This section lists a number of additional Advantages and Disadvantages for SLA Industries Characters. They are intended to be used within the framework of the Alternative dnotice.de skill resolution and combat system. I have expanded this section to encompass now all the original DNotice (the term now given to the system I developed for the RPG Syndicate City) Advantages and Disadvantages.

Also included in this list are some original SLA Industries Advantages and Disadvantages. They are listed here to describe their effects within the terms of the DNotice System.

In the descriptions of certain advantages you will read that the result of the Success Die is doubled or halved. This, however, is done after deciding that the action is a success - so it has no influence on whether the action is successful or not, it only affects the effect of the action (whether marginal or outstanding success/failure).

In certain cases, however, the descriptions state that the Success Die is doubled and added (like, e.g. Iron Will). In this case double the value of the Success Die before determining if the action was successful - so the probability of success for the action is increased by possessing this advantage.

Ambidextrous (7 points): this ability cancels the off-hand penalty (-3 to skill roll) normally associated with using a weapon or item in the "secondary" hand.

Ballet/Dance Of Death (20/10 points): are essentially the same ability - they allow a character to literally dodge bullets. He has some kind of supernatural sixth sense to feel from where the bullets come so that he can dodge early enough to avoid them. See the Combat System for more details how to dodge the bullets.

Ballet of Death is the advanced form of Dance of Death; characters who posses the Ballet Of Death Advantage do not suffer the situational penalty for the character's next Action associated with normal Quick Dodges.

Dance/Ballet of Death relies on quickness, hence it cannot be used if a character wears any armor that imposes a Dodge Modifier. Thus only characters wearing no armour, Striker Motorcycle Armour, CAF Flak Vest, CAF Dusters, FEN Cloaks, Synthskin or BattleBreeze Armour can execute Dance/Ballet of Death maneuvers.

Berserker (10 points): The ability to slip into a Berserker Rage prior to combat. When in this state, a character has all damage dealt to him reduced by -1, he halves all skill values of DIA-based skills, and he doubles his Damage, Penetration and Aiming Die Values, but can only dodge and parry with half skill value. A character in Berserker Rage won't feel his wounds until combat is over - so it is possible that a character is killed during combat, but he simply won't drop before all enemies are killed. Speaking of enemies - for a character in Berserker Rage, everybody he sees is an enemy. A character can try to slip out of Berserker Rage if the player succeeds in a CONC Test -6.

Calculation Resolve (3 points per rank): An Ebon gifted with this Advantage can reduce the Situational Modifiers for Calculating Ebb Abilities by 1 per rank of this Advantage.

Crack (10 points): this Advantage must be specialized. It allows the character to be a "crack" in one field of expertise, like e.g. a "crack driver" or a "crack mechanic". In order to specialize this Advantage, select a skill that the character is exceptionally good at. If the character uses this skill, double his success die. For Combat Skills specify which dice is to be doubled. However, some GMs might want to restrict this Advantage to non-combat skills.

Each Crack-Skill after the first gets it's cost doubled, so the second crack skill costs 20 points, the third 40 and so on.

Die Hard (15 points): Die Hard Characters can survive almost everything. They get shot, fall from a house into a huge bonfire and still walk out of the flames alive. Ideally this ability allows a player to suggest methods of survival if his character has bit the dust.

Note: Characters who take a full burst from a SMG gun into the guts still won't survive, but a character who is about to get executed could simply state (when his executioner pulls the trigger "Click" indicating that he expects the gun to be unloaded) and the GM might even let him get away with this one ...

Direction Sense (1 point per rank): This Advantage is rolled like a skill if the character needs to know which direction is north, or to remember how to navigate the labyrinth of the sewers or which way the car took while he was imprisoned in the trunk.

Double Strike (7/10/15 points): once per combat round (within a phase the character can act), the character with this Advantage gains an additional melee attack at an Intitiative Count 15/10/5 points lower than his usual Initiative Count.

