Split-personality Template (PEACH)

[Qwertystop]

Split-Personality (Template):

A split-personality creature has several different minds sharing the same body. They may have different outlooks on a situation, and are therefore sometimes better or worse at slightly different things, but share the same memories and experiences.

A creature has a "base" personality, which is the first one that they had. The Intelligence modifier for skill points is based on the Intelligence of the base class. Each application of this template (it can be stacked) gives one new personality. Each personality is considered a separate character, but all must have the following in common:

• The same amount of points in each skill that is based off of a physical stat.
• The same physical feats, flaws, and stats (Str, Con, Dex)

They may have any or all the following differences, set when each sub-personality is created.:

• They may have different mental stats(Int, Wis, Cha), flaws, traits, and feats. Feats, traits, and flaws that affect abilities which do not require a physical action count as mental ones. If in doubt, DM decides which it is.
• Any skill based off of a mental stat may have a +1 bonus, as long as an opposite skill, chosen by DM, is given a -1 penalty.
• The alignments may be different, but not more than 2 steps different from the base personality between both axes.
• If the personalities have different classes, and one or more of the classes needs some sort of preparation (Wizards preparing spells at the start of the day, for example), that preparation can only be done while the personality is dominant (So a Wizard could not be preparing spells while another personality is dominant). EXCEPTION: Resting, such as sleeping for 8 hours before being able to prepare spells, can be done while dormant, as long as the dominant personality is resting as well.
• If multiple personalities have the same class, and that class has multiple options, such as spell lists or Favored Enemies, the different personalities can choose different options.

Changed my Mind: A creature with a split personality may change which personality is in control by concentrating for 1 minute, doing nothing else. If they are successful (DC 15 concentration check, using their highest mental stat modifier, taking 10 or 20 not allowed) they fall unconscious for 1 round, and then wake with the personality in control who was chosen when the concentration was begun. If they fail the check by 5 or less, they fall unconscious for 2 rounds and a random personality takes over (number them and roll 1d3 for the personality if using the typical 3-personality option) and is dazed for 1 round. If the check is failed by more than 5, or if something prevents the character from concentrating for the full minute, no change occurs, but they are dazed for 1d4 rounds when they stop concentrating.
Internal Struggle:If the currently dominant personality attempts to do something that is against the wishes of another personality, each may make a concentration check, but must use a mental stat modifier instead of Con. The dormant personalities other than the one who is contesting dominance may each give a +1 bonus to one side of the struggle. If the dormant personality's check beats the dominant personality's check, then the creature is dazed for 1d6 rounds or until it stops the action being opposed by the other personality, and the other personalities aiding the dominant one cannot aid in another struggle for 1 day, or until dominance changes. If the total does not exceed this number, the dormant personality initiating the check, and all others who aid it, cannot try this again for 1 day, or until dominance changes.

Fragile-minded (Trait) (Optional, see below)

Spoiler

Show

A creature with a fragile mind has a chance of developing separate personalities whenever they take a harsh blow.

If a fragile-minded creature takes more than 20% of their health in damage, or is subjected to a severe mind affecting spell, (such as: being forced to do something entirely against their nature, and failing the save; being subjected to a severe mental status condition like Insanity for 1 minute or more; etc.; whether it qualifies is decided by DM) roll d%. On a roll of 0 to 24, they develop a separate personality (apply the split-personality template) if they do not already have their maximum amount which is decided on character creation (usually 3) (It is advised to build the characters for the personalities ahead of time). See above for details on the split-personality template.

If a character has "Split-Personality but not "Fragile-minded", then all personalities must be decided at character creation.
__ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __
I am trying to figure out a way to allow the different minds to confer on a tricky problem, but cannot think of a way for it to happen that isn't "they can talk to each other whenever they want", and will give a small bonus without being broken. I would appreciate help.
__ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __
Questions? Comments? Tips?

[Ashtagon]

Mechanically, this is an advantage. The only disadvantage is if the personalities disagree on a particular task, and that can very easily be dismissed by creating personalities with similar goals.

