Post/Author/DateTime	Post
jukar 08-20-05, 07:42 PM	I'm not feeling particularly verbose, so I'll simply state my question. The topic came up last night- what would it be like to play an autistic character? How would one integrate something like that into gameplay? Any ideas?
Solaris 08-20-05, 08:31 PM	"Eighty two, eighty two, eighty two." "Eighty two what?" "Kobolds." "There's a lot more than eighty two kobolds, Ray." "Two hundred forty six total..."
jukar 08-21-05, 12:11 AM	"Eighty two, eighty two, eighty two." "Eighty two what?" "Kobolds." "There's a lot more than eighty two kobolds, Ray." "Two hundred forty six total..." Yeah, I'm aware of how one would ACT (I work with handicapped individuals, and one of my clients is autistic). What I wanted to know was how one would translate that into D&D terms. I was thinking along the lines of high INT, low CHA, since autism tends to most critically effect the communication skills and ability to relate to others.
Ringmereth 08-21-05, 01:14 AM	While I'm no expert (though a good friend of mine has a very autistic brother), I'd say that lowering Charisma a lot, and possibly wisdom, while having a higher-than-average Int. Correct me if I'm wrong, but doesn't it also impair coordination, which would mean a lower dex?
jukar 08-21-05, 01:22 AM	While I'm no expert (though a good friend of mine has a very autistic brother), I'd say that lowering Charisma a lot, and possibly wisdom, while having a higher-than-average Int. Correct me if I'm wrong, but doesn't it also impair coordination, which would mean a lower dex? Well, in my experience it has, but I'm not sure to what extent because I've seen varying examples, so it's hard to say if it's just an individual thing or not.
Ringmereth 08-21-05, 01:56 AM	Well, in my experience it has, but I'm not sure to what extent because I've seen varying examples, so it's hard to say if it's just an individual thing or not. Yeah, there's a big variance between different cases; some people with it can lead fairly normal lives; some effectively can't communicate at all. I'm assuming that you'd be playing something much closer to the former than the latter.
Solaris 08-21-05, 02:55 AM	Yeah, I'm aware of how one would ACT (I work with handicapped individuals, and one of my clients is autistic). What I wanted to know was how one would translate that into D&D terms. I guess that was too obscure (http://imdb.com/title/tt0095953/).
mrshupizdumaterinu 08-21-05, 05:12 AM	I guess that was too obscure (http://imdb.com/title/tt0095953/). ... That was classic.
loaba 08-21-05, 05:17 AM	First, answer this question. Is this for an NPC that you (as a DM) are planning? If the answer is no, and this concerns a PC, then I can think of nothing nice to say at all. Why in the hell would someone with autism be allowed to undertake the role of an adventurer? The answer is of course that they would not.
Santrilla 08-21-05, 07:07 AM	First, answer this question. Is this for an NPC that you (as a DM) are planning? If the answer is no, and this concerns a PC, then I can think of nothing nice to say at all. Why in the hell would someone with autism be allowed to undertake the role of an adventurer? The answer is of course that they would not. "Allowed"? What, adventurers have to be tested and certificated now? There's absolutely nothing stopping someone with Autism (or Aspergers, or Downs syndrome, or a debilitating physical disability, or anything else) from going out and making something of themselves.
Mr. Leet 08-21-05, 09:01 AM	First, answer this question. Is this for an NPC that you (as a DM) are planning? If the answer is no, and this concerns a PC, then I can think of nothing nice to say at all. Why in the hell would someone with autism be allowed to undertake the role of an adventurer? The answer is of course that they would not. I agree with Santrilla on this one, and I'd like to add that this is fantasy, and anything can happen, which is the very heart of the game.
CryoSilver 08-21-05, 09:53 AM	I agree; I can see an autistic character being a very powerful mage or savant of some kind: probably not much of a fighter, but with his high INT and insight, I thinkhe could have the potential to be a very interesting wizard.
