From: Ole Peder Giæver A TREATISE ON THE SUBJECT OF MADNESS by dr. deagol "He's not mine... is he? His madness... His madness keeps him sane." "And do you think he's the only one, my sister?" -Delerium in a conversation with Dream, Sandman: Three Septembers and a January Madness isn't cool, funny or nice. Madness doesn't provide you with illuminous insight. Why is madness so many times used as a medium for humour? We laugh, because the alternative is to cry. Most humour is ultimately centered around what scares us. There are jokes about negroes, jews and polish people. They are all rooted in fear, unjustified hatred and anti-semitism. There are immense number of jokes based on mad people doing stupid stuff. That's because madness scares us shitless. Vampire is a game of Personal Horror. Madness is deffinately a personal horror, atleast for the one's affected. Not being able to perceive reality clearly, not understanding why people are laughing at you, doing irrational things, not being responisble for your own actions. These are all horrors. It has previously been argumented on this list (VAMPIRE-L@ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM) that it is not important whether you perceive reality or not, as long as your delusions makes you happy, but consider this: What made you enter your happy, happy world of delusions? Why are you sitting in a puddle of your own shit an blood in a dark alley, with a grin on your face? What are you running away from? Listed below are sample Derangements. * Phobia: You are terrified of something, and if you ever are forced into the situation which you fear the most, you must make a Self-Control roll or enter a raving fit of frenzy. You will do nearly anything to avoid these situations. Some things you might fear: being at home alone, being outside the home alone, being in a crowd or standing in a line, being on a bridge or in a tunnel, being on a plane, public transportation, driving a car. Your character may become depressed and anxious. * Hyperactivity: You are easilly distracted, and have trouble concentrating. You often interupt others, or answer their questions before they've finished asking them. You have diffulties following through on instructions, and completing activities you have started with. You talk in excess and you talk loudly, often interupting others, and not paying attention to what they say. The ST may call for a self-control roll against a difficulty of four, when he finds it probable that you become distracted and no longer pay attention (if suceeding, you will manage to control yourself the rest of the scene). * Avoidant Personality: You fear that people might not like you, and tend to avoid social situations where you have to interact with others. You are easily hurt by criticism or disapproval, and you tend to be quiet, avoiding people out of fear you might be embarrased. The ST might require you to roll a courage check against a difficulty of five, or spend atleast one point of willpower in order to overcome these difficulties (for the rest of the scene). * Borderline Personality: You involve yourself in intense ambivalent realtionships, to mend the chronic emptiness and boredom you feel with life. You might have reccurent suicidal or self-mutilating behaviour, and an unstable self-image. You will do anything to avoid being abandoned, always trying to have other people around. Your mood is unstable, and you sometimes have seemingly meaningless fits of anger. There is no system associated with this Derangement, but it must be played coherently. * Conduct Disorder: You have immense trouble behaving youself, and understanding social conduct. You often lie and steal, and have no particular qualms about being abusive, to people or animals. You have no undertanding of the rules other people abide, often initiating fights and destroying peoples property. There is no system to this Derangement, but the ST might be hesitant to allow this Derangement, as it sadly defines the behaviour of most RPCs, and could reinforce and legitimize such behaviour. If you decide to allow it, make sure the rest of the world reacts to the characters disturbed behaviour in an appropriate manner. * Delirium: You find yourself having great difficulties concentrating and thinking in an organized manner. People may have to repeat themselves, because your attention wandered, and you might answer previous questions instead of the present ones. Your perceptions may be disturbed, and you may experience disorientation to time, place and person. Your memory may be impaired. You have to suceede on a Self-Control roll against a difficulty of four in order to overcome these symptoms (for the rest of the scene). * Dependant Personality: You submit youself to others, doing nearly anything in order for them to like you. You are submissive, having trouble disagreeing with others, fearing they might reject you. You have trouble doing things alone, having an excessive need for advice from others. You are preoccupied with fears of being abandoned, and you would be devastated if a close relationship ended. You must make a Courage roll against a difficulty of five in order to disagree with someone, or speak up. * Histrionic: You are obsessed with your physical attractivenes, constantly demanding reassurance, approval or praise. You are extremely self centered, feeling uncomfortable if you're not the center of people's attention. Your emotions are rapidly shifting, and your expression of them is shallow and often overstated. If you are ignored or overseen a long time, you must make a Self-Control roll to resist frenzy (difficulty determined by ST). * Oppositional Defiant Disorder: You are right, and other people are wrong. You are arguementative, and often loose your temper when opposed. You project own blame on others, and often deliberately do things that you know will annoy people. Yourself are easilly annoyed by others, and very touchy. You use a lot of obscene languaged and are angry and resentful. You must make a Self-Control roll in order to accept a direct order without arguing. * Schizophrenia: There's a voice inside your head, whispering you secret things and things you'd rather forget. You experience hallucinations, maybe of your victims, or people you knew when you where alive. You're behaviour might be catatonic, and you have difficulties functioning normally Your speech may become disorganized, and you may begin clinging to odd beliefs. * Tourette's Disorder: You experience tics, both physical (sudden, rapid, nonrythmic, stereotyped movements) and vocal (sudden, rapid, nonrythmic, stereotyped vocalizations). These tics occur many times daily and are a great impairment to you. There is no system associated with the derangement, just roleplay it out. ************************************************************************** A disclaimer: All the text presented in this article is copyrighted by me, Ole Peder Giaever, 1996, except the stuff that is trademarked and copyrighted by the White Wolf Game Studio, that's not mine. It's theirs. This document may be freely distributed through the Internet or any other medium, as long as one includes this disclaimer, and doesn't sell it or otherwise make profit on it. Hope you enjoyed it. Please send comments, questions, suggestions et al, to: deagol@everyday.no **************************************************************************