Stress
System Overview
In Colony Alpha there are sometimes events that cause the characters to undergo stress. For instance, an intense firefight or witnessing a gruesome spectacle or having an otherworldly encounter. When this happens a staff member or game marshal will call for some or all of the characters to undergo a Stress Test.
When a Stress Test is called for all affected characters must immediately expend 1 PRE in order to pass the test. Any character that fails the Stress Test is immediately Shaken and takes a point of Stress. There will be a section on each player’s character sheet to record Stress Points.
| Stress
A shaken character loses their shit and has a mental breakdown. The character can’t attack or use skills (unless otherwise noted) but may defend themselves for 30 seconds. Exact ways to role-play this are up to each individual. |
Every time a character takes a Stress Point he/she gains a 12-hour immunity to new Stress Points. The character must still expend 1 PRE to pass a Stress Test, and can still become Shaken, but he/she will not accrue a new Stress Point during the 12-hour immunity.
Each time a character takes a Stress Point there is a cumulative 20% chance that he/she will manifest a psychological disorder by the next event. This means the first Stress Point has a 20% chance, the second Stress Point has a 40% chance, the third Stress Point has a 60% chance, and so on. If a character accumulates 10 Stress Points he/she will become completely insane and will be unplayable.
Psychological disorders can be temporarily mitigated with pharmaceuticals and permanently cured through counseling. Some pariah powers may also affect a character’s disorders.
Removing Stress
Characters trained in Psychology are able to remove stress from other characters through either Short Term Counseling or Long Term Counseling. Long Term Counseling can be used at any time, but has a large time requirement. Short Term Counseling must be used within 1 hour of a patient taking stress, but counselors may hold group therapy sessions to treat multiple people. During group therapy, a counselor may treat a number of patients equal to twice his/her rank in Psychology. Counselors can treat any stress level with Psychology 1.
| Long Term Counseling May be used at any time20 hours to remove 1 stress at Psychology 1, plus 2 Uncommon Pharmaceuticals. 18 hours to remove 1 stress at Psychology 2, plus 2 Uncommon Pharmaceuticals. 16 hours to remove 1 stress at Psychology 3, plus 2 Uncommon Pharmaceuticals. 14 hours to remove 1 stress at Psychology 4, plus 2 Uncommon Pharmaceuticals. Performing Long Term Counseling will reveal the patient’s current stress level. |
| Short Term Counseling Must be used within 1 hour of the patient taking stress20 minutes to remove 1 stress. Each patient requires 1 Uncommon Pharmaceuticals. May treat up to 2 patients at once with Psychology 1. |