From Augmentation, page 21:

"...Characters with this quality suffer an unexpected genetic disorder that manifests as ugly and visceral physical deformities... The character and gamemaster should negotiate to decide on a deformity that is suitably negative."

It doesn't give any physical penalties, only social ones; so what are some genetic disorders (real or imagined) which might constitute a "gene freak" without affecting athletic or combat ability?

Links to pictures are encouraged.

PLEASE LABEL YOUR LINKS, ESPECIALLY IF THE PICTURES LINKED TO MIGHT DISTURB PEOPLE.

The infamous Bat Boy: http://www.collintheatrecenter.com/PastSho...Boy-scanned.jpg

It would take a lot more to freak people out in the Sixth World than it does today - they're used to orks, trolls, insect spirits on the news...

[Edit:] The 'freak I'm creating is an Ork, so maybe WAY too many teeth? Or extra tusks? Maybe something involving his skin... I dunno

A character in our game has it - we said he looked like the ugly guy from 300 (the one that betrays the spartans)

That sounds more like the Quasimodo SURGE NQ - which penalizes Physical Active Tests IIRC (or it might have been athletics; either way it hoses my Gymnastics Dodge).

• Unfortunate Chinese moomin girl
  I apologise for making light of this poor girl's situation, but it's the fastest way to describe what her facial tumour appears as.
• Quasimodo
  Just the facial disfigurement.
• Elephant Man
  Again, the facial disfigurement.
• Disfigurement
  Don't, whatever you do, click this is you find imminent reminders that human biology is fallible worrying or repulsive. This is a real catchall.

Many cases of things that look profoundly disturbing will impair the physical performance of the subject because the human body is not meant to be built that way. In such cases imagine a less extreme case which manages to avoid any real physical impairment whilst maintaining the essence of the disfigurement.

James O'Neal, on the first page of the "Elephant Man" search, works at the supermarket near where I live. He's since gotten surgery (thanks to a local fundraising campaign).

DISCLAIMER: GRAPHIC AND (possibly to some, especially those with sensitive sensibilities) DISTURBING!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_zcqvDPpzQA

This is an unfortunate, rare... condition in which the baby nearly every time dies very shortly after birth. You could say that you're character has a defect that makes him look like that.

Not all gene freaks have to have look like they are deformed, they just have to look different enough to offend the sensibilities. Take Stalking Cat for example. A SURGE "victim" might turn into a true anthropomorphic cat sort of like Stalking Cat... but with real fur, tail, and whatnot.

Heh, another local example... I never met him, but I know some of Stalking Cat's old friends from when he lived in my area. The problem with something like that is that it's not a viscerally disturbing deformity. People SURGE or get body mods to look even more outlandish than 'Cat all the time. Gene Freak means you're a constant reminder of what can go wrong if you tinker with someone's genes.