The Malkavian’s Guide to Players
(err... the Player’s Guide to Malkavians)
Zen and the art of playing the insane
читать дальше“The naive judgment of the dreamer on waking assumes that the dream- even if it does not come from another world- has at all events transported the dreamer into another world.”
-Sigmund Freud
Notes to the reader: There are a few suggestions that everyone should follow when they read this essay/guidebook.
1. Don’t skim. You’ll take everything out of context, and I’ll sound, at points, like an ignorant blockhead.
2. Try to forget all the preconceptions you have about Malkavians before you read, or else you’ll think I’m really off my rocker.
3. If I sound snobby or meticulous, remember that I usually write Psychology papers, so this is going to reflect that.
4. If I sound pretentious or batty, remember that I usually write Philosophy papers, so this is going to reflect that.
5. Just enjoy it, and feel free to interpret, extrapolate or disagree.
Each time we are called upon to play a character, we pull up a little piece of our minds, and our hearts, to create that character. In many ways, we become the characters, but in millions of other ways, we’re always ourselves. According to Hegel (roughly), the individual is defined by conflict with other individuals. We have no choice but to define ourselves in terms of others. Were one alone in the universe, one would have no identity, for one would have no “others” to define one’s self. It follows then, that we have to define our characters in terms of ourselves.
So what’s that mumbo-jumbo introduction about? That’s the author trying to find the basic idea of ‘character’, when used as an imaginary identity that one assumes for various purposes (the most important of which, so far as this essay is concerned, being live-action role-playing). Characters have their own needs, desires, and wants. The interesting part comes when we have needs, desires and wants from our characters. We have ulterior motives, at times. “If my character dies, I can play a new character.” Of course, our first character has no motive to die, but we find a reason for him to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Consequently, that’s okay. As players, we are part actors, part writers. After all, we give ourselves the parts we play. We don’t look to the writer for motivation or subtexts – we create them ourselves. For a Malkavian character, the writing part of playing is even more important. Your character probably didn’t want to lose her mind, but she did. You, as the writer, have to create the circumstances under which a tragedy like that would happen.
What’s a Malkavian?
Chances are, you aren’t really asking this question. However, we like to cover all the grounds. Whether you call them Seers, Lunatics, Kooks or Freaks, the Malkavians are a Clan of vampires whose membership is comprised entirely of the insane.
The Malkavians contribute to the Camarilla, the Sabbat, the Anarchs, and even the Inconnu as well. They are Princes, Bishops and gang leaders, and they all have a lot to offer any group they join. Their keen skills of detection are balanced by their own ability to hide the truth, and the package is further spiced by the ability to manipulate the mental instabilities in other beings. They are soothsayers and spies, and their wisdom is generally unparalleled.
But all Kindred realize another fact about the Malkavians – they are dangerous and mentally loose. They may not be dangerous in the way that a caged gorilla is dangerous, but their insight and insanity make them problematic when they are at their worst. The problem with being insane is the annoyance it can sometime cause when one is unable to express one’s self properly. It also tends to cause one to ignore etiquette and other social necessities. In other words, some mental cases really piss people off.
Consequently, the Malkavians could be just about anyone. They look just like everybody else. See that man in the suit and tie? He’s a Malkavian. See the girl with the staff and cloak? She’s a Malkavian. See that person over in the corner who can’t be seen? That’s a Malkavian.
Where do Malkavians Come from?
Malkavians are normal people. Every Malkavian who ever existed was, at one point, a completely normal human being. In fact, they were even sane at some point in their life. They were children, teenagers, and adults. They were people with goals and ideas that were most likely changed by their embrace. This is an important point about Malkavians – they were once normal, everyday folks. Then, one of two things usually happens.
In the simpler cases, a Malkavian embraces the normal, everyday person. Then they go crazy. They start seeing things, they forget who they are, or they learn who they really are. They didn’t ask for it, but Madness came to them. Sometimes, the embrace shatters their mirror like a gunshot. Sometimes, the crack is slow and creeping. Whatever the case, no normal person survives the embrace mentally intact.
