Insanity System for DnD 5e (Darkest Dungeon-like) - Homebrew & House Rules - Dungeons & Dragons Discussion - D&D Beyond Forums (2024)

A moment of valor shines brightest against a backdrop of despair.

Thank you for this. My party will not know what hit them

This punishes people with low int

This is stupid, as the barbarian should be less likely to be affected by seeing horror, but will instead fail all their insanity checks

It is a fun concept but very flawed

I like the idea, though I wonder if parts of it could be streamlined a bit further.

Firstly I'd maybe treat Sanity as an ability score and have the checks simply be straight Sanity checks; no need to penalise lower INT players. Basically if you have Sanity 20 then you've got +5 to the check, whereas if your Sanity is beginning to ebb down at 8 you have -1 and so-on. This means it's easier to hold onto your Sanity while it's strong, and harder when it's low, meaning loss of sanity is more tense. To balance this a natural 20 should always pass a check, and natural 1 always fails.

I'd maybe do away with the heroic courage table personally, or just have it be optional, as fewer things to remember and tables to roll on is usually better. Not being insane should be reward enough, just as not being poisoned is your reward for passing a Constitution save.Alternatively have it just be one effect, I was thinking something like your Sanity goes up by +1 or is set to 10, whichever is better. So that natural 20 for a character on 0 Sanity suddenly becomes a very big deal.

Just some things to consider anyway.

Quote from IamSposta >>

This will be perfect for a shore Cthulhu style thing I am planning.

Did it go well?

Quote from Flamingcamel >>

This punishes people with low int

This is stupid, as the barbarian should be less likely to be affected by seeing horror, but will instead fail all their insanity checks

It is a fun concept but very flawed

Quote from Haravikk >>

I like the idea, though I wonder if parts of it could be streamlined a bit further.

Firstly I'd maybe treat Sanity as an ability score and have the checks simply be straight Sanity checks; no need to penalise lower INT players. Basically if you have Sanity 20 then you've got +5 to the check, whereas if your Sanity is beginning to ebb down at 8 you have -1 and so-on. This means it's easier to hold onto your Sanity while it's strong, and harder when it's low, meaning loss of sanity is more tense. To balance this a natural 20 should always pass a check, and natural 1 always fails.

I'd maybe do away with the heroic courage table personally, or just have it be optional, as fewer things to remember and tables to roll on is usually better. Not being insane should be reward enough, just as not being poisoned is your reward for passing a Constitution save.Alternatively have it just be one effect, I was thinking something like your Sanity goes up by +1 or is set to 10, whichever is better. So that natural 20 for a character on 0 Sanity suddenly becomes a very big deal.

Just some things to consider anyway.

Yes, you can use a custom stat, but most tools have issues tracking that (like how I use DnD Beyond)

Also, INT is a dump stat generally, and this one makes it much more usable (in combat as well)

I have created a Feat on DND Beyond that can be used to track sanity

Behold!

https://www.dndbeyond.com/feats/435090-sanity

also, Question: Anyone know how to display pretty roll tables on feats, and how to add clickable rolls inside?

Quote from Nighthaunter123 >>

Hi! Do you still have the Charakter Sheet somewere? I want to use your System in an upcoming Campagne of mine (a Fusion of Darkest Dungeon and Mortheim/Dungeons of Drakenheim) and it would be great if I could use it for my Players :)

I have a feat that I created, but I cannot share it because the Homebrow mods don't allow it (it is not considered a feat)

Just create a custom feat, starting from the "Lucky" feat, and call it Sanity, and increase charges to 20.

Put this text inside it

Bonus: You can go to your character skills and add a new INT based stat called Sanity

Example: https://ddb.ac/characters/37437580/4tBFtg

---

Sanity v1.1:

You have a limited capacity to resist stressful situations.

• You start out with 10+INT sanity points.

• Every time you encounter a stressful situation, you must roll a Sanity (Intelligence) check (DC determined by the DM) and on a failed save, you lose 1 sanity point.
  When you lose sanity points and you land on an even sanity number below 10 (i.e. 8, 6, 4, 2, 0), roll a d20 on the Insanity table once for a 1 turn effect :
  [1] Fearful - Frightened by the enemy
  [2] Paranoid - No ally can help or buff you.
  [3] Selfish - Cannot assist or help any ally
  [4] Abusive -Grapple nearest ally, and stay behind him
  [5] Hopeless - Drop your weapon and back away slowly for half your speed
  [6] Stressed - Ability check disadvantage
  [7] Antipathy - Apply Antipathy spell effect to source of fear (WIS check when seen, or freightened)
  [8] Shaken - Tremors in hand, dex attack disadvantage
  [9] Weakened - Half damage attacks and Strength check disadvantage
  [10] Terror- Cannot move for one turn
  [11] Babble - Intelligible speak, and verbal spells cannot be cast
  [12] Confused - The creature uses all its movement to move in a random direction. To determine the direction, roll a d8 and assign a direction to each die face.
  [13] Misery- Take 1d4 psychic damage, multiplied by your level
  [14] Delusion- Hallucinate apparitions around you (all monsters have a mirror image effect for you)
  [15] Amnesic - You forget the class or race abilities you can take and cannot use them
  [16] Discouraged - Next attack has disadvantage
  [17] Irrational- Lose your turn performing an action that is not rational or useful to the situation at hand
  [18] Faint - Become unconscious
  [19] Horrified -Fall prone on your back and scream or cry
  [20] Fury - Attack the nearest target

• If you roll a critical 1 on your Sanity (Intelligence) check, receive -2 sanity points instead.

• If you roll a critical 20 on your Sanity (Intelligence) check, you gain 1 sanity point instead of losing one and you roll 1d8 on the "Moment of Courage" table for an extra courageous effect (1 turn):
  [1] Leadership - Entire party receives +1 sanity
  [2] Courageous - You go first on the next combat turn
  [3] Focused - You have advantage on your next ranged attack
  [4] Stalwart - +2 AC temporarily
  [5] Powerful - Next melee attack if it hits, you gain critical on it
  [6] Vigorous - Double your speed
  [7] Bravery -You may choose up to 3 enemies to focus their actions on you
  [8] Respite - You may spend one hit dice for healing, due to an adrenaline surge

• You can regain your sanity points when you partake in situations that can soothe your stress, like drinking alcohol, praying, winning a battle, seeing reinforcements arrive to your aid, etc.

• Intimidation (Charisma) or Intimidation (Strength) can be used on an NPC or monster to force them to do a sanity check.

• When your Sanity reaches 0, roll a DC10 check. If you fail it, you experience a Heart Attack, and your HP drops to 0. If you succeed, you gain permanent Madness (flaw).

The thing about this one, is that you don't have to have a horror themed campaign to utilize it.

Just keep it on the ready, and let each character sheet have this stat (just in-case)