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AntiTrust
2012-12-30, 11:40 PM
My DM has a questionnaire all players have to fill out and I'm stuck on a question.

What do you fear (heights, falling, spiders, etc)?

I'm playing a chessmaster-esque wizard type. You know the trope, the planner, taking the long view of events. So I was wondering if the boards knew of any common wizard appropriate fears that maybe work well with the chessmaster personality.

Alabenson
2012-12-30, 11:46 PM
Being caught unprepared would be my suggestion.

The one thing he fears is that which he failed to foresee and did not prepare for.

Amidus Drexel
2012-12-30, 11:46 PM
Failure might be a good one.

Barring that, just make the wizard really paranoid. Nothing beats being afraid of everything. Meant both literally and figuratively, with all that that implies.

Gwyn chan 'r Gwyll
2012-12-31, 12:12 AM
Why can't a wizard be afraid of heights or spiders? Would make the character more than just a cookie-cutter cliche... I mean, fear of failure or of unpreparedness fits the concept, yes, but why not go outside the concept, broaden it, turn him into a PERSON.

A wizard who fears to be caught unprepared is a wizard.

A wizard who ever since childhood has been afraid of sudden flashes of light because of a traumatic experience with a lightening bolt is a PERSON.

erikun
2012-12-31, 12:18 AM
I have to agree with Gwyn: Why are you asking what a wizard fears, rather than what your character fears? The point of a character-questionaire is to decide on interesting aspects on your character, not produce a set of "correct" answers based on your class.

My one recommendation is to not have a fear that can trivially be eliminated with a single spell. That is, don't give the character a fear of heights when Feather Fall is readily available, or a fear of going cold with Endure Elements handy.

Amidus Drexel
2012-12-31, 12:22 AM
I have to agree with Gwyn: Why are you asking what a wizard fears, rather than what your character fears? The point of a character-questionaire is to decide on interesting aspects on your character, not produce a set of "correct" answers based on your class.

My one recommendation is to not have a fear that can trivially be eliminated with a single spell. That is, don't give the character a fear of heights when Feather Fall is readily available, or a fear of going cold with Endure Elements handy.

Well, most of those kind of fears can be trivialized with spells. Claustrophobia, for example, is countered by disintegrate.

Gildedragon
2012-12-31, 12:31 AM
A fear of death, poverty, judgement, or pain can all be powerful drivers for characters. Fear of strangers, or people in general could be interesting too.
A fear of 'savages' however you would like to define them is interesting if working in a group.
When considering your fears also think how you'd maintain group cohesion despite your fears.

toapat
2012-12-31, 12:41 AM
for the Eidetic Wizard variant:

the fear of never being able to smoke another joint

Slipperychicken
2012-12-31, 12:41 AM
Well, most of those kind of fears can be trivialized with spells. Claustrophobia, for example, is countered by disintegrate.

Thing is, those kinds of disorders are quite irrational. That is, an affected person may be scared whether or not the object of fear actually poses a serious threat. For example, someone with arachnophobia will still be scared of spiders, even if he knows they're harmless and has a can of insecticide on hand. Similarly, someone afraid of heights will be afraid even if the building he's standing on is sturdy and he has a parachute. And those who are afraid to leave their homes will avoid doing so even if they know the outside world is safe.

So having preparations against the object of fear doesn't actually dispel the fear. The character will still be extremely reluctant to enter any situation which engages his fear. It might even lead to the character taking irrational, unnecessary precautions against the object of his fear, like preparing Feather Fall seven times in a row in addition to Overland Flight, owning a feather token, and wearing a ring of feather fall.

Also, Disintegrate only gets you a 10x10ft cube. It's not sure to fend off claustrophobia. Especially since the phobia focuses strongly on restriction, and what might happen in such a space, like cave-ins, suffocation, etc. You can still (it would seem) get all that with a 10x10ft cube.

Amidus Drexel
2012-12-31, 12:45 AM
Also, Disintegrate only gets you a 10x10ft cube. It's not sure to fend off claustrophobia. Especially since the phobia focuses strongly on restriction, and what might happen in such a space, like cave-ins, suffocation, etc. You can still (it would seem) get all that with a 10x10ft cube.