Solaris 08-21-05, 10:57 AM	The following is from Wikipedia, and might provide a good framework for game effects: A total of six (or more) items from (1), (2), and (3), with at least two from (1), and one each from (2) and (3): 1. qualitative impairment in social interaction, as manifested by at least two of the following: 1. marked impairment in the use of multiple nonverbal behaviors such as eye-to-eye gaze, facial expression, body postures, and gestures to regulate social interaction 2. failure to develop peer relationships appropriate to developmental level 3. a lack of spontaneous seeking to share enjoyment, interests, or achievements with other people (e.g., by a lack of showing, bringing, or pointing out objects of interest) 4. lack of social or emotional reciprocity 2. qualitative impairments in communication as manifested by at least one of the following: 1. delay in, or total lack of, the development of spoken language (not accompanied by an attempt to compensate through alternative modes of communication such as gesture or mime) 2. in individuals with adequate speech, marked impairment in the ability to initiate or sustain a conversation with others 3. stereotyped and repetitive use of language or idiosyncratic language 4. lack of varied, spontaneous make-believe play or social imitative play appropriate to developmental level 3. restricted repetitive and stereotyped patterns of behavior, interests, and activities, as manifested by at least one of the following: 1. encompassing preoccupation with one or more stereotyped and restricted patterns of interest that is abnormal either in intensity or focus 2. apparently inflexible adherence to specific, nonfunctional routines or rituals 3. stereotyped and repetitive motor mannerisms (e.g., hand or finger flapping or twisting, or complex whole-body movements) 4. persistent preoccupation with parts of objects So you could just assign game penalties, bonuses, etc. to each of the above, and then let an autistic character choose 1d6+6 of them with at least two from (1) and at least one from each of (2) and (3). For example, the first category could include penalties to charisma, leadership, spot checks, etc.; the second category could include limitations to the number of languages known, further penalties to charisma, etc.; and the third category could include bonuses to knowledge skills, penalties to somatic spell casting, penalties to dexterity, etc.
jukar 08-21-05, 11:08 AM	I guess that was too obscure (http://imdb.com/title/tt0095953/). No, I got it. I just took the comment as an example of how to roleplay an autistic character.
jukar 08-21-05, 11:10 AM	First, answer this question. Is this for an NPC that you (as a DM) are planning? If the answer is no, and this concerns a PC, then I can think of nothing nice to say at all. Why in the hell would someone with autism be allowed to undertake the role of an adventurer? The answer is of course that they would not. Actually, it is for a PC, and frankly I don't care what your opinion is on the topic. I didn't ask if I should allow it, I asked how one would mechanically integrate a character with those qualities.
jukar 08-21-05, 11:15 AM	"Allowed"? What, adventurers have to be tested and certificated now? There's absolutely nothing stopping someone with Autism (or Aspergers, or Downs syndrome, or a debilitating physical disability, or anything else) from going out and making something of themselves. Thank you, Santrilla. Once again, you're a voice of reason. The reason it came up is that my brother has Aspergers and was wondering how it would be to play character that like himself. While we were growing up, we had made up a story where one of the characters (which he based off of himself) was mildly autistic, but an incredibly powerful mage (we're talking like, 8 WIS and 8 CHA, but like, 22 INT). I also find it funny that someone would get offended at the notion of playing an autistic or mentally challenged character, but no one seems to care when some munchkin wants to play a INT 6 fighter (which, if you are following the INT x 10= IQ formula, has an IQ of 60, and is moderately mentally retarded.)
jukar 08-21-05, 11:16 AM	I agree; I can see an autistic character being a very powerful mage or savant of some kind: probably not much of a fighter, but with his high INT and insight, I thinkhe could have the potential to be a very interesting wizard. That was sort of where I was going with it, too.
nyysjan 08-21-05, 11:16 AM	Personally i think that somebody with autism (mild) or aspergers might go totally unnoticed in an adventuring group. :P Someone with severe autism might have problems, but compared to psychos you see in the parties (just read some of the threads asking help to murder your own party members), mere autism doesn't seem that bad :D
loaba 08-21-05, 01:03 PM	I would like to apologize for my comments - that was uneccesary. Also, upon further thought, and looking at this thread, could you not simply place your high stat in Int (say 17) and your low stat in Cha (say 9) and rationalize that as a light form of autism?
jukar 08-21-05, 01:10 PM	I would like to apologize for my comments - that was uneccesary. Also, upon further thought, and looking at this thread, could you not simply place your high stat in Int (say 17) and your low stat in Cha (say 9) and rationalize that as a light form of autism? Yeah, that was what I was thinking of doing.
