Derangements

**Depression (mild)** If your character fails to achieve a goal (not just fails a roll, but fails to accomplish some personal, desired end such as getting a job or saving a friendÕs life), he might go into a bout of depression for the remainder of the scene. A dramatic failure that occurs in any activity might also bring on a bout of depression. Regardless of the circumstances, make a reflexive Resolve + Composure roll.

Effect: If the roll fails, your character loses one Willpower point and cannot spend any Willpower points for the remainder of the scene.

Melancholia (severe): Severe depression. In addition to the above effects of a failed Resolve + Composure roll, all dice pools suffer a -2 penalty for the remainder of the scene.

**Phobia (mild)** Your character is scared of a particular type of person, place or thing such as lawyers, heights or spiders. When that trigger is encountered, a reflexive Resolve + Composure roll must be made successfully or your character suffers a bout of fear.

Effect: Your character moves away from the object of her phobia. If she must be near it, she can tolerate being no closer than her Speed in yards. If it approaches her, she must move away at least her Speed in distance in her next action. She cannot easily target the trigger with close combat or ranged attacks. Such attacks suffer a -5 penalty as your character shakes just looking at it. If space or circumstances don’t allow her to maintain her distance, she freezes like a deer in headlights until she finds an opening by which to escape. (Her Defense still applies if attacked and she can choose to dodge and can take cover from Firearms attacks, but she can take no other actions while ‘frozen’)

**Hysteria (severe)** This condition operates as a phobia, but on a failed Resolve + Composure roll your character cannot be in the same room with the object of her fear.

She must run away from it immediately, and cannot tolerate being within sensory range (sight, sound, smell) of it. If the trigger comes within sensory range, she must run away at full running Speed as soon as she can take an action. She cannot target it for an attack under any circumstance. If it touches her, make another Resolve + Composure roll for her to not freak out and run as far away as she can, thinking of nothing else until she’s left the subject far behind. (Even if this roll succeeds, your character must still leave the room or area.) If any of your Resolve + Composure rolls suffer a dramatic failure or your character is unable to escape, she faints and loses consciousness for the remainder of the scene. If your character is unaware of the object’s proximity until it touches her, your Resolve + Composure roll suffers a -3 penalty. If it touches her where she can’t see it but she can feel it a spider dropping on her neck or in her hair the penalty is -5.

*Special phobias of note:*

**Agoraphobia** – the fear of inescapable situations. The result is anxiety and panic attacks, which can easily become self-perpetuating. Extreme agoraphobes are confined to their own home, which is the only place they consider to be safe. (Common for Baddacelli, also not uncommon for Calacas, adding to the stereotype of Nosferatu being underdwellers)

**Claustrophobia** – the fear of confined spaces. Sufferers will stay well away from elevators, trains and tiny cupboards under the stairs. May cause panic attacks if escape is not possible. (It’s not unknown for Gangrel to suffer from this, after years of being on their own under an open sky)

**Narcissism (mild)** Whenever your character succeeds at a goal (not simply succeeds in a roll, but achieves a desired end such as knocking a challenging opponent unconscious or hacking into a well-protected computer), it might go to his head and pump up his overweening ego. Roll Resolve + Composure to avoid a bout of vanity. (This is common most among Daeva and Venture)

Effect: On a failed roll, your character does not work and play well with others even if the victory that brings on a bout of narcissism was partly won with their aid. For the remainder of the scene, when called upon to aid in a task your character does so only half-heartedly, unless it’s a task focused on him or his own needs or wants. He suffers a -3 penalty when participating in teamwork efforts (see p. 134). And he’s such a self-obsessed bore that Social rolls all suffer a -1 penalty.

Note: in the high-tech information age of the 21st Century far too many people have almost a low level narcissism, getting “likes” on their selfie pics or youtube videos.

**Megalomania (severe)** The effects of Narcissism apply, except that the penalties intensify by one. Your character is also highly competitive. He cannot allow himself to fail a contest (even a contested roll). If he does, he obsesses about it and works to arrange a rematch when it’s most beneficial for him. If, for example, he fails to pick a lock while an ally succeeds, he doesn’t let it go. He constantly insists that he did the job and that his successor took the glory, and demands that similar efforts be tried again, even under inappropriate circumstances such as at an office or restaurant.

If your character ever loses a contest to someone he feels is socially inferior, he loses one point of Willpower due to shame and self-loathing (which is at the heart of his megalomania; he secretly fears that he’s a fraud).

**Fixation (mild)** If your character fails or succeeds at an important action such as leaping between buildings or making a getaway in a sports car, he might fixate on his loss or victory. Roll Resolve + Composure after such an event for him to avoid this unhealthy obsession.

Effect: If your Resolve + Composure roll fails, roll a single die. The result is the number of scenes in which your character is focused on the offending or inspiring event or task, to the possible exclusion of more important goals. He fixates on what he believes caused him to lose or win his goal, whether it’s an opponent, a broken shoelace or the model of car driven. In the case of a defeat, he cannot help but simmer in anger, cursing a circumstance or trying to devise a method of circumventing it in the future. In the case of a victory, he becomes a fanatic, spending much of his time researching, observing or acclaiming an activity or factor that allowed him to succeed.