Well, prepare more than one, then. :smalltongue:

(RE: everything else you said - Agreed)

AntiTrust
2012-12-31, 12:50 AM
I have to agree with Gwyn: Why are you asking what a wizard fears, rather than what your character fears? The point of a character-questionaire is to decide on interesting aspects on your character, not produce a set of "correct" answers based on your class.

My one recommendation is to not have a fear that can trivially be eliminated with a single spell. That is, don't give the character a fear of heights when Feather Fall is readily available, or a fear of going cold with Endure Elements handy.

My character IS a wizard, so on some level they are one in the same. However I do see your overall point that I should look to other elements of my character to help shape a fear. That being said a fear that incorporates being a wizard and what that entails is something I'm trying to figure out.

Fhaolan
2012-12-31, 12:54 AM
Any character can have pretty much any irrational fear, so that doesn't really help you with the question.

Here's another thought. It could be a previously rational fear. Something that shouldn't affect him now, but does because he can't let go of the fear. For example, maybe the town he grew up in had a fey-type goblin infestation. You know the type, goblins creeping up house walls to steal children and the like. So now whenever he deals with goblins, he goes irrational about it because all he sees is eyes glowing the dark, scrabbling of claws on plaster walls, and high pitched giggles as one of his siblings is stolen away while he does nothing, frozen in fear... but now he has FIREBALL BURN EVERYTHING AAAAAAHHHHHHHH! :smallamused:

KillianHawkeye
2012-12-31, 01:06 AM
You could always go the route of being afraid of your own power.

You have all this magic, but you're reluctant to use it because once you get used to solving a problem with magic, it becomes all to easy to go too far. Soon you'll think you can solve ALL life's problems with magic, until eventually you're mind controlling your own allies "for their own good" and you've erased the memories of your loved ones to make them forget your mistakes and shortcomings so many times that they're starting to become hollow and vacant.

Basically Willow in the 5th and 6th seasons of Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

Teron
2012-12-31, 01:09 AM
I think it would be fun for a chessmaster type character to have an irrational fear that can affect his plans. For instance, if outsiders scare him, he might refuse to work with them, try to get his party to deal with them while he does something else, and employ excessive firepower or defensive spells when he has to fight them. If someone ask why he did it that way, he'll usually have a good reason... and he might even believe it. People are good at rationalising what they want to be the right choice.

erikun
2012-12-31, 01:21 AM
My character IS a wizard, so on some level they are one in the same. However I do see your overall point that I should look to other elements of my character to help shape a fear. That being said a fear that incorporates being a wizard and what that entails is something I'm trying to figure out.
Well then, take a look at the character and see what he might be afraid of.

Is there something that made him become a wizard, that his fear might have influenced his path? Was he afraid orc tribes, and so became a wizard to destroy them? Was he afraid of poverty, and thought wizarding would keep it from happening? Was he afraid of the dark, and wanted to rely on magical light to keep it always on?

Is there something that he realized after becoming a wizard that made him afraid? Perhaps he is afraid of outsiders, or the evil planes, after coming to understand what they are. Perhaps, after learning the power of words and knowledge, he has become paranoid about always learning what every written message means. Perhaps he has developed a fear of becoming charmed or mind-controlled, after seeing how easily others can perform it.

SgtCarnage92
2012-12-31, 01:26 AM
Dragons: who wouldn't be, but make it a pathological fear, plus they have a tendency to be over-sized flies in the proverbial ointment.

Losing Control: fear of mind control magics because he has an understanding of just what they can do.

Axes: wizards are squishy.

Being Surprised: Could explain the long world-view.

Porcupines

Anxe
2012-12-31, 02:12 AM
I have nightmares about bears, fires, and going over a cliff in my car. Maybe your wizard does too? Or maybe he fears the minions of the shadow goddess that constantly hunt him whenever he goes into civilized areas.

Closest example to your character type I'm aware of in my favorite media is Rayek from Elfquest (http://www.elfquest.com/gallery/OnlineComics3.html). The Original Quest comics, 3 and 4, focus on the important stuff. Rayek feared failure. He had to be the best at all things and when he loses to Cutter he flees his village into the desert.