Of course, some of the sane people aren’t necessarily normal. As is suggested by the comedians and philosophers of our time, madness (in mortal terms) can be found in the sane. Those who see a different perspective, or those who think in new and different terms are often called “crazy” when in fact they should be called “revolutionary,” “visionary,” or “different.” Note that these ‘gifted’ are, to some Malkavians, favored targets for the Embrace.
In other cases, the normal, everyday person goes through some freakish, life-shattering event. It might be traumatic, it might be ecstatic, but the event triggers a crack in their immaculate mind. From there, the crack slowly spreads through the rest of their perfect mirror, and they are forever changed. They are the insane, and they are flooded with problems and concerns.
Then, while they are in this state, the Malkavian who would be their sire finds them, and for whatever reason, takes them as a childe. The embrace often fosters the insanity, and their Madness sprouts new limbs from its strong trunk. But every once in a while, sire is taken by surprise when the embrace fixes the old problem, and starts a crop of new ones.
Malkavians are universally, irrevocably insane. They can never, ever be cured. Insanity is their lifeblood, and one could as easily separate white from a grain of rice as “cure” a Malkavian.
The Problem with Insanity
Insanity is bad. There has been an interesting movement of later years to claim that insanity is good. But it is not. The movement in question is mostly philosophical, and behind the idea of opening up one’s mind to new and unique ideas, to being silly, and to basically having fun regardless of what ‘They’ think about it. I think that’s a great idea, and I am fully in favor of it.
But that is not insanity. Contrary, insanity closes the mind. It usually entails denial, fantasy, repression and displacement. Insanity is harmful to one’s self and others. The insane are treated like patients, not like geniuses, and the insight they gain is generally insensible.
Insanity is usually brought on by trauma. Sometimes, an acute trigger (a one-time event, like a spouse’s death) immediately cracks a person’s mind. Other times, the source is chronic (happens over time, like abusive parents or social ostracism) and slowly degrades the mind into Insanity. Whatever the source, Insanity is the mind’s defense mechanisms in overload. (Of course, I am not taking into account biochemical imbalances, like schizophrenia. It should be noted that even these psychoses are often triggered into activation.)
The Resolution of Madness
That being said, we bring ourselves on to the subject of Madness. As purported by philosophers from Nietzsche to Lewis Carroll, madness is the keyhole to the door of the mind. To Nietzsche, madness (in the case of the Madman) was the behavior of believing and stating things that the common people would never understand, much less agree with. In Carroll’s work, madness was paradox and puzzle – the enigmas of words and mathematics. In both cases, madness was really an insight, and an ability to see things as more than their simple presentations.
Madness, then, is ‘abnormal behavior’ that is not indicative of mental instability, but is actually unique ideas or thoughts. Madness is found in poems and music, and any creative form. Madness is also found in people who try to relate wisdom through humor or metaphor. Madness is the exprеssion of a unique idea in unique ways. So, Madness isn’t really harmful (although those with unique ideas do tend to be harassed if they are particularly deviant). So, in a way, Madness is just an exprеssion of individuality.
But wait, there’s more!
So, then, are Malkavians insane or mad? Much to their chagrin, the Malkavian Clan is both. While they have an incredible insight into the events around them, and the workings of the mind, it carries with it a debilitating inability to function with mental precision. Some Malkavians say that true understanding makes it impossible for them to relate to others (except, perhaps, the few scant madmen or Malkavians who can see it as they do), but who trusts the words of the insane?
In the rulebook, the Malkavian Clan’s advantage and disadvantage are concerning their derangement. It can be thought of as Madness and Insanity, respectively. Madness is the insight in the form of awareness and the Malkavian Madness Network. Insanity is in the form of a derangement that must be taken.
The good thing about having both insanity and madness is the flexibility it gives when considering Malkavian behavior. Is she running into the night because she’s insane, or because she knows something we don’t? No one’s quite sure. Of course, with the power of insanity and madness comes great responsibility.