[Eloel]

Internal Struggle:If the currently dominant personality attempts to do something that is against the wishes of a majority of the other personalities, each (including the dominant one) may make a concentration check, but may use their Wis or Cha modifier if it is higher than their Int modifier.

Concentration checks are based on Con, not Int. Thought I'd warn

[Qwertystop]

Mechanically, this is an advantage. The only disadvantage is if the personalities disagree on a particular task, and that can very easily be dismissed by creating personalities with similar goals.

Can you help me find a way to balance it then? I want reasonably even benefits/downsides, while providing a roleplaying opportunity.

EDIT:

Concentration checks are based on Con, not Int. Thought I'd warn

Well that makes no sense at all. I have corrected the OP.

[blackjack217]

Agreed also lets you pump your caster stat higher than you would normally be able to.
Edit: ninja!! Also make it so that you have two personalities that are diametricly opposed on the moral axis: eg LG with secondary personality with CE NE or LE mechanically it is still strong but will cause all sorts of havoc

[Admiral Squish]

this would actually have been perfect for a character I'm playing now. Though, in his case, there's a LG divine champion of war and a CE bandit king sharing the body for reasons I'll leave unexplained as they have no bearing on the worth of this flaw.

Needless to say, I like it. As for fragile-minded, why bludgeoning or electrical damage and not just damage in general? I think it would be easier just to up the trigger damage, make it any kind of damage, and just say 25% chance of developing a new personality.

As for the situation of opposition by the majority of other personalities, I wouldn't say it would have to be a majority. I'd think a single dormant personality would be able to oppose the dominant one similarly. Though, I'm not sure what you mean by may use wis or cha instead of int. Concentration is based off con. Perhaps it should just be mental checks using each personality's highest mental mods.

EDIT: I appear to have been double-ninjaed...

[Qwertystop]

this would actually have been perfect for a character I'm playing now. Though, in his case, there's a LG divine champion of war and a CE bandit king sharing the body for reasons I'll leave unexplained as they have no bearing on the worth of this flaw.

Needless to say, I like it. As for fragile-minded, why bludgeoning or electrical damage and not just damage in general? I think it would be easier just to up the trigger damage, make it any kind of damage, and just say 25% chance of developing a new personality.

As for the situation of opposition by the majority of other personalities, I wouldn't say it would have to be a majority. I'd think a single dormant personality would be able to oppose the dominant one similarly. Though, I'm not sure what you mean by may use wis or cha instead of int. Concentration is based off con. Perhaps it should just be mental checks using each personality's highest mental mods.

EDIT: I appear to have been double-ninjaed...

The damage typing is because it makes slightly more sense to get a split personality from concussion or electrocution than from being stabbed or burned.

The opposition thing was in an attempt to make it harder for a player to hand-wave his way into changing personalities to get a good bonus.

[Admiral Squish]

The damage typing is because it makes slightly more sense to get a split personality from concussion or electrocution than from being stabbed or burned.

The opposition thing was in an attempt to make it harder for a player to hand-wave his way into changing personalities to get a good bonus.

Not particularly. It's possible to develop split personalities from anything sufficiently traumatic. It doesn't even have to involve physical pain, though it often does. It seems perfectly reasonable that a man, say, tied to a spit by a cackling troupe of goblins and roasted alive would be just as traumatic as low-level commoner getting punched in the face by their abusive father.

That's why I was suggesting making it more of a limiter, specifically by removing the requirement of it being a majority thing. If there's only two personalities, this would never come up. that's why I wanted it to be a one-to-one opposition. Perhaps if more dormant personalities agree with restraining the dominant one, the dormant one initiating the check could have a bonus.

[Moose Man]

think of this senario:
2 personalities
1st. chaotic neutral, timid, sworn to not kill, allows 2 to kill
2nd. Chaotic evil, bloodthirsty, i want the world to burn sort of guy.

Battle: person 1 concentrates to be able to kill.

