Here are two new GURPS character traits . . . a minor disadvantage that will lead to some interesting roleplaying, and a new version of Wealth that can be used either as an advantage or as a disadvantage. Both of these are suitable for any sort of background or genre.
You are naturally very inquisitive. When you are presented with an interesting item or situation, you must roll vs. IQ to avoid examining it, even if you know it will be dangerous. Good roleplayers won't try to make this roll too often.
You will rationalize your curiosity to others who try and talk you out of it. Common Sense won't help – you know you are taking a risk, but you're curious anyway.
For half the advantage or disadvantage cost of any level of Wealth, you can get its effect on your starting income only. Once the character is created, he is treated as having Average wealth for job purposes.
This version of Wealth can be used to create a character who had a one-time inheritance, or who is down on his luck at the moment.
[Errata from Roleplayer #19 – The "Temporary Wealth" advantage, when used as described, proves to be too easy to abuse. In particular, being "temporarily" Filthy Rich for 25 points is too cheap.
GURPS Cyberpunk includes a special character-creation rule intended for the same sort of situation. A character can exchange up to 30 character points for $5,000 each, but this money must be spent on netrunning equipment or cyberware; none of it can be saved. In a fantasy campaign, the equivalent would be horse, armor and magic items . . . and so on. Note that the cash equivalent should be adjusted for each campaign; in the cyberpunk campaign, $5,000 represents half of the standard starting wealth. Therefore, if this is used elsewhere, one point should be worth equipment equal to half the starting wealth. Comments welcome.]
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