As perhaps the most mentally complicated of the Clans, a Malkavian has to take a derangement. The responsible Malkavian player carefully considers what substance makes the frame of his Malkavian.
So far as the rules are concerned, Malkavians have to take a derangement at character creation as their disadvantage (although some Malkavian players have called this ‘just another advantage’).
Picking a Derangement
“If I go crazy, then will you still call me Superman?”
- Three Doors Down, Kryptonite
Now that we know where derangements come from, we’re still faced with the problem of picking one to suit our character. For many people, the derangement might come before the rest of the character. For others, the concept comes before the derangement is detailed. Sometimes, we have an idea of how the character is mad, but no idea how to put it into words.
If you choose the derangement first, then you’re faced with the problem of fleshing a character around that derangement. This can be a most difficult task. In this case, the next natural step is to find a reason for anyone to have the problem you’ve outlined. For instance, a fear of the dark is usually brought on by some trauma experienced in darkness. What trauma might inflict your chosen derangement on your character? Given a trigger for this derangement to occur, your character will make a lot more sense.
Of course, it doesn’t have too. In some cases, Malkavian derangements might come for other reasons entirely. Perhaps there is a “family tradition” of derangements. In this case, your character might have the same derangement as his or her sire. Or perhaps your character’s sire forced a derangement on her by cunning use of words and disciplines soon after the Embrace. But this doesn’t solve your problems. Instead, you have to think about how your character’s mind is going to respond to the introduction of this foreign element.
In any case, when you choose your derangement before fleshing out the rest of your character, the real work is to build a believable, integrated, and enjoyable body for the insanity you’ve concocted. If the combination of derangement and concept feel right for you, then they’ll be fun to play.
On the other hand, if you’ve got a concept for a Malkavian, nailing down the exact nature of their mental troubles is the chore. Sometimes, we can think of a Malkavian character, and how they act and speak, but we’re not quite sure how they are insane. In fact, you’ve probably met Malkavians and wondered exactly what they’re derangement is. Sometimes, the best Malkavians are impossible to pick out as Malkavians.
So, if you’ve got a concept, but no derangement to assign to it, there are a few ways to introduce a derangement. You could choose a derangement at random, stick it into the character, and have it jut out from the concept like a sore thumb. This will make for a disturbing character, when everyone thinks they have him figured out and he jumps from the rafters on the wings of his insanity.
A more obvious method is to think of how the character behaves, what is odd about him or her, and what derangement describes that oddity. Many times, you will have to tailor a derangement that is suiting for the character. Sometimes, however, the oddity might be more elusive than that. In this case, it’s best to try and go with a broader derangement that helps support the quirk. While most Malkavians are definitely ‘quirky’, a derangement shouldn’t be a mere oddity. It should be a more invasive, debilitating mental problem.
Styles
So once you’ve found a derangement, the next step is to find a style for the derangement. Styles are somewhat like the archetypes of nature and demeanor. Instead of determining the general attitudes of your character, however, they instead illustrate the relationship between the madness and the mind. After all, the insanity is a foreign element. Style is something like the mind’s diplomatic policy for the madness.
The Consumed Mind
“Your reality, sir, is lies and balderdash and I'm delighted to say that I have no grasp of it whatsoever.” (Baron Munchausen, from The Adventures of Baron Munchausen)
In Laws of the Night (original), the Malkavian derangement was considered to be ‘always active’. Although it’s not stated that way any more, some characters are still built on this idea, and continue to be created so. The idea is that the character’s derangement has become the character’s reality. Some Malkavians are completely delusional about their identities, or about the world around them. The derangement completes them, and in many ways, they would be nothing without it.
An all-consuming derangement can make or break a character. While it’s great to play someone who has become disconnected from himself or herself or from the world, it can be tempting to use this as a write-off from playing an actual person.
When considering a Consumed Maniac, it’s good to make sure that the original personality or the real world has some way of coming back to get the character. For instance, the original personality might be pulling the strings of the delusional identity, or it might be fighting against it. Or, the character may have a moment of clarity, forgoing all delusions or hallucinations, in the presence of some stimulus.