The Storyteller rules on how this derangement affects your character’s dice pools or behavior. It might cause him a -1 on any task not related to his fixation, or he might refuse to engage in an activity if it doesn’t somehow tie into his obsession. Since this derangement is potentially active for many scenes, rather than one, its effects should be mild but persistent.

**Obsessive Compulsion (severe)** The trauma, guilt or inner conflict that causes this derangement forces your character to focus nearly all of his attention and energy on a single repetitive behavior or action. Obsession relates to an individual’s desire to control his environment keeping clean, keeping an area quiet and peaceful, or keeping undesirable individuals out. A compulsion is an action or set of actions that an individual is driven to perform to soothe his anxieties Ñ placing objects in an exact order, constantly checking to make sure a weapon is loaded, praying every few hours to give thanks for surviving that long.

Effect: Determine a set of specific actions or behaviors that your character follows to the exclusion of all else (even if doing so interferes with his current agenda or endangers his life or othersÕ). The effects of obsessive compulsion can be negated for the course of one scene by making a successful Resolve + Composure roll at a -2 penalty. If your character is forcibly prevented from adhering to his derangement, he may lose control among enemies or allies and attack either (or both) indiscriminately.''''***Suspicion (mild)** Anytime your character suffers intentional misfortune at the hands of another, he might become extremely suspicious of everyone’s motives toward him. He might crash as a result of being cut off in traffic or receive little help from assistants in a teamwork effort (see p. 134). Roll Resolve + Composure for your character to resist the suspicion compulsion. ‘Misfortune’ is characterized as failing an important task due to the intentional intervention of another person even if it’s a friend or ally. Those people whom your character already mistrusts for good reason can still trigger his suspicious nature if they successfully foil his task everyone then becomes a suspect, plotting to do him wrong. Combat does not necessarily trigger this derangement. A Resolve + Composure roll is made only if combat is the means by which someone intentionally prevents your character from achieving a goal. (Note: A roll for a task might fail and your character chooses to blame someone else, but that doesn’t necessarily trigger this derangement’s effect. Only if someone directly causes him to fail is a roll made to avoid triggering his suspicious nature.)*

Effect: Your character’s trust is undermined for the remainder of the scene, regardless of whether or not the person or persons who did him wrong meant any harm. He questions everyone’s sincerity and doubts that anyone tries to help him, even if someone saves his life. He suffers a -1 penalty on all Social rolls. Note that, even though your character is suspicious, he can still be taken in by con men and hucksters. He gets no special bonus to resist their attempts to sway him even though he suspects them of being as bad as everyone else.

**Paranoia (severe)** Your character believes that her misery and insecurity stem from external persecution and hostility. (That would be an accurate assumption in the World of Darkness, if people actually knew of monsters existence.) Paranoids obsess over their persecution complexes, often creating vast and intricate conspiracy theories to explain who torments them and why. Anyone or anything perceived to be ‘one of THEM’ might be subjected to violence.

Effect: A character who suffers from paranoia automatically suffers a -2 penalty on Social rolls. The character is distrustful and wary of everyone, even close friends and family. The slightest hint of suspicious behavior is enough to provoke a Resolve + Composure roll to retain control (made at a -2 penalty). A failed roll indicates that your character flees or attacks an offender.

**Inferiority Complex (mild)** Whenever your character is subjected to a stressful situation in which the result of a single choice or dice roll can determine success or failure, she might be overcome with such self-doubt that she threatens the outcome. She might need to tell a convincing lie to get out of a dangerous situation or cut a wire to disable a bomb. Roll your character’s Resolve + Composure for her to remain composed.

Effect: If your roll fails, the weight of the momentous choice is too much for your character and she is flustered, doubting her ability to choose correctly or to perform adequately. Once in this state, any rolls made for the remainder of the scene including the momentous act itself suffer a -1 penalty. In addition, a Willpower point cannot be spent on the singular roll that inspires her bout of inferiority.

**Anxiety (severe)** As Inferiority Complex, but your character’s general anxiety plagues things so badly that she suffers a -2 penalty on all rolls for the remainder of the scene, and Willpower points cannot be spent to bolster any rolls in that period.

**Vocalization (mild)** Whenever your character is stymied by a quandary and must make an important decision about a course of action, or is under extreme stress, she might talk to herself without realizing it. Roll Resolve + Composure to avoid this discomforting habit.

Examples of important decisions include: Trying to figure out which fork in the road to take so that the guerillas don’t get to the village first. The wrong choice means arriving precious minutes late and finding innocents killed or kidnapped. When your character has one bullet but two foes, both of whom prepare to strike lethal blows against two separate friends. Which should be shot? When the attorney slides a piece of paper with his final offer across the table. Your character has minutes to say ‘yes’ or ‘no.’

Effect: On a failed roll, your character vocalizes her internal monologue but only realizes it if it’s pointed out by others, at which point she can stop for one turn per dot of Wits that she has. After that period, she forgets herself and starts doing it all over again. This behavior persists for the remainder of the scene.

