Re: Re: Sanity, Infirmiry and other flaws that slip as the game goes on

From: Todd Gardiner <todd.gardiner_at_...>
Date: Mon, 27 Jul 2009 10:40:14 -0700


As for why to simulate this, seeing your current state and watching it crumble, shock by shock, generates a sense of suspense and impending doom. While the combat rules and potentially failing an investigation roll can make a Lovecraftian game with the Call of Cthulhu rules no fun, the Sanity rules really

In the CoC rules, by Chaosium, some encounters are so mindblasting that even with a successful Sanity check, the investigator still looses some sanity. Although this type of encounter tends to be at the climax, not all along the way.

One issue I have with the suggestions here is that mental stability generally does not affect all skills or abilities. You certainly don't become less strong as your sanity slips, so careful use of credibility is needed here. (In fact, in some circumstances, your insanity might become a augment to raw strength).

Also, making "attacks" against the characters on their sanity would require each character to have a trait to defend/recover with. You generally don't have to tell a character to bring some sort of combat skill to the table, but you may have to require that they have an ability that marks their "stability".

So, here's the basic idea I am punting back to the suggestion team (that's you guys):

All characters require (in addition to at least one flaw), an ability that marks the /relationship/core belief/philosophy that keeps the character stable in the face of mentally unhinging incidences. Similar to the Trail of Cthulhu system (Gumshoe engine, also by Robin Laws, btw), where "Stability" is a trait and characters are required to have a mental touchstone for every few points of stability, we could just skip that raw trait and go right for marking it with the ability score for the touchstone. (All of this, much as Tim Ellis described.)

Shocks are divided into unstabilizing and mindblasting (regular attack and Pyhrric victory), partly by story design and partly by pass/fail cycle
(especially if you limit the p/f to analyzing sanity assaults).

Temporary shocks (minor defeats and major Pyhrric victories) produce a Lingering Penalty to all rolls, as the mind reels and actions are unsure. Much like the wounding rules.

Longer lasting penalties are centered around continued defense against shocks to the character's stability, Complete defeats introduce a new flaw that potentially limits the characters action in other ways, such as a major phobia flaw.

Building up your Lingering Penalty value to match the ability(s) that provide stability results in permanent madness.

Deliberately exercising Mythos abilities (such as the horrid "spells" you can learn from Grimores) also functions like a Pyhrric victory, but without the stunning effects.

All of this may require another tool from the Trail of Cthulhu kit: a drive to investigate. In that rule set, each character is required to have a trait
(which amounts to a HQ2 hook), that pushes the character
to obsessively investigate, to open that door with strange sounds behind it, to demand of yourself that you end this mad intrusion on the world. These drives are probably all ready put in place through the rules for character hooks, but calling them out as needed for this type of story may be called for. You don't want the investigators shirking their duties just because they are afraid of going insane or being devoured. You've got children to protect!

I'll work out some examples this week and see it if passes your (rules) credibility tests. Then I can go about converting the mega-adventure Beyond the Mountains of Madness into a HQ2 campaign for home play.

--Todd

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