Mental Illness

Kyrton

There was a game I liked called VtM Bloodlines where you could play a character who was insane/schizophrenic and had hilarious dialogue in game.  Is this viable?  Offensive?

• "I'm a mighty thesaurus! Rawr!"

Caoimhaen

I think...if you play it right...you can do that just about anywhere. But I would think Ashtan would probably be the most logical choice. Depends on how you role play it really. Only thing would be..you probably wouldn't want to be "insane" in the sense of speaking of other worldly things. Since that tends to piss people off. And its kind of a rule that in character you dont become "insane". If you mean creville insane. Then. Yeah. Its probably a viable role play.

My character is kinda nuts. Or was due to a previous possession by a demon. Haha. Unstable is fun to rp.

Melodie

It's probably doable but would need a good roleplay backing as to -why- it was happening.

So, it's going to be more believeable if say, Melodie ticks off Sartan, a minion of Sartan possesses Melodie and causes her to twitch and spastically randomly start speaking in tongues and whispering about the coming age of destruction upon Nature for a few minutes, before going back to normal... over say, an 18 year old novice who had 5 different "people" living inside of his head.

Like most other "out there" forms of roleplay, if you have a good story backing it and don't go overboard, anything's possible.

Orzaansyn

You can indeed be inspired by a mental illness for your RP, but most likely, the results will be catastrophic if you are not really precise, in particular if it is only for a comical effect. People may not have the patience, and you may simply be seen as a troll (not the race, the annoying person).

In old World of Darkness it works quite well because Malkavians are also seers and have a higher vison on things, most of the times terrifyingly lucid.

I am afraid that without a strengthening counterpart, it is not really viable.

Aepas

Aepas has a form of Schizo because he bound his foresty spirits in his head when they were almost taken away from them. He still talks to them from time to time, and always has to tell hyena to shut up because of its horrible puns.

 

So really, you can play like this but it just as well deserves a reason and should -not- be overplayed.

Rangor

I've heard you on Skype @aepas. That's not the Hyena you're hearing man.

Wysteria

Sorry OP, no Malkavians here. Man I loved that game, Troika did such an amazing job on the voicework and gameplay (after you installed the patch to get out of the cave). Had a pre-teen crush on Nines >_>

The problem with that is you had the incredible insight of knowing what the person was thinking, and the ability to foresee the future. So in Achaea you're either going to have to work around this by spying on people and reading their minds or doing an incredible amount of research to make good predictions with events etc. It's an incredibly difficult thing to pull off.

Nellaundra

Nell's got a few head problems too, but they're generally subtle. She's fairly sociopathic, but a high functioning one, and I try to keep it from being overdone - which is admittedly difficult at times.

Synbios

Thought: VtM Bloodlines is a single-player game, where your character's insane/schizophrenic dialogue will trigger appropriate NPC responses based on the programming of the developers. Achaea, on the other hand, is a multiplayer game, where your character's insane/schizophrenic dialogue may trigger a wide gamut of unpredicted reactions, with a decent chance of it being 'oookay, I have to go...uh, grill my fsteakBYE NOW'.

In other words, be aware that not everyone will like having to deal with someone suffering from mental illness. If you're set on that path though, I wish you the best, and hope that this will instead enhance the RP environment of the game.

Iocun

Nellaundra said:

Nell's got a few head problems too, but they're generally subtle. She's fairly sociopathic, but a high functioning one, and I try to keep it from being overdone - which is admittedly difficult at times.

This. And this doesn't just specifically apply to mental illnesses, but to character traits in general: a character who is outwardly functional and can adapt to society to a reasonable degree while having some serious personal issues when you look more closely is generally going to work better, more interesting, and less annoying to other players than one who shoves his quirks into everyone's faces.

A trait like this is likely going to work best when most people, besides the ones that are particularly observant or close to your character, don't even notice it.

A more in-the-face approach is probably more hilarious, but may get old very quickly.

Boosteya

We play Achaea to escape our real lives. This is avoidant and dissociative behaviour.

Show me a sane Achaean, and I'll show you someone in denial.

I sure the hell amn't sane. So sanity would be VERY hard for me to RP.

Iocun

Boosteya said:

We play Achaea to escape our real lives.

Our what?

Strata

There was a Shadowsnake novice who kept referring to herself as "We"

It was really confusing. I finally said "All of you, just go to Manara. Don't come back until you've all reached level 50."

Averi

Strata said:

There was a Shadowsnake novice who kept referring to herself as "We"

It was really confusing. I finally said "All of you, just go to Manara. Don't come back until you've all reached level 50."

I do that irl unintentionally sometimes. 

