Phobia Trait Concept

[Terms-On-Dragon]

Looking through the list of traits on goonstation, having a few more traits would be quite nice to expand opportunities for character interaction.

One trait that may be a good addition is the phobia trait, where a random object or entity becomes your irrational fear.  When you enter a two tile radius near your phobia, you yelp and shudder until you leave the area; unable to walk towards the fear for several seconds, which is mitigated by wearing a blindfold, or being forced onto the tiles.

Another feature that may compliment this trait yet may be prone to exploitation, is an initial 5u of epinephrine entering your bloodstream when you are near the phobia.  One solution to this is to apply a 5-minute delay for each encounter.

As cool as it would be to see this in the game, I only have about 50+ hours on goonstation. So any suggestions to this trait would be appreciated!


TL;DR – The randomly selected phobia temporarily prevents you from walking two tiles near it, mitigated by blindfold or external movement.  Might apply epinephrine by a 5-minute delay per encounter.

[ZodiaDecius]

Good concept. The epi boost would certainly be used by GAMERS so I think that might need to be tweaked or looked at, but having a trait that makes you shake and scream when something is around would be hilarious.

I do think that having the object of the phobia being randomized may have unforseen hiccups, and would advise a list of typical ones that would be fun for Goon
[Monkeys, Clowns, Blood, etc]

Good idea. Hoping it gets flushed out a bit more with some attention

[Dhaidburt]

I think specified phobias would be far more worthwhile than a randomized one. Being suddenly allergic to sugar as a pastry chef is funny, but having a phobia of monkeys would be round-ending for geneticists.. unless they CHOSE to do so. Like the clown who has no belief in clowns and can't see themselves.

It would also let people take it a bit more seriously than 'oh i'm suddenly afraid of blood, uh okay' and try to realistically work around their phobias. Lets people add a layer of realism to their characters if they wish.

[Terms-On-Dragon]

I do think that having the object of the phobia being randomized may have unforseen hiccups, and would advise a list of typical ones that would be fun for Goon
[Monkeys, Clowns, Blood, etc]

I think specified phobias would be far more worthwhile than a randomized one. Being suddenly allergic to sugar as a pastry chef is funny, but having a phobia of monkeys would be round-ending for geneticists.. unless they CHOSE to do so. Like the clown who has no belief in clowns and can't see themselves.

It would also let people take it a bit more seriously than 'oh i'm suddenly afraid of blood, uh okay' and try to realistically work around their phobias. Lets people add a layer of realism to their characters if they wish.

In foresight, it definitely is more frustrating than interesting to have the phobia be randomized.  Instead, it may have its own category you can pick out in the trait section.  It could also follow a similar mechanic to the nervous trait, only happening by chance.  I just do not like the stun effect that happens.

I thought more about the inability to approach your phobia for a few seconds, and it might be better to apply a slowdown effect instead of restricting where you can walk during that time.  So if you are afraid of technology or anything mechanical, it would not become a hassle to use computers every time.  Each phobia could have different conditions that cause these effects, such as trypanophobia -- fear of needles -- only activating when somebody uses a syringe on you.

It could also just be silly and not hinder the character at all, such as Anatidaephobia -- fear of a duck watching you -- causing hallucinations of a duck just barely visible on your screen

[Glamurio]

I think specified phobias would be far more worthwhile than a randomized one. Being suddenly allergic to sugar as a pastry chef is funny, but having a phobia of monkeys would be round-ending for geneticists.. unless they CHOSE to do so. Like the clown who has no belief in clowns and can't see themselves.

It would also let people take it a bit more seriously than 'oh i'm suddenly afraid of blood, uh okay' and try to realistically work around their phobias. Lets people add a layer of realism to their characters if they wish.

While it's preferable to have it be chosen, allergies currently are also random. I very much think this is less of a preference, and rather a technical problem. It's very difficult to implement a chosen allergy / phobia. The only realistic way I could see would be either a standardized field akin to the name that lets a player enter a phobia / allergy, and if there's an item / chem that matches, it applies. I don't think a drop down menu for items would work, that's a behemoth of an interface, though maybe with a search bar akin to the chem request console this could be doable.

On the topic of phobias, yes, cool idea, but I'd be wary with how disabling they can be. Being completely blocked off is likely too much, but randomly screaming or dropping items (akin to "Nervous") could work. Perhaps even slowdowns, blurry vision, or nausea.