Sanity, Attitude, Artifact, Rules+New Healing/Sanity

[Gully]

Hi everyone,

I just finished making some cards to be given to characters as their sanity erodes away. Each major Mental Disorder has (at least) three cards. Each card covers one stage of the disorder (symptom, syndrome, madness) with the first having a general description. The text is pulled straight from the book with light editing. Each syndrome and madness has a synopses of special abilities, changes in Ways, and what occurs during crisis.

I tried to remove redundant text, so if the special ability description was easily summarized I removed it from the body of the card to make more room. The same is true for the strengthening and weakening of ways info. I tried to keep all the information that elaborated an the nuances of the madness.

Let me know if you have any suggestions!


Gully
– Richard Pratt on Kickstarter

5/20/14 – Added four 4x5in "Rules Cards" covering Demorthèn Art, Miracles, Artifacts and Combat (includes previous 5/18 Demorthèn Art GM Card).

5/27/14 – Rules Card v2 includes a new card on Health & Sanity

6/2/14 – Rules Card v2a – minor edits, etc

8/13/15 – Rules Card v2b – Health penalty should be applied to Defense and Speed (though this is an oversight in Core Book)

5/16/17 – fixed links (I think!)
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"Rules Cards v2b" covering Demorthèn Art, Miracles, Artifacts, Combat and Health & Sanity
https://www.dropbox.com/s/l7ks98l72zz2x ... b.pdf?dl=0

Sanity Cards v2 (shorter):
https://www.dropbox.com/s/ejn8bq7g7gzh0 ... 2.pdf?dl=0

Fighting Attitude Cards:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/pph7jdpzhz5lt ... s.pdf?dl=0

Magientist Artifact Cards v2 (with "Easy On" indicator and phrase):
https://www.dropbox.com/s/ey10nd3p2051x ... 2.pdf?dl=0

[iznurda]

Look nice, can you justify your text ? It will be looking cleaner.
I dislike having 2 card for one symptom. Maybe you should resume the text to stay in.

Nice idea anyways, and usefull for players loving manipulate things ^^

iz

[Clovis]

Yeah, looking good! That really makes a nice gaming prop: this way, the Players can keep it to be reminded of the exact effects of their Disorder... and even if the Leader does not want them to know of the condition of their Sanity, he can have the Players' cards displayed in front of him, behind the Screen. Over, a cool addition.

However, I'm with iznurda regarding the two-parts cards: even if it means shortening the text a lot, it seems better to me to have the whole thing summed up on a single card, to make them quicker and more efficient to use.

I also think that it is not necessary to have a card for each Scarring; only for those that have long-term consequences (i.e. Nightmare, Phobia, Anguish, and Obsession). Otherwise, it seems pointless to have it all summed up since the effects are very brief and only last a maximum of one day.

Still, nicely thought, and nicely done!

[Gully]

Thanks for the feedback!

I agree, the first change is to get all the cards to a single front. I put these in plastic card sleeves, which allows them to be arrange back to back ... so the second card isn't a huge inconvenience, but it would be a lot nicer to have them all on one front.

@Iznurda – usually 40 characters per line is the minimum column width for justified type in order to avoid rivers (I'm not sure what the French term might be). These columns are just under that minimum, but they are close enough to take a look at the possibility.

@Clovis – I put the Scarring cards in there at the last minute (only took a second once the templates where made), but I agree the short term ones are less useful. I imagined them more for the GL, I think I'll make a single small sheet to use as a visual add for the GL and only keep the longer scarrings on the cards.

I also plan to make Attitude cards to act as aids for new players. I'll post them here when I get them put together.

Thanks again,
Gully

[Gully]

If people are interested in Fighting Attitude cards for use with beginners, here is a link:

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/6731172/Fightin ... 0Cards.pdf

[Clovis]

Hmm... seems less useful to me since such information is already included in the Character Sheet. Moreover, the calculations involved are very simple and obvious to make, so once the Player has understood that he only has to apply the Character's Potential to the various attitudes, there's no need for reminders.

However, I've thought about it, and it seems to be that what would be good would be cards for Magientist Artifacts. Personally, I have to write the Artifacts' descriptions in shorthand on the Character Sheet, which can be tedious. With cards, the Players could know of the effects of the Artifacts they own with a single glance.

Plus, it can be a good way to keep in mind if an Artifact is broken: the Player can flip the card to show that it doesn't work anymore, or give it to the GL who will keep it until it is repaired.

[Gully]

Hi Clovis,
I have some questions for you but first ...

