Flaws and Drawbacks

Flaws and drawbacks are, in many ways, just as important as the powers and abilities from a roleplay standpoint. Who wants to play a perfect character? Those are boring!
Flaws can run the gamut from physical disfigurements (Dr. Doom) to old lovers that might come back to cause trouble (Nemesis) to even something as silly as being allergic to green space rocks!
Heck, there's even a character with a canonic peanut allergy.
So when it comes to flaws, what they are can be any number of things, but here's some general guidelines:
1) Keep It Simple. Detailing out the effects and whys of a flaw are great, and we want to see that on your sheet when it makes sense to do so-- but the what needs to be easy to explain in a single sentence. Superman is allergic to Kryptonite. Elixir used to be an anti-mutant activist. Bruce Wayne has a secret identity he must maintain. Clint Barton is an ex-convict. The write-up needs to be a bit more in depth, but they need to boil down to something simple that can be easy to understand for roleplay.
2) Keep It In Character. Writing up a flaw that makes no sense for the character to have just to have a flaw is going to end up denied. Majestros isn't afraid of kittens. Charles Xavier isn't going to have an uncontrollable urge to tapdance whenever he hears bagpipes. Keep it sane, please.
3) Be Respectful. A lot of superheroes? They have various mental illness issues. Jonathan Hart, Erik Lensherr, and Hank Pym suffer from bipolar disorder. Wanda Maximoff (Lensherr here) and Majestros both suffer from bouts of severe depression. These are genuine flaws and what makes them 'human'; in the relatable sense. In writing up or playing these flaws, please be respectful and don't be a dick about it. No, people with bipolar disorder don't want to kill kittens one minute and then throw a party the next. Schizophrenics aren't immediately insane serial killing mass murderers.
Flaws can be some of the most beautiful parts of not only a character, but the human spirit-- because flaws give us things to overcome and show our true strengths. Keep that in minds: flaws aren't just there to balance out powers, they are there because no one, not even the gods (looking at you, Ares) are perfect.
Category:Character Generation