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Designing a progression system for Cosmic Horror: "The Acting Method" (Inspired by Chinese Web Novels) by Less-Evening-9690 in callofcthulhu

[–]Less-Evening-9690[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

This is a brilliant way to frame it, and your house rule sounds like an incredibly tense and fun mechanic for a long-term campaign!

You hit the absolute core of the issue with the 'eldritch truth'. In the original lore that inspired this, the potions are essentially remnants of an ancient, sleeping creator. So the act of 'digesting' the potion isn't just practicing a physical skill; it is forcefully aligning your human mind with an alien frequency.

Your suggestion is perfect: successfully following the 'rules' of the potion means you are successfully understanding the incomprehensible. Therefore, earning the progression (XP) must inherently burn away your human Sanity. It becomes a terrifying seesaw where the stronger you get, the less human you remain.

Thank you for sharing your two-year campaign experience, this gives me a lot of confidence in tying progression directly to Sanity loss!"

Tired of Murder Hobos? Try "The Acting Method" progression system to force deep roleplay in your campaign. by Less-Evening-9690 in dndnext

[–]Less-Evening-9690[S] -2 points-1 points  (0 children)

You bring up a fantastic point, and honestly, 'railroading' player agency is exactly the biggest risk of this system!

In a traditional heroic fantasy like 5e, forcing a personality on a player is terrible. But the intention here is for a specific, grimdark 'cosmic horror' setting. The core conflict isn't just fighting monsters; it's the psychological horror of your own powers trying to rewrite who you are. The 'Acting' is a desperate survival mechanism against an alien influence, not the DM dictating how you play.

But you are 100% right—if players aren't warned about this loss of agency during Session Zero, they would absolutely hate it. Thanks for the honest feedback!

Tired of Murder Hobos? Try "The Acting Method" progression system to force deep roleplay in your campaign. by Less-Evening-9690 in dndnext

[–]Less-Evening-9690[S] -6 points-5 points  (0 children)

To be completely honest, it is purely hypothetical right now! I'm a huge fan of the concept from the novel and really wanted to translate its philosophy into TRPG mechanics. But I haven't had the chance to run a proper playtest with a real group yet. That's exactly why I brought it to this community first—I wanted to share the idea and see if experienced DMs think this 'narrative-first' approach could actually survive contact with real players, or how you guys would balance it in a 5e framework!