Amnesia

They may sweep the traces from my memory, but my body remembers.
-- from Amnesia: The Dark DescentAmnesia is a mental, mundane disadvantage representing a serious loss of memory.Basic Set, p. 123 Partial amnesia implies you know a few things about yourself, but have large gaps in where you've been or what you've done. Total amnesia is more of a "GM surprise" scenario where you only know about yourself from what you can see in a mirror.
There's also selective amnesia, where someone knows their skills ad background, but certain memories are blocked or erased.GURPS Space, p.221 The smallest form is quirk-level Amnesia, where a character only has a "blank spot" for one specific event, be it a Summer of Love or a harrowing supernatural event.Power-Ups 6: Quirks, p.10
Cost: -1 (one specific thing), -5 (Selective), -10 (Partial) or -25 (Total)
== Source of Amnesia ==
"This here is called a neuralyzer, it's a gift from some friends from out of town." -- Agent K, Men in Black (1997)Amnesia is often a source of drama and mystery--in fiction, it's seldom the result of something as simple as a bop on the head. Amnesia can be a side effect of being caught in a BanestormGURPS Banestorm, p. 185, being cursed by a wizardsee Permanent Forgetfulness curse, or struck by a psionic mindwipesee Affliction ExamplesPsionic Powers, p.62. Smaller, quirk-level amnesia can be the result of a Mindwipe deviceSupers, p.81 or long-term use of a Forgetfulness elixir.
Psionic Powers p.62 introduces a "Mindwipe" Affliction (advantage) of this disadvantage, with a "feature" that it applies retroactively (backward).
== As A Hook ==
"Missing time" is a common hook in UFO tales,Horror, p.8 and shows up in gothic settings as a result of trauma/madness.Horror, p.143
==See Also==
*Amnesia often overlaps with False Memories if some parts have been engineered over older memories
*List of Advantages
*List of Disadvantages
==References==
Category:Disadvantages
Category:Mental Traits
Category:Mundane Traits
Category:Quirks