Pony Thought of the Day: BESM Blank Flanks

Since I posted the BESM Cutie Mark attribute I made, here's the Blank Flank attribute.

Blank Flank (4/level): You have not yet discovered your special talent. All ponies with this attribute must take Marked -1 (Blank Flank) and Ageism -1 to represent that ponies regard acquiring a cutie mark as a rite of passage. At some point during the game, the GM identifies your special talent, but does not tell the player (it is recommended for the GM to wait at least a couple of sessions, in order to get to know the character and identify an appropriate talent). At this point, the GM begins applying the talent to rolls as appropriate (see the Cutie Mark attribute), again without telling the player. If the player guesses the talent (or something suitably close to have received the same bonuses), then after a successful roll that receives the Blank Flank bonus, the attribute is removed and replaced by the Cutie Mark attribute. For each level of Blank Flank the character possesses, the player receives 4 points; the first two must be spent to remove the Marked (Blank Flank) and Ageism defects, and all others must be spent on the Cutie Mark attribute. Any leftover points can be combined with future character advancement points, but only for purposes of increasing the level of the Cutie Mark attribute.

Example: Sweetie Bell possesses Blank Flank at level 1, along with Marked (Blank Flank) -1 and Ageism -1. After a couple of sessions, the GM identifies singing as her special talent. A few sessions later, after succeeding with a bad roll on a difficult Performing Arts (Singing) skill check, the player correctly identifies Sweetie's special talent as singing. She gains a cutie mark (the player chooses a microphone, and the GM agrees) and 4 character points. The first two must be spent to remove her Marked and Ageism defects, and the remaining two on the Cutie Mark attribute. Since Cutie Mark (Singing) has only narrow, non-combat applications, it is only 1 point per level, so Sweetie Bell's player replaces Blank Flank 1 with Cutie Mark (Singing) 2.