(In those games that use the Cthulhu Mythos, religion seldom provides any succor at all.) Characters are suspicious, even paranoid, for a seemingly innocent commoner could secretly serve a cult. Religion is not only a source of comfort or succor, but also a dangerous enemy. If you adopt this variant in your campaign, the largest change will most likely be one of tone (this applies to an even greater extent if you adopt the entire Cthulhu Mythos that the variant is based on).Īs in the Call of Cthulhu Roleplaying Game, characters feel more vulnerable, for no matter how powerful they become, the dark gods are always greater. This gradual descent is balanced in part by the powers that characters gain each time they overcome a horrific foe or grow in skill and expertise, but even as those characters grow in power, they know or fear that an even greater peril lies ahead-the threat of becoming permanently insane.īecause it affects the way that characters interact with the creatures and objects that they encounter on their adventures in many different and profound ways, this variant, perhaps more than any other in Unearthed Arcana, can alter the entire feel of a campaign. As a character encounters monsters, witnesses horrible acts, masters forbidden knowledge, or casts spells, his Sanity score, and his corresponding ability to function as a normal member of his race, deteriorates. This statistic functions like an ability score in some ways, but it has its own unique mechanics that represent the character’s descent from a stable and healthy mental state into confusion, dementia, and mental instability. In campaigns using these rules, characters gain a new attribute called Sanity.

This variant system allows you to introduce an element of dark horror into your d20 game.

Spell physical malody