I have to say some of the edges and flaws in Companion and subsequent books are pretty cool...but they don't cover the different characters in play. I have a GM who approved a new flaw for me to use with a character of mine. It's called Security Blanket.

Flaw Value 1-4
A character with this flaw has an item (low value) that they carry with them as much as they can. separation from this item causes extreme anxiety in the character, and they will do anything in their means to be near said item.

Game Effects
For each point taken the character can only be away from said item for 24 hours divided by flaw value (i.e. a value 2 would mean 12 hours) before suffering from anxiousness which adds the flaw value to each skill based target number. The character must spend time equal to the flaw value, in hours, each day to avoid this penalty.

My security blanket is a huge"Tickle me Dunkie" doll I got from an amusement park game. The thing is huge (imagine the grand prize from fair games today). Being a Dwarf the thing is about the same size as I am, and I have declared that it has shotgun in my Americar, much to the annoyance of some of the PCs in my group who don't own their own vehicles. The only time it doesn't go with me is when I go to meet a Johnson or do a job. Otherwise, we're constant companions.

An edge I created for a Face character I have is 'Together'.

This one-point edge means that your character is always immaculately presented. S/he wakes from sleep with perfect hair and a dazzling smile. S/he cannot go out without people noting what s/he is wearing in a "where did she get that" fit of jealousy. Your character does not commit social faux paus - s/he creates the style, and does not follow it. This is intimidating for normal people, who still suffer from the 2am wakeup "hodafukizat" reflex and who still, on occasion, spill coffee on their jeans. This is known as the Swordmaster edge for those who play Earthdawn. The effect is a +2 modifier on tests of the other person/s involved in any non-intimidation social interactions (note that I do not use open rolls for social tests).

Divine Origin, 8 points:

Character is Jesus.

Does that provide any in-game bonuses other than the ability to walk on water?

Guaranteed popularity at your local bar.

-Siege

Rapid Evasion
8
The character is exceptionally quick on his feet. Apply a -1 TN# to all Dodge tests the character makes.

Skilled
1 to 4
The character has an exceptional gift for the chosen skill, advancing rapidly in its mastery. Skilled may be chosen for a single Active Skill, and subsequently applies to the associated Build/Repair and Knowledge Skill(if multiple associated Knowledge Skills exist, choose only one). For the skill and associated skills, double the effective rating of the linked attribute for determining the Good Karma cost to raise the skill, and subtract 1 from the recalculated cost.

The edge value varies based upon the group of the skill chosen. Skilled(Language Skill) has a value of 1, Skilled(Physical Skill or Social Skill) has a value of 2, Skilled(Technical Skill or Vehicle Skill) has a value of 3, Skilled(Combat Skill or Magical Skill) has a value of 4.

Note:
As Skilled(Martial Art or Brawling) has no associated Build/Repair skill, reduce by 1 the Good Karma cost to purchase a Maneuver with the chosen skill. As Skilled(Language Skill) has no associated Knowledge skill or Build/Repair skill, the edge's bonus applies to all languages in the same linguistic group, as well as all dialects of, the chosen language.

Large
6
The character is of exceptional physical size for a member of his or her metatype or phenotype, typically 50% taller than "average" and with corresponding increased build. Add +1 to the character's racial limit for Body and Strength, and give the character a +1 Reach modifier in melee combat. A good corresponding flaw is Distinctive Style.

Mnemonic Talent
4 or 8
The character has exceptional mnemonic abilities. The character acts as if implanted with a Mnemonic Enhancer(Rating 1 or 2). This effect is not cumulative with mnemonic enhancer bioware.

Dual Adaptation
2 or 4
The magically active character in question has adapted to dual-natured interaction, and reduces the +2 TN# modifier associated with physical tasks while astrally perceiving by 1 per point of Dual Adaptation.

Slow Learner
-2
The character struggles to improve in the chosen skill. Slow Learner applies to a single Active skill group, or Languages, as well as all Knowledge skill groups associated with the active skill group in question. When calculating the Good Karma cost to raise the skills in question, halve the effective rating of the linked attribute, and add 1 to the subsequent cost.
Obese -4 The character is morbidly obese. Apply a -1 penalty to the racial modified limit for Quickness, reduce running multiplier by 1, and increase the TN# for all athletics tests by the character by +2.
Dual Discomfort -3 The magically active character in question is never truly gotten the hang of balancing physical activity while astrally active. Apply an additional +1 to the TN# of all purely physical tasks while the character is astrally perceiving.

