OOC- Zombie Apocalypse Chapter 2- General Discussion

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Actually, the roll is 1d10, not 1d8. There are two charts in the rules PDFs that Welsh may have sent you, one for brief temporary insanity (1d10+4 rounds) and one for longer-term temporary insanity (1d10x10 hours). I've only been using the first one. Indefinite insanity lasts for 1d6 months, and happens if you lose 20% or more of your current Sanity within one hour.

Here is the short-term temporary insanity chart:
1 ) fainting or screaming fit
2 ) flees in panic
3 ) physical hysterics or emotional outburst (laughing, crying, etc.)
4 ) babbling incoherent, rapid speech, or logorrhea (a torrent of coherent speech)
5 ) intense phobia, perhaps rooting investigator to the spot
6 ) homicidal or suicidal mania
7 ) hallucinations or delusions
8 ) echopraxia or echolalia (investigator does/says what others around him/her do/say)
9 ) strange or deviant eating desire (dirt, slime, cannibalism, etc.)
10 ) stupor (assumes foetal position, oblivious to events) or catatonia (can stand but has no will or interest; may be led or forced to simple actions but takes no independent action)

Since everyone but Gonzalez has posted and I have a little time tonight, I'll go ahead with another major update. I should finish it tonight, but if not I can do so tomorrow night.
 
I'll decide on the exact form of the temporary insanity once the category is selected randomly. You can roll the 1d10 (and the 1d10+4 for duration) yourselves if you like in the future now that you have the chart.
 
I'll decide if there are any combined insanities, but usually there won't be. That would probably only happen if someone already suffering from one form of madness goes insane again.

McCain is still nuts and can't do anything constructive this round. This is his second round of being insane, and he has five more after this one. You can roleplay his madness if you like, but he won't be shooting at the zombies.
 
Steve-the-Zombie-Killer said:
Mr. handy,
Why is it not possible for us to roll the 1d10. That way we can kind of know how our character reacts.
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Simple answer- it depends on the narrative. Under some conditions it is unlikely that a character would adopt a form of temporary insanity as indicated by the roll.

Under other circumstances there might be a strategic use of the sanity to fit the narrative of the story.

For instance, in my other game characters have been going delusional and hallucinating, but often they don't know if what they are hallucinating isn't a figment of their imagination or the realization of some deeper, if hidden truth.

Hartwell's the Dark Descent (a great collection of short stories) makes the distinction of different types of horror. I am not sure if this recollection is correct, but Hartwell creates three types.

One form of horror is a manifestation of some hostile "other" - a vampire, or ghost, or ghoul, that somehow challenges our notions of existence.

A second form is the psychological horror, in which our own minds begin to turn on us, offering up either uncertainty of our mental dispositions or where individuals hides the pathology within themselves.

But a third form of horror has to do with the nature of existence itself- that it is not our minds or the others that are the source of horror, but that there is real reality to speak of.

The use of sanity or insanity can be used strategically in our story telling. Normally in CoC play- at least when its play by post- the insane character is often assumed by the Keeper, if temporarily. This reflects the consequence of losing the roll, and thus the ability to direct your character's behaviors.
 
to clear a few things up:

while Black is in command, Cole feels Black belongs on the roof. Black is a sniper (and hence a loner), not a grunt, therefor Cole feels Black isn't really qualified. Cole doesn't have a problem with taking orders from Black regarding defensive positions etc, but Black shouldn't attempt to tell Cole his job.

Cole thinks Black should go on overwatch from the roof, give defensive pointers and leave the basic grunt stuff to Cole (or McCain once he's back to normal).

if Lewis keeps pushing him, Lewis won't be able to sit for a week without a donut cushion. Cole just lost one of his closest coworkers and now some techhead thinks he can push him around while giving legitemate orders? not going to go over too well.

remember, for me Cole is a cross between Sgt. Red O'Neill from Platoon (for 3/5th), Captain Frye/Darrow from The Rock (for 1/5th) and a cursing Gun-Sgt Hartman from FMJ (for 1/5th). sure he curses and insults a lot, he's rugged and an asshole, but he also knows what he's doing.
 
