Sanity and Madness

A character's Sanity is her sense of reality and self. A character with high Sanity remains psychologically healthy when touched by maddening influences. A character with low Sanity manifests signs of madness when she is exposed to disturbing phenomena.

A character's starting Sanity score is the average of her Wisdom and Charisma scores, rounded down. Sanity is not itself an ability score, and there are no Sanity saving throws or Sanity checks. Instead, a character's sanity score determines what happens when she fails to resist some maddening effect. Whenever a character fails a saving throw against madness, consult the following table to determine the consequences of her failure.

Succumbing to Madness

Sanity Score Madness Symptoms 15+ None 14-11 1 short-term 10-8 1 short-term and 1 long-term 7-5 1 short-term, 1 long-term, and 1 indefinite 4-3 1 short-term, 1d3 long-term, and 1 indefinite 2-1 1 short-term, 1d3 long-term, and 1d3 indefinite 0 1 short-term, but effect lasts indefinitely

Various experiences can cause a reduction in a character's Sanity. For example, reading forbidden lore, witnessing blood magic rituals, or memorizing the truenames of elder demons might all cause a character to become unhinged. Such experiences usually also force a saving throw against madness. However, certain pernicious encounters with subtle influences might decrease a character's Sanity without forcing a saving throw against madness. A character might slowly and quietly go insane without manifesting any symptoms of her condition.

When a maddening experience is foisted upon a character against her will, a saving throw is permitted to avoid a decrease in Sanity. However, if a character undergoes a maddening experience voluntarily, no saving throw is allowed. Going somewhat mad is part of the cost of business when it comes to delving into forbidden lore.

Recovering Sanity

Only time can heal a fractured mind. A character can rest for an extended period of time to recover her Sanity. The amount of Sanity recovered depends upon her environment during the recovery period. In an ideal environment, such as a well-run sanitorium, a character recovers 1d3 points of Sanity per week. In a neutral environment, a character recovers 1 point of Sanity per week. A character cannot recover Sanity in a unfriendly or uncomfortable environment, or if her rest is frequently interrupted.

Wounds

When a creature takes damage from a single source equal to or greater than one third of its hit point maximum, it gains a wound. Wounds represent bodily damage that goes beyond relatively superficial cuts and bruises. The more wounds a character has, the more badly she is affected by her wounds.

Wound Effects

Number of Wounds Effect 1 The character has disadvantage on physical ability checks. 2 As above, plus the character has disadvantage on physical saving throws. 3 As above, plus the character has disadvantage on attack rolls and her speed is halved. 4 As above, plus the character is incapacitated. 5 As above, plus the character is stunned.

Additional wounds beyond 5 do not cause the character any further harm, but they do increase the amount of time needed to recover.

Recovering from Wounds

Simply healing hit point damage does not remove wounds, but wounds can be healed by other magical and mundane means. A lesser restoration spell heals one wound. A greater restoration spell heals 1d3 wounds. A regenerate spell heals 2d3 wounds. A wish spell or similar magic heals all of a creature's wounds.

Characters can also heal wounds with the Wisdom (Medicine) skill. A character can make a Medicine check to attend to a resting character over the course of a day. On a 15 or higher, the resting character heals 1 wound. On a 20 or higher, the resting character heals 1d3 wounds.