Quirks help flesh out your characters with little additions and specifics and include a whole host of different quirks, negative traits and interesting things about your character.
Positive Quirks do good things for your character or are a useful resource, negative quirks do bad things and will usually somehow work to disadvantage your character. 0-point quirks can either be randomly good or bad, or give us more information about the character without any specific advantages or disadvantages.
Taking negative quirks reduces your total of points spent, as per the Character Generation page. You can only get ten points back, but feel free to take more negative quirks than that if you are prepared to put up with the consequences (and it can be fun!)
NOTE: Unless specified in the quirk, you can take a maximum of one of each quirk.
An army in Crusade! is not necessarily a very stable or constant resource and so is not included as a quirk - it could potentially change too much within just one turn. Instead, armies are handled largely through game events and can be raised or otherwise obtained during the game.
Several quirks do, however, represent starting military forces. The most important of these is Influence which, depending on the rank taken, provides an army at the beginning of the game. The second is Fortress which includes a small defensive force which can to some extent be used away from the Fortress.
Otherwise, there are a number of ways of acquiring an army during the game. It is possible to request or appropriate an existing army under the command of your faction either for a specific purpose or for more general duties. Obviously having Diplomacy and to some extent Strategy will be useful in persuading your liege. Furthermore, it is possible to raise a new army using Bureaucracy (which may be assisted by Diplomacy and Strategy) - obviously you will also need to work out ways of arming and provisioning the new troops (and indeed any armies you command) else they will not be of any good quality!
Of course there may be other interesting and creative ways of acquiring armies and similar resources! Discuss your plans with the GMs!
These quirks represent a contract between the GM team and the player and should be taken to tell the GMs the style of play you are interested in.
If you take this quirk, then the GM Team will do its best to prevent your character dying or becoming unplayable - if you do not wish your character to die, take this quirk. Other players will be informed of who has this quirk and consequently will know that you cannot be killed (but can be harmed in other ways).
This is conditional, however, on the character not intentionally involving herself in highly dangerous crusades, experimenting with the darkest knowledge without adequate protection or going around calling armed people names to their faces. Unnecessary danger and foolishness will result in whatever is coming to the character.
This is incompatible with the Hit Me Harder, Heathen quirk.
If you take this quirk, the GM Team will, if it is appropriate for the plot and your character, kill her off from NPC action and plot. Your character will not be randomly killed, but if you decide that your character will be charging a horde of infidels alone, screaming curses, then it is only reasonable and dramatic that after taking down a good score, she will become pâté. This is to help dramatic roleplay if you feel the need to live a little more on the edge and challenge the plot and environment as well as other players. We will try our very best to ensure you get an exciting death.
To provide a contrast with the above scenario, if a character without this quirk decided to do the same, she would perhaps be able to kill a couple, before being knocked out, horribly wounded, and captured, awaiting ransom.
This does not affect actions by other players, which may result in the death of other characters.
This is incompatible with the Sheathe Thy Sword, Lord quirk.
Both Responsibility and Influence work off the same scale. A character may be a senior general with both Influence and Responsibility. The difference is that with Influence he is granted troops and supplies and significant latitude in how to use them, with Responsibility he is kept on a short leash and ordered to follow his faction leader's orders without being granted the resources to execute them. Influence and Responsibility may be combined, in which case you will be granted some or all of the resources required to fulfil your duties.
Henchmen are experienced lieutenants, who, while limited in numbers, are capable of managing complicated tasks for you. They will generally have sufficient skills to ensure that any significant business ventures are kept ticking over without your input, or assist in more complicated tasks. If you have an army, they can also act as officers.
For variable points you can either have more or better minions, maximum points will usually get you anything between a very competent second-in-command or a half dozen reasonable assistants. These are Captains of the Guard, Castellans and Envoys. Most importantly they are loyal to you in particular and their actions will not necessarily make it into your faction news.