– The Attitude cards are more for introducing people to the game (I thought). I want to try the game with a few groups and the pregenerated characters in the various books don't have the attitudes figured out ahead of time. Though the math is simple I think it can be confusing to memorize all the choices at the offset ... I agree, definately not a long term need. (For example I'm hoping to run a one-off for friends at Gen Con next year)

– Halfway through getting all the Sanity cards to one "page." Its going better than I thought it would. Hope to have an update soon. (Sure I said it would be awhile, but I enjoy tweaking these things too much).

– Love the idea of Magientist Artifacts, particularly when they can be lost and gained much more than other special "powers". I also want to practice my illustrative skills at some point so eventually they could have front images.

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OK, my questions (slight tangent) ...

You mentioned not telling the players about their current sanity level ... I really like this idea but wonder how it plays out.

So a player makes a Mental Resistance check, they fail, they don't know but now the are at the symptom level. Do you tell them, "Your character is now feeling such and such." Then when they get to syndrome do you tell them, "Your character has taken a turn for the worse, your now feeling like this and that." and at this point do you, the GL, start applying the modifiers to the Ways, or do you tell the player, "add +1 to this way, -1 to this way until you feel better"? I assume in a crisis you would also just describe how the character is feeling and let the player run with it.

Thanks for your thoughts and ideas!

[Clovis]

– The Attitude cards are more for introducing people to the game (I thought). I want to try the game with a few groups and the pregenerated characters in the various books don't have the attitudes figured out ahead of time. Though the math is simple I think it can be confusing to memorize all the choices at the offset ... I agree, definately not a long term need. (For example I'm hoping to run a one-off for friends at Gen Con next year)

I admit I had not thought about the premade characters who indeed don't have their ratings indicated for each possible attitude. In this regard, Attitude Cards can indeed be a handy plus for introductory sessions. Good thinking!

– Halfway through getting all the Sanity cards to one "page." Its going better than I thought it would. Hope to have an update soon. (Sure I said it would be awhile, but I enjoy tweaking these things too much).

I'm keeping my eye on this thread. Glad to see that you're so interested in cooking this up.

– Love the idea of Magientist Artifacts, particularly when they can be lost and gained much more than other special "powers". I also want to practice my illustrative skills at some point so eventually they could have front images.

That would really be an interesting addition! The Esteren illustrators are very good, but that doesn't mean we don't appreciate the talents of the community, and I'm looking forward to seeing how it turns out!

So a player makes a Mental Resistance check, they fail, they don't know but now the are at the symptom level. Do you tell them, "Your character is now feeling such and such." Then when they get to syndrome do you tell them, "Your character has taken a turn for the worse, your now feeling like this and that." and at this point do you, the GL, start applying the modifiers to the Ways, or do you tell the player, "add +1 to this way, -1 to this way until you feel better"? I assume in a crisis you would also just describe how the character is feeling and let the player run with it.

Hmm, that's a poser. That's actually something I have been thinking about from the first times I've been playing Call of Cthulhu, and I'd say it all depends on who you are playing with, and what you have agreed on.

Basically, my idea was the same as yours: you don't tell the Players about the threshold they have to reach for their Mental Resistance rolls, and just describe what happens to them according to the results, without telling them about the effects stats-wise. With novice Players, it can work very well, since not only will they not know about the mechanics of SoE, it will also spare them the chore of keeping track of their Sanity... the problem being of course that the GL has more work with keeping in mind the state of the Players' sanity and what modifiers he must secretly apply.

However, more savvy Players will be able to read between the lines rather easily, knowing for example that if their Character faints right after a Mental Resistance roll, then that must mean he rolled a 1 and suffers Scarring.

tl;dr: with novice Players, you can take everything in charge, for the sake of atmosphere, but with experienced ones, it is probably better to play with your cards on the table.

[Gully]

As always thanks for the feedback Clovis. I'm going to experiment with both techniques. One of the reasons I enjoy working on these it really helps to get to know the rules in depth.

I've updated the Sanity cards and placed the new link in the first post (with the other links).

I've also separated the Scarring Cards into their own file.

Let me know if there are any technical glitches or general feedback.

[Clovis]

As always thanks for the feedback Clovis. I'm going to experiment with both techniques. One of the reasons I enjoy working on these it really helps to get to know the rules in depth.

Well, that's very commendable of you! Hope that will make the Esteren experience all the more enjoyable!

Let me know if there are any technical glitches or general feedback.

Alright, I've taken a look, and although I have not scrupulously each card with deadeye accuracy, I have only one thing to report: for the "Phobia" Scarring, you have written "~ 1 month" whereas "1 month min.", like the other cards, would have been fine.

Other than that, seems good to me!