[UA] Pass the crazy-flakes, doctor.

[Mike Dewar]

I'm currently running a game in which a few unlucky mind rolls have
dramatically eroded two characters' sanities. We've discussed the
implications and various ways to handle this, and come to a fair number of
decent solutions, but the conversation re-awakened some problems and
thoughts that I've had in the past when characters have gone too far down
the road to la-la land. 

Of course, some people enjoy playing cracked characters, but there's often a
point at which a player will want to try and reverse some of the damage.
Sure, the rulebook gives rules for psychotherapy, but so many stresses that
UA characters undergo are the result of things which are, frankly, freaking
weird! 

UA Bob turns up at his shrink and tells the shrink about his most recent
unnatural failure, when an Entropomancer carved the word "Loser" all over
his skin. 

The shrink hears this and decides that the self-mutilating patient needs to
go to a padded cell. Even if he doesn't start calling Bob's family to get
him put away, his solution to the problem will probably revolve around
convincing Bob that the problem is all in his head. Either Bob ignores this
advice (because he knows damn well that it's real, and because his fellow
PCs all saw it too) or Bob starts trying to convince himself that it never
happened and live a normal life. In that case, Bob's basically trying to
retire from the Underground and ignores anything weird he sees. Hardly a
good long-term campaign.  

Alternatively, Bob makes up some kind of lie to tell his doctor. But then
how can Bob actually get help? I'm very dubious that someone who's lying
about their underlying problem will get solid psychotherapy. 

So what are the alternatives? If you're lucky (or on TNI's payroll), you
might be able to find a shrink who believes in the supernatural, but is
still stable enough to help you. But that's pretty rare. 

You could find a magickal solution, like Crystal Courage - but frankly, I
feel that UA magick and insanity are so closely related that it's a bit like
cheating to use magick to become saner. At the very least, magickal
solutions should have a heavy price (like Crystal Courage - feel less afraid
by feeling nothing at all...). 

And if the magickal solution isn't sufficiently costly, then you'd end up
totally pulling the teeth of madness. Going crazy - well, just dance naked
with a dead dog for 3 hours and you'll feel so much better! Yeah, right. 

Thoughts? How have other people managed "curing" characters? 

I'd say a good "cure" needs three main characteristics: 

1) Not too easy. Ideally, you want getting rid of a notch to be as
significant (in roleplaying terms) as gaining it was. 

2) Reasonable and not too overt a DM-Fix. An avatar of the Confessor
shouldn't randomly move in next-door and start coming to tea. 

3) Not too occult-heavy. People with blown gauges tend to have less hardened
notches (funny, that), and thus aren't likely to be keen on an obviously
magickal solution which intrudes into their own brains. 

- Mike