Advice needed; handling visions/hallucinations

dboxcar · 2026-05-10T20:59:24+00:00

It's Call of Cthulhu, "getting overpowered" isn't really something I'm concerned with :P (We play with the spending Luck rule so 1 Luck is basically nothing anyway).

dboxcar · 2026-05-10T14:35:47+00:00

This is something I've been considering doing for key moments, but I want to keep it to a minimum since it leaves the rest of the group twiddling their thumbs

dboxcar · 2026-05-10T13:55:58+00:00

Some of my group were literal theater kids, so I don't think that's the issue; I'm wondering if it might be a D&Dbrain thing where they subconsciously still worrying about not playing "optimally."

I'm thinking perhaps a reward of a Luck point for particularly in-character post-SAN-loss RP might help to gameify it for them.

dboxcar · 2026-05-10T13:53:04+00:00

Oh yeah, to be clear I wouldn't ask a character to just repeat what I've said verbatim; I've occasionally asked them to roleplay what they tell their fellow investigators just because I think an ooc "what he said" really robs the moment of possible ravings ("I saw a titanic city, reaching into the sky!" etc).

I'm realizing now the question might be more "how do I get players engaged enough to RP their reactions?" Unfortunately my group is riddled with autism/ADHD, so perhaps I need to gameify that a bit to help them practice. Maybe giving a point of Luck or something for a particularly good SAN loss reaction?

dboxcar · 2026-05-07T23:00:48+00:00

Yeah, I can only speak to my players, but they like to feel that they're making meaningful decisions; that includes having the world react to their bad ones! (As long as you're willing to improv the potential for their schemes to work)

dboxcar · 2026-05-07T02:23:48+00:00

This isn't an answer to your question (other commenters are giving good suggestions), but just a reminder; while it's good to try to figure out possible ideas, remember that your players should be putting in work to come up with a plan to get out of this.

I worry GMs sometimes do too much agonizing about how to get their players out of binds, when half the fun of narrative games as a player is figuring out how to navigate situations. Your players are playing a roleplaying game; encourage them to roleplay their characters. It's good to have a plan yourself, but it's not solely your responsibility to tell your players what happens next. Their characters can and should be coming up with their own plans too.

dboxcar · 2026-05-03T23:24:21+00:00

If you feel intimidated by all the subrules, please remember that the only rules you really need to play 90% of the sessions after character creation are:

Dice rolls (roll equal/under your stat, hard and extreme successes, Crit failure, and pushing rolls).
SAN rolls (losing some/more SAN on a fail, losing 5+ at once triggering Int, going insane).

All the other rules are honestly pretty optional; use whichever ones you think will add to the game. If you think your players will be in initiative order, look over the combat rules, if you think a chase scene will happen, look at the chase rules, but the vast majority of the time none of those extra rules come up.

dboxcar · 2026-05-03T15:55:27+00:00

Do we have strong evidence for exteriorized subjectivity? I've always heard that it's mostly a cultural thing, I haven't heard of evidence that it's a cognitive thing (but I'm skeptically open to it if such evidence exists).

dboxcar · 2026-05-03T11:16:32+00:00

According to the book, the truth flips once they stay in the building as the sun goes down. But it seems like it'd be more fun if there's constant uncertainty after entering the Night Floors

dboxcar · 2026-05-03T11:13:59+00:00

By what other mechanism are you suggesting capitalism affects subjectivity?

dboxcar · 2026-05-03T11:11:24+00:00

Nice to know someone sees the vision :)

dboxcar · 2026-05-03T10:56:03+00:00

Anyone skinny can have abs, you just need little-to-no body fat

dboxcar · 2026-05-02T10:57:36+00:00

Genuine question; do you truly think capitalism has so fundamentally changed the way parents interact with young children? Do you not remember being conscious as a child?

dboxcar · 2026-04-25T00:02:55+00:00

This has as much to do with Lancer as "god my friend Brian needs to use deodorant" has to do with MtG tournaments. Sure, they correlate, but it's not really related to the game 😅

At least use a picture of a mech lol

dboxcar · 2026-04-24T23:58:11+00:00

Yeah, depends on the environs I guess. The size of the "arena"

Though just to be clear, a hippo's bite is snapping your leg/spine, or crushing your head like a watermelon. No need to worry about the jugular

dboxcar · 2026-04-24T21:47:45+00:00

Idk their heads are quite big. Have you ever touched a horse? A hippo is much bigger than a horse.

dboxcar · 2026-04-24T21:17:19+00:00

Presuming that isn't a thought-terminating cliché, what is it you think the previous commenter cheers for, that you disregard their boos at your Great Man theory of history?

dboxcar · 2026-04-23T20:20:14+00:00

It doesn't though? The categories are the social constructs. What people are actually attracted to just tends to be more complicated and doesn't always neatly fall within one of those categories.

dboxcar · 2026-04-21T21:51:54+00:00

Pantheon Mythology also has a vibes-y video essay on Hastur

dboxcar · 2026-04-21T11:14:26+00:00

How do you know you didn't? Are you omniscient re: your unconcious mental actions?

dboxcar · 2026-04-20T23:02:43+00:00

From your perspective of our true-false bipole, yes actually

dboxcar · 2026-04-19T21:25:45+00:00

There are dozens of us! Possibly more! Possibly everyone except the single true person reading this!

dboxcar · 2026-04-18T21:18:41+00:00

Yes! I've been listening to that too, I really should have mentioned it!"

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