To a character with a consuming derangement, the world may be very simple. Their Insanity may never be obvious, and no one may discover what their real problem is. More often, the derangement is painfully obvious - Kindred could all be demons (complete with hallucinogenic horns and fire), or perhaps they all look like Richard Nixon, which can be pretty disruptive. Insight comes in strange forms, since their derangement can’t feed it straight to them, so be imaginative when it comes to awareness or Dementation.
The consuming derangement can make a wonderful character, but it is also the source of all the bad press that Malkavians get – the classic stories of “a Malkavian who thinks he’s a... (kumquat, lemming, cartoon character, etc)”. In reality, characters played this way can be rewarding to the player and other players, but the balance of what’s real and what’s delusional needs to be upset occasionally.
For inspirations, try Robin Williams in The Fisher King, or George C. Scott in They Might Be Giants (the movie, not the band).
The Slightly Cracked
“I told you, the deal goes as planned. It’s no big deal, I just got a little angry. Just never, ever look at me like that again. I hate that.”
But a Malkavian need not be completely consumed by their derangement. Just because they are incurable doesn’t mean that they are all raving lunatics (which comes in a later section). Some Malkavians are just slightly amiss. Such characters are completely synchronized with the real world, and know exactly who they are. However, the train isn’t making all the stops, if you know what I mean.
A Slight Crack will not seem, by all accounts, to be a crazy person. But there is that slight tic, that strange look she gives – maybe when it looks like there’s going to be a fight, or when someone calls her name – that hints of some disturbing currents beneath the surface. A Slightly Cracked may have an obsession or delusion as powerful as a Consumed Mind, but no one could ever tell. The character may love violence, but if she uses subtle manipulations to start fights, no one may ever notice.
When playing a Slightly Cracked Malkavian, as a guideline, the player can make it her goal to keep her derangement secret in and out-of-character. This can really make it a lot more interesting for other players, whose characters will always be watching over their shoulder for the moment when the Malkavian loses it, so they can steer clear of the resulting explosion. Maybe that day will never come, or maybe the cracking is so slight, no one ever notices it. Either way, what a perfect plot!
For the Slightly Cracked, try Vince Vaughn in Clay Pigeons.
The Raving Lunatic
“There's the television. It's all right there - all right there. Look, listen, kneel, pray. Commercials! We're not productive anymore. We don't make things anymore. It's all automated. What are we *for* then? We're consumers, Jim. Yeah.” (Jeffrey Goines from Twelve Monkeys)
Perhaps the opposite of the Slightly Cracked, a Raving Lunatic never lets anyone forget what his problem is. The Lunatic probably has a good reason. If he’s the only person who can see the Truth for what it really is, then he has to get everyone to listen. Maybe he tries to preach slightly at first, but if no one heeds his words, he can get a little frustrated. Or perhaps the Raving Lunatic just wants attention (a perfectly legitimate reason to be insane – see Impetus). Whatever his reasons, the Raving Lunatic lets everyone know it. No stone is left unturned and no word is left unsaid.
The false belief most players will form about Raving Lunatics is that they must be extremely obnoxious. While this makes perfect sense, it never has to be that way. The Raving Lunatic is going to make a stir, but it doesn’t have to be annoying. In fact, if he wants people to listen, annoying them isn’t going to work. It’s merely that the Raving Lunatic is a fanatic about his derangement – he fanatically believes it, or he is obsessed with getting the Truth out there. To add subtlety, the Raving Lunatic might make a huge splash that isn’t easily traced back to him, but gets his point across. The real objective is to be heard or understood in some manner or another.
Check out Brad Pitt in 12 Monkeys for a great idea of how a Raving Lunatic tries to get his point across.
