Magical Insanity

AlexanderHowl · 07-04-2018, 09:43 AM

Magical Insanity is a magical system that I have been kicking around for a while now as a variation of the Corruption rules from Horror that uses Sanity to suppliment or replace existing magical energies. The premise is that it is easier for people to go insane than it is for them to change the world through using magic. Sanity is meant to suppliment the energy used for the magic of a setting, whether it is energy accumulating magic, standard FP magic, or threshold-limited magic. Alternatively, it can be the only energy used for magic within a setting.

When using Sanity as the only magical energy source, characters spend Sanity rather than energy to fuel their magic. Characters possess Sanity equal to their Will and recovers one point of Sanity for every 10 minutes of rest (characters may use Meditation to reduce the time to recover Sanity to one point for every 5 minutes of rest). When characters reach '0' Sanity though, they may continue to spend Sanity by accepting Sanity debt, though they may not accept more Sanity debt during a day than their Will. If using the Magical Insanity optional rule to suppliment other sources of magical energy, characters do not possess positive Sanity but may go into Sanity debt in lue of using other forms of magical energy.

When characters possess Sanity debt, they may only lose Sanity debt through meditation. For each day of normal meditation (eight hours of meditation a day), they lose one point of Sanity debt. For every day of intensive meditation (Meditation-12+ and 16 hours of meditation a day), they lose four points of Sanity debt. When a character reaches 125 points of Sanity debt, they convert 125 points of Sanity debt into 5 points of mental disadvantages and/or quirks as his or her mind attempts to change itself to reflect the desires of the character rather than to accept reality.

What do you think? Would you be interested in using the Sanity optional rule to suppliment other magical energies in your games or do you think that it gives magical characters too many options? Would you ever use Sanity as the only source of magical energy in a game?

lvalero · 07-04-2018, 12:58 PM

It is a little complicated, for my tastes. Have you considered using Threshold limited magic? Instead of rolling against the "magic calamity table" you could roll against the Fear table.

If you want to make the magic really taxing simply put the Threshold to 0 so any spell needs to roll in the table ( for example in places where the Outer Things are strong)

ajardoor · 07-04-2018, 02:57 PM

The Stability points system from Mad As Bones article. Use SP instead of FP. Boom, done.

Maz · 07-04-2018, 06:10 PM

If used as the only energytype, IQ becomes even better for mages as it not only boost all your spells but also gives you Will (good for keeping concentration) AND give you energy. Players will want to put as many points into IQ and will as they are allowed. They do not suffer drawbacks for being encumbered anymore, encouraging them to wear heavy armour.

So, as the only source. I think it makes mages much more powerful and cheaper to one-trick-pony.

Also a debt of 125 pts is a lot. Or rather I see two approaches. The type of players who will never get a lot of debt. They will stick to their normal max and if they accidentally get a debt or two, refuse to get more debt until they are free of it. And then there are the other types of players who will happily max out until they reach -125 and trade it in for the relative low cost of 5 CP. Even with 15 will its going to take 8-9 days of all out debt to build it to 125.

Conclusion, I don't really see many PC's gaining any insanities out of this.

----

Suggestion

I would prefer a more gradual system. If you remove Sanity Points from any attributes and have it at a default of 10 and treat it like FP and HP. Then as they are used to power spells you will reach "below 1/3" and then "0 SP" and -1x SP".

At Below 1/3 SP you can give people -1 to all self control rolls, making them more likely to give in to obsessions and compulsions. Then -2 at "0 SP".
And have them make a will roll every time they spend SP below "0 SP" if they fail they gain an Insanity. If they reach "-1x SP" they automatically gain an insanity or -5 pts, or improve one you already have by -5 pts.
(If you like you can change the progressions to mimic HP and go to -2xSP, -3xSP and so on. and give further penalties to Will and Self control roles the further down you go, and if you finally fail and gain an insanity you can have the severity (points cost) based on how far down you are. so if you reach -5xSP you will get -25 pts of mental disads. While at -1xSP you only get -5 pts of disads)

...this way it follows the same progression as FP so you do not have MORE energy than the normal system and it's removed from IQ so you avoid double-dipping and hyper-focus. But Will is still important to avoid getting an insanity when below "0 SP".