Edymnion 08-21-05, 02:33 PM	Mechanically speaking, for if you want to do it by rolling and using modifiers, I'd say a -4 to Charisma, +2 to Intelligence. Means your "average" autistic person in game stats would have a Charisma of 6, which is pretty danged low. High functioning autistics would be those who naturally had a higher Charisma score to begin with, while the severe cases are those where they lowed roll to begin with. I would also halve their ranks for determining their ability to use Speak Language as a skill (so it would take 2 ranks for an autistic bard to learn a new language, and 4 ranks for an autistic fighter to learn a new language). I've known several autistic kids (and people), and while they can be great people, its true that if you don't know whats going on, they can be highly unsociable. Heck, one of our best customers at the shop (we own a costume store) may be a very high functioning autistic. Keeps his head down, doesn't talk much, has a bit of "the look", but is intelligent and quite capable of holding his own end of a conversation, just never starts one on his own.
Orayn, Elvish Blademaster 08-21-05, 06:59 PM	Assuming the character was autistic, yet very functional, make them as visual as possible, as is often the case with autism. Rather than describing a scene of a great battle, have the character grab a piece of chalk and sketch it all over the face of a cliff. Have them picture exactly where everyone will be in the upcoming fight. Stuff like that.
anarco_rata 08-21-05, 10:32 PM	I agree with someone before me. Autist are humans, or elves, or dwarves, they're not another race so they shouldn't get extra penaltyes. Every character with any score bellow 8 is handicaped. So a character tih 7 Wis and 6 CHA is autistic, that's all. I'll say to build the character under pint buy, taking points from wis and cha and adding them to INT.
Thorak 08-21-05, 10:37 PM	I would like to apologize for my comments - that was uneccesary. Also, upon further thought, and looking at this thread, could you not simply place your high stat in Int (say 17) and your low stat in Cha (say 9) and rationalize that as a light form of autism? 9 is low-average Charisma. If you're looking for an autistic, you're looking at closer to a 3-5 Charisma. If you're talking about the classic Rain Man autism, at least. If you're just talking about someone with issues that resemble autism slightly, then a 6-8 would be okay.
jukar 08-21-05, 10:42 PM	9 is low-average Charisma. If you're looking for an autistic, you're looking at closer to a 3-5 Charisma. If you're talking about the classic Rain Man autism, at least. If you're just talking about someone with issues that resemble autism slightly, then a 6-8 would be okay. Eh, there are varying degrees. If 3-5 is Rainman, then 6 or above could not simply be considered an "issue that resembles autism". 9 could be an "issue that resemble autism" (although probably more like Asperger's Syndrome), although I recoil at the notion that something like autism could be compared to something as comparitively trivial as a personal issue.
Manyfist 08-21-05, 11:40 PM	Having Cerebral Palsy (I can walk, I just have really Poor balance), I always put a Mild case of it as this. -Can't take the Run feat, and instead of running at X4 normal Base speed, it's X3 Base speed when running with no armor, and X2 with Armor. - -2 Dex, that's a -1 on all Dex based skills. - +2 Int, Higher than avg. IQ. A severe case of CP I wouldn't allow in the game since you must have an artifical way of moving about. :D Austism... I would put -4 Cha, and -4 Wis, +4 Int, and must select what ever they're good at, and may gain +1 unnamed bonus to that Skill/lvl. :D Then take a -5 on everything else.
Thorak 08-22-05, 01:23 AM	Eh, there are varying degrees. If 3-5 is Rainman, then 6 or above could not simply be considered an "issue that resembles autism". 9 could be an "issue that resemble autism" (although probably more like Asperger's Syndrome), although I recoil at the notion that something like autism could be compared to something as comparitively trivial as a personal issue. I know there are varying degrees. My point was that a fairly normal level of functioning is represented by 8 or so. It's below average, but not enough that you'll notice it all the time. That's what I meant by issues that resemble autism; the geek who is reclusive and ignores the real world as he plays video games, for example. Not actual autism, which would be lower. And, having known someone with asperger's, there is no way they're a 9. if they're a 9, they have such a light version of Asperger's that it's pretty much unnoticeable. Normal range is 10-11. One below that will be below average, that's it. It's when you get to the 3-6 range that you're really starting to talk about disability.
