PTSD in the SWU

[CRMcNeill]

So, what with the United States being involved in two wars at the same time in the last ten years, we have heard a lot about PTSD and the effects of sustained combat operations on the human psyche. What with SW being space opera, that sort of detail is glossed over, but it does make one wonder. I know various other sci-fi series have mentioned hypnotic conditioning and debriefing, and a few SW sources have hinted at the existence of behavioral and personality modification. Would it be possible for an advanced tech civilization to have the ability to use hypnotic or other mind control techniques to harden their soldiers' minds against the stresses of combat, and use the same techniques to help them defuse and internalize their experiences after a battle.

If so, what form would it take in the SWU? Would the Empire, with its disposable attitude towards its personnel, even bother, except in the case of officers and/or elite soldiers? The Alliance, with its more altruistic beliefs, would likely be more inclined to use such techniques with its troops, but would it have the funds available to do so? Would things change when the Alliance becomes the Republic and has access to the available resources, while the Empire, with its greatly reduced resources, must now contend with the fact that its resources are no longer limitless, and they must conserve what they have?

Right now this concept is mostly theoretical, and I have no concrete ideas for how it could be used in the SWU (just some vague theories), but I am interested in what you all think.
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"No set of rules can cover every situation. It's expected that you will make up new rules to suit the needs of your game." - The Star Wars Roleplaying Game, 2R&E, pg. 69, WEG, 1996.

The CRMcNeill Stat/Rule Index

[Guardian_A]

The Empire: I doubt that the Empire would care enough about their leigons to bother "conditioning" the troops for longer term use. After the empire started to crumble, I think they were more worried about "Projecting" strength by producing quick and cheap troops than before, so I think they would have been even less interested in conditioning their troops in this way.

The Rebellion: I dont think the rebels would have even thought to condition their troops like this. Most Rebels were desperate freedom fighters without much in the way of resources or training.

The New Republic: I dont think the New Republic would have done anything like this either. "Brainwashing" the troops starts to look like something the Empire would do, so they would probably stay away from it even before they started considering the moral implications of it.

Just my two cents.

[Matthias777]

I could see the Empire doing this (preventive conditioning) with certain groups as part of a larger indoctrination (read: brainwashing) regimen. Possibly CompForce and SAGroup, as well as the Royal Guard, and maybe even regular old stormies. These are all groups that are, by definition, unswervingly loyal to the Emperor, and in the case of the Royal Guard and stormtroopers, separate from the regular Imperial military.
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Arek | Kage

[garhkal]

Perhaps a lot of the flash training they gave, along with repeated debriefings helped alieviate it for the empire.. Not sure how the alliance handled it though.
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Confucious sayeth, don't wash cat while drunk!

[Bren]

Clone training and clone identification with their training group should help and I would expect their training includes desensitization to minimize PTSD. Plus the shorter lifespan means that clone troops aren't around for long after leaving the military.

Since I like my Star Wars space opera style - I would tend to ignore PTSD for PCs unless the player thinks that as interesting either as background or to play out. For NPCs, it makes some sense.

Three examples that might fit: (1) a number of the former Imperials who defect to the Rebels seem to have a stressful situation as a trigger. This could certainly include an aspect of PTSD and I would expect it in at least some cases. Personally if I was playing an ex-Imp adding some bad flashbacks seems very in keeping.
(2) The classic Outlaw template could include some PTSD or bad flashbacks to the events that triggered his bitterness and loner quest for vegeance.
(3) In our campaign, we had a PC who was subject to capture and torture by a group of evil assassins. He ended up seriously damaged emotionally and underwent significant counseling before being able to return to any sort of active duty. I expect he has some PTSD.

[garhkal]

I wonder what in game effects suffering from PTSD or just flashbacks would have??
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Confucious sayeth, don't wash cat while drunk!

[Naaman]

Ugh... imagine a Force sensitive with PTSD... the movie "Minority Report" comes to mind....

[CRMcNeill]

[Urban Spaceman]

I have a player character in my game that suffers from flashbacks, having had a rough military career, before his dis-honorable discharge.
I occasionally give him flashbacks, or have his mind play tricks on him, especially if he gets a 1 on the Wild Die for Perception rolls.
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"The ships hung in the sky in much the same way that bricks don't."

[Matthias777]

Come to think of it, Arek, my character in Hellcat's PbP (see the link in my sig for his character sheet) has I guess what you might refer to as PTSD...basically, he was at the conclave on Deneba when the Krath war droids massacred everyone---he was severely wounded himself, then got to watch his master die in his arms shortly after saving his life (not to mention seeing a lot of other Jedi killed). All at the age of 14. He hasn't experienced anything on the extreme end of the PTSD spectrum, but there have been instances where he reacts badly to things (especially since Esoomian's character in the group is a reprogrammed Krath War Droid). I don't think Hellcat has ever imposed any game mechanic penalties on Arek; I just roleplay it all out.
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Arek | Kage

[garhkal]

I could see requiring willpower rolls when things that MIGHT trigger it come up.
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Confucious sayeth, don't wash cat while drunk!