Mental Health and Therapy

## Mental Health

Sojourner is a very traumatic world, and because of how hostile the environment is on not just the body but the mind as well, every character has a Sanity bar. Sanity is a measure of the character’s mental wellbeing. Consider it a second health bar, because if a character’s Sanity reaches zero, they are effectively deceased. And as their Sanity gets lower, they will begin to develop mental disorders. A new mental disorder is developed every time a character’s Sanity drops below half their max and then every two points after until sanity reaches zero.

Certain character traits can reduce or increase Sanity loss such as Iron Willed or Steadfast. If any of these perks would cause the Sanity loss to reduce beyond 1, even with a failed check, the character does not need to make the check in order to resist it.

Due to the subjective nature of mental trauma, it is up to the GM to determine what does and does not count as trauma, thus incurring a willpower save, and it is up to the players to roleplay such losses as best they can.

Sanity, in Sojourner, is not a measure of mild annoyance or of small saddening things. Sanity in Sojourner is a slow but inevitable march towards the inevitable; that the good guys can't always win, and sacrifices must be made in order for them to win. Without exceptional courage not only from themselves but from the others around them to approach them about said illnesses and without the guiding hand of their therapists, most heroes would go into the eternal night not with a bang but with a whimper.

Therapy takes time and is not an absolute science. As advanced as technology is, the human brain must necessarily adapt to be just as fast if not faster or be rendered obsolete. With therapy, however, Sanity can be maintained, and mental disorders can be removed. Listed down below are charts for Sanity loss. If a character beats the Willpower DC they take only half of the Sanity Loss which defaults to 0 if the effect would set it lower than one though in any other case rounds up.

Insanity Chart
 Moderate
 Major
 Party Member Death

### The Therapist

Characters cannot provide therapy to themselves and performing therapy is considered a downtime activity. Therapy can be given in either weekly or monthly sessions. After one month of therapy, the highest DC threshold achieved is applied and all others are ignored. If the character did not make the DC threshold, the therapy is ineffective.

Therapy is rolled daily by the Therapist, but its total score is not tallied until the end of the agreed therapy session (week/month). It does not take the downtime of the therapist but does take the downtime of the player requesting the service, similar to a surgeon that can heal you while not using their downtime.

A Skilled Therapist (with the Therapist Acquired Skill Learned) will gain a +1 to help with the treatment needed. They also have the ability to use Pharmacy, only to assist with therapy, and provide their medical skill as a bonus to the character performing therapy. However, it does require the character to spend 500 Credits per week (2,000 a month) to provide the drugs necessary as the therapist.

Characters who have the Surgery acquired skill may also assist in therapy, at the consent of the individual undergoing therapy. Should they do so, they lend their medical skill to the therapist. However, as a result, the character undergoing therapy takes a -1 to all ability scores (undergoing invasive brain surgery). If any of their ability scores are reduced to 0 the therapy is a failure and the character dies.

Therapy (Persuasion or Artistry)
 80
 100
 120

Removing drug addictions requires the character undergoing therapy to not take the drug they are addicted to during it. The same rules apply as treating insanity. If the character takes the drug of choice during their therapy, the downtime is still used, and any currency spent is not refunded. The therapy, however, is rendered moot.

Removing an Addiction
 Humming Bird
 Immunity
 Jumper
 Rocky Road

### Mental Disorders and Illnesses

Mental disorders are gained at 5 and 2 Sanity. When you reach either of these levels of sanity, roll 1d6 and consult the chart below. If your die roll lands on a mental disorder your character is incapable of having (IE; a robot rolling and achieving drug addiction) roll again. Gaining a mental disorder is unavoidable when sanity reaches these lower levels. In order to remove mental disorders, your character must undergo therapy.