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View Full Version : Potraying a Traumatized Character Without Being Whiny



Leliel
2013-04-22, 11:48 AM
Anyway, I've read the Eldritch Jailor (http://paizo.com/threads/rzs2pncu?Pact-Magic-Unbound-New-Occultist-Archetype) Occultist (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/classes/3rd-party-classes/radiance-house/occultist) archetype, and due to my fascination with all things summon magic, I decided to finally make that Metal Gear Ac!d inspired character.

The inspiration being the human Kodoku they have, ie the sole survivor of a massive brawl to the death meant to augment her own psychic abilities by absorbing the power of everyone she killed. The brawlers, it should be noted, being all children.

With my character idea, it's mostly the same, with one critical difference-the people who turned him into a Kodoku (or a Quincunx, in my own expy terminology, after the "five dot" pattern on dice and dominoes) made him befriend the other brawlers first, in the belief that empathy would allow better power absorption. And that the other kids are still with him-thanks to the fact that his bound spirits hijacked his body and senses to save him from having to personally murder his friends, their sould were merged into his eidolon, and it's violent attitudes are due to it being the conglomeration of four traumatized children.

Naturally, I don't want Alexi (my working name for him-I like the irony of "conqueror" being a name for the person who's most traumatic experience ever was forced survival of the fittest) to be annoying while portraying the massively deep scars this would realistically create...realistically. He's a little better than before (he broke out when he was able to send his eidolon to lead a group of paladins to the tower he was imprisoned in and was adopted by their attached cleric), but those scars still run deep. But angst is so often annoying.

Any help with this?

Rhynn
2013-04-22, 11:55 AM
Mental trauma is usually internalized and kept there. People don't talk about it, which is commonly part of the problem. They just act out - abusing people close to them, suicide, extended suicide, problems forming and maintaining relationships. In a game (or movie, or series, or comic) this mostly gets distilled down to "broody and quiet," which works.

Seriously, how would someone talk about experiences like that, anyway? "This is just like when they made me murder all my friends as a child!" How stupid, cheesy, and unrealistic are lines like that?

Of course, this also means that nobody's likely to actually find out about your character's past, which tends to be a giant problem for people who come up with and write elaborate backstories. You'll just have to get over those urges. The truth is, usually nobody else really cares about your backstory, anyway...

Leliel
2013-04-22, 12:04 PM
Of course, this also means that nobody's likely to actually find out about your character's past, which tends to be a giant problem for people who come up with and write elaborate backstories. You'll just have to get over those urges. The truth is, usually nobody else really cares about your backstory, anyway...

Well, not if you're coming from the WoD school. The ST system practically begs for more complex backstories, and asks the STs to use them.

To me, the best backstories are those that have plot hooks built in. Such as other Quincunx who didn't escape the cycle, and whoever the hell makes them.

Amaril
2013-04-22, 12:10 PM
Well, not if you're coming from the WoD school. The ST system practically begs for more complex backstories, and asks the STs to use them.

To me, the best backstories are those that have plot hooks built in. Such as other Quincunx who didn't escape the cycle, and whoever the hell makes them.

That may be, but having a backstory like that, even if it has built-in plot hooks, doesn't automatically mean you have to act it out constantly. Restrict mentioning your character's trauma to when it actually comes up in the plot, and just play his personality normally the rest of the time.

Leliel
2013-04-22, 12:27 PM
That may be, but having a backstory like that, even if it has built-in plot hooks, doesn't automatically mean you have to act it out constantly. Restrict mentioning your character's trauma to when it actually comes up in the plot, and just play his personality normally the rest of the time.

I wasn't planning on it. I know being dominated by a single, traumatic event gets annoying, hence why we all despise Shinji Ikari. It's not because we see enough of the Super Robot fan in him to be uncomfortable, it's that nobody in real life (that we normally know) acts like he does.

This is for the other bits of "meaningful, non-obnoxious angst".

Scow2
2013-04-22, 12:27 PM
Biggest problem is that, because you're playing an avatar, other players might see what you're doing and not think "Why is he doing (irrational action that would be explained if they knew)", and instead think "That player's characters actions aren't logical and he's not offering a long explanation for his reasoning. Therefore, he's not playing his character right."

