Roleplaying a Burn Survivor

[Archpaladin Zousha]

As I have just mentioned in my other thread here, my latest idea for a D&D character is a Fish Out Of Temporal Water. A human scientist from the future, who gets sent via a freak accident to the even farther future, which because of two different apocalyptic events has been reduced to a medieval level of technology, and humans are now extinct.

In our last campaign, our elf bard and her elf cleric cohort were from the same time period, and had the same experience, but they suffered brain damage upon arrival and thus forgot who they were and everything that had happened to them, eventually integrating themselves into the world and recovering some of their memories when the Clockwork Servants launched their campaign of conquest.

My character is going to be similar, but there will be a few differences. First of all, the time he arrives in is about 150 years after the end of our last campaign, and secondly, while his mind remains intact, the time-vortex he falls through burns him severely, giving him nasty scars a la Anakin Skywalker.

The clincher is, I don't know how he would behave after this event. I'm thinking of giving him a low Charisma, because his scars would be repulsive to look at, but I have no idea how someone would act after recieving treatment, since I've never gotten anything worse than a little first degree burn. Does anyone here know how a burn victim recovers from their injuries? What life is like for them after that? How they cope? The concept is pretty interesting (and the only way my DM would allow me to play a human) but I don't have a clue as to how to roleplay this man.

If I have inadvertantly been offensive or insensitive to people who have suffered severe burns in their lifetime, I sincerely apologize. It was not my intention to insult or make light of your experiences.

[kamikasei]

Don't give a Charisma penalty. Give some sort of penalty to some Charisma-based skills, and perhaps a bonus to others (disfigurement hurts diplomacy, can help intimidate) - that's as far as a mundane change to appearance should go. He's not going to be less able to use spontaneous magic, turn undead, sing and play piano, or use magical devices because he's ugly now.

He's retaining his memories? You can play up the sense-of-loss angle there, then. You might also devise some cultural issues he'll run in to associated with burn victims.

[Mike_G]

IRL, severe burn victims would spend a lot of time praying for the sweet release of death.

Burns are tough to deal with. They are painful, and the new skin scar tissue is siff, and hard to use easily. Assuming he survived the burn, the fluid loss, the lack of thermoregulation, and the inevitable infections long enough to heal, the nerves will be gone, and they ain't coming back. Facial expressions will be harder to manage, so penalties to Bluff and Diplomacy are reasonable. I wouldn't use a CHA penalty, since the 'force of personality' is intact, but you could give other humans a bonus to resist his communication skill rolls, since his scars may make them uncomfortable.

If his hands were burned, he will lose sensation there as well. Penalties to fine motor skills and touch type skills make sense. (Pick pockets, open locks, disarm traps, etc)

As far as personality, he's been through hell, and isn't all the way out yet. Work with that.

[Archpaladin Zousha]

It's not a penalty, I'm just putting my lowest score there. Even before he was burned he wasn't a good people person, preferring to let other, more likeable people handle the PR while he kept working.

This isn't so much about stat-altering things as it is getting the roleplaying right. Like I said, I've never experienced severe burning, so I have no idea what it's like.

[kamikasei]

OP, an important point to consider is whether these burns primarily affect his appearance, or outright handicap his movement - Anakin needed life support, Sandor Clegane just looked scary. The effect on a character of having the face they show to others radically changed is different to that of having them lose some degree of physical ability.

I wouldn't use a CHA penalty, since the 'force of personality' is intact, but you could give other humans a bonus to resist his communication skill rolls, since his scars may make them uncomfortable.

Yeah, the way D&D handles this is a complete mess, since you have instances of hideous creatures with high CHA (illithid, demons) but also of races with CHA penalties just because a) they look ugly to humans (e.g. Orcs) or b) they're rude to other races (e.g. Dwarves) - neither of which should influence their dealings with one another or their ability to warp the nature of reality by force of will alone.

[shadzar]

Depending on severity of the burns, there could be a complete loss of the sense of touch if lucky, otherwise the nerves could be forever stuck in the sense of the burning sensation.

Touching or wearing anything could be a problem and cause of pain and mental anguish.

Severe fear of fire or flames would be another thing apparent to the character that causes the reliving of the initial event.

Dejection by others for their looks could also be common. In a land with no humans, this may be somewhat different where sacled creatures such as Lizard or Fish men walk around so may not be such a problem where it isn't even considered by other people.