Culture20 · 07-05-2018, 07:27 AM

I would suggest making the mechanic mirror HP loss more closely. Each round immediately after casting a spell, you have a very temporary disadvantage at the point level of the sanity you spent, but just that round. Example: if you spend 20 sanity on one spell, you have a 20 point mental disad the next round, which might be debilitating for a second. If your total sanity drops to 0, roll against HT or suffer a permanent mental quirk. At -Sanity, again roll against HT or suffer a permanent -5 pt mental disad (or increase a current disad). Roll again for the same result at x2,x3,x4, but at x5, you suffer a permanent -10 pt disad with no roll. Each level is cumulative, so if a Sanity 10 mage casts a 60 pt spell, they will become horribly insane the very next round (-70 to -91), and likely have some after effects (minimum -10 pts, possibly -31)

I suggest HT instead of IQ since IQ->Will->Sanity.
Compare this to spending HP on regular spells, and it’s less immediately deadly.
Reducing Will as the mental disads should probably be discouraged because it would just destroy the mages.
This system promotes evil insane mages with great power and heroic mages who cast spells “within the rules”

edit: Maybe I should read the whole thread before replying. I just wrote the same thing as Maz...

Anaraxes · 07-05-2018, 07:40 AM

To feel like "Sanity", I think there need to be some additional side effects to spending Sanity. The current system has it working pretty much like standard magic's FP, but without even those side effects and alternative demands on the resource -- it's just another number to track.

To give it more flavor, reduced Sanity should have some mechanical effects in the form of temporary quirks, disads, or at least decriptions of how oddly you start to behave with some threatened "poor RP" penalties for those players that aren't into it, long before you get into the permanent changes a la Corruption.

07-04-2018, 09:43 AM	#1
AlexanderHowl Join Date: Feb 2016	Magical Insanity Magical Insanity is a magical system that I have been kicking around for a while now as a variation of the Corruption rules from Horror that uses Sanity to suppliment or replace existing magical energies. The premise is that it is easier for people to go insane than it is for them to change the world through using magic. Sanity is meant to suppliment the energy used for the magic of a setting, whether it is energy accumulating magic, standard FP magic, or threshold-limited magic. Alternatively, it can be the only energy used for magic within a setting. When using Sanity as the only magical energy source, characters spend Sanity rather than energy to fuel their magic. Characters possess Sanity equal to their Will and recovers one point of Sanity for every 10 minutes of rest (characters may use Meditation to reduce the time to recover Sanity to one point for every 5 minutes of rest). When characters reach '0' Sanity though, they may continue to spend Sanity by accepting Sanity debt, though they may not accept more Sanity debt during a day than their Will. If using the Magical Insanity optional rule to suppliment other sources of magical energy, characters do not possess positive Sanity but may go into Sanity debt in lue of using other forms of magical energy. When characters possess Sanity debt, they may only lose Sanity debt through meditation. For each day of normal meditation (eight hours of meditation a day), they lose one point of Sanity debt. For every day of intensive meditation (Meditation-12+ and 16 hours of meditation a day), they lose four points of Sanity debt. When a character reaches 125 points of Sanity debt, they convert 125 points of Sanity debt into 5 points of mental disadvantages and/or quirks as his or her mind attempts to change itself to reflect the desires of the character rather than to accept reality. What do you think? Would you be interested in using the Sanity optional rule to suppliment other magical energies in your games or do you think that it gives magical characters too many options? Would you ever use Sanity as the only source of magical energy in a game?

07-04-2018, 12:58 PM	#2
lvalero Join Date: Jan 2015 Location: Madrid, Spain	Re: Magical Insanity It is a little complicated, for my tastes. Have you considered using Threshold limited magic? Instead of rolling against the "magic calamity table" you could roll against the Fear table. If you want to make the magic really taxing simply put the Threshold to 0 so any spell needs to roll in the table ( for example in places where the Outer Things are strong) __________________ "Imagination is more important than knowledge" Albert Einstein

07-04-2018, 02:57 PM	#3
ajardoor Join Date: Jun 2010	Re: Magical Insanity The Stability points system from Mad As Bones article. Use SP instead of FP. Boom, done.

