TEXT: EN World EN5IDER| Fire of The Mind
  Too often in fantasy, villains are por-
  trayed as “mad,” or “insane,” for the 
  sake of convenience. A madman is 
  easy to dehumanize, making them like 
  any other monster to be hated, pitied, 
  then mercilessly destroyed, often in 
  that order. Their deplorable actions 
  are driven by a warped perception of 
  reality, but not all such people are evil.
   
  Understanding 
  Mental Illnesses
  A character burdened with a mental 
  disorder presents unique roleplaying 
  and gameplay options for both players 
  and Game Masters. Ignorance and misinformation 
  are the greatest threats to those with a mental dis-
  order, even in modern times, when many disorders 
  have been classified and researched in detail. In a 
  world of medieval fantasy, the average, uninformed 
  commoner has every reason to fear people he 
  doesn’t understand. 
  In real life, many mental disorders are genetic 
  and follow a person from birth to death. Others, 
  like posttraumatic stress disorder, can be acquired 
  through prolonged mental trauma. In fantasy set-
  tings, evil curses are analogous to most mental 
  disorders. The dark arts are capable of splitting 
  someone’s personality, removing her ability to 
  speak, and even causing horrifying hallucinations. 
  The modern, scientific names of these disorders may 
  not suit all gaming groups, but in a world of magic 
  FIRE
  MIND
  OF
  THE
  By James Abendroth
  
  EN World EN5IDER | Fire of the Mind
  and mystery, common definitions can help a group 
  of gamers understand what is happening around 
  them.
  In regards to their methods of acquisition and cur-
  ing, all of the following disorders can be treated as a 
  type of Indefinite Madness, as found in the fifth-edi-
  tion GM’s core rulebook. 
  Multiple Personality Disorder
  Multiple Personality Disorder—known today as 
  Dissociative Identity Disorder, or DID—is usually 
  induced by severe childhood trauma. This causes 
  one’s personality to fragment (“dissociate”) into 
  multiple personas. Unlike the steady stream of 
  thoughts most people experience, a person suffer-
  ing from DID will sometimes have a jolt where his 
  thoughts are not connected from one moment to the 
  next. In severe cases, this gap can be so massive that 
  it creates separate personalities. These personalities 
  can be so diverse as to have different behaviors, 
  mannerisms, gender identities and even physical 
  differences such hand dominance, eyesight strength 
  and allergies. A sudden change between these dif-
  ferent personalities, or “alters,” is usually triggered 
  by sudden or prolonged stress. 
  Alters are sometimes, but not always, aware of each 
  other’s existence. They are also not fully aware of 
  each other’s memories and generally experience 
  another personality’s period of dominance as lost 
  time and are unable to account for their actions or 
  locations when they are not dominant. The novel 
  (and film) Fight Club is a well-known dramatization 
  of DID.
  Despite how disruptive the real world disorder is, 
  it is easy to see why those who suffer from DID are 
  often the focus of fictional stories, and for the same 
  reasons, they make fascinating characters in role 
  playing games. Each different personality can have 
  completely different viewpoints about morality and 
  justice and generally are unaware of what the other 
  personalities do when they are dominant.
  For player characters. Because of how 
  radically different the various alters 
  can be, a player creating a character 
  with DID could make several different 
  characters. Each should have similar 
  ability scores, but there can be some 
  variation, especially in mental scores. 
  All alters have different traits, ideals, 
  flaws, and bonds that reflect their 
  own personalities and goals. Most 
  alters also have different classes (or 
  subclasses) to differentiate themselves 
  on a mechanical level. Players should 
  keep in mind that stress often triggers 
  shifts in alters. Combat or other tense 
  situations could easily change the 
  dominant personality, forcing a suave, 
  diplomatic persona into control in the 
  middle of combat or a barbaric alter 
  in control when stealth is required. 
  An inconvenient alter swap is a great 
  complication if your group is playing 
  with the “plot points” variant from the 
  fifth-edition GM’s core rulebook.
  For Game Masters. What better place 
  to hide a diabolical villain than inside 
  the body of an innocent person? As-
  suming he is able to keep his physical 
  appearance secret, there is no way to 
  detect him when he is not dominant. 
  Even if he is seen while committing 
  a crime, the alter’s distinct manner-
  isms will throw off eyewitnesses, and 
  an innocent, unaware alter will deny 
  committing a crime with complete 
  honesty.
  Even societies that have otherwise 
  infallible methods of determining a 
  person’s guilt or innocence could be 
  foiled by such a villain. Unless the 
  villainous alter was in control, the 
  dominant personality would not be-
  lieve that it had done anything wrong 
  and may not have any memory of the 
  crimes done while his body was under 
  the control of another alter. It would 
  
