Is there a way to make sanity less lethal? Especially since I'm running a non cosmic horror campaign?
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Is there a way to make sanity less lethal? Especially since I'm running a non cosmic horror campaign?
Treat it more like stability than "ahh save me Black personman" rolls. The higher the meter the more a tic is present, the more they might flub a roll. Treat it as a penalty and roll against it to determine if things from a random list of circumstances befall them. Think about how much less sharp you are when you've been up for a long long time without sleep.
>Is there a way to make sanity less lethal?
By living in pre-industrial society?
Too soon
Depending on how much influence you want it to have on your campaign and on how players run their characters, I'd recommend checking out the sanity rules in Unknown Armies 2ed.
>Different meters for different types of sanity damage (exposure to violence, being alone, weirdness etc)
>Passing the test hardens you against that type of damage, failing weakens you to it. Both impact how your character develops.
>Mechanics are easy enough to bolt on to a pre-existing system.
System? You can't just talk about game mechanics and not mention the system
>Just assume all mechanics mentioned are D&D
I sure fricking hope this isn't the case when it comes to sanity mechanics.
I mean, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to know the system mongrel
There are a lot of systems that use sanity as a mechanic, be it as a main or optional rule so no need to act so smug. So seeing as you didn't bother telling me a system I guess you are just here to waste everyone's time as per usual.
Being purposefully obtuse about things is the mark of a middling intellect. Stop posting on this site.
There's two ways and they can be combined. First, don't make it a second hp bar where if it runs out you're dead, instead you get penalized or temporarily lose control. Second, give lots of ways/opportunities to heal it. Otherwise SAN death spiral is very much intentional in CoC.
One of the consistent problems with SAN in games is it's effectively irrecoverable damage that either removes the character from play or renders them a disruptive 'that guy,' as you'd expect someone with a powerful psychosis or otherwise severely debilitating mental illness to be.
Which system, what's the campaign? How is it going so far?
At least fricking PRETEND this is a genuine thread asking genuine questions
The way sanity impacts the player really depends on what system you're using.
For example.
Sanity damage is much more lethal than physical damage in Nechronica, but giving the players more opportunities to relieve madness points in the adventure phase and changing the number and build of enemies with Spirit attacks in the combat phase can easily let you dial in how lethal sanity damage is at a given time in the campaign.
Play DRYH.
>Madness can still kill you there
yes, and it takes a long time.
Cosmic horror bros have ruined the concept of sanity and sanity damage itself tbh
I'm diagnosed with what I'd consider a form of insanity, and this is how I'd do it if I were to add it into one of my games
>HP is the measure of physical health
>Sanity Points or SP or whatever is the measure of mental health
>Upon reaching certain SP thresholds, your character begins to acquire certain neuroses
>A wizard might gain anxiety, becoming less trusting of himself and others
>A paladin might gain depression, letting his zeal and stuff diminish and give way to melancholy and slow decision making
>At really low sanity levels, start doing wacky shit
>Like, Hamlet going mad style stuff
>Perhaps even make split personalities show up, or fugue states happen
>Nothing is more terrifying than someone losing control of themselves, so having a druid wake up to a room full of scribbles on the walls depicting the destruction and defilement of everything they hold dear, with the only explanation being they did it themselves would be cool
>At sanity 0, PC has to be sent to an asylum or some other place of healing to regain sanity over time
Of course all of this requires buy-in from the party, and a nuanced hand in GMing. But that's how I'd do it
Look at Unknown Armies they handle sanity well IIRC
>Unknown Armies 2ed.
Yes. That's one way.
Other direction you can look at: Delta Green.
Stress replaces insanity.
You can recover it, but it'll make you an alcoholic and ruin your marriage.
So OP never mentions the system? There are games outside of Call of Cthulhu that use sanity as a mechanic and they have them play differently, how can anyone give a proper answer if they don't know the system?
>sanity systems in non horror games
>sanity systems in less-lethal games
>sanity systems at all
Why though?
Instead of just being sent straight to the madhouse or blowing your brains out, you develop an increasing number of negative or mixed traits that represent your newfound phobias, schizo moments, and PTSD. Nobody just instantly goes mad the moment they find out Elder Things exist, that's shitty Lovecraftian fiction. What happens is you first start doubting Humanity's supremacy and importance, and that leads you to increasingly finding the morality and culture of society around you less meaningful and worth protecting. But at the same time you could go the opposite way, where just because Cthulhu destroyed all those other civilizations, then Humanity has to be the one to stop him at any cost - and you go crazy that way.
Sanity is rarely lethal. It's usually the insanity that gets you.
That said, Insanity Points rarely come up in my games, and I generally think that they should come up a lot more often. It is very rare that they become relevant, let alone result in psychological issues/debilitation/whatever it's called.
Kult had an original system where you hadn't sanity but mental balance. This balance could be positive or negative. Mental balance would influence how much the character's defects (addiction, depression, suicidal, egotism...) affect him in certain situations - positive mental balance would help controlling the defects, negative mental balance would make it harder stave them off.
For my OSR style Dungeon crawling homebrew I have death & dying rolls for characters that hit 0 HP,
Depending on how horrible they get maimed or die their nearby party members roll for Trauma.
Catatonia.
Panic.
Vomit.
Not affected.
Rallies and motivates allies.
So far it's just led to a lot of panic and characters getting maimed badly.