In which we go INSANE!

 Need a new mechanic to toy with a wizard at my table .... and insanity seems to fill the bill.  RAW sucks so I poked around on the interwebs to find something I liked that would work my table.  Now I LIKE Luke but he CAN  be a bit over the top sometimes.  In this case he "leaks" his system in the video so I went through to scrape what I could and fill in the rest on my own.

So when a character becomes "inflicted" they roll 1d10, take the following affliction and insanity points:

d10	Tier 1 Flaw	Insanity Increase
1	Character is constantly on the lookout for enemies whether they are there or not.  Feels as though something malicious has its eyes staring at the back of their head	1
2	Shadows seem to dance about within the characters mind, as though something is waiting within them looking for its chance to attack	1
3	Always anticipating combat.  Fingers continuously caressing hilt of weapon or spine of spell book, awaiting the fight to come	2
4	Mind frequently wanders to thoughts of the other party members judging abilities to be inadequate.  Enemies do the same.  You are driven to prove them wrong.	2
5	Character has endured threats, betrayal and ambushes throughout their journey.  You hold a deep-seated fear of anyone who is not a close friend, causing you to begin to draw your weapon whenever you meet a new acquaintance	3
6	You question whether you are truly prepared for what the day may hold.  You are compelled to inspect weapons, armor and equipment for minor defects every morning.  You repeat this inspection throughout the day	3
7	Your trust in most of the people you meet during the day is broken.  Other than the party you omit information or outright lie to avoid telling anybody anything that might be used against you.	4
8	The frequency of the attacks you have endured has broken your trust in their surroundings. They do not feel they can get any meaningful rest without thoroughly observing their surroundings and taking action against any perceived threat.	4
9	The characters begin recognizing similarities between current and past events that don	5
10	DM's option	5

d8	Tier 2 Flaw	Insanity Increase
1	The character is having trouble remembering where they put things.  After completing a long rest there's a 25% chance a character will lose one non-magical item from inventory	3
2	The traumatic events the character has experienced have begun replaying in their mind, even when they're awake.  They're finding it increasingly difficult to look at wounds, blood, and other injuries, giving them disadvantage on Medicine checks.	3
3	Fear of the supernatural has begun taking over the characters mind, making them recoil at the sight of magical effects, both divine and arcane.  You have disadvantage on Arcana and Religion checks.	4
4	The screams and pain associated with the traumatic events have taken over your thoughts.  You have difficulty maintaining a ruse or act.  Disadvantage on Deception,  Intimidation and Performance.	4
5	You are struggling with your nerves, making it difficult to stay still for any period of time or remain hidden.  Disadvantage on Stealth or Slight of Hand checks.	5
6	The monsters and people you've faught have created a deep-seated anxiety.  As a result they have disadvantage on Insight and Persuasion checks except with those you know very well.
7	The characters constantly observe the area around them for any sign of danger making it difficult to notice small details.  Because the character struggles to notice small details the have disadvantage on Investigation and Survival checks.	6
8	The characters memory has begun to fade and it has become difficult to hold on to new information.  They now have disadvantage on History and Nature checks	6

d8	Tier 3 Flaw	Insanity Increase
1-2	The trauma is now effecting your ability to concentrate.  Each round while concentrating you must make a CON 17 to maintain it.	6
3-4	Experience intense fear whenever close to an enemy.  If within 10' must make a WIS 17 ST.   Failure means overcome with fear - run away	7
5-6	The distractions in your mind make you lose control of magic items.  After a long rest there is a 25% chance you lose atunement to an item.  If not atuned you lose the ability to use 1 item until you spend 1 hour reviewing.	8
7-8	The trauma iby 1d6-1s taking an effect on your capabilities, making you hesitate in battle.  There's a 15% chance you cannot act on a given round.	9
9-10		10

 Once the character goes over 40 Insanity Points they have a 50% chance of undergoing a complete mental breakdown.  When THAT happens they get NO benefit from ANY rest, can only make an unarmed attack, and wander aimlessly.  

