Along with writing for At-Will, I do some small podcast snippets for the Power Source Podcast on d20Radio. A couple weeks ago, we had a listener named Sam write in about including mechanics for character flaws in 4th Edition D&D. If you want to listen to the whole thing, check out Episode 8, but I’ll give you the short version here. His “mechanic” at the time was that his character has a short temper and throws away his weapon on any attack roll resulting in a natural 1. As you can guess, this didn’t go over entirely well with the rest of his group and he wanted advice on how to make it work. The hosts of the podcast – Jared and Scott – took the long way around telling him not to do it and just roleplay the temper in non-mechanical ways that wouldn’t affect the overall efficiency of the group. For the next episode, I turned in this piece, which I now offer to you all as an option to mechanically deal with character flaws in a way that is both compelling and appropriate for the game.

Dear Sam,

Don’t listen to Scott and Jared. You can absolutely have a mechanic for character flaws in 4th Edition D&D – your only problem is that you’re trying to lead with the stick, not the carrot. Let’s hop off the WotC train for just a moment – yeah, I know: sacrilege – anyway, and go peek at the Dresden Files RPG for a second. There’s a mechanic in that game called a Compel. A Compel is a weak spot in your character. It doesn’t necessarily need to be a character trait, it just need to be some handle your DM can tempt you with or jerk you around by. A short temper, rampant curiosity or even an easily kidnapped family member all make good Compels. If you follow a Compel, thus getting you and your group into a little more trouble, you get a Fate point which is used to modify die rolls and stuff. Without getting into specifics, the game is written such that you may need a couple more Fate points than what you’re normally allotted for the main story. The Compels, then, provide a personal risk/reward option for you to get that extra help, though possibly at a cost.

This is the concept I think you want to model for D&D. Your character’s flaw should be something you turn to when the chips are down in a sort of Faustian bargain, not a mechanic that does nothing but get in your way. So you seem to want to play a character with anger issues and you like the idea of throwing away your weapon mid-combat. Alright. Sit down with your DM and propose this idea: if you throw away your weapon as part of taking your second wind, you can spend two healing surges. You’re lowering your damage output and burning through your surges faster, so it’s a risk, but you are getting the immediate healing you need and so your party has some time to mechanically to deal with your decision – it’s not just a hosing. Your character flaw is not only a resource management option now, but it’s also probably not going to tick off your fellow players. Heck, they may even encourage you to do it! Your flaw contributes to both your character and the game rather than detracting from it. If you don’t like that option, then maybe throwing your main weapon away on a roll of 1 causes your secondary weapon to gain the high crit property. I don’t like that one as much, but it’s a thought. Hope this gives you and everyone else listening some ideas.