Man on Fire
2013-04-22, 12:55 PM
Have your action show how trauma affected you. Good example here woudl be Guts from Berserk. Spoiler, because it's Berserk.

As a kid, Guts was sold by his own father to pedophile, who raped him. We never see him whining about it, but he reacts agressively whenever anybody touches him and later, when he is about to have sex with his love interest, he had sudden flashbacks to that incident, which reduces him to sobbigd wreck.


Simpler example - Batman or Punisher. Neither does whine to anybody about what messed him up (unless you count internal monologues) but let their behavior speak for themselves.

Also, you may consider looking at other characters through the perspective of the trauma. You can dismiss those who try to scolds you, because they haven't been through what you was, so what do they know about life? You may also become sympathetic towards those of similiar background, understandign what they're going through. If meet somebody your character can relate to on this ground, especially if that person is in worse situation, you may consider the idea of becoming protective towards them. Maybe even a bit obsessive. And if ever forced in situation where
Lelouch from Code Geass is a good example of those (warning, some spoilers from the series):


He and his sister, Nunally, both suffered from the same traumatic events, but he came better of it and dedicated his life to protecting her and in the end became terrorist to make world better for her. It a sign of major character growth for him when nunally is taken under the wigns of his enemeis and actually has better life, and he decides to continue his crusade, after realizing he doesn't do it only for her, but for all other people who he cares about.

There is also other event - his friend and love interest is caught up in the plot, manipulated by one of his enemeis and suffers mental breakdown because of it. He uses his powers to force her to forget those events. Later he is hit by similiar power from his arch enemy, made to forget his entire life and given false memories. Once he regains his memory, he realizes he isn't much better than his enemy and tries to make amends for it.


Another example would be between protagonists of G Gundam (Domon) and Tekkaman Blade (D-Boy) in crossover game Super Robot Wars J. Again, spoilers for both aniem and game:


Domon had seen his brather go insane, kill their father, steal said father's greatest invention, turn it into a weapon of mass destruction and run away with it. Revenge had become his main motivation. Over the course of the story he is betrayed by his Master and closest friend, and sees his friends taken over by Devil gundam and turned into minions of his brother.

D-Boy has been kidnapped, alongside his siblings and friends, including his swordmanship teacher, by aliens, who tried to turn them into their generals. D-Boy was the only one who managed to break their mind control and escape, but now he must fight all people dear to him, if he wants to save the world. And that's not even all bad things that happen to him.

There are subtle hints that, over the course of the game, Domon sees their similiarities and becomes understanding, supportive, and even, to some extend, protective (through not too much, he won't stop him from ruhing to combat, because he understands how he feels) of D-Boy. Hell, when D-Boy wants to fight the big bad alone, Domon is first to say he will stand by his side no matter what and first to tell him his nightmare is over, once big bad is defeated.


Aother good idea to explore it is to ask your gm to set up a character that will reveal similiar backstory to your's character and use it to manipulate him to do his biding. There was interesting example of this in Runaways comics book - titular team of teenagers, who ran away from home once they found out their parents are evil fratternity of supervillains, meet a kid, who claims to have been forced into life of crime by his evil parents. Feeling empathy towards him, they let him join the goup. Later it turns out guy is a vampire and he made up that backstory to get close to dumb teenagers he can kill.
(This may also be good way to explain your character's story to the rest of the party)

Last one - would your character meet somebody who happens to use similiar backstory as justification for his crimes, your character is allowed to either feel sympathy or flip their s***, depending on the situation - this guy is an echo of how you could have turned out to be, this always brings up strong emotional reaction from people. Example from, otherwise horrible 9at least I hated it), Gun X Sword:


Main character travels the world looking for a man who murdered his beloved. He meets another guy, who is looking for the same man for the same reason. However, this other guy is willing to sacrifice innocent people in his quest, which leads to them quickly growing mutual dislike for one another.

Amaril
2013-04-22, 02:43 PM
I wasn't planning on it. I know being dominated by a single, traumatic event gets annoying, hence why we all despise Shinji Ikari. It's not because we see enough of the Super Robot fan in him to be uncomfortable, it's that nobody in real life (that we normally know) acts like he does.

This is for the other bits of "meaningful, non-obnoxious angst".

Speak for yourself, man--Shinji's annoying, sure, but it's hard to really despise him when he's placed next to Asuka (for whom my hatred burns with the heat of a thousand suns).

