Schizophrenia And Other Mental Health Risks [Aka. Stealth Boy Overhaul]

[DanteWrath]

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-Original Introduction-
While browsing the nexus, I've found dozens of mod that introduce usable "Stealth Boy Mark II" into the game. I've never thought they were unbalanced (As they are usually given the same effect as the Chinese Stealth Armour from Fallout 3).
What I did find was that none of them touched on the side-effects of repeated Stealth Boy use.
Now before anyone mentions, I am aware that we've only ever seen Nightkin struggling with Schizophrenia induced by Stealth Boy use and have thus far not seen any humans with the same damage, I've always believed this just to be because nobody uses Stealth Boys as much as the Nightkin, however depending on your opinion you might not agree this mod to be lore friendly.
Originally this request was going to simply be for a Mark II Stealth Boy with it's own risks, very early into the thought process though I decided that, as the only reason Mark II is more damaging is that it lasts longer, the mods should really be an overhaul for Stealth Boys in general.

-Extended Introduction-
This idea has long since evolved passed being limited to stealth boys alone and should now be considered a request for the introduction of Mental Illness into the game as a whole.
However since this means very minor changes to loads of sections to the mod, I have decided it is more efficient to list the ways in which the mod could (And in my personal opinion, should) be expanded at the end in a few paragraphs, so please bare in mind that much of what you read will be expanded further later on.

-How Would It Work?-
Well as I am not a modder, I can only give my suggestion as to how it would work, if someone decides to make this they may well opt for another method of calculating the risk.
My suggestion would be to use two different systems for calculating the risk, however they could (And probably should) both run off the same variable.
So we start with a variable that can range from 0 - 100, starting initially at 0.

For the Stealth Boy Mark I, I'd recommend simply using it increases the risk.
Each time a Stealth Boy is used, there will be a risk of some form of psychological damage.
On first use, the variable will be increased to 1 and you will have a 1% chance of developing a condition.
Using another Stealth Boy will increase the risk to 2%, then to 3% etc.

The Stealth Boy Mark II obviously requires more work, first and foremost because it would have to be added to the game.
From the existing mods, it seems the easiest was is to simply make the Mark II stealth boy an apparel item (However I will discuss an alternative in a moment).
The second hurdle becomes how to increase this risk using this device.
The ideal method (In my opinion) would be to first, add 1 to the risk variable upon use just as with the Mark I, however then after that stage every x minutes (Maybe 10 because that's roughly the maximum time, with perks, a Mark I Stealth Boy can last?) the risk would increase another 1%.
I don't know however how easy tracking an items use time is, so here is a possible (Yet by no means ideal) alternative.
Instead of an apparel item, we keep the Mark II as an 'Aid' item that comes in pair with an 'Unequip Stealth Boy' item.
When used, it will act basically as a Mark I, however another Mark II will be added into your inventory replacing the one you just used, from there you must use the Unequip item before your current Stealth Boy runs out, or the new Mark II will be used automatically (And thus, will increase the risk by 1% and the cycle will repeat)

-Risk Reduction-
Of course left alone the chances of you developing a condition would eventually reach 100%, to avoid this you would need a few intervals in which your risk % would begin to fall.
I'd suggest something along the lines of;
Risk drops by 1% at the end of each day
Risk drop by an additional 2% each day if a Stealth Boy was not used that day.
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-The Effects-
Now while this mod is primarily a 'risk' mod, and thus most of the effects should be negative, I do suggest adding a few 'positive' effects in the sense that your character could turn the 'good' kind of crazy.
Here are a few suggestions that spring to mind:
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Insomnia - "You really struggle getting to sleep, as such you can only go to sleep when you're extremely tired" (Normal: You must be below half health to sleep [Possibly lower]. Hardcore: Sleep Deprivation must be at least 500 [Possibly higher])
Insomnia (Voices) - "The Voices wont let you sleep! You have a chance to be rudely awoken during any sleep cycle."
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"Is This The Real Life?" - Adds the Wild Wasteland trait to players who do not already have it. (Possible compatibility patch could be made for 'More Perks', also adding the 'Destiny Gambler' perk to make this risk still exist for people who already have the Wild Wasteland trait, with the authors permission of course).
Claustrophobia - Adds the Claustophobia trait to players who do not already have it (Req. Old World Blues)
Suicidal - Adds the Kamikaze trait to players who do not already have it (Req. Old World Blues).
Self Destructive - Player gains XP from taking damage, using Chems/Alcohol and neglecting Hardcore needs (For example, XP is gained whenever their dehydration level increases)

