Anyone every play a character with a mental disability? [Archive] - Wizards Community

Anyone every play a character with a mental disability? [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
Rika
08-15-07, 01:51 AM I just had a very fun idea to try and play a beguiler that has bi-polar disorder and a touch of schizophrenia. I'm thinking that on his manic days he'll be trying to cheer everyone up, using his spells to persuade foes and allies alike to be cheerful and have no doubts about the greatness of life. Then on the manic days it would be just the opposite, a struggle just not to commit suicide or kill the other players, thinking that an end to life for them is better than truding through life. I also thought it would be great if the beguiler tried to persuade or charm his halucinations. I know it's wasting spells, but I think if done in a comedic manner, it would be uplifting and not take away too much of the spotlight, or make my character too overpowered against NPCs or foes.

Does this sound interesting? Has anyone every tried anything like this? If so, how well did it go over? Did the other players get mad for this character hogging too much attention?
Shaggy_Shaggs
08-15-07, 02:01 AM I just had a very fun idea to try and play a beguiler that has bi-polar disorder and a touch of schizophrenia. I'm thinking that on his manic days he'll be trying to cheer everyone up, using his spells to persuade foes and allies alike to be cheerful and have no doubts about the greatness of life. Then on the manic days it would be just the opposite, a struggle just not to commit suicide or kill the other players, thinking that an end to life for them is better than truding through life. I also thought it would be great if the beguiler tried to persuade or charm his halucinations. I know it's wasting spells, but I think if done in a comedic manner, it would be uplifting and not take away too much of the spotlight, or make my character too overpowered against NPCs or foes.

Does this sound interesting? Has anyone every tried anything like this? If so, how well did it go over? Did the other players get mad for this character hogging too much attention?In my experience, when an individual uses any two of the three terms "comedic", "mental disability", and "kill the other players" in combination to express the same thought, that player lacks sufficient maturity to be playing with such subject matter. :twocents:
Rika
08-15-07, 02:07 AM In my experience, when an individual uses any two of the three terms "comedic", "mental disability", and "kill the other players" in combination to express the same thought, that player lacks sufficient maturity to be playing with such subject matter. :twocents:

Any subject, no matter how difficult, can be handle if done so with care and a touch of humor. I myself have been through some bad phases in my life. This is how I know my previous statement to be true. Friends of strength, compasion, and caring have seen me through. I feel that if I were to play this role to its truest form, that I would be hogging the spotlight, and make everyone else at the table depressed or uninterested in playing the game. However, as satire/farce, I think it can bring an interesting twist to the game, and the beguiler class I thought would be a fine choice.

I do appreciate your insight, rather, your concern that I would not do justice to something that is of importance in the world. However, in a fantsy gaming session, I thought it an intriguing idea.
DCAnderson
08-15-07, 02:10 AM Yah, you have to do some exceptionally good roleplaying to pull off a character with a mental disability and not make it dumb or annoying to the rest of the players.

My advice is don't use it an exscuse to do random stupid things.
Rika
08-15-07, 02:14 AM Yah, you have to do some exceptionally good roleplaying to pull off a character with a mental disability and not make it dumb or annoying to the rest of the players.

My advice is don't use it an exscuse to do random stupid things.

I never need an excuse to do stupid things. :D It comes naturally, and my group has plenty of their own interjections of stupidity. It's all in good fun and we understand that. The DM sets up situations of inane humor, because he himself is of that mold. I personally think the challenge would be rewarding. Also, I would be limiting my character, in wasting valuable spells comabting internal conflicts. Thus, I wouldn't be stealing the spotlight from any true melee comatant. Also, when it comes to manipulating the characters, it's rather random whether I would suceed or not. Again, I would limit this to the point where it does not hinder or annoy another player. One person's freedom ends when it oversteps and begins to intrude upon the freedom of another.
DCAnderson
08-15-07, 02:20 AM I dunno, I've seen players use things like "my character is insane" or even "my character is chaotic neutral" as some sort of license to act like a total asshat.

Tread lightly my friend, tread lightly.
Rika
08-15-07, 02:24 AM I dunno, I've seen players use things like "my character is insane" or even "my character is chaotic neutral" as some sort of license to act like a total asshat.

Tread lightly my friend, tread lightly.

