(Entry) Psykhotherapy: The Dark Mind

[Antti-san]

"Welcome to the asylum. Our most recent development is a new form of therapy. I quarantee that you will find it most pleasant..."

Psykhotherapy: The Dark Mind is a storytelling game of insane horror for 3 to eight players. Each player is a patient in the Asylum of Forsaken Willows. The game is played in 10 sessions which fall into three stages:

Stage 1: Introduction
The characters are brought to the asylum. In the introduction stage, players generate their characters and after that they are introduced to their fellow patients. This usually takes one session.

Stage 2: Treatment
Most of the game sessions are about the treatment that the characters undergo. During each session, one character is nominated as the Host and the other characters are nominated as the Visitors. The Visitors and the Host are set in a sterile room with multiple chambers surrounding one larger chamber. The Host goes to the large chamber and the Visitors to the other ones. After that, the treatment is finally about to begin.

Each Visitor is sent to the twisted mind of the Host. They have one hour to search his mind for clues that could help the Host regain his sanity. The Host however, being an insane person, tries subconsciously to stop them.

After an hour has passed, the therapy session is concluded and the characters are returned to their bodies (if still "mentally alive"). Next session is then ready to begin, with a different Host.

Stage 3: Diagnosis
After each character has been through therapy, it is time to make a final conclusion if the characters have regained their sanity and therefore free to leave the asylum. This usually takes one session.


*******

A quick synopsis of the game and what it is all about. Game mechanics are yet to be constructed, but I guess that they will soon come clear.

Small fact list:

Theme: Time (option 4: 10 sessions, 1 hour each)
Ingredients:
- Team
* The players form a team of fellow patients that undergo the therapy
- Steel
* It requires much "steely resolve" to make it through the Dark Mind of insane person
- Law
* The therapy is done in a very strict format. Although the sessions can be divided unequally to the Host characters if needed, the sessions are somewhat similar.


Comments? Suggestions?

[kenjib]

That's a really interesting decision to make each session involving only two of the players. I like that idea. What happens in a 3 player game in which, it seems to me, there will only be @1 session for introduction, 1 for diagnosis, and 2 for treatment? What happens for the next 6 sessions?

[Antti-san]

I guess that you missunderstood the Visitors bit. (Or maybe I didn't make myself clear enough) Each other player is nominated as the Visitors. Thus, if it is a 5 player game, each session will be of one Host and four Visitors.


I thought about the player numbers, and came with two ideas:

If there are fewer than 8 players, the missing patients (each therapy group consists of 8 patients) are divided between other players. (This could be very tricky though. Imagine one player playing both a Host and a Visitor)

The other idea of mine was that the sessions are divided between the patients, to make up for the lack of team members. If it can't be divided evenly, those who are yet to be "cured" are first priority.

[matthijs]

[Antti-san]

I was thinking that the mind is like a giantic puzzlebox. Stairways that lead nowhere. Lots of doors that lead to empty rooms. But in this maze, the Host is in control. This is represented by the Host players stream of consciousness. Everything that comes into mind, happens. This may seem a little confusing in the beginning, but basically it means improvising the whole session.

[Antti-san]

The character creation consists of four simple steps:

Step 1: Choose your Mental Illness
* In this step, the players choose a mental illness for their character from the list: Anxiety, Impulse Control Disorders, Manic-Depression, Megalomania, Melancholia, Multiple Personality, Neurotic Compulsion, Paranoia, Phobia and Schizophrenia

Step 2: Divide Attribute points
*I came up with a system consisting of six attributes:

Instinct: Human mind has it's own instincts. This attribute represents the ability to react without a thought.

Inspiration: Human mind has nearly unlimited capasity of creativity. This attribute represents the ability to improvise and be creative.

Physics: Body functions through interaction of neurons. This attribute represents the ability of controlling your mental image through neurons. (Needs a better definition, don't you think?)

Awareness: Human mind is not fully conscious of its own contents. This attribute represents the ability to react to stimulants.

Cognition: Human mind is both cognitive and conscious. This attribute represents the ability of intelligent thoughts and problemsolving.

Ego: Human mind has much influence on its surroundings by the means of conversation. This attribute represents the ability of charismatic performance and high self-esteem.

(These six are somehow divided into three groups, and 7/6/5 points are divided for the group)

Step 3: Calculate the personality
*This step is still quite unfinished. But basically it means adding certain attributes together for Mind Points and Sanity (more of these later)

Step 4: Name your poison
*This step is about the insanity. Why did the character become unstable? What hidden things lie in the characters subconsciousness? What terrible traumas has the character underwent to become so... insane?

[matthijs]

[Antti-san]

[Troy_Costisick]

[Antti-san]

Yes, the Host is the GM, so it means that each session has a different GM.

Special rules? I haven't actually managed to have much thought on the actual game mechanics, but I think that there will be some. This game stresses improvisation to the extreme: nothing can (nor it shouldn't) be planned beforehand. The Dark Mind of an insane person changes constantly, it can't be bound by the laws of this universe.

Resolution is another thing that I haven't yet figured out.


The climax of each session should be about finding the secret behind the Dark Mind. Keeping that in mind, the Host player is encouraged to make an entertaining yet challenging session.