One of my players wants to play a wookie with multiple personalities. The story thus far is that he was exiled from his home because he of a betryal. The twist is that one of his ppersonalities is who betrayed human because he is basically a homicidal maniac.

What i would like to happen is when his obligation hits, have some sort of trigger that if it happens he loses control and his other personality takes over throwing him into a blind rage. Any suggestions on what the trigger should be and how long the rages should last?

I would normally avoid using mental disorders in a role playing game. It usually just becomes a schtick and avoids the true horror of many mental disorders.

That said, you may want to look at the various Palladium Role playing Game systems. Many of them have insanity and multiple personality rules.

So, when he becomes a Homocidal Maniac you would be playing his character? While playing his character you would have to do things against his will, life on the fringe may be dangerous enough without having one of your fellow party members trying to kill you.

To me this just comes accross as a no win for anyone, the player of the character, the party or the GM.

I should probably clarify. Less evil and more beserker. What i was thinking was when his obigation hits during that session whenever he takes damage he has to make a discipline check. If he fails, then he loses control, taking one strain per round and attacking the target closest to him.

I should probably clarify. Less evil and more beserker. What i was thinking was when his obigation hits during that session whenever he takes damage he has to make a discipline check. If he fails, then he loses control, taking one strain per round and attacking the target closest to him.

That sounds like a recipe for disaster at the game table. I really dislike players that pull this kind of sh*t...

All I can suggest is talk to all your players and get their approval because their the ones that are going to be near this guy most often and are going to have to pick up the pieces after PsycoWookee derails the game.

I agree that this could be a mess. I'd suggest if you roll his obligation that he does something out of session that starts the plot of your session. Example of he went berserk at a bar and un"armed" someone and now they are after the party. Problem I see is why would anyone want to hang around a wookie who goes crazy.

Problem I see is why would anyone want to hang around a wookie who goes crazy.

THIS. I would absolutely not want to share a ship with a time bomb of a Wookie. Just sounds like a problem waiting to develop.

Not to mention the potential for inter-player drama.

I should probably clarify. Less evil and more beserker. What i was thinking was when his obigation hits during that session whenever he takes damage he has to make a discipline check. If he fails, then he loses control, taking one strain per round and attacking the target closest to him.

Put yourself in the shoes of the player attacked and perhaps the other players who may have to watch this play out.

How do you see this playing out?

Problem I see is why would anyone want to hang around a wookie who goes crazy.

THIS. I would absolutely not want to share a ship with a time bomb of a Wookie. Just sounds like a problem waiting to develop.

Not to mention the potential for inter-player drama.

To be fair, it sounds kinda like a Wookiee version of River Tam from Firefly.

She was mentally unstable, went berserk in "Serenity", knocked out crew member Jayne, and might have killed Captain Mal if she hadn't been incapacitated by her brother knowing a secret safe word.

In this case, River was with them because she'd been brought on board by Simon (who was useful to the crew as a Doctor) and because the crew had grown fond of her.

That being said, I wouldn't really want this kind of character in one of my games either. Unless it was really well-played, it sounds like more of an unpleasant gimmick than a fun quirk.

Usually River was used as a setup for a larger plot. The wookie could be used this way but it probably should be GM controlled unless everyone at the table is okay with it.

I have talked to the player and we have agreed to try it for a session and if it gets to be a problem we will rework the rules. Alsi he has stated he pretty much expects the rest of the party to stun him as soon as it happens because he'll have all of 8 strain

What is it that strikes you as a good idea that is worth not paying heed of all the advice being given?

To me this is a train wreak happening, and once it starts there is no putting it right.

How do you fix me putting the wookie in an airlock and opening the outter door?

To be honest i think it's mostly a hold over from his d20 days. They play pathfinder with another gm quote a bit and in all but one case PC death has occurred because of betryal from within the party. They literally spec out their characters so they can kill each other if necessary. I sm hopong to humor them into slowly becomong less homicidal and more thoughtful in their approach.

Give it a shot Kal. I think those that have expressed reluctance to this idea have some very valid points, but every table is different. You are trying to be as fair as possible and giving the player a chance. This is good. You made the player aware that it could possibly be a problem, and the player appears to understand. Let us know how it turns out. Good or bad, this can help out other GMs as well.

To be honest i think it's mostly a hold over from his d20 days. They play pathfinder with another gm quote a bit and in all but one case PC death has occurred because of betryal from within the party. They literally spec out their characters so they can kill each other if necessary. I sm hopong to humor them into slowly becomong less homicidal and more thoughtful in their approach.