Sinaz 08-22-05, 03:58 PM	OMG! Has anyone ever read HORD? (published Heavy Metal Magazine, November - Vol. 18 No. 5, 1994) - JD Morovan and illustrated by Jab Jab Whamo It is a fantasy graphic novel about a VR MMORPG waay in the future. This hacker changes the game so he can mate with an NPC. Well... in this game, characters are generated based on like... alpha waves and such... the idea that the computer analyzes what character you want to be and generates it. So mating with an NPC creates a character based on human brainwaves and the games AI, which has access to the "engine" of the game. So this hybrid offspring can kill people for real... popping thier heads and such. So, this game shuts down because the company is suddenly liable for the deaths of players. Years later, radical extremists are making terrorist attacks in the real world and crediting this fictional AI from the long shut down game. It turns out that someone found a working terminal and jacked into the game... the now mature hybrid NPC was taking control of people and sort of possessing them. So, the company needs to go in to the game and stop this guy. So the catch is, they need players, that in real life have disabilities that the NPC can't make use of. The strange side-effect is that people with disabilities, having a more powerful mental drive to be free of these disibilities end up being generated as super-human PCs in the game. So, this quadrapeligic woman, once jacked into the game, is like the human torch, igniting herself and flying. OTher people with atrophied muscles are beastly golem like characters. All very cool. This thread just reminded me of it. You can buy back issues of Heavy Metal for just a little over cover price if you're interested in tracking the comic down.
Hairfoot 08-23-05, 02:05 AM	Autism would make for great geometer characters.
Kalanth 08-23-05, 02:20 AM	This is as outstanding of an idea as the Blind Archer and handless swordsmen. I can't think of any reason why you would consider this type of character. With that out of the way, we have the idea of stats down as to where we want things. I think a bonus to Int of maybe 4 and a negative to Cha and Dex would apply. For Dex, it would be between 2 - 4, and could randomly be determined on a 50/50 roll, and Cha I see at least a 4, maybe 6 would be better. I would also limit the skill choices for the PC. I don't work with them, but don't most Autistic people excell in one particular area or another and not multiple things? This could translate into taking a lot of skills in related fields, say survival and Knowledge of Planes, Dungeonerring, Nature, etc. Get a few Skill focus Feats in there as well, and just continue to focus on those areas alone, not looking anywhere else. Definetly not the kind of guy I would make a rogue, or any melee character for that fact, unless you went with Autistic with split personalities and became a Barbarian (when he rages, thats the other personality coming out). The character would be a great Wizard, I would rather see them as a Sorcerer, but with the lowered Cha and the Cha based class, not a good combo. All in all, thats all I can really think of, and don't mind my rant, I am as much entitled to be annoyed by the bad character concept as anyone else. At least I tried to help too. :)
jukar 08-23-05, 09:38 AM	This is as outstanding of an idea as the Blind Archer and handless swordsmen. I can't think of any reason why you would consider this type of character. With that out of the way, we have the idea of stats down as to where we want things. I think a bonus to Int of maybe 4 and a negative to Cha and Dex would apply. For Dex, it would be between 2 - 4, and could randomly be determined on a 50/50 roll, and Cha I see at least a 4, maybe 6 would be better. I would also limit the skill choices for the PC. I don't work with them, but don't most Autistic people excell in one particular area or another and not multiple things? This could translate into taking a lot of skills in related fields, say survival and Knowledge of Planes, Dungeonerring, Nature, etc. Get a few Skill focus Feats in there as well, and just continue to focus on those areas alone, not looking anywhere else. Definetly not the kind of guy I would make a rogue, or any melee character for that fact, unless you went with Autistic with split personalities and became a Barbarian (when he rages, thats the other personality coming out). The character would be a great Wizard, I would rather see them as a Sorcerer, but with the lowered Cha and the Cha based class, not a good combo. All in all, thats all I can really think of, and don't mind my rant, I am as much entitled to be annoyed by the bad character concept as anyone else. At least I tried to help too. :) :ahem: Please, it's no worse of a character concept than any entirely generic, throw-away racial stereotype ("hey guys, I'm going to play a gnome illusionist... and get this- HE IS WACKY AND SILLY AND ZANY, OH MY! How original!") or half-bred-to-all-hell CO-board monstrosity. If you are going to give advice, don't wrap it up in your own personal opinions and tastes, thank you. If I had any concerns about allowing it or about the validity of the concept, don't you think I would have addressed it at some point? I think I'm pretty happy with him just putting a 6 into CHA, and then putting extra points into INT. As for the DEX, I've worked with a broad range of autistic individuals, and although there has been a common trait of overall clumsiness, I wouldn't say any of them were (as a defining quality) particularly troubled in areas of reflexes or mobility. I might rule that he won't be able to play a total DEX monkey, which considering the class choice, will leave for a fairly vulnerable character with a most likely bad Ref save- which one would expect from someone who isn't exactly living in the same world as the rest of the party. 