I don't know if this is the proper forum for it, of if I'll ever create it since I usually always DM, but would you guys accept a PC with multiple personality disorder? And by that I mean at least 2 different personality/names and also ... classes?
In my head I would have some type of PC that is a monk with a calmer personality and in control or a barbarian who protects the other personality that goes bat sh!t crazy. I would go with those two since both classes have a lot of similarities. They would have their own stats (same number, different allocation) as well as name. Items would be the same and so on.
I'd love to hear your thought and how far would you push it? Would a cloth wearing spell caster could be implemented as a 3rd personality at some point (I was thinking that further down an adventure, I could show that the magic caster is the OG personality that never manifested)?
Search multiple personality on this forum and you'll see it's been discussed almost seasonally.
Frankly, a lot of people find using mental illness as a mechanic of power features offensive, as is the term "bat shit crazy" to discuss a character you're thinking of as cool. "Multiple" "split" and "borderline" personality disorders don't work that way, heck even comic books don't portray them that way anymore, Two Face in Batman is even rendered as someone who is in great pain.
There are games that explore mental health with varying degrees of respect to include the consequences of dissociative episodes or what you'd call "splits". (By the way Shymalan's Split, is also a piss-poor rendering of the real world phenomenon you're working). D&D is not one of them, though some folks do see a more mature approach to psychic trauma presented into VRGtR.
So personally, I advise "don't use pathology" as a mechanical gimmick. Now if you want to do something like He Man, where you have mild mannered Prince what's his name able to Hulk Out by the Power of Greyskull, that's different. There you have a mundane (or maybe class and leveled) character who is also the host through magic of another one. The Incredible Hulk would be one too.
You're also unclear how this would work. Does the player.choose which "personality" manifests, does the. DM? You realize if these are truly. independent personalities, how do. you integrate that into a party.
I'd say it's a not uncommonly proposed idea, but just seems to be mechanically a hassle for player and DM, and rarely. done with anything approaching sensitivity to the real world mental illnesses you're invoking.
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Jander Sunstar is the thinking person's Drizzt, fight me.
... but would you guys accept a PC with multiple personality disorder? And by that I mean at least 2 different personality/names
Sure, as long as the group is OK with it and it is handled correctly for a decently RPed aspect of the character, rather than as some gimmick/trope "for fun". Such a disorder is not "fun" and should never be "played for fun". It's debilitating and people who have it go through a lot. It deserves respect and care.
Absolutely ******* NOPE. This is just "I want to be extra super special" syndrome and unbalanced to heck.
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If a player wanted to do this, I would totally let them, but their character would be treated the same as any multiclass character, with them making the choice as a player to only use abilities from one class or the other depending on who was in charge.
First, its disruptive at the table. I've been a player in a game where this happened, and the whole "OK, so what character is X playing this session?" got old really, really quickly.
Second, its disrespectful to those with mental health issues.
So personally, I advise "don't use pathology" as a mechanical gimmick. Now if you want to do something like He Man, where you have mild mannered Prince what's his name able to Hulk Out by the Power of Greyskull, that's different. There you have a mundane (or maybe class and leveled) character who is also the host through magic of another one. The Incredible Hulk would be one too.
I’d agree generally with midnightplat. I’d just say to the point above, this concept can pretty easily be captured by a re-flavored barbarian rage. No strange mechanics needed. (Not that midnight is necessarily suggesting strange mechanics here, I’m just kind of going with the idea of a power-up.)
See also, the shifter race from eberron for something that, by RAW, can pull a bit of Jekyll and Hyde. There probably are more examples.
And a player doing it with multiple classes in mind just seems like they’re trying to be able to do everything with no trade offs. I know the OP didn’t say, but I imagine the player in question also envisions being able to decide when the character is one or the other, and being able to switch them at will. If that’s the case(and it very well may not be) it pretty much just the worst kind of power gaming, with a thin veneer.
That's a hard no from me. I don't mind a character playing a split personality: D&D takes place in a world of magic, so perhaps you are inhabited by the soul of your ancestor, or a god periodically comes through. But that's all roleplay, not mechanics.
