Minor Story Flaw

In ArM5, a Minor Story Flaw is a Story Flaw that is worth one point when balancing Virtues and Flaws. Minor Story Flaws include some considerable benefit, such as a friend or ally who can help the character who has this Flaw, whereas Major Story Flaws have no benefits attached.

Commentary

Flaws in Fifth Edition are not just things that hinder or limit a character. They are also things that can motivate a character to get out of the covenant and go participate in stories. At first, this seems strange to a lot of readers. Try looking at it this way. A player who chooses those Flaws for his character is making an offer to the storyguide - "I'm putting something in my character background that can be used as a story hook." That enhances the game for everyone. As a reward, the game offers an extra point's worth of Virtues.

Depending on how devious your storyguide is, all of the "benefits" of a Minor Story Flaw can definitely be made more trouble than they're worth. That is not necessarily the intent, but if you're worried about the balance concerns of a Flaw that has significant benefits, be assured: your character can be made to pay for them. Again and again, if necessary.

Legacy Page

The history of this page before August 6, 2010 is archived at Legacy:minor_story_flaw