easy insanity rules [Archive] - Wizards Community

easy insanity rules [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
princeofcincinnati
01-25-06, 03:31 PM I want to include insanity,but feel it's too difficult to add up all the variables. Does anyone have a set of easier rules?
WindOwl
01-25-06, 04:41 PM I think insanity would be better if the PC just played it out accordingly. Would YOU want to be forced to roll dice to see what your character does?
princeofcincinnati
01-25-06, 08:11 PM Oh I agree. It's just that you need a system to get yourself there. Just saying "ok your character is now totally insane" is unfair. There needs to be a system.
Wolghan
01-26-06, 12:15 PM You could always use the madness rules found in the Ravenloft Campaign, I thought those were pretty good.
Snargash MoonClaw
01-26-06, 06:07 PM determine what is and isn't "insane" in your game world. The next thing to do is figure out who is in a position to declair a person insane and how the various cultures deal with it. Modern psychological models are modern and it's only been within the last couple of centuries that westerners have isolated those diagnosed as "insane" in various sorts of facilities. One of the key aspects of this has been the cultural perception that there is a single norm from which poeple deviate - any deviation then aquires a diagnosis of a "syndrome" or "disorder" which those doing the diagnosis recommend or require the treatment of. Throughout history and the cultures of the world, much of what has aquired a psychological label in modern western culture has been actually considered simply a persons way of being - sometimes even valued. (It may be noted that Leonardo Da Vinci showed all the signs of ADD and were he to grow up in America today his parents would be pressured to have him taking Ritalin.) Granted, I'm painting with a broad brush here and oversimplifying in many ways, but it's a complex subject in its own right. Adding the aspects of a fantasy world can throw an even bigger monkey wrench into the works. If the behavior of Europeans was viewed as crazy by Native Americans (two distinct human cultures) - how do dwarves and elves see each other? And what if the voices (that no one else hears) are really there?

Sorry to provide more questions than answers here, but I guess the first thing to really do is clarify just what it is you wish to do with rules for insanity in your game world - how do you want them to be included?
Aurotuli
01-26-06, 09:49 PM Ravenloft 3e had an easy set of rules for Insanity. It reduced it to Will saves vs Fear, Horror, or Madness (as the situation warranted, with a failed Horror requiring a second roll vs Madness). Its been a while, but as I recall one who failed a horror save would reseive a minor form of madness, and one who failed a madness save would receive a major form of madness (neurosis - such as a phobia, vs psychosis - such as extreme paranoia). The differences between the two types was that a major form of madness basically made the character unplayable (effectively out of commission for a while, such has having Dex 0 due to drain and not having a high enough level to get the necessary magic to restore it).

The character was allowed a save every so often at the original (failed) DC, and two successes in a row would cure them of the particular type. A doctor, cleric, etc with ranks in Heal could also make the check (aid another, +2 synergy) to help them. It was a pretty straight forward system that I wish had been emulated in the Heroes of Horror, but the authors of that book (or perhaps WotC) decided not to include a madness system. Perhaps it was due to the fact that UA has a sanity system and they thought it would be confusing to have another system for such.

Note that Ravenloft 3.5e, as I recall, went a little farther, requiring checks for Horror / Madness (and Power checks) in situations that did not seem to warrant it (esp Power checks), but as I recall it was rather obvious went to ignore their suggestions.
AngryDwarfwithHammer
02-15-06, 08:46 AM Anyone seen Heroes of horror?
The Taint mechanism includes a Depravity score. Depending on your wisdom score, the more ovewhelming evil you come in contact with, the more you start to slip over the edge towards insanity. You may become Agressive: You are easily angered and cant hide your feelings. In combat, you try so hard to hurt your enemies that you neglect your own defence. During combat, you take a -1 penealty to AC. Or Deranged: your grasp upon reality becomes tenuous. You take a -2 penalty toIntelegence-based ability checks. Or if things get really bad you may become Paranoid: you grow overly suspicious, even of your cosest companions. In combat, you cannot avoid watching for signs of treatchery. Whenever one of your allies engaged in combat makes an attack that fails to hit, you become suspicious that the allie is really a tratior to your party.You take a -1 penalty to any attack rolls you make during that turn, since some of your attention is focused on monitoring your compainion. If more than one ally fails to hit, the peanilty is cumulative. Well thats just a few, there are lots of symptoms, and three levels of symptoms. Mild Moderate and Severe. Depending on your wis score, you roll a D10 to choose a Depravity symptom. You should really check it out. good luck!
stalemate
02-15-06, 09:43 AM I'm a "seasoned" dnd player and i have always wanted to have an insane character but i never thought a barbarian was very appealing. But i decided to do it anyway. my character is crazy (not gary busey crazy more like george kastanza crazy AKA passive crazy) but he believes that he is the abandoned son of Grummish the orc god. i dont know if he is or not yet but its only for background perpises. he does not recieve any bonuses at all. i want this so that i can be a t a privileged position in the religious community. my dm on the other hand believes that i should not be the son and that if i say i am in a zone of truth then it would register as a lie. i dont care if i am or not but it should count as the truth because my character thinks he is the son... whats a player to do?
-matty-
LCD2YOU
02-15-06, 02:12 PM To help your players out, have them come to this board about 2 hours before your game. Have them start a "Paladin Thread with Alignment issues concerning a Rogue and Assassin".