Extended Ability (10 points): this allows the player to increase the maximum rank of one of his character's Stats by +1. Per stat, however, this can only be done once. This Advantage in effect replaces the original Cool: Exceedingly Advantage.

Fast Healer (20 points): The character heals at double rate.

Fast Learner (10 points): Characters with this Advantage double and add the Success Die on their Learning Rolls.

Hardened (3 points per rank): A special Advantage, usually not taken during character creation, but later aquired in the game. However, the point cost is listed for character who already have met with the terror.

Each rank of hardened subtracts one point from the Success Die of a Fear Roll (see Psychology and Psychosis). This, however, also has a drawback, for hardened characters loose the ability to get affected by what they see - after all they have already seen it all. Over the time their "mental armour" will allow fewer and fewer stimuli to pass through - they are on the way to becoming a "dead fish", devoid emotions, devioud feelings, perhaps fleeing into drug addiction to "make it all go away". How to implement this is up for the GM to decide; ideally the players should roleplay it, but some might have to get forced (by "awarding" them with mental disadvantages for each point of "Hardened" acquired) to roleplay this effect.

Hearing (Good) (1 point per rank): rolled like a skill when the character relies on his hearing. The Success Die of this roll is then added (or subtracted depending on whether the Hearing Roll was a success or failure) to the character's Detect roll.

Immunity (variable): the character possesses a natural immunity to a certain kind of poisons, diseases or both. Immunity to general poisons (e.g. Arsenic) or diseases (e.g. flu) cost 2 points. Immunity versus rare poisons (snake venom) or diseases (scarlet fever) costs 4 points while exotic poisons (curare) or diseases (Ebola) costs 6 points. Any combination of poison and/or disease is possible.

Intuitive Aimer (10 points): this Advantage reduces the recoil generated Hit Spread by 1 point when shooting at Optimum Range and reduces the Handling Factor for close combat by 1 point.

Iron Will (5 points): characters possessing this ability are unusually hard to manipulate. When rolling a CONC-test, trying to fend of manipulative attacks (like interrogation, torture, intimidation), they double and add their Success Die.

Killer Stare (10 points): The legendary 'look' in the eyes of a tough-guy. Characters possessing the Killer Stare double and add their Success Die to all tests involving "trying to act tough" (like intimidation and interrogation). Those possessing the Killer Stare only regard others who also possess the Killer Stare as worthy enemies and/or friends. All others are simply wimps ...

Luck (3 points per rank): Luck acts as a pool. Per point spent from this pool the character can reroll one die from a single test. If he spends two points he can reroll up to three dice from a single test. The GM can ask the player if he wants to expend a certain amount of "Luck-points" (determined by the GM) for the character to avoid something nasty (like eg. catching that slippery cable hanging underneath the gangplanks of the DownTown walkway while getting thrown into the depths by some Johannas . worth at least 7 points!)

Looks (Attractive) (1 point per rank): this Advantage works similar to Hearing (Good); if the character must succeed at a test that is influenced by appearance, roll Looks like a skill and add/subtract the Success Die to the roll in question.

Mind Hunter (4 points per level): The ability to gain insights into a criminal mind by reading the aura of a crime scene. Sometimes these insights are accompanied by visions of the crime itself or occurances related to the crime. Mindhunters are proficient in creating profiles of their quarry, aiding them in finding them. This ability is used like a skill; it is rolled with 3d6, a result greater than 13 indicates success. The degree of success depends on the result of the Success Die. Points scored in excess of 18 are added to the Success Die.

Natural Born Killer (7/15/30 points): characters with this ability have their Initiative Total increased by +5/+10/+15.

Nondescript ( 2 points per rank): If a character wants not to be noticed a nondescript face might help. In these circumstances roll the Advantage like a skill and subtract the Success Die from all Detect rolls made against the character.

Quick Aimer (10 points): ): characters with this Ability only need to aim half as long for the desired effect. Thus characters possessing this Advantage get a +2 (instead of the usual +1) Aim-modifier per Action aimed.

