Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Stryffe 01-08-07, 11:45 AM	I'm taking up the DM position for the first time in a few years. I'm excited about my story, as well as the character choices the players have made. One of the more interesting choices was a woman playing a Gnome Wizard, here's the twist, the character, not the player, has Tourette syndrome, the condition where people either make eratic movements or shout out words from time to time. I'm all for interesting traits, and I'm of the belief that, "If You want it? You got it, and ALL that goes with it." In the case of a wizard who will be moving her hands and speaking incantations....one could see where a condition that can disrupt both of these would be a problem. Here's where I need some thoughts. Should I require a concentration roll of some DC level (Which I'm leaning toward), or should I have some other kind of random roll to see if Tourette's strikes. And should it strike, what are the concequences? If I'm nice I guess the spell should just fail. If I wanted to be mean I could always have it occur with disasterous possibilities, I'm kind looking forward to her attempting polymorph one day.:devil: Anyone had this trait in a party before? Just looking for a few more minds on this.
Oblix 01-08-07, 11:57 AM	Aside for fluff, I don't really see a positive side to her chosen trait. It'll make her RP more interesting, but with absolutely no benefit to her. I'd imagine Somatic spells would be nearly impossible depending on the severity of the Tourettes, and the spoken side as well. Perhaps as a positive spin on having difficulties with the somatic side, she is given silent spell through years of training casting spells without speaking? Or vise versa? I'd imagine Concentration would take a hit, bluff, diplomacy, possibly even as severe as her charisma modifier. All depending on the severity, I couldn't imagine she'd be a very charismatic person walking around shouting expletives.
Aberlonian 01-08-07, 02:04 PM	I'd give her a -2 penalty to diplomacy and move silently. I wouldn't make it interfere with her spellcasting, presumably she's learned to overcome her problem and it's just too stiff a penalty for something that really doesn't benefit in any way, other than some interesting RP situations.
Roflwolf 01-08-07, 02:56 PM	Aside for fluff, I don't really see a positive side to her chosen trait. It'll make her RP more interesting, but with absolutely no benefit to her. Isn't that what Character Traits are for? To make role-playing more interesting? ;D I'd give her a -2 penalty to diplomacy and move silently. I wouldn't make it interfere with her spellcasting, presumably she's learned to overcome her problem and it's just too stiff a penalty for something that really doesn't benefit in any way, other than some interesting RP situations. I agree with Aber. Unless your player wants the difficulty of having to roll a concentration check every time she goes to cast spells, then I can see using that. Otherwise, just make a penalty to certain checks. As a side note, I'd find it incredibly interesting to see how NPCs would react. In light of that, I think the diplomacy penalty should be based on the NPC. I can see someone feeling more empathetic or sympathetic towards the wizard, too.
High Octane 01-08-07, 04:20 PM	here's the twist, the character, not the player, has Tourette syndrome, The novelty will wear off and the player will want to switch characters. Dont bother putting much thought into it.
Penchant_Conjurer 01-08-07, 06:09 PM	This sounds like a Flaw. In the Unearthed Arcana each flaw gives you one free feat. Give her a feat and a 5% spell failure on any somatic or verbal spell. Eventually she can take ranks in Autohypnosis to avoid the effects for a combat as long as she takes a standard action at the beginning of the combat to focus her self. (Hypnosis does calm Touretts for a while)
Regular_K 01-08-07, 06:20 PM	I'd kill myself too if my last name were... SPOONS! Sorry... I couldn't resist.
DarkLiChNeaZur 01-08-07, 06:34 PM	have a PLAYER who has it, awsome kid anyway, the concentration thing sounds good as well as with diplomacy anything involving talking or idle movement, lock pick, disable device, the polymorph bit HAHAHAHA can someone say umber-gnome