Autism/Asperger's in Dardunah?

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    • Autism/Asperger's in Dardunah?

      I am a person with Asperger's Syndrome AKA a variant of Autism, I don't ask for sympathy I certainly don't tell everyone I meet, I simply know I am what what I am...I do explore some ideas about Autism with my own Anthro Fiction. My own Anthro Animals the Humanimals, don't really have Autism per se but once in a while a Humanimal is born who is in some ways a genetic throwback and struggles with 'acting human' In my fiction the Anthros co-exist alongside Humans) These Humanimals are called 'Touched by Gaia' for have 'Gaia's Touch' to some this means the Humanimal is crazy others believe the condition is a divine gift as these Humanimals are often the Artists and Poets, the exceptions to the general rule that Humanimals as a race seem to suffer from lackluster imaginations

      The Zoics of Dardunah a lot more human then my own Humanimals, if a malady exists for Humans Zoics also have it, I was just thinking about Autism and the larger context of Dardunah's strict caste system and need for honor, As an Autistic Zoic could be born into any Caste from Outcast to Holy Caste I could imagine a variety of reactions from the families believing this Dolt of an Offspring unable to grasp any concept of etiquette is a curse from the Devah for something the ancestors did or imprison the kid or even kill him/her and pretend that kid never existed (Oh we never had any Son, we only have our daughters)

      I'm trying not to be a Soapbox Sadie here, I'm simply imaging how the Dardunah Culture would react to Autism.
    • This is quite a complex question and I will do my best to give you the most complete and realistic answer I can regarding the possible in game reactions and consequences....

      First off I would look to the way you decide to account for the condition from a rules perspective... Specifically,... Will it be a Drawback or an Advantage? If it is a Drawback then the character will be viewed negatively in social situations (cursed, or perhaps as you said, merely slow or "doltish", depending on the way the autism manifests itself on the entire scale), while if it is an Advantage the character would be seen positively (or "touched by the hand of the DEVAH", perhaps even blessed with strange ways of thinking that create unexpected, surprising results).

      Once you make that decision then you can proceed from there to other matters... Such as will the effect of the condition be social, mental or physical? and to what degree would it impact the characters lives (impact is usually measured in the amount of dice the Advantage or Drawback is worth as well as how often it occurs).

      After those key decisions are made then comes the part of shaping the fiction to suit the characters particular story arch..... and, this could involve where and what actions you intend the character to take as it develops in the adventure (things such as what motivations and ambitions the character harbors).

      Finally we would have a way to measure what effect the condition would play in the character's life for good or ill, and how often rolls would be made regarding the situation leading to exciting moments of cinematic magic and the things which the best and most memorable scenes are made...

      If you have further questions please give me a shout and I will be glad to speak more on this subject...

      And lastly, I think this is a wonderful idea, which is often not taken by many players and as such has the potential to steal the show from other less interesting characters.... Well done!
    • Well, Okey Dokey, I'll try building essentially a 'Zoic' Version of Myself (Or at least who I think I would be as a Zoic) And see what would happen with my particular characteristics.

      Name: TBA
      Age: 18 (I'm older then this, but...Better to start adventuring young)
      Sex: Female
      Species: Domestic Pig (Specifically Danish Landrace)
      Caste: Trade Caste
      Occupation: None so far, Family owns a Restaurant ( This isn't what my folks actually do for work) Our Pig Heroine actually wants to be a Storyteller
      Notable Personality Disadvantages , Short Tempered, Vengeful, Gluttonous (When I saw the Pig Template for the first time, part of me realized, I'm a Pig aren't I)
      Autism is both advantage and disadvantage, while she is a creative virtuoso for making up fanciful stories, she also has a bad habit of putting her foot in her mouth often bringing up improper subjects at social gatherings (We don't bring up the subject of venereal disease at tea time) Her stories do have a morbid fascination with death and other dark subjects.

      So here is a rough idea of how I would play an Autistic Character
    • Okay, there are some things which could work well in your concept, and somethings which you may need to restructure...
      So lets begin at the top shall we?....

      Age is great, I totally agree that you would want to start at an early age and 18 is as good as any it gives you a few years of having been recognized as an adult which I am assuming could actually happen as early as 15 or 16 years of age...

