That, combined with the fact that he has an alien parasite (well, symbiote, but still) in his right hand and is an abnormally powerful telepath leads me to believe the GM will inevitably reveal that he's been corrupted by Yog-Sothoth or somesort.
That's were the subversion kicks in: You see, Ivan doesn't like being insane: he loves it. In his opinion, all people have the glimmer of madness deep within, and if he embraces it, so what? Being off your rocker already is
That said, he's still a fundementally nice person who hates hurting people, so if somone *cough*Nyarlathotep*cough* offered him power and knowlege at the expense of humanity, he would turn it down in a heartbeat. If, however, he discovered another, less damaging way-say, using the corruption outlined above-he would do it in a heartbeat, both gaining great power and knowlege for himself, and now being able to help humanity in a whole new way (and before you point out that this help would likley entail turning humans into beings like him, he knows that his path is his own-no one else wants it).
So how would you play somone "embracing the madness" but still a good guy?
Interesting thought, very thin tightrope walking it is. Especially when it may end up that from your madness you may forget what 'humanity' is. Not to mention that not that many people like being around an insane person.
Asylums were made to keep the crazies away from the normal sheep after all.
Perhaps to help me understand this whole thing better, how is your character insane? What does he constantly think, do, or believe that is fundamentally mad?
On another note, whole-heartedly embracing the Mythos entities is a rather certain path to losing your mind, humanity, and soul. Perhaps not in that order, but it's still almost certain to happen. Be careful of the madness that it doesn't lead ye to paths' nto meant to be trodden!
And make sure that if that squid-faced Cthulhu shows up, sock him in the face with a giant robot fist! If a steamboat can put him down, think of what a giant robot can do!
However, for him, there is a good side to being insane-all great works are born from the lack of regard for reality, and a touch of insanity frees the true self-the unconscious self-from the shackles of entrenched thought. True, most insanity frees that in a less than amicable way, but it can be funnled into making what once seemed insane a reality.
In that sense, to be mad, is to be human.
Here's a quote from when he got his powers:
"I looked into a realm no mortal should see...and what I saw was beautiful."
of course, I don't tend to make bargins with evil primordial entities.
the problem with someone good-aligned making any kind of deal for power from someone evil-aligned is that evil will:
a) never make goody so powerful that evily can't destroy him
b) constantly try to corrupt goody
c) make sure the pact helps evily more than goody
d) betray goody when goody ceases to be of use
can you be insane and good? anyone who says otherwise is calling me evil, and I don't appricate that.
can you make a deal with the devil and be good? of course not.
Yeah, you heard me right.
Some of the Lovecraftian cults aren't evil. A couple are actually good!
Take the Eldritch Society for instance. Why, their entire stick is that their warriors are bound to an alien symbiote (and unlike my guy, it isn't just some freaky eye-thing on his arm-it's full biological Power Armor, and it is freaky), an they're the nicest faction in the setting (relatively, but you have to understand that the other "good guy" faction, the New Earth Government, is at war with aliens that can mind control their citizens along with the threat of illegal sorcery, so they became a police state). Heck, their founders were Dhohanoids (mortals transformed into shapeshifers by the power of Nyarlathotep) for crying out loud!
True, they guys they worship (the Forgotten Ones) are otherwise obsure compared to the actual Old Ones, and are probably more "selfish" then "helpful" but with some of the guys in their ranks (Nodens, Hypnos, the guy who may or may not be responsible for banishing the Old Ones in the first place), it's a safe bet that whatever they have in store for humanity is a lot better then what the Old Ones do.
From Tesla to Newton to Poe, a little bit of madness goes hand in hand with being one of the "greats" in this world. Perhaps your character wishes to make great contributions to humanity, make monumental changes for the greater good, and recognizes that part of it will arrive in the form of going bonkers. Thus, madness is part of serving the greater good and bettering the world.
Insane clarity, mad wisdom.
Then, sort of a gradual tempting ensues where they eventually try to convince "The sacrifice of that baby is for the greater good!" and such like that.
Anyways, there's a decent example, even if the main character isn't the sort of bat**** insane you are looking for.
Also remember that the elder-things are not so much evil as that they don't particularly care about us. We are too small.
If they did notice us... Well, have you ever imagined finding a swarm of sapient ants in your pantry?
Think about that.
But for a good guy slowly corrupted by the eldrich horror?
Try Children of an Elder God.
But be warned, there is no chapter 18.
Now, for your character described... Will he actively worship the Great old ones? If he goes to actively worshiping Yog sothoth, he'll have to be careful. He's already a zoner, praising Yog sothoth at the random time is... gonna be weird. Maybe your character feels an attachment to the zone itself? Not active worship, but a reverance or respect for it that other characters find unsettling at best. That might be an interesting way to pass off madness, and the Zone itself is quite the alien phenomenon, and perhaps related to ole' Yog sothoh.
See, the Lovecraftian world does not really have any kind of clear morality built into it like most other fictional worlds do. Being good in that world is not simply a matter of following the Way of the Open Palm, or being a Jedi, or trying to make sure your alignment stays LG, or even of trying to adhere to some kind of Judeo-Christian/Islamic/Buddhist/Kant's Imperative/Humanist/Other ethical code.
In short, you cannot "Pick the right side" so readily in this world, which is full of crazy people and powerful beings that are designed to literally be beyond mortal comprehension, because there really aren't any sides. If there were sides, it seems your choices would basically be limited to "I support the alien monsters from beyond this dimension" and "Things with lots of tentacles and eyes in the wrong places scare me."
It sounds to me like you're trying to stick in a quirky, subjectively good character in a world that is objectivist at best and utterly amoral at worst, which seems unnecessarily difficult. I can visualize a functional character which is quirky OR subjectively good, but not both, and I'm still apprehensive about the "subjectively good" bit.
A good character basically cannot embrace the Lovecraftian gods, because in order for that to work the Lovecraftian gods would have to embrace the character back. And the Lovecraftian gods never "embrace" anything. They either warp you with their mere presence, ignore you completely, or annihilate you. The reasoning behind this behavior is twofold. First, it enhances the whole "the ways of the Old Ones are REALLY unknowable" concept that the whole setting is built on; second, it encourages the "it's them or me!" survivalist mentality which is also heavily featured in the setting as the primary ideal and motivation of everyone who is still "sane."
Pelor will embrace you. Jesus will embrace you. The Celestial Bureacracy will carefully tally your life's actions and then (possibly) embrace you. The light side of the Force will embrace you. The Nordic Gods will embrace you and buy you a beer if you fought hard enough. But the Old Ones? Not so much.
Pelor will embrace you. Jesus will embrace you. The Celestial Bureacracy will carefully tally your life's actions and then (possibly) embrace you. The light side of the Force will embrace you. The Nordic Gods will embrace you and buy you a beer if you fought hard enough. But the Old Ones? Not so much.
Well said.