Hey I am just playing the character of Lewis the way I see him right now. He is very much stressed because of things that have been going on and he is about to snap. So no offense intended.

I do have one question for you however.
How does Cole know that Lewis is shooting and missing since he is not on the scene?
 
Steve-the-Zombie-Killer said:
Hey I am just playing the character of Lewis the way I see him right now.
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not telling you to stop, just sayin' why Cole acts the way he does.

Steve-the-Zombie-Killer said:
How does Cole know that Lewis is shooting and missing since he is not on the scene?
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maybe your facial expression? perhaps how you're firing the gun? who knows... :P

the nerd would be excited to hell if he had a hit, so it'd probably be clear to read it off his face ;)
 
When your characters go insane I will as Keeper take control of them, though I do allow some leeway to the players to roleplay their madness. When it comes to taking any significant action, however, insane characters are not in control of their faculties and I will determine what (if anything) they do. If the random roll doesn't fit the situation, I reserve the right to tweak the result or choose a different form of temporary insanity that does. So far the rolls have worked out nicely and produced appropriate reactions that make sense.

I'm glad everyone realizes that remarks made in character shouldn't spill over into out of character arguments.

I'm not sure if Cole can see Lewis at all from his current position. Lewis is up on the balcony near the southwest stairs, but it would depend on whether or not he was around the corner. In any case, Lewis is facing west, so it may be hard to see his face. Of course, Cole could just be assuming Lewis doesn't know how to shoot.

I'm feeling a lot better now, and tomorrow I'll be going back to work, but I still have some free time today and since four players have posted up I'll go ahead with the next update tonight.
 
Mr. Handy,
Does that mean that i can no longer control McCain until he becomes less sane. I was thinking of getting Lewis over to him to try whatever skill he had to help him out.
 
You can have McCain say things, make gestures, and so forth, provided it's consistent with his insanity. When it comes to what he does or where he goes, however, he's under Keeper control (and he needs to be more sane, not less :wink: ).

Lewis can try to do something for McCain, but he doesn't have the appropriate skills. Psychoanalysis would bring him around sooner, but for someone without the skill he's only got a 1% chance. The Psychology skill is not used for this purpose, but it could help you understand what's wrong with McCain. Lewis doesn't have this skill either, and the base level is 5%.

McCain has been crazy for the last two rounds, and he has five more to go (including the round coming up).
 
Mr Handy,
I noticed a small mistake in the weapon list. By my caculation Lewis only has 9 bullets in his gun currently loaded since he fired the rest the last couple of rounds. Also McCain dropped the M-4 near him when he went insane and will not pick it up until the period ends.
Now where would Alice go to look for some weapons. Are those two crates still on the surface next to the diner? Also I was thinking of having Lewis run down the stairs to the ground leval near where McCain was. Can he take another shot this round or will he have to wait.
 
@Fearlessfred: Sam Black's Spot Hidden roll was a 54. Since his skill is 59%, this is a success and he does see the zombie. Roll Sanity for him, and if he stays sane he may take the shot.

@Steve: I'm pretty sure Lewis does have 11 bullets left. The Beretta started with 15 bullets in the clip, and he has only been firing for the last two rounds at a rate of fire of two shots per round. Since he's fired 4 shots, that leaves 11.

McCain dropped his rifle, but so did Ortega. Ortega was on the balcony at the time, so his rifle is actually closer. It also has the M203 grenade launcher attached to it. While Ortega has the extra ammo for it, there is one round already loaded in the M203. If Lewis takes Ortega's rifle he can still fire it once this round, or he can fire the Beretta twice more. If he goes and gets McCain's M4, he cannot fire this round.

Alice can look for weapons in those crates. There are two of them on the east side of the diner, but there's little left in them to choose from (though there's still a good deal of ammo). There's also the ruined front area of the diner. The people who were killed in the explosion fell and dropped their weapons there, and they still have ammo on them. Those weapons will need cleaning, though, and may also need repairs.
 
Can Ortega fire in his insanity? (If one of the critters managed the tall task of making it to the hotel?) I mean, with no where to flea; if cornered?
 
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