Madness in XWP

CHASES
COMBAT RULES
DISPELLING INSIGHT
DISTRACT
EXECUTIONS
GIVE AIR
HELPING WITH SAVES
LEVELS & CR
MADNESS
PREGNANCY
REINCARNATION
REPUTATION
SPIRITUAL DUEL
WAKING UP

(Season 2-6 spoilers)

Mental disorders are quite common in XWP, but the core rules of D&D lack mechanics for dealing with this. I’m certainly not a psychiatrist, but I know at least that you can’t simply adopt the content of a psychiatric textbook and dump it into a campaign, XWP or otherwise. Mundane world insanities are either too slow working and subtle to have much impact, or too crippling to be possible to roleplay for any length of time. So, what to include in a XWP campaign?
   Why not look at the series?
   Madness in XWP is nearly always induced by gods or other spirits. There are 2 main exceptions:
   - The corrupting influence of major traumas: young Callisto experiencing the death of her family, Xena being betrayed, crucified and then, when saved, losing M’Lila, even in some way Varia’s encounter with Livia’s slavers. But while this might indeed lead to psychotic behaviour, any such change is best handled by pure role-playing, and at the choice of the individual player (or DM, in the case of an NPC).
   - Hallucinogenic drugs, as demonstrated by Gabrielle on several occasions.
   As to Caligula’s voices, I attribute this to whatever spiritual condition enabled him to drain the energy of Aphrodite. Najara's voices, likewise, I believe are nothing like schizophrenia, since they give her real and very secret knowledge. My private theory concerning her can be read here.
   These rules, then, are suggestions of how to handle sudden insanity, not gradual psychological processes or understandable reactions to extreme events.

Note: Apart from conditions used in the series, I’ve included some entries from the very inspirational article "Methods to Your Madness" by Ed Friedlander, published in Dragon Magazine #138 (October 1988).
Confusion and feeblemind, while clearly mental conditions, are too impeding to use as insanities.

SOURCES FOR MADNESS
The Furies: the Olympian gods can order the Furies to plague a mortal with madness, if they find her guilty of failing to avenge a murder of a family member. This madness is a permanent condition, removable only by a deity. There is no saving throw for this. Roll 1d20 initially on the madness table below. For the first week, re-roll every hour, applying only the effects of the new roll. After that, 1 re-roll every week is made.
Hallucinogenic drugs: some has a specific effect. For random use, roll 1d6. Click here for a description of henbane.
Divine deprivation: the disappearance of certain gods causes widespread madness. If a culture’s god of war disappears, belligerence affects every member of that culture, including other gods if enough time passes. If Aphrodite disappears, or if Ares disappears for a longer period, thus causing her powers to diminish because of her increased belligerence, loveless conditions strike everyone in the Known World. This is because she is the only god of love worshipped at that time. The worship of the God of Eli is yet too small to have any impact in that matter.

1d20 or 1d6: Madness:

1 (hallucination) Darting

2 (hallucination) Extreme suggestibility

3 (hallucination) Famous personage

4 (hallucination) Hostile hallucinations

5 (hallucination) Quixotism

6 (hallucination) Reverie

7 Belligerence

8 Black outlook

9 Clown

10 Creature complex

11 Drunkard

12 Exaggerated fear

13 Exaggerated suspicions

14 Genius

15 Loveless

16 Obsession (as the spell)

17 Partial amnesia

18 Reverting

19 Sensitive

20 Total amnesia

4E: During encounters, a character under the influence of madness has only absolute control over two actions per turn, not three. The third action must be spent as described for that particular kind of madness. If circumstances makes it impossible to do the required action, the action is simply lost. This includes when the character realizes that it probable death to perform the action. An action that can be done partially will be done.

Darting
Overcome with curiosity, the afflicted runs here and there to briefly examine whatever is in the neighbourhood. If stuck in the same place for an hour or more, this darting about gradually lessens, until a new stimulus presents itself. Communication and other activities are still possible, but the afflicted has the attention span of a puppy.
4E: Mad action: Move your full speed without re-entering already visited squares during that move.

Extreme suggestibility (Ed Friedlander)
3.5: The afflicted is easily influenced by others and gets no saving throw against compulsion magic. Even non-magical suggestions require a DC 10 Will save, unless obviously self-destructive.
4E: Mad action: Do what someone else tells you. If no new instructions are given, keep doing what you were last told. If no instructions have been given that encounter, do what a person of your choice is doing.

Famous personage
The afflicted thinks she is another person, a hero, villain, or other well-known character. If confronted with the original, she will declare the other an impostor or blame cloning magic or some other explanation.
4E: Mad action: Do what that person is famous for doing, or spend a minor action mimicking her.

Hostile hallucinations
The afflicted sees enemies where none exist. The hallucinations aren’t constant, and rarely appear during actual combat, but rather in calm circumstances.
4E: Mad action: Move half your speed in a straight line.

Quixotism (Ed Friedlander)
The afflicted believes ordinary things to be fantastic objects or creatures. Humble dwellings can become palaces, vehicles can become monsters, tools can become priceless artefacts, and so forth. While not everything will be perceived in this way, at least one thing at every location will.
4E: Mad action: If no enemy is adjacent, or in range for an encounter or daily power, attack an empty adjacent square.

