Farewell to Sanity

In a previous column I spoke about the much touted Tower of Sanity. In retrospect, I should have called it the Pillar of Sanity, which makes it sound that much more precarious. But that doesn't matter now, because we got rid of it.

Oh sure the idea seemed great. And for awhile, the Tower of Sanity did its job – it upped the tension and slowed down the game enough to keep players suitably on edge. But there were a couple of basic problems that ultimately made me decide to get rid of the Tower altogether. Here's why:

• Too few players. The Tower actually works best when there's a large group, because it focuses their attention and keeps the sanity effects to a minimum. With six players, everyone going insane could be disastrous, so the Tower made sense. With just three players, the Tower of Sanity slowed the game down and interrupted the role-play rhythm.
• A one-shot deal. The Tower, once it falls, really loses its grip on the room. The tension is gone. Building the tower up takes time, which can break the mood after a wonderful buildup.
• The players role-play insanity anyway. It took me awhile to realize this. Guppy started out insane. Jim-Bean has developed a narcissistic god complex. Archive is beset by dreams of cannibalism and a fear of spheres. The players are role-playing their insanities with little help from me. They don't need the Tower to tell them when to act scared.

In a sense, the Tower of Sanity was horror training wheels. It helped my group get accustomed to the notion of their characters becoming unhinged, but after awhile it became unnecessary because they chose to role-play their own customized insanities. When Archive faced down a ghostly glowing orb, Joe L. role-played his character running and screaming for his life – I didn't ask him to make any rolls. Similarly, Guppy's barely hanging on most of the time and will scream for help or run away (often hiding under tables) when his sanity is threatened.

And finally...

• The Tower is bulky: Jenga is not an easy game to transport. It didn't pack well for my long trips to the game table.

Your Turn: Do you find experienced players don't need sanity mechanics?

Michael "Talien" Tresca is the National RPG Examiner