Reality Check Rolls

(Back to Insanity Side-Effects 2: Delusions and Reality Checks)

While reality checks are usually only called for on behalf of insane investigators, a player might call for one if they wish to "see through" what they believe to a hallucination or illusion. To perform a reality check, the player makes a Sanity Roll:


 * Failure: lose 1 Sanity point. This will immediately induce a bout of madness if the investigator is suffering Underlying Insanity. Any delusions are not dispelled.
 * Success: the investigator sees through any delusions, and the Keeper must describe what the investigator genuinely perceives.

On making a successful reality check roll, the investigator should see things as they really are and will be resistant to delusions until losing further Sanity points (thus preventing the Keeper from constantly throwing delusions at a player).

Successful use of the Psychoanalysis skill will an allow an insane investigator to see a delusion for what it is.

''Harvey, still suffering from underlying insanity, returns to his home. Going out of his back door, he finds his neighbor leaning over the garden fence with some kind of recording device in his hand, pointed at Harvey's house. The Keeper tells Harvey's player that Harvey's neighbor is spying on him. This is a delusion - in fact the neighbor is doing no such thing. The player, wondering if this is a delusion, asks for a reality check.''

''With a successful reality check roll, Harvey is free of his delusion. The Keeper cannot continue the delusion and must describe the scene realistically. In this case, there was no recording device and the neighbor was simply admiring Harvey's lawn.''

''If the player chooses to make a reality check roll and fails, Harvey will lose 1 Sanity point and suffer a bout of madness. As he is the only investigator present, the Keeper is free to fast-forward to the point where another investigator (or the police) turns up to find Harvey coming out of his own front door, armed with a shotgun, determined to break into his neighbor's house and interrogate him, or worse.''

''If the player does not choose to ask for a reality check, the Keeper is free to elaborate on the delusion, perhaps staging that Harvey sees his neighbor conversing with a ghoul (actually the neighbor's child) on the patio. At this point the player would have to either make a Sanity roll for seeing a ghoul or make a reality check roll. If they succeed in the reality check, Harvey will realize there is no ghoul and that he was imagining it all. If they fail, Harvey will lose a point of Sanity, suffer a bout of madness, and terrible things will no doubt ensue.''