D&D and Sanity

[Epametheus]

Aside from the Sanity DR (though the DM is free to rule that it doesn't apply is certain cases; I myself probably wouldn't allow it to apply to dragons, outsiders, abberations, and the Big T), most creatures do relatively small amounts: orcs deal 0/1d4, mind-flayers deal 1/1d10, the majority of "friendly" creatures (PC races, dryads, unicorns, and most celestials are examples) deal none at all, dragons deal 1/1d6 + 1/age category, and the highest end category, shared by Balors, Pit Fiends, and the Big T, is 1d3/1d20.

Looks like only gods get to do 1d10/d% damage .

 

[mmadsen]

orcs and goblins shouldn't ahve sanity checks...but a room full of warewolves eating babies? maybe that should.

Incidentally, which should be more damaging to one's sanity: a room full of werewolves eating babies, or the family dog eating babies?

I'm not sure the supernatural element is the horrifying element in that scenario.

 

[Evil Josef]

Re: Re: D&D and Sanity

Incidentally, which should be more damaging to one's sanity: a room full of werewolves eating babies, or the family dog eating babies?

I'm not sure the supernatural element is the horrifying element in that scenario.

The real sanity check comes after your mother smacks the dog with a rolled up newspaper and rubs his nose in the mess.

 

[jkantor]

Ravenloft's Fear rules seem to be more useful than CoC's sanity.

 

[ruleslawyer]

Problem is, sanity and D&D are hard to mix.

Lovecraft's horror focused on his characters' discovery that the universe was not the rational, humanocentric, ordered place that it appears to be, but is in fact festering with squamous alien entities from beyond for whom man is at best a mere insect to be ignored, and at worst a source of psychic and physical nourishment. These entities are fantastic, abnormal, and simply at odds with a conventional 20th-century understanding of biology and geometry.

D&D characters are nothing like Lovecraft's characters. They live in a world where people fly, animals talk, strange non-human beings can be seen on the streets of any mid-size town, and most people understand legends of terrible beasts and alien entities to have some credibility and veracity. Entities like dragons, undead, and even fiends may be utterly terrifying, but they're not unexpected or somehow inconsistent with the characters' picture of reality.

I'll probably never use the SAN rules in my D&D games; I much prefer the Fear, Horror, and Madness checks from Ravenloft as well, not because the rules for those are better, but because they're more consistent with the nature of my D&D universe.

 

[Crothian]

I've used the Ravenloft Fear and Horror checks in D&D and it's worked out well. I'm not sure it would be that easy to use the insanity rules and make it seem believible.

 

[mmadsen]

If you have magical fear risk a san loss, you might have to rebalance some spells...

Or enjoy the shift in tone brought about by fewer Magic Missiles and Fireballs and more fear spells...

 

[mmadsen]

D&D characters are nothing like Lovecraft's characters. They live in a world where people fly, animals talk, strange non-human beings can be seen on the streets of any mid-size town, and most people understand legends of terrible beasts and alien entities to have some credibility and veracity. Entities like dragons, undead, and even fiends may be utterly terrifying, but they're not unexpected or somehow inconsistent with the characters' picture of reality.

I agree, but what if we posit a D&D campaign more like Lovecraft's 1920's New England, one where all those fantastic legends are just fantastic legends, where most people have never seen a dragon, or a zombie, or a magic spell? It may not contradict their conscious worldview to see a dragon, but it does contradict all their worldly experience -- and it's damn frightening! When you consider what "mundane" terror can do to people in our own world...

I'll probably never use the SAN rules in my D&D games; I much prefer the Fear, Horror, and Madness checks from Ravenloft as well, not because the rules for those are better, but because they're more consistent with the nature of my D&D universe.

Again, agreed. It might make for a good spellcasting mechanic though. There are lots of ways to interpret Sanity loss -- it doesn't have to involve cosmic horror at all -- and it can make a great explanation for Druids who speak in riddles, Necromancers who crave immortality as walking corpses, Wizards who build labyrinths underground, etc.

 

[mmadsen]

Another thought I had on Sanity loss from monsters: how traumatic is it to see your first Orc if he attacks and you easily dispatch him? And how traumatic is it to see your 100th Orc after you've got 99 notches on your battle axe?

 

[hong]

Another thought I had on Sanity loss from monsters: how traumatic is it to see your first Orc if he attacks and you easily dispatch him? And how traumatic is it to see your 100th Orc after you've got 99 notches on your battle axe?

You go "ho hum, 100 down, 400 to go".

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