When a character undergoes a triggering event roll on the current Tier level.  Character takes on that flaw and IP increases the indicated number.  One flaw per tier at a time, but up to DM if they change.  

Insanity is treated by downtime.  Every 7 days of downtime reduces the IP by 1d6+1.  During this down time the character living expenses are multiplied by 10 for level 1, 100 for level 2, 1k for level 3.  Level 4 can ONLY be treated with a wish spell.

 

In which we tinker with magic ... again.

 Sitting at the table a couple sessions back.  In the heat of combat Kirkus exclaims ... well, something.  He's hard to understand when the arrows are flying.  Seems he WANTED to cast Hunter's Marck but as he's the closest thing to a healer in the party he knew he HAD to hold on to his goodberries (heh.)  Using that last spell slot is ALWAYS a tough call.  Our game is all about asset management - spells, slots, encumbrance, ammo, hit points, food - so this is the norm.  But what if we could "shift" the problem.

Which is when I fortuitously ran across THIS youtube.  The text version is available here.  We ARE using a similar "rest" rule, so this could easily work.  I sent a rough suggestion to the party and we discussed it at close of play last week.  Heading into 16 days of down time AND taking a week off so next session will be a good time to implement.  Here's the version we're gonna try:

Does NOT apply to cantrips or rituals.

No more slots.  Instead, casting a spell requires a successful spell casting check, one free hand (if needed), and your arcane focus. The level of spells you can cast is as per RAW.

spell casting check DC equals 10 + spell level (including upcast.) Roll 1d20 + proficiency + spell casting ability modifier. (Aerialayna would be +2, Kirkas +3, Dakora +5 and Terestan +6)

 

*additional add: finite number or recasts before the DC check incfreases. May cast up to Arcana check in a magic user, Nature check if Druid or Ranger, Religion if Cleric or Paladin, Performance if Bard ... and I'll make up the rest as needed. 

Failure means spell is lost until next long rest

Nat 20 lets you double EITHER damage dice, number of targets, range, area, or duration. Or recovery of a lost spell.

Nat 1 you either make a sacrifice (Clerics, Druids, Bards, Rangers, Rogues, Paladins) ranging from a 5 gp value at 1st level up to 500 gp at 9th OR suffer an arcane mishap (all other classes.) These result in exhaustion and damage done to all within range.

Sim Sala Bim: a caster who fails a roll MAY supplement their total by sacrificing .... something. Arcane spells cost sanity. No worries until you go over 10. Treatable via lengthy downtime. Primal spells cost exhaustion. Divine spells cost HP. AND the spell is then lost until you get a long rest. Cannot be used on any spell that raises creature above 0 HP.

In which we go up a level

So I bent the rules a tad last session.  Second session with 1st level characters.  Party is coming together.  God role playing going on.  Fun n stuff. But one of the "pre-packaged" adventures I've given the hook for suggests leveling up to 2nd after completing "Chapter 1."  Party was about 80% of the way there so I DID bump them up.  They'll still have to EARN that last 20% so it might take them a tad longer to get to 3rd.  We'll see.

There's a rough rule of thumb that indicates you "should" go up every four sessions or so.  I've been using the Three Pillar XP from the old UA from 2017.  Basically points based on your tier, the CR of your opponents and the tier level of locations, item, social interactions.  100 XP to advance.  So that means 25 xp per session to meet the 4 sessions per level approach.  And then we're talking 8-10 xp in each pillar.  

The Social pillar grants 10 xp for a successful interaction with an NPC in your tier, +10 for every tier above yours, +5 for a tier BELOW yours, and 0 if more than a tier below.  Pretty easy for an involved party to interact positively and sway  SOMEONE in town with some pull.  Local lord.  Captain of the guard.  Guild head.  This one's harder in the wilderness but lieutenants and bandit leaders might present opportunities.  This gets tougher in tier 2 but we're still a month or so away from that.

