As I mentioned in the Maiden Fair thread I finally tracked down a song that I have been seeking for years (more accurately, had it handed to me because of a stray comment for a webcomic. )

One verse brought to mind fighting rangers and post traumatic stress disorder -
I fought all through this wilderness in ’59;
I still fancy I see shadows movin’ time after time (x2)

(Refrain) If it doesn’t lift your spirits, well, it leaves you numb,
Best cure for shadows is a bottle of rum,
Only cure for shadows is a bottle of rum....

'59 is referring to the French & Indian War, and reminded me that fighting rangers likely sucks.... Good stealth, so suddenly Bob is down, with an arrow in his eye.... Hated enemy, so dealing really nasty damage to those enemies.

It seems pretty obvious, thinking about it, that fighting wood elves in the wilderness might well leave the survivors with PTSD. And given the similarities between the Last War in Eberron and WWI in our world (source of the term 'shell shocked') I can see it being fairly common in that setting.

If I were to stat it up as a Trait in PFRPG, maybe a +2 bonus to Perception checks, but a failure with a natural 1 or 2 gives a false positive, and the poor sot has to roll at night too, often leading to the fatigued state?

Feels callous, but veterans in a world where fireballs, lightning bolts, and death from the shadows is a common theme in battle, it seems unavoidable.

Thoughts?

The Auld Grump

I'd stat it as a Regional or Race Trait (to stay true to the elf war background), or given a more general nature, placing an "alliance" element of sorts in the Prerequisites (eg. barbarian tribe X) to be discussed with and agreed by the GameMaster.
With more narrative Campaign Traits you could go even in finer detail, though.

As for the benefits/drawbacks, a +2 to Perception (Sight and Hearing) sounds good, and I'd balance that with a Shaken condition for 1d12 rounds on a natural roll of 1 or 2.
Imbibing alcoholic beverages negates the condition - but this exposes the poor sod to (minor or moderate, depending on DM's whim). Harsh but realistically gritty.

Note that this works even with (well, even if trait bonuses don't stack it has the same framework outlook) or full-blown feats such as the barbarian Raging Drunk one.

While my knowledge of PF is minimal, I do know a few people with PTSD. It doesn't seem to come with any benefits (though it might make you eligible for benefits...). Of course, that's pretty harsh for a RPG.

That pretty much sums it up. Give a game reason for the characters to model it. It does feel callous to try to have it in game, but it should be part of the aftermath of war, even in a fantasy setting. When half your mates are dead because some guy pointed a stick at your unit and you only survived because your Gunny shouted 'Fireball!'

I have friends who were in Viet Nam - forty years later they are still having problems. And I used to work at a nonprofit, far too many of the homeless suffered from PTSD. Drinking... helps only short term, and leads to long term problems. Tony, one of the folks I used to play 40K with was missing his leg from the knee down, lost it to a mine - an American mine that the troop had not been warned about. He was lucky, and not the person who set it off. He was still replaying that mine in his head at night when I met him. He heard the click before the mine bounced. He had been there for about two weeks. (As an aside - Tony had a tendency to tap on his prosthetic, distracting his WH40K opponents.)

Then I heard two WWII vets talking about the Pacific Theater, and listened to recordings of WWI vets from both England and Germany - sounds like it never goes away, really. (The WWII vets was after Saving Private Ryan came out - the scene that had triggered him was the troop carrier, where you could die and there was nothing you could do to prevent it. 'Good movie, wish to God I'd never seen it' was what he had to say about the film.)

My roommate was in a bar when a customer who had been kicked out came back with a rifle and killed the girl behind the bar - and that still comes back to him, but not often.

I hope to God that I never find out what PTSD is like from the inside.

Both the bonus and the penalty have the same source, but are not otherwise linked. Well, that and the fact that the character is looking at the shadows, whether there is anything there or not, starting at noises when there is no danger, and sometimes has a 'black weekend' - when the need to curl up, away from everyone, comes on the sufferer. (Black weekend is a WWI term - and 'weekend' means that the week ends then, even if it is a Monday.)

Finding a reference from the French and Indian war made me think of rangers, so....

The Auld Grump