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Message: <blockquote data-quote="pemerton" data-source="post: 6855958" data-attributes="member: 42582">As someone who has had amnesia, I thought I might chime in!In my case, I lost memories of the previous three years or so, and also lost the ability to lay down new memories. Over the course of a week or so, my memories came back (except for the first 24 hours or so, which I don't remember at all; and some of that week is pretty hazy). Over the same period I became able to lay down new memories.One thing about prospective amnesia (not being able to lay down new memories): it confines you to fairly simple tasks, because you can't carry out plans. I don't know when, exactly, my ability to remember fully recovered because I spent weeks just resting at home, recovering from my illness - and under these circumstances, being able to remember something new for a few hours is pretty much enough to be functional!As for retrospective amnesia (not remembering the past): I didn't remember my job, or people whom I'd only met during that time, but I had my professional knowledge, and I think I knew that I had that knowledge and was certainly able to deploy it - I know from what others have told me that I was using my professional knowledge even during the period when I was "resetting" every 5 minutes because I couldn't lay down any memories of what was happening to me.If I was playing an amnesiac character, I would expect most of my skills to work (and certainly my mental stats woudn't change). But I mightn't know what my PC's goals are, or how I got to where I am. I would add - this is quite unnerving, and the character might be expected to easily take comfort in someone who seemed able to help him/her understand what is going on, and to find his/her way around an unfamiliar environment.</blockquote>

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