Character Development: Terror

Terrible things can cause viewers to be stunned (much like horrible things can), and can even cause insanity. Terrible things have a certain number of Terror Points. Most things with a Beauty of less than 0 have Terror Points equal to their Beauty.

See Beauty, for the description of stunning. Assume a Beauty equal to the thing’s Terror Points. Any viewers who are stunned may also be driven temporarily insane. The viewer’s player must save vs. Willpower, at a penalty equal to the Terror Points of the thing, on d100. If this save is failed, the character will gain a temporary insanity. If the die roll (before modifications) was less than or equal to the Terror Points of the thing, it is a major insanity. Otherwise, it is a minor insanity. Insanity lasts for d1000 divided by d20 days. Severity is d10, plus the terror points of the thing on the Square Chart.

Every successful save vs. insanity increases the character’s Weirdness Bonus by 5. Every unsuccessful save decreases the Weirdness Bonus by 3. Insanity helps us to stay sane. For each minor insanity a character has, there is a bonus of 3 to the insanity roll. For each major insanity, the bonus is 6. If the character succeeds at the roll, but would have failed without the bonus, the severity of one appropriate insanity is increased by 1.

Insanity might not take effect immediately. It will usually set in within 24 hours, but may be set off by a stressful action, such as combat, or it may set in while the character is sleeping. This much is left completely to the Editor and the Player.