Delusion

-1 point

You may take a completely trivial Delusion (p. B130) as a
quirk. This doesn’t affect your everyday behavior and isn’t
likely to be noticed by casual acquaintances. However,
you must believe it and act accordingly when the subject
arises – there’s no self-control roll! This merits the occa-
sional -1 on reactions.
Examples: “The Earth is flat”; “The Pentagon controls the
Boy Scouts and the health food stores”; “Socks cause diseases
of the feet”; “UFOs really exist.”
Two special classes of quirk-level Delusions are common
among adventurers.
Delusional Competence
Rather than having Incompetence (p. 31) at a skill and
knowing it, you believe you’re an expert at a skill you lack. You
must buy off this quirk in order to spend points on that skill.
Someone who has Incompetence (Navigation) can’t learn Nav-
igation and rolls at -4 on his default. Someone with Delusional
Competence (Navigation) won’t “waste time” studying Naviga-
tion – and while he enjoys his unpenalized default, he lies or
refuses to talk about his imaginary skills.
Any failed skill roll that affects NPCs – be it for a test, a job
application, or practical use – is reasonable grounds for a reac-
tion roll or a loyalty check (p. B519). When someone with
Delusional Competence tries his default and fails, his lying and
defensiveness about his proficiency give an extra -1 on these
rolls, or -2 if he critically failed.
Like Incompetence, this affects all specialties of a given skill
and isn’t permitted for skills that aren’t relevant to the campaign.
False Memory
You have a fake memory that covers for a real one. This
is trivial, obscuring a single, relatively minor incident; e.g.,
you missed a test, your third-grade teacher’s name was Ms.
Weishaupt, or you owned a tin model of the Roswell saucer
as a kid in 1937.
To make this Delusion relevant, the GM may have it crop
up unexpectedly. It might trigger alarm bells while you’re
being interviewed for a security clearance (-1 to rolls to pass
the test), make you look crazy around old acquaintances (the
usual -1 on reactions), or worsen a scary situation (not caus-
ing a Fright Check, but giving -1 to one that affects every-
body). If the GM can’t think of a way to use the memory, it
isn’t a valid quirk.
For more severe versions, see GURPS Horror, p. 24.