Overcautious Habit

-1 point

Adventurers often cultivate habits that they feel will help
them avoid trouble. When these are unequivocally good, they’re
Standard Operating Procedure perks (see GURPS Power-Ups
2). Not all such practices are without downsides, however. One
that comes with a significant drawback counts as a quirk.
One common downside is a situational -1 to reactions. For
example, “Never stands in front of a door when opening it” lets
you avoid the occasional trap, but at the expense of -1 to reac-
tions when greeting visitors or police. “Meets all questions with
a blank stare” might force others to contest your Acting with
Detect Lies even when you didn’t specify that you were being cir-
cumspect, but also gives -1 to reactions in casual conversation.
Drawbacks need not be social. Rare penalties avoided by
accepting equal-sized but slightly more common ones are fine,
as are completely qualitative downsides that occur more often
than the upsides. Some examples:
Careful planner. You’re exempt you from the occasional -1
for missing items or haste when putting plans into action, but
mission prep takes you twice as long without giving you the
corresponding +1 (to Intelligence Analysis, Tactics, etc.) for
extra time.
Carries backup weapons. Like Blackbeard the pirate with his
half-dozen pistols, you always carry spare weaponry. Having
extra weapons is the benefit, but you must spend twice as much
on armaments to ensure this, and then carry their weight.
Details are up to you; you might accompany a $600 sword with
a cheap sword worth $240, a $40 hatchet, and two fine large
knives worth $160 apiece . . . or word this as “Carries two swords
in case one breaks” ($600 for a second sword).
Clean freak. You reflexively clean, disinfect, and polish. You
receive +1 to HT rolls against contact disease, and never leave
gratuitous fingerprints or suffer social penalties avoidable by
grooming, but you display visible disgust that elicits -1 on reac-
tions from those who do dirty work, anyone who hasn’t had
time to tidy up, and the sick.
Doesn’t trust banks. You carry or hide all your money.
You’ll never have to hunt for an ATM or wait for a bank to
open, and you won’t be at the mercy of bank robbers, but you
stand to lose everything if you’re mugged or your hideout
burns down.
Never raises voice. You avoid -1 to reactions from NPCs who
dislike loud people, as well as Stealth penalties for speaking to
coordinate with allies when skulking about, and you give
eavesdroppers -1 to Hearing – but others have -1 to hear your
cries for help, and you’re at -1 to Intimidation, Leadership,
Public Speaking, etc. in noisy situations.
Sharpens weapons at every opportunity. Your cutting
weapons avoid -1 to damage from blunting but have +1 to odds
of breakage as their edges wear thin.
As with all quirks, it’s bad roleplaying to try to weasel out of
the drawbacks. For an indisputably good habit, buy a perk!