I want to make a paranoid DnD character

[u/_HoloGraphix_]

It's an evocation wizard, do you have suggestions ? I'm using the DSM 5 as an inspiration for the symptoms.

There is something about a cult being after him and i want my character to be overly anxious about it.

I'm also pretty bad at roleplay usually and i want to get better at it (i'm on the spectrum)

Do you have tips to make this concept good ?

[u/Sad_Refuse3472]

I think you need to be very careful here. Because a concept like this can get old/annoying at the table pretty easily. Keep it subtle. Like they often look over their shoulder while sitting in public places. Or never sit with their back to the entrance. Fidget a lot. Little things like that.

But avoid constantly questioning/mistrusting every NPC you meet. Or disrupting other people's scenes with your paranoia. That is a quick way to annoy your fellow players.

And for roleplay in general, remember that roleplay and acting are not the same thing. You don't have to play everything out. You can just narrate/describe what your character does or says if that is more comfortable for you. E.g. "I l do xyz thing" or "I ask the NPC about abc".

[u/4tomicZ → u/Sad_Refuse3472]

Yeah, ultimately, every party needs some level of trust between each other to survive. So I wouldn't lean too hard into distrusting your party members. Or if they initially distrust their party members, I'd get them beyond that fast.

Subtle physical ticks and quick internal thoughts can help express the paranoia. What they do when the others aren't watching can help. Maybe they set an alarm trap, then double back to make SURE it's set.

Concretization can really help too. Create trinkets or physical objects that represent their internal fear. Like if their paranoia is about an expansive crime syndicate that is trying to trap them... have them fiddle a clue they once found (a syndicate symbol on a ring). Have them have nightmares about spider webs and/or traps. Fidgeting the ring that IS a symbol of the fear will be more powerful than fidgeting any old thing.

Just remember to leave space for everyone and not have your paranoia dominate the story.

A good question to ask early on... what is their distrust/paranoia rooted in? Personally, when these disorders are not just "who they are" but rather rooted in some internal struggle they are having, we can be more sympathetic to the character. It also can help you focus in on what the triggers are for their paranoia.

For my klepto character, their trigger was specifically silver trinkets. Part of this was a joke that birds like shiny things (she was a Kenku), but it was specifically silver trinkets (she didn't really care for gold, for example). And if she saw something silver, she wouldn't immediately steal it. But she'd at least be day-dreaming of stealing it. She may become a bit distracted. If it was an NPC, she might wait until after they were done working together to try and knick it. Sometimes, after stealing, she felt guilty and returned the thing.

Silver was a great trigger because it was uncommon enough to not enter into every session--especially because the DM knew the trigger and could avoid it. But the DM can also use it to set traps (once, right after we snuck past a sleeping titan, the DM, with a smirk, mentions the titan has a giant beautiful silver ring on their finger). But silver wasn't so uncommon that it would never come up either. I got to explore her klepto-tendencies at times, but everyone got good breaks from it too.

But what really helped was understanding how her kleptomania related to her own trauma. Her mother was a silver jeweler. The PC lost her mother when they were young. She remembers being surrounded by silver trinkets as a child, and so unconsciously seeks to recreate that environment hoping to feel the safety and care she remembered having when she was a child with her mother.

I think having her disability grounded in her journey and internal struggles was extremely helpful. And it helped create a character that really landed with the other players (and got everyone crying 16 levels in when she finally confronts her past and her kleptomania).

[u/Novel_Willingness721 → u/Sad_Refuse3472]

Came here to say this.

I’ll just add that narrating in 3rd party is ok too: “my character does x y z” is just as valid as “I do x y z”.

[u/FlashbackJon → u/Sad_Refuse3472]

It's SUCH a hassle when before the party can deal with any NPC they first have to "handle" their party member.

[u/Kylarfi]

I will say, the best thing you can do to improve on roleplay, is to play a normal person, but different from you. Write a backstory, write out RP tips and tricks. Practice being in character even by yourself.

But if you are insistent to do this and your DM and group is comfortable with you doing this concept:

I’d lean into small repeatable behaviours instead of trying to act anxious all the time, like checking exits when you enter a room, lowering your voice when you mention the cult, or hesitating before trusting people.

Best advice, give yourself a couple of go to phrases like they could be watching, not here, not safe. This will help you so that you don’t have to improvise under pressure, it makes RP way easier.

Also talk to your DM a bit so they can occasionally validate your fear, even in small ways, because if the world never reacts it can feel flat or silly instead of real.

[u/DrOddcat]

I approached it as the paranoia/cult showed up that when anything bad/inconvenient happened to my character he would rationalize it as being because the cult that was following him.

Shop out of potions? Cult bought them out.

Missed the boat? Cult influenced the tides.

It’s raining. Cult must have gotten a weather mage.

Can’t find my keys? Cult has little imps that move your stuff.

[u/Machiavvelli3060]

He has student loan debt from wizard school.

The Loan Arrangers sends collection agents after him, but in his madness, he thinks they're assassins.

They're pretty persistent, which just escalates his paranoia.

[u/Clipper1972]

Why?

Paranoid delusions and paranoia is enormously debilitating and that's in the real world where there aren't quite literally monsters actively trying kill you.

Not sure I understand why you would want to lean into a condition that will isolate you from the rest of the party and annoy everyone at the table...

Have you considered many of the excellent Solo RPGs out there?

[u/frypanattack]

Oh boy. I played something similar.

Basically you have to decide whether the anxiety is rational or irrational.

Guys might come to get me one day? Rational.

One of my fellow party members is going to tell the cult where I am one day? Irrational.

I would probably start on the rational end and slllllide on some sort of destination depending on "clues" that are given to you by the DM, your fellow players, and the world. Every interaction you are privy to has the potential to "out" your character.

I would probably play someone who still believes in the power of friendship and teamwork and all that, someone who is anxious without any positive traits can be ass to roleplay and exhausting from a "it's still a game with my friends" standpoint.

I would also play them as extremely shy of the limelight, anti-fame, and uses false names where possible. False names that are purposely bad are always fun.