Serial Killer - "You don't kill in self defense, you don't even kill because you like to... You kill because you NEED to" Serial Killers gain bonus XP when killing humans (And non-feral ghouls).
[serial Killer Expanded - If it is possible to track the players recent kills, even more bonus XP could be granted for killing someone who has similarities to your last kill (For example, killing two people of the same gender). To take it even further this bonus XP could continue to increase each time the following kill matches the proceeding one, dropping down slightly with each kill that is outside of your pattern.]
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Delusions: "You're all out to get me!" (Passive Response) - The player may say things to offend those around him, believing them to be out to get him. This could cause negative reputation among one (Or more?) of the surrounding faction members

Delusions: "You're all out to get me!" (Aggressive Response) - Similar to previous perk, however instead of reputation loss combat will be initiated.

Delusions: The Quests - The player will on occasion be given quests that seem of great importance, but of course are simply a form of insanity.
A good (Although basic) example is the player could be given a quest by a "Very ill" person to get hold of the elixir of life to save them. The description could be something along the lines of "Tales once told of a giant fountain resembling the treasure hidden inside, perhaps if I'm lucky there'll still be some elixir left inside!"
However approaching the quest giver's location before this quest is active (Or on another character) will show not a person but a corpse, investigating further will find that the location the delusional player was sent was simply the Sunset Sarsaparilla Headquarters.

Delusions: The Cycle - Very similar to previous delusion, however this would be for unmarked, repeatable quests.

Delusions: The Great Quest (1-x) - 'Epic' versions of 'The Quest' featuring singular delusions resulting in a much larger quest
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Hallucinations: "Where the hell did you come from!?" - "Sometimes [Custom] enemies will appear out of nowhere to attack you! They must be really weak though because they can never seem to harm you and disappear after a short while (Though not before you've wasted some ammunition)". Quite simply this would randomly spawn enemies around you from time to time, these enemies however would have to be customized in a few ways;
Firstly they must have their damage set to 0 (Or as close to as possible as I don't know if that's even doable) basically rendering them harmless to the player.
They would also have to be designed to disappear after a seemingly random interval, as well as on death. I'd also recommend making their health low so they disappear easier (But of course, will eventually come back)

Hallucinations: (Voices: Creepy) - This would simply be for atmospheric's sake, causing the player to hear ominous, out of focus voices at random intervals.

Hallucinations: (Voices: "Do it") - "Is this voice motivational... Or just plain evil. You now hear an nerving voice at random intervals uttering simply two words at varying decibels "Do it""

Hallucinations: (Voices: "Hateful") Another audio-hallucination this time generating random, hateful comments and phrases about the player.

Hallucinations: "You Got A Friend In You" - You will have a non-combat companion follow you around (Though they are known to wander off from time to time). This would exist as basically a modders chance to show off companion making abilities by introducing dialog and making them interesting without necessarily needing them to be combat companions. This could also introduce quests in a similar fashion to as mentioned in the delusion section.

Hallucinations: "You Got A 'Friend' In You" - Similar to the previous but would give play unmarked quests that would seem to benefit the player if completed... But they never do. By this I mean the quest would always result in something negative happening to the player (Ranging from lost belongs to attempted murder).
This hallucination may also fight with the previous (Though the loser will be resurrected eventually).

Hallucinations "You Got A Clown In You"(?) - Similar to previous however the hallucination would be a Jester character who disappears and reappears more randomly. This Jester could push on the true nature on this type of hallucination, doing things that seem outside of reality for example he could simply fall out of the sky on occasion.