2-4 DEX would be too crippling and unrealistic- for God's sake, he's autistic, not made of lead! So long as his Dex score stays below 12 or so, I think it would be reasonable. Limiting skills is definitely a good idea, though. The player in question is very reasonable, and would roleplay any penalty imposed very well, so it wouldn't really be an issue. Furthermore, having seen said player play a spellcaster before, I am fairly sure he won't care, as he never really uses skills outside of Spellcraft and a handful of select knowledge skills. It is in no way anything akin to a blind archer or handless swordsman. Maybe if he wanted to play a autistic BARD, maybe then it would be comparable. But the basic idea was a wizard, and last time I checked, a person didn't need to be a social butterfly to spend their time with their nose in ancient tomes and trying to understand the arcane secrets of the universe. I think a lot of people here are confusing autism with idiot savant syndrome, DID, or obsessive compulsive disorder, or just mental retardation. Autism is merely a communication disorder with varying degrees of severity. You CAN be mildly autistic (which is the character concept here). It's just funny that so many people can justify a fighter having 6 CHA and never giving a reason for it aside from wanting to dump the points saved that way into STR, but if a character wants low CHA and wants to have a reason for it, suddenly we're treading into controversial areas. :rolleyes: Also, as a parting thought here, I am loving the idea above about an autistic geometer.
Aliquid 08-23-05, 11:54 AM	I think a lot of people here are confusing autism with idiot savant syndrome, DID, or obsessive compulsive disorder, or just mental retardation. Autism is merely a communication disorder with varying degrees of severity. You CAN be mildly autistic (which is the character concept here). It's just funny that so many people can justify a fighter having 6 CHA and never giving a reason for it aside from wanting to dump the points saved that way into STR, but if a character wants low CHA and wants to have a reason for it, suddenly we're treading into controversial areas. :rolleyes: Personally, I find some of the comments on this thread to be offensive. To say that it is ridiculous to play a character of this type, or to consider this type of “handicap” as being equivalent to a “handless swordsman” is ignorant, bigoted, and insulting towards any person who lives with a mental challenge. I hope that nobody applies this mentality towards handicapped people in the real world. I hope people don’t think that someone with Autism in the real world shouldn’t be allowed to be a productive member of society. I thought we had evolved beyond that kind of thinking. To make a statement about Autism specifically, I have to raise the subject of Dr. Temple Grandin. Dr. Grandin has a Ph.D in Animal Science (University of Illinois). She teaches courses on livestock behaviour and facility design at Colorado State University and consults with the livestock industry on facility design, livestock handling, and animal welfare. She is a highly respected and highly educated member of the industry, she has authored over 300 articles in both scientific journals and livestock periodicals, she has been interviewed on multiple national television shows….. etc. And she is Autistic.
jukar 08-23-05, 12:24 PM	Personally, I find some of the comments on this thread to be offensive. To say that it is ridiculous to play a character of this type, or to consider this type of “handicap” as being equivalent to a “handless swordsman” is ignorant, bigoted, and insulting towards any person who lives with a mental challenge. I hope that nobody applies this mentality towards handicapped people in the real world. I hope people don’t think that someone with Autism in the real world shouldn’t be allowed to be a productive member of society. I thought we had evolved beyond that kind of thinking. To make a statement about Autism specifically, I have to raise the subject of Dr. Temple Grandin. Dr. Grandin has a Ph.D in Animal Science (University of Illinois). She teaches courses on livestock behaviour and facility design at Colorado State University and consults with the livestock industry on facility design, livestock handling, and animal welfare. She is a highly respected and highly educated member of the industry, she has authored over 300 articles in both scientific journals and livestock periodicals, she has been interviewed on multiple national television shows….. etc. And she is Autistic. Yeah, that's my feeling, as well. As someone who works directly with mentally disabled individuals and as a handicapped rights advocate, some of these comments have made me a little touchy, personally. Dr. Grandin is a perfect example here, and that is the sort of individual we were discussing- a brilliant and capable character who just happens to be autistic. The character concept didn't arise from "just needing to be different for differences sake", it's not trying to upstage the others PCs by making a character who clearly needs more attention to DM than the rest (for the record, I tend to encourage PCs of unnecessary importance anyway, mundane adventuring tends to leave a sour taste in my mouth), it's not an attempt to gain excessive advantages, and it's not making light of a condition just for the sake of an interesting backstory. It arose from wanting to create a genuinely interesting character. But apparently that's a ludicrous notion, and too far-fetched for a game populated with dragons and sorcery. :rolleyes:
anarco_rata 08-23-05, 12:27 PM	you see, aliquid, they seem offensive to you because the people that write them wrote without really thinking about it, they probably don't really know what an autistic person is or does, IMO they think "autistic" means so dumb you're in a coma, or something like that, while it is completely off. As someone before me said: is it ok to play a INT6 fighter without saying why he's so dumb"? well, for me, a character with CHA 6 is autistic. I also played my INT5 fighter as really, really dumb, and i could barelly understand instructions.