With the first Action spent aiming, the character cancels the Wild/Snap-Shot penalty and gets a +1 Aim Mod. However the maximum allowable modifier they can get is still equal to their Marksman rank.

Quick Draw (7 points): allows the character to draw and fire a weapon in one Action without suffering any ill effects (apart from the shot being wild).

Quick Trigger (7/10/15 points): once per combat round a character with this Advantage gains one Additional attack with a semi-auto weapon, which he takes on an Initiative Count 15/10/5 points lower than his usual Initiative count within a combat phase he already acted.

Rapid Fire (10 points): characters possessing this ability never need to aim; all their shots are considered to be aimed for at least one round - they can never fire Wild Shots. If they wish (and possess Marksman skill) they can spend further Actions to obtain aiming bonuses.

Reflexes (10 points): doubles and adds the Success Die on Initiative rolls.

Reputation (Good) (2 points per rank): Each time a character's reputation might influence his performance in social situations, roll this Advantage like a skill and add the Success Die to all applicable tests.

Resilience (15 points): characters who are resilient are hard to kill. Each time they are hit they make a PHYS-test. If this test is successful they can subtract their Success Die Value from the damage value of the attack.

Second Sight (20 points): The ability to see auras or have quick insights into the future. A very unstable ability, it is considered a curse by most of them who possess it.

Sixth Sense (7 points): the character is sensitive to danger. The exact effects of this Advantage depend upon the GM's decision; it can be rolled like a skill, adding the Success Die to the characters Initiative Total in a surprise situation. It can also be rolled to allow the character to detect that something is amiss. Other uses are possible and depend on the situation and the GM.

Status (3 points per rank): The character possesses a certain status. This is a flexible Advantage and depends upon the environment of the character; eg. a character who might impress the SLA-loyal parents of his new girlfried with his SCL 5A, but it will not help him in the depths of DownTown.

In a situation that might be influenced by Status, roll the Advantage like a skill and either add the Success Die to tests the character must pass (if applicable) or base the character's reception upon the Success Die. In situations where the character's SCL might be influential, the SCL grants a Status equal to 10 - SCL (eg. SCL 9 = Status 1, SCL 2 = Status 8).

Sworddance (10 points): This Advantage can only be used in conjunction with Quick Dodges and it cancels the situational penatly associated with Dodging melee attacks. Additionally all Quick Dodges in melee combat cost no Action.

Time keeper (Good) (1 point per rank): In situations where timing acts as a critical factor, roll this Advantage like a skill and add the Success Die to all timing related skill rolls the character must make.

Vision (Good) (1 point per rank): as Hearing (Good), but related to vision-based Detect tests.

Voice (Good) (1 point per rank): as Looks (Good) but for situations where the character's voice might grant him an Advantage.

Weapon Master (20 points): This Advantage lowers the Handling Factors of melee weapons by the character's Damage Bonus.

Wraith (+25 points): Characters possessing this ability are the ones who seldom get hit; bullets seem to pass right through them and if they hit they do not cause heavy wounds. All attacks on characters possessing this ability are at -COOL/2 and the Damage Die of those attacks that hit is halved. So a character with Cool 8 has a -4 modifier to all attacks aimed at him, while a character with Cool 5 has only a -2 modifier.

Wraith fighters rely on their enemies not hitting and thus they almost never try to dodge. This is reflected in the maximum rank that their Dodge skill can have, which is equal to it's usual value divided by two and thus DEX/2. Furthermore, a Wraith character loses his Wriath to-Hit modifier should he try to dodge a bullet.

Characters who possess the Wraith Ability cannnot also possess the Ballet/Dance of Death Ability as well.

Absent Minded (7 or 15 points): This is a split Disadvantage; for the 7 point disadvantage, absent-minded character halve their Success Die on Initiative Tests, but for the 15 point disadvantage, they halve their Success Die on Initiative Tests and all CONC based rolls (skill and stat).