The boot is on the other foot! You can command some kind of resource, anything from a handful of blacksmiths, through to a college of scholars or an army of elite horsemen. Your minions will be competent, maybe even including good soldiers or journeymen mages, but they are unlikely to be able to compete directly with the player characters.
More importantly you must spend time and effort (i.e. AP) to ensure that your loyal servants are well-briefed and adequately supplied. In many cases you will need to simply track down someone capable of performing the service. Even more importantly Influence is always a public exercise of your power. If you use your Influence to accomplish a task it will be reported in your faction news.
You've got eyes everywhere. Each rank of Spies gets your fingers in another one of nine States. These agents are already embedded and spread throughout the government, army, and commerce of the other State. They will be difficult to remove and will pass to you what information they can.
If appropriate they will also aid your own actions, for example helping you to use your Stealth to sneak into a hostile city or aiding your Diplomacy by giving you insights into your counterparts negotiating strategy. (Note that this aid will be limited by your skills.) More importantly Spies may be used to learn hidden information in conjunction with Research, or to a much lesser extent Bureaucracy or Diplomacy. You must spend AP to take advantage of this ability.
Each turn your spies will automatically acquire for you the Rumours section of the news of each State you have a spy in.
Note that not all of the spies in other factions are necessarily bilingual, and there may well be some native speakers and other nuances with language. Taking the Languages quirk may help process the Spy information, or prevent the opponents from using the language barrier to their advantage.
You're in a position where people expect you to get things done for your faction. This quirk does not provide you with the tools to do it. The upshot of this is that when things go badly, you're the one people will blame; if you try running away from your responsibilities, then your responsibilities will come running after you with big sticks.
You are the owner of a True Relic, not just an item of great religious or magical significance, but one truly infused with power. True Relics are powerful artefacts that can seriously affect their user and aid them in a variety of ways.
Please tell us what your True Relic is and what are its powers. They will usually manifest themselves in some spectacular and miraculous way and when active the effects are obvious.
You cannot take more than one True Relic per character.
You are in possession of a 'Relic'. This can range from a chip off the True Cross, to a patch of the Shroud of Turin to a saint's finger-bone to an ancient Qur'an.
These may not necessarily be relics of immense power, and can just as easily be simply objects of magical power and other artefacts. They do have various manifesting powers, which can be either subtle or obvious - please tell us what the relic is and what you would it like it to do.
It is also possible to use this quirk to represent a large number of less powerful relics or items of power, that may have affinity to magic or are in some way imbued.
You can take up to two Relics per character.
A fortress is some manner of fortification, whether a castle, fort, or a small walled city. The assault and conquest of a fortress is no small undertaking and it will likely take an enemy some time and many resources to capture it.
For 3 points, the fortress is known to exist and owes its ultimate allegiance to your own faction - it is garrisoned by its troops under your command, but it may be required for other tasks and ultimately could be taken away from you if misused. What is done within its walls can easily be found out by your own faction unless you have the relevant skills to cover your actions.
For 6 points, the fortress was created and garrisoned by you without significant help from your faction and is more akin to a secret lair; its existence is unknown, and it is stocked with soldiers loyal to you who will happily hold your coat while you're busy torturing that nun who looked at you funny. It can of course also be used to represent a fortress similar to the 3-point quirk, but much more impressive and with a stronger garrison.
You have under your control a caravan of goods which regularly travels through the Levant. This may be a camel affair, or perhaps a merchant ship, generally anything that is geared towards transporting goods. It earns you a tidy profit… providing it doesn't get eaten by wolves. This represents a significant investment in trade and will function more effectively with appropriate skills. Furthermore, transport of goods is not just limited to trade and caravans can aid your troops as part of a supply line in wartime.
For 2 points this is a limited caravan, in the early days of its formation and ready to expand. For 4 points the caravan is well-established, with a large number of guards and a steady profit, even without intervention. Either of these is required for any serious trade undertaken in the game.
You have some kind of item with links to your family in some way. It is usually of dubious provenance and power, but is still in some way significant. Please tell us what it is and how it is linked to your family and your background. The Family Heirloom can be expanded to be any kind of trinket or lucky charm of personal significance.