[Archpaladin Zousha]

OP, an important point to consider is whether these burns primarily affect his appearance, or outright handicap his movement - Anakin needed life support, Sandor Clegane just looked scary. The effect on a character of having the face they show to others radically changed is different to that of having them lose some degree of physical ability.

Not too sure on this one. I'm hoping that eventually he'll get the chance to make himself some breathing apparatus or something, but having him need life support right away would likely mean he'd need some sort of magic item right out of the box. The idea of the class I'm taking is that he slowly implants technomagical devices into his body to help compensate for his deficiencies and eventually becomes more machine than man, though without the twisted and evil part.

And who's Sandor Clegane?

[The Neoclassic]

It's not a penalty, I'm just putting my lowest score there. Even before he was burned he wasn't a good people person, preferring to let other, more likeable people handle the PR while he kept working.

This isn't so much about stat-altering things as it is getting the roleplaying right. Like I said, I've never experienced severe burning, so I have no idea what it's like.

Well, for the Charisma, it makes sense to put his lowest stat there, but like others have said, Charisma represents force of personality much more than looks. However, if he was at all shy or not a people person before, his scars might seriously harm his self-image and confidence, which would fit in perfectly with a low Charisma.

As far as getting the roleplaying right... I wish I had some specifically helpful points, but really, I could just see two general routes. In one, it makes him shy, afraid that others will judge him by his appearance. As such, it may take him a little while to open up to people; he's suspicious that those being kind to him are just taking pity on him rather than truly interested in him as a person. On the other hand, it might make your character bitter and angry at the world. Angst or a more mature, serious "Why did this happen to me / What did I do to deserve this?" If he's religious, he might have a crisis of faith. He is probably also bothered by his appearance, but this would also fit well with him having phantom pains and recurring nightmares about his experience, with the psychological and pain issues outweighing the aesthetic worries.

Two more ideas/points below: I realize neither of these may fit with your intended direction, but I figure I'll offer them anyway. If it's contrary to what you're looking for, I entirely understand.

First off, if this individual has an access to divine/healing magic, chances are there is a spell which would remove or at least lessen the burns. I homebrewed such a spell myself (which I can link to if you're interested), or you could easily whip up something yourself. Perhaps there's even a certain magic item or quest to some place which would allow him to be fully healed. Heck, it might even be solely a myth. "Yes, go to the top of Mount Fuzzawuzz and there's a fountain there which will heal all scars." Lo and behold, when the character arrives there, it's not true and has no effect, sending him into a spiral of depression or anger at the world- perhaps even the desire to reap vengeance against those who started that folktale.

Secondly, I did make a prestige class which has severe burns as a prerequisite, if you're interested.

[kamikasei]

And who's Sandor Clegane?

A character from A Song of Ice and Fire, who was burned on one side of his face as a child. Citing him merely as contrast to Anakin, because his burns are just disfigurement that make him intimidating/frightening/ugly depending on the context (though his personality doesn't help), but whatever other ill effects they may have on him, they don't keep him from fighting.

[LurkerInPlayground]

Scientist = Wizard

It seems like a blatantly obvious route. He's could be considered an overreaching Promethean figure, perhaps almost literally because there is a fire motif involved. Literature is fraught with figures that portray the scientist as the overreacher: Faust and Dr. Frankenstein are good examples.

This could partially help explain his low charisma. In a way, he knows too much. So much so in fact that nobody is willing to accept his solutions for solving problems. His modern wisdom isolates him to the point that he is feared as an almost sinister supernatural figure. Wild rumors circulate about his scarred appearance and he is regarded as something like a cursed leper.

He's could also constantly hear people spew wild myths and misconceptions on a wide variety of topics and has long learned that his corrections aren't always appreciated, even if he's right.

The magic he becomes fascinated with is, in his mind, merely more science. It is something natural that can be studied and understood through application of the scientific process.

I very much love the pulp fiction magic-is-science-and-science-is-magic premise of a lot of these fish out of water fantasy scenarios.

[Archpaladin Zousha]

Interesting suggestions. The PRC looks cool, but the homebrew class I'm using requires me to be Lawful, so I don't think I'd qualify. Besides, a prestige class would probably just delay my ascension to becoming a living construct. He'll cover his scars with clothing and eventually a mask, he doesn't really care about healing them. Besides, these aren't scars from a normal fire. He was burned by the raw power of time-travel.

