Variable Quirk

-1 point

Many quirks have variable effects, particularly Cyclothymic
(p. 17), External Mood Influence (p. 18), and Mirror-Image
Disadvantages (p. 11). However, these are all fixed traits that
act like one of a small set of predefined quirks in response to
specific game-world triggers. The GM may opt to permit more
dramatic fluctuations.
If the GM agrees, a player may select one “Variable Quirk”
and work with the GM to define how often it changes (most
often every session or every adventure) and what traits can
occupy the “quirk slot.” Examples include the mental quirk of
the week of the funny man in a comedy of errors, social quirks
that serve as “hooks” in an episodic campaign with weak over-
arching continuity, and serial Unwelcome Accessories (p. 13)
for a robot whose efforts to solve design problems create new
difficulties. In effect, the player has advance permission to
invoke Changing Existing Quirks (pp. 5-7) at specific junctures
in the campaign arc.
It should be obvious why this is a meta-game quirk: its trig-
ger is a new game session, episode, or storyline – probably one
that focuses on the quirk! It’s a great way to enable players to
try out lots of quirks without having too many at once (see Is
Five Enough?, p. 6).