Hi, so I'm running a new campaign and the overarching villain is going to be Demogorgan. My plan is to homebrew a demonic tome to give on of the players, and it will slowly drive them insane. I need some ideas for mechanics though. I'm thinking that you have a starting sanity score of 20 or something, and it slowly decreases as certain triggers happen (leveling up, every 24 hours make a save, I don't know). The idea is, as you get more and more insane, the tome gets more and more powerful. This is where I need ideas. I'm thinking it gives access to demon related spells and abilities, and inflicts various insanity-themed debuffs, and when your score drops to zero, you go into an insane frenzy. At this point I have only some rough ideas and would really appreciate some feedback and suggestions. Thank you in advance!
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DM: He doesn't have much besides the skin on his bones.
Me: I'll take the skin on his bones, then.
Also, this is for Redwall nerds: Eeeeeuuuuulllllllaaaaaaaalllllllliiiiiiiiiaaaaaaaaa!!!!!!!!!!!!
I assume the player knows this and this is not a gotcha idea? Does the player have any ideas?
Seeing how the player will need to RP this idea, he should be heavily involved in the ideas.
Just to make it easy, start sanity score at 0 and show an increase.
Maybe create/include a random chart and you roll what the next insanity is. Maybe separate the chart into mild and intense and middle. This way you can add new stuff during the campaign. Also it can give the player an up/down way of RP or showing the insanity.
I gave to agree with character 77006. Make sure the player knows. And tell them explicitly. Just kind of hinting at what’s happening is something they might miss. Give the item definite drawbacks and benefits, so the player is making the choice to go down this road. It’s more interesting if they know, and the player isn’t likely to get angry. You don’t necessarily have to tell them specifics, but make sure they know what they’re getting into.
For benefits, I’d say go through the spell list and see what feels thematic. It could be something as simple as spell level = number of insanity points. I might also allow them to turn into a demon at some point. Something CR appropriate which also increases. Maybe give them a number of points equal to the CR.
Then reverse engineer how many of them you want them to be able to do, and set the total points from there. I’d also let them have a mechanic to reduce the number. Like a greater restoration, or the heal spell.
Finally, the ‘14 DMG has a section for madness rules. You might check that out for ideas about consequences.
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Hi, so I'm running a new campaign and the overarching villain is going to be Demogorgan. My plan is to homebrew a demonic tome to give on of the players, and it will slowly drive them insane. I need some ideas for mechanics though. I'm thinking that you have a starting sanity score of 20 or something, and it slowly decreases as certain triggers happen (leveling up, every 24 hours make a save, I don't know). The idea is, as you get more and more insane, the tome gets more and more powerful. This is where I need ideas. I'm thinking it gives access to demon related spells and abilities, and inflicts various insanity-themed debuffs, and when your score drops to zero, you go into an insane frenzy. At this point I have only some rough ideas and would really appreciate some feedback and suggestions. Thank you in advance!
DM: He doesn't have much besides the skin on his bones.
Me: I'll take the skin on his bones, then.
Also, this is for Redwall nerds: Eeeeeuuuuulllllllaaaaaaaalllllllliiiiiiiiiaaaaaaaaa!!!!!!!!!!!!
I assume the player knows this and this is not a gotcha idea? Does the player have any ideas?
Seeing how the player will need to RP this idea, he should be heavily involved in the ideas.
Just to make it easy, start sanity score at 0 and show an increase.
Maybe create/include a random chart and you roll what the next insanity is. Maybe separate the chart into mild and intense and middle. This way you can add new stuff during the campaign. Also it can give the player an up/down way of RP or showing the insanity.
I gave to agree with character 77006. Make sure the player knows. And tell them explicitly. Just kind of hinting at what’s happening is something they might miss. Give the item definite drawbacks and benefits, so the player is making the choice to go down this road. It’s more interesting if they know, and the player isn’t likely to get angry. You don’t necessarily have to tell them specifics, but make sure they know what they’re getting into.
For benefits, I’d say go through the spell list and see what feels thematic. It could be something as simple as spell level = number of insanity points. I might also allow them to turn into a demon at some point. Something CR appropriate which also increases. Maybe give them a number of points equal to the CR.
Then reverse engineer how many of them you want them to be able to do, and set the total points from there. I’d also let them have a mechanic to reduce the number. Like a greater restoration, or the heal spell.
Finally, the ‘14 DMG has a section for madness rules. You might check that out for ideas about consequences.