Merits & Flaws

Many mages leave their families behind. You didn’t do that, although you may often wish you could. A flipside of the Merit: Family Support (pp. 53-54), this Flaw saddles you with a basket of goodies from Dysfunction Junction, family-style. You might have a meddling uncle, an abusive sibling, an alcoholic parent, or “simply” the leftovers from dealing with such peo­ ple. You might have tried to escape them, but if so, someone in your family is still looking for you. (See the Werewolf 20 Flaw: Persistent Parents, and the story “We Are the Shadows Cast by the Memory of Giants” in Truth Beyond Paradox.) The family doesn’t have to still be part of your physical reality, but the mess they left behind if you managed to get away from them remains a part of your existence today.

As with Supportive Family, the clan in question could be blood relatives, an adopted family, or a family-of-choice you kinda wish you hadn’t chosen. The more points you have in this Flaw, the more your family issues interfere with your Awak­ ened life. They could be mages themselves, though that’s not often the case. More likely, they’re folks who still look for you even in your Newlife, hangers-on who won’t leave you alone, sickly relations who need tending (see also the Flaw: Ward, p. 66), kids or siblings (or even parents) who have constant troubles with the law… the possibilities are as endless as the real-life complications that a troubled family can bring. And no, you can’t just ditch out on ‘em even if you’ve already tried to do so. If you could, they wouldn’t still be your problem, now would they?