Dementia: Choleric

Previously:

There are six expressions of dementia. Choleric, which expresses itself as violence and aggression; Katochic, which expresses itself as multiple personalities, prophetic pronouncements and similar; Melancholic, which expresses itself as depression and anxiety; Phlegmatic, which expresses itself as apathy and catatonia; Phobic, which expresses itself as irrational fear; and Sanguine which expresses itself as mania and delusion.

And Now:

Firstly I'm going to apologise for going back to numbered bullet points instead of proper tables but Blogger can't handle HTML tables with the information density I'm creating. They're not huge but they break something deep in the code and create unreadable word salad.

Rolling 1d6 below to generate what sort of dementia a character is afflicted by:

1. Choleric
2. Katochic
3. Melancholic
4. Phlegmatic
5. Phobic
6. Sanguine

Those of you familiar with the long-discredited theory of Humorism will recognise the temperaments associated with the four humours from Ancient Greece: sanguine (blood), choleric (yellow bile), melancholic (black bile), and phlegmatic (phlegm).

It also has phobic, from the ancient greek for "fear" and katochic. Katochic is a word I may have invented. It comes from the ancient Greek kato; "underneath" or "underworld", and chic; "in the fashion of...". So it means "in the fashion of the underworld" and is synonymous with possession or outside influence.

Today we're going to focus on:

Choleric Dementia

Choleric is synonymous with excesses of aggression and anger. 

Roll 1d6 again.

1. Berserk Fury: The afflicted becomes maddened to the point of violence.
   
   Every time they take Vitality, Stamina or Resolve damage they must make a save versus Madness. Failure results in the afflicted flying into a rage and flailing about themselves in their blind wrath. In this state their Dementia score penalises their Defence but is a bonus to their damage and melee attacks.
2. Talking Shit:  The afflicted experiences hard to control tremors and vocal utterances, usually of an obscene nature, when startled or upset.
   Half the Dementia score is expressed as a constant penalty to Dexterity and stealth. When the afflicted loses Resolve the penalty becomes the full Dementia score for the rest of the following round.
3. Cruel Streak: The afflicted become aggressive towards their allies, believing them to be weak and the cause of all the woes the afflicted suffers. They develop a tendency to lash out at those around them. They take their Dementia score as a penalty in Charisma when it comes to interacting with NPCs. They essentially gain the Barbed Wit talent but without the self control. The afflicted gains the same amount of Resolve points themselves as their victims lose.
4. Martial Zeal: The afflicted are filled with wrath seemingly of a divine origin.
   The puissance of their blows and their aim against their foes are heightened but against their friends and allies, even those that have turned against them, are weakened. Unlike berserk fury this is a constant effect. Add half dementia score to combat rolls against enemies but subtract it against (former) allies and friends.
5. Ratted: The afflicted cease to trust their colleagues and others, believing that they are all out to harm and/or deceive them.
   The Dementia score manifests as a bonus to all saving throws, except Madness. It also penalises the character’s Charisma when it comes to interactions with others including loyal henchmen and hirelings.
6. Waking Dreams: The afflicted struggles to sleep and finds that their waking hours take on a surreal and dreamlike character as they are plagued with hallucinations. There is a constant penalty to Intelligence and Wisdom equal to the Dementia score as well as a penalty to all activities equal to half the Dementia score.

Next time we'll look at the Katochic dementia.