New Disadvantages

This page used to describe itself as containing other things besides GURPS Disadvantages, but that’s all that seems to be on there, so…

Bad Handwriting (-3 points)

This disadvantage is only available to Literate characters. Your handwriting is a scribbledy-mess! This means that it takes 1d+1 times as long for a given character other than yourself to read (the GM may wish to give a character experienced with bad handwriting a bonus to this roll, but no less than normal speed, and that for someone who has known the particular bad handwriter in question for a long time). In addition, you may incur a reaction penalty regarding your writing, or even in general after a character has seen your handwriting (GM’s option; the bureaucrat and the superstitious will tend to react worse, especially a “signature analyst”). This disadvantage does not necessarily mean you aren’t dexterous; perhaps you simply never put in any effort to learn how, or had a bad teacher. Usually (but not always), even students with Reduced Manual Dexterity can write well with effort by either them or their teacher.

Code of Honor: “Hacker’s”(-5 points)

Based on an excerpt from Hackers: Heroes of the Computer Revolution by Steven Levy:

• Access to computers – and anything which might teach you something about the way the world works – should be unlimited and total. Always yield to the Hands-On imperative.
• All information should be free.
• Mistrust Authority. Promote Decentralization.
• Hackers should be judged by their hacking, not bogus criteria such as degrees, age, race, or position.
• You can create art and beauty on a computer.
• Computers can change your life for the better.

Compulsive Behavior: Procrastinator (-5/-10 points)

You cannot get anything started early. Any time you want to start to do a major project without outside pressure, make a Will roll, at -1 for every day of additional time you have, at +1 for every day you need that has already passed by, and at +1 to +4 if someone is pressuring/watching/you’ll lose your job otherwise. At the -10 level, roll at -4. If using the Much Maligned Will rules, the base cost is -5 points.

Dysgraphia (-15 Points)

You have motor control problems. This is considered a learning disability on modern Earth, most strictly defined as a 20 point or greater IQ difference when motor control functions are involved. You suffer a -2 penalty on any attribute or skill roll that requires the use of fine motor control, or -4 if you’re in a hurry. (Note that things may change from example to example depending on what tools are available, etc; the GM’s word is law.) In addition, your handwriting takes you longer than average to write, is more difficult to read than average, and may make some people react poorly to you. (However, it seems that this disadvantage is common enough among people with Mathematical Ability that many of them have no problems with its effects on your handwriting.) This originally appeared on my web pages briefly before being featured in Issue #1 of the Book of Odd

Dysgraphia and Reduced Manual Dexterity from Compendium

These two disadvantages are similar, but are they the same? Using the Compendium’s suggestions for creating disadvantages, I’d say Dysgraphia was Reduced Manual Dexterity x4 (-12 points), with the -3 point disadvantage Bad Handwriting, given above.