And he doesn't exactly harp on about his abandonment issues constantly--some episodes, we barely see him whining about it at all. Most of those were before the writer got stuck so far up his own anatomy that he decided to completely abandon the original plot and just do constant head-trips, though.

Randel
2013-04-22, 03:05 PM
Few ideas:
1. He has a deep seated hatred of cults or organisations like the one who basically ruined his childhood. If he hears about any such secret organisations, he becomes single-mindedly bent on their destruction (not only killing the cultists but eliminating the leaders or whatever books, gods, goal the cult is dedicated to).

2. Donates some of his money to churches or orphanages to help out children or make up for what he was forced to do.

3. Remembers the names of the friends he killed and occasionally writes "letters" to them. Sort of like keeping a journal in that it tells what he's been up to, but it's addressed to them. Not sure where their souls are right now (absorbed into him?) but reading the letters might "send" them to them or perhaps he might spend money on a Speak with Dead spell to keep in touch with them somehow.

4. He's fairly religious. Even if his class doesn't get divine spells, he has an interest in the afterlife and wants to ensure his friends get the afterlife they deserve. If they are bound/absorbed by him, he might worry that their souls would share his fate so he tries to keep to the Lawful Good path.

5. Investigate a way to free them if possible. Like bargain with a Lawful Good god to let his friends get into a good afterlife in exchange for him doing a task. Utterly refuses bargains with evil beings.

6. Really dislikes the idea of child soldiers, organisations who train their warriors from childhood lose points with him. Perhaps irrationally, they could have legitimate and safe training programs and he can accept that if they are genuine, but still hates having children trained to be killers. (Probably have a fit with the Jedi order keeping children from their parents even if they are the "good guys").

7. Refuses to "kill the kobold babies" even if it's agreed they are evil. He'll try to "take a third option" to help them out, even if it's difficult.

8. Keeps a journal or notebook he uses to record or plan in. If he recognizes that he's traumatized, he records his thoughts in there to ensure he can "remember" events accurately later (since his views could color his memories), also records his thoughts privately so he doesn't bother his team with them. If the party rogue or anyone else sneaks a peek at the journal, they might notice something is up.

9. He buys an intelligent magic item with ranks in Profession(Therapist). After a few sessions with this incredibly useful item he makes peace with his inner demons and can live a normal adventurous life despite his horrifically traumatic backstory. (Okay, this wasn't exactly serious, but it would be kind of funny).

Adventurer 1: Okay, we got ourselves a sword. What does it do?

Sword of Psychotherapy: Good evening! I am a +2 Sword of Psychotherapy. In addition to dealing additional damage against Outsiders and certain forms of undead, I can use my knowledge of psychotherapy to heal the numerous emotional scars that adventures are likely to aquire on their journey.

Adventurer 1: Can you heal physical wounds?

Sword of Psychotherapy: No, I cannot heal your hitponts, but I can restore Sanity Points if the campaign uses them or at least help alleviate the scars aquired from an overly traumatic backstory.

Adventurer 2: Do you have a name? And why are you constantly breaking character?

Sword of Psychotherapy: A minor quirk of my design that was chosen to save on crafting costs. I refuse to accept a name other than +2 Sword of Psychotherapy on the grounds that anthropomorphising a weapon would be unhealthy. As for "breaking character" I believe the sooner people accept that we are all merely fictional characters in a tabletop game, the better off everyone will be.

Adventurer 2: So you're a therapy tool for non-roleplayers? Lame!

Adventurer with a Tragic Past: Eh, I'll take my chances. *takes the sword*

Leliel
2013-04-22, 03:09 PM
3. Remembers the names of the friends he killed and occasionally writes "letters" to them. Sort of like keeping a journal in that it tells what he's been up to, but it's addressed to them. Not sure where their souls are right now (absorbed into him?) but reading the letters might "send" them to them or perhaps he might spend money on a Speak with Dead spell to keep in touch with them somehow.

Absorbed into his eidolon-if you've played Final Fantasy X, that's his aeon, the creature he relies on as a summoner. It's a Pathfinder class.

9. He buys an intelligent magic item with ranks in Profession(Therapist). After a few sessions with this incredibly useful item he makes peace with his inner demons and can live a normal adventurous life despite his horrifically traumatic backstory. (Okay, this wasn't exactly serious, but it would be kind of funny).