Deophaun
2012-12-31, 03:32 AM
Do you have a familiar? You think it's just using you for its own nefarious ends. That cat will probably kill you once it has what it wants. Damn, is it looking at you? Does it know that you know? This is bad, this is very... no, it just has a hairball. Phew...

Your guidance counselor said you'd make a good transmuter. Of course, you didn't object at the time. Transmuters command respect, after all, and there's always gold for someone who can toss around a few fabricate spells. It's just, well, after your last alter self, you aren't quite sure everything is back to where it should be. And now the party wants you to polymorph into a what? If the spell goes wrong, maybe you'll have a hand stuck like that forever. Then you wouldn't be able to dispel it to make you normal again, and the town guard will think you're a monster, and you've seen what they do to monsters! They hire people like you to kill them! No, no. No no no no no no no. The party will just have to find some other way to pass someone off as a chull. You aren't going to be responsible for that mess.

Hopeless
2012-12-31, 03:51 AM
1) Fear of losing their spellbook, after all how many times do you walk in the rain, fall into a pond, pool, river or ocean and avoid getting your spellbook and scrolls wet?
Can you imagine how much it will cost to replace your spellbook and scrolls let alone facing the fact you have nothing to memorise spells from?:smallfrown:

2) Ever since being caught by that mimic posing as a book you've been left with a serious fear that there's another one around the corner... your fellow PCs say you're being ridiculous but you know how your dm thinks... its only a matter of time and the next time you pick up a scroll do you really want to be turned into a blue skinned halfling again...:smalleek:

snikrept
2012-12-31, 03:51 AM
How about a specific phobia of a wizard spell or class of spells that you refuse to cast. Could explain why you picked the school specialization you picked, if you've got one.

ex. "I won't cast Evocations because created magical energy is too dangerous; once as a kid I set a mage-fire by accident and burned down the family barn."
or "I won't cast Enchantments because an evil mage once dominated my father when he couldn't pay his debt and made him do terrible things to us kids."
or "I won't cast Conjurations because a demon summoned by the local hedge wizard got loose in my town when I was a kid and I had nightmares for years about it."
or "I won't cast Transmutations because when I was an apprentice I made a catastrophic failure of a minor transmute spell, which redirected onto my arm and.. that's how I got this (huge ugly scar)."

Cerlis
2012-12-31, 03:55 AM
Well, most of those kind of fears can be trivialized with spells. Claustrophobia, for example, is countered by disintegrate.

exactly. I think the best road is he is a batman wizard because he has real and common fears.

The point of finding out your characters fears is to give them weaknesses.

And what better than someone who is afraid of the dark (and gets nerve racked whenever they have to go through a cave without light) or who is afraid of spiders and will use the quickest way to destroy them ( fingers of frost or such). Hell i could imagine his spells backfiring on him more. He feels claustrophobic in a crowd and so casts invisibility to get through it more easily. but no one can see him so he gets pressed together more making the situation worse.

If anything some who has real, imagined, understandable, and unreasonable fears is more likely to become a wizard than anything else. Because spells are a crutch they use to deal with their problems.


So having preparations against the object of fear doesn't actually dispel the fear. The character will still be extremely reluctant to enter any situation which engages his fear. It might even lead to the character taking irrational, unnecessary precautions against the object of his fear, like preparing Feather Fall seven times in a row in addition to Overland Flight, owning a feather token, and wearing a ring of feather fall.
see now that sounds like a fun character. I'd party with him.

L.O.L at the wizards facing a giant spider and the wizard passes out...
Fighter: "Check his pockets, maybe he has a scroll that can help"
Bard: "Well we got a scroll of Smite Spider. A scroll of Smite Really Big Spider.....And i can't make it out but I think all it says is 'Oh God Kill It With Fire'"

An00bis
2012-12-31, 09:20 AM
Afraid of whatever it is his Familiar eats/hunts? Like, if he has a spider, he could be afraid of bugs?

EDIT Or the other way around? Again, he could have a spider and he would be afraid of bees, hornets, etc? Maybe his biggest fear is over his Familiar?