Oathbound
-1 to -4
The character has sworn an oath, be it a solemn spiritual vow, a promise, a contractual agreement, or even an off-handed affirmation that has been somehow karmically bound to the character's destiny. While the degree of seriousness associated with the oath should ideally correspond with the value of the flaw, this need not necessarily be the case. Fate is fickle.

In practical terms, so long as the character is fulfilling or acting in accordance with the oath, Good Karma is earned normally. If the character forsakes the oath, a 10% penalty per point of the Oathbound flaw is applied to all Good Karma awards, with modified values rounded down. The character must resume pursuit of the oath in order to gain Good Karma at a normal rate once more.

Characters should not combine this flaw with others. For instance, a character who has sworn to raise a younger sibling does not get points for both Oathbound and Dependent.

If a broken oath cannot be resumed, such as the event of a protected target dying, or if an oath is somehow fulfilled, the character must choose another flaw of equal value to the level of Oathbound the character possessed prior. Some ideas include Bad Karma, Cursed Karma, Hung Out To Dry, Bad Reputation, and Hunted.

I posted this a while ago.

I think I'll have to steal things from this thread...

EDIT: Note, that the reason why the values of edges are negative and flaws positive is because edges cost build points and flaws give them.

mfb, a lot of those I like. However, canon says you can't have more than 6 points in edges and flaws, so a few (the ones I don't like, coincidentally) are eliminated. Seems like dodge might be overpowered (granted, it's pricey to make up for it, but I'd want to know its playtested before using it), and I'd never allow large. 50% difference in size? +1 Reach? It's bound to be abused (I can think of an easy way to get +4-5 reach, which is devastating). Oathbound I do like, quite a lot.

8 point flaw: Divine Scapegoat

God decides to hold you personally responsible for the death of Jesus Christ. Roll 1d6 at the beginning of every game session. 1-3: Dies. 4-6: Stigmata.

Nezumi, you're misinterpreting the rule. It's that you can't end up gaining more than 6 points net in build points from flaws, or losing more than 6 in uncompensated edges, not that you can't buy an edge/flaw worth more than 6. See Ambidexterity as canon evidence.
MFB: ...meep? Overpowered much? (Specifically, dodge and large; large should also drop Signature by a point, but even then...)

~J

I don't see why the dodge edge is overpowered. Actually, I think the cost is a bit steep. It's no more powerful than Aptitude, IMO.

Perhaps it's not as much a question of over-poweredness as of having an effect that nothing else in the whole game can duplicate.

And I bet Sphynx's ~30 dodge dice mage would love it.

If you coax your GM into allowing Athletics to replace Combat Pool for Dodge tests, just buy Aptitude: Athletics and be done with it.

-Siege

I haven't got a clue why it's a problem. But it is, at least for me. I simply don't like the idea of something lowering Dodge TNs, for whatever reason. I'm fully aware it's just a house rule suggestion though, and I don't mind if other people use it. I just won't, because Nobody Messes With My Dodge TNs!

Uncanny Dodge (-4): TN -1 for all dodge tests.
100/10
My comment: O_O!!!!! no way in hell am i allowing that piece of drek!

Adaptive System (Cyberware) (-5): -10% to the essence costs of all cyberware.
100/10
My comment: "Hey, gm, can i lower the essence cost of cyber by 10%?" "HELL NO!"

Procrastinator (+3): It takes a Willpower(6) test with at least two successes to avoid waiting until the last possible day/minute/second to do some task that has a "deadline." GM determines the effect of a failure on a case-by-case basis.
6/10
My comment: ooh! lookie! a solidcobra flaw!

Combat Training (-4): TN for combat related skills +1 for defaulting to skill, +2 for defaulting to specialization, +3 for defaulting to attribute.
8/10
My comment: now this is cool..... still a little overpowered though....

Connected Background (-5): Character has access to beta-grade cyberware OR cultured bioware at chargen. Can only be purchased by new characters.
10/10
My comment: O_O! wee! combined with Adaptive System this can make anyones world ROCK!

Mana Lens (-5): Character is naturally capable of channeling mana more efficiently. -1 to all drain TNs.
100/10
My comment: once again, this kind of makes mages a "little" overpowered.....

Skilled
1 to 4
The character has an exceptional gift for the chosen skill, advancing rapidly in its mastery. Skilled may be chosen for a single Active Skill, and subsequently applies to the associated Build/Repair and Knowledge Skill(if multiple associated Knowledge Skills exist, choose only one). For the skill and associated skills, double the effective rating of the linked attribute for determining the Good Karma cost to raise the skill, and subtract 1 from the recalculated cost.