Adventurer 1: Okay, we got ourselves a sword. What does it do?

Sword of Psychotherapy: Good evening! I am a +2 Sword of Psychotherapy. In addition to dealing additional damage against Outsiders and certain forms of undead, I can use my knowledge of psychotherapy to heal the numerous emotional scars that adventures are likely to aquire on their journey.

Adventurer 1: Can you heal physical wounds?

Sword of Psychotherapy: No, I cannot heal your hitponts, but I can restore Sanity Points if the campaign uses them or at least help alleviate the scars aquired from an overly traumatic backstory.

Adventurer 2: Do you have a name? And why are you constantly breaking character?

Sword of Psychotherapy: A minor quirk of my design that was chosen to save on crafting costs. I refuse to accept a name other than +2 Sword of Psychotherapy on the grounds that anthropomorphising a weapon would be unhealthy. As for "breaking character" I believe the sooner people accept that we are all merely fictional characters in a tabletop game, the better off everyone will be.

Adventurer 2: So you're a therapy tool for non-roleplayers? Lame!

Adventurer with a Tragic Past: Eh, I'll take my chances. *takes the sword*

*snicker* This entire thread was worth it for that.

JusticeZero
2013-04-30, 12:42 PM
The main thing I note is that there is a few triggers that remind you of whatever happened that just bring you up cold. Maybe you just will not let anyone grab your hand, or you can't eat anything that tastes salty, or you can't stand the taste of alcohol and won't willingly go into a bar, or something. It's a small, tight group of irrational "no" buttons that you can push through only at the cost of being miserable for a little bit. You can offhandedly explain why this is an issue if anyone asks, but you probably won't volunteer the information otherwise.

If you see people walking with a limp of some sort, often it's because not walking like that makes them move through a small range of motion that is painful; they're pretty much OK as long as they don't bend it *that way*, and so they rearrange their movements so that they don't ever accidentally bend *that way* at the cost of moving in a way that's noticeably odd. What you want to aim for in this case is a character who is overall a pleasant character, but has what is essentially a noticeable psychological limp.

Slipperychicken
2013-04-30, 01:53 PM
Sounds like he should be more angry than whiny.

Need_A_Life
2013-05-11, 08:32 AM
There's no real "right" answer. It's just one more thing that happened to your character that will inform his future choices.

And if the other players look at you strangely for not following your character's chain of logic, then too bad. In any game where backgrounds matter, simply going out and saying things outright is a waste of good drama.

LemonSkye
2013-05-12, 02:44 AM
Sounds like he should be more angry than whiny.

That's what I was thinking, too. Eliot Spencer, from Leverage, might be a good personality model. He's had to do a lot of bad things for bad people, and he's pretty much constantly angry and very, very curt. He refuses to discuss his past trauma with anyone, both because of the shame he feels regarding his actions, and the fact that he just doesn't like revisiting it. His backstory involves children, too--and present-day Eliot makes up for it by going out of his way to protect kids in danger. This also applies to his protection of his friends/team.He will stop at nothing to keep everyone safe. Up to and including killing a man with an appetizer.

Alternatively, your character may actively despise children, due to them being a trigger for him, and seek to avoid them wherever possible. He may act childishly himself, due to the presence of their psyches in his mind. Or, he could even be overly happy and cheerful, choosing to hide his pain behind a sunny, friendly disposition--only to completely snap and turn into a murderous rage-beast when he enters combat or gets triggered.

There really isn't a wrong way to portray someone who's been through a traumatic event. Each person is unique, and handles their baggage in their own way. Go ahead and pick whichever you feel is right for your character.

Slipperychicken
2013-05-12, 08:47 AM
children

Now you've reminded me of a great example. You could use Jack from Mass Effect 2 as inspiration here, considering that her backstory included her being severely traumatized as a child by scientists trying to create the ultimate psychic biotic warrior. She was forced to murder a large number of her friends to hone her powers, and is one of the strongest biotics around as a result. It made her abrasive and suspicious toward everyone else, in addition to fostering a mistrust for authority, it got her into a life of crime, landing her in the setting's equivalent to Superjail. If there's one thing you can say about Jack, it's that she most definitely isn't whiny.