Thread: What's Unnatural in a basic mid-power low fantasy game?

You can totally do that. I would have it fall under a Self stress check, which deals with social norms, constructs, self image and one's place in the scheme of things.

Note of clarification, when I said I would let them distribute 3 hardened points, that didn't mean one each. A PC could put 2 in Violence and 1 in Self or 3 in Unnatural or whatever. Thought I would clarify, as when I reread it it read wrong.

Also, there's a short thread about stress checks over at RPGNet and I only bring it up because I think Tancred has a good description of how failed stress checks can play in games and I like Garlick's idea of skill penalties.

OK, still don't have it written up, but here is the basic outline.

Stresses are as in Nemesis, that is to say:

Violence
Unnatural
Helplessness
Self

Each value is rated from 1-100, as befits BRP. The lower the score, the more brittle the psyche in that category, the higher the more hardened the character is.

Each stress event has a percentile rating. The character, when faced with that event, must roll over the stress rating, but under their Stress Save<?>; rolling exactly your Save is a Critical, a 00 a fumble (this of course open to playing with). If the events rating is half or less of the Save of the character, then they do not have to roll.

An alternative is to have the GM roll the Stress Event in an Opposed Roll with the Player. This would yield a fifth success level (Partial Success), and make things a bit more interesting.

Save results:

Fumble: Character immediately feints, and immediately lower their Save. 1d3?

Failure: Character Freezes, Runs Away, or Frenzies, players discretion. Failure Check given (negative check)

Partial Success: Character heavily shaken. All skills are Difficult. (This result optional)

Success: Character is able to shake the event off and may function normally. Success check given (positive check).

Critical: Character is able to shake off the event and may function normally. In addition they may immediately increase or decrease the Save just rolled by 1d3.

For every 10 percentiles below 50% the character falls in a Stress Category, they pick up an Aberration. As in Nemesis, these can be a Phobia, Depression, Chemical Dependencies, and Fugues.

A character may be given aid that will mitigate the event:

Counseling: Another player or NPC must have a Counseling skill to accomplish this. In fantasy settings, perhaps the skill should be Empathy? The character rolls against the difference between the patients current Stress Category value and 50%. Thus someone who has a Violence of 63%, and who just received a check due to an event has a target for the Counselor of 13% (63-50). This can be rolled either method listed above, either by the player against the static value, or against the GM in an opposed roll situation. Success on the part of the Counselor erases the Check so that it doesn't have to be rolled. Counseling is NOT available if the character rolled a Critical or a Fumble. Counseling MUST be given the same game day.

Psychiatry:

And more later.

SDLeary

Originally Posted by SDLeary

Each value is rated from 1-100, as befits BRP. The lower the score, the more brittle the psyche in that category, the higher the more hardened the character is.

Stresses themselves as skill checks... very interesting...

Originally Posted by Chaot

Stresses themselves as skill checks... very interesting...

Yes, in this case the inspiration was the mRQ SRD based games that use things like Persistence and Resilience as skills, though the Stresses cannot be trained. In this case 50% represents the best, as its a balance. The lower you fall, the more instability you show. Too high and you are considered callous or sociopathic.

SDLeary

It really does depend on the setting and on your take on magic.

For example, imagine a 17th century game where a witch uses witchcraft. It wouldn't bother those in her coven, it probably wouldn't bother the people in her village, but it would freak the hell out of a puritan preacher.

I think one of the strengths of the Madness Meter does is in being a great equalizer. A puritan preacher is likely to freak out a little bit when experiencing an authentic minor miracle for the first time just as a witch is likely to freak at her first prophecy. It's a sort of induction to the reality of the invisible world. Now, the puritan is going to have a certain relationship with his god and the witch with their spirits. A puritan who has experienced a miracle will be more prepared to deal with a witches prophecy because they are slightly hardened to the supernatural.

This exists separate from how they react to the other's world view. They are still going to be adversaries for a puritan shalt not suffer a witch to live. The more holy mysteries the preacher is exposed to though, the more hardened he is against the supernatural and the more collected he is when facing evidence of witchery.

The cool thing is, if the puritan steps it up and starts some sort of judgment and purification ritual on the witch or if the puritan is presented with or subject to a hex, it's a step up on the meter and the puritan may freak out more until hardened. Just like a witch would if situations are reversed. The puritan's hatred of the witch is divorced from their reaction to the supernatural. The puritan is going to kill the witch because that's what puritans do. If their not hardened first, their going to go a bit crazy. If they are hardened, their going to be a bit sociopathic.