High Octane 08-23-05, 12:38 PM	An autistic character would have enormous bonuses to certain things and huge penalties to just about everything else. He may have to make checks to open doors or remember his friends names, but could also recall every single fact about the arcane (read: Excessive bonus on Knowledge: Arcana). That is the extreme of course.
mathogre 08-23-05, 01:43 PM	Greetings! Let me dispell a few things. I have Asperger's. I just began playing D&D a few months ago. I'm almost 48 years old. I'm in Mensa, yes, that Mensa; I write short stories for the science fiction and fantasy special interest group. I'm a shape shifter. I'm married and have a daughter; our other family member is a guinea pig. I work in air traffic control research, designing tools to make air travel faster and safer (re: reduced delays, fewer potential aircraft interactions). Communicating with the outside world is difficult at best; objective issues are fairly easy to discuss, but politics and rhetoric are lost to me. I get along pretty well with people, but it is a considerable effort to do so. That having been said, an Asperger's Syndrome character would be an interesting challenge. Here are a few thoughts which I'll state mostly in non-D&D terms as I've not yet absorbed enough of D&D. (I'm working on it. ;) ) He could be a berserker, a great one in battle. He could go in when needed and just clean house. He'd be less subject to fear of any kind, once engaged. She could be a "listener". I seem to recall from Heinlein's book "Stranger in a Strange Land" a class of characters who did what amounted to forensic listening. Whatever they witnessed in an official listening capacity would be considered acceptable evidence in a court. He could not be a negotiator. He'd be poor at that. It isn't that he couldn't express ideas; he just wouldn't pick up on deception. She's make a great rogue. Her life is one of solitude anyway, and she's the kind who would be more at home trying to open locks and disable traps. "Things" are more her kin. As her motivations are less people oriented, an NC alignment would be natural. Those are just a few ideas.
Sinaz 08-23-05, 01:51 PM	Greetings! Let me dispell a few things. I have Asperger's. I just began playing D&D a few months ago. I'm almost 48 years old. I'm in Mensa, yes, that Mensa; I write short stories for the science fiction and fantasy special interest group. I'm a shape shifter. I'm married and have a daughter; our other family member is a guinea pig. I work in air traffic control research, designing tools to make air travel faster and safer (re: reduced delays, fewer potential aircraft interactions). Communicating with the outside world is difficult at best; objective issues are fairly easy to discuss, but politics and rhetoric are lost to me. I get along pretty well with people, but it is a considerable effort to do so. :confused: wait... did I read that right... You say you're a shape-shifter?? Literally or figuratively? lol. I'm kind of a shape shifter too... in the course of a few months I can bloat my body out with fat and then reduce its size back to normal... ;-)
mathogre 08-23-05, 02:03 PM	:confused: wait... did I read that right... You say you're a shape-shifter?? Literally or figuratively? lol. I'm kind of a shape shifter too... in the course of a few months I can bloat my body out with fat and then reduce its size back to normal... ;-) Figuratively. ;) Mostly. ;) BUT - the thread is about autism.
nyysjan 08-23-05, 02:09 PM	Greetings! Let me dispell a few things. I have Asperger's. I just began playing D&D a few months ago. I'm almost 48 years old. I'm in Mensa, yes, that Mensa; I write short stories for the science fiction and fantasy special interest group. I'm a shape shifter. I'm married and have a daughter; our other family member is a guinea pig. I work in air traffic control research, designing tools to make air travel faster and safer (re: reduced delays, fewer potential aircraft interactions). Communicating with the outside world is difficult at best; objective issues are fairly easy to discuss, but politics and rhetoric are lost to me. I get along pretty well with people, but it is a considerable effort to do so. Cool Another asperger's I also have Asperger's, i don't get along with people. Apart from the people i roleplay with, i have almost no social interaction beyond my family.