Sanity in Runequest (who wants THAT?)

[Utgardloki]

Iamtim wrote:

I was doing some research the other night, and the entire Sanity chapter (System? Section?) from D&D's Unearthed Arcana is Open Content.

Sanity in Unearthed Arcana was modeled upon that found in the d20 version of Call of Cthulhu. Which, of course, was pretty much exactly what was found in BRP Call of Cthulhu.

So, through the magic of the Open Gaming License and Open Content, one could use the RuneQuest SRD and the Sanity rules from Unearthed Arcana to make a horror roleplaying game VERY MUCH like BRP Call of Cthulhu.

Nah, Sanity in Runequest should be a skill. Base it on CHA + POW, or perhaps (CHA + POW + INT) x 2 (although I prefer the former). Let people build it up like they build up any other skill, except this can also be lost temporarily or permanently through exposure to traumatic effects.

Or perhaps not lost, but a person can take "Sanity Damage". When Sanity Damage exceeds Sanity, the person has episodic periods of flakiness. When Sanity Damage is twice Sanity, insanity is permanent.

 

[iamtim]

Note, I was not talking about sanity in RuneQuest. I was talking about making RuneQuest -- in conjunction with the sanity rules out of D&D's Unearthed Arcana -- into an OGLed version of Call of Cthulhu.

 

[Utgardloki]

Okay, point taken.

I did think this was worth another thread, though, since the idea of implementing sanity/horror/madness checks in RQ/MRQ/BRQ is something that's been coming up.

I myself have been posting about converting Ravenloft to Runequest. Ravenloft has its own rules for madness and horror.

I don't know if you can do an OGL Cthulhu. Is Cthulhu is the public domain?

 

[iamtim]

Is Cthulhu is the public domain?

I've actually done *some* research on this subject and it's confusing and muddled as best. Some say the works of HPL are, in fact, in the public domain while others do not. *I* am not going to release anything with any HPLisms until I've consulted with one hell of a lawyer.

That said, unspeakable horrors, things man was not meant to know, and cosmic insanities are pretty much wide open.

 

[mthomason]

Nah, Sanity in Runequest should be a skill. Base it on CHA + POW, or perhaps (CHA + POW + INT) x 2 (although I prefer the former). Let people build it up like they build up any other skill, except this can also be lost temporarily or permanently through exposure to traumatic effects.

I'd go for making it as close to CoC as possible rather than a skill, so people can (unofficially) use CoC supplements with a RQ-derived horror rulebook and vice-versa with the minimum of hassle.

Roll on third-party CoC-compatible scenarios, I say

 

[Mac V]

Well, Wiz Kids went with the fact that HPL's works are public domain with the Horror Clix line and haven't been sued, so it looks like that is indeed fact.

 

[homerjsinnott]

Cthulhu sanity clause? sanity clause?

Everyone knows there is no sanity clause.

 

[kregmosier]

Would love to see a Sanity add-in...

I'd prefer something more akin to the CoC Hit Point-like verison of Sanity, just so you could add a "Horror Mythos" (or whatever) skill and subtract its value from Sanity a la CoC.


-k

 

[GbajiTheDeceiver]

This concept would fit in well with Gloranthan Chaos too. Maybe have a Chaos Lore skill?

Of course, the one thing then is what to do when SAN drops below 0? You start sprouting tentacles? :lol:

 

[TRose]

How would you tell if a Uroxi lost his sanity roll ? I mean if he go berserk and starts killing everything in sight, thats normal behavior.

 

[soltakss]

Chaos Lore already existed in RQ3, it's your knowledge of things chaotic. So, if you wanted Sanity, it would be better to call it something else.

Although, why anyone would want SAN in RQ, I don't know. I never liked it, never liked CoC either for that matter. If I used SAN in RQ, it would be a measure of how shocked you were, either post traumatic stress or reducing someone to a nervous wreck in a house of horrors situation.

When I asked my players about using SAN in RQ, about 20 years ago, they said "But, we've waded through gore, seen demons, fought crowds of broo and zombies, seen people change into monsters, what's going to send us mad?" and they had a point.

 

[TRose]

Good point Soltakss
People should only be shocked by thins they never have to deal with. A good real life example would be if most people found some one disemboweled out on the streets. Many people would freeze in shock as a natural reaction. But an paramedic or emergency room nurse that has 20 years of experience would not as they have "been there, done that" and would just start to work.

