The Book of Distinctions and Drawbacks (BoDaD) is a 46-page PDF from Scott Lynch and Cryptosnark Games for the d20 System which presents a very handsome character advantage/flaw system Again, in the interest of full disclosure, I am a moderator on the RPG.net forums, and the opinions expressed herein do not represent those of RPG.net.
THE HARD FACTS
The PDF is 46 pages (43 pages after deducting the OGL, and an ad for Deeds Not Words). The layout is simple, non-nonsense 2-column, sporting no art or accoutrements other than the book title at the bottom of each page. Otherwise the execution is refreshingly error-free. The file weighs in at almost 1MB, but even on my pokey dial-up connection at home: this product is worth the wait.
CONTENTS
The Book of Distinctions most easily divided into four sections: a brief overview on the use of the material in your d20 game, a listing of the various Advantages, Flaws, Taints and Curses. Sprinkled throughout are other rule bits, such as a system for ‘seasoning’ a character through a sort of lifepath model prior to becoming first level.
THE RULES
Mr. Lynch goes to great lengths in the beginning of the document to downplay the excellent system that he has created, warning DMs effusively about the various abuses of merit/flaw systems. He need not have been so concerned. The system presented is quite simple: a Flaw gives can be spent on an extra Feat, Skills (4 Skill points per Flaw), magical goodies, or even XPs. There are two types of Flaws presented: Primary and Secondary. Primary Flaws entail hard-coded modifiers to the character, Secondary Flaws are more nebulous in nature (such as the character being ‘Humorless’ or ‘Melancholy’). Kudos to Mr. Lynch for drawing the distinction between the two types of Flaws in the first place. Most merit/flaw systems present them with point values attached, and said point values can be out of whack when it comes to how much the Flaw comes into play in a given campaign.
BoDaD takes care of this problem by first leveling the field with regard to effect – all of the Primary Flaws are equivalent to each other in overall effect. I was unable to find any that were ‘broken’ in that they presented too small or too large a problem for the character for the same benefit. Similarly, the Secondary Flaws are balanced in that they present more of a roleplay-based problem for the player, without concrete mechanical effect. The division makes it easy for a DM to disallow the taking of Secondary Flaws if he runs a more ‘crunchy’ game where such niceties are unlikely to come into play.
TAINTS & CURSES
While the Flaws, particularly the Secondary Flaws, are well conceived, the Taints and Curses are the place where this document really starts to shine. Taints are a progression of events that eventually consume your character, such as the Infernal Taint, where the character has a hidden demonic agenda coursing through his veins. The Taints, despite their name, grant bonuses as well as penalties as the character progresses through it. These are generally well balanced, although there are some stages of the Taints (the Infernal Taint sticking out in my mind) where the benefits would seem to outweigh the costs to the character (until the very end).
The Curses are also very inventive, and the only complaint that I have about them is that there are far too few in the BoDaD. More, please!
ADVANTAGES
The BoDaD rounds out with a very long list of Advantages that the character can purchase, either with Flaws or with an XP tithe to their character. The list is short, but since the Advantages can be purchased at multiple levels of involvement, this can be forgiven. Most of the Advantages are either social or material in nature (with things like Allies, a keep or noble status for a character). This is as it should be – instead of players taking Secondary Flaws and using them to fuel mechanical bonuses in order to min/max, the Advantages are all roleplay-oriented, giving the character the edge in a game where the character’s life is actually explored to some degree.
My only concern with the Advantages, particularly the material ones, is that there is no ‘safety net’ for the player in determining the fate of the Advantage after introduction into play. While this is always the case with a character’s connections within the game, given that the character may very well be paying for the Advantage forever (if they are missing a limb or are blind, for instance), there is no built-in recourse for the player if a particularly nasty DM decides to burn down their thriving business for a plot hook.
Overall, however, I like the Advantages the most of any of the other character accoutrements in the book.
OVERALL
The Book of Distinctions & Drawbacks presents a very well-balanced and approachable system of merits and flaws for d20 characters. The system simply fits on top of the existing d20 character-creation system, with a minimum of mess or fuss. I highly recommend it to anyone who wants to have create roleplay opportunities for their players.
Good work.
Review Summary