Madness

Madness is the measure of the sanity of a character in the face of the horrors that humanity faces in the dark future of this distant time. It is a reaction to things humanity was never supposed to witness, things that defy explanation or shock the mind until it bends… and eventually snaps.

This is represented by a series of cards known as Madness, four of which (representing the first three levels) are issued before a game, the last of which, ‘Overwhelmed’, is contained in a sealed envelope handed to you at the game by the game team. Madness is a personal experience to each character based around their fears, trauma and background, it can be anything from delusions of grandeur to repressed memories bubbling up from your past. This is why it’s important to fill in the Madness section when completing your character signup form as it helps the game team tailor a personal track for your character. The less detail we have to work with the more we will struggle to find an enjoyable roleplaying experience for you.

There are four levels of Madness, representing increasingly severe damage to the character’s mind. A character begins the game with NONE of these levels active and they activate over time. They are read in the following order:

Brushed > Touched > Marked > Overwhelmed

There will always be two ‘Brushed’ cards in every track, this is because we have found that due to low-level madness effects ‘Brushed’ is activated and healed quite regularly, so two cards enables some variance in the effects experienced at that level. Madness cards look like the example beneath:

Descending into Madness You should look over the first four cards in advance, to plan how you might roleplay them when they are activated but also to ensure you clarify how they are cured with Refs if it is unclear. The final Overwhelmed card, in its sealed envelope, should only be read when it becomes applicable. While the first three levels of Madness represent states of sanity a character can recover from, becoming Overwhelmed will leave a permanent Derangement (similar to a Scar) on the character’s mental state. If a character is Overwhelmed multiple times they will likely be rendered too mad to continue play.

A character only suffers the effects of the card of their current level (or one of them if Brushed) so the effects do not stack together. There are a couple of ways in which your character can be driven down this path:

● The first and most common way is when a Ref or a dramatic effect/Blight effect dictates that you either go to a specified level on the track or increase your madness level – because Brushed cards are supposed to be automatically cured after they are triggered, if you have an untriggered Brushed card and are instructed to increase your Madness level, treat this as triggering the effect instead.

● When faced with the call Dread (usually the result of a horrific sight) characters may choose to flee in terror. However if they don’t and stand and fight against the horror instead, they immediately go to the Touched madness level, orif they are already Touched or Worse then they increase their Madness level one step.

● Besides these two points you are allowed to simply self-ref your madness, if you see something that you think would cause your character’s sanity to diminish then you are free to increase your madness level. Just remember that the more your sanity declines the more Derangements a character will develop. This can make them hard to continue in play and a threat to other characters, so manage your increases carefully.

Recovering from Madness Before a character goes Overwhelmed and develops a Derangement it is possible for those around them to bring them back from the brink of destruction, even if in their madness they might well not seek the aid that they need. A character’s madness level reduces in a few ways.

● Brushed cards contain a single action that is triggered by a specific reactive or proactive event, once that action has been triggered and carried out they are cured, and the character reduces their madness level to ‘normal’.

● Touched cards contain a persistent behaviour but can often be cured by seeking help such as a medicae or a commanding officer/spiritual figure, or someone who the character respects and trusts enough to rely on. By roleplaying though confronting the roleplaying effects on the card and overcoming them they are cured, and the character reduces their madness to a lingering Brushed effect – and when that triggers they are reduced to normal.

● Marked cards are severe in their nature, often altering a character's perception of the world, or bringing out the worst in them. They tend to be more of an ordeal to remove, traditionally requiring a spell in a Sanitorium, psychic intervention, or some other drastic measure. Should you want to remove a Marked effect from yourself or another you should Get a Ref who will determine the best method.

● Overwhelmed cards are unique in their nature; a character cannot be reduced from this level in any way. The roleplaying effect can be suppressed as if Marked (i.e. with Ref approval) but for the remainder of the event any effect that interacts with Madness (regardless of its wording) re-triggers this roleplaying effect (in some unique cases this may not be applicable; if you are ever unsure ask a Ref).