Hello!
In this devlog we will continue to discuss Stoneshard’s psyche system . In the Prologue the psyche system was limited only to positive effects such as Optimism, Heroism, Second Wind and Prudence. You can read more about their mechanic in this devlog. However, these are only the tip of the iceberg – a reward for keeping one's mind in good shape. The rest of the mental states arent’t that nice, and this devdiary will be dedicated to them.
I repeat: these are NOT political coordinates.
I think it’s worth to recall how psyche works in our game in general. Your character has two scales: Sanity and Morale. Sanity is responsible for how adequately your character perceives the world around. Morale show the willingness to perceive the world as it is. The psyche of the character in Stoneshard is based on the interconnection of these two scales, which determine the general pool of possible moods and states, and the various triggers that activate these states.
High Morale + Low Sanity
This combination gives states that are generally harmful, but can be useful and even powerful in some situations. They simulate various conditions in which a person loses control, letting outside his inner beast.
Sadism
This state increases the survivability of the character in battle, but severely cripples your recovery speed when not in combat.
Trigger: the activation chance can be increased with damaging and killing enemies.
- Critical Chance + 15%
- Critical Damage + 30%
- Lifesteal + 25%
- Energysteal + 25%
- Health Restoration -35%
- Energy Restoration -35%
Masochism
This state allows the character to draw strength from his own suffering – but it lowers his survivability.
Trigger: the activation chance increases depending on how low your health is, and how high your pain level is.
- Damage Received + 33%
- Pain Limit +25
- Pain Resistance + 30%
- The higher the pain, the more energy is recovered at the end of the turn.
- Each point of pain slightly lowers Abilities Energy Cost.
Frenzy
Your character throws a tantrum. It causes him to destroy everything in its path, paying very little attention to any resistance he may face.
Trigger: requires active Sadism / Masochism / Megalomania. High pain level, as well as taking and dealing damage, increases the activation chance.
- Decreases Sanity, but increases Morale.
- You lose control of your character for 10 turns.
- Your character have a chance to apply “Consecutive Blows” skill instead of an ordinary melee hit (even if it isn’t learnt)
- Damage Received -50%
- Pain Resistance + 90%
- Weapon Damage + 33%
- Critical Damage + 75%
Megalomania
At low Sanity your character tends to pay way too much attention to his own successes. Sometimes it takes morbid forms.
Trigger: the activation chance increases due to successful hits (especially critical ones), killings of multiple enemies and leveling up. Misses and fumbled attacks reduce the chance.
- All player attributes are falsely increased when displayed. The narcissistic character considers himself flawless and therefore is inclined to overstate his real abilities.
- Physical, mental and magical debuffs (except for injuries and psyche states) become hidden. Such flaws are way too insignificant to be concerned about.
- Bonus Experience: -75%
Low Morale + High Sanity
Now we can turn to the next set of states, caused by a combination of low Morale and high Reason. This is reflected by the mood cycle: the longer your character stays depressed, the more disheartened he becomes.
Apathy
The beginning of a long journey right into the abyss. The character loses the motivation to move on.
Trigger: skipping turns, Rest Mode overuse, no challenges (like enemies in sight) increase the activation chance. The fastest way to shake a character a bit is continuous fights. Don’t let your character to be idle!
- Willpower -10%
- Vision -1
- Fumble Chance +7%
- Fortitude -10%
- Sanity Change -0.05 every turn
- Bonus Experience -25%
Anxiety
Anxiety is reinforced where apathy has taken root.
Trigger: requires Apathy. The lower your health and the lower your morality - the more worrying your character is and the higher the activation chance of this state.
- Willpower -20%
- Vision -2
- Fumble Chance + 15%
- Fortitude -20%
- Sanity Change -0.1 every turn
- Psionic Resistance -25%
Despair
A character who has succumbed to despair no longer believes in his own success and just wishes to bring the inevitable end even closer.
Trigger: requires Anxiety. The activation chance depends both on the health and morale levels, as well as hunger, pain, thirst and toxicity levels. The worse your character feels in general, the faster he will fall into despair.
- Willpower -30%
- Vision -3
- Fumble Chance + 25%
- Fortitude -30%
- Sanity Change -0.2 every turn
- Damage Received +20%
Hypochondria
Hypochondria is an obsession with one’s own health. When hypochondriac receives even the slightest reason to worry, he starts to think he got gravely sick with every possible disease ever. With the exception of prenatal fever maybe.
Trigger: every untreated disease and every undiagnosed symptom increase the activation chance.
- Willpower -10%
- Fortitude -30%
- Health Threshold -10%
- Pain Resistance -25%
- Sanity Change -0.05 for each active undiagnosed symptom
- Every turn there is a chance to discover a false symptom. Or maybe a true one? Or maybe a false one though?
The effects of the most terrible combination, low Sanity and low Morale, shall remain a secret so far - because of their complexity, they still require some more work and polish. In the meantime, you can turn on your imagination and try to guess how they will work in our game by their names.
See you soon. Until the next devlog!
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