[flaw] smarter than the normal person

[knightsaline]

most of the subject titles were too long for this. the content is taken from the post [flaws] new flaws, by lolrd iames,the CoP or whatever hes calling himself these days

Autism, mild [autism]
you seem slightly out of touch with the outside world
Prereqisites: Human blood, must be taken at first level
Disadvantage: you take a - 5 to all charisma related checks, you gain the skill Knowledge (useless information)


(flaw) Autism, Severe [autism]
you are so out of touch with reality, you are locked in your own world
Prereqisites: Human, must be taken at first level
Disadvantages: you take a - 20 to charisma checks, are non-vocal and are fixated on an item. if the item is taken away/destroyed, you are considered helpless

(Flaw) Aspergers syndrome. [autism]
you are mildly autisic, yet are able to remember the most obscure information
Prerequisites: Human, must be taken at first level
Disadvantages: you take a - 5 to CHA related checks, gain the ability to make usless information checks. knowledge (useless information) becomes a class skill for you regardless of class.you must also take medication in order to function in what society seems to be normal. the medication is called scriblin and costs 100 gp for 100 days dosage. without this mediction, you act impulsively and are easily swayed (will checks are made at a - 4 penalty)


(ability) Useless information you seem to be able to pull the most obsure and useless information from the depths of your headmeat. this works like a bardic knowledge check, but with a few differences. the DC of the check goes up by +10, and you use your ranks in knowledge (useless information) instead of knowledge (history). you may not take 10 or 20 on this check, it is essentially random.

(feat) Savant.
your flaw gives you an advantage over others
Prerequisite: must have a flaw with the [autism] descriptor
Advantages: choose one a) you can do extra damage with a weapon or b) make your offensive spells more difficult to resist.if you choose a) , you do 1d4 extra damage. this damage is like the flaming modification to a weapon, as in it is not multiplied by criticals. if you choose b) treat your opponents spell resistance as being 5 points lower
Special: A fighter or wizard may take this as one of his bonus feats

[feat] Greater Savant
your knowledge gives you a greater advantage over others
Prerequisites: must have a flaw with the [autism] descriptor, Savant feat, 16 int
Advantages: choose one. a) you do extra damage with a weapon, or b) make your offensive spells more difficult to resist. if you choose a), you deal 1d8 extra damage with a weapon.if you choose b), treat your opponents spell resistance as being 10 lower. regardless of your choce, the effects do not stack with the effects of Savant
Special: A fighter or wizard may take this as one of their bonus feats

[feat] Superiour Savant
your knowledge gives you an even betterr advantage over others
Prerequisite: must have a flaw with the [autism] descriptor, Savant and Greater Savant feats, Int 19 and Wis 19
Advantages: choose one. a) you do extra damage with your weapon or b) your spells are harder to resist. if you choose a), you deal 1d12 extra damage.if you choose b) treat your opponents spelkl resistance as being 15 lower.
regardless of your choice, these effects do not stack with the ones provided by Savant and Greater Savant
Special: a fighter or wizard may choose this feat as one of their bonus feats.

[Drug] Scriblin
Scriblin was created to help people with their attention related problems. you must have an autism related flaw in order to legally have this on your person. the cost is 100 gp for 100 days worth of medication. when you first take scriblin, you must make a fortitude check (DC 20) to resist being nauseated (I couldn't find anything resembling a headache) for the rest of the day. scriblin is impossible to become addicted to. selling individual scriblin doses is a chaotic ast, yet you can make up to 60 gp per dose to the right buyer.
inital effect: none
secondary effect: allows an autistic person to funcion normally
side effect: scriblins side effect only happens when the person does not take scriblin for 2 days. they must make a fort check (DC 20) or be nausiated
overdose: 1d4 con damage if more than 3 doses taken in a 24 hour period
special: must be prescribed by a telepath with at least 20 ranks in profession (psychologist).

any thoughts? post your comments here, post your complaints to that brick wall over there. post your autism related feats here.

edit: added the scriblin drug and the reason why aspies need it

[Lord Iames Osari]

1stly - According to the writeups here, I don't see any difference between Mild Autism and Asperger's Syndrome. Could you clarify?

The feats look alright. The only thing I would change is the progression of bonus damage. 1d4 for Savant i fine, but then 1b8 and 1d12 seem a little excessive. Maybe 1d4 -> 1d6 -> 1d8 would be better?

[Pegasos989]

I kinda find it odd that autistic person takes penalties to CHA instead of WIS, as wisdom means your common sense, senses, instincts... I would say that autistic person could become awesome in playing piano or something but would have the minuses in spotting, listening...

Also, why is this human only? Can no other races be autistic?

[Lord Iames Osari]

I can take the ability scores question. From what I've read and heard, classic autistics actually have more acute senses in some ways. If you've read any Terry Pratchett, I can put it like this: Autistics have an impaired capablity for boredom. What this means, basically, is they perceive everything around them all the time. They have information overload; they can't shut out all the little details of what they see, hear, smell, touch, and taste. This hinders their ability to interact with others, because they can't get past everything that's coming at them. Thus, Cha penalties, not Wis penalties.

[MrSeth]

Wrong. So very wrong.


