I Need A Touch of Madness

[Palanan]

Is there any kind of effect which could cling to an item, and be transferred from that item to anyone who holds it?

I'm looking for something subtle and insidious, which would take several days to develop, and which ideally would lead to mental instability and derangement. I'm open to material from 3.5 if necessary--but is there anything like this in Pathfinder?

[Thealtruistorc]

Resetting Spell traps are your best bet. Make one that replicates the effects of Insanity, throw it on thevitem in question, and have fun.

[Pyromancer999]

If you want to wait a couple weeks, there could be something like this in Horror Adventures.

[NamelessNPC]

shattermind (https://sites.google.com/site/pathfinderogc/gamemastering/afflictions/diseases/shattermind) is a contact disease, so it can be smeared all over magic ítems in a hoard. 1d4 wis damage and makes people suffer of insanity. There are a lot of diseases, poisons and curses in the afflictions sections of the pfsrd, so maybe another one suits you better

[Randomthom]

I'd suggest looking up the Wendigo for how it's madness works (you don't need to use the monster, just a good potential source for ideas).

[Palanan]

Originally Posted by Pyromancer999
If you want to wait a couple weeks, there could be something like this in Horror Adventures.

Do you know for certain if Horror Adventures will have something suitable? I tried looking for a playtest, but couldn't seem to find one.


Originally Posted by NamelessNPC
shattermind is a contact disease, so it can be smeared all over magic ítems in a hoard. 1d4 wis damage and makes people suffer of insanity.

Interesting, thanks--that definitely has some potential.

This will be for a first-level party, though, so some of those DCs may be a little high.


Originally Posted by Randomthom
I'd suggest looking up the Wendigo for how it's madness works (you don't need to use the monster, just a good potential source for ideas).

Wendigos are actually perfect for the campaign theme and its environment…but at CR 17, one would be overwhelming.

But someone afflicted with wendigo psychosis, stalking one of the PCs…now that could be interesting.

[Pyromancer999]

Do you know for certain if Horror Adventures will have something suitable? I tried looking for a playtest, but couldn't seem to find one.


Horror Adventures has no playtest. However, previews(See the Monster Within), talk about new curses, and also that mention the sanity system. There will most likely be a curse that can cause sanity damage over time (which specifically mentions inflicting madness at half sanity points and only increases from there)and even if not, once the rules are out, a homebrew curse that does that should not be too hard.