Drawbacks
Drawbacks add depth to a character, as no one should be perfect. As part of character creation, all characters are required to take one Minor Drawback - either from the official Drawbacks from Paizo or the ones below.
In addition, players have the choice of taking a Major Drawback from the list linked or the list below, gaining an additional feat at character creation. Note that this bonus feat doesn't stack with selecting being an Anti-Hero and gaining an additional feat that way.
These Drawbacks wre mostly gathered from Adamant Entertainment's Drawbacks, sorted between major and minor drawbacks, and with a couple of original ones created for Parhelion as well.
Minor Drawbacks
Abrasive Attitude
You have a way of rubbing people the wrong way when you speak. This could be due to your natural belligerence, boastfulness, uncouthness, or other personality flaw.
Detriment: When using Diplomacy to change attitudes, you must add an extra 5 to the DC.
Albinism
You lack pigmentation in your skin, giving you a distinctively pale appearance. Your skin is very sensitive to sunlight.
Detriment: You must make a Fortitude saving throw for every hour that your skin is exposed to direct sunlight. The DC is 12 +1 for every hour that you’ve been exposed. A failure causes 1d4 hit points of nonlethal damage.
All Thumbs
You aren’t very coordinated when it comes to fine manipulation.
Detriment: You take a –2 penalty on all Disable Device and Sleight of Hand checks.
Animal Antipathy
Perhaps you have a bad smell. Maybe they can detect the way you truly feel about them. Maybe they just don’t like you. For whatever reason, you have trouble dealing with animals.
Detriment: You take a –2 penalty on all Handle Animal and Ride checks.
Awkward Gestures
Maybe you have stiff joints. Maybe your arms are just a little too long. Whatever the reason, you have trouble making the elegant gestures necessary to cast arcane spells.
Prerequisite: You must be a bard, sorcerer, wizard, or arcanist to select this drawback.
Detriment: You have a natural 15% arcane spell failure chance. This stacks with armor penalties and cannot be reduced by feats or class abilities.
Bad Shot
You are unpracticed or inept at making ranged attacks.
Prerequisite: You must be gunslinger, ranger, or zen archer monk to select this drawback
Detriment: You take a –2 penalty on all ranged attack rolls.
Cold Aversion
Your body has a hard time adjusting to the rigors of very cold climates.
Detriment: You suffer a -2 circumstance penalty to all saving throws and skill checks in temperatures at or below 40 degrees Fahrenheit. You also suffer an inherent -1 penalty to saving throws made against cold-based spells, damage, and area effects. Cold-weather clothing alone cannot remove this penalty.
Daydreamer
Your mind wanders so much that you fail to take note of what’s going on around you.
Detriment: You take a –2 penalty on all Perception checks and suffer a -1 penalty to initiative checks.
Easily Read
You wear your heart on your sleeve. Others can almost read your thoughts.
Detriment: Your opponents get a +4 to their Sense Motive checks when using it against you.
Fanatic
You are so committed to one philosophy or religion that it blinds you to others.
Detriment: You take a –2 penalty to any Knowledge checks when researching histories, religions, or even arcane lore at odds with your own faith. In addition, you will refuse personal aid from any cleric, paladin, oracle or druid that is contrary to your faith.
Special: If you are a cleric, oracle, or paladin you will refuse aid to anyone that doesn’t adhere to your faith.
Hearing Loss
You have lost part of your hearing, making it difficult for you to be aware of all sounds surrounding you. You also have a problem being stealthy.
Detriment: You take a –2 penalty on sound-based Perception checks and Stealth checks.
Heat Aversion
Your body has a hard time adjusting to the rigors of very hot climates.
Detriment: You suffer a -2 circumstance penalty to all saving throws and skill checks in temperatures at or above 80 degrees Fahrenheit. You also suffer an inherent -1 penalty to saving throws made against heat-based spells, damage, and area effects. Clothing alone cannot remove this penalty.
Honest
You have trouble telling lies or concealing the truth.
Detriment: You take a –2 penalty on Bluff and Intimidate checks.
Klutz
You are exceptionally uncoordinated and tend to slip at the most inopportune times.
Detriment: You take a –2 penalty on all Acrobatics checks and your base movement speed is reduced by 5ft.
Intolerance
You have a particular hatred for a certain pathfinder class or pathfinder race.
Detriment: Choose a race or class from among those allowed to players making characters. You take a –4 penalty when making skill checks against this particular group. Certain rare or uncommon races may not be approved.
Criminal Marked
You have been convicted of a serious crime in the past (whether you were guilty or not) and bear a lasting mark from the punishment. This mark could be a distinctive brand, scar, tattoo, or missing body part. People treat you as a criminal. This drawback may be coupled with another (missing hand, for example), in which case the other drawback is the mark.
Detriment: You take a –2 penalty to all Bluff and Diplomacy checks when dealing with people that would recognize the mark (which is most of the time). You also add an extra 5 to your DC when trying to change an NPC’s attitude.