I like Familiars. They should totally be treated like your best friend. Like your dog, or something.

Jay R
2012-12-31, 10:04 AM
Being caught in melee, of course. It eliminates most of his abilities, and is too chaotic, thus destroying his carefully laid chessmaster plans.

Sleepy Shade
2012-12-31, 10:58 AM
You could make so that you can't remember the the event that spawned your fears.
For example your character since his 11 birthday (which he cant remember) has had fear of beards, bald people and the color green.

Amidus Drexel
2012-12-31, 10:59 AM
The point of finding out your characters fears is to give them weaknesses.

L.O.L at the wizards facing a giant spider and the wizard passes out...
Fighter: "Check his pockets, maybe he has a scroll that can help"
Bard: "Well we got a scroll of Smite Spider. A scroll of Smite Really Big Spider.....And i can't make it out but I think all it says is 'Oh God Kill It With Fire'"

Agreed.

Hilarious! :smallbiggrin:

DMVerdandi
2012-12-31, 11:28 AM
INSOMNIA:smallbiggrin:

Flickerdart
2012-12-31, 01:06 PM
INSOMNIA:smallbiggrin:
Sleep, Symbol of Sleep, Deep Slumber...

The worst fear of a wizard is when his party runs out of toilet paper.

Emmerask
2012-12-31, 01:19 PM
Well the spell does not specify if the magical slumber is actually restful sleep so insomnia could still take effect.

Amidus Drexel
2012-12-31, 01:20 PM
Well the spell does not specify if the magical slumber is actually restful sleep so insomnia could still take effect.

Insomnia (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/insomnia) is the inability to fall asleep or stay asleep, not a lack of restful sleep.

Hand_of_Vecna
2012-12-31, 01:23 PM
I would recomend against having a fear like "losing your spellbook" just in case the DM intends to play out everyone's fears then you've signed on for no save DM fiat spellbook loss. You could have a perfectly normal fear and have a violent reaction to your fear.

A wizard that passes out when spiders attack is silly, a wizard that shrieks from shock and casts fireball on a CR 1 monstrous spider has depth.

Slipperychicken
2012-12-31, 01:25 PM
The worst fear of a wizard is when his party runs out of toilet paper.

What if I told you,

Toilet Paper doesn't exist in D&D. Therefore, his party never runs out, and he can never discover his fear.

Alejandro
2012-12-31, 01:40 PM
Be deathly afraid of books, because when you were little, you found something horrible pressed inside one (maybe your master's old rival's face?) And thus, you don't have a spellBOOK, you have a big bundle of scrolls.

Aurenthal
2012-12-31, 03:41 PM
Fear of women, I mean like Raj from TBBT. It would be hilarious, he can't cast spells in front of them unless they are silent spells or something like that.

Hopeless
2012-12-31, 03:48 PM
I would recomend against having a fear like "losing your spellbook" just in case the DM intends to play out everyone's fears then you've signed on for no save DM fiat spellbook loss. You could have a perfectly normal fear and have a violent reaction to your fear.

A wizard that passes out when spiders attack is silly, a wizard that shrieks from shock and casts fireball on a CR 1 monstrous spider has depth.

A wizard that casts a fireball on a tiny spider had better pray the rest of his party isn't within 30' of the blast radius otherwise he gets holy smited by the Paladin's housecat!

Seriously you think war horses was the only mount a paladin can summon? the only reason the He Man movie with Dolph Lundgren didn't have a Battle Cat is because he would have shown up the entire lot of them by singlehandedly reducing Skeletor's forces into kibble before raiding that fast food restaurant for food rather than wait for the others to nick food off of the paying customers!:smallwink:

Flickerdart
2012-12-31, 08:38 PM
What if I told you,

Toilet Paper doesn't exist in D&D. Therefore, his party never runs out, and he can never discover his fear.
Just because there's no rules for it doesn't mean that it doesn't exist, merely that the rules are too abstract to care about it.


