>"Hey DM, I want to play a Jekyll and Hyde like character with split personalities">"One personality is normal, but the other will be a fun chaotic murder hobo">"He should use two character sheets with different classes/skills for each personality"What do you do?
>>98519171I did this the very first time I tried to join a TTRPG campaign. It's been about 23 years now. They did not let me join, and I wouldn't either.
>Of course my friend! I'm not a retarded railroaded retard, so you can join. Also you can choose to be a rapist too!
>>98519171"no"
>>98519171As a DM, I would allow it.Point 1: D&D is officially advertised as the world's greatest TTRPG, is advertised through third parties as a game with limitless possibilities, and unofficially advertised through memes as a system you can have zany fun with friends in ways not written in the books.Point 2: Challenging any of the aforementioned aspects with proof written in the books results in pathetic responses such as "get over it or find a new group", "rule 0", "rewrite what you don't like", and "that's true for every TTRPG", in varying levels of acerbicity.Point 3: Using their own argumentation against them for other TTRPGs results in hypocritical deflection.So, if I were to DM, I would make D&D's false advertising into truth.As a GM, I wouldn't allow it, because the kinds of games I like to run either couldn't accommodate such a concept, or would do so vaguely to a degree it wouldn't be as fun for the player as he desires.
>>98519171"I don't run gay, theater kid shit. I only run oldschool D&D. You don't write character backstories or craft your character beforehand. This is a game about extracting treasure from dungeons, and doing silly shit will get you and the rest of the players killed. Considering they have invested over 45 Saturdays in this campaign so far, I recommend you get your shit together. Now, here's a character sheet."
>>98519171you joke but I actually do enjoy pathfinder 1e's vigilante class.
>What do you do?I give the evil personality's character sheet to the player on their left.
>>98519171I'd be pedantic and tell my player that there is no Mr Hyde in the story of Jekyll and Hyde.Mr Hyde is called that because Jekyll can hide as him and indulge in his impulses free of consequence, and the actual horror comes from the question "what would you do if there were no consequences for your actions?". And then "actually, the bill is coming due". As Jekyll is Hyde, you'd just play the character normally but to have a ruse going with the other players you'd have to make two characters and swap between them per session or two.Normally that just gets them to call me a buzzkill and then they just make a ranger or something.
>>98519171What game?
>>98519171Beat him with a sack of oranges.
>>98519171I did exactly this with a malkavian in Vampire the Masquerade. DM only let me swap at safe areas, which meant I couldn't just metagame. My physical stats remained the same across both characters too.
>>98519171"Okay, anon".>Takes a single character sheet and bisects it, then hands it over "Here's your two character sheets. I'll wait."
>>98519664well, to be clear, Mr Hyde does look physically different and is naturally repulsive to other people. But you're right on everything else.
Use DnD. Nobody will be able to tell apart the chaotic murder hobo phase from the average player character.
>>98519171I don't think I've ever done this and I'm a sucker for edgy "I can't control the demon inside!" slopMight be fun
>>98519171First 2 are allowed, the third is impossible in my setting (and I suspect that the main reason this character concept recurs is just to powergame with the third line, since modern players find disadvantages to be overly adversarial unless they were chosen for a build, and they hate anything adversarial). Also, the character is considered insane and treated as such (only if discovered), and all personality shifts are determined by a die roll in response to certain events (i.e. waking up, killing someone while insane, being struck by a psionic attack, being in a "call of the void" situation where acting on intrusive thoughts of one small act could prove catastrophic), and never voluntary. And the evil personality might rape people, waste resources on evil schemes that wouldn't necessarily work or do things that are actually edgy rather than "safe edgy" (attacking acceptable targets in an unexpected but sportsmanly way, and purely by dealing damage).
>>98519171"Sure. I will be deciding which one you are playing as at any given time."
>>98520833that's actually the better part, honestly.If I were to make a character with a flaw like that, I'd make the normal guy the skill monkey and the split persona to be the combat monster and treat it like a Bruce Banner and The Hulk type thing where when the monster is in control, he refuses to go back unless forced until both sides of the psyche eventually come to accept one another and a synthesis of both sheet is made.
>>98519171I actually allowed your very one example in a d&d game and it was fucking awful, never again. Now if one of my players gets the same idea i simply says it he's allowed to but only in games that have actual mechanics for handling split personalities (eg: gurps), if we're playing d&d you stick to the goddamn charoptions from the PHB, period.
>>98519171Tell them you accept as long as you control the "fun" side.Play "fun side" while impersonating the player's voice to annoy the fuck out of the party. He also refuses to relinquish control.Now go home, Mike. You 'tardful, tittied bastard.
>>98519171I would tell him to actually read the fucking novel and he will find out Jekyll and Hyde are not a split personality but they are literally the same person who created a shapeshifting potion to indulge in his own depravity without being recognised.Stop parroting pop-culture lies
>>98519648Great idea. Best for everyone. Now he really can't control his alter ego.