[quick_comment]

Burn victims (indeed, victims of any serious trauma) often develop depression.

[Archpaladin Zousha]

Yeh, he's definately gonna have depression. If the burns weren't enough he's trapped in a future that is a major step backwards from his original time period, leaving behind a loving wife who was pregnant with his kids and a successful career as one of the most premiere scientists of his era. Oh, and the world's about to suffer a third apocalypse.

[LurkerInPlayground]

To take the idea of the character further: His wizardry shouldn't be limited merely to his immediate magic, but also what he knows. Alchemy and knowledge skills etcetera. He's a wizard also in the sense that he's a sage (ala Gandalf).

Because if any of his modern ideas were to be acted on, and the current civilizations would apply them, he could drastically warp world. After all, he's lived in a world that has had democracies instead of feudal systems. He lived in industrialized nations that had transported people around in flying machines and had the power to level cities with nukes/disease/poison and send people into the void amongst the stars.

Much of his perspective is aware of possibilities that the current people of the era would simply consider to be a dazzling impossibility. He is, for all intents and purposes, the last survivor of a mythical cilivilization that possessed head-spinningly powerful wizardries.

[Wulfram]

Wouldn't regenerate fix him?

[Archpaladin Zousha]

Well, he's not a wizard. He's going to be taking a custom class called a Clockwork Scholar. If you follow the link in my OP, you can see my other thread, where I asked about the mechanical viability of the class.

[Bonecrusher Doc]

Some of it depends how the NPCs around him react to his burns. I recall reading some stories about veterans severely disfigured by burns who became very reclusive because they didn't like people staring or children crying when they went out in public. In your world, the burns might be only secondarily unusual compared to the fact that he's the only human around.

[Admiral Squish]

Renegade masterworker I think was the class. Turns you into a warforged over 10 levels, and you get to advance as an artificer during that time. I don't have my books, but I think that was it.

I've seen your clockwork scholar. Personally, I think the artificer does the job better. You should really give it a look.

[Archpaladin Zousha]

My DM used the Artificer as the inspiration for the Scholar. I'd give the artificer a look if I had the book.

[Admiral Squish]

You mentioned your DM used it as inspiration. Does he have the book? Perhaps you could borrow it.

[Archpaladin Zousha]

You know, that's a good point. I'll ask and see if that'll work.

[Archpaladin Zousha]

Still haven't heard back from my DM, but is there anything else I should know about playing a character with burn scars all over his body?

[tcrudisi]

Michael Weston. He's the prime example of how to play a great burn victim. If you don't know who that is, try to find some old Burn Notice episodes.

[Dixieboy]

will be harder to manage, so penalties to Bluff and Diplomacy

I almost agree with everything, this not included.

Sure he'll have a hard time giving an innocent smile to make the guards let him pass with his shipment of illegal goods.

However small twitches in the facial area due to lying and stuff?
Gone.

[Archpaladin Zousha]

I'm probably going to avoid the social skills. After doing some thinking about the backstory, here's sort of what I've hammered out:

Deucalion was one of the greatest scientists of his time, and a pioneer in the field of nanotechnology. He had it all. A high-powered career, the respect of the scientific community, and Phyrra, his beautiful wife, was pregnant. However, one of his latest experiments reacted very volatily, opening a portal through time that sucked Deucalion in. Exposure to the pure forces of time and space being warped and shaped obliterated Deucalion's clothes and burned his entire body. It was only a few moments, but when the portal vomited him up, he was burned beyond all recognition, and it was at least a millenium later.

Deucalion was discovered by a group of kobolds who took him to the local temple for treatment. Once Deucalion was saved by the healing magic of the priests there, he was greatly surprised. He recognized the "spell" the priest was using as an application of the nanotechnology he'd been working on. Once he was well enough to travel, Deucalion explored the brave new world, discovering a great many things. Firstly, the world had undergone a second Ice Age and was reborn as Thule. Technology had regressed to a medieval state, and the nanotechnology he'd helped develop was considered magic by the natives. He also learned that 150 years ago, a being called the Clockwork Spirit had been destroyed, causing a great disaster that ended what his hosts called the Age of Kings and ushered in the current age, the Age of Exodus.