Well the spell does not specify if the magical slumber is actually restful sleep so insomnia could still take effect.
Wizards don't need restful sleep, or any kind of sleep at all, to prepare spells. They merely need 8 hours of unstrenuous activity (such as beating the fighter at chess).

toapat
2012-12-31, 08:44 PM
Just because there's no rules for it doesn't mean that it doesn't exist, merely that the rules are too abstract to care about it.

Toilet Paper

You have no idea why, but this roll of rather soft paper makes you extremely happy. So long as you have it on your person, you get a +1 moral bonus to saving throws against poison, Disease, and Sickened

Craft Wondrous Item, Minor Conjuration, 2000g

jguy
2012-12-31, 09:33 PM
Wait, is this a fear or a phobia. Anyone can be afraid of something but a phobia is an irrational fear of something that even the thought of it makes you a bit pale in the face and sweaty in the hands.

Don't pick something that you can easily get around or will have no impact in the game. It is cheap and not what you DM is looking for. It is like taking a the Pathetic flaw as a Fighter with a bard and rogue in the party. Does nothing.

My last campaign I had all my characters pick a phobia. One was an elf and tried to pick "Being put to sleep." He doesn't sleep!

Deophaun
2012-12-31, 09:36 PM
My last campaign I had all my characters pick a phobia. One was an elf and tried to pick "Being put to sleep." He doesn't sleep!
That's actually a good phobia for an elf; it's something that they have no experience with, so it's unknown and, therefore, scary. I imagine that if the character has a phobia of being put to sleep, he should run away in panic every time someone casts a sleep spell in his direction, regardless of the fact he's immune. It is, after all, irrational.

jguy
2012-12-31, 09:40 PM
That's actually a good phobia for an elf; it's something that they have no experience with, so it's unknown and, therefore, scary. I imagine that if the character has a phobia of being put to sleep, he should run away in panic every time someone casts a sleep spell in his direction, regardless of the fact he's immune. It is, after all, irrational.

At that point, as a DM, how would I utilize it without being felt like I was picking on him? Suddenly every wizard has Sleep or Deep Slumber prepared and uses it on everyone but him since he is an elf? Also, unless he he had spellcraft, which he didn't how would he ever know it was being cast on him?

Deophaun
2012-12-31, 09:49 PM
At that point, as a DM, how would I utilize it without being felt like I was picking on him? Suddenly every wizard has Sleep or Deep Slumber prepared and uses it on everyone but him since he is an elf? Also, unless he he had spellcraft, which he didn't how would he ever know it was being cast on him?
Easy. First of all, if a wizard casts sleep on the party, and people fall asleep, your elf is going to be afraid of that wizard. Second, include in your treasure such things as an amulet of proof against sleep. +2 to fortitude saves against sleep. The elf, being deathly afraid of sleep, will take it as part of his share, even though it does him no good, and he won't sell it. Spread rumors of monsters that put their victims to sleep. This "Sandman" person is obviously very dangerous and he apparently comes around at night. Your elf is going to place alarms and traps to make sure the Sandman doesn't get him.
All these road-side inns make their beds too inviting, too comfortable. It's almost like they're trying to trick him into sleeping! The elf stays outside.

It's a phobia. It gets played as every phobia would, even if the actual cause of the fear never appears.

Chilingsworth
2013-01-01, 12:46 AM
L.O.L at the wizards facing a giant spider and the wizard passes out...
Fighter: "Check his pockets, maybe he has a scroll that can help"
Bard: "Well we got a scroll of Smite Spider. A scroll of Smite Really Big Spider.....And i can't make it out but I think all it says is 'Oh God Kill It With Fire'"

Well, you just made me laugh until I got a cramp in my side.

I hope you're proud of yourself. :smalltongue:

Korivan
2013-01-01, 12:58 AM
The thing all my wizards fear, is the dm saying no magic exists anymore.

jguy
2013-01-01, 05:33 PM
Easy. First of all, if a wizard casts sleep on the party, and people fall asleep, your elf is going to be afraid of that wizard. Second, include in your treasure such things as an amulet of proof against sleep. +2 to fortitude saves against sleep. The elf, being deathly afraid of sleep, will take it as part of his share, even though it does him no good, and he won't sell it. Spread rumors of monsters that put their victims to sleep. This "Sandman" person is obviously very dangerous and he apparently comes around at night. Your elf is going to place alarms and traps to make sure the Sandman doesn't get him.
All these road-side inns make their beds too inviting, too comfortable. It's almost like they're trying to trick him into sleeping! The elf stays outside.