The Exploration Pillar can present issues as well.  I always give 1 xp when a 20-mile hex is entered for the first time.  Visiting plot hook sites can usually get your 10 points for this one.  Current party got points for the lost abbey and for the demon tree.  Not likely to pick up any next session.  Unless you're always on the move and wrapping up plot hooks rapidly this one will be the "slow" one.  Magic can be used to boost it if need be.  Finding a rare non-consumable magic item can do this at first tier, and I usually only give it to the party member who gets the item but it makes for a timely addition if the rest of the pillar is low.

Finally comes the "Combat" pillar - although "Encounter" pillar is a better label.  Overcoming an obstacle using skills and ingenuity warrants these points as well as besting critters.  For our four-character party as currently constituted that would mean two encounters of CR 2-4 or one of over CR 4.  It could also mean over a dozen encounters under CR 1.  Last week's owlbear was helpful but they needed some nagging blights and wolves to hit the number.  

What I NEED to start doing is paying attention to where the party IS and what they're planning on doing, in order to make sure I have sufficient points on offer.  The coming session should allow for plenty of encounter points.  Unless they surprise me there won't be many opportunities for social points.  And I've already give the 20-mile point and the important point points.  So to hit that sweet spot I'll need to include plenty of CR appropriate encounters and at least one magic item. 

 

In which we set out more House Rules

 we started out with these nifty house rules.  And now as we've begun out 3rd campaign perhaps it's time to enumerate some more.

Backgrounds.  There are WAY too many and they give you WAY too much stuff.  So pick what you like but don't be surprised if you don't get EVERY benefit.  If you're unsure, ask during creation.

4 - 6  Class/race restrictions.  I MAY penalize a character 10% XP until certain minimums are met in certain stats.

9.  Only those trained on horseback riding may ride a horse.

Feats are optional (RAW.)  I DO incorporate a system of knowledge acquisition that mirrors many of them.  LOTS of choices for players.

I'll be editing in the coming weeks

In which we move Factions to the "front"

 They party has spoken.  No more sweeping 20-level story arcs.  More "bounty/treasure/monster hunter" arcs.  But I can't just sit back and throw 3rd party adventures at them.  I want the world to MOVE.  To change as they respond to it.  And as it responds to them.  I've made efforts to do this in the past and I keep improving but I ALSO like crunchy mechanics.  I don't trust my instincts so I prefer some bounded guidance.

So I'm incorporating a few things that I touched on last campaign but that I feel can be kicked up a notch in this one.  I'm stealing bits and pieces from several RPG's and stitching them together to form a Frankenstein's Monster of a crunchy system.  

First, I had good luck LAST campaign incorporating "Aftermath" from the good folks at Worldspinner.  Party indicated they might like a little more political intrigue so I'm overlaying and adapting "700 Lordly Houses."  We'll see how it goes.

Second, I did a little incorporating of Fronts from Dungeon World.  Tried a LITTLE of this last time but not full blown.  The structure of 700 LH really lends itself to this mechanic and it can REALLY make for a dynamic world. 

Third, Blades in the Dark is often credited with the innovative incorporation of countdown clocks.  Tie THOSE into the dooms and portents from your Fronts and you've automated the running of a lot of "behind the curtain" stuff.

Fourth,  Night's Black Agents (which I SERIOUSLY heard as Nice Black Asians!)  has a nice escalating response logarithm called the Vampyramid.  Active and re-active missions/operations provide some interesting guidelines and suggestions for fronts as well.

I've long used Sly Flourish's Lazy DM checklist and kept it on Notion but I'm leaning away from that for this campaign.  I've looked at World Anvil and Scabard.  Neither of them seems quite right but I COULD be swayed.  Looking for something better.  All the inputting seems to be a duplication of effort without enough savings.  "The view isn't worth the climb."