Aspergers? Sure, that's actually helpful. I would know, I bloody well have it. So does Bill Gates. Autism? HELL NO. My little brother was misdiagnosed as being autistic at age 2, and let me tell you... it's quite the ring of Hell having to deal with it.

(For the record, most of this "autism epidemic" that's going on these days is autoimmune ailments that produce autistic symptoms. My brother has an underlying virus - Herpes Zoster, AKA Rubella - that has crossed his blood/brain barrier, creating encephalitis. Once the virus has been defeated, something that's extremely hard, he'll be effectively normal, if somewhat developmentally delayed.)

[Caelestion]

I too have AS and while I've thought about this, such a wide syndrome of abilities cannot be represented with a system of flaws designed to emulate a Rain Man style character.
Try out this link for the DSM write-up.

You could try these flaws:

Thunderingly Unobservant: -4 to Listen and Spot
Socially Inept: -3 to all social Charisma checks

[knightsaline]

Aspies and auties don't know how to handle themselves in public, thus the CHA penalty.

let me restate why these flaws are human blood only (I might like to point out that I said human BLOOD), elves seem to already be autistic to me, dwarves don't seem to be the kind to have auties and aspies in their gene pool, orcs would kill an aspie on sight (due to them beleving in a god that preaches "kill the weak and loot their flesh"), gnomes and halflings I really cannot see as being aspies. thus, human blood carries the autism gene.

I just wanted to stat up aspbergers syndrome, just to see what would happen. Aspergers orginally had the following
@ -5 to CHA
@ + 10 to wisdom and intelligence
@ must spend at least one skill point per level on knowledge (magic steam caravans that are capable of speech)
@ + 5 to spellcraft for the purpouse of creating spells
let me remind you that these were things taken out of aspbergers syndrome, don't flame me about these

the difference between aspbergers syndrome is the Useless information ability

I made the Supeiour Savant feat really hard to gain, look at the requirements, int and wis must both be 19, what fighter would have both wis and int that high? having hard requirements allows you to have powerful abilities (look at vow of poverty for an example)

[Caelestion]

I'm not flaming you, at least. However, if you must insist on emulating serious real-world conditions via flaws, at least try to get them somewhere near an acceptable level. For the record, I think the whole Thomas the Tank Engine idea is stupid. If you must include a bizarre obsession - and you must - please stay within the expected magic/technology of the given world.
I think a penalty to Charisma is appropriate, because social awkwardness is not only a giveaway trait, "autists" don't tend to have very forthright personalities either. The other stat mods are completely out of line - Asperger's may occur more in those with higher than average intelligence, but certainly not to the extent that the original numvers portrayed. Likewise, the Wisdom mods are completely off, particularly considering many people's lack of observation, intution or simple unemployability.

While I'm at it, those flaws are far too extreme. I also get the feeling that they are rather fun-smothering, as it were. It might be interesting for a neurotypical to attempt to play a thin attempt at an aspie etc., but I can't imagine any actual sufferer wanting to. (Yes, I used 'sufferer' simply because it is a serious condition and imposes many problems, not because any living moment is sheer hell.)

[knightsaline]

I have aspbergers syndrome and I would want to play a fighter or samurai with aspbergers syndrome, hell, why not make a god with aspergers syndrome.

I do not think that aspergers is a curse, for everything taken away, something must be given to compensate. I used to think that I would get psychic powers and rain destruction on those who mocked me.

the things I listed above were the things taken out of it, not what I was considering to put in.

how would YOU make aspergers more plausible? don't say you have not thought about it.

the severe autism was based on a boy i know named jason who is non vocal,fixated on an item and squeals quite loudly when you take it away from him. the mild autism is based on a boy at school and the original aspergers was based on me.

[Caelestion]

Well, frankly, moderate to severe autism is unplayable. If they are that autistic, you then have the silly situation where the elderly wizard sucks his thumb and plays with his teddy throughout most of the adventure, completely not communicating, until bad guys try to take his teddy and he unleashes high-level wizard goodness on them. It might be amusing to watch, but it's somewhat tasteless and must be terribly boring.

[Cybren]

IMO there's already a mechanic for this: having low cha

[Caelestion]

While I defend your right to always have an opinion, Cybren, you either haven't read the thread properly or have no idea what you're typing about. The autistic spectrum can NOT be simply quantified with a low Charisma and nor can any feat/flaw attempting to replicate it.

Incidentally, SK, I was just reading today in the UK Radio Times about how autistic people apparently identify more readily with Thomas the Tank Engine because of the formulaic plots and obvious expressions. Then again, I know that when I was diagnosed 10 summers ago, when I had just abandoned A-levels, autism and its related difficulties were only just starting to be properly appreciated and recognised.

[knightsaline]

the severe autism could be only applied to NPCs, like the prince/princess who is never seen, due to his/her parents being ashamed of him/her. the PCs could go on a quest to find a "cure" or get some scriblin for him/her. of course, there is no cure, short of a few wishes/miricles/reality revisions. anyway, you couldn't have a severly autistic wizard, due to them being unable to cast spells with a vocal component. I could make the fixated item like a personal focus (destruction costs 2000 XP and unable to cast spells with a focus) rathe than a real weakness.

scriblin really needs some work, just don't ask how I came up with the name.