Deucalion was horrified that the technologies he had helped develop had gotten so out-of-control. After learning as much as he could about the outside world, he set off on a sort of archaeological expedition. His goal was to find lost "Clockwork" technology to see if it could be repurposed for the betterment of civilization. If it couldn't, he would make sure that it did not cause another cataclysm. While he mourns the golden age he left behind, and wonders what happened to Phyrra after he dissapeared, he knows that he can't change the past, and so has dedicated himself to saving what's left. He is a true living fossil, being the only living human left in Thule.

[Dixieboy]

Firstly off:

The guy is go ing to be slightly insane, or going to NEED soial skillz

He is running around in a world he created without knowing it, after having broken sciene as we know it and having been sucked through time and halfway burned to death.
He knows bugger all about anything and his only "allies" are a tribe of kobolds. (They don't really count though, as all we know about them are that they are willing to save people lying around in a state of being an almost corpse)

Also: The way you worded the thing about his wife looked quite a bit like foreshadowing of some sort.

[Archpaladin Zousha]

In our campaign setting, kobolds went and formed a nation, inspired from another PC from the previous campaign, a CN kobold werewolf sorcerer who collected the ears of his slain foes and became a demigod following his rockin' retirement.

And yeah, I intentionally wrote the bit about Phyrra as foreshadowing bait. I'm hoping the DM latches onto the idea and incorporates it into the campaign.

[Fitz10019]

Assuming his burns have permanently destroyed the nerves of his skin, the lack of tactile input is a limited form of sensory deprivation. He may have tactilely vivid dreams.

He may be obscessed with his remaining senses. I don't mean bonuses to Spot or Listen, but RPing a fixation with music or natural beauty or flavors, or extreme paranoia about possible damage to his eyes or ears.

He may resent witnessing tactile comforts or pleasures of other people.

On the other hand, he may perceive the experience as an almost literal baptism of fire, a fortunate event, and eagerly pursue further shedding his humanity/=/weaknesses, which would fit the class choice.

[Archpaladin Zousha]

I like the obsession with his other senses idea.

I was also pondering if maybe his family line continued (since his wife was pregnant when the accident happened) until the last member of his bloodline was my previous character, a human paladin who died of old age in the 150 year interrim between the last campaign and this one. The idea is that the technology he helped create damned the world, but in the end, his family redeemed itself somewhat by preventing that technology from consuming the world, and it's time for him to finish the job.

Too contrived?

[ShadowsGrnEyes]

OK I feel that I would be uniquely qualified to give you some insight.


I am a burn survior (those of us who have survived 3rd degree burns or worse prefer this terminology. "victim" tends to lead to depression as it results in feeling helpless.)

The odd part with severe burns is that at first it doesnt hurt that bad, feels kinda achey but thats it. The nerves get burned away and when they do so does the majority of the ability to sense pain. If you were burned and it hurt, your lucky, that means it was second or first degree and while you might have scars your recovery was alot easier than it could have been.

With a severe burn the pain kicks in a couple weeks later when the nerves start to grow back (Yes the nerves in your skin can grow back). Nerves however grow much FASTER than skin. You develope little white bumps all over the burned areas. These little white bumps are raw nerve endings. AIR feels like sandpaper at this point. Without incredibly powerful painkillers the pain alone can send you into shock. For this reason people with significant percentages of their body burned are sometimes put into chemical coma's to recover.

Once the skin grows back enough to cover the nerves which can take months then your looking and minimum a few months, maximum the rest of your life in physical therapy to constantly flex and stretch the scared skin or you loose range of motion. (Example: I was burned on my hand and couldnt write with a normal pencil for 3 months)

The scars tend to develop in bands (areas of hard bunched scar tissue between areas of unusual wrinkly skin that lacks felxibility. If you're hands were burned severly you could be unable to flex them enough to grasp items. If your face was burned you could be unable to smile or manipulate your lips for speaking. You could be unable to sleep without blinder cause your eyelids could no longer close correctly. Scars on the body could restrict your ability to move your arms and legs or even walk without severe pain and pulling from the scar bands. The Bands will grow out from the skin and look like pink bumpy masses unless special "pressure garments" are worn to hold the skin tight as it heals.


THAT SAID, some sort of mental trauma is normal as a result of the extream pain resulting from the healing process would be expected. A fobia of fire is most common. The physical limitations depend entirely on how badly he was burned and how skilled medical attention he recieved. If he had excelent medical attention he could have no penalties. If he had crap for medical attention and still somehow managed to survive then he would have problems with flexibility and movement as well as severe mental trauma from enduring the pain.