Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Order 66(6) 01-07-06, 12:58 AM	It has been well known in my group that after this current campaign we will be following it up with a campaign with the heroes being the offspring of our current heroes. In that time I have been considering a plethora of different angles for my current characters kids, I want them to be very inventive characters that are atypical personalities (there are two kids, and I'm going to have the party pick which one they want). Lately I have been considering the possibility of the girl being schitzophrenic. I want to treat the condition very seriously though, not in an over the top or comedic fashion. I'm actually a psychology major, so I think I can pull it off. Obviously, it would have to be a relatively mild form for her to be functional, but I thought the idea of her having these secret thoughts and experiences that she can't explain (and would probably result in her being branded as possessed or a demon in tradional D&D settings) would be really good and serve to build her up as a tragic or misunderstood hero with a dour personality that is a result of this illness. But, I'm torn on whether or not this would actually be a good idea. Do any of you think it can be done? I can't stress enough that I want her mental illness to be something serious, no different from having cancer or something to that effect, so no rediculous parodies of "crazies". Also, is it reasonable to think that she could be an adventurer with this condition? I would think its feasible if the symptoms aren't too severe, just severe enough to cause occassional problems (like paranoid delusions that a party member is a traitor, but that don't result in physical violence) or occasional auditory/visual hallucinations. However, I could be wrong and I'm open to other opinions, especially if any of you have undertaken such a character.
JulesCARV 01-07-06, 01:04 AM	Maybe there's some sort of herbal or alchemical remedy she takes which keeps it mild, but she runs out or loses it far away from where it could be replenished, or has some sort of experience that makes her believe that she no longer needs it ("Pelor has healed me of my ailments! I no long need my remedy!"). Just a thought.
Shaggy_Shaggs 01-07-06, 09:28 AM	I think it's as possible and reasonable as seriously playing a character with an addiction, phobia, or any other malady that affects their view of or interaction with the world. Not playing it over the top could be a little too challenging for some players, but a psychology major should probably have enough understanding of the reality of it to render the character faithfully and realistically. I don't think playing a schizophrenic character is an inherently good or bad idea. It begs further questions. What are the DM's and players' thoughts on schizophrenia, in the real world and in-game? Who and what is this woman beyond her affliction? How much 'spotlight time' will be required to make visible the differences between her and any other dour hero?
Thubby 01-07-06, 01:38 PM	sounds cool, you should try giving each personality a different class, like her primary one could be (for sake of simplicity) a wizard, cool, calm, collective. but the other is a blood thirsty, savage, possibly male, barbarian. i did something like this where one of my characters was a puppeteer psionics hb (it was a wierd campagn) and "he" was attached to my fighter, use 1 hp total, and abilitie scores, but everthing else should be class dependant.
Omnirahk, half-Rahkshi 01-08-06, 08:53 AM	sounds cool, you should try giving each personality a different class, like her primary one could be (for sake of simplicity) a wizard, cool, calm, collective. but the other is a blood thirsty, savage, possibly male, barbarian. i did something like this where one of my characters was a puppeteer psionics hb (it was a wierd campagn) and "he" was attached to my fighter, use 1 hp total, and abilitie scores, but everthing else should be class dependant. Well actually, that's only one form schizophrenia can take. It doesn't always result in multiple personas. Some schizophrenics will at times freeze up like a statue, actually thinking they can't move. And there are still other possible results. Well, Order 66(6), I don't know what to say. I'll just agree with everyone that it depends on how well you can do it. But answer this question: How aware of the illness is your character? Does she realize it is a problem, or does she deal with it, almost ignorant of just how much a hindrance it is? How does SHE feel about her schizophrenia?
aleshandre 01-08-06, 10:47 AM	I'd take a lesson from "A Beautiful Mind". Basically, it's one of her schitzophrenic manifestations that encourages her to adventure. Occasionally, she'll be seen talking quietly to nobody - nothing over the top, something that could be overlooked as simply talking to herself. On rare occasions, she has a loud arguement with a person who really isn't there. It may seem funny to most of the party at first, but when they realize that she actually thinks that there's another party member, they'll know that she has a problem. Like when one of them is dangling from a broken fragment of a rope-bridge and she keeps telling them that "Rogen" is coming with some rope, but none of them has even met anyone named Rogen and they are more than a week's travel from the nearest villiage. It won't be so funny when their life is directly threatened by her break from reality. I wouldn't suggest her being violently schitzophrenic, because that would render her unplayable as a PC. A relatively mild form would be playable though.
