Disadvantages
Problems, imperfections, and tragic flaws — the mechanics of negative traits, the self-control system, the disadvantage limit, and how to choose flaws that serve your character rather than hinder your enjoyment.
Disadvantages & the Point Economy
A disadvantage is a problem, imperfection, or limitation that renders your character less capable in some situation than their attributes and skills would suggest. Disadvantages carry negative point costs — they put points back into your budget rather than spending them.
Every disadvantage in this chapter exists on the same currency as every advantage and skill. Taking a −10-point disadvantage is mechanically identical to earning 10 extra character points to spend elsewhere. That trade is the entire premise: you accept a real, persistent constraint in exchange for points you can spend on genuine capability.
There are two clear reasons to take disadvantages:
- Point economy. Disadvantages extend your budget. A 150-point character who takes −30 points of disadvantages has effectively 180 points of purchasing power. That gap can fund the difference between a good fighter and a great one, or between a wizard who knows five spells and one who knows fifteen.
- Character depth. A character with no flaws is often less interesting to play than one who has to navigate genuine limitations. The constraint creates drama. A soldier with Duty cannot walk away when it matters most; a scholar with Absent-Mindedness forgets critical details at the worst times. These are the moments that make sessions memorable.
The disadvantage system is broader than this chapter alone. Any trait with a negative point cost counts — including low Status, below-average Wealth, reduced attributes (e.g. ST 8 = −20 pts), and Quirks. All of these draw from the same disadvantage limit as the traits listed here.
D&D 5e's "Flaws" are purely narrative — they carry no mechanical weight. GURPS disadvantages are mechanical currency. Every point of disadvantage is real purchasing power spent on real capability elsewhere. The constraint is real; so is the reward.
| Point Value | What It Means | Example Impact |
|---|---|---|
| −5 | Minor inconvenience — rarely triggered, narrow scope | Buys 1 extra skill point in a cheap skill |
| −10 | Moderate problem — triggered occasionally, noticeable | Buys DX or IQ up by 0.5 (half a level) |
| −15 | Significant flaw — triggered often or broadly limiting | Funds a 15-point advantage like Combat Reflexes |
| −20 to −25 | Serious handicap — regularly affects gameplay | Funds a full level of DX or IQ |
| −30 to −50 | Crippling — defines a major aspect of the character | Funds 1–2 full attribute levels |
Types of Disadvantages
Disadvantages are classified along two axes: what part of you they belong to, and who is eligible to take them.
Part of You — Mental, Physical, Social
This classification matters most in edge cases involving body-swapping, curses, or transformation. In ordinary play, think of it as flavour that guides roleplay.
| Type | Marker | What It Belongs To | Key Consequence |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mental | Ⓜ | Your mind or soul | Stays with your mind. If your consciousness moves to a new body, mental disadvantages come with you. |
| Physical | Ⓟ | Your body | Stays with your body. If another mind inhabits your body, they inherit your physical disadvantages. |
| Social | Ⓢ | Your identity and reputation | Attached to who you are socially — your name, your status, your past. Below-average Wealth and Status from Chapter 1 are social disadvantages. |
If you start with a physical disadvantage, you receive its point value to spend. If you acquire one during play — through injury, accident, or combat — you receive nothing. The disadvantage simply lowers your point total. You do not get compensating points to spend on advantages.
Example: Starting blind gives you +50 points. Being blinded by an explosion mid-campaign gives you nothing — and drops your point total by 50.
Who Can Take It — Mundane, Exotic, Supernatural
| Access Level | Marker | Eligible Characters |
|---|---|---|
| Mundane | — | Any character. Inborn, acquired, or self-imposed. No special marker; assume available to all unless noted. |
| Exotic | ① | Non-humans only (via racial template). Humans need GM permission to take additional exotic disadvantages beyond their template. |
| Supernatural | ⑤ | Anyone, but only if supernatural powers exist in the campaign world. Typically the result of curses, divine punishment, magic, or psionics. |
Good Disadvantages & Tragic Flaws
Good Disadvantages
Some disadvantages are, in the real world, virtues. Truthfulness, Sense of Duty, Code of Honor, Honesty — all of these represent genuinely admirable traits. In GURPS they are disadvantages because they limit your freedom of action. A character with Truthfulness genuinely cannot lie convincingly, even in service of a good cause. That limitation is worth points.
The practical implication: you can build a wholly heroic character and still reach the disadvantage limit. You never have to give your hero character flaws. You can earn all your negative points through virtuous traits that simply constrain how your hero operates — not through vices, mental illness, or physical impairment.
Tragic Flaws
The greatest heroes of history and fiction — Achilles, Hamlet, Macbeth — are great partly because of their flaws. A bad temper, a compulsion, a crippling addiction. These are found in the heroes of fact and fiction for a reason: they create tension, failure, and growth.
Don't assume your heroes have to be perfect. A significant flaw gives the GM material to work with and gives you moments that make sessions memorable. The constraint is the point, not just the points.