Dissociative Identity Disorder develops only (and in this case that means 100% only) in cases of extreme child abuse. In brief, it's a defence mechanism that the child's mind uses to divide itself into Alters, which allow it to cope with the intense suffering. I wouldn't advise a player to take that on (I wouldn't actually permit it at my table either, as I prefer a more light hearted game, not to mention inaccurate portrayal). However, I don't think that you need to follow the real world for things, so if you want to have taken a blow to the head that periodically means that you think you're a chimera, then I'd be ok with that.
I think the biggest thing about this is the way you present it.
If you say "hey guys, I want to play a character who reveals an alter-ego when raging which behaves differently, because their rage is fuelled by the souls of their ancestors, so one of their ancestors takes the helm when they're raging, in sort of a "Let me show you how it's done, sonny!" kinda way", then that's a fantasy idea which sounds fun and could work.
If you say "this character was an ettin who was polymorphed into a creature with one head, so the two heads constantly fight for control, so you never know who will be in charge from one day to the next", then again, excellent fantasy reasons for doing so.
If you say "This character has a real-world condition which I intend to rewrite as interesting game mechanics", stop right there. It can work, but thus far the only way I've ever seen it work is with physical conditions rather than mental - this player has a prosthetic arm, for instance. Most people who are missing an arm would agree that it would be cool to have a magical arm which did cool stuff. Nobody with mental health issues will agree that it would be cool if their extreme mood swings or manic depression could be used to fight enemies in a cool way.
So step back from trying to tie it to the real world, and instead think of it in fantasy world terms. You want to make 2 characters and have them share one body, using their own skills when they are in control. That's a cool concept and can work in dnd, with the DM's approval and some heavy control. But don't then say "because they have >real world condition<", because that instantly detracts from the concept.
i did have in mind to roll each in game days to see who’s “in charge”. more to think about. Thanks!
So, as a DM, I would veto this whole multi-character concept 99 percent of the time. As others have said, there are already classes and races that can be re-flavored without needing to create entire extra characters. You could also do it through pure role-play -- make a normal multi-class character but only use specific class abilities when that "personality" is in charge
However, if after talking with the player I did allow it, there would be a LOT more downside to it than just "roll after every long rest to see which personality you're playing". If you want to play a character with significant mental health issues, then they will be significant. I'd have you making something like a WIS or CHA check every time you were under stress to see if you switch personalities. Changing personalities may not be instantaneous -- you could be unconscious or stunned for a round or two during the switch-over. The personalities might not share information with each other. There could, and likely will, be at least one personality in the mix you would not want showing up in the middle of a dangerous combat -- the child the personalities were created to protect, perhaps (nod to Kay Challis from Doom Patrol) or maybe a cleric with a strict vow of pacifism who will only be able to help out with healing spells and such
Having access to the abilities of multiple classes is a huge advantage. Multiclassing balances that it by slowing your progression. If you want full progression in multiple classes at the same time, there's going to be some other way to balance that out
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Active characters:
Carric Aquissar, elven wannabe artist in his deconstructionist period (Archfey warlock) Lan Kidogo, mapach archaeologist and treasure hunter (Knowledge cleric) Mardan Ferres, elven private investigator obsessed with that one unsolved murder (Assassin rogue) Xhekhetiel, halfling survivor of a Betrayer Gods cult (Runechild sorcerer/fighter)
I have roleplayed this in the past and the most important thing is that switching between personalities is random so that it doesn’t become a mechanic to just have the right skill for the right job. Also I went into it knowing there was a clear plan to eventually have to force the 2 personalities to spilt, or merge (DM decision on that aspect of the story) and one would continue as my character and the other potentially be an NPC or just die.
When rolling the physical stats where the same (strength, constitution) mental stats could be different to any degree and Dex was allowed to be different within a range to account for the skill vs physicality aspect. We used Fixed array for stats.
The DM and I put a lot of work into determining the triggers for changing personality and the key thing was I couldn’t just make it happen. We also decided that there would be only a very small chance of it happening in combat. My classes where Sorceror and Rogue, mainly because we decided the mechanics of Armour vs non armour proficiency was going to be a nightmare to manage.
The character lasted just 8 sessions, it was too hard to manage and ended up monopolizing the table and mechanically the 2 half’s where just ok. There where so many things we hadn’t considered that every session became more house ruling stuff. For instance abilities that refresh on a short rest on each personality, if one uses one of theirs does the other lose one?. A great idea on paper mechanically just impossible.
