Sanity: Everyone's got it. Except me. [Archive] - Wizards Community

Sanity: Everyone's got it. Except me. [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
Ragix
01-15-07, 03:13 PM I have a problem. Sanity is SO cool, and I really want to use it in my campaigns. However, it could potentially get way too confusing, and require too much number crunching. I want to make it work. I need suggestions on what to do/add/remove to make it more...playable. Also, I want to introduce a benefit to sanity, whether being gained or lost. Something, like better spellcasting, that would make goin' bonkers a little more worthwhile. A little extra thing that makes crazy evil NPCs slightly better. Thanks.
legophreak
01-15-07, 07:02 PM You would run into a lot of number crunching if you used the Sanity rules, and applied them to magic as one of the variants described. I currently use that in my game, but i also allow feats to negate some of the effects or else no one would ever play a caster.

If you just have it in the sense of, " Oh my god, what kind of a horror is that? " and you lose points when your PC's encounter something extremely horrible it's not that bad.

As to the benefits? Are there really any benefits from going crazy? I suppose you may become immune to some fears, get real smart but lack any amount of common sense to relay your new found intelligence coherently.

If you wanted to be really nasty, you can combine sanity loss with the Taint rules in Heroes of Horror. Lose sanity, and be hit with Taint. Not a nice combo if ya ask me.
spyone
01-16-07, 09:59 AM I think the "benefits" he's describing are along the lines of:
Since the Sanity rules assume that knowing too much about how the world really works will make you crazy, it is quite possable that going crazy will give you important insight into haow the world works.

Free metamagic feats or something. I doubt I'd go with it, but it makes a certain amount of sense.
058
01-16-07, 09:26 PM Maybe give increase to Spot and Listen, since being insane and possibly paranoid tends to make you notice things more.
JustinA
02-09-07, 02:56 PM I have a problem. Sanity is SO cool, and I really want to use it in my campaigns. However, it could potentially get way too confusing, and require too much number crunching. I want to make it work. I need suggestions on what to do/add/remove to make it more...playable.

It might help to know what you're finding difficult about implementing in the system. What number crunching are you finding difficult?

One tip I can offer right off: Limit the things which cause insanity. If you're playing a standard D&D campaign, it's probably not a good idea to cause sanity loss for anything and everything that the UA rules cover.

For example, in my current campaign I use both the Taint and Sanity losses. But I only use them when the characters are exposed to the demonic Spider Gods, the Demonweb which underlies all natural reality, or the sorcerous arts deriving from those things.

Basically, in my cosmology, there's a divison between the wholesome world ruled over by the Gods and the unnatural world ruled over by the Demons. Trying to understand the way in which the demonic world works breaks your mind. Being exposed to the powers made possible by the demonic order taint your body and soul.

Thus, you can be tainted if your exposed to an artifact or effect created through demonic practices. You can lose sanity if you encounter a Demon Lord, are exposed to phenomena only possible as a result of the demonic arts, or attempt to learn how to use the demonic arts (the last is a huge doozy).

As a result, sanity checks only come up occasionally. And, in practice, I can boil the system down to:

1. Starting sanity.
2. Sanity resistance (I use wisdom modifier + character level).
3. Assigning sanity loss to appropriate sources.
4. Making sanity checks (including maximum Sanity loss from a single source).
5. Effects of sanity loss (temporary, indefinite, and permanent insanity).
6. Recovering sanity.

Also, I want to introduce a benefit to sanity, whether being gained or lost. Something, like better spellcasting, that would make goin' bonkers a little more worthwhile. A little extra thing that makes crazy evil NPCs slightly better. Thanks.

The benefits would depend on what you're trying to accomplish. What types of things in the campaign are going to trigger sanity loss?

For example, in my campaign the benefits of going insane are Knowledge (arcana), Spellcraft bonuses, and access to demonic spells and metamagic feats. The Book of Vile Darkness is a great resource for this (for example, being able to cast spells with the evil material components).

The benefits of taint are the ability to take [Vile] feats and (at certain levels of taint) take the Deformity feats without the Willful Deformity prereq.
Harkle
02-11-07, 11:03 AM I just thought of an idea for spellcasting using sanity, but it probably would turn most spell casters into villans.

make sanity what determine what the max level spell you can cast rather than ability score. You would still require the character to gain levels in order to advance in spell casting, but a high casting stat would no longer be required.

