[Pathfinder] Multiple Personality Disorder

[Drakoun]

A SC of mine wants to play an Alchiemist with two personalities.
One reason is, i told him he has to, (because I mistook the Alchemist and the
Master Chymist), the other is he doesnt want to change is backround anymore.
Now there wouldnt be a problem if his alter ego wouldnt be phobic of blood and corpses, getting useless whenever he sees them . . .
and of course the main mind loses control when confronted with such and the is forced to take over the control - effectively rendering his character useless in combat.
On top of that he aspects me to give him something in exchange for his handycap, which i have to think of, ´cause i was the one saying he has to have a split personality.

Any thoughts? I have not a damn clue what he could get in exchange, since i want to give him (if at all) something i can explain at least a little bit logically

greetings from Germany, Drakoun

[Jude_H]

I'm confused. Even if he doesn't want to change the stupid multiple personalities thing, does he have to be incompetent? Can't he just act a little weirded out when he's around blood or horses?

D&D's basically about killing things, so freezing up when people start to fight is going to be ridiculous to counterbalance. This sounds like a non-issue that would take a massive amount of work to solve, but no effort to ignore.

[randomhero00]

First of all, there is no "main personality" when it comes to MPD. I mean, I guess you could say original perhaps. But it has little bearing on actual gameplay.

Bonuses I'd give him if he really really wanted to play MPD is to give him an extra chance to save. Max 2. Penalties would be he'd have half skill points (half for each personality) and each personality would have to have a serious quirk. Like fearing fire, water, claustorphobia (sp?), etc.

[Aidan305]

Having GM'd for a Master Chymist, when played right, it's great fun.

Not sure if I'm reading your post right, but would I be correct in interpreting that of the player's two personalities the first gets slightly nervous in the presence of blood or corpses while the other completely shuts down as it were?

An interesting character concept in a game that generally revolves around killing things very bloodily (unless you're a cleric in 1st or 2nd ed)

If this is the case though, I'd honestly be disinclined to give him benefits. It was the player's choice, not yours, to make the character in this way, and the player was also the one who refused to change when you realised that you made the mistake.

[Drakoun]

I'm confused. Even if he doesn't want to change the stupid multiple personalities thing, does he have to be incompetent? Can't he just act a little weirded out when he's around blood or horses?
[...]

Having GM'd for a Master Chymist, when played right, it's great fun.

Not sure if I'm reading your post right, but would I be correct in interpreting that of the player's two personalities the first gets slightly nervous in the presence of blood or corpses while the other completely shuts down as it were?
[...]


The thing is, his characters original consciousness killed his pupils by accident and shattered afterwards.
So mind A is most the time awake and blacks out every time it sees blood etc.
Then mind B takes over, though fears blood etc. just as much and gets paralysed


[...]
An interesting character concept in a game that generally revolves around killing things very bloodily (unless you're a cleric in 1st or 2nd ed)

If this is the case though, I'd honestly be disinclined to give him benefits. It was the player's choice, not yours, to make the character in this way, and the player was also the one who refused to change when you realised that you made the mistake.

I think i'll stay with that . . . i made a mistake, i told him, he can change the character or bear the hatred of his group :smallyuk:

[Sebastrd]

I'd almost swear there's an article right here on this site that deals with this sort of issue, but where was it...?

Oh, right, here it is: Making the Tough Decisions (http://www.giantitp.com/articles/tll307KmEm4H9k6efFP.html)!

Tell your player to quit being asinine. Choosing to be difficult doesn't entitle one to freebies in any rule book I've ever read.

[Tetsubo 57]

What a Master Chymist is doing is different to my mind than MPD. I was married to someone diagnosed with MPD or Dissociative Personality Disorder as it is now known. If a person actually has DPD, they pretty much won't be an adventurer. Their coping skills just aren't up to that sort of stress. But playing a Master Chymist with two distinct personalities would be fine in my book. I just think they should be unique.

[Archpaladin Zousha]

What a Master Chymist is doing is different to my mind than MPD. I was married to someone diagnosed with MPD or Dissociative Personality Disorder as it is now known. If a person actually has DPD, they pretty much won't be an adventurer. Their coping skills just aren't up to that sort of stress. But playing a Master Chymist with two distinct personalities would be fine in my book. I just think they should be unique.

This is true. A Master Chymist isn't an example of DPD, but rather a means of playing Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, effectively two physically different people who alternate who's out at different times. You don't just have a different set of phobias or ideas, your body literally changes along with your psyche.

[whiskytangofoxt]

Is this real-life or online (forum based, etc.)? 'cause I recruited for a PBP game a while back, and had someone ask for the exact same thing, DPD, blood and horse phobia, even 'benefits' for playing such a character!

I never ran the game, but I told him that its not a great combo for D&D generally, or for the type of game I was wanting to run.

I'd say he's up to something, personally - either some bizzare attempt at optimisation, his preferred game-wrecking tactic, or possibly just its issues he has, and wants to play them out.

The last one is fair enough, but I think it'd be a bad fit for D&D.

[Drakoun]

Dunno where you read 'horse' phobia, but we come to an agreement.
His charcter now has a mere aversion against blood and such, making him a pacifist who don't want do cause casualtys rather then can't.
As of the roleplaying of this i trust him, since he done well with difficult things before and I'm pretty sure hes not up to something cause he can't even write optimization nor has any reasen to break the game.

Thanks for your thoughts, you really helped convincing the blockhead a little :smallbiggrin:
~Drakoun