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> Dark Secret Flaw!, What do YOU do with it?
Phaeton
post Nov 14 2003, 08:40 PM
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My sam/rigger got strapped with both Amnesia 1 and Dark Secret flaw, because---from what my GM says---he downloaded essentially proof of extraterrestrials (alien weapon specs) onto headware memory from a restricted zone along the likes of Area 51. And doesn't remember it.

...So what do YOU do with the flaw? :rotate: :wobble: :spin: :twirl:
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Kagetenshi
post Nov 14 2003, 08:50 PM
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I had an Otaku working for Deus and whose secret ambition was to "cleanse both meatworld and Matrix in flames." That worked for Dark Secret for me.

~J
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nezumi
post Nov 14 2003, 08:53 PM
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I think it depends on two points...
1) If the character is using it to roleplay or for the points
2) How often the player buys me food.

If the player is someone I trust to play it out on his own, I'll generally let him (or her) pick it out or choose something that would turn into a bad rep thing more than anything (was falsely accused of killing his wife and his now on the run with a bounty on his head kinda thing). If this is someone who got it for the points... oooh... Maybe make 'em the Child and Bunny Butcher of Greensville, or the character really has a monkey tail... Maybe something involving his sexual preferences... You can also always play the White Elephant card, give him something that looks good but really sucks. For instance, he's the half brother of Damien Knight, and while plenty of people now see him as a bartering chip, Damien really is quite embarassed about his mother's youthful inidscretions and wouldn't mind of the character disappeared altogether. Or dragon blood, unfortunately it hasn't done anything good for you, but lots of people would love to get a little of you for spell components.

Just remember, like all good flaws, when its found out (and therefore eliminated) it needs to be replaced with another flaw, so try to think of things which have bad consequences.
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Ol' Scratch
post Nov 14 2003, 09:02 PM
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My three most recent uses of the flaw included my character being a serial killer known as the Butcher of Venice Beach, being a member of the Knights of the Red Branch and on the lamb after a botched assassination attempt, and having had an affair with an underaged girl.

All three of those would likely lead to being replaced by a Hunted flaw if discovered, not to mention Bad Reputation and a few other possibilities.
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Kagetenshi
post Nov 14 2003, 09:13 PM
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On the lamb? Is he Scottish? ;)

~J
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easytohate
post Nov 14 2003, 10:12 PM
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Dark Secret:

I have used it for being a undercover cop.
For being a sociopath.
For being a non-vampiric blood addict.
For secretly being a totem other than the totem everyone thinks you are.
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CirclMastr
post Nov 14 2003, 10:59 PM
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QUOTE (Kagetenshi)
On the lamb? Is he Scottish? ;)

~J

That's a different Dark Secret.

I've never had a player take Dark Secret and not give me a (good enough) secret to go with it. This is mostly because they know that I would make the Dark Secret very very very bad for them.
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Adarael
post Nov 15 2003, 12:07 AM
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The Knights of the Red Branch are historical or mythological in nature?

I thought they were just from Changeling: The Dreaming.
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Ol' Scratch
post Nov 15 2003, 12:16 AM
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The Knights of the Red Branch is the "new" IRA based out of Boston. Instead of freeing Ireland from England, they just want to get those traitorous elves out of their country.

The Red Branch, of which they based their name, comes from Celtic history, though.
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sidekick
post Nov 15 2003, 01:15 AM
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QUOTE (nezumi)
For instance, he's the half brother of Damien Knight

That would be one Hell of a dark secret considering that only one other person knows who Damien Knight was before he became Damien Knight.... and he is currently suffering from a bad case of dead.
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nezumi
post Nov 15 2003, 01:29 AM
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He could be feeling better...