99-90 Level 0
89-80 Level 1
79-70 Level 2
69-60 Level 3
59-50 Level 4
49-40 Level 5
39-30 Level 6
29-20 Level 7
19-10 Level 8
09-00 Level 9

A differant idea would be to give a penalty to Spell Save DC's for sanity over 50 and a bonus for sanity under 50. Or you could just be mean and use both.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Ragix 01-15-07, 03:13 PM	I have a problem. Sanity is SO cool, and I really want to use it in my campaigns. However, it could potentially get way too confusing, and require too much number crunching. I want to make it work. I need suggestions on what to do/add/remove to make it more...playable. Also, I want to introduce a benefit to sanity, whether being gained or lost. Something, like better spellcasting, that would make goin' bonkers a little more worthwhile. A little extra thing that makes crazy evil NPCs slightly better. Thanks.
legophreak 01-15-07, 07:02 PM	You would run into a lot of number crunching if you used the Sanity rules, and applied them to magic as one of the variants described. I currently use that in my game, but i also allow feats to negate some of the effects or else no one would ever play a caster. If you just have it in the sense of, " Oh my god, what kind of a horror is that? " and you lose points when your PC's encounter something extremely horrible it's not that bad. As to the benefits? Are there really any benefits from going crazy? I suppose you may become immune to some fears, get real smart but lack any amount of common sense to relay your new found intelligence coherently. If you wanted to be really nasty, you can combine sanity loss with the Taint rules in Heroes of Horror. Lose sanity, and be hit with Taint. Not a nice combo if ya ask me.
spyone 01-16-07, 09:59 AM	I think the "benefits" he's describing are along the lines of: Since the Sanity rules assume that knowing too much about how the world really works will make you crazy, it is quite possable that going crazy will give you important insight into haow the world works. Free metamagic feats or something. I doubt I'd go with it, but it makes a certain amount of sense.
058 01-16-07, 09:26 PM	Maybe give increase to Spot and Listen, since being insane and possibly paranoid tends to make you notice things more.
JustinA 02-09-07, 02:56 PM	I have a problem. Sanity is SO cool, and I really want to use it in my campaigns. However, it could potentially get way too confusing, and require too much number crunching. I want to make it work. I need suggestions on what to do/add/remove to make it more...playable. It might help to know what you're finding difficult about implementing in the system. What number crunching are you finding difficult? One tip I can offer right off: Limit the things which cause insanity. If you're playing a standard D&D campaign, it's probably not a good idea to cause sanity loss for anything and everything that the UA rules cover. For example, in my current campaign I use both the Taint and Sanity losses. But I only use them when the characters are exposed to the demonic Spider Gods, the Demonweb which underlies all natural reality, or the sorcerous arts deriving from those things. Basically, in my cosmology, there's a divison between the wholesome world ruled over by the Gods and the unnatural world ruled over by the Demons. Trying to understand the way in which the demonic world works breaks your mind. Being exposed to the powers made possible by the demonic order taint your body and soul. Thus, you can be tainted if your exposed to an artifact or effect created through demonic practices. You can lose sanity if you encounter a Demon Lord, are exposed to phenomena only possible as a result of the demonic arts, or attempt to learn how to use the demonic arts (the last is a huge doozy). As a result, sanity checks only come up occasionally. And, in practice, I can boil the system down to: 1. Starting sanity. 2. Sanity resistance (I use wisdom modifier + character level). 3. Assigning sanity loss to appropriate sources. 4. Making sanity checks (including maximum Sanity loss from a single source). 5. Effects of sanity loss (temporary, indefinite, and permanent insanity). 6. Recovering sanity. Also, I want to introduce a benefit to sanity, whether being gained or lost. Something, like better spellcasting, that would make goin' bonkers a little more worthwhile. A little extra thing that makes crazy evil NPCs slightly better. Thanks. The benefits would depend on what you're trying to accomplish. What types of things in the campaign are going to trigger sanity loss? For example, in my campaign the benefits of going insane are Knowledge (arcana), Spellcraft bonuses, and access to demonic spells and metamagic feats. The Book of Vile Darkness is a great resource for this (for example, being able to cast spells with the evil material components). The benefits of taint are the ability to take [Vile] feats and (at certain levels of taint) take the Deformity feats without the Willful Deformity prereq.
Harkle 02-11-07, 11:03 AM	I just thought of an idea for spellcasting using sanity, but it probably would turn most spell casters into villans. make sanity what determine what the max level spell you can cast rather than ability score. You would still require the character to gain levels in order to advance in spell casting, but a high casting stat would no longer be required. 99-90 Level 0 89-80 Level 1 79-70 Level 2 69-60 Level 3 59-50 Level 4 49-40 Level 5 39-30 Level 6 29-20 Level 7 19-10 Level 8 09-00 Level 9 A differant idea would be to give a penalty to Spell Save DC's for sanity over 50 and a bonus for sanity under 50. Or you could just be mean and use both.