At +2 the heirloom will have more 'power' than a +1 heirloom and can have a more obviously manifesting power.
You can take up to three Family Heirlooms per character.
You have some manner of item. You do not know for certain its purpose, or how it much achieve its purpose, you have probably heard rumours about what it does, or how it does, you might be even sure exactly. Of course, this may well be a lot more complicated.
If you wish to take an Ancestral Keepsake, please specify its level of power from 1 to 5 (roughly equivalent to spending those points in taking other quirks). The GMs will then flip a coin to decide whether it is good or bad - you may wish to provide us with more detailed information about what it is and what you believe it does, or how it is activated.
Please note, that a bad Ancestral Keepsake will do bad things to you, and if you have taken the Hit Me Harder, Heathen quirk, at level 4 or 5 potentially be able to kill you (though not without warning). This quirk is incompatible with the Sheathe Thy Sword, Lord quirk.
A Familiar is usually associated with Witchcraft, and various creatures do somehow end up bonding with another individual on some unknown level. Popularly Familiars are considered signs of evil, or themselves manifestations of darker powers, but it is often hard to tell what is a Familiar and what is not!
Equally, a non-witch could find themselves in possession of some favoured animal companion, or simply have a favoured riding horse or hunting dog.
Pets and Familiars are relatively intelligent and independent animals, but require some care and housekeeping to keep fed and entertained. Pets, combat animals especially, are still little lives and can find themselves under the brunt of an enemy's attack as much as a soldier, especially if you bring one to battle.
Please describe your pets or familiars and suggest what they might be particularly adept at.
Note on Horses - As Horses (and other riding beasts, like Camels) are effectively an expendable (but expensive) commodity in the World of Crusade, it is against the nature of the period for a character to have a single horse longer than a few months before the beast dies of regular exertion. Usually anybody seriously wishing to either travel or fight on horseback will be keeping a half-dozen or more horses and using them in turn - but this is not always practical on long journeys. However, a Pet Horse, for the sake of the game, is an exception to this - this doesn't mean the Horse is invulnerable to blades or inexhaustible, all it means is that it's not another nameless equine casualty in your trek to the Promised Land.
You can have up to three different pets.
You are knowledgeable in the religious texts, theological arguments and the deeper issues of a particular religion. This may be taken by both Ordained and unordained individuals, and represents learning and experience in all kinds of religious matters.
For the first rank, this applies to your own religion (and including your Heresy, if you have taken the Heretic quirk). At the second rank, you know about one of the other two major religions of your choice and at the third rank, you know about all three.
You are in some way touched by the divine - you are not simply lucky, you are somehow helped along by God in your daily life. This is usually represented by assistance in your actions where they might otherwise fail - other good things will generally happen to your character.
You are an ordained priest or a respected imam in your faction's faith. You have a good knowledge of your faith, certainly better than an ordinary layman, though you might not be able to argue theology with a scholar. You will enjoy at least some of the respect due to a priest of God or imam of Allah.
Note that this quirk is compatible with Betrothed for all faiths. Although the Second Lateran Council has recently re-affirmed that Catholic priests must not marry, and the same hold true for Orthodox clerics, relatively few take the requirement seriously. Only monks are expected to take their vows of celibacy seriously enough to eschew marriage.
You are in some way touched by evil and damnation, perhaps through your own actions, or perhaps through a curse or other intervention. Generally, bad things will happen to you throughout the game.
You are a believer in Heretical teachings, i.e. those that are contrary to the three mainstream religions. These are fundamental disagreements that prevent you from being reconciled with either Catholics, Orthodox or Muslims but not being part of the other two.
Catholics may sometimes consider Orthodox Christians 'heretics' and vice-versa, but this is no justification for having the quirk. Similarly, secretly being an atheist does not count as heretical. Openly being an atheist and preaching the absence of God to anyone who listens might be, however, is - the heresy must be one which could be investigated and, with close observation and research, discovered.