Q: what class should i make this abomination??

[necroon]

The Ravenloft setting (Sword and Sorcery) has rules for this. They do it with D10 Fragments, and 2D10 Alter Egos. Age, sex, and race and randomly determined. Whenever said character has to make a will save, they are forced to make an additional will save with a DC set to the DC of the Madness save that causes the mental "problems". Upon resting, the character must also make a DC 15+WIS or randomly switch. Dunno if that helps in anyways, but you might be able to integrate it into what your looking for

[Lix Lorn]

As it's not very negative, maybe it would work better as a trait

[Qwertystop]

As it's not very negative, maybe it would work better as a trait

What are the rules for a trait? Also, would making it a Template work?

[Lix Lorn]

Traits are in the SRD, as are flaws. They are both beneficial and weakening.
A template might work.

[Qwertystop]

So which is better for this?

[Lix Lorn]

Probably a template. That way it can be complex, and a little stronger.

[Qwertystop]

Changed it to a template, allowed mental feats and flaws to be different, and made it so mental stats are rolled separately instead of shifted slightly.

[blackjack217]

Changed it to a template, allowed mental feats and flaws to be different, and made it so mental stats are rolled separately instead of shifted slightly.

Good but no LA, which you should probably mention. Also why no evil alter ego?

[Qwertystop]

Loosened the alignment restrictions so it can be anything other than the polar opposite. Should it have LA?

[blackjack217]

Don't know but 0 la templates are free to take, they don't even cost a feat (I think)

[Qwertystop]

Just made Fragile-minded a seperate trait, which applies the split-personality template.

I am trying to figure out a way to allow the different minds to confer on a tricky problem, but cannot think of a way for it to happen that isn't "they can talk to each other whenever they want", and will give a small bonus without being broken. I would appreciate help.

EDIT: Clarified that skill points are based on the Intelligence score of the base personality.

[AugustNights]

I'm not sure how much it will help but DM of Darkness was working on something similar here. Not too long ago.

Different but similar.

[Soulblazer87]

May I suggest a slight alteration?

If the DM agrees, the secondary personality (or one of them) may be of different class as long as it has the minimum possible starting age, like a sorcerer. Additionally, that personality takes a -2 to Dexterity as, being a secondary personality, means that it didn't get much practice with the body. Additionally, the character may not take feats that directly oppose such personality; such as a feat the prohibits arcane magic while the secondary personality uses arcane magic.

In short, a different personality is a different person, so there's no need why it can't have different powers. However, in the case the class requires a lot of training, that's impossible because it is a secondary personality and rarely gets to show up.

Also, personalities COULD get to use different ACFs or class features, selecting different spells or maneuvres or even entire disciplines.

Shifting could also be possible to happen faster if both personalities agree or via skill or feat. It could represent repressed emotions or mental/emotional trauma that sometimes just makes a person snap and go nuts. An alternate personality may also get different flaws as long as they are of mental origins.

Yes, I know it makes things a bit complicated, but hey, that's life. Oh, and you may want to specify that an alternate personality with spellcasting should really spend an hour preparing spells/praying/whatever. Otherwise, what prevents someone from going through all his/her spells, switching personalities, repeating the process etc?

[Lix Lorn]

That'd make it pretty strong.

[Qwertystop]

May I suggest a slight alteration?

If the DM agrees, the secondary personality (or one of them) may be of different class as long as it has the minimum possible starting age, like a sorcerer. Additionally, that personality takes a -2 to Dexterity as, being a secondary personality, means that it didn't get much practice with the body. Additionally, the character may not take feats that directly oppose such personality; such as a feat the prohibits arcane magic while the secondary personality uses arcane magic.

In short, a different personality is a different person, so there's no need why it can't have different powers. However, in the case the class requires a lot of training, that's impossible because it is a secondary personality and rarely gets to show up.

Also, personalities COULD get to use different ACFs or class features, selecting different spells or maneuvres or even entire disciplines.