Tharvis

but you're royalty, @Averi! You just use the royal "we"

Nizaris

It can be done subtly. A few examples that get others thinking about Nizaris' sanity:

Nizaris gives the crank a complete turn. A subtle 'CRACK' is heard about the chamber, as Redacted's teeth shatter and fly across the room. A chipped piece of enamel strikes the Archbishop in the face. 
Nizaris dances gleefully, clapping his hands together in sadistic pleasure. 
Nizaris composes himself once more, and sets about to turning the crank with renewed vigour. 

03:20:14 Redacted says, "What is your purpose, to whom do you belong?"

03:20:23 You say in a pained voice, "To the LORD, child."

03:20:30 Redacted says, "Oh."

03:20:52 Redacted says, "Im sure you are very happy."

03:21:09 You have emoted: Nizaris tilts his head sideways in confusion.

03:21:14 You say in a pained voice, "I do not understand."

03:21:37 You ask in a pained voice, "What do you mean by 'happiness', child?"

...

Caoimhaen

@Nizaris‌ Good gravy. Lol. I'm somewhat relieved caoi didnt end up seeing this side of Nizaris. Lol. But at the safe time.. ha. Perhaps a little disappointed? If that makes sense?

Mishgul

Carmain is pretty insane but that's because he's playing a role that I hate. I cannot play evil in any game. I tried to play evil in games like Jade Empire, KoTOR, Mass Effect and Dragon age and i just can't do it. I just feel bad for the NPCs. 

Blujixapug

You don't need gimmicks to make your character interesting.

If you want a gimmick, pick something milder that will be easier to sustain. Don't do craaaziness, or having two personalities that switch at random intervals so you're constantly saying "how did I get here, what were we talking about again sorry", or being mute. Talking to someone who's doing craaaziness or whatever tends to be kind of, oh boy, this conversation will be a chore, plus I know that this character will go dormant soon or else abandon their gimmick like all the other ones, so who even cares what they have to say.

A gimmick like craaaziness is much much easier to do in a single-player RPG like VTM:B or Baldur's Gate because, like Synbios said, it only needs to be represented in a few dozen dialogue trees. Talk to wizard: nice option, jerk option, 20+ int option, 18+ cha option, craaazy option, option to exit conversation. Meanwhile all the actual gameplay revolves around an established main quest. You always have that central plot driving your actions forward. Personality-based dialogue is just window dressing hanging off that main storyline.

Whereas in Achaea, there is no main quest. There is no central plot motivating you and everyone you encounter. It's not like, my conversations with everyone will be about saving the world from Snoddigard the Vile, and those conversations will be coloured by my good/evil/craaazy personality. No. Achaea is a persistent world. Much of your interaction with others will involve conversations where you're asking for something, they're asking for something, or else there is no impetus beyond whatever you want to talk about. If your personality is based around a huge, intrusive gimmick - a quirk you shove in everyone's face, as Iocun described it - then it can get in the way, more than anything. Can you sustain a craaaazy personality, in that context? And for how long? Your character should absolutely have a personality, as it will help make you a fun person to interact with, but I urge you to tone down any gimmicks.

Also bear in mind that your character's personality is something that you have to act out - conceive, phrase, type - in every conversation, forever. Which can soon become tiresome. If you realise you aren't all that into it, it can even make you stop wanting to log in on that character.

Averi

it's not entirely impossible. You can certainly play someone who has beliefs that are split off from reality, but it's important to realize that a lot of books/movies/games about mental illness are usually from the point of view of the character.  Other people will not be able to see your character's point of view in achaea and thus might not even realize you are schizophrenic or whatever mental illness you have until they know you better if at all.  

If you make it too blatant, it looks unrealistic and becomes as @Blujixapug stated, gimicky. Make the mental illness part of your character instead of the one factor that defines your character. 

Achaea's rp is different from any other rp game I've played in that it resembles real life a lot. You are defined by your reputation, actions, and how other people see you...not so much how you see yourself.  

That being said, try playing with speech patterns and dialects, think about a few habits your character might have, comb through the emote list and find ones that suit your character and ones that really don't.  Think about their sexual orientation, political viewpoints, religious beliefs all of that and then tack a mental illness upon it all; it might actually work quite well. 

And remember that like real people, the character will change so leave enough wiggle room for it. 

Iocun

Strata said:

There was a Shadowsnake novice who kept referring to herself as "We"

It was really confusing. I finally said "All of you, just go to Manara. Don't come back until you've all reached level 50."

You should have said: "All of you, get in the fighting pit now until there's a but a single person left."

It's a little known fact that Thunderdome was actually a mental institution aiming to cure schizophrenia