The edge value varies based upon the group of the skill chosen. Skilled(Language Skill) has a value of 1, Skilled(Physical Skill or Social Skill) has a value of 2, Skilled(Technical Skill or Vehicle Skill) has a value of 3, Skilled(Combat Skill or Magical Skill) has a value of 4.
10/10
My comment: meep! can we say "decker and rigger from hell"? i knew we could!

bah, the six-point limit is only a reccomendation, and it only applies if you're buying/spending building points; if you're balancing flaw/edge points, you can get as many points' worth as you want. the only hard limit is the maximum of 5 edges and 5 flaws.

if you look at the social edges in SRComp, they're insane. one or two points for -2 TN on all social tests? yeesh. i don't see a problem. with Together, in that light.

how about an edge that lets you need less sleep? 2 or 3 point cost for half the amount of sleep required? so 4 hours/night for normal people?

An overly expensive edge given the availability of Long Haul and Sleep Regulators.

~J

heh i was trying to find a way around the large natural sleep requirements for a Wyrm shaman w/o resorting to ware. just trying to weasel out of a disadvantage

With exceptional willpower and a knack for sorcery.

And of course Bonus Willpower.
Starting Willpower around 12. Tossing 6D Powerbolts all over the place with insignificant chance of ever getting Drain (12 dice from WP alone against 3D with that Edge).

The problem, as always, is not that the individual edge is overpowered. The problem is that when you encounter a min/max player they're never going to take just one. Most of those edges are perfectly acceptable for a number of different characters.

For example should a player have the urge to run a non augmented (Magic/Cyber) character and wanted the bonus to their dodge test I'd have no trouble with it at all and quite frankly I doubt many of you would either. The concern is the wired to the tits street sam or 12th grade initiate physad who takes that edge and then throws his/her 10+ combat pool at dodge tests.

Pretty much any of those edges or flaws can be worked into a game with no trouble at all but there's no question that a number of them would be a min/maxers wet dream come true.

Exercise a bit of control and the next time one of your players screams bloody murder because you nixed their most recent plan to make their character immortal drop an orbital cow on them and be done with it.

Flaming other posters or their ideas, even in small amounts, is really unnecessary.

TBO

It's pretty easy to have a combat pool in the 8-10 range without any cyber or magic whatsoever.

~J

It's actually quite comparable to an Aptitude in a Combat skill, balance-wise. The numbers work out about the same. In some cases it's slightly more abusable: TNs are more often 6 or under, where -1TN matters the most, and getting loads of CP dice might be slightly easier than getting loads of dice on the attack. But it's not game-breaking unless someone really goes all the way and gets those 24+ CP dice. And that can be controlled in other ways.

Yes, but a mundane with a base TN of 3 for dodging becomes a lot scarier.
"Everyone do the Neo with me now!"

~J

I guess the end conclusion is once again is use them If they're appropriate in your campaign.

But then isn't that the case with just about everything?

TBO

I'd say that it's more balanced than a knack for a combat skill, since it's less likely to disrupt the game. A player who is more survivable that the average joe is to be expected and easy to deal with. One who is around 2x as lethal is a bit harder.

You can try looking at some of the design commentary for D&D 3.X, there's some pretty good stuff in there for those who havn't really thought about it before (check for the sections about balancing new feats).

Does the albino gnome have a dikoted ally spirit too?

Edges and flaws are pretty common in my games just because it's a nice way to flesh out a character and get that extra build point for that ONE more skill point to put in Athletics to show the character's background in dance. I personally like the less sleep edge (accompanied, of course, by its counterpart of a flaw which increases by 50% the amount of sleep required daily).

Speaking of which, are there even any rules for sleep deprivation? If so, can someone give page references? My players are going to be on a stakeout in a couple of weeks and I'd be nice to have the rules handy...

The Abstruse One

Ok, #97 is just creepy.

~J

Disclaimer: I worked with mfb on these edges, so I've already, so I judge, worked out a decent amount of the bugs with them. Some, however, are not fully debugged and that's what this little analysis is all about.

playing games, you're mistaken. re-read the in-character racial essay for dwarves at the beginning of SR3--it says, very clearly, that dwarves have human proportions (or very nearly so) from the waist up. the example given is that a dwarf could probably borrow a human's shirt.

Even with that fact,you would have the"shortest" troll ever.And if you think they should have +1 one reach,then normal trolls should have a reach of 2.Wakyambi,should also have a reach +1.Reach for the most part is adding roughly 100CM to the human arm.

Hmm, there's several flaws that increase the essence cost of cyberware, is there room for an Insensitive System edge that reduces essence loss from cyberware?