It's a phobia. It gets played as every phobia would, even if the actual cause of the fear never appears.

Well if the wizard puts the party to sleep and the elf runs away, that's a TPK right there. I mostly said no dice to the sleep thing because I knew he picked it so it would never come up. I think he was annoyed that I was "forcing" him to roleplay and "give his character a handicap".

Jay R
2013-01-01, 06:48 PM
Well if the wizard puts the party to sleep and the elf runs away, that's a TPK right there.

Well, not quite. The elf did get away, after all.:smallwink:


I mostly said no dice to the sleep thing because I knew he picked it so it would never come up. I think he was annoyed that I was "forcing" him to roleplay and "give his character a handicap".

Exactly correct. You were in fact trying to give his character a handicap for gaming purposes, and he needs to realize that you will succeed in doing so.

In my introduction to a super-hero game, I warned the players: "These are early Silver Age characters, which means that they have difficulties and weaknesses. Don’t try to make a character who can survive anything. The team books of the time leaned on the weaknesses of each character, allowing other heroes to rescue the one in trouble. (Kryptonite was extremely common in Justice League stories, for instance.) You may assume that I will arrange to take each of you out of the action occasionally, for story purposes. Don’t make me have to drop a mountain on you to do it."

MukkTB
2013-01-01, 07:34 PM
A wizard fears encountering a hostile better wizard. Well, gods too.

The New Bruceski
2013-01-01, 09:26 PM
If you're looking for a bit of an Achilles heel and a reason *why* the wizard's a planner, I'm a bit of an obsessive planner myself and surprises REALLY throw me for a loop. At best (for example a friend wants to do something with no warning, no downside other than breaking planned routine) it's uncomfortable, but in crisis situations I can manage to keep control for about 15-20 minutes, then all the ideas my brain's come up with of worst-case scenarios and such pile up and just shut me down completely.

Deophaun
2013-01-02, 02:09 AM
I mostly said no dice to the sleep thing because I knew he picked it so it would never come up. I think he was annoyed that I was "forcing" him to roleplay and "give his character a handicap".
But it does come up, all the time, as I showed. It's like saying a human can't have a fear of the sun because he's not a vampire or doesn't have light sensitivity, and is therefore "immune." Immunity doesn't matter. It's irrational. He hears a mother singing a lullaby, and next thing you know he's casting silence. Offer him chamomile tea and he'll return the favor by poisoning yours. If it never comes up, it's the DM's fault, not the player's.

What's worse for the character is, because he never sleeps, he never has an opportunity to overcome his fear. Someone who's afraid of heights and makes it through the Infinite Crags of Despair to reach the top of the Sky Pillar Mountains has a good basis for saying heights are no longer an issue. The somniphobic elf, however, never gets the opportunity.

NotScaryBats
2013-01-02, 03:33 AM
By that logic, every time your party goes to sleep he has to flee the scene. That would quickly become an issue as he Trances alone in the woods away from his allies.

I guess that's the point though, huh

Hopeless
2013-01-02, 03:58 AM
How about dyslexia?

Crossblade
2013-01-02, 03:59 AM
What's worse for the character is, because he never sleeps, he never has an opportunity to overcome his fear. Someone who's afraid of heights and makes it through the Infinite Crags of Despair to reach the top of the Sky Pillar Mountains has a good basis for saying heights are no longer an issue.

Actually, no not really. That's similar to saying someone who's squashed or defeated millions of spiders can say they're over their fear. It could just as easily have no affect on the fear or make the fear worse.

Edit: InB4 Sock Puppets.

Man on Fire
2013-01-02, 04:08 AM
My DM has a questionnaire all players have to fill out and I'm stuck on a question.

What do you fear (heights, falling, spiders, etc)?

I'm playing a chessmaster-esque wizard type. You know the trope, the planner, taking the long view of events. So I was wondering if the boards knew of any common wizard appropriate fears that maybe work well with the chessmaster personality.