A specific category within mental disadvantages — Code of Honor, Disciplines of Faith, Fanaticism, Honesty, Sense of Duty, Vow, and similar beliefs — share three special properties:
- They can be bought off with earned points at any time — no extraordinary circumstances required. People genuinely do change their values.
- They cannot be imposed or removed by drugs, afflictions, or brain surgery. You need magic, mind control, or prolonged brainwashing to alter something as complex as a code of conduct.
- They can be used with the Pact limitation as conditions you must uphold to retain supernatural powers.
A paladin-type character could reach −40 points entirely through: Sense of Duty (to party), Honesty, Code of Honor (chivalric), and a Vow (protect the innocent). No vices, no illness — pure virtue as mechanical constraint.
Disadvantage Limit & Restrictions
The Disadvantage Limit
Most GMs impose a disadvantage limit — a cap on how many points you can earn from negative traits. The standard limit is −50 points. This applies to the combined total of all negative-cost traits: this chapter's disadvantages, Chapter 1's reduced attributes, low Status, low Wealth, and Quirks.
If the GM assigns you a mandatory disadvantage — one required by your race, template, campaign setting, or backstory — it does not count against your disadvantage limit. Only disadvantages you choose voluntarily eat into the cap.
Three Restrictions
Beyond the point cap, most GMs enforce three additional rules:
Negated Disadvantages. You cannot take a disadvantage that one of your advantages would negate or substantially mitigate. If you have Acute Hearing, you cannot also take Hard of Hearing — you are collecting points without accepting the constraint. Contradictory disadvantages (such as Curious and Incurious) are similarly mutually exclusive. The GM has final say on which traits conflict.
Villain Disadvantages. Some disadvantages — Sadism, for instance — are not appropriate for heroic player characters. The GM may forbid them to PCs while still using them for villains. Villain disadvantages are included in the rules primarily for NPC creation.
Mutually Exclusive Disadvantages. Certain disadvantages directly contradict each other by definition and cannot coexist. The GM adjudicates these on a case-by-case basis.
The −50 cap is a default, not a law. Gritty campaigns may lower it to −25 or −30. Cinematic campaigns featuring deeply flawed anti-heroes may raise it to −75 or remove it entirely. Confirm with your GM before planning your disadvantage budget.
Self-Control System
Many mental disadvantages do not affect you constantly — you may attempt to control your urges. These disadvantages are marked with an asterisk (*) after their point cost. When you take one, you must choose a self-control number (SC) that determines how often the disadvantage controls you — and adjusts the point value accordingly.
Choosing Your Self-Control Number
The SC number is the target you must roll equal to or under on 3d6 to resist your disadvantage in a triggering situation. A lower SC means you give in more often (stronger disadvantage, more points). A higher SC means you resist more easily (milder disadvantage, fewer points).
Drop all fractions when adjusting point costs (e.g. −22.5 becomes −22 points). Record your choice in parentheses on your character sheet — Berserk (9) means you resist Berserk on a roll of 9 or less.
Making a Self-Control Roll
When circumstances are likely to trigger your disadvantage, you may roll 3d6 against your SC number. Roll equal to or under: you resist this time. Roll over: you give in and suffer the listed effects. You are never forced to attempt this roll — you can always give in willingly, and good roleplaying often means doing exactly that.
Vora has Berserk (9) — she resists on a 9 or less. She is ambushed in a narrow corridor, which is a highly stressful situation; the GM applies −2 to her self-control roll. She now needs to roll 7 or less to keep her head. She rolls 3d6 and gets a 10 — she snaps, attacks indiscriminately, and the party has to manage the fallout.
High Will improves Fright Checks and resists supernatural emotion control — but it does not improve self-control rolls, even for mental disadvantages with similar effects. Mental disadvantages represent a facet of personality you cannot simply will away. That is part of what makes them disadvantages.
Every disadvantage description prints its cost at SC 12 — the default. If you never explicitly choose a SC number, assume 12. A SC of 15 means the trait is mild enough that it barely affects play; SC 6 means it dominates your character's behaviour.
With GM permission, you may spend 1 unspent character point to automatically succeed on a self-control roll — ignoring the trigger entirely. The point is gone permanently. This is not bad roleplaying; you are paying for the effort of maintaining control.
Buying Off Disadvantages
With earned character points — those gained during play from the GM — you can buy off a disadvantage, removing it from your character permanently. The cost equals the number of points the disadvantage originally gave you.
| What You're Removing | Cost to Buy Off |
|---|---|
| A flat disadvantage (e.g. −15 pts) | 15 earned points |
| One level of a leveled disadvantage | Difference between adjacent levels |
| Improving SC number (e.g. SC 9 → SC 12) | Difference in point cost between old and new SC |
Self-imposed mental disadvantages (beliefs, codes, vows) can be bought off at any time with earned points — no special narrative justification is required. Psychiatric and physical disadvantages normally require a believable in-game reason: recovery, surgery, significant personal change, or resolution of the source of the problem. The GM is the final judge of whether a buy-off is narratively plausible.