Amnesia (10 points): the character cannot remember his past. He has recently recovered from a shock and cannot remember details of his previous life, including his name. This Disadvantage gives the GM complete freedom over the background of the character (but as well the responsibility to come up with a great back-story). He also gets up to 100 points to spend on Skills, Advantages and Disadvantages the character has not realized he possesses.

Calling Card (7 points): The character must leave something symbolical, connecting his actions to him, like, e.g. a hitman leaving a playing card on the bodies of his victims or a killer writing daunting phrases on bathroom mirrors.

Coward (3 points per rank): The character acts timidly in the face of danger. Whenever in such a situation roll this Disadvantage like a skill and subtract the Success Die from all Actions the character takes while still endangered (this by all means includes Combat!).

Distinguishing Trait (2 points per trait): This Disadvantage is the opposite of the Advantage Nondescript. In all situations the character might be recognized, roll the Disadvantage like a skill and add the Success Die to all Detect rolls made against the character.

Fatman (2 point per rank): The character has overweight. Per rank reduce PHYS by 10% This Disadvantage indirectly influences Hit Total, so that characters who have overweight gain more hit points. Other traits that are influenced are Actions, Wound Threshold and the maxium Rank for all PHYS Skills. Each rank of Fatman increases weight by 10%.

Additionally each rank of Fatman reduces the character's Base Move by 20cm.

Flashback (4 points per rank): the character periodically remembers traumatic parts of his past in hallucinations that appear to be real. The GM together with the player should select what triggered the flashbacks and what part of the character's past is always remembered (and re-lived).

Flashbacks work along the same rules as psychoses do: when under mental stress, or in a situation that might trigger a flashback, the GM rolls the character's COOL minus the rank of the flashbacks against a target number of 16. Success indicates that the character suffers no flashback, while failure indicates that the character has to re-live his flashback.

A character can try to get out of his flashback by realizing that he is experiencing a flashback, in order to do so, he has to succeed in a COOL roll minus the rank of the flashback with a target number of 21. If he fails this roll, all he can do is re-live his flashback until it is finished ("riding the wave"). The rank of the disadvantage also tells how often the character suffers from flashbacks; a character with 10 ranks in Flashback is constantly re-living the traumatic episode and can communicate with/percieve outside reality only in a severly disturbed way.

Fool (3 points per rank): He might be hyperactive, he might be a day dreamer. But one thing is sure, he doesn't pay much attention to his environment. If he is around, it is almost certain that something with fall down, get dropped or break. While taking a glass, he touches the bottle on the table and it falls. Turning around he hits the desk, sending the secretary's coffee cup spinning, falling and emptying itself on all her papers.

Every time that charachter performs an action without fully and conciously concentrating on his movements and his environment something can go wrong (usually if something fragile is near).

Roll 3d6 and add the rank of this Disadvantage; on a result higher than 13 an accident happens, with the succes die showing the severity of the incident.

Hatred (3 points per rank): the character is consumed by searing hatred for somebody else (this can be an individual, an organization, a Soft Company, or a whole department) and he will do anything to make the life of the hated party/individual as hard as possible. Unless the character is also violent, this not necessarily means that the character will try to harm or kill members of the hated party/individual. Of course the more powerful the hated object his the higher the rank of this disadvantage is.

Hearing (Bad) (2 points per rank): The opposite of the Hearing (Good) Advantage. In appropriate situations roll this Disadvantage like a skill and add the Success Die to the Difficutly Levels of Hearing based Detect tests.

Hunted (5 points per rank): something or somebody is after the character and they will do anything to get the character. This not necessarily means that they want to kill him, perhaps they only want to teach him a (painful and humiliating) lesson ...

Intolerance (1 point per rank): a weaker form of hatred. The character has something he seriously dislikes (this can be anything from a color, a meal up to a whole race). This results in the character showing little respect for the object of his intolerance.

Looks (Ugly) (1 point per rank): The opposite to Looks (Good). If applicable roll this Disadvantage like a skill and add the Success Die to the Difficulty Levels of all tests related to the character's appearance.