>>98519171I would point out that I do not disallow party infighting, up to and including PC death. I would point out that if his Hyde side did heinous crimes, there would be in-game consequences, and if the party chose to abandon rather than kill him to avoid the heat, I would not make provisions to GM this "split party." Finally, I'd stipulate that he has no control over when the changes happen (otherwise this is just a sneaky way to play two characters).If he and the rest of the group were willing to go with those stipulations, I'd let it run its course. I give it seven sessions, tops.
>>98520925That's true, but it's not what they wanna play, so erm-actuallying them wouldn't actually change anything. It is genuinely hilarious that most adaptations of the novel miss this actually pretty scary (for the time) twist and thereby the whole damn point of the novel.
>>98519171Say "No."
>>98519171I pretty much have that player and just rule he can only do the switch one per scene, the resources are shared no matter what, and both sheets are a bit weaker for needing to devote charbuilding resources for the ability.
>>98519667>DM
>>98520883"That's the secret, I'm always angry."
>>98519171If it's strictly a psychological thing, you can purchase a Flaw like Quirk if you want to be able to earn Resolve when this causes problems for you or the team ( it's not required). If you want the different personalities to have different capabilities, consider Boost, Gestalt, or Alternate Form.
>>98521708Most people here use it for other games.But yeah, if it's dndroning the answer is a solid "no".
>>98519621Why do the players have hit points if they're not supposed to be able to die? Why are you running gay theater kid shit?
>>98519775Okay, I filled in the sheets with my two different characters, I'm ready to play.
>>98520925Fictional characters are whatever you imagine them to be, of course.
>>98522424No it isn't.
>>98519171He just wants to run two characters that both die if one of them gets killed. I'd be fine with it, it's better than having a murderhobo 24/7. If we're playing GURPS, it's relatively easy to do using only one character sheet.
>>98519171no, you are just trying to give yourself a reason to be a dickbag without consequences. fuck off.
>>98519171Thats not how the Jekyll and Hyde story works, though. Hyde was never an alternate personality, the entire point of the story is that Jekyll was always a mean motherfucker and it was only the threat of being shamed or punished for his actions that kept him in check. Becoming Hyde changed him physically, not mentally. It was essentially just an opportunity for him to act anonymously and let all of his brutish impulses out without consequence for his main identity.
>>98522696Make me.
>>98519664Jekyll, at least, conceives of them as different personas, with his final note speculating as to whether or not Hyde will have the courage to end his own life.
It's probably fine. I ask him is one personality much stronger than the other, smarter, charismatic, and how different. He then rolls up a character in the normal way that all the other characters in the game are rolled up, and he uses those same stats to make up the two personalities.Then he gives me the two sheets and I do my magic. He told me Jekyll is a little more dextrous than Hyde, Hyde gets a -1 to Dex. He hold me Hyde is more charismatic, Jekyll gets a -2 to Cha. He told me Hyde is much stronger than Jekyll, Jekyll gets a -3 to Str.XP is split strictly according to which personality was in use, I probably impose limits on how often the personalities can swap, and I probably impose a cap on level differences allowed, like 2 levels difference max. If he uses one personality so that it earns enough XP to raise the personality to 3 levels, he stops earning XP for that personality. He can keep on using it, but no XP at all until he raises the other personality by a level.I'm not sure if I'd let him play different character classes, or if I'd insist they be different, because first impression is that this guy is roll playing and wants to pick and choose a class to use in any situation that's better suited to the task, hence the limitations what would have to exist on how often he can swap and using penalties to the ability scores so that at best he has one normal score character and with moderate penalties, but probably two characters with ability scores penalised.All this with an explicit "I reserve the right to change my mind at any time if I feel it's not working out". That's implicit but I think in this case it's needed explicitly, not because it's get tired of tracking XP but because I'd be cautious about their being an exploit I hadn't closed and despite the restrictions it made for an unfair advantage, or maybe I'd even enjoy what he was doing as a player and loosen some of those restrictions.
>>98522418/thread.
>>98519171A true Jekyll and Hyde type character would have one character sheet, but two separate physical appearances. Hyde was basically just a disguise that allowed Jekyll to act out his own dark urges without ruining his pristine reputation
>>98522429You seem confused
>>98520925https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YOhFaZmvGe4
>>98519171Generally go with it, as I'm ok with weird character concepts like lycans and shapeshifters. Nowadays base druids get animal forms at like level 3 without breaking things. Basic murderhobo isn't really a concern with DND types.My general concern is if it's a stupid concept or just an excuse to powergame. Do you split xp between the two forms? Do the two forms synergize with gear?Also, deciding on how switching works is important: >>98519648Good choice.>>98519774Good choice. >>98520833Good choice.>>98520631More than reasonable.Having a major character quest being to integrate the two people, with the ability to switch at will. Another approach is that you insist on one or the other, and the second form gets added mid campaign, at DM's choosing. Like a character who catches lycantropy.Also, think beyond hulk, and jekel/hyde. Pic related. It's space ace. Dexter turns from agile, gun toting evasive little snot to Muscular Ace GigaChad...sometimes.
>>98519171Tell the imaginary person to go away.
>>98524216yeah, confused why you're being a theaterfaggot LOL
