Phobias

Phobias are exaggerated or irrational fears. For example, agoraphobia is the fear of wide-open spaces. It is rational to fear a wide-open space during a hailstorm in which the hail is the size of golf balls. It is irrational to fear wide-open spaces on a warm sunny day. With kinemortophobia (fear of the Undead), it is rational to fear a 20th level Undead Vampire Cavalier, but it is irrational to fear a simple skeleton with 4 hit points (unless, of course, you are an unarmed, frail commoner with 2 hit points!) Thus, phobias are the easiest form of insanity to understand because they are merely exaggerations of things people are already afraid of.

[ Agorophobia | Bathophobia | Claustrophobia | Kinomortophobia | Mysogophobia | Noctorophobia | Vertophobia | Xenophobia | Misophobia | Curing ]

Perhaps the opposite of Claustrophobia, the victim of this illness fears wide and open places.  Being in a flat plain or a rocky crag overlooking a wide valley would scare a person suffering from agoraphobia.  When triggered, the victim becomes nervous, taking a -2 to Perception and -1 to Skill (for each intensity of the illness.) In combat, the victim suffers a -1 to attack and -2 to parry (for each intensity.)  On a critical fumble on the panic check, the victim becomes completely panicked and unreasonable. In this case, there is a 50% chance that the character will run away, or become catatonic.

A character with this illness is afraid of deep water.  Prior to ship travel, the character must make a Panic check just to be able to board.  While on a ship, the character functions at -1 to Perception, Skill, BAtCh, and sleep/charm (for each intensity of the illness.)  If plunged into deep water, the character must make a Panic check or become completely panicked and unreasonable, and thus risk drowning. All Dwarves have incurable bathophobia.

Characters with this illness tend to panic in closed in places.  In any place where an exit is not immediately available, and that open space is not at least three times wider than the width of their outstretched hands, those with claustrophobia may be in danger of panic.  Examples of triggering conditions are tight underground caverns, a crowded jail cell, being tied up, and being locked in a vault.  If the conditions are both closed-in and dark, then there is an additional -1 penalty to the character's Panic check.  If a Panic check is failed, then the character is at -3 to Perception, -2 to Skill, -2 to BAtCh, -3 to Influence (for every intensity of the illness.) All Changelings have incurable claustrophobia.

This fear is the fear of Undead.  Characters with this fear must make a successful Panic check even to be able to engage in combat against them at all.  If the Panic check is successful, the character is still penalized at -1 or -5% (for each intensity of the insanity) when combating Undead in any way.  This penalty applies to BAtCh, power invocations, and skill checks.

Characters with this illness distrust members of the opposite gender.  For example, a Human female with this illness would distrust all Human males.  The distrust is targeted against opposite gender members of the same race only, however.  Thus an afflicted Elf male could trust a Changeling female, but not another Elf Female.  People with this illness never engage in intimate relationships with opposite-gender members of their own species, and will instead seek companionship outside their race.

A character with mysogynophobia must make a successful Panic check to even obey an order from an opposite-gender superior of the same race.  And opposite-gender individuals have an effective -3 to Influence, and -1 secondary reaction, and -2 initial reaction per intensity of the illness with respect to the illness victim.

With this illness, the victim is afraid of dark places.  In any lighting condition in which he cannot see clearly for at least 10', the victim must make a panic check or be afraid to move into the darkness unless accompanied.  This is one of the easier phobias to overcome, as is only takes a torch or a lightstick to remove the effects.  If insanity is triggered, however, the character will believe that A) he has suddenly gone blind or B) some invisible monster lies in wait nearby to accomplish his doom.  If triggered, the victim is at +1 bonus to initiative (because he believes something's about to attack him), but at -1 to hit and -1 to parry (for each intensity of the illness.)

This illness has the same penalties as Claustrophobia, except the trigger is great heights. Note that the victim must be aware that he is at a great height - generally, this insanity will not trigger if the victim is not keenly aware of his situation. For example, being inside a sealed, windowless skyscraper is not enough to trigger this insanity, though it may trigger if somebody is cruel enough to explain the situation in detail to the person suffering from this phobia.  The victim becomes locked in place in the event of a critical fumble. 

The character is afraid of a specific kind of creature that is not a member of his or her race.  For example, an Elf with xenophobia might become terrified at the sight of giant crabs, a Fey might come to fear all Man Mechs, or a Changeling might come to fear all Dwarves.  In xenophobia, a specific creature type is feared. When the insanity is triggered, the character will do anything he can to get away from the feared creature if the appropriate Panic check fails.

Characters with this phobia suffer from continual fear of germs and contamination. Once this phobia is triggered, they will perceive the “contaminated” object or person as if it is carrying a horrible disease. While in this state of mind, the person will do anything to avoid being “contaminated” if a Panic Check is failed - this usually includes avoiding the person or object, or using gloves, masks, and so on if forced to interact with anything that is “contaminated.” Of course, the victim of this phobia will then need to get rid of the gloves, clothes, or mask since they have also become “contaminated.” Triggers for this phobia are any typical disease carrier, such as a rat or a swamp, as well as events, such as a person contracting a cold or more serious disease.

All of these insanities can only be cured through the methods discussed at the beginning of this section. However, outbreaks of these insanities can be interrupted by removing the source of the phobia, such as simply bringing a victim of agoraphobia inside when he is paralyzed with fear in a field.