This is the sort of thing I need to know though. I've never tried to play this sort of character. I'm a big fan of internal drama, with Neon Gensis being one of my all time favorite series. I could see where the potential for bigger harm than good can come from. That being said, I'm glad to have some feedback that these archetypes can cause big problems. As much fun as I see it being, I also see a very simple fix to this issue, in game. I go to the nearby Cleric temple and say, "Hey, remove this mental disease please. It's really a downer, and an upper at the same time, on myself and my companions. And this eight foot tall creepy amazon chick keeps following me around." I think that would work.

It's late and I must be up for work early. Goodnight DC. I'm always open to ideas and suggestions, also feedback on this being tried is greatly appreciated. Goodnight for now all.
Papa_duval
08-15-07, 07:32 AM Well

I suppose the first questions would have to be. 'How much do you actually know about bi-polar symptoms and schizophrenia?'

If you have personal experience (or are bi-polar or schizophrenic yourself) then I'd say you have a fairly good basis for roleplaying such issues, though why you'd want to I'm not sure.

If, however, you don't have direct experience, I'd suggest leaving the schizophrenia alone. Bi-polar (manic-depressive for those who don't know) can be fairly easy to portray, though if you were being honest in the roleplaying, none of the other players would know whats going through your mind, all they'd know is that sometimes you are hyper/cheerful/active and other times you are subdued/depressed/lethargic.

Unfortunately, schizophrenia is just a catch all category for a very wide variety of symptoms that are generally clumped together. For more information on possible symptoms, go here:
Early Signs of Schizophrenia (http://www.schizophrenia.com/earlysigns.htm).
Schizophrenics generally don't display all of those symptoms, but would generally display some, and someone who does display some of those symptoms may not be schizophrenic (its complicated to diagnose)

If you and your group are mature enough to deal with such mental issues, then give it a whirl. I would warn against doing this because you think it might be 'cool'. If your motivation is to challenge yourself, give it a whirl.
OravennasBrother
08-15-07, 01:07 PM Once in a 3d6 in order campaign I had a character with such low Int/Wisdom, that he got a seeing brain dog. It was fun for a couple of sessions, but then I let the character get killed saving the rest of the party so I could try a character with a clue.
Max_Graeves
08-15-07, 04:23 PM I once played a paranoid schizophrenic character who believed that his god spoke to him through his hedgehog familiar (he was a gnome sorceror)...I'd worked out the details with my dm ahead of time, and at random intervals the dm would send me messages (sometimes vague directions and sometimes just random gibberish). Occasional decisions of importance were made by rewording the decision into a yes/no question and rolling a die. It was fun for a few sessions, but it gets really hard to maintain that level of heavy rping over time.
trapspringer
08-15-07, 04:51 PM Schizophrenia doesn't really work as a condition to be RP'd. It is a catchall term, like Papa_duval. Some of the symptoms include remaining totally motionless in awkward positions for hours or days at a time, being unable to distinguish reality from your thoughts, and general failure to function. That doesn't sound really workable, huh? "Sorry guys, Sal is having an episode. He thinks if he moves anytime in the next four days a giant lizard will bite of his arm... I guess ya'll had better camp."

Multiple personality order =/= schizophrenia, if that's what you had in mind.
gorgeouswest
08-15-07, 07:36 PM You don't seem to know much of anything about either schizophrenia or bipolar disorder.

Most likely your character would end up as little more than a walking mockery: a hyper-exaggerated caricature based on your own misguided perceptions of a condition you completely fail to grasp. That's going to get old pretty fast for your fellow players.

And seriously, it's not all that original a concept.
nightside_samurai
08-15-07, 08:00 PM As a person with pretty bad Bi-Polar Disorder I feel I should say that (from my perspective) it's a bit insensitive to take such a serious and at times stigmatized issue and trivialize it in this manner.

It's one thing to make a serious character who has these issues and then roleplay it with real knowledge of the condition then it may be possible, but it seems like you're only doing it for ***** and giggles which is really unfortunate.

Do you know if anyone in your group has a condition like this? Do you know how they would feel if you made a joke of a serious medical condition? There's enough misconceptions about personality disorders without immature* people making jokes about it with the intention of amusing themselves over the suffering of others.