Shifting could also be possible to happen faster if both personalities agree or via skill or feat. It could represent repressed emotions or mental/emotional trauma that sometimes just makes a person snap and go nuts. An alternate personality may also get different flaws as long as they are of mental origins.

Yes, I know it makes things a bit complicated, but hey, that's life. Oh, and you may want to specify that an alternate personality with spellcasting should really spend an hour preparing spells/praying/whatever. Otherwise, what prevents someone from going through all his/her spells, switching personalities, repeating the process etc?

Feats and flaws are already listed, I don't know what ACFs and Disciplines are, I agree with Lix about the rest, it seems too strong.

[Soulblazer87]

Disciplines are the 'schools of magic' for martial characters. They have maneuvres, which are like spells.

ACF stands for Alternate Class Feature, in other words, different abilities in place of the standard class features.

Too strong? I wouldn't think so. It would still require time to switch personalities, even more so if one of them is a spellcaster (still needing an hour at least to meditate/study/whatever, maybe even requiring the full eight hours of rest). In the same way, a fighter personality would have to put on the armor, weapons etc.

Also, if you were to use different classes, you wouldn't be able to go gestalt with them (a.k.a. combine the abilities of two classes, keeping the best), because you will still have only one class active at a time, and damage would get transferred over.

In the end, all you get is two different characters in the body of one, but keep in mind that can be a bad thing; you would not get two 'sets' of stats, just one which will have to work for both. In my opinion? With a decent DM and party, this can help keep the interest for a bit more time, after all, even playing a wizard gets boring after too long and this way you can switch to a fighter to get some fresh air so to speak.

[Qwertystop]

In the end, all you get is two different characters in the body of one, but keep in mind that can be a bad thing; you would not get two 'sets' of stats, just one which will have to work for both. In my opinion? With a decent DM and party, this can help keep the interest for a bit more time, after all, even playing a wizard gets boring after too long and this way you can switch to a fighter to get some fresh air so to speak.

You would get 2 sets of stats, at least the mental ones, and there is no reason that the physical stats for the wizard would need to be bad. You still get the same odds of good physical stats, but you have twice the chance of good mental ones at character creation.

[Soulblazer87]

Not quite correct. The stats themselves are the same. But, please, do tell, would a fighter put any high stat into his mental scores? I think not. He'd have them in his physical attributes. Therefore, even if you DO change the order of the mental stats, you would in no shape change the order of EVERY stat. So, in the end, you'd get a wizard with an, at best, average intelligence but high physical scores. In the opposite direction; a fighter with great medical stats but low physical would be pointless in the field of battle, much more so if he has to wait an hour or so to don his armor. Truly, on classes that depend on mental abilities would be able to take that template. And even then, a DM can limit them with a trick called "your other side didn't get exp because it didn't take part".

[Qwertystop]

Not quite correct. The stats themselves are the same. But, please, do tell, would a fighter put any high stat into his mental scores? I think not. He'd have them in his physical attributes. Therefore, even if you DO change the order of the mental stats, you would in no shape change the order of EVERY stat. So, in the end, you'd get a wizard with an, at best, average intelligence but high physical scores. In the opposite direction; a fighter with great medical stats but low physical would be pointless in the field of battle, much more so if he has to wait an hour or so to don his armor. Truly, on classes that depend on mental abilities would be able to take that template. And even then, a DM can limit them with a trick called "your other side didn't get exp because it didn't take part".

You are misunderstanding my point. The personalities must have the same physical stats, but each one rolls mental stats separately. The fighter could have low Wis, Int and Cha, and the wizard may still have rolled a 16 Int. The mental stats are not connected between personalities. I do think that with the XP bit, I may add a way for different classes, but it needs another minor penalty.

[Qwertystop]

I have decided that I do not need another penalty, so I am adding the seperate-class bit now. Also, I am going to make a feat that allows the personalities to all act simultaneously, as long as they do not do anything self-contradictory (such as casting 2 different spells with verbal components, as a creature with only one mouth). Not sure about balance though.