  EN World EN5IDER| Fire of The Mind
  pass any lie detector test given, wheth-
  er mechanical or mystical and even 
  reading his thoughts or analyzing his 
  memories would not garner the truth 
  about what was done while another 
  alter was in power.
  Aphasia
  Aphasia is a general term for a variety 
  of disorders that interfere with normal 
  comprehension and production of 
  speech. In the real world, it generally 
  stems from some sort of brain trauma 
  that damages the language centers of 
  the brain, and comes in two common 
  forms, which we now call Broca’s and 
  Wernicke’s aphasia, named for the 
  areas of the brain they damage.
  People suffering from Broca’s aphasia 
  find it difficult to get words out. It is 
  often a visible struggle for them to 
  express themselves and they speak in 
  short, halting sentences. Even more 
  frustrating, people suffering from 
  Broca’s aphasia are generally quite 
  aware of the problems they are having 
  communicating and simply cannot do 
  anything about it. They are trapped 
  with complex thoughts and ideas that 
  they cannot express properly.
  Those suffering from Wernicke’s 
  aphasia are afflicted with the opposite 
  problem. When they speak, their sen-
  tences sound superficially eloquent, 
  but are actually gibberish or peppered 
  with unrecognizable, unnecessary or 
  incorrect words. Worse, unlike those 
  with Broca’s, they don’t realize that 
  they are having communications prob-
  lems. To them, what they are saying 
  makes complete sense and the people 
  they are speaking to cannot under-
  stand them.
  In both cases, aphasia affects the language centers 
  directly so they are not confined to a single lan-
  guage. A person who is fluent in Common and 
  Draconic has the same problems in both languages 
  if they suffer from aphasia. Even sign languages 
  and written language would be affected, as it is not 
  the verbal and aural portions of language that are 
  hampered, but the actual production and compre-
  hension of words. 
  For player characters. All characters that suffer from 
  Broca’s aphasia have disadvantage on Charisma 
  (Persuasion) checks that depend on speaking. 
  A character suffering from Wernicke’s aphasia has 
  almost no social skills as they are completely inca-
  pable of voicing a coherent message. They suffer a 
  –10 penalty on all Charisma checks, but given the 
  nature of the disorder, they would likely think that 
  they were quite eloquent. Success on social checks, 
  despite this penalty, is all thanks to luck or nonver-
  bal charm. 
  Aphasiacs and spells. Spellcasters who suffer from 
  aphasia are at an acute disadvantage. When some-
  one with Broca’s aphasia casts a spell that requires 
  verbal components, there is a 25% chance the spell 
  will fail, wasting the spell slot. Their magical abili-
  ties have grown stronger to compensate: all spells 
  that deal variable damage have their effects in-
  creased by one die (e.g., a 3rd-level fireball spell deals 
  9d6 fire damage instead of 8d6). For those with 
  Wernicke’s, their chance of spell failure is increased 
  to 90%, but the variable effects of the spells they 
  cast are instead boosted by two dice. Spells affected 
  by Subtle Spell metamagic do not have this failure 
  chance. 
  Because of the interference to their language centers, 
  people suffering from Broca’s aphasia gain advan-
  tage on saves against charm spells that are lan-
  guage-dependent. People suffering from Wernicke’s 
  aphasia are immune, since they cannot comprehend 
  the commands they are being given.
  As a Game Master. Adventure hooks that intro-
  duce aphasia must highlight the confusion of losing 
  one’s eloquence, but shouldn’t completely frustrate 
  the players. If a famous diplomat or magic-user is 
  