Being deprived of your brilliant mind.
There are creatures that can do that, there are spells that can do that. And imagine - it's your intelligence and cunning that get you this far, it's them that make others dance as your puppets, that make you come out with all those brilliant plans?
What are if they take this away from you? Just another lunatic.

Deophaun
2013-01-02, 04:34 AM
Actually, no not really. That's similar to saying someone who's squashed or defeated millions of spiders can say they're over their fear. It could just as easily have no affect on the fear or make the fear worse.
So, in your lexicon, "basis" means "sure thing?"

By that logic, every time your party goes to sleep he has to flee the scene.
Not really. Other people sleeping is not necessarily the fear. Something putting the character to sleep, however, is. So he would fear things that are meant to induce sleep, not his companions' snoring (and might even welcome that).

willpell
2013-01-02, 04:39 AM
"The only thing we have to fear is...fear itself!"

Socratov
2013-01-02, 04:57 AM
L.O.L at the wizards facing a giant spider and the wizard passes out...
Fighter: "Check his pockets, maybe he has a scroll that can help"
Bard: "Well we got a scroll of Smite Spider. A scroll of Smite Really Big Spider.....And i can't make it out but I think all it says is 'Oh God Kill It With Fire'"

hehe, this is funny, and totally something Ron from Harry Potter would do :smallbiggrin:

Anyway, since intelligence, magic and long words all go hand in hand I'd present: Hippopotomonstrosesquipedaliophobia, or fear of long words :smallamused:

else, this list (http://phobialist.com/) will help you pick something :smallsmile:

Anecronwashere
2013-01-02, 09:08 AM
Am I the only one seeing the irony that the fear o long words, is a really long word? :smallamused:


The Somniphobic elf is a good RP opportunity, if taken to be one.
But it can also be a lazy copout, depending on how it's RPed and why it's taken


As for your Wiz's fear. Pick something life-defining. Because I have Fear X I decided to...
OR
To try and overcome Fear X I...

eg. Because I have a fear of heights I apprenticed under Wizzy Mcwizardton who lives in a really high tower. Because I apprenticed under him I learned magic and even took up his mantra of overpreparedness

eg2. Because I hd a bad encounter with {insert STR-draining creature} I gave up on being a strong fighter, focusing on the mental arts so even if I face {STR-draining creature} I can defeat them!

willpell
2013-01-02, 09:40 AM
Just because there's no rules for it doesn't mean that it doesn't exist, merely that the rules are too abstract to care about it.

I suspect he was basing the nonexistence on fluff more than rules, D&D generally defaulting to a medieval setting as it does.
EDIT: And "he" was you, so forget I said anything.


Toilet Paper

You have no idea why, but this roll of rather soft paper makes you extremely happy. So long as you have it on your person, you get a +1 moral bonus to saving throws against poison, Disease, and Sickened

busts gut You win an Internet.


That's actually a good phobia for an elf; it's something that they have no experience with, so it's unknown and, therefore, scary.

Agreed, awesome idea.


Well, you just made me laugh until I got a cramp in my side.

Not quite that bad here, but I did literal-LOL at the same post.


The thing all my wizards fear, is the dm saying no magic exists anymore.

You can do that fairly easily on a temporary basis for awesome plot points. A celestial conjunction or something plunks an AMF on the entire world for like an hour, and the Wizard spends the next five years frantically trying to figure out what he'll do if it ever happens again, especially if it lasts two hours that time.


How about dyslexia?

Or Triskaidekaphobia, or Hexakosioihexekontahexaphobia, or Tetraphobia (mostly it's Wu Jen who have that one), or any other phobia related to numbers, letters, words, or writing in general (I can't find names for any word-related ones, but that's just as well since most campaigns don't assume the characters are speaking the same language as their players; the numbers are universal enough that it's not a great stretch to imagine them developing the same superstitions, except perhaps for 666 unless that one's specifically related to the actual existence of demons and Hell).

Anecronwashere
2013-01-02, 09:54 AM
666 is a statted up layer of the Abyss
Other than that, nope. No real superstition

Gravitron5000
2013-01-02, 12:31 PM
Sleep, Symbol of Sleep, Deep Slumber...

