D&D 5E Aspurgers/autism effects?

[Charlaquin]

Almost like a Detect Magic. Would be in touch or at least aware of the Weave and where it is stronger and weaker. And perhaps even when power is being gathered or tapped.

For balance I would put this along with something else into a feat in 5E.

Could also just be how you describe an ability like Eldritch Sight.

 

[CleverNickName]

Could also just be how you describe an ability like Eldritch Sight.

Exactly. You don't necessarily need new mechanics; you could just use new ways of describing the mechanics.

 

[seebs]

What I can't figure out is how I'd play a character who wasn't autistic.

 

[Xeviat]

Like I said in the other thread, I would just play it as an explanation for your character's particular ability score array and skill bonuses.

 

[Mercurius]

As it is a spectrum, there's a range of possibilities, which can be represented in the game from just role-playing to character, to actual adjustment to checks.

From a player's perspective, I think the key would be playing up the difficulty with reading social cues and interpersonal stuff, and maybe hyper-focus on details. Depends on how you envision the character and their particular manifestations.

From the DM's perspective, maybe frequent use of Disadvantage on social skills and Charisma-based checks, and Advantage for memory recall and Intelligence-based checks.

 

[Tonguez]

Id think most people playing DnD are on the spectrum anyway

 

[MatthewJHanson]

I highly recommend the Fate Accessibility Toolkit. It's covers playing characters with a range of disabliities, including a section on autism, and all the sections are written by people who live with the disability being discussed. While written with Fate in mind, most of it can be applied any system.

 

[Eltab]

As already mentioned, Traits, Bonds, and Flaws would be the best entry point to the 5e rules.
If you want mechanical thoughts also, maybe a cantrip like Prestidigitation (with the one dozen little things to adjust your senses) can be used as a basis to describe the character's unique view on the world. I would make the mental stats not the dump stats; the character is different, not dumb.

 

[Knight Terrain]

This reminds me, my partner’s sibling who is autistic says they can hear electronics, and tells me this is fairly common with autistic people. That might be an interesting trait to translate to a fantasy setting - for example, maybe an autistic adventurer could hear a subtle thrum of magic that other adventurers either can’t hear or tune out.

That is a great idea! I like it! I think they should probably have a BIG disadvantage on insight checks as well.

 

[Umbran]

Id think most people playing DnD are on the spectrum anyway

Mod Note:

I am not sure where you learned to joke about people who have challenges, but it is doubly inappropriate in this thread. Please don't do so again.