Faerie characters who pass for humans but live at the fringes of society can get by with the Free Virtue "Passes for Human". Those who have an important role in human society - the equivalent of a Minor or Major Social Status Virtue - can take the Infiltrator as a Virtue of equal value. But what about Faeries pretending to be humans with a negative social status, albeit possibly an important one? Say, an Outlaw Leader, or an Usurer?
A flaw with no disadvantage is not a Flaw. A faerie pretending to be impoverished is not impoverished unless they are trapped by their role,
See also : "Common People" by P.U.L.P.
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I certainly agree, but I fail to see how this addresses the main question,
Social Status Flaws are generally not about poverty at all. An Usurer (Minor Status Flaw) is no poorer than a Merchant (Free Status Virtue), and an Outlaw Leader (Minor Status Flaw) is no poorer than Mercenary Captain (Minor Status Virtue). Both are likely better off money-wise than the average Peasant (Free Status Virtue).
Instead, Social Status Flaws put you in a role that's disliked by, or in active conflict with the rest of society, causing "interaction difficulties" - difficulties which are just as real for faeries (see their Social Interaction Flaws). An Usurer (HoH:TL p.109) has a negative Reputation 4. An Outlaw Leader has a negative Reputation 3, and is actively sought by the local authorities. Etc.
The question is: mechanically, if I want to play a Faerie character who passes off as a human Usurer, Outlaw Leader, or Merchant, which Virtues and/or Flaws should I take? I cannot take the Social Status V&Fs directly, because Faeries cannot take them and must instead take Social Interaction V&Fs. But the only Social Interaction that allows a Faerie to pass as a human "solidly within human society" is Infiltrator, and that can only provide roles corresponding to a Minor or Major Social status Virtue -- not a Free Virtue, nor a Flaw.
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Functionally a faerie playing a role where it is disliked is still gathering vitality from being disliked, so I would say a negative social status for a faerie pretender is not a flaw for the faerie.
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Yes and no.
First of all, how much vitality a faerie is gathering from social interaction is regulated by a separate set of V&Fs - Aloof, Pretentious, Ostentatious. A Faerie playing the role of an Usurer has an excellent justification for taking Pretentious or Ostentatious but still has to pay for it. So this aspect should be out of the equation. And a faerie playing the role of an Usurer has an "intrinsic" penalty to social interaction - something similar is worth a Minor Flaw if purchased separately (the negative reaction Flaw).
But the problem is not just one of "fair pricing". It's one of total lack of rule support. By the RAW, if you want to play a faerie pretending to be a human, you have only two choices:
a) Take a "prestigious" human role, corresponding to a Minor or Major Social Status Virtue, by purchasing Infiltrator at the same level.
b) Live "at the margins of human society", taking the Passes for Human Free Virtue.
There is by the RAW no way for a Faerie to take a human role that is neither very prestigious, nor "at the margins" of human society: a role deepy entrenched in human society regarded as "average" (e.g. a Merchant) or "bad" (e.g. an Usurer).
@silveroak, @Timothy_Ferguson let me ask again: mechanically, if I want to play a Faerie character who passes off as a human Usurer, Outlaw Leader, or Merchant, which Virtues and/or Flaws should I take?
You could say that Passes for Human allows you to cover any role normally represented by any Social Status Flaw or Free Virtue, with all its usual perks and limitations, but that's not what the Passes for Human says and should be erratad. Alternatively, you could say that if you have a role deeply entrenched in human society, you must take Infiltrator - Passes for Human keeps you at the margins - but in that case Infiltrator should be erratad to allow roles that are not particularly prestigious, and its cost when covering a Free Social Status or a Social Status Flaw should be defined.
It's a rather simple problem, that the current rules fail to address, and that crucially could be addressed in multiple simple ways. I'd like to see it in the errata, one way or another.
A faerie usurer would take passes for human. The fact that he would have a poor reputation (usurer) is no longer a social status but simply part of their story. The reputation that comes with the social status is no longer a simple social penalty under certain circumstances, but a dramatic and defining aspect of the character's glamour. Fundamentally what is a flaw for a human is not a flaw for the faerie.
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