  EN World EN5IDER | Fire of the Mind
  suddenly unable to verbally communicate, how 
  would she try and find help? Even while seeking 
  the heroes’ assistance, she is limited in her ability to 
  explain her affliction and the circumstances sur-
  rounding it.
  Schizophrenia 
  Defined as a severe break with reality, schizophre-
  nia is among the most common serious mental dis-
  orders. Despite what popular media might suggest, 
  schizophrenia is not synonymous with multiple 
  personality disorder. As a side effect or cause, this 
  break can include both hallucinations and delusions 
  and those with schizophrenia find it impossible to 
  separate what is real from what is caused by their 
  disorder. 
  These hallucinations are often auditory in form 
  (the stereotypical “voices in a person’s head”) and 
  often include bizarre commands or ideas that the 
  victim feels are not his own and compelled to fol-
  low. Though these are the most obvious hindrances, 
  a schizophrenic’s most debilitating symptoms are 
  their inability to order their thoughts or plan even 
  the simplest of tasks.
  As a player character. For the reasons above, a 
  character suffering from schizophrenia in a game is 
  at a serious tactical disadvantage. Even if he is not 
  suffering from any major hallucinations or delu-
  sions, he will be incapable of committing to any 
  long-term plans. A character who is suffering from 
  spontaneous hallucinations and delusions will be 
  particularly susceptible to illusory effects, and has 
  disadvantage on saves against illusions. 
  As a Game Master. In a fantasy game, there are 
  plenty of individuals who experience magical vi-
  sions. Some or all of these “hallucinations” could 
  actually be messages from spiritual forces invisible 
  to other mortals. A player character who suddenly 
  suffers from horrifying, shocking, or simply bizarre 
  hallucinations is a plot hook that instantly forces the 
  party into action. 
  Perhaps this mental disorder is a 
  side-effect of a mind-invading psion 
  the party fought in another dungeon. 
  Or maybe infernal forces are project-
  ing evil spirits into the material world 
  in an attempt to disorient the heroes 
  before they launch an attack. When 
  schizophrenia is introduced in this 
  way, finding a way to cure it is im-
  perative; it’s a heavy burden for one 
  character to bear, and most players 
  want to feel empowered when playing 
  a fantasy game. Even if they have to go 
  on a quest to slay a brain-eating aber-
  ration or meet with a noble celestial to 
  cure their disorder, regaining a stable 
  worldview should be an exciting jour-
  ney for your player.
  Alternatively, a party could be ap-
  proached by a quest giver seeking a 
  cure. Worse, perhaps someone might 
  approach the party with evidence that 
  a prophet or high-ranking religious of-
  ficial was not receiving messages from 
  some divine source, but rather was 
  actually suffering from schizophre-
  nia. Do they attempt to cover up this 
  scandal, or do they attempt to help the 
  prophet cope with her affliction?
  Paranoid Schizophrenia
  In some ways, paranoid schizophrenia 
  is a milder form of the previous disor-
  der. Paranoid schizophrenics still suf-
  fer from disordered thoughts, but can 
  often function relatively normally and 
  are better at hiding their condition. 
  Unlike other schizophrenics, paranoid 
  schizophrenics irrationally believe that 
  they have been singled out for per-
  secution by some powerful entity or 
  organization.
  Most of the victim’s experiences are 
  interpreted as attacks against him 
  
  EN World EN5IDER| Fire of The Mind
  by this persecutor. Even mundane 
  coincidences take on a sinister tinge 
  to a paranoid schizophrenic, and he 
  becomes certain that innocent peo-
  ple are actively involved in his on-
  going torment. If he happens to see 
  the same person in a crowd twice, 
  he may become convinced that the 
  person is following him and is a part 
  of the conspiracy against him. It is al-
  most impossible for someone suffer-
  ing this form of the disorder to trust 
  anyone else.
  As a player character. A paranoid 
  schizophrenic character is less 
  complicated to play than a typical 
  schizophrenic, but their inability to 
  trust others makes working in a team 
  difficult. A character suffering from 
  this disorder has disadvantage on 
  all Charisma saving throws, but has 
  advantage on saves against enchant-
  ment spells.
  When playing a character affected in 
  this way, his disorder may have been 
  the reason he started adventuring, if 
  only to avoid his persecutors (which 
  could be almost anyone) or to uncov-
  er the conspiracy. He may believe 
  that the person he believes is behind 
  this conspiracy is someone with a 
  great deal of authority or power, per-
  haps even a king or a dragon. 
  As a Game Master. There is one par-
  ticularly powerful and well known 
  example of paranoid schizophrenia 
  in the fantasy genre. In the Lord of the 
  Rings series, Gollum’s erratic, par-
  anoid behavior was caused by the 
  power and domination of the One 
  Ring. In a pre-scientific world, cor-
  rupting magic like the Ring’s could 
  be the cause of such a disorder. The 
  advice for playing NPCs with schizo-
  phrenia also applies to paranoid 
  schizophrenic NPCs. If you have a 
  paranoid schizophrenic character in your game, you 
  can influence how his paranoia manifests. Is it plot 
  important? Or perhaps villains take advantage of it, 
  creating a fictitious secret society to draw the he-
  roes off their scent (“I knew the Sisters of the Eye were 
  behind it all!”).
  Alternatively, a paranoid schizophrenic NPC may 
  unwittingly fool the heroes into believing that the 
  government is out to kill him. This character be-
  lieves his paranoid claims wholeheartedly, and 
  Wisdom (Insight) checks or spells like zone of truth 
  would have no effect.  
  Author - James Abendroth
  Editor - James Haeck
  Artists -Sade
  Layout - Justin Buell
  
SOURCE: textdata/thevault/Dungeons & Dragons [multi]/5th Edition (5e)/3rd Party/EN World EN5ider/EN5ider 013 - Fire of the Mind.pdf