We decided to get rid of the multi class idea and instead I redid the stats of the sorceror and just roleplayed the multiple personality aspect one sheet, simplified what triggered the switch and kept the story idea that we would have to be separated eventually or have one become the only one. I borrowed the idea from the internal fight in Rand in the wheel of time series.
So my advice while it looks great on paper when you actually have to think about how you do things like carry the armour and weapons one class can use and the other can’t, how you will handle magic item attunement, what if I use my once per day ability as class A and then change that day to class B, If I use all my spell slots it is ok I can then become that amazing archer. Or if 2 magic users what happens to spell slots my advice is just don’t do it. Even the same class but different sub classes has its problems.
Another character idea I had was a warlock who’s patron is living in his head. The patron is a very weak god, the Warlock is the only person that believes in him. I went Warlock instead of Cleric to represent the weakness of the gifts the Patron can give. If you know Terry Pratchett my influence is small gods although it would be down to the DM to decide if the god is actually real or just a manifestation of my abilities.
While the concept is certainly worth trying, I would caution using this as a mechanic to gain abilities (or have a different mechanic for the character). First, as a few have mentioned; this is a very real condition and to marginalize it as a cool concept is something I would not be comfortable with. You could have zero changes in game and leave the stats and classes as is, and simply RP that the character has changed. Another option is to multiclass and the personalities tend to favor one class more. Those are all reasonable flavor to reflect that the character is dealing with an issue. You should consider if the other players would find this offensive.
In a campaign I'm playing in, we have used secondary characters for a specific adventure. I'm playing a Drow Arcane Trickster, who has PTSD. She was tortured by the Illithid, and seeing the horrors of those around her suffering all contributed to her losing her ability to be a Wizard. Her path as a Trickster is regaining a fraction of her arcane potential. I put a 9 into WIS to reflect mechanically there are some struggles. And in RP the character in sensitive to those who have it rough. No in game perks or flaws, and the other players find it does justice to a very real condition. I did solicit input from the table before making the character.
I'd recommend a similar mindset for a character with multiple personalities.
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Good day fellow DM,
I don't know if this is the proper forum for it, of if I'll ever create it since I usually always DM, but would you guys accept a PC with multiple personality disorder? And by that I mean at least 2 different personality/names and also ... classes?
In my head I would have some type of PC that is a monk with a calmer personality and in control or a barbarian who protects the other personality that goes bat sh!t crazy. I would go with those two since both classes have a lot of similarities. They would have their own stats (same number, different allocation) as well as name. Items would be the same and so on.
I'd love to hear your thought and how far would you push it? Would a cloth wearing spell caster could be implemented as a 3rd personality at some point (I was thinking that further down an adventure, I could show that the magic caster is the OG personality that never manifested)?
All comments/ideas welcomed!
Search multiple personality on this forum and you'll see it's been discussed almost seasonally.
Frankly, a lot of people find using mental illness as a mechanic of power features offensive, as is the term "bat shit crazy" to discuss a character you're thinking of as cool. "Multiple" "split" and "borderline" personality disorders don't work that way, heck even comic books don't portray them that way anymore, Two Face in Batman is even rendered as someone who is in great pain.
There are games that explore mental health with varying degrees of respect to include the consequences of dissociative episodes or what you'd call "splits". (By the way Shymalan's Split, is also a piss-poor rendering of the real world phenomenon you're working). D&D is not one of them, though some folks do see a more mature approach to psychic trauma presented into VRGtR.
So personally, I advise "don't use pathology" as a mechanical gimmick. Now if you want to do something like He Man, where you have mild mannered Prince what's his name able to Hulk Out by the Power of Greyskull, that's different. There you have a mundane (or maybe class and leveled) character who is also the host through magic of another one. The Incredible Hulk would be one too.
You're also unclear how this would work. Does the player.choose which "personality" manifests, does the. DM? You realize if these are truly. independent personalities, how do. you integrate that into a party.
I'd say it's a not uncommonly proposed idea, but just seems to be mechanically a hassle for player and DM, and rarely. done with anything approaching sensitivity to the real world mental illnesses you're invoking.