Yeah, you got me, I don't pay that much attention to the overarching plot.
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bwdemon
post Nov 15 2003, 04:17 PM
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The only time I ever used it was for a game that never happened. Heh. The character had a dark secret that he'd been a runner in Seattle that got his team killed. He left, changed his name and his appearance, and started over in Denver. I felt munchy for taking it, but figured it was a big enough secret that, if it ever came out, could result in some serious problems. It's a shame I never got to see it in action.
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Pavlov
post Nov 15 2003, 04:48 PM
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Undercover FBI agent (very similar to one already posted). On a deep cover mission to assemble files on as many runners and johnsons as possible. I was amazed how trusting some runners were, although that might be the players' fault in most cases.
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Shockwave_IIc
post Nov 15 2003, 05:44 PM
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I've got an undercover Corp spy the the flaw. luckly they've got a pretty good cover IMO. Tho do feel and hope (to a degree) that it threatens to surface.
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Nath
post Nov 15 2003, 06:00 PM
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QUOTE (sidekick)
That would be one Hell of a dark secret considering that only one other person knows who Damien Knight was before he became Damien Knight.... and he is currently suffering from a bad case of dead.

Lucien Cross was still alive last time I checked ;) And that's not counting the thousands of people who read that rumor on Shadowland.
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Ol' Scratch
post Nov 15 2003, 06:18 PM
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There's a difference between knowing with absolute certainly and suspected rumors.
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Nath
post Nov 15 2003, 06:37 PM
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QUOTE (Doctor Funkenstein)
There's a difference between knowing with absolute certainly and suspected rumors.

That's why I did not count them :P Stays Lucien Cross.
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Abstruse
post Nov 16 2003, 08:05 AM
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I had a character with a dark secret in that he worked for the UB before everyone knew about the bugs. He personally converted several dozen people who later became fleshforms. He jumped ship to Seattle after he learned the truth, changes his name, and tried to hide his background. Pretty easy to expose, lots of guilt involved, major bad rep if anyone finds out (as anyone who has lost anyone to a bug would want his hide because he worked for them), and gave the character a MAJOR hatred of bugs for using him (and causing him to convert his fiance, cousin, brother, and several friends...) Plus it gives a good mystery -- if he brought so many into the "fold" and ended up being infested, what was it about him that caused them not to infest him?

The Abstruse One
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JongWK
post Nov 17 2003, 03:57 PM
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@ Abstruse: I have an Eagle shaman who's considering to join the UB, she likes their charity work. Care to share ideas and alittle advise by PM?

@ Sidekick: Alice Haeffner knows about Knight and so does her husband, the esteemed UCAS President. Nadja Daviar most surely knows about him. I'm pretty sure Aurelius knows by now.
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Cray74
post Nov 17 2003, 04:08 PM
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QUOTE (Phaeton)
My sam/rigger got strapped with both Amnesia 1 and Dark Secret flaw, because---from what my GM says---he downloaded essentially proof of extraterrestrials (alien weapon specs) onto headware memory from a restricted zone along the likes of Area 51. And doesn't remember it.

...So what do YOU do with the flaw?  :rotate:  :wobble:  :spin:  :twirl:

Er...nothing quite that exotic.

My character participated in a slaughter of civilians "while searching for guerillas" in a small village in one of those dirty little Third World countries. The incident ties into the PC's flashbacks. The culprits (the PC's old merc unit) were never identified, nor did anyone really care at the time (many other villages were destroyed during that time), but the whole incident is just waiting for some intrepid reporter desperate for a big story to blow it open. Fortunately for the PC, there's a lot of other crimes against humanity in the Sixth World to distract reporters with.
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JongWK
post Nov 17 2003, 04:26 PM
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You know, the character has to risk being exposed every few sessions and thus act to prevent that (according to SR Comp). No offense, but I hardly see reporter after reporter (or survivor after survivor) coming out to expose the mercs every 3 or 4 adventures.

Unless there was something else in the village, of course. :evil: ;)

This post has been edited by JongWK: Nov 17 2003, 06:58 PM
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Cray74
post Nov 17 2003, 06:21 PM
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QUOTE (JongWK)
You know, the character has to risk being exposed every few sessions and thus act to prevent that (according to SR Comp). No offense, but I hardly see reporter after reporter (or survivor after survivor) coming out to expose the merc severy 3 or 4 adventures.

Exposure by reporters is not the only risk from that Dark Secret, it's just the most embarassing one, and the one I thought worth pointing out in this thread. The dark secret has also been the topic of short side adventure involving revenge ("My name is Anygo Mentoya. You killed my father. Prepare to- oh, shit, is that an HMG?") and reduced wages due to a Mr. Johnson blackmailing the PC into free work.
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