Has anyone ever played a character with a handicap or negative trait for the sake of narrative purposes? If so, how did it effect your game in both positive and negative ways? I was playing around with the idea of making a character have claustrophobia (due to something in backstory) and since I wasn't sure on the specifics of how that would play out in game, I thought I'd ask about it before trying to implement it.
Here's what I've been thinking so far on the claustrophobia idea:
I was thinking of using an Int, Wis, or Con check to determine whether I'm affected by the phobia, but I haven't worked out the justification for which one to use. I figure this would pop up in situations that involve being restrained, jailed, put in a confined space or other similar situations. If I fail my check, I'd like to use a dice roll like a d3 to determine outcome. I'd maybe use the Frightened, Stunned, and Unconscious conditions as possible results. I kinda imagine these representing a jolt of fear, panic attack, or even fainting. I'm open to suggestions on this, as I like the idea but don't know exactly what direction to go with it.
They have a character with something like that in Critical Role. Fairly early in the series he kills someone with a fire spell, and after doing so he had to make a DC10 WIS saving throw or be stunned in place for one round.
I'd say pick a condition that works best for you, and give it a short time period. Frightened seems best... let's say you have the frightened condition and get to reroll your WIS throw at the start of each of your turns.
Personally I think if you as a player are willing to roll with the negative effects then it is a fantastic idea. I have a player in the campaign I run who for backstory reasons has horrible nightmares when making his character we discussed how we'd incorporate it, in the end he desided that whenever he has a long rest he would make a wisdom save and should he fail he'd only get health back from a long rest. Orginally I thought this could be too harsh but he loves it and even said it even helps him get in to character so from my experience giving your character stuff like this is almost always a good idea so long as your willing to suffer ever now and then.
I'd probably leave the save down to DM's discretion depending in the situation, and as Tranmorpher suggested frightened would be best suited I think, maybe have the duration until you removed yourself from the trigger.
I have a wizard who hates fire spells and refuses to cast them. That’s slightly different than what you’re talking about, but it does have a significant negative impact because there are a lot of great spells that do fire damage that he can’t learn.
I have a wizard as a "spare" in our campaign who both our DM and I are looking forward to introducing. He is a High Elf Wizard who suffers with narcolepsy, the idea being that whenever he casts a spell or takes an action, the DM can ask me to roll a CON check to see if he falls asleep part way through the casting. The results could be interesting to say the least.
I play a deaf character in my current campaign with some friends. They aren't profoundly deaf, but they have severe hearing loss. They still know when sound is happening around them but it's extremely quiet and they cant quite make out any details. Our DM has me roll with disadvantage for any auditory based perception checks, and sound-based "attacks" like banshee screams have their range halved. I'm actually using the character as my own accessibility measure as I'm in the beginning stages of hearing loss and since d&d is a lot of speaking and listening, longer sessions can be really hard on me. I honestly find it really helpful when the rest of the group gets into character and they face me and speak more clearly so that I can focus my attention on them and use lipreading to fill in the blanks when sounds/words don't resonate right. It's pretty much the one thing that keeps the game playable and fun for me. :)
123shine, thats amazing! I'm sorry about your hearing loss, but knowing that you incorporated it into your character and the people at your table have been receptive to it is really inspiring! I never even thought about that when I created this post. Thanks so much for sharing.
I like flaws! As a DM (not that I'm currently running a game), I'd be awarding some kind of points to a player who consistently roleplayed a flaw. As a player, it's something that gives depth to a character, and if it fits into your story, it can be fun to roleplay.
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Has anyone ever played a character with a handicap or negative trait for the sake of narrative purposes? If so, how did it effect your game in both positive and negative ways? I was playing around with the idea of making a character have claustrophobia (due to something in backstory) and since I wasn't sure on the specifics of how that would play out in game, I thought I'd ask about it before trying to implement it.
Here's what I've been thinking so far on the claustrophobia idea:
I was thinking of using an Int, Wis, or Con check to determine whether I'm affected by the phobia, but I haven't worked out the justification for which one to use. I figure this would pop up in situations that involve being restrained, jailed, put in a confined space or other similar situations. If I fail my check, I'd like to use a dice roll like a d3 to determine outcome. I'd maybe use the Frightened, Stunned, and Unconscious conditions as possible results. I kinda imagine these representing a jolt of fear, panic attack, or even fainting. I'm open to suggestions on this, as I like the idea but don't know exactly what direction to go with it.
They have a character with something like that in Critical Role. Fairly early in the series he kills someone with a fire spell, and after doing so he had to make a DC10 WIS saving throw or be stunned in place for one round.
I'd say pick a condition that works best for you, and give it a short time period. Frightened seems best... let's say you have the frightened condition and get to reroll your WIS throw at the start of each of your turns.
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Personally I think if you as a player are willing to roll with the negative effects then it is a fantastic idea. I have a player in the campaign I run who for backstory reasons has horrible nightmares when making his character we discussed how we'd incorporate it, in the end he desided that whenever he has a long rest he would make a wisdom save and should he fail he'd only get health back from a long rest. Orginally I thought this could be too harsh but he loves it and even said it even helps him get in to character so from my experience giving your character stuff like this is almost always a good idea so long as your willing to suffer ever now and then.
I'd probably leave the save down to DM's discretion depending in the situation, and as Tranmorpher suggested frightened would be best suited I think, maybe have the duration until you removed yourself from the trigger.
I have a wizard who hates fire spells and refuses to cast them. That’s slightly different than what you’re talking about, but it does have a significant negative impact because there are a lot of great spells that do fire damage that he can’t learn.
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Thanks for the advice guys! I think I'll try and keep it simple as not to bog down the game too much or over complicate my character. :D
I have a wizard as a "spare" in our campaign who both our DM and I are looking forward to introducing. He is a High Elf Wizard who suffers with narcolepsy, the idea being that whenever he casts a spell or takes an action, the DM can ask me to roll a CON check to see if he falls asleep part way through the casting. The results could be interesting to say the least.
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I play a deaf character in my current campaign with some friends. They aren't profoundly deaf, but they have severe hearing loss. They still know when sound is happening around them but it's extremely quiet and they cant quite make out any details. Our DM has me roll with disadvantage for any auditory based perception checks, and sound-based "attacks" like banshee screams have their range halved. I'm actually using the character as my own accessibility measure as I'm in the beginning stages of hearing loss and since d&d is a lot of speaking and listening, longer sessions can be really hard on me. I honestly find it really helpful when the rest of the group gets into character and they face me and speak more clearly so that I can focus my attention on them and use lipreading to fill in the blanks when sounds/words don't resonate right. It's pretty much the one thing that keeps the game playable and fun for me. :)
123shine, thats amazing! I'm sorry about your hearing loss, but knowing that you incorporated it into your character and the people at your table have been receptive to it is really inspiring! I never even thought about that when I created this post. Thanks so much for sharing.
I like flaws! As a DM (not that I'm currently running a game), I'd be awarding some kind of points to a player who consistently roleplayed a flaw. As a player, it's something that gives depth to a character, and if it fits into your story, it can be fun to roleplay.