Gambling Addiction

Value
Uncommon, Strong: 10 Points • Uncommon, Total: 15 Points • Common, Strong: 15 Points • Common, Total: 20 Points
Description
A character with this Complications gas a constant urge to gamble, despite the potential harmful consequences to the gambler himself or others, and regardless of any desire to stop. The character frequently thinks about and talks about gambling experiences, whether past, present, or future, including bets that the character only wish he had actually made. When he ceases or reduces his gambling activity, he feels Restless and Irritable. Typically, the character gambles in order to improve his mood or to escape problems.
Neither winning nor losing does not change the character's need to gamble. If he finds himself winning, the character will continue to gamble in order to "maximize" his winnings, despite the fact that there is no true "maximum" that he is trying to reach. If losing, the character will continue to gamble in the mad hope that he can make up his losses.
As time goes on, the Gambling Addict requires larger and more frequent wagers to experience the same "rush" that he once got from petty gambling. The character will lie to family and friends to cover the extent of their gambling, and at the Total strength level will contemplate breaking the law (including acts of theft, embesslement, fraud, and forgery) in order to finance their gambling habit, or to cover their losses. They simply do not take the consequences of their continued gambling into account.
This Complication is also called Ludomania.
Despite the name, this Complication is actually a problem with Impulse Control rather than a true addiction.
A Frequency of Uncommon means that the addiction is not yet a serious problem for the character, and it only rarely affects the character's daily performance. A Frequency of Common means that the addiction is a very real problem, and the character's daily performance is seriously affected.
A player character should not take this Disadvantage with a frequency of Very Common, as this would mean that the character spends most of his active life filling the addiction. While that might properly simulate the struggles a true Gambling Addict must go through, unless the campaign is centered on the character's struggles with addiction, it doesn't make for very exciting game play. Similarly, a character who possesses an addiction that has a Frequency less than Uncommon is not a true addict; rather, he just has a bad habit he enjoys indulging. The strength of the addiction (whether Strong or Total) determines the character's ability to resist giving in to the addiction when given a chance to indulge it.
There are many free resources available to help people that are dealing with a gambling addiction, here are a few of them that are totally free and have some great resources:
Know the Odds
Don't Bet Yet
Gambling Addiction
GamCare
See Also
Adrenaline Junkie, Can't Face Up to His Problems, Drug Addiction, Impulsive, Kleptomania, Self-Destructive, Trouble Magnetic
Category:Complications
Category:Psychological Complications
Category:Psychological Complications G - H
Category:Compulsions
Category:Impulse Control Issues
Category:Addictions