Thank you all for the replies! I would love to keep the discussion going, please excuse me if I sound confrontational, I just want to dig a bit deeper into your view points.
Jarodemo:
Physical disabilities such as a missing limb, missing eye or deafness are probably easier to incorporate, both in RP terms and game mechanics. You simply amend stats and add dice penalties as appropriate. I'm sure I've seen a rule somewhere for naval/pirate games about hook hands...
True, but what I wanted to touch upon is the nature of high-magic worlds. If there is a spell available that will restore the person's limb or whatever, and PCs reach the point where it is affordable for them, why wouldn't they go for it?
I would love to see characters accepting and adapting to their situation, and I know that there are prosthetics now that make athletes outperform full-bodied competition, but that is still not accessible or affordable for the majority of the population.
Jarodemo:
Mental health/mental illness is maybe a bit trickier. How would you play a character with Depression or Schizophrenia without becoming a caricature that others might find offensive? I'm sure some players can, but I wouldn't chance it as I wouldn't want to risk upsetting other players. Although writing this I find that I would be happy to play a PC with a missing eye or hand without risk of offending someone, even though I could still be just as crass. I suppose the issue is there is still a lack of understanding about mental health, mental illness and learning needs, as well as other hidden disabilities, and I say that as someone who is Autistic.
Excellent point. As an Autistic myself, it is hard to figure out where exactly does it hinder me (until after the fact) and even more where it potentially benefits me. But this certainly comes from the fact that we don't yet fully understand the conditions. But if we don't raise awareness of it (by portraying it), how can we hope to get better? Certainly we should start with simple things, preferably that the player has experience with, but in the meantime there is also a lot of resources available for those that want to learn more, and then such a player can share what they learned through the game.
Zag24:
He does understand the concept of lying, theoretically, but he can never put it into practice. Usually, when someone's words turn out to be untrue, he assumes at first that they were mistaken. However, once cold reality forces him to comprehend that someone was intentionally lying to him, he tends to express his disappointment with a combination of rage and greatsword.
I love this, especially having just recently saw "Invention of Lying". And I hope that the party is watching out for him if they picked up on the behavior, as that is something I would love to see more of. Not that you people can't take care of themselves, but sometimes it is so much easier to have someone with a clearer view of the situation clarify things (before it comes to barbarian diplomacy).
donsr:
I know Metagaming CO , and I think D&Dm and Gurps had things were you could pick 'handicaps'... depending on what you picked you could use the ponts you 'got back' to jack up your character.
I never liked that.. make a hero, add what disadvantage and RP it..you shouldn't buff a character with 'legal' cheating.
that being said, if you do it hoenstly, and RP your chararcter with a disadvantage , with out getting rewarded for it, it could make for a good character
Fair point, I did mention the drawbacks and traits and I see how they are taken to optimize the character rather than to round them out. Then again, if you have to deal with a disability, you will find ways to make up for it that ight not occur to typical people. But it should be related and not just be a generic point you can put wherever you want.