      Sex. Female, is also great! I myself am a male but have often run female characters to add some diversity to the party being that it is often composed of only guys playing male characters....and take the opportunity to role play what I believe a woman would be from my view of the world as a male, is this the case with you? If so Thanks for going for the gusto, if not Thank you as a woman for joining our game and we hope (and took extra measures to ensure) that it offers a fictional setting which you and other women will find interesting and enjoyable...

      Species: should be titled Vajrah (Domestic Pig, Danish Landrace) as all mammals are grouped together as as a species... the next thing is to determine what nationality as that will help you to add dimension to the character...

      Caste: Trade is an excellent choice.... being right in the middle not too high and not too low so it provides the opportunity to encounter a large range of other castes and professions...

      Occupation: There are many many different things to choose from under the Trade caste from cook to courtesan to storyteller... good luck in your choice...

      Finally the decision related to whether to choose the Autism as an Advantage or take it as a Drawback: the use of the skill Virtuoso would indeed help in the art of telling wonderful stories, but is separate from Advantages\Drawbacks.... Although it may be able to help influence dice rolls related to the situation which the Autism places you within...

      So, an Advantage would be seen as a social perk, while a Drawback would be a weakness: physical defect, mental disorder, or social disadvantage... And with regards to the vision you have for your character will play an important part in how the points are distributed for the shaping of the character... as well as ensuring that the fictional aspects of the game controlled by the Game Master more closely meet your expectations...

      Overall I think this is a solid idea and look forward to hearing more as it develops!
    • That makes me very happy to hear, many role playing games suffer from a lack of equal representation of male to female players which is one of the reasons why we have taken the extra time to include as much depth and complexity as possible in this game with the hopes that female players will find it satisfying and enjoyable to play, with the emphasis on story telling not just hack and slash I think we have a solid hit...
    • This all sounds wonderful, and I also encourage this kind of exploration into real-world conditions and aspects of humanity that make us unique!

      As Griffin mentioned, choosing Advantages versus Drawbacks is important in such cases, to insure that it represents the particular trait in a way that not only allows for excellent game-play, but also acts as a tool for philosophical exploration of the condition itself!

      To do this, I recommend taking BOTH an Advantage AND a Drawback to represent a trait such as autism, since I have seen elements of both in the children of local friends that I have, and have seen elements at every end of the autistic spectrum... We all have advantageous and disadvantageous elements that make us who we are, and being able to define them in ways that help us better understand ourselves and those around us is both a gift and an opportunity! Use the system, if you can, to define both sides of your personal experience with autism, and see if that enriches your gaming experience too!
    • Thinking about two incidents from my childhood which in particular could get a Janah Child in trouble

      One was when I pissed off my Paternal Grandma by playing with the loose skin on her arm and said "Just playing with your flab Grandma" (That was before she completely lost her mind to dementia and may she rest in piece)

      And from even earlier in my childhood when we were in vacation playing around a kiddie pool, I felt a strange need to lick a stranger's calf...I have no idea why but I did and she didn't like that.

      I think that very much flows with Si'Ni being a Pig who are very curious creatures who love to root around with their noses and chew on things. I think in both these cases it was my young tactile obsessions and in a world of many kinds of Janah I can easily imagine Young Si'Ni feeling an obsessive need to touch a strange Janah's fur, feathers, scales etc
    • The funny thing is,...in Dárdünah, with so many of the "root" animal behaviors that might still exist in polite society (perhaps grooming behaviors and such), some of the behaviors you describe might not seem so out-of-place! ^^

      But yes,...I guarantee that a good GM could find all sorts of ways to show that such "inter-species" behavior might become unwelcome once you travel outside that community, that culture, or even that country...

      When I was a little kid in Japan, there were always locals that wanted to touch my super-blond hair, because it seemed so interestingly strange to them... I never minded it, but it kinda freaked my mom and dad out a little...

      Hopefully you have fun playing with character quirks like that... ^^
    • Returning to this original idea of Autistic Janah, I suddenly had an idea to write a story not connected to any of my other stories, and while Si'Ni my Domestic Sow character is kind of just me as a Janah and is Janah with no magical powers I suddenly had an idea if an Autistic Janah was a Sir'hibas and in imagining this character if their disability gave them the ability to do things easier, like traveling through the dream in an 'Achievements in Ignorance' sort of way, not sure if this character would be accepted into the Sunborn once their talents were revealed if they were of a lower class or if because of their strange and erratic behavior they would be shunned, possibly condemned to be an outcaste