Character Development: Insanity

There are many causes of insanity in Men & Supermen. Insanity is caused by terror, magic, or knowing things man wasn’t meant to know.

When a character becomes insane, and the insanity is not obvious from the cause, roll on the following charts. If the class of insanity must be determined randomly as well, 80% of insanities are Minor. The rest are Major. If severity is not specified, severity is found by rolling d10.

For minor amnesia, look up the severity on the Result column of the Actions Chart, and read to the Sphere column, for the number of days the character forgets, up to and including the triggering event.

For major amnesia, the character forgets everything from birth to the trigger. Some knowledge and skills will remain, though the character will not know where they came from. In order to use a skill or knowledge the first time following onset of amnesia, the player must save vs. Newoen. This roll may be made any time the character is in a situation requiring that skill or knowledge.

Most saving throws that players of insane characters must make are saving throws vs. Newoen, on 2d10, at a penalty equal to the severity of the mental illness.

When a triggering event is mentioned, this is the event that caused the insanity. Onset time is measured from the triggering event to the time the insanity surfaces. Insanity most often occurs either immediately, during sleep, or during another stressful incident.

If a player wishes to role-play the amnesia without making severity rolls, the Editor should allow it, but should make sure that the player is not under-playing the insanity. It’s all right if the player over-plays the insanity. This often happens in real life as well. People like to be the best at what they do.

Amnesia: Amnesia causes the afflicted to forget events within a specific time frame.

Catatonia: Characters in a catatonic state must save vs. Newoen, in order to perform any action at all. This includes even as much as moving out of a position that someone else moved the character into.

Depression: Characters in a depressed state will not initiate new projects, and will find it hard to finish old ones. Whenever the character is contemplating getting some work done, a save should be made vs. Newoen. Performance Time will be increased by the severity, times 10, percent if the roll is successful.

Fugue States: Characters with this problem will occasionally undergo short-term memory loss. Whenever the character is under some form of stress, the player must save vs. Newoen. If the roll is failed, read the amount it was failed by from the Result column to the Sphere column, for the number of hours the character spends in a fugue state.

During a fugue state, the character will remember nothing, will not be capable of coherent speech, and will wander aimlessly.

Hysteria: Characters with hysteria will lose the use of one part of their body. The source of the hysteria will affect the manifestation of the hysteria. A right-handed person whose hysteria is focused on paperwork may develop glove hysteria, in which the right hand is paralyzed. If hysteria is caused by something the character saw, blindness may result. If anger caused the hysteria, the character’s hand and arm may become paralyzed into an upraised fist.

Hysteric Personality: The hysteric tries to lose unwanted responsibility and gain power through weakness. The character is likely to get sick often, develop problems moving, and require some form of attention and care.

Mania: Manic characters say things like “why don’t you just back up the system folder. It can’t be that huge.”

The character will never stay still. If forced to, the character will fuss and fidget incessantly. The character must even save vs. Newoen, at a penalty equal to the severity, to go to sleep at night. If this is failed, another roll may be made in the middle of the night. If failed, the character simply doesn’t have time to sleep, and fretters the night away. Manic characters will always favor a plan of action over a plan of waiting.

Manic-Depressive: Manic-depressives alternate between periods of mania, depression, and normality. Every morning, the player must save vs. Newoen, or awaken in a manic or depressed state (even chance of each). During periods of stress, the player must save again, or switch to the opposite of the most recent state. See Mania and Depression for a description of the two states.

Megalomania: Most player characters are megalomaniac anyway, or at best, highly egocentric. However, characters who are actually insanely megalomaniac are even worse. They must always be in charge. If their authority is questioned, the player must save vs. Newoen or get into an argument, or even a fight. Characters with megalomania will always seek to increase their influence in any way and sphere possible.

Migraines: Ask anyone who has them, they’ll tell you: migraines are shitty. Under stress, the player must save vs. Newoen. If unsuccessful, the character has a penalty of the severity of the migraines to most Bonus Pools. The migraines last for a number of minutes equal to the amount the Newoen save was missed by, read from the Result chart to the Sphere chart.

Obsessive-Compulsive: Obsessive Compulsive characters retreat into a ritual to hide from unwanted feelings and troubles. The ritual will become more complex as time goes on. The player must choose a reasonable stimulus for the obsessive-compulsive behaviour. When the character is confronted with this stimulus (scantily-clad women, for example), the player must save vs. Newoen. If unsuccessful, the character performs the ritual (sniffing his underarms, perhaps). If the save is missed by 5 or more, the character adds to the ritual (sniffs his underarms and then pops a breath mint).

Paranoia: Characters with Minor Paranoia believe that a specific person or group is out to get them and is powerful enough to watch them everywhere. Characters with Major Paranoia believe that almost everyone is out to get them. Whenever the character meets a new person, the player must save vs. Newoen or believe that person is part of the conspiracy. Characters with Major Paranoia will eventually believe that anyway.

Phobia: A phobia is an unreasoning fear of a specific object or situation. Common phobias include fear of heights, dogs, and enclosed spaces. Whenever the character is confronted with the source of the phobia, the player must save vs. Newoen in order to stand firm. If failed, the character attempts to leave. If failed by 5 or more, the character freezes in fear. If failed by 10 or more, the character faints. If failed by 15 or more, the character simply blocks the source and doesn’t perceive it. A character who is afraid of dogs would simply not see the dog, no matter what it did.

Personality Change: The character develops a new personality to replace the old one. Go over the character sheet, and for each power, skill, or knowledge, a save should be made vs. Newoen. If failed, the new personality doesn’t have that ability.

The player and Editor should create a new personality and history. The character will not gain new skills or knowledge—the history must stay within the framework of whatever skills and knowledge remain. If it is not obvious what the new personality should be, it may be determined randomly, using the Personality rolls for non-player characters, given in the Brand X Hero’s Guide.

Reaction Formation: The character forms a fanatical viewpoint in reaction against a feeling the character has, especially a guilty feeling involving the opposite of the Reaction Formation. The Editor and player must choose the form of the Reaction Formation. A character worried about lack of faith might become fanatically religious. A character who feels guilty about air pollution may become fanatically pro-automobile, to hide guilt about causing pollution.

When the opportunity arises to expound on the belief, the player must make a save vs. Newoen or attempt to gain converts and prove the reality of the character’s viewpoint.

Characters with this type of fanaticism will not be affected by facts or statistics that disprove their beliefs. Such characters can even hold contradictory beliefs without faith in either belief being shaken.

Schizophrenia: Schizophrenic characters cannot maintain their train of thought or pay attention to a single event. They will jump from one idea to idea and event to event. Often, schizophrenics will be unable to distinguish between their own thoughts and memories and what is actually happening. Thus, they hallucinate voices, objects, and persons.

Split Personality: The character gains a new personality (see Personality Change), in addition to the character’s real personality. Whenever the character is under stress, a save vs. Newoen must be made, or the character will switch personalities.

Every issue, the player should save vs. Newoen. If successful, the player can choose which personality to use. If unsuccessful, the personality is chosen randomly. If the save is missed by 10 or more, the character develops yet another personality, and switches to that one.

Suicidal: The character will, at random moments, decide that life isn’t worth living, to such an extent that the character will either attempt suicide, or attempt a suicide mission. When given the opportunity for a suicide, the player must save vs. Newoen. If successful, the character does not take the chance. This save must also be made once per issue. If unsuccessful, the character will, in some way, attempt suicide in that issue.