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View Full Version : Multiple Personalities: Flaw, template, or something else?



Jeff the Green
2010-06-10, 08:17 AM
This thread (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=155121) inspired me to build a character with multiple personalities. I especially like the idea of conflicting personalities: one is benevolent, generous, and kind; the other enjoys setting puppies on fire. This could cause some problems for clerics and paladins. If "evil me" kills an innocent, is "good me" punished by falling? It seems rather unfair. So, I wrote up this guide to multiple personalities.

Multiple personalities

Whether by exposure to a mind-affecting spell gone wrong or by severe trauma, your mind has fractured into two or more parts that vie for control.

Effect:
You have between two and four personalities, each embodying some portion of your character. One is your dominant personality, and one is a subordinate personality. If you have three or four personalities, the others are intermediate personalities. Only one personality controls your body at any given time, though all personalities receive any sensory input you might have (e.g. sight, hearing, tremorsense). If you receive information telepathically only the controlling personality receives it, but it may transmit the information to the non-controlling personalities if it chooses.

Your personalities are the result of psychic fractures and so tend to be somewhat extreme. You may have a dominant personality that is exceedingly generous, while your subordinate personality is rapacious and selfish. Unlike un-fractured personalities, yours are unlikely to make exceptions or compromises. A cowardly personality will likely never engage an enemy in melee, while a brave one will refuse to retreat unless their enemy is insurmountable.

Each time you awake from non-magical sleep, roll a d20 to determine your controlling personality as on Table 1. Then roll the dice indicated to determine how long that personality remains in control. After that time has passed, determine your new controlling personality as if you had just awoken.

Table 1
{table] d20 | New controlling personality | Time in control
Two personalities
1-5|Subordinate|1d4 hours
5-20|Dominant|2d8 hours
Three personalities
1-3|Subordinate|1d3 hours
4-8|Intermediate|1d6 hours
8-20|Dominant|2d6 hours
Four personalities
1-2|Subordinate|1d2 hours
3-6|Intermediate 1|1d4 hours
7-10|Intermediate 2|1d4 hours
11-20|Dominant|2d4 hours[/table]

Non-controlling personalities will try to break free under circumstances where they strongly disagree with the controlling personality.* When this occurs you must make a Will save (DC 10 + your CHA modifier + ˝ character level). Upon failure the non-controlling personality will break through, becoming the controlling personality, and you are dazed for 1 round. Your new controlling personality will remain for 1d4 hours or until circumstances change, whichever is longer.

If you succeed on your Will save your controlling personality does not change, but you suffer a -2 penalty to Concentration checks for 2d4 rounds (in combat) or 3d4 minutes (out of combat) as your non-controlling personality argues and complains. Regardless of success or failure, you do not make any further will saves against personality changes due to the circumstances that required the Will save.

Further mental trauma causes a chaotic scramble in your mind as your personalities vie for control. Any time you are shaken or are affected by a mind-affecting spell, spell-like ability, or supernatural ability that is not harmless, you must make a Will save (DC 10 + your charisma modifier + ˝ your character level). Upon failure you must determine your new controlling personality as if you had just awoken, and you are dazed for one round. If you succeed on your will save your controlling personality does not change, but you suffer a -2 penalty per personality to Concentration checks for 2d4 rounds (in combat) or 3d4 minutes (out of combat) as your personalities vie for control.

Each personality may (and in most cases should) have a different alignment. For the purpose of casting spells, receiving the effects of spells, spell-like abilities, supernatural abilities, or extraordinary abilities, your alignment is that of your controlling personality unless you are unconscious or asleep. When you are unconscious your alignment appears to be the average of your personalities’ alignments. Each alignment extreme receives 3 points for a dominant personality, 2 points for an intermediate personality, and 1 point for a subordinate personality. Your alignment is the average on each axis. For example, a character with a dominant LG personality, a subordinate NE personality, and an intermediate LE personality would have 5 lawful points, 3 good points, and 3 evil points. The good and evil points cancel each other out, and she appears to be lawful neutral.

You may qualify for any feat or class that requires a particular alignment as long as one of your personalities is of that alignment. However, if one of your other personalities would exclude you from your class, you lose class abilities as if you had permanently changed alignments when that personality is in control. Paladins, clerics, etc. automatically fall when their controlling personality is of a forbidden alignment. In addition, if you take a feat that requires a particular alignment you lose use of the feat while under the control of a personality with conflicting alignment. Atonement may be cast on you to restore use of class features or feats lost by a personality’s conflicting alignment or forbidden actions as if you were under magic compulsion. However, deities are unlikely to accept a Paladin or cleric with multiple personalities that conflict with the required alignment.

Each personality may have a different trait unless it has an impact on your body (e.g. stout, nearsighted). All personalities share the same ability scores, class levels, skills, feats, and spells known.

*What situations this occurs in should be agreed upon with the DM at character creation or when your personalities split.


I'm rather happy with this, but I'm new to PnP RPGs and I'm not sure how to use it. What is it? Is it harmful enough to be a flaw (or even a -LA template)?

I'd also appreciate any other comments or criticisms you have.

flabort
2010-06-10, 10:11 AM
I would say it makes -1/2 LA, but since LA has to be in whole numbers, I'd say... Flaw?
Oh, this would be so fun on a character with multiple heads. (one that already has conflicting personalities, due to it having more than one brain, that is)

Example with 4 heads (Oh, so fun):

Head 1:
Dominant LE
Intermediate 1 CE
Intermediate 2 NN
Subordinate LG

Head 2:
Dominant NE
Subordinate CN

Head 3:
Dominant CE
Intermediate NE
Subordinate CG

Head 4:
Dominant LG
Intermediate 1 CG
Intermediate 2 LE
Subordinate CE

Net:
Lawful (3+1+3+2=9)
Chaotic (2+1+3+1+2+1=10)
Good (1+1+3+2=7)
Evil (3+2+3+3+2+2+1=16)
So net Chaotic Evil, but barely chaotic. maybe nuetral evil.
Definately evil, though, with three dominate evils (9), and a net 7 good.