Well, what if when you reached the negative total of your soul you did gain a permanent insanity like the ones listed in the fear and insanity section, except you’d have no ability to resist the effect with a roll? While I am not at all for a deathless game, I think that a lot of what is being discussed here may make it too easy to be killed… which is a huge bummer when there is such a huge amount of time invested in characters.
I think we should use these to encourage more role-playing opportunities. If you think about it this way… if someone knocks you unconscious with mind damage, if they want to kill you they can just as easily shoot you in the head while you’re unconscious. It’s not going to matter if you are at full body and have 15 of it once you’re unconscious.
Here’s an idea:
Mind Damage: When someone damages your mind they are damaging the very thoughts that make you a conscious, intelligent person. While some breeds are supernatural and cannot be harmed physically by mind damage, mortals are not so lucky. One they reach 0 mind they will fall unconscious due to the heavy amoutns of mental trauma they’ve been afflicted with. If they continue to take mind damage passed the negative amount of their mind stats (eg a mind of 5 going to -5), all further mind damage will physically effect the brain, causing body damage instead. Also, while unconscious, the body has no way to protect itself from these mind attacks, as well as from something as simple as a gun or vicious knife wound. For their mind to heal, they must first heal all body damage, which can result in extended periods of unconsciousness or even comas.
(using the above example makes taking mind damage extremely hazardous, just as hazardous as body damage. It’s just harder to straight out kill someone using mental attacks than it is with body attacks. We could also make a rule that extended comas could result in the gaining of a temporary defect such as amnesia.)
Soul Damage: When someone damages your soul they are damaging the core of your being. While some breeds are supernatural and cannot be harmed physically by soul damage, mortals are not so lucky. Once they reach 0 soul they will fall unconscious due to the heavy amounts of distrss that have panged at their soul. If they continue to take soul damage passed the negative amount of their soul stats (eg a soul of 5 going to -5), all further soul damage will physically effect the shell, causing body damage instead. Also, while unconscious, the body has no way to protect itself from these soul attacks, as well as from something as simple as a gun or vicious knife wound. For their soul to heal, all body damage must first be healed, resulting in extended periods of unconsciousness or comas. Waking up from one of these comas can have the effect of causing a temporary insanity based on the situation.