* I don't mean this as an insult but like it was mentioned before if you do this without any facts, or without an intention to portray it seriously, then that seems pretty immature to me.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Rika 08-15-07, 01:51 AM	I just had a very fun idea to try and play a beguiler that has bi-polar disorder and a touch of schizophrenia. I'm thinking that on his manic days he'll be trying to cheer everyone up, using his spells to persuade foes and allies alike to be cheerful and have no doubts about the greatness of life. Then on the manic days it would be just the opposite, a struggle just not to commit suicide or kill the other players, thinking that an end to life for them is better than truding through life. I also thought it would be great if the beguiler tried to persuade or charm his halucinations. I know it's wasting spells, but I think if done in a comedic manner, it would be uplifting and not take away too much of the spotlight, or make my character too overpowered against NPCs or foes. Does this sound interesting? Has anyone every tried anything like this? If so, how well did it go over? Did the other players get mad for this character hogging too much attention?
Shaggy_Shaggs 08-15-07, 02:01 AM	I just had a very fun idea to try and play a beguiler that has bi-polar disorder and a touch of schizophrenia. I'm thinking that on his manic days he'll be trying to cheer everyone up, using his spells to persuade foes and allies alike to be cheerful and have no doubts about the greatness of life. Then on the manic days it would be just the opposite, a struggle just not to commit suicide or kill the other players, thinking that an end to life for them is better than truding through life. I also thought it would be great if the beguiler tried to persuade or charm his halucinations. I know it's wasting spells, but I think if done in a comedic manner, it would be uplifting and not take away too much of the spotlight, or make my character too overpowered against NPCs or foes. Does this sound interesting? Has anyone every tried anything like this? If so, how well did it go over? Did the other players get mad for this character hogging too much attention?In my experience, when an individual uses any two of the three terms "comedic", "mental disability", and "kill the other players" in combination to express the same thought, that player lacks sufficient maturity to be playing with such subject matter. :twocents:
Rika 08-15-07, 02:07 AM	In my experience, when an individual uses any two of the three terms "comedic", "mental disability", and "kill the other players" in combination to express the same thought, that player lacks sufficient maturity to be playing with such subject matter. :twocents: Any subject, no matter how difficult, can be handle if done so with care and a touch of humor. I myself have been through some bad phases in my life. This is how I know my previous statement to be true. Friends of strength, compasion, and caring have seen me through. I feel that if I were to play this role to its truest form, that I would be hogging the spotlight, and make everyone else at the table depressed or uninterested in playing the game. However, as satire/farce, I think it can bring an interesting twist to the game, and the beguiler class I thought would be a fine choice. I do appreciate your insight, rather, your concern that I would not do justice to something that is of importance in the world. However, in a fantsy gaming session, I thought it an intriguing idea.
DCAnderson 08-15-07, 02:10 AM	Yah, you have to do some exceptionally good roleplaying to pull off a character with a mental disability and not make it dumb or annoying to the rest of the players. My advice is don't use it an exscuse to do random stupid things.
Rika 08-15-07, 02:14 AM	Yah, you have to do some exceptionally good roleplaying to pull off a character with a mental disability and not make it dumb or annoying to the rest of the players. My advice is don't use it an exscuse to do random stupid things. I never need an excuse to do stupid things. :D It comes naturally, and my group has plenty of their own interjections of stupidity. It's all in good fun and we understand that. The DM sets up situations of inane humor, because he himself is of that mold. I personally think the challenge would be rewarding. Also, I would be limiting my character, in wasting valuable spells comabting internal conflicts. Thus, I wouldn't be stealing the spotlight from any true melee comatant. Also, when it comes to manipulating the characters, it's rather random whether I would suceed or not. Again, I would limit this to the point where it does not hinder or annoy another player. One person's freedom ends when it oversteps and begins to intrude upon the freedom of another.
DCAnderson 08-15-07, 02:20 AM	I dunno, I've seen players use things like "my character is insane" or even "my character is chaotic neutral" as some sort of license to act like a total asshat. Tread lightly my friend, tread lightly.