 

[mthomason]

Although, why anyone would want SAN in RQ, I don't know.

SAN in RQ, especially an RQ game set in Glorantha - probably not.
SAN in a horror game derived from the OGLed RQ rules, very much so.

 

[kregmosier]

Although, why anyone would want SAN in RQ, I don't know.

SAN in RQ, especially an RQ game set in Glorantha - probably not.
SAN in a horror game derived from the OGLed RQ rules, very much so.

Exactly so...my desire is an OGL modern horror ruleset using MRQ. Seems simple enough, so i might as well get to work on it myself.

-k

 

[mthomason]

If it ends up being near-compatible with CoC, you'll find a few interested people around here Please post anything you have about progress and game development (and you may want to join the RQ OGL Yahoo group too! - http://games.groups.yahoo.com/group/RQ_OGL ). If you're interested in making it a community project you might want to go add it into the RQ Wiki at http://mrqwiki.pbwiki.com/

 

[iamtim]

If you're interested in making it a community project you might want to go add it into the RQ Wiki at http://mrqwiki.pbwiki.com/

Or even if you just want a place to post your rules to share with others, the wiki is there for you.

 

[Utgardloki]

My justification for adding sanity is simply that certain settings, such as Call of Cthulhu and Ravenloft, have it. But most settings don't. For a guy like me who likes to consider all settings as coexisting in a coherent multiverse, this raises a problem.

In real life, soldiers are susceptible to becoming shell shocked or dealing with post-traumatic stress disorder. I would have to guess that even a Gloranthan warrior, transported to the front line trenches of World War I, would have to get a little bit nerveous.

But training and experience would certainly help in such a situation. Thus making it a skill makes sense because your Runequest guy could learn to overcome his fears.

I think one time a horror check might have been useful was when I had a modern PC leave a bar and see an archaic barbarian with a great sword, standing over the body of a guy who'd just been chopped in half with it. You don't expect to see that sort of thing on the street.

But if I run a Ravenloft game, sanity checks would be more common.

 

[kregmosier]

It occurs to me that in order to avoid "wheel re-invention", the path of least resistance seems to lead to giving the freaky/disturbing/horrifying occurence something equivalent to "Potency", just like a poison or disease. (even though i'm on the fence about Opposed tests...)

OR

A Character who experiences a freaky/disturbing/horrifying occurence has to make a Persistence test (fixed at POW x 5, maybe?) to avoid or mitigate the effects of the the incident. A failure might result in a random effect (adjusted by the % severity of the failure) and a fumble could result in temporary insanity. Either or both of these results could also incur a temporary loss of Persistence skill points, or a POWx4, POWx3, etc. penalty on each subsequent test.

Just 'typing out loud'...


-k

 

[mthomason]

For a guy like me who likes to consider all settings as coexisting in a coherent multiverse, this raises a problem.

Ah, the GURPS approach

I see a fairly simple solution - the GM just decides when a character has been so exposed to a particular type of horror that they are now accustomed to it. To my mind, the majority of townspeople in a lot of fantasy settings should have the sanity rules applied if any kind of monster walks through the town gates. If you add sanity into your games, just rule where and when people are "immune" to it for whatever reason. Sanity "saves" are another way around it, but then you start losing coherency with CoC. Some things should always be terrifying to look at, no matter what your exposure to them has been (and in many cases even more terrifying because you've seen what they were capable of) - such as the Big C himself. Even the majority of monsters in RQ would start having problems if he popped up in front of them...

 

[Rurik]

For a guy like me who likes to consider all settings as coexisting in a coherent multiverse, this raises a problem.

Some things should always be terrifying to look at, no matter what your exposure to them has been (and in many cases even more terrifying because you've seen what they were capable of) - such as the Big C himself. Even the majority of monsters in RQ would start having problems if he popped up in front of them...

Bah! Just an oversized Walktapus with wings.

Seriously though, a big difference between townspeople in a fantasy village and "the real world" is that they are raised beleiving that many horrible monsters are real.

You and I are raised in a world where we are told ghosts and goblins and whatnot don't exist, and never see any evidence to the contrary. Much of the reason for san rolls is that this whole life conditioning is shattered. If we had been raised being told we would see this things someday the shock would be much less.

(Which brings me to the realization that maybe are should start telling my kids about the Elder Mythos and preparing them for the day Cthulhu awakens - just in case).