Choose at least one major religion which consider you a heretic (effectively which one your beliefs split away from). At -2 points, your heresy is secret, and you may well be able to get away with it to some extent, though discovery is sure to make others dislike you. At -4 points, you are a known heretic and must deal with the pointed hatred of those who consider you such - this will manifest in numerous ways, from difficulty in dealing with any kind of authority to attempts by others to hinder you at all cost!
Note that if you wish to be, for example, a Heretic split from the Catholic Religion, but attached to a Muslim faction (the Ayyubids for example), though you may not be in contact with the Catholics so much, you will still be treated with a degree of hostility by the Muslim faction as a non-Muslim. A status which will change little if you are revealed as a heretic!
The faction languages are Liturgical (or 'High') Greek for the Orthodox, Latin for the Catholics and Arabic for the Muslims. Note that each faction has a number of other lesser languages, such as Middle English or Turkish, which are spoken within the faction but all educated people (and PCs) from the faction will know the faction language at game start.
In addition to their faction language, everyone attending the meeting at the Peace of the Covenant is assumed to able to speak and write Trade Greek, a language used by traders and diplomats throughout the Levant. The genesis of this tongue was the same Greek as spoken by the Byzantines but so many words and phrases have been borrowed from Arabic and Latin and a dozen other languages as to leave it unintelligible to a native Byzantine.
For +2 points your character knows the language of another faction, please specify which. For +4 points your character knows the languages of both the other factions. In conjunction with Stealth or Diplomacy this knowledge may be sufficient to pass as a native speaker of that language.
Note that attempting negotiations, bribery, or other forms of interpersonal communication with members of another faction may suffer a penalty if you cannot speak their language and must instead speak through an interpreter. Any spies you have in other factions might not all be bilinguals, and at least a part may be native speakers - knowing their language will significantly aid your ability to process spy information!
Goooobliiiiins!
Sometimes when you go to sleep you have dreams. Dreams which are altogether disquieting, and haunt you for days afterwards. Dreams which seem too real, and yet too unreal.
You are ill in some manner. This may be cancer which will eventually kill you, but is already having some effect, or it may be a gammy leg that plays up at just the wrong moments.
At -1 points, this is likely something which is occasionally problematic or has a minor effect on some of your actions. At -5, you have Leprosy and as the disease slowly progresses, the effects will become more and more serious. You life, at every turn, is in severe danger. You can represent a number of different ailments under a combined point-cost, though not exceeding -5.
The quirk at -5 is not compatible with the Sheathe Thy Sword, Lord quirk. With the Hit Me Harder, Heathen quirk, Ailing -5 may result in death.
You have a personal superstition. Perhaps you won't use a door that a black cat has been through until after the next sunset, or maybe you have to bless yourself whenever you see a cross upside-down.
This is an opportunity to roleplay, obviously, but it's also a weakness that other players can exploit if they find out. If you won't walk under ladders then a little preparation by a Hashshashin will close down many escape routes…
You may take up to three different Superstitions. The more you have however, the more obvious they are likely to become!
Your family has or will arrange a marriage for you during the course of the game with someone you care nothing for. Political and societal expectations and demands mean that defying such an arrangement would be most embarrassing and even hurtful to your endeavours in far-off lands.
Should you marry someone else before the arranged marriage, or indeed choose to defy the marriage full stop, there will be a fair amount of social and political fallout. You will potentially anger your family, or even your liege and other allies.
Please tell us who the person is, and why your family (or perhaps your king or emperor) has arranged it. They should be sufficiently disliked by your character that entering the marriage would prove about as disadvantageous as staying out of it!
Somehow, no matter how careful you are, your actions are taken in the worst possible way or something goes a little wrong. The plans for the mosque certainly didn't have a minaret that was quite so bent… or phallic. And how were you to know that the king had an allergy to shellfish? Sometimes even when you act in total secrecy the side-effects rebound strangely upon you. The assassins you send to kill the Sultan get drunk upon the road and the Emperor's nephew awakes in the night as shadows brand him on the arse with your name, then melt into the night. Otherwise you might slave all day and night and what do you get? No matter how hard you work or helpful you have been your superiors simply do not give you the credit that is due to you. Someone else always seems to have come up with the idea or been the hero of the hour and you are forced to stand in their shadow. When the rewards and promotions are handed out you are always second in line.