Rika 08-15-07, 02:24 AM	I dunno, I've seen players use things like "my character is insane" or even "my character is chaotic neutral" as some sort of license to act like a total asshat. Tread lightly my friend, tread lightly. This is the sort of thing I need to know though. I've never tried to play this sort of character. I'm a big fan of internal drama, with Neon Gensis being one of my all time favorite series. I could see where the potential for bigger harm than good can come from. That being said, I'm glad to have some feedback that these archetypes can cause big problems. As much fun as I see it being, I also see a very simple fix to this issue, in game. I go to the nearby Cleric temple and say, "Hey, remove this mental disease please. It's really a downer, and an upper at the same time, on myself and my companions. And this eight foot tall creepy amazon chick keeps following me around." I think that would work. It's late and I must be up for work early. Goodnight DC. I'm always open to ideas and suggestions, also feedback on this being tried is greatly appreciated. Goodnight for now all.
Papa_duval 08-15-07, 07:32 AM	Well I suppose the first questions would have to be. 'How much do you actually know about bi-polar symptoms and schizophrenia?' If you have personal experience (or are bi-polar or schizophrenic yourself) then I'd say you have a fairly good basis for roleplaying such issues, though why you'd want to I'm not sure. If, however, you don't have direct experience, I'd suggest leaving the schizophrenia alone. Bi-polar (manic-depressive for those who don't know) can be fairly easy to portray, though if you were being honest in the roleplaying, none of the other players would know whats going through your mind, all they'd know is that sometimes you are hyper/cheerful/active and other times you are subdued/depressed/lethargic. Unfortunately, schizophrenia is just a catch all category for a very wide variety of symptoms that are generally clumped together. For more information on possible symptoms, go here: Early Signs of Schizophrenia (http://www.schizophrenia.com/earlysigns.htm). Schizophrenics generally don't display all of those symptoms, but would generally display some, and someone who does display some of those symptoms may not be schizophrenic (its complicated to diagnose) If you and your group are mature enough to deal with such mental issues, then give it a whirl. I would warn against doing this because you think it might be 'cool'. If your motivation is to challenge yourself, give it a whirl.
OravennasBrother 08-15-07, 01:07 PM	Once in a 3d6 in order campaign I had a character with such low Int/Wisdom, that he got a seeing brain dog. It was fun for a couple of sessions, but then I let the character get killed saving the rest of the party so I could try a character with a clue.
Max_Graeves 08-15-07, 04:23 PM	I once played a paranoid schizophrenic character who believed that his god spoke to him through his hedgehog familiar (he was a gnome sorceror)...I'd worked out the details with my dm ahead of time, and at random intervals the dm would send me messages (sometimes vague directions and sometimes just random gibberish). Occasional decisions of importance were made by rewording the decision into a yes/no question and rolling a die. It was fun for a few sessions, but it gets really hard to maintain that level of heavy rping over time.
trapspringer 08-15-07, 04:51 PM	Schizophrenia doesn't really work as a condition to be RP'd. It is a catchall term, like Papa_duval. Some of the symptoms include remaining totally motionless in awkward positions for hours or days at a time, being unable to distinguish reality from your thoughts, and general failure to function. That doesn't sound really workable, huh? "Sorry guys, Sal is having an episode. He thinks if he moves anytime in the next four days a giant lizard will bite of his arm... I guess ya'll had better camp." Multiple personality order =/= schizophrenia, if that's what you had in mind.
gorgeouswest 08-15-07, 07:36 PM	You don't seem to know much of anything about either schizophrenia or bipolar disorder. Most likely your character would end up as little more than a walking mockery: a hyper-exaggerated caricature based on your own misguided perceptions of a condition you completely fail to grasp. That's going to get old pretty fast for your fellow players. And seriously, it's not all that original a concept.
nightside_samurai 08-15-07, 08:00 PM	As a person with pretty bad Bi-Polar Disorder I feel I should say that (from my perspective) it's a bit insensitive to take such a serious and at times stigmatized issue and trivialize it in this manner. It's one thing to make a serious character who has these issues and then roleplay it with real knowledge of the condition then it may be possible, but it seems like you're only doing it for ***** and giggles which is really unfortunate. Do you know if anyone in your group has a condition like this? Do you know how they would feel if you made a joke of a serious medical condition? There's enough misconceptions about personality disorders without immature* people making jokes about it with the intention of amusing themselves over the suffering of others. * I don't mean this as an insult but like it was mentioned before if you do this without any facts, or without an intention to portray it seriously, then that seems pretty immature to me.