After 90 minutes of answering, responding, ranting and raving, they'll be just about ripe enough for pickeling.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
princeofcincinnati 01-25-06, 03:31 PM	I want to include insanity,but feel it's too difficult to add up all the variables. Does anyone have a set of easier rules?
WindOwl 01-25-06, 04:41 PM	I think insanity would be better if the PC just played it out accordingly. Would YOU want to be forced to roll dice to see what your character does?
princeofcincinnati 01-25-06, 08:11 PM	Oh I agree. It's just that you need a system to get yourself there. Just saying "ok your character is now totally insane" is unfair. There needs to be a system.
Wolghan 01-26-06, 12:15 PM	You could always use the madness rules found in the Ravenloft Campaign, I thought those were pretty good.
Snargash MoonClaw 01-26-06, 06:07 PM	determine what is and isn't "insane" in your game world. The next thing to do is figure out who is in a position to declair a person insane and how the various cultures deal with it. Modern psychological models are modern and it's only been within the last couple of centuries that westerners have isolated those diagnosed as "insane" in various sorts of facilities. One of the key aspects of this has been the cultural perception that there is a single norm from which poeple deviate - any deviation then aquires a diagnosis of a "syndrome" or "disorder" which those doing the diagnosis recommend or require the treatment of. Throughout history and the cultures of the world, much of what has aquired a psychological label in modern western culture has been actually considered simply a persons way of being - sometimes even valued. (It may be noted that Leonardo Da Vinci showed all the signs of ADD and were he to grow up in America today his parents would be pressured to have him taking Ritalin.) Granted, I'm painting with a broad brush here and oversimplifying in many ways, but it's a complex subject in its own right. Adding the aspects of a fantasy world can throw an even bigger monkey wrench into the works. If the behavior of Europeans was viewed as crazy by Native Americans (two distinct human cultures) - how do dwarves and elves see each other? And what if the voices (that no one else hears) are really there? Sorry to provide more questions than answers here, but I guess the first thing to really do is clarify just what it is you wish to do with rules for insanity in your game world - how do you want them to be included?
Aurotuli 01-26-06, 09:49 PM	Ravenloft 3e had an easy set of rules for Insanity. It reduced it to Will saves vs Fear, Horror, or Madness (as the situation warranted, with a failed Horror requiring a second roll vs Madness). Its been a while, but as I recall one who failed a horror save would reseive a minor form of madness, and one who failed a madness save would receive a major form of madness (neurosis - such as a phobia, vs psychosis - such as extreme paranoia). The differences between the two types was that a major form of madness basically made the character unplayable (effectively out of commission for a while, such has having Dex 0 due to drain and not having a high enough level to get the necessary magic to restore it). The character was allowed a save every so often at the original (failed) DC, and two successes in a row would cure them of the particular type. A doctor, cleric, etc with ranks in Heal could also make the check (aid another, +2 synergy) to help them. It was a pretty straight forward system that I wish had been emulated in the Heroes of Horror, but the authors of that book (or perhaps WotC) decided not to include a madness system. Perhaps it was due to the fact that UA has a sanity system and they thought it would be confusing to have another system for such. Note that Ravenloft 3.5e, as I recall, went a little farther, requiring checks for Horror / Madness (and Power checks) in situations that did not seem to warrant it (esp Power checks), but as I recall it was rather obvious went to ignore their suggestions.
AngryDwarfwithHammer 02-15-06, 08:46 AM	Anyone seen Heroes of horror? The Taint mechanism includes a Depravity score. Depending on your wisdom score, the more ovewhelming evil you come in contact with, the more you start to slip over the edge towards insanity. You may become Agressive: You are easily angered and cant hide your feelings. In combat, you try so hard to hurt your enemies that you neglect your own defence. During combat, you take a -1 penealty to AC. Or Deranged: your grasp upon reality becomes tenuous. You take a -2 penalty toIntelegence-based ability checks. Or if things get really bad you may become Paranoid: you grow overly suspicious, even of your cosest companions. In combat, you cannot avoid watching for signs of treatchery. Whenever one of your allies engaged in combat makes an attack that fails to hit, you become suspicious that the allie is really a tratior to your party.You take a -1 penalty to any attack rolls you make during that turn, since some of your attention is focused on monitoring your compainion. If more than one ally fails to hit, the peanilty is cumulative. Well thats just a few, there are lots of symptoms, and three levels of symptoms. Mild Moderate and Severe. Depending on your wis score, you roll a D10 to choose a Depravity symptom. You should really check it out. good luck!
stalemate 02-15-06, 09:43 AM	I'm a "seasoned" dnd player and i have always wanted to have an insane character but i never thought a barbarian was very appealing. But i decided to do it anyway. my character is crazy (not gary busey crazy more like george kastanza crazy AKA passive crazy) but he believes that he is the abandoned son of Grummish the orc god. i dont know if he is or not yet but its only for background perpises. he does not recieve any bonuses at all. i want this so that i can be a t a privileged position in the religious community. my dm on the other hand believes that i should not be the son and that if i say i am in a zone of truth then it would register as a lie. i dont care if i am or not but it should count as the truth because my character thinks he is the son... whats a player to do? -matty-
LCD2YOU 02-15-06, 02:12 PM	To help your players out, have them come to this board about 2 hours before your game. Have them start a "Paladin Thread with Alignment issues concerning a Rogue and Assassin". After 90 minutes of answering, responding, ranting and raving, they'll be just about ripe enough for pickeling.