Jander Sunstar is the thinking person's Drizzt, fight me.
Sure, as long as the group is OK with it and it is handled correctly for a decently RPed aspect of the character, rather than as some gimmick/trope "for fun". Such a disorder is not "fun" and should never be "played for fun". It's debilitating and people who have it go through a lot. It deserves respect and care.
Absolutely ******* NOPE. This is just "I want to be extra super special" syndrome and unbalanced to heck.
Click ✨ HERE ✨ For My Youtube Videos featuring Guides, Tips & Tricks for using D&D Beyond.
Need help with Homebrew? Check out ✨ this FAQ/Guide thread ✨ by IamSposta.
If a player wanted to do this, I would totally let them, but their character would be treated the same as any multiclass character, with them making the choice as a player to only use abilities from one class or the other depending on who was in charge.
Personally, that's a hard no.
First, its disruptive at the table. I've been a player in a game where this happened, and the whole "OK, so what character is X playing this session?" got old really, really quickly.
Second, its disrespectful to those with mental health issues.
I’d agree generally with midnightplat. I’d just say to the point above, this concept can pretty easily be captured by a re-flavored barbarian rage. No strange mechanics needed. (Not that midnight is necessarily suggesting strange mechanics here, I’m just kind of going with the idea of a power-up.)
See also, the shifter race from eberron for something that, by RAW, can pull a bit of Jekyll and Hyde. There probably are more examples.
And a player doing it with multiple classes in mind just seems like they’re trying to be able to do everything with no trade offs. I know the OP didn’t say, but I imagine the player in question also envisions being able to decide when the character is one or the other, and being able to switch them at will. If that’s the case(and it very well may not be) it pretty much just the worst kind of power gaming, with a thin veneer.
All fair points! Appreciate it!
i did have in mind to roll each in game days to see who’s “in charge”.
more to think about. Thanks!
That's a hard no from me. I don't mind a character playing a split personality: D&D takes place in a world of magic, so perhaps you are inhabited by the soul of your ancestor, or a god periodically comes through. But that's all roleplay, not mechanics.
Dissociative Identity Disorder develops only (and in this case that means 100% only) in cases of extreme child abuse. In brief, it's a defence mechanism that the child's mind uses to divide itself into Alters, which allow it to cope with the intense suffering. I wouldn't advise a player to take that on (I wouldn't actually permit it at my table either, as I prefer a more light hearted game, not to mention inaccurate portrayal). However, I don't think that you need to follow the real world for things, so if you want to have taken a blow to the head that periodically means that you think you're a chimera, then I'd be ok with that.
I think the biggest thing about this is the way you present it.
If you say "hey guys, I want to play a character who reveals an alter-ego when raging which behaves differently, because their rage is fuelled by the souls of their ancestors, so one of their ancestors takes the helm when they're raging, in sort of a "Let me show you how it's done, sonny!" kinda way", then that's a fantasy idea which sounds fun and could work.
If you say "this character was an ettin who was polymorphed into a creature with one head, so the two heads constantly fight for control, so you never know who will be in charge from one day to the next", then again, excellent fantasy reasons for doing so.
If you say "This character has a real-world condition which I intend to rewrite as interesting game mechanics", stop right there. It can work, but thus far the only way I've ever seen it work is with physical conditions rather than mental - this player has a prosthetic arm, for instance. Most people who are missing an arm would agree that it would be cool to have a magical arm which did cool stuff. Nobody with mental health issues will agree that it would be cool if their extreme mood swings or manic depression could be used to fight enemies in a cool way.
So step back from trying to tie it to the real world, and instead think of it in fantasy world terms. You want to make 2 characters and have them share one body, using their own skills when they are in control. That's a cool concept and can work in dnd, with the DM's approval and some heavy control. But don't then say "because they have >real world condition<", because that instantly detracts from the concept.
