2e Replacement Insanity Rules

[Chiron]

These rules also touch on real world issues, please discuss with your GM and other Players if you think they are going to be harmful or not add anything to your game.


Insanity is a frequent danger in the Old World and the situations your character finds themselves in will leave a lasting effect on your character.

These rules are intended to update and enhance the rules available in the 2e Core Rule Book rather than fully replace them. But you should start by assuming you will use these rules then refer back to the CRB when needed.

These rules are intended to be lightweight and add character and potential plot hooks to your characters rather than be punishing or add bonuses or static modifiers. At least at low level results.


Insanity and You

During the course of play your character will acquire Insanity Points via a variety of sources as defined in the CRB.

For every 7 Insanity Points (for 7 is the number of Grandfather Nurgle) the players must make a hard (-10) WP test. A success means they keep their current IP number and must roll again for every additional 7 IP the character acquires.

A failure means they must roll on the below chart and subtract their WP bonus from the result and add any IP above 7 to the result. Once you have determined the insanity result the characters IP resets to zero but the character is never quite the same again.


E.g. Ernst, a Human Ratcatcher has seen to much and has a total of 14 IP. He rolls 63 out of 43 for his WP test and fails. Gaining an Insanity.

He rolls a 34 on his result. He has a WP bonus of 4 (from his 43 WP) and subtracts that from his current score of 14 IP to gain a +10 on the result. Leaving him with a result of 44.

As always results on this chart can be modified or changed by GM’s and should be seen as ideas and starting points rather than definitive but I hope you enjoy them.



D100 - Description - Effects
0-4 - I’m ok, its just a whisper on the wind. - Aside from strange dreams you escape unscathed, this time.
4-14 - Compulsion - The character develops a nervous compulsion, roll a d5 to determine the result or discuss with the GM

1) Touching your face or weapon constantly, its very distracting and potentially awkward if you do so in the wrong place.
2) Checking and rechecking the last thing you did, did you sheathe your sword, did you blow out the cable downstairs?
3) You unconsciously make the signal of your faith when under stress. If you are, say, infiltrating a chaos cult this could be a problem
4) Pyromania, the flame speaks to you, calls to you. For the most part you take comfort just being around open flames and perhaps linger a little to long for comfort.
But if you spend longer than 24 hours without lighting a candle or fire however you must make increasingly harder WP tests to avoid doing everything you can to set the largest fire you can (treat as a challenging WP test that gets a further -10 each day)
5) You are a magpie character, something about shiny objects just appeals to you and you can’t help going for the little things you see that just happen to be valuable.

You may make a Hard (-10) roll to resist doing this if your character really needs to fit in or subdue the urge above.

15-24 - Obsession - You become obsessed with a weapon, or item, always needing it to hand

21-34 - Tic - Your leg or hand will not stop shaking when you are not paying attention or sitting down to relax. You don’t really notice it but others very much do.
31-44 - Ravenous - Your character is constantly hungry, to the point that others get quite fed up with your questions about when the next meal is
41-54 - Twisted Feelings - You either Hate or Fear the cause of your trauma. Make a d10 roll to determine which (odds or evens)
You can treat this as a constant and ongoing chattering talk about how much you hate whatever it is or a marked reluctance to go near it.
If you roll this Insanity again consider instead that maybe your character is just a little In Love…

51-64 - Triggered - You randomly remember the event that caused you to roll on this table. This can have a wide range of effects and causes.
The most result of this is likely a fear of a specific creature or monster or even a specific school of magic…Take a -10 penalty on rolls involving whatever you choose to be triggered by.

61-74 - Dreams - You constantly suffer from bad dreams. Your character is always tired and sleeps poorly. In communal rooms you can expect to keep at least one other person awake.
71-84 - Cursing- Your language is, frankly, shocking. You suffer a -10 penalty to interactions with polite society or noble characters as you end seemingly every sentence with a curse word.
81-94 - Memory Loss - You completely fail to recall the last d10+IP hours, aside from some vague memories in your dreams.
90-94 - Roll Twice - Roll twice on this table, ignoring further results of 90-94
95-100 - Absolute Trauma - Roll on the CRB Insanity Table as you have now developed a full and total insanity that is likely to cause you problems further down the line


Losing Insanity

You need to lose insanity points? How do you manage this - Insanity represents trauma and mental exhaustion. For each full week of rest you will lose 1 IP.

If a character spends time doing what you could consider relaxing and spiritually calming activities e.g. meditation, good works of charity. Soup for the soul as you will

For each full day a character spends doing this sort of task they may make a Hard (-10) WP test to lose an Insanity point.

Please do bear in mind that spending a day at a Shallyan Temple might well expose them to further trauma…

[Capitaneus Fractus]

On a different basis, I've discovered the insanity rules of Unknown Armies, and I like what I've read.

I think it might also be something to look at. Perhaps, linking the hardening on the psychological stress to a path toward one of the chaotic gods:
Helplessness either to Nurgle or to Zuvassin
Isolation either to Slaanesh or to Ælumanas
Violence either to Khorne or to Solkan.
Unnatural either to Tzeentch or to Necoho
Self either to the Horned Rat or to Malaal