Your character vocalizes even if opponents or rivals can hear. It’s hard to keep her thoughts and feelings secret when she speaks them aloud. For example, a rival might demand that she reveal the location of a hidden heirloom She smirks and think to herself (and unwittingly speaks aloud), ‘You’ll never find it in my hidden wall safe.’

**Schizophrenia (severe; extreme)** Conflicting sets of feelings and impulses that cannot be resolved can cause your character to develop schizophrenia, which manifests as a withdrawal from reality, violent changes in behavior and hallucinations. This derangement is the classic sort, causing victims to talk to walls, imagine themselves to be the King of Siam, or to receive murderous instructions from their pets.

Role-playing this derangement requires careful thought. The Storyteller must determine a general set of behaviors relevant to the trauma that causes the condition.  Hallucinations, bizarre behavior and disembodied voices stem from a terrible inner conflict that the individual cannot resolve. Establish a firm idea of what that conflict is and then rationalize what kind of behavior it causes.

Effect: A character with this derangement is unpredictable and dangerous. He automatically suffers a -2 penalty on all Social rolls and may be aggressive or violent toward people who confront him with trauma such as accusations, disturbing truths or heated arguments. Make a Resolve + Composure roll for your character to avoid escaping or attacking the source of trauma.

**Irrationality (mild)** Whenever your character is threatened with violence or suffers extreme tension by being persecuted, challenged or accused, she might react without logic or reason. Roll her Resolve + Composure to keep her cool. The persecution, challenge or accusation needs to bear some realistic threat to your character’s well-being, whether related to finances, emotional security or social standing. A hobo threatening to sue is no real threat, but a rich executive who says he’s going to ruin your character qualifies as a threat. Likewise, a society-page gossipmonger who threatens to expose your character’s faults is a threat if your character relies on that crowd for social acceptance, but not if he is a bicycle messenger who’s never been inside a penthouse.

Effect: On a failed roll, your character’s only way to comfortably deal with confrontation is to act crazy or over the top, in wild hopes that she will scare away her oppressor or at least mitigate her own fears. This behavior persists for the remainder of the scene. Ironically, she takes dangerous risks that might harm her worse than the actual threat posed. If a bouncer demands to know what your character is doing in an off-limits part of a club, she might overreact and get in his face. Make a Wits + Composure roll for her to be able to take any action that removes her from the scene or that directly diffuses the situation (such as accepting a hand offered in a conciliatory handshake). The truly ironic part about this behavior is that during such a bout, your character cannot initiate violence, only respond to it if it occurs. She can threaten or cajole challengers, but canÕt take the first swing. (That, in fact, is what her crazed behavior tries to avoid.)

**Multiple Personality (severe; extreme)** The trauma that spawns this derangement fractures your character’s personality into one or more additional personas, allowing her to deny her trauma or any actions the trauma causes by placing the blame on someone else. Each personality is created to respond to certain emotional stimuli. An abused person might develop a tough-as-nails survivor personality, create a protector or even become a murderer to deny the abuse she suffers. In most cases, none of these personalities is aware of the others, and they come and go through your character’s mind in response to specific situations or conditions.

*NOTE:While a character with multiple personalities can manifest different Skills or perhaps increased or diminished Social Attributes for each identity. The character is still limited by their stats, the player is allowed to ‘pull their punches’ on their attributes and skills.*

*If you take this flaw, staff will expect at least three personalities that are described and possible “triggers.”*

**Avoidance (mild)** When confronted with a situation or person associated with a previous, significant failure or trauma (a long-term rival, an ex-wife, the house in which one suffered a painful childhood), your character prefers not to face the situation and might do everything he can to avoid it. Roll Resolve + Composure for him to master his nervousness.

Effect: On a failed roll, your character does everything in his power to avoid the situation, short of harming himself or others. He might escape the scene or disguise himself as a bystander to sidle away. If he must confront (or can’t escape) the situation, any rolls made suffer a -1 penalty.

**Fugue (severe; extreme)** Victims suffering from fugue experience blackouts and loss of memory. When subjected to a particular variety of stress, your character performs a specific, rigid set of behaviors to remove the stressful symptoms. This syndrome differs from multiple personalities in that an individual in the grip of a fugue has no separate personality. Instead, he is on a form of  autopilot similar to sleepwalking. Decide on the kind of circumstance or exposure that triggers this state, be it the death of a defenseless person by his hand, a confrontation with a specific sort of creature or confinement in a small, dark room.

Effect: Make a Resolve + Composure roll when your character is subjected to his trigger. If the roll fails, roleplay your character’s trance-like state by performing a sequence of behaviors that he performs almost robotically. He might repetitively untie and tie his shoes, walk to the corner of the room and refuse to come out, or curl into the fetal position. If the Storyteller is not satisfied by your character’s reaction, he might take control of your character for the duration of the bout. The spell lasts for the remainder of the scene. At the end of the fugue, your character regains consciousness with no memory of his actions. If outsiders (including friends and enemies) interfere with or try to prevent your character’s mechanical activities, he may attack them in order to carry on.