Hallucinations (Visual Anomalies) - Multiple different obtainable hallucinations, distorting your vision in some minor way. For example. making the colours more (Or even less) vivid. I'd recommend looking at some of the mods that add visual effects to Fallout's drugs if you need inspiration on these.
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Multiple Personality [General Idea]: This may well be the most ambitious and certainly most difficult part of the request, I personally feel the best way to incorporate a multiple personality system is to make it so when a player is supposed to be a different personality, they will be rewarded for completing actions that suit their personality and/or will be 'punished' for attempting to play outside of that personality. However in some cases, the player could be lead to behave as their personality should via different means (Read the 'Multiple Personality - Child' section below as an example).
Furthermore, multiple personalities could be used to give temporary versions of many of the aforementioned conditions.

[swapping personality]: Once one or more of the personalities are unlocked, when certain events happen the player may have a chance to swap personality.
At these times the personality would be 'shuffled', with the possibility of becoming any of the new personalities and of course, your original.
[swapping Personality, The Events]: Possible suggestions include; Sleeping, Entering Combat, Health Droping Below [x], Using a Stealth Boy/Chem, Certain Vanilla Dialogues (If you have the patience) and possibly even at 'random' intervals.

[Possible Personalities]:
Alternate Personality (Evil) - Player gains XP for actions that result in negative Karma, conversely positive Karma will result in damage to the head (Like they get a headache from attempting to fight the dominant personality).

Alternate Personality (Neutral)[?] - After a personality swap, the player gains bonus XP whenever XP is earned, however the amount of bonus XP they are rewarded reduces the further away (in either direction) their Karma gets from the value at the time they swapped personality.

Alternate Personality (Good) - Player gains XP for actions that result in positive Karma, conversely negative Karma will result in damage to the head.

Alternate Personality (Self Destructive) - An intermittent version of the earlier mentioned 'Self Destructive' perk

Alternate Personality (Child)[?] - "Some people are a child at heart, you are a child at mind! (At least some of the time)". You are filled with the energy of youth, granting you more action points and a slight increase in movement speed. Your young mind also grants you a bonus to XP gained (+10%[?]), however you are easily scared and have reduced combat skills". You could also use this personality to implement they cut 'Child at Heart' perk.

Alternate Personality (Serial Killer) - An intermittent version of the earlier mentioned 'Serial Killer' perk.

Alternate Personality (Inner Strength) - "Deep within you is a power, perhaps it's a sentient being, perhaps it's just your survival instinct, whatever the case it is here to defend you in your times of need" Unlike other personalities, this would be restricted to use when the player is in combat and low on health. In this 'mode' you would have higher damage and damage resistance as well as a slight increase to all combat stats(?) and increased strength/endurance.

Alternate Personality (Inner Strength: Savior) - Identical to previous personality but activates instead when companions are low on health

(An idea that evolved from a later thought in the "Learning To Cope" section further on; A new item could be added to a few vendors called "Intact Mirror", with would allow you to initiate dialogue with one of your alternate personalities. This could again be a chance to show off some interesting dialogue, create a few interesting character and possibly even add some quests)
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Black Outs (Time Lapse) - "How am I already hungry again!? " On occasion the player will suffer a 'Time Lapse', where the clock will jump forward unexpectedly (And of course, their Hardcore needs will progress).
Black Outs ("How Did I Get Here") - On occasion the player's screen will fade to black and they will awaken at random locations, it would be ideal that this utilized the in game fast travel so that time actually passes on your journey
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-Expanding The Mod: Other Risks-
While when I began writing this suggestion, it was purely for Stealth Boys, after writing for what feels like hours and seeing how much potential for the actual content there is, the idea really, in my opinion, should be expanded to introduce other possible forms of gaining insanity.
The same variable and method for calculating could be used, while simply adding more ways for a player to increase their risk and/or develop a psychological condition.
Admittedly right now only a couple spring to mind, though I'll update the post if I think of any more. These are the few that come to mind, please also understand that these are just my suggested risk values based on how likely these events are to cause a condition in my opinion, you may disagree:

Near Death Experience - When a player drops below 10%(?) health [+10% Risk]
Lost Loved One - When a player's companion dies [+15% RIsk]
Mid Life Crisis - When a player hits level 25 [+10% Risk]
Isolation - A player who has spent extended periods of time without NPC interaction, their risk increased [+1% per day]
Chem Use - Now chems could actually be bad for your mental health, I'd suggest a +1% risk increase each time a chem is used, of course I'd then recommend the bonus +2% risk reduction you get at the end of the day would then require the player had used neither stealth boys or chems that day. Alternatively the Risk Reduction at the end of the day could be 1% normally, an additional reduction of 2% will be made if the player has only used one of the two items and a bonus 3% reduction if neither were used.

