Insanity, How To

[Guest C_Zeree]

How does HERO handle Insanity?

Psychological limitation, yes.

 

What I am looking for is a Cthulu like Insanity power. The characters simply witness a horrific being, and their mind recoils in horror: That Thing Which Should Not Be. To view it is to tempt insanity, only the strongest wills may resist, but even their resistances can wear down the more they witness these beings.

 

How would I build this power?

 

I was thinking Major Transform: Sane to Insane. Based on ECV.

They must be close enough to the Horror and they have to be able to see it. AOE, continuous, damage shield?

[Blue]

I don't believe they've ever buit in such a mechanic. In one game I gave chtulhoid creatures a transformation attack which eventually transformed them into essentially they same people they were beforehand, but for an added psych limitation. Of course the cure for this is the same as for any other psych, and I also allowed destruction of the creature to cause them to revert to their old selves, as if the act readjusted their world view back to the way it had been.

[Lord Liaden]

There have been several methods of doing this defined in HERO. The free HERO System Genre by Genre pdf suggests in its Horror section assigning a figured Sanity (SAN) Characteristic depleted by exposure to truely horrific events - it goes into more detail.

 

The old 4th Ed. supplement Horror Hero had much more elaborate rules on dealing with the long-term effects of stressful situations, both as big events like PRE attacks, and as being in a moderately stressful environment for a prolonged period.

 

A couple of 4E books, notably Champions in 3-D ("Horror World") and Creatures of the Night, presented this effect as a Power which the appropriate horrors bought: essentially a Transform, AE, NND (EGO Roll), combined with other Powers such as EGO Drain and/or extra Presence only vs those who fail the EGO roll.

 

Note that in each of these cases, the effect is gradual and cumulative, although most normal people (with Characteristics in the Average range) will succumb fairly quickly, while the stronger-willed hero types will resist longer.

[DrSavant]

Are you crazy?

 

First of all INSANITY takes many forms, yet implying that it is a Psychological Limitation means you can exert willpower over it which is not always true. Personally I'd say it was a social limitation (VERY FREQUENT, SEVERE)

 

As for mind recoiling in horror after enough exposure;

How about ABALTIVE EGO DEFENCE? Building the horror as a mental power/damage shield (Ego Attack ?)

[Guest C_Zeree]

Originally posted by Lord Liaden

A couple of 4E books, notably Champions in 3-D ("Horror World") and Creatures of the Night, presented this effect as a Power which the appropriate horrors bought: essentially a Transform, AE, NND (EGO Roll), combined with other Powers such as EGO Drain and/or extra Presence only vs those who fail the EGO roll.

A year ago, I lived in a town that actually had an FLGS and I was digging through their "old & cheap" section. I found C 3-D and bought it for kicks. I will have to go dig through my boxes of still packed material and find it.

 

I wanted to keep the Horror aspect simple, have it impact the adventure, but not revolve around it. That is why I was thinking transform with the limitation. The problem is there should be a point were someone has suffered so much they just snap.

[Lord Liaden]

Originally posted by C_Zeree

I wanted to keep the Horror aspect simple, have it impact the adventure, but not revolve around it. That is why I was thinking transform with the limitation. The problem is there should be a point were someone has suffered so much they just snap.

 

Then I'd say you're on the right track. The point at which the character "snaps" would be the point at which the Transform takes effect.

 

The nice thing about making the attack a NND defended by an EGO roll is that the stronger-willed (higher EGO) individuals will withstand the effects longer. But each time they fail a roll the Transform accumulates, until they reach their limit.

 

BTW, the "Horror World" section of C 3-D is an object lesson on how to introduce horror elements to a game featuring super heroes, who normally laugh at vampires and mad slashers. The menace of Horror World is something that simply can't be defeated by shear force. It's also the most brilliantly terrifying setting ever written for a supers game IMHO. Be warned that if you decide to run it, it could be quite disturbing to your players unless they're into this sort of thing.

[Guest C_Zeree]

Well after re-reading "Horror World" from C 3-D, I will admit it is an "inspired" campaign.

 

Liaden you are correct about the disturbing aspect. I don't think I am going for that disturbing. There is HP Lovecraft, and then take a few steps up and it is Horror World. I am looking to create a fantasy adventure right around Lovecraft level, maybe a little lower. Heros will have a chance to defeat a horror, but that won't be until late. They are meant to feel the crush of insanity in the beginning, and run.

 

Thanks for pointing me there though. I think the transform insanity is just about what I was looking for.

[Arthur]

Originally posted by Lord Liaden

BTW, the "Horror World" section of C 3-D is an object lesson on how to introduce horror elements to a game featuring super heroes, who normally laugh at vampires and mad slashers. The menace of Horror World is something that simply can't be defeated by shear force. It's also the most brilliantly terrifying setting ever written for a supers game IMHO. Be warned that if you decide to run it, it could be quite disturbing to your players unless they're into this sort of thing.

 

I have a copy of Champions in 3D carefully saved, complete with book cover. IMO, it is the single most underrated supplement ever put out for Hero. Horror World is arguably the highlight of the book, but the whole thing is just chock-full of crunchy goodness.

[Yog Sothoth]

Ahhh... Insanity...

 

I just love insanity rules.

 

The free pdf "Genre by Genre" on this site, speaks about it simply, but clearly. I have developped my own system based on it. Transorm can be clunky at times. So here is what I came up with. I once owned Champions 3D, but I unfortunately sold it years ago. I think you can still find a draft txt file on the red october website. Not sure.

 

"SPECIAL RULES": SANITY

 

When the very sight of certain creatures causes mere mortals to go insane over time, this works well as a new Characteristic: SANITY.

 

SANITY= (EGO + PRE/2+INT/2). SANITY REC=(INT/5+EGO/5), recovers REC per month. Psychiatry etc, will help recovery, just like Hospitals help healing.

 

A Successful Ego roll will halves effect, a success by 5+ negates effect. The Ego roll is made at a -1 per 10 PRE in the attack (like a normal RSR).

 

Base SANITY damage on the PRE stat in D6/5 PRE points of the sanity draining creature. Read the Damage to SANITY like if it was normal damage, counting only for BODY damage. If encountering a group of sanity draining creatures, use the higher SANITY attack as base damage, and add +1 to the SANITY damage for each additional creature present.

 

At zero SANITY, further points go towards a new disadvantage: INSANITY. Based on the events which brought down the Sanity to zero, this can be phobia at first, etc, increasing in steps of 5, but when it reaches 30 pts in this disadvantage, the PC effectively becomes totally insane, becoming an NPC.

 

Ok, it this is very in the "House Rules domain", but might give ideas to someone wanting to create his/her own sanity system using hero.

 

Like written at the end of FRed, which speaks very slightly of insanity, just create the new stat for this particular horror genre.

 

Any comments are welcomed, since I'm still working on this. Third party observations are the best at discovering flaws, etc.

 

And I am not a super expert on Hero System Ruling either.