07-04-2018, 06:10 PM	#4
Maz Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Denmark	Re: Magical Insanity If used as the only energytype, IQ becomes even better for mages as it not only boost all your spells but also gives you Will (good for keeping concentration) AND give you energy. Players will want to put as many points into IQ and will as they are allowed. They do not suffer drawbacks for being encumbered anymore, encouraging them to wear heavy armour. So, as the only source. I think it makes mages much more powerful and cheaper to one-trick-pony. Also a debt of 125 pts is a lot. Or rather I see two approaches. The type of players who will never get a lot of debt. They will stick to their normal max and if they accidentally get a debt or two, refuse to get more debt until they are free of it. And then there are the other types of players who will happily max out until they reach -125 and trade it in for the relative low cost of 5 CP. Even with 15 will its going to take 8-9 days of all out debt to build it to 125. Conclusion, I don't really see many PC's gaining any insanities out of this. ---- Suggestion I would prefer a more gradual system. If you remove Sanity Points from any attributes and have it at a default of 10 and treat it like FP and HP. Then as they are used to power spells you will reach "below 1/3" and then "0 SP" and -1x SP". At Below 1/3 SP you can give people -1 to all self control rolls, making them more likely to give in to obsessions and compulsions. Then -2 at "0 SP". And have them make a will roll every time they spend SP below "0 SP" if they fail they gain an Insanity. If they reach "-1x SP" they automatically gain an insanity or -5 pts, or improve one you already have by -5 pts. (If you like you can change the progressions to mimic HP and go to -2xSP, -3xSP and so on. and give further penalties to Will and Self control roles the further down you go, and if you finally fail and gain an insanity you can have the severity (points cost) based on how far down you are. so if you reach -5xSP you will get -25 pts of mental disads. While at -1xSP you only get -5 pts of disads) ...this way it follows the same progression as FP so you do not have MORE energy than the normal system and it's removed from IQ so you avoid double-dipping and hyper-focus. But Will is still important to avoid getting an insanity when below "0 SP". Last edited by Maz; 07-04-2018 at 06:14 PM.

07-05-2018, 07:27 AM	#5
Culture20 Join Date: Feb 2014	Re: Magical Insanity I would suggest making the mechanic mirror HP loss more closely. Each round immediately after casting a spell, you have a very temporary disadvantage at the point level of the sanity you spent, but just that round. Example: if you spend 20 sanity on one spell, you have a 20 point mental disad the next round, which might be debilitating for a second. If your total sanity drops to 0, roll against HT or suffer a permanent mental quirk. At -Sanity, again roll against HT or suffer a permanent -5 pt mental disad (or increase a current disad). Roll again for the same result at x2,x3,x4, but at x5, you suffer a permanent -10 pt disad with no roll. Each level is cumulative, so if a Sanity 10 mage casts a 60 pt spell, they will become horribly insane the very next round (-70 to -91), and likely have some after effects (minimum -10 pts, possibly -31) I suggest HT instead of IQ since IQ->Will->Sanity. Compare this to spending HP on regular spells, and it’s less immediately deadly. Reducing Will as the mental disads should probably be discouraged because it would just destroy the mages. This system promotes evil insane mages with great power and heroic mages who cast spells “within the rules” edit: Maybe I should read the whole thread before replying. I just wrote the same thing as Maz...

07-05-2018, 07:40 AM	#6
Anaraxes Join Date: Sep 2007	Re: Magical Insanity To feel like "Sanity", I think there need to be some additional side effects to spending Sanity. The current system has it working pretty much like standard magic's FP, but without even those side effects and alternative demands on the resource -- it's just another number to track. To give it more flavor, reduced Sanity should have some mechanical effects in the form of temporary quirks, disads, or at least decriptions of how oddly you start to behave with some threatened "poor RP" penalties for those players that aren't into it, long before you get into the permanent changes a la Corruption.