One Eye
You have lost the use of an eye. This hinders your depth perception as well as hinders your ability to engage enemies on your blind side.
Detriment: You take an extra –1 penalty per range increment when using a ranged weapon. You also take a -2 penalty to Perception checks that are sight based.
Short
You are unusually small for your race.
Detriment: Humans, elves, and half-elves are treated as halflings for purposes of movement speed and reach. Short half-orcs are treated as dwarves. Short dwarves have a base movement speed of 15 ft. and a natural reach of 0. Short gnomes and halflings have a base movement speed of 15 ft. (or 10 ft. when wearing medium or heavy armor) and a natural reach of 0.
Slow Healer
It takes you longer than normal to heal.
Detriment: With a full night’s rest, you only recover 1 hit point for every two character levels. Magical healing effects are also halved.
Uncomely
You are particularly unattractive to most people. Note that you may not be physically unattractive, but you may belong to a group that is disliked by most people in the setting.
Detriment: You take a –2 circumstance penalty on any Bluff or Diplomacy checks when dealing with someone (covering yourself up or being invisible does nothing to this effect as the knowledge of what you look like lingers in your own mind and you unconsciously still act as if they can see you).
Void Sickness
Even Void Shields cannot protect some from the effects o the void, leading to
Detriment: When riding on a void ship or void train, or any other vehicle tha ttravels the Void, you gain the Sickened Condition.
Major Drawbacks
Bad Luck
Whenever you need luck most, you can count on it not being there.
Detriment: Once per day, your GM can ask that you roll twice and take the lower result for any d20 roll. In addition, each day they may roll a d8 and subtract it from a d20 roll you just made.
Special: There’s no hiding or forgetting about your bad luck. You are required to remind your GM each session that you have this Major Drawback. Failure to do so will result in Bad Luck finding you. . .
Bleeder
Your body has trouble stabilizing. When dying, you continue to bleed until you are dead.
Detriment: You cannot stabilize while dying. Unless you are treated with the heal skill or healed, you will continue to lose one hit point every round until you are dead.
Deaf
You can’t hear at all.
Prerequisite: You must have the Hard of Hearing or Hearing Loss drawback to select this drawback.
Detriment: You cannot place ranks into the Linguistics skill. In addition, you have a 20% chance of spell failure when casting a spell with a verbal component.
<Warning if you use this as an excuse not to play, you won’t gain experience in quests.>
Deity’s Wrath
You have angered a particular god or goddess.
Detriment: You add 1 to the DC of any save you must make against any spells invoked in the name of a particular deity. Healing spells and other aid from that deity will not work on you. You cannot select a god that we have banned.
Impatient
Your character is notoriously incapable of focusing his attention long and hard enough to accomplish tasks requiring great dedication. Class features don’t supersede this drawback.
Detriment: Your character may never ‘take 10’ or ‘take 20’ on any skill check, no matter how much time he has.
Missing Hand
You have lost a hand in combat.
Detriment: You may not use a two-handed weapon. You may still use a shield, but drawing and equipping your shield is a standard action. You also take a –4 penalty on all Climb, Disable Device and Sleight of Hand checks. Spells you cast with somatic components have their casting time increased to at least a standard action.
Mute
You cannot speak.
Detriment: You take a –4 penalty on any skill checks that would normally require you to speak. While you may continue to learn new languages, you may only understand them, not speak them. You cannot cast spells with a verbal component.
<Warning if you use this as an excuse not to play, you won’t gain experience in quests.>
Quick Spell Discharge
You are unable to hold the charge of touch spells.
Prerequisite: This drawback is only available to spellcasting classes. Detriment: Any spell you cast must immediately manifest or you lose it at the end of your turn.
Restless
You have trouble remaining calm while preparing spells. You habitually interrupt your own rest.
Prerequisite: This drawback is only available to spellcasting classes. Detriment: You must add 2 hours to your rest and spell preparation time (so someone who needs 8hrs of rest before preparing spells will instead need 10hrs). You cannot leave spell slots empty for later preparation.
School Deficiency
Your natural magical abilities have one glaring limitation.
Prerequisite: This drawback is only available to spellcasting classes. Deficiency: You must select one of the eight schools of magic (the universal school may not be selected). You can never learn or cast spells from that school. Any spell from that school is not considered to be on your spell list and cannot be added to your spell list in any way.
Special: You must select a school of magic that is not already prohibited to you via class features.
Taboo Proficiency
Due to cultural, personal, or religious restrictions, you have not been trained to use some weapons or armor normally available to your class.
Detriment: You do not receive one of the starting weapon or armor proficiencies normally available for your class. If your class has a selection of individual weapons, then all of those weapons together count as a choice for this. You cannot gain proficiency in the selected choice in any other way. When wielding such weapons as improvised weapons, you count them as being a size smaller than normal.
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