Reverie
The afflicted goes into a state of astonished bliss, seeing unearthly beauty all around her, hearing celestial music everywhere, tasting only the most exquisite delicacies, whatever the fare provided. In effect, this slows her down as the slow spell (3.5).
4E: Mad action: Spend a minor action just marvelling over something.

Belligerence
The afflicted becomes irritable and takes any insult or disrespect, however unintentional, as an excuse to fight. Alignment has some bearing on the fighting-style. A good person usually goes for subdual damage (3.5) or strikes opponents unconscious instead of killing them (4E), at least until she has received a significant amount of real damage.
4E: Mad action: Strive to keep adjacent to at least one enemy.

Black outlook
The afflicted becomes frustrated with even modest displays of joy. Every word drips with scathing cynicism. Ongoing projects are continued in a lazy and uninspired way.
4E: Mad action: Move at half speed during move actions.

Clown
The afflicted behaves in a nonsensical manner, rapidly alternating between pointless experiments, jokes, faked emotions, and other actions usually only seen in cartoons and circuses.
4E: Mad action: Use a minor action to make a fool of yourself.

Creature complex (Ed Friedlander)
The afflicted believes she is of a different, but sentient, race and acts accordingly. She can still speak, move and fight as usual. Examples include: centaur, bacchae, banshee, cyclops, Hades harpy.
4E: Mad action: Use a minor action to mimick the creature.

Drunkard
The afflicted takes every opportunity to drink alcohol. The methods for acquiring it vary with alignment, but it has high priority in every instant. The main problem with this kind of madness isn’t the risk that the afflicted will abandon combat just to have a drink, she won’t, but the risk that she will be in a drunken stupor when it begins.
4E: Mad action: Whenever you move more than 1 square, you fall prone at the end of the move.

Exaggerated fear (Ed Friedlander)
The afflicted is abnormally fearful of some creature or situation, and will be panicked if exposed to it. She also tries to get information about the feared object in any conversation.
4E: Mad action: Move at half speed during move actions.

Exaggerated suspicions (Ed Friedlander)
The afflicted is suspicious of everyone else, believing them to be enemies in disguise and telling them so. A long-term companion might be excluded, but subjected to the occasional test to prove her identity.
4E: Mad action: Your speed is 1 square less and you can't make voluntary move actions on another person's turn when a power would otherwise have given you the opportunity.

Genius
This peculiar madness actually sharpens the intellect of the afflicted.
3.5: Intelligence is increased by 1 point for as long as the affliction lasts.
4E: Intelligence is increased by 1 point for as long as the affliction lasts.
Mad action: Spend a move action just standing there, pondering.

Loveless
The afflicted loses the ability to love. Previously loved ones won’t be treated with hostility, but rather as superficial allies.
4E: Mad action: Use a minor action to figure out if it's in your best interest to be with these people.

Obsession
The target becomes obsessed with whatever is occupying her mind the most at the onset of the madness. The obsession manifests as a desire to experience the obsession as fully as possible. The DM must (as always) judge the exact effects, but here are some guidelines:
   - A specific creature or role: the target attempts to act in accordance with that creature or role. If the target learns of the location of such a creature or someone in that role, he attempts to get nearby and follow it around, adoringly.
   - An object: the target attempts to get that object in her possession. If that is clearly impossible, she tries to create a replica.
   - An action: the target tries to perform that action again and again, training, trying out various new styles.
   Obsessive people only want to talk about their obsession. Any attempt to make them interested in anything else must include a connection with the obsession.
   Targets avoid clearly suicidal actions and defend themselves in combat, but tries to do so in accordance with their obsession, if at all possible.
3.5: As the spell. Click here for a description.
4E: Mad action: Spend a minor action fiddling with something related to the obsession.

Partial amnesia
A significant, but discrete part of the afflicted one’s memory is lost. It can be all memories of violence, all memories of childhood, all memories from a certain part of the world, or some other category.
3.5: Even feats, skills, and class abilities directly dependant on those memories are forgotten. When in a situation it would be natural for her to use a certain skill, feat or class ability, she rolls a Wisdom check DC 20 each round. If she succeeds, she remembers a random skill, feat or class ability.
4E: -10 on three skills or on attack rolls. The penalties are decreased by 1 for each extended rest.
Mad action: Spend a minor action trying to remember something.

Reverting
The afflicted reverts to an earlier phase in her life. If no significant change has occurred during adulthood, she reverts to childhood. Nothing is forgotten, but the demeanour and interests are those of that earlier phase. Later relationships are reinterpreted as appropriate for that phase. Lovers become friends, familiar figures in authority can be seen as parents, etc.
4E: Mad action: Spend a minor action doing something childish.

Sensitive
The target very quickly assumes the emotional state of nearby people.
3.5: The target gets a +4 insanity bonus to all Sense Motive (3.5) or Insight (4E) checks and very quickly assumes the emotional state of nearby people.
4E: Mad action: +4 on Insight checks and use a move action to move as one other person in sight moved (relative your own position, but in the same absolute direction as the other person).

Total amnesia
The afflicted forgets every experience up to the moment of insanity. She can still move and talk.
3.5: Skills, feats and class abilities are not lost, but the amnesiac forgets that she knows them. Prepared spells are wiped from her memory.
When in a situation it would be natural for her to use a certain skill, feat or class ability, she rolls a Wisdom check DC 20 each round. If the roll succeeds, she remembers. The player must state which skill, feat or class ability she attempts to remember.
4E: Mad action: No class powers can be used. Each encounter after the first, one class power is "unlocked".