The current version of the Sanity rules in The Cthulhu Hack aims to turn the slow slide into insanity into a source of stress. All Usage Dice use challenges the ability of the player and the group to manage their personal and joint resources. If they push too hard, too early — they may find they lack the faculties and facility to get the job done. In a Lovecraftian sense, that works. Characters start strong and then they begin to struggle as the revelations grind away, wearing them down.
However, the danger of insanity might be too extreme and you may prefer something more like a short sharp Shock. Most of the results below last for a Moment (rather like when you Miss a Turn in a boardgame). Take a counter and drop it on your character sheet to remind you. Or take two, or whatever the result indicates.
When your turn comes around, discard a counter (or use a six-sided dice and spin it down a number).
If you forget, keep the counters (or don’t move the die) until next time you have a fight or face a Test that challenges the attribute listed – and face the listed modifier. You managed to struggle through the original shock, but it all comes back to you when you next push yourself.
See — that moment of forgetfulness about book-keeping might just come back to haunt you.
| 1 | Shaking | Shuddering shock, roll d6: DEX Saves reduced by the result for a number of Moments equal to the roll. The penalty reduces in-sync with the number of Moments remaining. |
| 2 | Can’t Think Straight | Struggling for focus and lost for words, Disadvantage on INT, WIS, and CHA Saves until the end of the Scene (or when the GM says) |
| 3 | Rabbit | Stand motionless, as if trying to avoid attention while in plain sight, for the next Moment. Can make no physical action or reaction in this state. |
| 4 | Dive | No action possible, other than hiding, for the next 1d3 Moment |
| 5 | Black Out | A Moment for someone else to revive, Disadvantage on STR, DEX, and INT Saves for the next Moment |
| 6 | Scream | Expel a lengthy and piercing scream, certain to attract attention |
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[…] have black polyhedral Dice Sets with Elder Sign marked 6-sided dice, Elder Sign Dice Trays, and Insanity Dice – in limited supply, first come, first served. I will have white and black boxes, with slim […]