Occasionally your actions, while being entirely successful, will spawn some unforeseen consequences which are mildly embarrassing to you, or you hard efforts might go unnoticed, the thunder stolen by someone else who has put in far less effort. Note that this is never on any huge scale and will obviously not be like Incredible Bad Luck.
You have spent too much time under the sun without adequate protection. Perhaps your head baked inside a helm while on Crusade, or maybe you never listened to your mother when she told you to wrap it up when travelling the desert. In any case, you're not quite right and often events take on a sharp and hurtful quality to them.
This is an 'unreliable narrator' quirk. Occasionally the GMs may make your character's perception of some downtime events somewhat different from what actually happened.
You love them dearly it's just a shame that they can't go to the little eunuch's room without walking into the Sultan's harem, tripping and how did that hand end up there? You may only take this quirk if your character will feel a genuine obligation to help out your friend or family member.
You may take up to two different Friends/Family, though please remember to flesh them out as much as possible for the GMs.
You have sworn a strict vow that prevents you from doing something major. This may be a vow of silence, or a vow that you will never shed blood. It has become something more than a personal choice however, and breaking it is likely to incur a heavenly or hellish wrath.
Vows must be significant enough to require either attention and significant effort from you (that is, not a simple throw-away commitment), or some serious inconvenience during the game session.
You may take up to three different vows, though be careful to not limit yourself too much!
You are working for someone who has some kind of grip on you. You may be indebted to them or they might be blackmailing you. Whatever the reason, you've been compelled to follow their orders - disobeying them will carry dire consequences…
Please let us know how your Hidden Master communicates with you, who you suspect they may be and what sort of things they have asked you to do in the past.
Generally a Hidden Master will either give you tasks every turn, or require you to work towards a grander, long-term action.
From time to time, fate will intervene in your life and make it considerably worse. If you take this quirk, the GMs will randomly pick a number between 1 and 7. On that turn, whichever turnsheet action we think is the most risky will go horribly, hilariously, GM-punchingly wrong. No matter how well it was planned, misfortune will intervene.
This quirk will not result in your character's death. It will also not affect significantly any group actions in which your character is involved, striking instead specifically at just you.
Someone out there hates you. Really really hates you. Hates you so much they've dedicated their life to your destruction. They'd sacrifice their own mother just to spoil your dinner plans.
You may only take Nemesis if you give a clear explanation of who your nemesis is, why they hate you so much and how they have the means to repeatedly harm and inconvenience you. No explanation, no quirk!
The Nemesis is capable of building up to plans involving your death if you have taken the Hit Me Harder, Heathen quirk. Two characters may take the same Nemesis if they wish, both at the same value of the quirk. The Nemesis will just have to work harder to upset more plans!
You have studied hard to become a great mage and can take two further spells from your Magic's spell-list. This quirk supersedes the Adept quirk - that is, you cannot take them both; this quirk is simply a more powerful version of Adept.
You are becoming an experienced mage and can take a second spell from your Magic's spell-list.
You practice magic, but can't quite get some things right. Potions bubble over even when you are watching very closely, or your runic script develops inexplicable extra notches. You are in some way perhaps just a little bit careless…
During the game a few of your spells may have small problems develop and might not go quite as planned, despite the adequate preparation.
You are a master of appearing to be an expert at something. You have picked up enough specific language, moves or other general knowledge to be able to pass as an expert in any of the skills. When taking this quirk, you must pick a skill which appear to everyone as being Rank 5 but will in fact only be whatever rank you actually have (if you have not taken the skill it would count as Rank 0). For example, you could make this apply to one of the schools of Magic which would mean you could talk to a high-level magician and they would believe you to be an equal, but should you choose to try and help them perform a spell or somesuch you are likely to be hit by the explosion you unwittingly caused by not being able to perform the right song and dance. Or you might appear to be a master swordsman, able to put on an impressive display of moves or look impressive with a greatsword in your hands. If you actually try to fight, however, you may suddenly end up without parts of your body you so dearly love. Like the heart, or your head.
