User:Phrank Psinatra/DSM

The cover of the DSM-IV sourcebook.

DSM is a roleplaying game, and is an acronym that stands for Doctor Slave-Master.

Background

Participants often argue over the rules

DSM is a very elaborate form of roleplay, requiring years of reading rulebooks and memorizing gamers' jargon. Typical players are required to read these books for at least ten years, although some "posers" prefer to play without proper knowledge of the rules. This poses unwarranted risks, as DSM play is extremely dangerous.

Thankfully, the core rules have been summarized in editions (DSM-III, DSM-IIIr, and the fourth edition DSM-IV), and use language that even Victims can read (ed. note: Victims are the subject of DSM roleplay).

Character Classes

There is only one character class, the victim, but it is divided into a number of subclasses. To generate a character, roll 3d6 for each of the standard attributes, modifying as follows:

Mental Disorder

• Multiple Personality: +2 change personality, severe childhood abuse check.
• Schizophrenia: -2 reality, paranoid check.
• OCD: +2 orderliness, intrusive thoughts check.

Personality Disorder

• Antisocial: +3 charisma, also known as a sociopath.

Gameplay

A typical gaming session will include a Doctor/Master (DM), a victim/slave (VS), and an adventure environment — usually a couch or bed. Sessions can last up to an hour, sometimes more, and the victim is always required to pay through the nose (figuartively, not literally, well, most of the time). This "payment" is know as insurance, as it insures the roleplayer will not find the victim's family and hunt them down and/or kill them. Victims are sometimes forced to pay insurance over very long periods of time, sometimes until death. Those who choose not to pay often die anyway of inexplicable cause.