Flaw: Claustrophobia

[Chrono22]

Claustrophobia
Prerequisite: Character level 1st.
Summary: You have an irrational fear of enclosed and confined spaces. Depending on the severity of the situation, you can be overcome by a sense of paranoia and nervousness, to outright panic.
Effect: Whenever you enter an enclosed area (buildings, small rooms, 10 ft. hallways), you must succeed a DC 10 will save or become shaken. The shaken condition remains until the source of your phobia is removed. Each hour you remain in an enclosed space, you must make an additional will save, of suffer the shaken condition. If you are already shaken, you instead become frightened. For each hour you remain in an enclosed space, the DC of the will save to resist your phobia increases by 1.
Whenever you attempt to enter a confined space (a closet, a narrow tunnel, a chest) you must succeed a DC 15 will save to enter. If you fail, you become shaken for 1d4+1 rounds. Even if you succeed, you become shaken and remain so until you leave the confined space. Each round you are in a confined space, you must succeed a DC 18 will save or become frightened. If you are already frightened, you instead become panicked.
Benefit: One bonus feat, chosen at first level.
Special: You cannot gain claustrophobia as a flaw if you are immune to fear.

Conditions Summary-
Shaken: A shaken character takes a -2 penalty on attack rolls, saving throws, skill checks, and ability checks.
Frightened: A frightened creature flees from the source of its fear as best it can. If unable to flee, it may fight. A frightened creature takes a -2 penalty on all attack rolls, saving throws, skill checks, and ability checks. A frightened creature can use special abilities, including spells, to flee; indeed, the creature must use such means if they are the only way to escape.
Panicked: A panicked creature must drop anything it holds and flee at top speed from the source of its fear, as well as any other dangers it encounters, along a random path. It can’t take any other actions. In addition, the creature takes a -2 penalty on all saving throws, skill checks, and ability checks. If cornered, a panicked creature cowers. A panicked creature can use special abilities, including spells, to flee; indeed, the creature must use such means if they are the only way to escape.

Your thoughts on this?

[Zeta Kai]

That's actually pretty cool, Chrono. At first, I thought it was overpowered, but considering that nearly all dungeon-crawling & roleplaying intrigue is going to take place indoors, I suppose that it's balanced. Good job; rather unusual flaw.

BTW, you could do an Agoraphobia one just as easily. Just copy/paste this, & make it the opposite. Then you'd have an interesting character: one who can't leave the dungeon.

[Icewalker]

I've never been the best at balancing, and I know even less about the balance of flaws, but could this be less balanced because at higher levels the will saves would be guaranteed?

Regardless, good idea, and well made/written out. Definitely helps define a character, which is what flaws should be for.

[Chrono22]

Hmm.. I guess it depends on the class. Ones with poor will saves still have a chance of failing the will save at higher levels.
I'd go with a scaling dc, but it really wouldn't make much sense. The whole point of gaining levels is that you're able to gradually become better (become more resistant to attacks, spell effects, fears). And I think, with the prevalence of dungeons and buildings in any campaign, with the sheer number of will saves you'd have to make, even a high level character is bound to fail enough of them to feel the hurt.
I've changed up the prereqs a bit, and added a restriction- now a character can only get this at 1st level, and can't if he is immune to fear.

[DracoDei]

It sounds fine to me... then again I have never worked with flaws so that is just my gut talking... haven't even looked at the ones in the SRD recently...

If you want it to scale a bit, make it trigger at increased DCs when grappled by a creature more than 2 size classes or more larger, and/or when swallowed whole... since neither of those are likely to happen at low levels, and realistically are more severe situations than merely being in a narrow corridor it would seem to me to make sense. It is both tighter, and INTENDED to cause harm.

[Fizban]

Well, flaws *supposedly* are a worse penalty than feat, but feats are there for new abilities that remain useful for your entire career, so a flaw should give a moderately avoidable penalty that lasts your entire career.

This one's pretty good, though I'd change it to a straight wisdom check and maybe drop the DC a little to compensate. Grappling and swallowed checks are a good idea too. I'd also state that immunity to fear doesn't work against this fear, as it's too deeply ingrained to ignore (unless you, say, blow a feat on it). A flaw shouldn't be so easily avoidable (for example, the Vulnerable flaw is disgusting: a -1 penalty to AC? Seriously? People forget +1 modifiers to attack all the time, -1 AC isn't going to matter, especially compared to the Metamagic/Tactial feat combo the character will get 3 levels sooner).

[Roderick_BR]

I like. Reminds me directly of Storm from X-Men.
Will saves would be good, just make the DC increase every hour, or something. At lower levels he'll be panicing after a couple hours, at higher levels, he can hold back his phobia for half a day (like Storm does nowadays).
Instead of saying that you can't take it if you have fear immunity, just say that fear immunity doesn't affect it, since phobia is more than a "normal" fear, even if you need to use the fear mechanics.
For example, a paladin wouldn't be affected by a fear spell, a dragon's fear aura, nor be afraid of fighting others dangerous things. When he enters a dungeon, however, he starts to sweat cold, and getting jumpy, because that place makes him nervous. It's not some sort of attack or natural fear, is a deep sense of panic that can't be easily shacken off.

Heh, I can imagine a paladin or barbarian with it in a dungeon to find artifact X. "how long have we been here?" "just that? feels like we've been here for hours!" "are we done now? can we leave?" "is it me, or is this place cramped?" "I need space to breath!" "aaaaah, let me out!"

[chiasaur11]

I like. Reminds me directly of Storm from X-Men.
Will saves would be good, just make the DC increase every hour, or something. At lower levels he'll be panicing after a couple hours, at higher levels, he can hold back his phobia for half a day (like Storm does nowadays).
Instead of saying that you can't take it if you have fear immunity, just say that fear immunity doesn't affect it, since phobia is more than a "normal" fear, even if you need to use the fear mechanics.
For example, a paladin wouldn't be affected by a fear spell, a dragon's fear aura, nor be afraid of fighting others dangerous things. When he enters a dungeon, however, he starts to sweat cold, and getting jumpy, because that place makes him nervous. It's not some sort of attack or natural fear, is a deep sense of panic that can't be easily shacken off.

Heh, I can imagine a paladin or barbarian with it in a dungeon to find artifact X. "how long have we been here?" "just that? feels like we've been here for hours!" "are we done now? can we leave?" "is it me, or is this place cramped?" "I need space to breath!" "aaaaah, let me out!"

Paladins can't have the flaw.

The whole "fearless" thing, you know.

[Roderick_BR]

Paladins can't have the flaw.

The whole "fearless" thing, you know.

As I mentioned, a phobia can't be affected by a fearless power. Because it's something deeper, not just a scare, or magic compulsion.
Besides, paladins gain aura of courage only around 3rd level. You pick this at first. Or start as a fighter, and multiclass into paladin later.

[Zeta Kai]

I would say that Paladins are subject to phobias on the grounds that they are mental disorders, & Paladins have no protection from insanity.