Lost in Details (1 point per rank): The charachter is easily lost, when he focus on something. Telling a story he will go off on tangents, start endless discussions about minor details, never coming to the point, only stopping if someone interrupts him. If he is eg. working on his Oyster he looses track of time, just working on until he snaps out and realizes that he has just spent a couple of hours.

Any time the charachter is doing something, that needs his full concentration and requires detailed work, he rolls with 3d6 versus 13 and adds the rank of this Disadvantage. If a successful roll he will continue the activity for the value of his success die in hours, or until he is interrupted and forced quit (which leaves him with the nagging feeling that he still has something to finish).

Obligation (3 points per rank): The character has some sort of obligation towards somebody else. Depending on the rank this might reflect some minor obligation like showing up at home every week (and dread the character who misses one of these visits...) or such a heavy obligation like being a Vessal Ebon for an especially nasty Necanthrope.

Most often an Obligation is based on an oath or some promise the character gave somebody in the past and the character still feels bound to this promise. Obviously, characters who have an obligation towards somebody often also have a Personal Constraint (Code of Honor), as this is the prerequistite towards being able to carry out/be bound to an oath/obligation.

Overconfident (5 points): the character thinks that whatever gets in his way he will get through, a mind-set that might often result in the character getting harmed pretty bad ...

Personal Constraint (3 points per trait): A set of rules the character has sworn never to violate. Personal Constraints create a certain codex the character lives by.

Prime Target (35 points): "That's the guy - The most dangerous of all." This Disadvantage is the antithesis to Wraith. The charachter seems to be the most dangerous and in a conflict everyone will concentrate on him. Bullets seem to be drawn to him. But this Squad colleagues will love him, "he who takes the first bullet". Ebon Healers will loathe him, "He has more of my Flux in his body, than I have in mine. Fucking Bleeder."

All random shots will be aimed at this charachter. Prime Target charachters will be hit easier and any shots fired at them are fired against a target number of 10 instead of 13.

Reputation (Bad) (3 points per rank): The opposite of Reputation (Good). Each time a character's reputation might influence his performance in social situations, roll this Disadvantage like a skill and add the Success Die to the Difficulty Levels of all applicable tests.

Secret (3 points per secret): the character has something to hide. What this is, is completely up to the character and might range from being a subversive to knowing the location of a valuable cache of information.

Skinny Puppy (4 points per rank): The opposite of the Fatman, a Skinny Puppy has underweight. Per rank reduce PHYS by 10% (round up!). This indirectly influences Hit Total, so that underweight characters get less hit points than "normal" characters. Other traits that are influenced are Actions, Wound Threshold and the maxium Rank for all Shape Skills. Each level of Skinny Puppy reduces weight by 5%.

Sucker (7 points): The character easily falls prey to a pretty face. He simply cannot refuse a request for help from an attractive member of the opposite sex.

Time keeper (Bad) (1 point per rank): The opposite of Timing (Good). Whenever timing is critical roll this Disadvantage and add the Success Die to the Difficulty Levels of all tests during the situation.

Trouble Magnet (15 points): If there is someone out for a fight, if there is someone looking for a victim to inflict pain, if they need someone to put the blame on . they point at you. You are their first and natural choice. Enjoy, you don't have to do anything, they do it for you.

Vision (Bad) (2 points per rank): The opposite of Vision (Good). Whenever a character may suffer from bad hearing, roll this Disadvantage and add the Success Die to the Difficulty Levels of all vision based Detect-tests.

Violent (7 points): Violent characters most often use the "shoot first, ask questions later" approach. They seldom take prisoners and consider that "... they all would be better off dead".

Voice (Bad) (2 points per rank): the opposite of Voice (Good), applied but for situations where the character's voice might act as a Disadvantage.

Vengeance (7 points): Another Disadvantage that goes well together with Hatred. The character has a score to settle or a debt to repay and the only way to do so is in blood. When the character encounters the target of his vengeance he will do everything to ensure that he can "even out the score".