Order 66(6) 01-08-06, 02:34 PM	Well actually, that's only one form schizophrenia can take. It doesn't always result in multiple personas. Some schizophrenics will at times freeze up like a statue, actually thinking they can't move. And there are still other possible results. Well, Order 66(6), I don't know what to say. I'll just agree with everyone that it depends on how well you can do it. But answer this question: How aware of the illness is your character? Does she realize it is a problem, or does she deal with it, almost ignorant of just how much a hindrance it is? How does SHE feel about her schizophrenia? Actually, this illness has nothing to do with multiple personalities (now known as Dissociative Identity Disorder). DID and schitzophrenia are completely sepparate disorders. As for how she feels about it, it's something she's aware of, and she does think its something that most people do not experience. But like many schitzophrenics, she doesn't have the necessary self control to rise above the delusions and hallucinations and believe that they are only figments of her mind. To her, they are something scary and probably real, but only she can see/hear them. She's ashamed of this fact and afraid of what others will think, I mean, knowledge about mental disorders and how to effectively deal with them is simply non-existant at this time. Also, aleshandre, she definately won't be violent. But will likely harbor paranoid delusions about certain party members that cause her to be unduly suspicious, maybe even sharing these suspicions with other party members she trusts. Thanks for all the input! It's something I'm going to have to keep thinking about, and I still have lots of time to do it. My other problem though that I haven't mentioned is that...believe it or not....I want this character to be lawful neutral. How I'm going to accomplish that feat, I have no idea... :embarrass
Shaggy_Shaggs 01-08-06, 02:47 PM	Lawful Neutral... hmmm. Perhaps she is simply lives her life in as ordered, disciplined, and logical a manner as possible, in an attempt to differentiate delusion from fantasy via noticing breaks in an otherwise rigid routine? I have a character kind of like that. He has this curse that causes horrible things to happen to anyone he gets close to (long story, but he did bring it on himself). He's also a very passionate individual and falls for certain types of women very hard and very easily. Once he realized all the freak accidents and disasters were his fault, the guilt made him go just a little bit crazy. He's become totally withdrawn, very rigid and disciplined and quiet, but prone to extreme outbursts when the pressure overwhelms him. Paradoxically the harder he tries to restrain himself, the worse the outbursts get. But, most of the time he's very much a LN character. (He's quite similar to a maenad actually, which is strange because I created him several years before I ever heard of maenads, and the resemblance is somewhat eerie.)
Morka 01-08-06, 08:23 PM	In this thread (http://boards1.wizards.com/showthread.php?t=565501), someone explain he is playing a gestalt fighter/psywarrior who convinced himself he has no magical or psionic power, and that the powers he uses to heal or buff himself are just the result of his great constitution (he's a dwarf) or his training. Now the player's problem was as he level up, his powers are more and more flashy, and he can no longer deny he has any power. I suggested him to think he is schizophrenic. It could be a solution for your character, perhaps could you play a psywarrior who doesn't know she has any special power? Here is a good example of a character with mental disorder: Don Quichotte. You know, this knight who was fighting windmills, because he was taking them for dragons? Well, I'm not sure it's a good example since you don't want her to be violent, and Don Quichotte seems more chaotic than lawful. But taking normal things for monsters (the barrel... it is a fiendish armadillo!) is still a good quirk for a schizophrenic character. If you want to play her more lawful, you could have her tell a friend there is a monster just there...