I figure it's pretty common for people to play schizophrenic Malkavians, right? I started to play a Malkavian online with a rather different derangement, or at least as far as I can tell. My Malkavian, an Ancilla who could have probably passed for a Ventrue otherwise, hallucinated things, people, sounds... different stuff that actually exists... *out* of existence, as opposed to imagining things that don't exist into existence. Bartenders, bouncers, people talking, people's voices, chairs, buildings, the sun, the Prince, people's clothing... something random in each scene (sometimes changing or adding more things during the duration of the scene), she'd just not recognize as being there. It could be something visual, something she could hear, or just the whole shebang. So she might not see a person, but she could still hear them, or vice versa. Or maybe she just wouldn't realize a person was present at all. In other words, she was afflicted with negative hallucinations. It's tricky to be imaginative with online, because on the games I play on, you're on your own, more or less, and I didn't want to do anything *really* bad when she first got to the city... so she wound up seeming sane, more or less, for as long as she was actually in the game (which she wasn't for very long, due to unforseen circumstances)--she hallucinated out chairs, people, drinks, rain, that sort of thing, which the handful of players barely noticed. I had intended for my character to not *see* the Prince when she was introduced (but still to hear her), but the Prince was apparently too busy with other matters to deal with an introduction. I added that if the character wanted to notice what someone else did (if the person pointed it out) she could make a willpower roll at difficulty 8. If she failed it, she'd be annoyed with the person. If she succeeded, she'd be able to see/hear/sense that thing again (but something else would probably fade out). If she botched, then the person had better not point it out again, because the next time it would be brought up, she'd have to roll self control not to frenzy (at 5 or 6 difficulty, maybe higher if they told her the Prince was there and she didn't know it). Suggested if you use the negative hallucinations derangement: Time sense. If you hallucinate the sun out of existence, and you don't know that it's morning, you're going to be in some major trouble. Unfortunately it just didn't work for an online game, but who knows? It might be better in tabletop or LARP where an ST could let the person know what faded out of existence, and the player could react to it. An alternative derangement that I thought of was something very similar to compulsive lying. In fact, it would be, if not for the fact that the Malkavian afflicted would have no clue that she was lying. These lies would have to take up at least half of whatever the Malkavian said, and I'm not talking Pooka-type lies either (that is to say merely avoiding replying by asking questions, or just exaggerating). Generally they would be blatant. If the given Malkavian did not willingly lie the rest of the time (particularly if he/she spoke blatant truth most of the rest of the time) it could become difficult to tell what the truth was. Keep in mind the Malk wouldn't know that he/she was lying, so rolling to detect subterfuge wouldn't exactly work, unless by some off chance it was a deliberate lie or exaggeration. The Malk *could* roll willpower versus 8 to avoid lying, like a pooka, or more aptly, to realize what she was about to say so that she wouldn't lie--because, let's face it, after a while the Malk would have to figure out that she was lying for some reason, if she were to survive for any time at all. These lies would be utterly random patternwise, maybe two lies, then two things that don't have to be lies, maybe they alternate one and one, or maybe the Malk can answer questions with only lies. And the pattern would change either each night or each scene, so no one could really "catch on." Again, the Malkavian wouldn't be doing this intentionally. Much amusement as this might bring otherwise, just imagine the Malkavian trying to tell important information to the Prince, or trying to explain to the Prince that it wasn't she who breached the Masquerade. Or *any* dealing with the Prince or any Elders, unless the Kindred being dealt with were aware of the derangement. It could be an especially bad derangement for someone who'd been upstandingly honest in the past. ("You're lying to me." "Why would I lie to you?") This one could work more easily on an online game than the first one, but keep in mind, these lies do NOT work in the vampire's favor. They'd be random and blatant (not necessarily obvious unless the person being spoken to already knew otherwise). Sometimes they might work in the Malkavian's favor, but most of the time they'd just be a buncha bullsh*t. An ST actually could help by determining the "pattern" to the lying for that night or that scene (or whether it switched mid-scene), or to help talk over what flavor this lying will take, but it's easier to think of how to do this derangement than it is the one listed before it. Let me know what you think! Interesting? Stupid? Whatever. --Somesuch