Thinker vs. Eidetic Memory

[Lancer]

IMO the Eidetic Memory edge is waaay too powerful, especialy when compared to the Thinker edge. I thought about a way to fix this and would like some comments if this looks balanced enough to make both edges (more or less) equal:

Eidetic Memory:
Academic tests at TN 5 automatically successfull. +2 to all academic tests and academic uses of physical and social skills.

Thinker:
+1 to all academic tests, academic uses of physical and social skills and +1 to physical uses of academic skills (e.g. running experiments with a science skill).

[Ramage]

For my own campaign I am trying to bring back the old ICON notion of costs for edges and flaws. That way you can keep something as interesting as Eidetic Memory, but force someone to cough up for it.

Along a similar line, if you can take a maximum of 2 disadvantages under the CODA system, how does anyone ever get to the third step available for some of the drawbacks? Addiction, for example, has three levels to it.

[Lt Cmdr Matt]

You can only have a maximum of two edges during character creation but during advancements you can increase a flaw and/or upgrade one.

[Ramage]

Okay, I guess that fits, but they WHY would someone do it?

If I am reading the rules right you gain no benefit from upgrading a flaw to a higher level.

Obviously I have missed something here. Want to help point me in the right direction?

[Lancer]

Originally posted by Ramage
Along a similar line, if you can take a maximum of 2 disadvantages under the CODA system, how does anyone ever get to the third step available for some of the drawbacks? Addiction, for example, has three levels to it.

You can take only two flaws during character creation, but that doesn't mean you can't gain any more during actual gameplay. Not really by upgrading them for an added benefit, but rather as a result of what happens to your character.

Another possibility would be starting with 3 flaws, if your species has one, e.g. if you are from a peaceloving species (Species Flaw: Pacifist 1) you could upgrade it with two more flaws during development to the maximum Pacifist 3.

Or you could just take more flaws than you are allowed without gaining any more edges from it, simply because you think it fits your character better.

[Publius]

Actually, there was already a thread about this one a while back, I'll just repost what I said back then:

Actually {with regard to the Thinker and Eidetic memory edges}the latest of the home rules {in my game} is as follows: "Eidetic Memory helps you recall information, not perform an actual test" If you need to recall a formula or something it is fine, but other than information recall it is not going to add +2 to anything. I might even boost the amount of the bonus because the scope of the edge has narrowed considerably.

On consideration, What I did was make Eidetic Memory worth a +5 for pure memory based tests. Example: recalling, without access to a relevant database, the atomic weight of a particular element. Other than pure memory use, it has no bonuses, so it is particularly useful for characters like Data who spew out all sorts of information about some esoteric subject.