You do not have to remove a disadvantage in one step. Raise a SC number one notch at a time (SC 6 → 9 → 12 → 15), or buy off one level of a leveled disadvantage before the next. Each partial step costs only the point difference — a much gentler drain on earned points than removing the whole trait at once.
Secret Disadvantages
With the GM's cooperation, you may take a Secret Disadvantage — one unknown to both your character and to you, the player. The process works as follows:
- You choose a point value and tell the GM.
- The GM selects a suitable disadvantage worth that value and gives you the point value plus an extra −5 points. You do not learn what the disadvantage is.
- When the disadvantage becomes obvious during play — the GM decides when — you must buy off the extra −5 points as soon as possible.
The GM must choose carefully. The secret disadvantage should be something you could plausibly not know about. Strong candidates include mental disadvantages whose triggers have simply never arisen — Berserk, Combat Paralysis, Bloodlust, unusual phobias, Split Personality. Most physical disadvantages are too obvious to hide, though something like a blood disorder might remain unknown until tested.
You may list only one secret disadvantage entry on your character sheet — but that entry may represent multiple related traits worth the chosen total. The GM may select a cluster of related disadvantages rather than a single one.
Choosing Disadvantages
Each of our three running characters approaches the disadvantage budget differently. Aldric front-loads mental disadvantages that reflect his eccentric intellect. Mira takes self-imposed flaws — virtues that constrain her freedom without undermining her reliability. Vora goes for raw, instinctual problems that fit her berserker identity.
Aldric's build leans so heavily into IQ that his physical and social shortcomings are not just flavour — they are structural. He needs the disadvantage points to afford Magery and his core advantages. He is choosing real problems that reflect who he already is.
- Absent-Mindedness (−15 pts): −5 to IQ and IQ-based rolls unless concentrating on the current task. Forgets trivial details constantly. Classic eccentric genius disadvantage — fits Aldric so naturally it barely feels like a flaw.
- Curious, SC 12 (−5 pts): Irresistible drive to investigate the unknown. Must roll SC to avoid pursuing something interesting, even if dangerous. Drives Aldric into trouble in every session, which is exactly right.
- Stubbornness, SC 12 (−5 pts): Insists on having his own way. Must roll SC to accept help, back down from a position, or change plans mid-course. Makes cooperation with the party a recurring friction point.
Mira uses disadvantages the heroic way — virtues that constrain her rather than flaws that damage her. None of her choices involve psychiatric problems or physical limitations. All three are self-imposed mental disadvantages: beliefs she holds and codes she lives by.
- Duty (to the Merchant's Guard, 15 or less) (−10 pts): She has standing orders she must answer. She cannot simply walk away from assignments, even for personal priorities. A self-imposed disadvantage — her loyalty, not her weakness.
- Code of Honor (Soldier's) (−10 pts): She never breaks her word, always honours surrender, never attacks an unarmed or helpless opponent. The constraint is real — it will cost her tactical options at the worst moments.
- Overconfidence, SC 12 (−5 pts): She always believes she can handle it. Must roll SC to back down from a challenge, even when badly outmatched. Leads her into situations she should have avoided.
Vora's physical build is expensive — ST 16 alone cost 60 points. She needs disadvantage points to fund skills and keep her functional. Her choices are instinctual, primal, and appropriately dangerous for a raider who has never learned restraint.
- Berserk, SC 12 (−10 pts): When she takes significant damage or witnesses a close ally fall, she must roll SC or fly into a killing rage — attacking everyone, friend or foe, until no one is moving. Spectacular during individual combat; catastrophic in the wrong context.
- Bad Temper, SC 12 (−10 pts): Must roll SC to avoid responding to provocation with immediate aggression. The SC keeps it from being constant, but failure makes her a diplomatic disaster. Works with Berserk to make her volatile.
- Sense of Duty (to Clan) (−5 pts): A self-imposed disadvantage — she will not abandon her own, will not let insults to her clan pass, and will put clan obligations above party priorities when they conflict.
Chapter 3 Character Sheets
These sheets reflect cumulative decisions from Chapters 1–3. Attributes (Ch1), advantages (Ch2), and disadvantages (Ch3) are shown together. Skills and spells remain as forward links — they have not been purchased yet.
Ch1 attributes: +60 net · Ch2 advantages: −57 pts · Ch3 disadvantages: +25 pts
Available for Ch4 skills: 60 pts
Ch1 attributes: −92 pts · Ch2 advantages: −30 pts · Ch3 disadvantages: +25 pts
Available for Ch4 skills: 53 pts
Ch1 attributes: −110 pts · Ch2 advantages: −20 pts · Ch3 disadvantages: +25 pts
Available for Ch4 skills: 45 pts
Chapter Quiz
An infinite draw from a bank of 36 questions covering the mechanics of this chapter — what disadvantages are, how the self-control system works, the disadvantage limit, the three types, and the rules for buying traits off. Questions shuffle continuously.