History Main / DoubleEdgedBuff

** Stat-increasing Black potions in ''VI'' raised one stat while lowering other(s). Each type [[ItWorksOnlyOnce worked only once per person]], but the stat gain was bigger than the loss, so feeding one person all possible potions would result in a net stat gain. The next games revamp these potions to grant stat boost only (and much bigger at that) at the cost of them being much harder to make.

* ''Franchise/XMen'' regular Emma Frost is able to transmute her body into a diamond-like state, rendering her invulnerable to most forms of physical damage. But while in this state, her empathy is muted, and she loses access to her vast telepathic powers.

* ''VideoGame/RedAlert3'':
** The Emperor's Rage/Revenge/Retribution power greatly increases the defense of the units in it, but it slows them down as well. It also affects enemy units in the same way.
** The Rocket Angel's Paralysis Whip prevents a ground enemy from attacking or moving, but it's short-range, prevents the Angel from moving while in use, and can't be used against buildings.
** The Soviet Dreadnought and Kirov can both use a CastFromHitpoints ability that slowly damages them but greatly increases their rate of fire/movement speed respectively. A Kirov using it is also revealed on the mini-map (not that this changes much for the AllSeeingAI).

** The Dragonhawk Rider has two: Aerial Shackles prevents a flyer from moving and deals damage to it, while Cloud prevents enemy buildings from attacking. Using either one prevents the unit from moving or attacking without ending the spell prematurely.

** The Obsidian Statue (a support caster that restores mana or health around itself) can transform into a Destroyer, a heavy air unit with powerful AntiMagic spells. The catch is that it has negative mana regeneration, and has to use most of those spells to keep dealing high damage.

* ''TabletopGame/WarhammerFantasy'': {{Literature/Wulfrik}} the Wanderer's special power is to force any target he wants into a challenge (a DuelToTheDeath), leaving them unable to refuse or transfer the challenge to a bodyguard. However, he is also unable to refuse them. In the novel, this was best demonstrated when he tried to fight a ''god'' before he figured out it was a magical hologram (and he only figured that out because it didn't respond to his challenge).

** The Reckless Attack feature for barbarians gives them advantage (roll two die and keep the highest result) on their attacks on their turn (making them more likely to hit enemies), but in exchange, enemies have advantage to hit them. One subclass grants a handful of temporary hitpoints when doing this, making it marginally more survivable.
** The ''Haste'' spell allows the player to act twice in a round. In 2nd edition, the spell ages the target by a number of years. 5th edition causes the target of the haste to be unable to act for a turn when the spell expires (or is dismissed).
** Barbarians who take the Path of the Berserker can choose to turn their [[BerserkerRage Barbarian Rage]] ability into a Frenzy -- granting them all the abilities of a regular barbarian rage plus the ability to make an extra attack every turn. When the frenzy ends, they gain a level of exhaustion -- a debuff that applies steadily worse penalties every level (culminating in death if 6 levels are stacked).
** A warlock with the Tomb of Levistus invocation can encase their body in ice in response to taking damage -- they gain temporary hitpoints that help absorb the damage but become WeakToFire and incapable of moving or acting until the ice melts at the end of their next turn.
** ''Tenser's transformation'' is a spell that allows a caster to temporarily become an excellent fighter but prevents them from casting spells while it's active. They also need to save against exhaustion at the end of the spell.
** In the 2nd Edition, there are two potions (Red and Violet) that can set one stat of yours to 25 (the maximum allowed in the game mechanics at the time) while putting two others at 3. Both are found in ''VideoGame/BaldursGate'' and ''VideoGame/IcewindDale''.
** From 3rd Edition, the "Reserve of Strength" feat allows a spellcaster to boost his caster level, and push the level cap on a spell effect, but in exchange for being stunned for 1-3 rounds, depending on the importance of the boost. If the character is immune to stunning, the spell becomes instead CastFromHitPoints.

*** Spread Shot transforms the Adamant Rail into a ShortRangedShotgun - it does more damage than the base form and can hit multiple enemies with a cone of fire, but loses some maximum range and ammo capacity.

* ''VideoGame/Fallout4'': On [[HarderThanHard Survival]] difficulty, Chems operate this way: They'll still confer their intended status buffs, but almost all of them wreak havoc on the player's survival needs, which in turn can cause debuffs to [=S.P.E.C.I.A.L.=] stats if not treated. Even basic fixers like [=RadX=] and [=RadAway=] aren't immune to this; the latter having the unique effect of making you more vulnerable to Illness for a while if you pop one.

* ''VideoGame/Fallout4'': In the NintendoHard Survival Mode, Chems operate this way: They'll still confer their intended status buffs, but almost all of them wreak havoc on the player's survival needs, which in turn can cause debuffs to [=S.P.E.C.I.A.L.=] stats if not treated. Even basic fixers like [=RadX=] and [=RadAway=] aren't immune to this; the latter having the unique effect of making you more vulnerable to Illness for a while if you pop one.

** The "Ghostly" buff, given by the move "Haunt" makes a monster impervious to almost all attacks while it is active. However, once it runs out, it's an instant KO on the monster that was previously benefitting from the effect.

* ''VideoGame/MightAndMagic'' ''VI-VIII'' has Haste spell, which reduces recovery time of party members. However, once it ends it incurs Weakness to its target, and the spell has not that long duration even for (grand)master casters either.

* ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaOrderOfEcclesia'': Dominus Agony is a Back Glyph skill that raises all your stats by 66 when activated, but in exchange, drains 66 HP per second.

* ''VideoGame/TheElderScrolls'':