Cyclopean Interview
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The sanity meter has to be an essential feature of a Lovecraft-inspired game. How will low Sanity level influence the gameplay? Will there be special quests for insane characters? NPCs who can only be met by those who have lost their mind?
A starting character will have a Sanity score of somewhere between 50 100. As conceived right this minute, the player will suffer a (minor neurosis) when his Sanity falls below 20, ie. a reduced base stat. This can be relieved by a good night's rest. When Sanity falls below 10, the character is close to a complete breakdown. He may briefly wander at random, fumble and drop his weapon, accidentally injure himself, or freeze up during combat. Negative (shock) effects may also apply when the player takes massive (>10) Sanity damage all at once.
There will be no special quests for insane characters, however there is another (state) you can end up in, resulting from overexposure to Mythos creatures and events: Corrupted. A corrupted PC can see through the tenuous tissue separating the staid and sane world of men from the other dimensions and existences juxtaposed and sometimes overlapping our own. Exposure to these other worlds can be very taxing on one's sanity. Unfortunately, corruption means the PC can also be seen by Outside entities perhaps better avoided. A player who chooses to serve a Mythos entity may seek out corruption and gain unusual benefits that balance the obvious drawbacks.
