Paradox Flaws
By Daniel P. Anderson Dec. 1995I never liked the Paradox spirits but you can have a lot of fun with Paradox flaws. For example:
Correspondence
The character sees everything behind him instead of everything in front of him. Alternately, he can only see things he isn't looking at. For even greater fun, the character can only see things moving at speeds greater than 5 mph or objects at rest.
The character loses small objects constantly. They always turn up within one hour of searching but never where the character would normally expect them (his car keys in a vase, his wallet under the litter box, that address of that cute babe in the ice tray, etc.).
Entropy
Everything the character writes down or stores electronically fades over a few hours until only blank paper or disc space is left behind. This is particularly devastating to hermetics and Virtual Adepts.
The character cannot break or reduce anything using mechanical processes. In other words, it is impossible for him to sharpen pencils, chew his food, crack ice, or chip paint. He can still effect things chemically (melting ice, digesting food, etc.) and can still imbibe liquids. This will make life painful but interesting for the next few days.
Forces
The character perceives the spectrum out of order, switching colors pretty much at random on an hourly basis. Or he can no longer see one color at all.
Life
The character develops all the symptoms of being pregnant (male or female) and life scans indicate a life form growing inside the character. It resists any form of tampering, magickal or otherwise, and the character finally gives birth after pain and hardship to a magickal beastie of some kind. This is an especially interesting way of introducing a character to his Familiar.
Matter
Any non-organic substance (metal, stone, possibly plastic if you want to be cruel) adheres to the character's skin and can only be pulled off painfully, leaving a rash. Makes windy days really unfun and a trip to the beach downright miserable!
Mind
Everyone (animal and person) feels the irresistible urge to stare at the character expressionlessly. They will do so as long as the character is present. They will still talk to and interact with the character, but they will constantly stare at him, unblinking. Even the people on TV seem to do it.
Spirit
The character randomly switches back and forth between perceiving the Umbra and the regular world. Note that not all objects exist normally in both planes and this can make driving a car fun.
Time
The character cannot, under any circumstances, be on time for an appointment. This is especially fun if the character doesn't catch on to his flaw for a while (he's always stuck in traffic, there's always a line at the ATM, another big accident on the freeway, he got locked in a pay-toilet, etc.).
The character's perception of time randomly speeds up and slows down. For him, it feels like watching the world in slow motion or sped up with only occasional periods of normality.
Correspondence/Forces/Mind
The character sees himself romantically involved with other characters (of either sex), NPCs, animals, etc. in every reflective surface he looks at. This is especially appropriate if the character got his Paradox fighting a Nephandus.
Life/Matter
The character sweats orange juice, butterscotch pudding, rubber cement or some similar substance you wouldn't want to sweat.