The worst fear of a wizard is when his party runs out of toilet paper.

I prepared explosive diarrhea this morning.

Sorry ... I failed the will save for making this joke.

willpell
2013-01-02, 12:43 PM
666 is a statted up layer of the Abyss.


Which is kinda silly since I'm pretty sure there are nowhere near 665 other described layers...they're just kinda assigned numbers at random, and nobody's compiled a list that long that I've ever seen.

Slipperychicken
2013-01-02, 12:57 PM
How about dyslexia?

Well, that explains why it takes 2 days and a Spellcraft check to decipher a page of his notes.

Anecronwashere
2013-01-02, 09:51 PM
Well, that explains why it takes 2 days and a Spellcraft check to decipher a page of his notes.

That made me lol. It shouldnt have but I did

Nyes the Dark
2013-01-02, 10:15 PM
One thing you might wish to do is give him/her a fear of being wrong, or proven wrong, or being imperfect, or something similar.

As a wizard, s/he must've spent years perfecting their art, their craft, their powers. They probably have, to some extent, a superiority complex; hey, I spent a decade learning how to light a candle with my fingers! My priorities are obviously in order!

If your wizard makes his super-calculated hyper-complicated plan that accounts for every variable, but fails to realize that the Bard is going to get distracted by a nearby concert, and the party is all captured, what would that do to his psyche? He screwed up! What's wrong with him?!

It'd be an interesting roleplaying experience, for sure. :smalltongue:

Acanous
2013-01-02, 11:14 PM
Wizards are akin to high-stress, high-entry positions in the real world, such as being a surgeon or a prestigeous lawyer.

You could take a fear or personality trait commmonly exhibited by people in those positions, such as germophobia, or being fixated on punctuality. Alcoholism is a recurring vice in people with stressful careers, and Wizards are no exception. Everyone knows there's a drunken dwarven cleric, a half-orc fighter who carries a keg on his back, and a rogueish seacaptain that can literally light his breath on fire from the whiskey he knocks back... but when the Wizard can drink them all under the table? Then you've gotten interesting.

Gamgee
2013-01-03, 01:38 AM
Unexpected turn of events. He seems to be the chess master, nothing worse then seeing something completely new.

Socratov
2013-01-03, 03:28 AM
Am I the only one seeing the irony that the fear o long words, is a really long word? :smallamused:
Nope, that is the whole joke, and it's old (though never old enough to link to it in cases like this:smallamused:)

Wizards are akin to high-stress, high-entry positions in the real world, such as being a surgeon or a prestigeous lawyer.
How about modelling wizard society to UU in discworld? I mean it's said there that you only become a higher grade wizard if the spot opens up and you're the best candidate. a spot only opens up if the person dies ro gets promoted himself. And you only get the next in line by surviving and honing your talents into the stratosphere. By the time a wizard gets old and high up the ladder you can count on the fact that he is the most crafty, cunning, alert, paranoid and talented bugger just by observing he is still alive.
In that case a generally strong paranoia is not irrational, it's a method of survival akin to a predator's instincts...

Kornaki
2013-01-03, 03:55 AM
An alternate approach to the million prepared solutions is just to completely give up hope when faced with the feared situation - many people who are afraid of spiders will just run away from one if given the opportunity, regardless of how many cans of bug spray they're provided. So every time you see a monstrous spider - teleport! plane shift! dimension door! Just get the heck out of there and later tell everyone how the spider was at least thirty feet tall

Imagine the wizard who uses dimension door instead of feather fall to get to the bottom of the canyon, because really, could you imagine having to look down during that whole fall?

Killer Angel
2013-01-03, 07:24 AM
Well, most of those kind of fears can be trivialized with spells. Claustrophobia, for example, is countered by disintegrate.


Thing is, those kinds of disorders are quite irrational.

Spells are almost always a guaranteed counter, but given the irrational side of the phobias, you can roleplay it.
Example: even if spiders are no threat for a wizard, an arachnophobic caster could use a disintegrate Vs a small spider. You overkill the problem, wasting resources, 'cause such phobia touches deep your inner self.