03.17 Ron d6 Disadvantages: Banes & Oddities

Bad Luck (2-4 Points)

Bad Luck, Minor (2 Points)

The character is exceptionally unlucky. This Disadvantage is under the GM’s control most of the time. The most common (default) way to handle it is, whenever the player rolls the dice and a 1 on the Wild Die comes up, it automatically is a Critical Failure a twice (2 times) per Session. Another example is the GM can choose to impose a Stymied condition until the end of the scene, or the character loses an action during the next round, or invoking some sort of strange, but not too terrible bad luck effect.

Another Example – A character with Bad Luck is running from a group of terrorists that he’s been fighting for some time. He tries to jump across an elevator shaft when the player rolls a Critical Failure on the dice. Well, the character probably failed in the jumping attempt – so he falls – but, instead of being able to grab for a cable or a lower ledge, the character’s belt gets caught on a hook. Now, the character has to free himself before the terrorists come around the corner and blow him away.

Restrictions/Notes: A character may take Bad Luck if he already has the Good Luck or Great Luck. The character might even, on occasion, use the benefits of the Good Luck or Great Luck to get out of trouble or partially negate the effects of Minor Bad Luck – that’s the way it works. Also, the gamemaster should remember that the character has Minor Bad Luck – not the player. If the player gets into a consistent streak of rolling Critical Failures on the dice, then the gamemaster should start skipping the invocation of Minor Bad Luck occasionally – more than 3 or 4 occurrences of Minor Bad Luck during an adventure is a little much.

Bad Luck, Moderate (3 Points)

The rules for this Disadvantage are the same as for Minor Bad Luck. For the Critical Failure example, they are automatic three times per session. The effects are exactly the same, only the GM might make the setbacks more uncomfortable.

Restrictions/Notes: See Minor Bad Luck.

Bad Luck, Major (4 Points)

The same as Minor Bad Luck and Moderate Bad Luck, but the character suffers the effects on a automatic Critical Failure occur 4 times per session and the character loses his next action (if in turns).

Restrictions/Notes: See Minor Bad Luck and Moderate Bad Luck. Since Major Bad Luck can have such devastating effects, the GM might want to overrule occurrences of it. The GM could have something disastrous happen but does it
serve any purpose in the adventure? Possibly, but if it doesn’t, save it until later. Then, when the character is at the climax of the adventure and he doesn’t roll a disastrously low total – but the gamemaster feels a dose of bad luck would improve the story – he can use that as an excuse. Players should understand that Bad Luck is arbitrary and will often occur at the worst possible moment.

Curse (6-Points)

This character either inherited or brought upon herself a curse. The player must decide the specifics of the hex, but known curses include uncontrollable shape-changing, a violent reaction to something the character loves, and constant failure at a given task.