Good luck. Hopefully they will grow out of it some day.

They literally spec out their characters so they can kill each other if necessary.

To be honest, it sounds like one mad wookiee is the least of your problems.

I dunno, maybe try watching the original movies again with them? Hope some of the themes of sacrifice, unity, teamwork, brotherhood etc rub off on them?

This sounds like a messy situation all around. All I can figure is talk to the players and explain that you are going for a Star Wars feel, ie: good guys/heroes/not killing each other.

As far as the wookie characters is concerned. There has to be a reason the other characters would keep him around. Most of the time if somebody is a dangerous threat, and you have no attachment to them, ditch them at the next spaceport.

I, for one, think it's a pretty cool idea, OP. I think personally I would gear his rage towards fighting enemies, I'm thinking upgrading his attack roll, but also adding in that Threat he generates can be spent to have allies attacked as well/instead, akin to a Despair. Then a Discipline check can determine if he actually attacks them or not.

Its certainly doable.

Since death in EoE is by multiple criticals, most characters wouldn't really die if the wookie raged on them. If the wookie raged on a party member, there could be a good chance of a life debt obligation to appear too or to nullify the raging the wookie gets hooked on a drug basically swapping one obligation for another. The narratives are there but its up to the table to be okay with it. If its just a death match table then you might as well run a Sith campaign...

I would say instead of making it a random gameplay mechanic that activates during play, give it more of a broad perspective. If you make it the former, it becomes a gimmick or a "talent" that the player wants to rely on. Basically it undermines the reason such a trait is interesting in the first place.

Instead, have him roll on some percentile or something at the beginning of session. If he passes, he plays normal that session. If he fails, he has to change his entire personality.

Also, I would suggest for you to encourage the player to treat the "homicidal" aspect maturely. If he just runs around killing random people in a street... punish that. Make him work for his freedom afterwards. Otherwise, make sure he is aware that even homicidal maniacs aren't killing people 24/7. A lot of their time is spent in depression, emotional hurt and anger, convincing themselves that they need to kill again, and the dialogue that happens in their own mind as a result.

We ran the first session last night and he did really well. He explaoned it better and basically he is playing a pacifist, going so far as to run through the middle of a fir fight to drag the old-man NPC back behind cover. So far so good.

This sounds like a messy situation all around. All I can figure is talk to the players and explain that you are going for a Star Wars feel, ie: good guys/heroes/not killing each other.

As far as the wookie characters is concerned. There has to be a reason the other characters would keep him around. Most of the time if somebody is a dangerous threat, and you have no attachment to them, ditch them at the next spaceport.

I would argue this isn't entirely inline with the premise of Edge of the Empire. Edge isn't so much a geographical as it is a social distinction. My players are playing a band of social misfits and outcasts. They don't have to be hero's and several published adventures involve working directly or indirectly for Black Sun, hardly a group of BoyScouts.

This sounds like a messy situation all around. All I can figure is talk to the players and explain that you are going for a Star Wars feel, ie: good guys/heroes/not killing each other.

As far as the wookie characters is concerned. There has to be a reason the other characters would keep him around. Most of the time if somebody is a dangerous threat, and you have no attachment to them, ditch them at the next spaceport.

I would argue this isn't entirely inline with the premise of Edge of the Empire. Edge isn't so much a geographical as it is a social distinction. My players are playing a band of social misfits and outcasts. They don't have to be hero's and several published adventures involve working directly or indirectly for Black Sun, hardly a group of BoyScouts.

They don't have to be boy scouts or even agree on every little point. That would be boring.

But a player group that doesn't have enough cohesion is usually a nightmare to plan, run, and get motivated. If the players all want different things out of the game, or if there is someone with a character concept that ruins the fun of the other players then that needs to be dealt with.

I am very glad it went well last session, just be very careful and monitor the reactions of everyone else at the table over the long haul. Just because "its my character concept" doesn't mean that it is a good one for a gaming troupe.

I would go into this with a guarded "Lets try it out, but after a few games it becomes troublesome, we'll write the psychosis out."

Then if it works, then soldier on. If it turns out to be more bother than it's worth - for either GM or players both - undo the damage ("About last week? We're just going to ignore the fact that Pilot Bob was killed and the Imperials have a 25 million credit bounty on you. So there you are in the bar. . . .")