Personalized Flaws and Boons in the Dragon Storm 2 Era.

The Dragon Storm RPG was created to allow the GM the freedom to create a very chaotic world where nothing is certain. We call this 3.14.

GM's can also use this ability to help players create customized characters that break the rules. Sometimes a player has a character concept that does not fit within the rules. The answer is not to change the character, but to change just that characters rules. Having your character cards as your characters Rulesbook has its advantages.

As an example: A player wants a Warrior character who has all Axes as Favored Weapons, but is so trained to the Axes that she can not use any Warrior cards unless she is wielding an Axe. This concept would require at least three Favored Weapon Boons to create, and would limit the character. It is time for the player to have a talk with her GM.

What the GM can do is to create a personalized Flaw card for the character that breaks the game rules and gives the character a special rule of their very own. After a talk the GM creates the following Flaw card for the player:

"Character X may apply a single Favor Weapon Boon to all Axes she wields. However, when she is not wielding an Axe she may play no Warrior cards, and she will drain ongoing "V" Warrior cards." She, the GM, will then sign the new card. The player, as usual, will be responsible for role-playering his characters new rule.

What we did here was to create a balanced exception to the rules using rule 3.14. When the player gets into a different GM's game they will need to ask permission to use the card. GM's routinely approve cards that are balanced for use in their games.

These custom cards allow the player to create unique characters that both break the rules, and, because of 3.14, are within the rules. We also put the rules enforcement, not on the GM's back, but rather ask the players to play their own characters fairly.

The only rule that a GM should not break is the "Ten Things" rule. As we all learned from experience, having a player with a huge number of Actions and Independents slowed games to the point of boring players right out of DS, and we all want more players, not fewer.

Embrace the Chaos that is DS and have fun.
Mark