to more min-maxing.

Sorry if I rambled. xD


Edit: Perhaps add a Wisdom penalty to it?

Dust
2011-01-29, 06:55 PM
You have no empathy for other people, are shy and bookish by nature, or are otherwise socially inhibited.
So, basically every PC ever. :smallwink:
That said, penalizing Sense Motive is always a good one, since that's one of the few skills that even non-social characters grudgingly agree is a good choice.

Amnestic
2011-01-29, 06:58 PM
Well I'm no expert on balance, but I feel like it'd be sort of an easy flaw to take, haha. Not everyone wants to make a talker character, and most people can get by without those skills, especially since they're in a party. =x


This is true, but one of the flaws which already exists is -4 to Listen+Spot, which can be just as useless to people in a party.

OP: I'd put it on Diplomacy rather than Gather Information, but given that Inattentive (aforementioned flaw) exists as is, I'd say Social Naivete is hardly overpowered. Most characters can generally find two flaws that will have negligible effects on them (without DM playfulness of course) either way.

Seraphiel
2011-01-29, 07:03 PM
I s'pose so, haha. I'll just be on my way, then. XD

LemonFarmer
2011-01-29, 11:38 PM
This is true, but one of the flaws which already exists is -4 to Listen+Spot, which can be just as useless to people in a party.

not really. everyone in the party benefits from a high spot/listen check because even if your friend sees the big scary monster jumping at you from the shadows doesn't mean you do. were as a you only really need 1 person in a party with good social skills.

Fable Wright
2011-01-30, 12:16 AM
"In addition, whenever presented with an opportunity to interact with others, the character always does so to the best of his or her ability." :smallamused:

Honestly, you might want to consider adding this line. It would give the flaw an impact in the game, and make the person regret their charisma penalties more when people start becoming less friendly towards them.