You may take up to two different Alle for Showe quirks to represent up to two different skills.
You are always at the height of fashion, being one of those individuals who does everything with a certain elegance and following the popular trends of either your home country or those where you are based. You are also a trend-setter and it is likely that you may help determine the fashions and fads of higher society.
The following quirks can only be taken by members of the specific faith faction.
You have gained an understanding of and are at ease with the various peoples and cultures that are present within the Holy Land and are seen as a just and sound individual by almost all communities. You are at a distinct advantage when dealing with those people and even a little with the cultures they represent.
This is a bonus for dealing with those educated, curious or experienced individuals who realise that there are truths beyond their own cultures. Being cosmopolitan, however, confers no assistance in dealing with firebrands and those convinced that you either are them or you're againt them.
You are your own master, though you are nominally the subject of a Monarch, in truth you yearn to carve out a place in the world for yourself. To this end, you have acquired some number of supporters as a 'court'. Together with them, you find it easier to channel your Kingdom's resources towards personal goals.
This is similar to a combination of Influence and Henchmen, but these supporters are focussed on helping you carve out your own power in the Holy Land, out from under the undeserving suzerainty of your King or Queen.
A lifetime defending the faith from her enemies or fanatically transcribing the scriptures has left you ill prepared for the forgiving attitude necessary for interaction with other cultures and faiths. You suffer a disadvantage when dealing with those whose beliefs or customs differ substantially from your own. You might make the odd snide comment about their beliefs or persist in assuring them that your God is indeed bigger than their God.
You are adept indeed at handling a mercenary army, arranging the distribution of payments, discipline and so on.
When acting with a mercenary force and dealing with mercenary matters, you will count as having Rank 3 in Bureaucracy and Diplomacy for the purposes of arranging contracts and pay and keeping discipline only. Actual skill outside those specific areas requires you to buy the actual skills.
St. George was a fearless martyr who spoke out against heresy and was tortured to death for doing so, amongst his many other feats. It is has long been noted that this lack of cowardice has been granted to those who follow in his footsteps. When others would suffer doubt or run those who have this grace bestowed upon them feel no fear in their hearts.
This will make those you command more staunch of heart and less prone to abandoning their tasks or panicking, whether on the battlefield, facing certain defeat or great horrors.
Once your family came from a part of the Byzantine Empire since lost to the Latins or Muslims (roughly anywhere except Araby). That time is gone, the titles and goods lost to the invaders. But what still hurts is the loss of the precious Holy Icon that your family once possessed, an image of a saint directly linked with you and your family. All your life, from grandmother to uncle to mother, you have been told how great the loss was.
You must do whatever it takes to recover this icon, should the opportunity arise. The Saint will surely smile with favour on such an undertaking; should you ignore the opportunity you risk losing his favour and with his back turned your luck can only worsen.
Not only have you already completed the Hajj, required of all Muslims, to visit Mecca and Medina, but you have done your share of work guarding the pilgrims to and from the Holy Cities. Your friends and family know this, but more importantly you have earned the right to wear the “Silver Moon” badge of one who has performed this service.
You are worthy of respect by all followers of Islam, and will find that there is something of a presumption of honesty and good character by all Muslims.
You know the Desert as well as you can know a horrid endless space of elemental destruction filled with the dead, mystery weather, and beasts beyond human comprehension. You receive bonuses to navigating or interacting within the Arabian Desert.
Sadly the nomadic lifestyle that your people once maintained is still hot in your veins. Where as others have settled their communities and built fortifications you still get itchy feet.
You are unable to maintain permanent residence in any one place - you cannot settle down or remain behind fortifications. Wanderlust is incompatible with the Fortress quirk.