Psychosis

A professional roadfighter is in an almost constant state of stress. Drivers who live Jong enough begin to exhibit combat fatigue syndrome similar to that suffered by many members of the armed forces. This unhealthy mental state is worsened by the media, which brings its own pressure to bear on those involved with the violent struggle for survival. Vulture station
crews incite the belligerent factions on both sides of the law. And it's all too easy for people to lose sight of their original ideals when some media corporation exec is offering a backhander they desperately need.

To expect human beings to remain stable under such extreme conditions is ridiculous, but few stop to examine the consequences of their actions.
The price many pay for their cause is their sanity. Institutions across the USA are full of ex-Ops and Outlaws to prove it.

The mayhem, destruction and killing involved in their professions leaves many Ops and Outlaws emotionally scarred, twitchy, and in the worse cases, completely deranged. To reflect this, a player must keep track of his character's psychosis points. Psychosis points are received as follows:

1. At the end of every engagement, each surviving driver receives 1 psychosis point for each driver fatality on his side, and a half a point for driver fatalities on the opposing side (round down).
2. A driver receives 1 psychosis point as a result of limb loss.
3. A driver receives D6 psychosis points as a result of invoking a recovery clause after becoming a roadfight fatality.
4. A driver receives 1 psychosis point for each roll he makes on any of the Media Tables (see Media). These points are added to the driver's total at the end of the next engagement.

Some of the disorders a character can suffer result in modifications to his driving ability, combat performance or status. Such modifications take effect at the beginning of the next contract sequence.

### Psychosis Tests

Drivers with 2 or more psychosis points must take a psychosis test at the end of the psychosis phase. To test, the player rolls 2 dice. If the dice total is greater than the driver's current psychosis points total, the driver is unaffected and doesn't need to test again until the end of the next psychosis phase. If the total scored on the dice is less than or equal to the driver's current psychosis points, the driver is compelled to take a disorder test (see Disorders).

Psychosis points are held over from contract sequence to contract sequence. Therefore, it's inevitable that some drivers must gain disorders if they survive Jong enough. It's also more likely that in some circumstances drivers will be more susceptible to extreme disorders. It's a harsh fact of life.

*However, that engagement has taken his kudos level to 26, making him famous. In the pay phase, the driver gets to make a roll on a Media Table. The magazine interview he agrees to costs him another psychosis point. In the next contract sequence, apart from any psychosis points he gains from the engagement he takes part in, he has to add the point he got for taking that media roll. The chances are that in the forthcoming sequence, this driver is going to fail a psychosis test.*