Fixing flaws/traits (submissions welcome)

[Prime32]

Flaws are, well, flawed. It's entirely possible to choose a flaw that has no effect on your character, turning it into essentially a free feat (eg. Non-combatant on an archer, or spellcasting flaws on someone who dipped cleric for the domain powers).

I think the best way to fix this is to force characters to choose a bonus feat which affects the same thing as the flaw, and has a benefit that scales at the same rate as the drawback. Either each flaw has a list of bonus feats it can grant (eg. Shaky could be used to pick up Rapid Shot), or flaws are modified to become more like traits and minor ACFs.

For example:

(click to show/hide)

New Traits

Blind
You cannot see, though you have learned to cope to some extent.
Drawback: You suffer from blindness at all times, which cannot be cured.
Benefit: You gain Blind-Fight as a bonus feat.

Coward
You see danger lurking around every corner.
Drawback: You are shaken at all times, even if you are immune to fear. For the purposes of abilities which grant benefits while you are suffering from fear effects, you count as one step less afraid (i.e. a feat which granted benefits while you were shaken would now grant them while you were frightened).
Benefit: You gain Improved Initiative as a bonus feat.

Energy Specialist
Your psionic abilities can give form to only one form of energy.
Prerequisite: Ability to manifest psionic powers.
Drawback: Select one energy type (fire, cold, acid, electricity or sonic). Whenever you manifest a power which offers a choice of energy type (eg. energy ray), you must choose that type. If the type chosen for this trait is not available for that power, then you cannot manifest that power.
Benefit: Your damage-dealing powers which offer a choice of energy type deal +1 damage per die.

Glory-Hound
You have an insatiable desire for glorious combat, fighting recklessly to prove yourself.
Drawback: You suffer a -2 penalty to AC during combat until you drop an opponent with a minimum CR equal to your level -4 (or combined opponents of equivalent CR). This penalty does not apply if the combat is against a single opponent.
Benefit: Whenever you drop an opponent with a minimum CR equal to your level -4 (or combined opponents of equivalent CR), you gain temporary hit points equal to half your character level, and a +1 morale bonus on attack rolls and saves against fear. These bonuses last for the remainder of the encounter.

Grudge Keeper
You have an overpowering need for vengeance and have difficulty letting go of grudges.
Drawback: If you are damaged in combat, you suffer a -2 penalty on attacks rolls, skill checks, saving throws, and ability checks until you damage the foe who caused you harm. This penalty does not apply if you cannot discern the source of the damage. This penalty disappears when the combat ends.
Benefit: Whenever a creature inflicts damage to you, you gain a morale bonus on damage rolls against them equal to 1d4 + your character level until the end of the encounter.

Honorable Challenge
You believe in fighting fair.
Drawback: You take a -4 penalty on attack rolls against creatures who have not explicitly challenged or attacked you in this encounter, and they gain a +4 bonus on saving throws against your special attacks (a special attack which does not involve an attack roll or saving throw instead has a 20% chance of failing outright).
Benefit: You gain a +4 bonus to AC against creatures whom you have not explicitly challenged or attacked in this encounter.
Special: For the purposes of this trait, an attack includes any action that would end an invisibility spell.

Magical Overload
You have difficulty controlling your most powerful magic, being more comfortable with more familiar, lower-level spells.
Prerequisite: Ability to cast spells.
Drawback: You have one fewer spell slot of your highest spell level.
Benefit: You gain two bonus spell slots of your second-highest spell level, as long as you would have had at least one spell slot of your highest spell level before this trait was applied.

Ponderous Caster
Your spellcasting methods are more elaborate than normal, lending themselves more to grand rituals than combat magic.
Prerequisite: Ability to cast spells.
Drawback: Your spells have a minimum casting time of 1 round, and cannot be reduced below this by any means.
Benefit: Your spells' save DCs are increased by 1.

Pride of Arms
You take great pride in knowing how to use weapons specifically designed for war. You consider all other weapons beneath your station, and have not bothered to learn how to defend yourself against them.
Prerequisite: Proficiency in all martial weapons.
Drawback: You take a -2 penalty to AC except against attacks with martial weapons. You take a -2 penalty on attack rolls except on attacks with martial weapons.
Benefit: You gain the benefits of the Weapon Focus feat for all martial weapons.

Superstitious
You fear magic, and avoid it when possible.
Prerequisite: Inability to cast spells.
Drawback: Whenever you see an item, effect, or location obviously created by magic, you become shaken (even if you are normally immune to fear). The shaken condition lasts until you can no longer see the obviously magical item, effect, or location.
Benefit: You gain a +2 bonus on saving throws against obvious magical effects. The penalty to saving throws inflicted by fear conditions does not apply to obvious magical effects.

How's the balance on these?

[dman11235]

This is a pretty danged good idea, but I'm kind of wondering why you start out with feats but end up with other stuff.

As for balance: I don't know what you're going for (should they end up penalizing overall, or balanced out?), so I can't help there.  However, some notes:

Blind is penalizing you more than any other ones, by FAR, consider adjusting.

Energy Specialist benefit is a feat, I think.  Energy Specialization?  Well, the option is to allow that feat to stack or replace the feat with the flaw (replace the flaw's benefit with the feat).

Ponderous Caster penalty is significantly more severe than everything but Blind.  It also makes all Immediate Action spells completely worthless, and almost all Swift Action spell suffer the same fate.

Superstitious is wonky, and I have no idea what it's doing.  Is it...you become Shaken, but you get a +2 bonus on the save?

For all of these, I like the idea behind them, but as I said, I can't comment on balance since I'm not sure what they should do.  I think most of them offer a slightly more significant penalty than benefit.