Regaining Sanity over Time . . . [Archive] - Wizards Community

Regaining Sanity over Time . . . [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
Arthur_Pendragon
04-28-04, 01:44 PM I'm preparing on doing an evil vile campaign, making use of Sanity point. (For reference I ignore the part of the rules that have loss for casting spells, and don't have a "forbidden lore" skill)

I noted how the rules suggest changing various Fear effects (from spells, fear aura of the lich, etc.) from frightened, panic, etc. into Sanity point loss (which I liked to some measure, however I felt at the same time it made it so fear effects real purpose, weakening your foes, causing them to flee, is removed.)

So I was thinking that for fear effects, keeping the sanity loss check, but also keep the fear effects.

In that case I'm having a bit of trouble, so exactly (using my variation here) what would the Lich's Fear aura have?

(I asked because my Necromancer character will become one eventually (see info in sig explaining my group's setup)).

Another thing is, I was more interested in the sanity rules applying to the group's foes (interesting to watch the paladin who comes for you start losing it.)

However, of course, the characters will deal with Sanity checks too, but my problem is that as evil characters who live on the outskirts of society, they are not likely going to be able to get psychological help (ESPECIALLY the Necromancer character as in this setting as necromancers are feared and hated universally).

I wasn't interested in just having magic cure sanity loss, cause that just seemed to make sanity loss trivial. But our villian characters are not going to have access to psychological help that the heros will have.

Plus I really didn't like (read: hated) the idea of the insane necromancer character, the character I've build has a Wis 17 and I imagine him as someone who is extremely in control of his mind and has a sharp command of his faculties (he has a start sanity of 85).

So I wondered about the idea of having Sanity points regained over time if a character spent time dealing with his/her issues (meditating, analyzing his experinces, etc) and didn't do things to loose further sanity points in the mean time. (This is something I could imagine the necromancer doing, to deal with things that have unsettled him, in order to catagorize them in his mind and "put them in their place").

But what do you think of the idea?

Additionally I figured being a Necromancer, he would have gotten very use to undead of all kinds, and thus isn't affected by seeing them. However this doesn't protect him from the effects of seeing a massive dragon, murdering a close friend, or witnessing an unholy god :88E: , etc. So there is plenty that could still scare him, but not the dead or dead bodies.

BTW, what about when he becomes a lich, how would that change what affects his sanity?
Arthur_Pendragon
04-29-04, 12:52 PM I figured my earlier post might have been a bit unclear on exactly what I was asking, so I thought I'd recondense my questions here.

So I was thinking that for fear effects, keeping the sanity loss check, but also keep the fear effects. In that case I'm having a bit of trouble, so exactly (using my variation here) what would the Lich's Fear aura have?

So I wondered about the idea of having Sanity points regained over time if a character spent time dealing with his/her issues (meditating, analyzing his experinces, etc) and didn't do things to loose further sanity points in the mean time. (This is something I could imagine the necromancer doing, to deal with things that have unsettled him, in order to catagorize them in his mind and "put them in their place"). But what do you think of the idea?

What about when he becomes a lich, how would that change what affects his sanity?
Xaxor
04-30-04, 07:46 AM Becoming a lich should cost him a good chunk of sanity, say 2d8. It isn't a pleasant process. Once he is a lich, sanity loss from dealing with Undead would probably drop to 0. He would also be immune to fear effects created by Undead. Before the transformation, you could consider him to have 3-5 points of mental hardness when dealing with Undead. It's like damage reduction for Sanity loss. The lich's fear aura should cause a one time Sanity loss, which would be in addition to the loss from seeing the lich. After the one time loss, the effects of fear would still apply.
I wouldn't give more than 1d6 sanity points back for every month spent in treatment, whether self-administered or administered by another person. Trying to cure yourself is obviously going to be more difficult, so if you wanted to use a Heal check to see whether or not the treatment worked for the month, the DC for self-healing should be increased by 5 or so.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Arthur_Pendragon 04-28-04, 01:44 PM	I'm preparing on doing an evil vile campaign, making use of Sanity point. (For reference I ignore the part of the rules that have loss for casting spells, and don't have a "forbidden lore" skill) I noted how the rules suggest changing various Fear effects (from spells, fear aura of the lich, etc.) from frightened, panic, etc. into Sanity point loss (which I liked to some measure, however I felt at the same time it made it so fear effects real purpose, weakening your foes, causing them to flee, is removed.) So I was thinking that for fear effects, keeping the sanity loss check, but also keep the fear effects. In that case I'm having a bit of trouble, so exactly (using my variation here) what would the Lich's Fear aura have? (I asked because my Necromancer character will become one eventually (see info in sig explaining my group's setup)). Another thing is, I was more interested in the sanity rules applying to the group's foes (interesting to watch the paladin who comes for you start losing it.) However, of course, the characters will deal with Sanity checks too, but my problem is that as evil characters who live on the outskirts of society, they are not likely going to be able to get psychological help (ESPECIALLY the Necromancer character as in this setting as necromancers are feared and hated universally). I wasn't interested in just having magic cure sanity loss, cause that just seemed to make sanity loss trivial. But our villian characters are not going to have access to psychological help that the heros will have. Plus I really didn't like (read: hated) the idea of the insane necromancer character, the character I've build has a Wis 17 and I imagine him as someone who is extremely in control of his mind and has a sharp command of his faculties (he has a start sanity of 85). So I wondered about the idea of having Sanity points regained over time if a character spent time dealing with his/her issues (meditating, analyzing his experinces, etc) and didn't do things to loose further sanity points in the mean time. (This is something I could imagine the necromancer doing, to deal with things that have unsettled him, in order to catagorize them in his mind and "put them in their place"). But what do you think of the idea? Additionally I figured being a Necromancer, he would have gotten very use to undead of all kinds, and thus isn't affected by seeing them. However this doesn't protect him from the effects of seeing a massive dragon, murdering a close friend, or witnessing an unholy god :88E: , etc. So there is plenty that could still scare him, but not the dead or dead bodies. BTW, what about when he becomes a lich, how would that change what affects his sanity?
Arthur_Pendragon 04-29-04, 12:52 PM	I figured my earlier post might have been a bit unclear on exactly what I was asking, so I thought I'd recondense my questions here. So I was thinking that for fear effects, keeping the sanity loss check, but also keep the fear effects. In that case I'm having a bit of trouble, so exactly (using my variation here) what would the Lich's Fear aura have? So I wondered about the idea of having Sanity points regained over time if a character spent time dealing with his/her issues (meditating, analyzing his experinces, etc) and didn't do things to loose further sanity points in the mean time. (This is something I could imagine the necromancer doing, to deal with things that have unsettled him, in order to catagorize them in his mind and "put them in their place"). But what do you think of the idea? What about when he becomes a lich, how would that change what affects his sanity?
Xaxor 04-30-04, 07:46 AM	Becoming a lich should cost him a good chunk of sanity, say 2d8. It isn't a pleasant process. Once he is a lich, sanity loss from dealing with Undead would probably drop to 0. He would also be immune to fear effects created by Undead. Before the transformation, you could consider him to have 3-5 points of mental hardness when dealing with Undead. It's like damage reduction for Sanity loss. The lich's fear aura should cause a one time Sanity loss, which would be in addition to the loss from seeing the lich. After the one time loss, the effects of fear would still apply. I wouldn't give more than 1d6 sanity points back for every month spent in treatment, whether self-administered or administered by another person. Trying to cure yourself is obviously going to be more difficult, so if you wanted to use a Heal check to see whether or not the treatment worked for the month, the DC for self-healing should be increased by 5 or so.