You could also allow some (If not all) of the 'traits' to be gained as actual traits at character creation, allowing people to play as a mentally ill character from the start.
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-Expanding The Mod: Learning To Cope-
Another way the mod could be advanced is by allowing the player the ability to overcome certain conditions, usually this would be done via treatment at a few doctors (Doc. Mitchell, Doc. Henry, The Sink Autodoc [OWB], Lieutenant Markland [if 'Bitter Springs Infirmary Blues' is completed]) and a few unique methods that will be mentioned below. The psychological treatment would cost significantly more than your usual fix-up (1000 caps maybe?) and WOULD NOT BE A CURE. Instead the player would select a condition to treat, that trait would then be swapped out for a 'milder' version.

Insomnia - "You've learnt to use the time you are awake to be more productive! You now gain bonus XP whenever XP is earned if your health is bellow 75% [Hardcore: Sleep Deprivation is greater than 250]"
Insomnia (Voices) - "You've learnt to use the time you are awake to be more productive! You now gain bonus XP whenever XP is earned for 2 hours[?] after being awoken"
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Claustrophobia - ""I'm in a huge garden..." You can now vividly imagine the outside world, even when trapped, reducing Claustrophobia's penalties by 50%"
Suicidal - "You've learnt to target the cause of the problem. Both the penalties and bonuses of Kamikaze are reduced by half, in addition you gain a slightly increased critical chance against all hostiles"
Self Destructive - "You see that your self destructive tendency only fuel more self destruction, you now have motivation to stop! You are less likely to develop a psychological condition from now on when you go without chems" Simply put, you gain an additional -2% risk reduction at the end of the day if Chems are not used.
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Delusions: "You're all out to get me!" (Passive Response) - "While still fueled with paranoia, you know now that this is often the case. As such you can take a few moments to get your thoughts together before responding. You now are warned a few minutes before an 'episode' occurs, allowing you to get away from present company before you say something you regret!"

Delusions: "You're all out to get me!" (Aggressive Response) - "You have learned to manage your temper when you think someone is out to get you, showing a more passive response" This trait would simply be replaced by the untreated 'Passive' equivalent. (This perk could also be gained if one of the people you've engaged in combat are willing to forgive you when you yield, proving you wrong about them)

Delusions: The Quests/The Cycle/The Great Quest (1-x) - "You now know that the quests you undertake are often a figment of your imagination, as such you may choose to ignore a quest". When a delusion quest is triggered for the player, a menu will appear allowing them to choose to ignore the quest. This will simply prevent the quest from activating until it is triggered again and the alternative choice is made.
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Hallucinations: "Where the hell did you come from!?" - "You know now not to engage with these creatures as they can not truly harm you, as you grew to ignore them so they to chose to ignore you". After this stage the hallucinations will no longer engage you in combat when they appear unless you do so first. They will also appear less often, further away and disappear more quickly.

Hallucinations: "You Got A Friend/'Friend'/Clown In You" - "You know now not to engage with these beings, as you grew to ignore them, so they chose to ignore you". Almost identical to the previous trait, only instead of no longer attacking they would no longer activate conversations with the player unless the player initiates it. (Players with high intelligence and speech may be able to convince their hallucinations to leave them alone via dialogue, without medical assistance)

Hallucinations: (Voices: Creepy/"Do it"/Hateful) - "You've learned to ignore the voices and focus more on everything else". This would basically just reduce the volume of the sounds played.

Hallucinations (Visual Anomalies) - "You've learned to ignore this anomaly and can now focus better on the world around you". This would reduce (But not remove) whatever visual anomally the player had selected. For example extremely vivid colours would still be more vivid than usual but less so than they had been with the original trait.
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Alternate Personality (Evil)/(Good) - "You have merged with you alter, you will no longer have personality swaps (To this personality) but will retain some of the traits of both your former personalities". Player still gains XP for actions that result in negative/positive Karma, however positive/negative Karma will no longer result in damage to the head.

