D&D 5E Sanity

[AllegedObserver]

I am pondering adding a Sanity system similar to Call of Cthulhu (loosely based on the CoC d20 rules). I am not necessarily going to have a horror heavy campaign... but I think certain challenges the players may come up against should have some sort of sanity repercussions. I was wondering if anyone has any thoughts about this, as I am kind of on the fence about adding these rules or not.

Thanks in advance for any opinions.

 

[The Grassy Gnoll]

There are sanity/madness variant rules in the DMG.

AFB but as I recall it involves a "seventh stat", Sanity, and making saves v this stat when encountering eldritch abominations from beyond the stars Cthulhu ftaghn.

Don't know if you've seen this rule?

 

[5Shilling]

The sanity and madness rules in the DMG are actually not bad - fast, flavourful and syncing with other rules pretty easily. Most people that write their own sanity rules come up with something similar. I'd recommend giving them a read whatever you decide to do. The nice thing is how modular they are - if you don't think your campaign justifies having a whole new Sanity ability score for PCs, you can just use the madness rules and tie them to Wisdom instead.

 

[iserith]

If you don't plan on having a "heavy horror campaign," what is your planned theme, what sorts of events will trigger the use of a Sanity mechanic, and how often do you expect Sanity to come into play? If it's not a major feature of the campaign, I would suggest not bothering with it.

Check the DMG, pages 264-266, for optional rules on Sanity.

 

[EdL]

Welcome, and have some XP.

 

[AllegedObserver]

I did read in the DMG about Fear... but for some reason I musta completely missed Sanity... so Mea Cupla there. And I wasn't planning on a horror focus, but the group is heavy on the role play and I did want to have some elements of horror sprinkled in with the more iconic stuff. Also, there might be ancient texts that have incredibly strange subjects that would be considered waaaay outside the "norm". And of course there's terrible nature of battle injuries, evil outsiders and other strange baddies that youn g adventurers have never come across before might be more inclined have their minds reeled. Just my 2 cents, tho. Thanks all for the quick responses.

 

[iserith]

I did read in the DMG about Fear... but for some reason I musta completely missed Sanity... so Mea Cupla there. And I wasn't planning on a horror focus, but the group is heavy on the role play and I did want to have some elements of horror sprinkled in with the more iconic stuff. Also, there might be ancient texts that have incredibly strange subjects that would be considered waaaay outside the "norm". And of course there's terrible nature of battle injuries, evil outsiders and other strange baddies that youn g adventurers have never come across before might be more inclined have their minds reeled. Just my 2 cents, tho. Thanks all for the quick responses.

It sounds like you might be going in the direction of the video game Darkest Dungeon. Check that out if you aren't familiar with it. It may be a good source of ideas for you. Good luck!

 

[5Shilling]

Check the DMG, pages 264-266, for optional rules on Sanity.

and pages 258-260 for Madness

If you're going to use these, I'd suggest adding a sanity/madness check whenever a player takes a significant of psychic damage. I like that psychic is a damage type and I think it should have more of an effect - plus those scary lovecraftian aberrations tend to deal it!

 

[AllegedObserver]

and pages 258-260 for Madness

If you're going to use these, I'd suggest adding a sanity/madness check whenever a player takes a significant of psychic damage. I like that psychic is a damage type and I think it should have more of an effect - plus those scary lovecraftian aberrations tend to deal it!

Hmm... yes. I had planned on using Illithids at some point.

 

[Imaculata]

Sanity rules can be awesome for any campaign that has a horror or suspense theme. But you have to be consistent with the rules. I like the rules as written in D20 Cthulhu, they work splendidly. And I like the idea that learning mythos automatically equals losing sanity. But don't forget that D20 Cthulhu also reminds DM's that people get used to awfulness. So don't demand a sanity check at every corpse the players see. Sanity rules can be a great way to encourage more realistic behavior from the player characters, and to get them to be more cautious with what they subject their own characters to.

However, Call of Cthulhu assumes that eventually everyone dies or is driven insane. The rules in D20 Cthulhu are designed with that purpose in mind. But unless you are actually running Call of Cthulhu, maybe that is not your goal at all? You may choose to allow players to restore some of their sanity at the end of the campaign, or after completing an important objective. You could have them roll for it, to see how much sanity they recover.