Story Flaw

A Story Flaw is a type of Flaw that draw the character into stories. Story Flaws represent relationships, obligations, goals, and drives that make the character leave the comforts of home and participate in the interesting events we call stories.

Unlike most other role-playing games, in Ars Magica, the best way for magi to improve their own powers and abilities is usually by spending lots of time in their own libraries and laboratories. This creates a certain amount of inertia; the magi often have to be dragged away from their labs kicking and screaming (so to speak). The idea behind Story Flaws is that they make it easier for the storyguide to motivate characters. They provide a ready-made "hook" to get that character involved in the saga.

At their best, Story Flaws help make player-characters proactive about initiating stories rather than just reacting to opportunities and emergencies. They enrich the game by broadening the variety of stories that occur and by making them relevant to the characters.

Story Flaws do not necessarily make a character weaker (at least not directly) and the character may not even see them as a disadvantage. They count as Flaws mainly to help motivate players to take them. They're a way to balance Virtues without necessarily weakening the character (just making him or her more interesting).

Grogs may not have Story Flaws because they are supposed to be supporting characters, not leading characters who initiate stories of their own.

Major Story Flaws

Major Story Flaws are almost entirely disadvantageous to the character. They interrupt his studies or other pursuits, possibly expose him to danger, with little reward other than the result story itself. Having a rival or enemy is a simple example of a Major Story Flaw.

Minor Story Flaws

Minor Story Flaws contain significant benefits, but they can still draw characters into stories. An example might be an ally who can help the character from time to time, but also asks for his help in return. Playing these requires a careful balancing act on the part of the storyguide: if the Story Flaw never causes any inconvenience, it's not a really Flaw, and if it never has any benefits, it's not really Minor.

Story Flaws in Past Editions

The term Story Flaw was introduced in ArM5, but many of the actual Flaws that are now Story Flaws date back much farther. For example, Enemies is now a Story Flaw, but it existed at least as far back as ArM2.

Many of what are now Minor Story Flaws were once Virtues. The reason for the change appears to be a shift in priorities on the part of the game's designer; if the goal is to make characters more interesting and more easily motivated to participate in stories, it seems logical to emphasize the story potential rather than the relatively minor powers or benefits the Flaw confers.to be a shift in priorities on the part of the game's designer; if the goal is to make characters more interesting and more easily motivated to participate in stories, it seems logical to emphasize the story potential rather than the re

Legacy Page

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