My gaming group are planning on running a horror themed game and rather than wait for the new horror book we came up with our own rules for insanity and madness. I was curious if the collective wisdom here thought they were fair and workable...
Suggested Insanity rules
When your GM requires it, a Will saving throw maybe required to resist mental damage. This save is normally the result of encountering “The Others” the creatures that don’t make sense in our world or when encountering particularly powerful supernatural events and effects.
The save DC is 10 to 55 depending on the source of the insanity as determined by the story teller.
When encountering the supernatural:
10 + CR if of this world but using the supernatural
15 + CR if not of this world
15 + (2 x CR) if notably more horrific/alien
If you pass the save you feel stressed and uncomfortable but suffer no long term effects.
If you fail the save you suffer insanity damage: 1 point and move down the fear tree one step.
If you roll a 1 on your Will save you critically fail. As a result you suffer 1D4 insanity and move down the fear tree one step.
Insanity Damage
The higher the damage the more unhinged a character becomes, to the point that they have a true insanity. A human can suffer insanity damage up to the total of their Wisdom score (not modifier) at which time they gain a Mental Affliction.
A character who gains Insanity Damage equal to twice their Wisdom Score suffers a second Mental Affliction and so on.
Mental Affliction’s
When insanity points equal or exceed your Wisdom score they suffer a Mental Affliction selected to match the current events or rolled randomly on the insanity tables. The Mental Affliction cannot be removed as long as your insanity score remains equal to or higher than your Wisdom score.
d% Mental Affliction
1–11 Amnesia
12–48 Mania/Phobia
49–68 Multiple Personality Disorder
69–78 Paranoia
79–84 Psychosis
85–100 Schizophrenia
Healing Insanity Damage
You can use the Heal skill to Provide Long-Term Psychiatric Care. The DC for this check is 15 + Insanity point damage.
Providing long-term care means treating a psychotic person for a day or more. If your Heal check is successful, the patient recovers insanity damage at the rate of 1 insanity points per level for a full 8 hours of rest in a day, or 2 insanity points per level for each full day of complete rest.
You can tend as many as six patients at a time. You need a few items and supplies (drugs, pleasant environments, therapy, and so on) that are easy to come by in settled lands. Giving long-term care counts as light activity for the healer. You cannot give long-term care to yourself.
Action/Time: 8 hours or 24 hours.
Retry? Varies. Generally speaking, you can’t try a Heal check again without witnessing proof of the original check’s failure. If you retry without changing your therapy you suffer -4 to the roll.
Spells to heal Insanity
Lesser Restoration heals 1 insanity damage.
Restoration heals 1D4 insanity damage.
Greater Restoration, heal, limited wish, miracle, or wish immediately heals all insanity damage.
Removing Mental Affliction
If your Insanity points are reduced to below your Wisdom score then each week of rest you may make a Will save against the DC of the Mental Affliction to remove it.
You can use the Heal skill to Treat Mental Affliction
To treat a Mental Affliction means to tend to a single afflicted character. Every time the afflicted character makes a saving throw against Mental Affliction, you make a Heal check. If your Heal check exceeds the DC of the Mental Affliction, the character receives a +4 competence bonus on his saving throw against the Mental Affliction.
Action/Time: 10 minutes.
Retry? Varies. Generally speaking, you can’t try a Heal check again without witnessing proof of the original check’s failure.
Restoration adds your caster level to the next save to over come a Mental Affliction.
Greater Restoration, heal, limited wish, miracle, or wish immediately removes all Mental Affliction’s.
New Traits
Strong Minded
Your training and force of personality has left you less vulnerable to the insanity the supernatural and alien forces cause.
Benefit: You gain a +1 trait bonus on any saving throws against confusion, insanity, madness, and Mental Affliction.
Psychiatric Healer
Your skill at healing the mind surpasses your skill with the body.
Benefit: You gain a +2 trait bonus to Heal checks to treat Mental Affliction’s, and Heal is always a class skill for you.
Honestly, at least for any Fantasy Campaign Setting I have run across, mere supernatural contact isn't going to be world shaking. It is ..expected.. It might be scary, but it will not challenge your world view.
Kitten,
Absolutely correct. Insanity threats are a perfect fit for that setting.
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Interesting rules presented in the opening post.
I haven't played the game but Unknown Armies has interesting psychology rules that you might find useful for inspiration. Call of Cthulhu is obviously another good source to look at and the fright checks mechanic from GURPS is another one you might want to use.
Interesting rules presented in the opening post.
I haven't played the game but Unknown Armies has interesting psychology rules that you might find useful for inspiration. Call of Cthulhu is obviously another good source to look at and the fright checks mechanic from GURPS is another one you might want to use.
Cheers I'd not heard of Unknown Armies before, it's pretty cool.