The Prisoner of Madness
“It's a condition of mental divergence. I find myself on the planet Ogo, part of an intellectual elite, preparing to subjugate the barbarian hordes on Pluto. But even though this is a totally convincing reality for me in every way, nevertheless Ogo is actually a construct of my psyche.” (L.J. Washington from Twelve Monkeys)
Madness isn’t always subtle or consuming – sometimes it’s both. Some Malkavians are completely aware of their insanity, and just as aware that they’re powerless to prevent or cure it. The best they can do is to relent to it when it comes, and try to predict when it will come again. The Prisoner may feel helpless or trapped, attempting at every corner to escape his predicament. The Prisoner may be at peace with his ‘other side’, and allow the Madness to flow over him freely.
The important point about the Prisoner is that she acknowledges the existence of her derangement, and understands what and why it occurs. She still has no control, but the knowledge might be of some comfort. A Prisoner can contribute to those around her, especially if she tries to help them with their own problems. Some Consumed Minds or Slight Cracks may evolve into Prisoners, or vice-versa. The Prisoner is a great place to pause if a Malkavian is along the path from one Style to another.
The Witless
“How could I be insane? I’m a nice guy. I help people. I never do bad things. You think Malkavians are all insane? Just look at my track record.”
Not everyone is proud to be insane. In fact, some of the Malkavians don’t believe they’re insane at all. Some Malkavians want desperately to be wholesome, productive members of their societies. They want it so much that their minds make it reality.
The Witless are ignorant of their plight. It might be that their derangement is so nasty and perverse that they force themselves to forget all about. Witless often have Fugue or similar derangements, because his mind is divided into two – the part that does these horrible acts, and the part that maintains a façade of sanity. And above it all, the personality of the Witless is often preoccupied with entirely different matters.
When confronted with its insanity, the Witless does not react well. On the surface, he is confused and bewildered – “So what if they have video tape? It could not have been me!” Deep down, the part that works so hard to maintain sanity, and the part that wants to act in some unacceptable manner battle, and the result of all this is often a new act that the Witless wants to forget all about.
On the other hand, perhaps the Witless, like the Slightly Cracked, has some quirk that is very slight and unnoticeable. Whereas the Slightly Cracked might recall this quirk and be aware of it, the Witless would easily set it aside and rationalize his behavior. Most importantly, the Witless never want to face the fact that they are insane.
The Mindful
“How could I be insane? I’m a nice guy. I help people. I never do bad things. You think Malkavians are all insane? Just look at my track record.”
On the surface, the Mindful may look the same as the Witless. They don’t seem to have any mental problems, and probably calmly deny any accusations of the sort. But the Mindful know full well that they are deranged. They remember what they did and where they hid the bodies, and they will do anything to insure that no one else finds out about it.
The Mindful don’t want to be insane. But they can’t help it. They can’t resist their urges, and they don’t have the mental strength (or weakness) to forget, deny or rationalize. Their problems are very real, and there’s nothing they can do about them.
The Shielded Psyche
“He’s not dead – he’s hiding. He’s right behind me; he always is. You just can’t see him. And no, he doesn’t want to talk to you.”
Insanity does have a purpose. Since Freud, psychologists have believed that psychoses are defense mechanisms implanted by the psyche to protect the fragile mind. To the Shielded Psyche, defense mechanism is just the beginning. The insanity is a security blanket, and is the only comfortable thing in the world.
The Shielded Psyche would be very, very upset if he knew what was really going on. That’s why his insanity makes sure he never really knows. “Mommy isn’t dead – she’s on vacation.” “I never tried to kill myself; I just fell on a chainsaw with my neck.” “I’m not a vampire, I’m an angel on special assignment.”
There is a fine line between the Shielded Psyche and the Consumed Mind. If someone insists to a Consumed Mind that their delusions are wrong, the Consumed Mind scoffs and thinks them to be a fool. When someone insists that a Shielded Psyche is lying to himself, he’ll get more and more emphatic about his denial. Eventually, he’ll snap. Maybe he’ll assume the fetal position, or he’ll try to rip out the offender’s throat. In the end, though, the balance of disbelief will have to be restored.
Again, I refer you to Robin William’s in The Fisher King.