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So, as a DM, I would veto this whole multi-character concept 99 percent of the time. As others have said, there are already classes and races that can be re-flavored without needing to create entire extra characters. You could also do it through pure role-play -- make a normal multi-class character but only use specific class abilities when that "personality" is in charge
However, if after talking with the player I did allow it, there would be a LOT more downside to it than just "roll after every long rest to see which personality you're playing". If you want to play a character with significant mental health issues, then they will be significant. I'd have you making something like a WIS or CHA check every time you were under stress to see if you switch personalities. Changing personalities may not be instantaneous -- you could be unconscious or stunned for a round or two during the switch-over. The personalities might not share information with each other. There could, and likely will, be at least one personality in the mix you would not want showing up in the middle of a dangerous combat -- the child the personalities were created to protect, perhaps (nod to Kay Challis from Doom Patrol) or maybe a cleric with a strict vow of pacifism who will only be able to help out with healing spells and such
Having access to the abilities of multiple classes is a huge advantage. Multiclassing balances that it by slowing your progression. If you want full progression in multiple classes at the same time, there's going to be some other way to balance that out
Active characters:
Carric Aquissar, elven wannabe artist in his deconstructionist period (Archfey warlock)
Lan Kidogo, mapach archaeologist and treasure hunter (Knowledge cleric)
Mardan Ferres, elven private investigator obsessed with that one unsolved murder (Assassin rogue)
Xhekhetiel, halfling survivor of a Betrayer Gods cult (Runechild sorcerer/fighter)
I have roleplayed this in the past and the most important thing is that switching between personalities is random so that it doesn’t become a mechanic to just have the right skill for the right job. Also I went into it knowing there was a clear plan to eventually have to force the 2 personalities to spilt, or merge (DM decision on that aspect of the story) and one would continue as my character and the other potentially be an NPC or just die.
When rolling the physical stats where the same (strength, constitution) mental stats could be different to any degree and Dex was allowed to be different within a range to account for the skill vs physicality aspect. We used Fixed array for stats.
The DM and I put a lot of work into determining the triggers for changing personality and the key thing was I couldn’t just make it happen. We also decided that there would be only a very small chance of it happening in combat. My classes where Sorceror and Rogue, mainly because we decided the mechanics of Armour vs non armour proficiency was going to be a nightmare to manage.
The character lasted just 8 sessions, it was too hard to manage and ended up monopolizing the table and mechanically the 2 half’s where just ok. There where so many things we hadn’t considered that every session became more house ruling stuff. For instance abilities that refresh on a short rest on each personality, if one uses one of theirs does the other lose one?. A great idea on paper mechanically just impossible.
We decided to get rid of the multi class idea and instead I redid the stats of the sorceror and just roleplayed the multiple personality aspect one sheet, simplified what triggered the switch and kept the story idea that we would have to be separated eventually or have one become the only one. I borrowed the idea from the internal fight in Rand in the wheel of time series.
So my advice while it looks great on paper when you actually have to think about how you do things like carry the armour and weapons one class can use and the other can’t, how you will handle magic item attunement, what if I use my once per day ability as class A and then change that day to class B, If I use all my spell slots it is ok I can then become that amazing archer. Or if 2 magic users what happens to spell slots my advice is just don’t do it. Even the same class but different sub classes has its problems.
Another character idea I had was a warlock who’s patron is living in his head. The patron is a very weak god, the Warlock is the only person that believes in him. I went Warlock instead of Cleric to represent the weakness of the gifts the Patron can give. If you know Terry Pratchett my influence is small gods although it would be down to the DM to decide if the god is actually real or just a manifestation of my abilities.
While the concept is certainly worth trying, I would caution using this as a mechanic to gain abilities (or have a different mechanic for the character). First, as a few have mentioned; this is a very real condition and to marginalize it as a cool concept is something I would not be comfortable with. You could have zero changes in game and leave the stats and classes as is, and simply RP that the character has changed. Another option is to multiclass and the personalities tend to favor one class more. Those are all reasonable flavor to reflect that the character is dealing with an issue. You should consider if the other players would find this offensive.
In a campaign I'm playing in, we have used secondary characters for a specific adventure. I'm playing a Drow Arcane Trickster, who has PTSD. She was tortured by the Illithid, and seeing the horrors of those around her suffering all contributed to her losing her ability to be a Wizard. Her path as a Trickster is regaining a fraction of her arcane potential. I put a 9 into WIS to reflect mechanically there are some struggles. And in RP the character in sensitive to those who have it rough. No in game perks or flaws, and the other players find it does justice to a very real condition. I did solicit input from the table before making the character.
I'd recommend a similar mindset for a character with multiple personalities.