Alternate Personality (Self Destructive) - Identical to the coping mechanism of 'Self Destructive'

Alternate Personality (Child)[?] - "You have merger with your alter, you still exhibit child-like tendencies but are slightly more adult than before. You will no longer have personality swaps, however both the bonuses and weakness of being a child will be reduced by half"

Alternate Personality (Serial Killer) - "You have merged with your alter, you will no longer swap to this personality but will gain (Reduced) bonus XP from human kills". If the modder had expanded the serial killer trait, they'd of course need to incorporate the other forms of bonus XP into this perk.

Alternate Personality (Inner Strength)/(Inner Strength: Savior) - "You have learned to harness you inner strength! Once a day you may trigger the personality at will, regardless of current condition."
(Player with high intelligence, speech AND medical skills may be able to merge with their alternate personality after triggering dialogue using a new item (added to a few vendors) "Intact Mirror".

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-Expanding The Mod: Cause-Specific Disorders-
Another aspect of the mod could incorporate specific disorders calculated using the existing risk variable but within a separate calculation triggered only by certain methods of 'gaining' insanity. Meaning it would be possible to gain either a cause-specific disorder, a regular disorder or even both if you're really unlucky.
Here are a couple of examples that spring to mind:

Stealth Boy Addiction - "Like most Nightkin, you have grown so used to being invisible that you can't stand being looked at". The player would gain skill bonuses when under the effect of a stealth boy, however would have dramatically lowered Charisma and Speech stats when visible.

Delusional Addiction [Trigger: Taking a drug you are already addicted to] - "You are so addicted to [Drug X] that your mind will play tricks on you when you try to quit!" [This could be achieved in two ways, I'll start with the more complicated]

From this stage on, regardless of whether they cure their addiction or not, items will be added to the level list for the player to find. These items would be the Chem they were addicted to 'disguised' as various items (Such as Stimpacks or Food) resulting in the possibility of the player taking drugs without knowing it.
Alternatively (Or even, in addition [They could even serve as two separate possible disorders] the player may take the drug automatically (In a similar way to Med X or Stimpacks in the Mk II Stealth Suit).

Haunted By The Dead [Trigger: Death Of Follower]: "I see them, everywhere" A while ago I had a bug with a follower mod, the follower died but their corpse continued to follow me and it was rather creepy. If this effect could be achieved intentionally, it would make for quite an interesting disorder. (You could even make an additional trait where you are instead followed by someone you have murdered)

Imaginary Friend [Trigger: Isolation]: This would basically give a second, specific trigger for the 'You Got A Friend/'Friend'/Clown in you' trait mentioned in the main post.
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-Feedback-
Although of course the ideal response would be from a mod author looking to take up this request, I would also greatly appreciate replies from anyone else who has the time.
The help of modders could be invaluable in suggesting methods to achieve the effects listed but I'd also like to hear from non-modders as well.
Of course showing your support will help this page get noticed and I'd be thankful enough for that, but giving your ideas (And criticisms!) is also extremely helpful.
Any ideas I believe sensible will be added to this main post, allowing potential modders to see it more easily.
So please if you have anything at all to add, it would be appreciated.
Thank you for taking the time to read this suggestion.

Edited August 6, 2015 by Dante Wrath

[devinpatterson]

It's a good idea (in re: both to the effect of stealthboys and in game insainity in general) and you'v gone into great depth with it. I'm surprised there haven't been additional comments and ideas from other forum members.

[DanteWrath]

Unfortunately it is a huge request and takes a lot of effort to read through, people who come here to have a quick read through the mods or to make their own requests are unlikely to read something this large, so it really becomes limited to those who are more seriously into forum discussions.
it also would require a much higher skill level from the modder than a lot of the suggestions here, making it less likely to be chosen simply because it requires a more experienced hand.
Only people like you, who take the time to read and comment, can help. So thank you!
I'll be continuing to edit the post whenever I think of anything, though after this I will of course avoid replying to comments unless it is as part of a discussion (After all this writing, I wouldn't want it to get the post pulled for being 'bumped').
Hopefully there will be others like you who like the request eventually.

Edited July 28, 2015 by Dante Wrath