The Deviant Freak
“A census taker once tried to test me... I ate his liver with some fava beans and a nice chianti.” (Dr. Hannibal Lecter, The Silence of the Lambs)
Some people just aren’t right in the head. Whether the Malkavian just wasn’t born with the virtues we expect from a human, or he lost them all upon the Embrace, he has a very deep-rooted problem. A Deviant Freak isn’t like everyone else. He probably doesn’t want to be like everyone else, and - like the Raving Lunatic - he’s going to let everyone know that he’s not like everyone else.
A Deviant Freak is pretty straightforward. He wears his insanity on his sleeve for the entire world to see and feel. He is reality; he is objectivity; he is an end in himself. What is normal is probably bad, and what is unique is the only true good. While a Deviant Freak may have many reasons for the way he acts (see Impetus), there is no doubt about who he is for him or anyone else.
While both the Deviant Freak and the Raving Lunatic are expressive about their ideas, the Raving Lunatic talks about his ideas, and the Deviant Freak becomes his ideas. He has no need to convince others, he is a self-improving, self-evolving God among Fools. His actions replace the Raving Lunatic’s words. On a more basic level, the Deviant Freak is more extreme and radical than a Raving Lunatic.
The Few, the Proud, the Mad
“Oh, you can’t help that. We’re all mad here. I’m mad. You’re mad.” (The Cheshire Cat, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland)
Well, of course this character is mad! How could you expect a sane person to know the things she knows? A Proud kook is not proud in the ‘bragging’ way, but simply in the ‘content and satisfied’ way. To a Proud kook, a derangement isn’t a bug - it’s a feature. There’s no need to hide or deny a mental instability – it’s a sign of experience, knowledge and insight.
Such a character does not deny her madness, nor does she particularly revel in it. She acknowledges it as a part of herself and acts as such. These Malkavians tend to be well adjusted, even if they tend to break down whenever anyone mentions the rain. Even so, breakdowns or raves tend to be shrugged off afterward – if someone starts complaining, asking for boons because she bit their guard dog in half, she just chuckles. What do you expect a madman to do? She’ll make reparations, perhaps showing the positive uses of her madness – insight and knowledge.
The Proud kook is willing to admit that madness has its drawbacks, but so does vampirism. In fact, anything worth anything has its drawbacks. Madness is just one more rose, with its thorns. Ask any Toreador. They’re all crazy too.
Impetus
There are plenty of reasons to be insane. The Malkavians are supernaturally insane, but that doesn’t mean that they don’t have reasons for their derangements. The reason a Malkavian is insane is a concept I like to call “Impetus”. Impetus should coincide with nature, but it doesn’t necessarily. Rarely are the two in direct conflict, however.
Nailing down an Impetus for your character will really help you understand why and how the character behaves. An Impetus for insanity will expand the character’s horizons. Here are some sample Impetus:
• Attention: The character wants to be patronized. Maybe he didn’t get enough attention as a child, or maybe he got too much. Regardless, being insane gets attention, love and many other things the character might want. Even the Witless can have this Impetus, if they’re pitiable enough. Insanity is an invitation for attention.
• Beauty: The character holds some Good or Beauty that he sees when others can’t. A character that has an obsession or similar disorder will often see Beauty or Excellence in the obsession, believing that no one else really understands it. The character probably concentrated on this ideal a bit too much and went over the edge. Or perhaps this ideal helps the character feel right. Insanity is an extreme form of idealism, and that ideal is worth everything.
• Explanatory: Of course everything makes sense! Mysteries are easily solved with knowledge and thought. Whether the character uses logic, hearth wisdom, or quantum physics to explain the universe, he definitely has an answer for everything. The character was probably very frustrated with something he could not understand, but now, thanks to Madness, everything makes sense. Insanity is the answer.
• Hedonism: The character wants pleasure. For some reason, her insanity brings her pleasure where normal means have failed. Extreme behaviors are necessary for the ends of pleasure. Insanity opens the mind to true pleasure. The character may have been unhappy in life, or perhaps lingering boredom slowly made the evil seem natural. Insanity is just the name for pleasures that plebeians don’t understand, and she obeys her new urges.
