Roleplaying Insanity

[cdnspr]

Hey, I'm considering roleplaying my character's descent into insanity. Thing is, I'm not really sure how. I know, speaking in riddles helps. Any other ideas that you guys can share with me?

[GodBeastX]

Carry a dead squirrel in your pocket, name it, and show it to paladins whenever possible.

Then every now and then when everyone is silent shout:

"STOP TELLING ME TO DO THINGS!"

[Fezzik]

Stop looking at me!

[cdnspr]

I'm thinking of re-reading King Lear to takes notes on the Fool. Erfworld too, for Jack.

[cdnspr]

i was thinking classical literature crazy, not homeless guy on the street crazy

[GodBeastX]

OCD is a fun disorder that alot of unbalanced people have to extreme degrees. Something that has to be a certain way no matter what.

[Machiavelli]

Always refer to other people as 'them'.

[Kaizen]

avoid the Joker-esque maddening laughter.


it brings lots of enemies.

[Urithrand]

Imaginary companions are always a good start. Perhaps the companionship of a long dead friend or relative. Also demanding why everyone is thinking so loudly raises a few eyebrows.

Let me see... multiple personalities generate suitable chaos even in a quiet environment, Insistance that you are in fact a top league spy, or a member of the monarchy, speaking to inanimate objects (and even better, keeping one as a beloved pet), screaming "WHY ARE YOU TOUCHING ME!?" at random intervals, treating the loving, friendly paladin as a terrifying hostile enemy, etc, etc, etc.

The list really is endless. Good luck!

[Machiavelli]

Carry a chicken. Ask it philosophical questions and feed it vampire flesh.

[Gamling]

Machiavelli is a pro at insanity. Listen to him.

[TheBrogueadier]

Quite a few of my characters have varying degrees of mental illness, ranging from the old standards of paranoia and meglomania, through to severe cases of OCD and Aspergers.

Given the somewhat theatrical nature of RP though I assume you want the more fun side of mental disorder; hearing voices, various personalities, doing odd things, thinking your something awesome.. Certainly something a bit more outgoing and intersting than trying to RP Howard Hughes's last few years.


Given the climate though, try throwing in some odd ones like extreme hydrophobia, Proctophobia or just go for all out Panophobia.

[TheBlankStare]

Well . . . it really depends on what kind of insanity that you want to descend into. I'd recommend thumbing through the DSM-IV. It's the "manual" that psychologists use to diagnose people with mental disorders. It's a big book and you can probably find it at your friendly local library.

The thing that I'd worry about though is that most of the time the vast majority of characters in Sundren have some sort of mental disorder. Normal people are pretty hard to find. In fact, if you really want to play something unique you might try playing a character who grew up in Sundren in a normal household without any dreadful kind of past. He might even just be a kid who watched the soldiers marching and decided to join the Legion.

It's one of my pet peeves that so many characters that are played on persistent worlds have some sort of mental disorder. I understand the draw of playing such a character but it would be nice to find some "normal" types of characters to interact with. When everyone is an orphan-bastard child-egomaniac-manic depressive-narcissist who doesn't remember their past it kind of gets old.

[Edit] You can also just do what Kaizen does.

[Redjack]

Hey my character's father is a workaholic and mother an alcoholic and he just wants to be important. That's normal isn't it?

[Kaizen]

To work it, just go through movies/books/comics/whatever, as there are many insane/chaotic characters throughout. Start with that base, and mold it how you will.


I always found talking to yourself in a conversation like fashion more of a 'lack of attention' disorder more then insanity.


If you want amazing dual personality and internal conflicts to learn from, sit down and watch Battlestar Galactica. It is golden.