• Horror: There is no Good or Beauty in the world. There is no purpose to life. The only true end is to suffer and thrive. A character with the Impetus of Horror may deny himself pleasure, or cause others to suffer so that everyone may realize the ugliness of existence. The character probably has some guilt, and finds a need to punish his self. Insanity is a realization of horror, and he is no longer blind and foolish.
• Illusion: You can’t be serious. The character doesn’t believe that anything is worth its weight in thought. A character with an Illusion Impetus is not willing to accept the world around him. He won’t necessarily make jokes, but he’ll never take anything seriously – except, perhaps, his own needs. At some point, this character witnessed or discovered something that simply could not be real, and thus the entire world snapped. Insanity just proves that he can’t even trust his senses, so why the Hell should he trust anything else?
• Purpose: The character wants desperately to believe she has some higher purpose or reason for being. Perhaps the character had an unfulfilling mortal existence, and now is convinced of a higher order where they are the Messiah (or Lucifer). It’s not necessarily this extreme – sometimes it’s just a few details that make her more important. Insanity is an escape, and it will make her life a better place.
• Self-Destruction: The character has a deep-seated hatred of himself or his life. Not sufficient to simply be depressed, the character will subtly eliminate his self. Of course, a conflicting sense of self-preservation may battle with the character to keep them alive. The character has some reason to loathe his self – perhaps guilt, doubt or sin. Insanity is personality suicide, so the character destroys the identity they despise with confusion and madness.
• Shade: The character has failed, and now she must recompense. Especially true for vengeful or remorseful characters, a failure caused the character to lose the hold on their mind. Now, renewed with mental cracks, they must right what was wrong – or perhaps wrong what was right. The character definitely had some incident where she behaved in an unsatisfactory manner. Now, her mind will not let her rest. Insanity is the turning point where the only thoughts are of the mistake.
• Transcendent: The character has gone beyond his former constraints. The world is something new, a prison that everyone else is stuck inside. He has left the Socratic cave and seen a new sun. The character may believe that even more constraints lay before him. The character had some ‘revelation’ in life, and the world finally opened up to him. It could be that this revelation was merely a rebuttal to tragic events around him, or perhaps he just snapped. Insanity is the transcendence, and it represents his inability to see the world as it was before.
• Wild: The flesh does not tame the spirit. Like the Transcendent, the Wild is not like those around it. But unlike the Transcendent, who has gone beyond ‘human’, the Wild has found something below human. Perhaps the character is on speaking terms with his Beast, or something even more Primal, but the character does not see things the way others see them. The character had some brush with the primal being within itself, and somehow came to love it. Insanity is the resurgence of something ancient within its bones, something predating and underlying all of humanity.
• Wretchedness: “Look at what a horrible person I’ve become. I’m really not worthy of all the beauty around me.” The character is self-absorbed in a negative manner. He has no desire to destroy himself, but instead wants to hear everyone berate and deride him. The character no doubt has some reason to believe he is inadequate – at some point, he disappointed himself. Insanity is further proof of his worthlessness, and the character wants to be scathed by his peers.
Version Notes
1.0 – Wrote the damned thing.
1.1 - added The Few, The Proud, The Mad
1.2 - added Illusion impetus, edited some places where I didn’t like the wording.
1.3 - added some new impetuses – Transcendent, Wild, Explanatory – and improved the Impetus desсriрtions
2.0 – Completely rewrote the ‘Picking a derangement’ section
2.1 - Fixed the “Impetus” section some more
2.2 - Miscellaneous editing
2.3 - Edited ‘Picking a derangement” section
Спешали фор Монстьер парт ту
The Malkavian’s Guide to Players
(err... the Player’s Guide to Malkavians)
Zen and the art of playing the insane
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(err... the Player’s Guide to Malkavians)
Zen and the art of playing the insane
читать дальше