The Sanity Meter - A Homebrew Game Mechanic (I think)

The Sanity Meter - A Lovely New Addition To My Post-Apocalypse Campaign "Last Light - Horizons."

To be 100% truthful here, it is a work in progress, so this is like the beta or alpha (or whatever you'd call it version), so there will definitly be some kinks in it that I need to flatten out, but I wanted to share with my favourite community the gist of my idea.

Sanity - What is it?

Basically, I have this campaign (I call it Last Light - Horizons. Idk, I thought it was a cool name), and this campaign is a post-apocalypse survival campaign. And I decided that there needed to be some sort of status effect/de-buff that would affect characters to make the game more interesting, but it had to fit the End-Of-The-World theme I had going on, so I finally came up with SANITY/INSANITY.

Basically what happens with this mechanic is that certain items, creatures, whatnot will either increase or decrease sanity levels, and depending on where you are on the sanity scale, you get certain de-buffs. Simple?

The Effects

100-80% Sanity: Normal State

No de-buffs or effects. Characters are mentally stable and functioning at their best.

79-60% Sanity: Unease State Characters have disadvantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks due to growing paranoia and anxiety.

59-40% Sanity: Disturbed State Characters suffer disadvantage on ability checks involving Charisma skills (except Intimidation) as their social interactions are affected by their mental state.

39-20% Sanity: Hallucinations State Characters start experiencing vivid and unsettling hallucinations. At the beginning of each long rest, they must make a Wisdom saving throw (DC determined by the DM). On a failure, they gain a short-term madness effect from the Dungeon Master's Guide

19-0% Sanity: Insanity State Characters are consumed by madness. They have disadvantage on all attack rolls, ability checks, and saving throws. Additionally, they roll a d20 at the start of each day for 3 turns. After that, they go down to a d10, then a d6, then a d4 from there on. On a roll of 1, they affected for 24 hours by an effect determined by the DM according to the “Insanity Side Effects” Status Table.

"THE INSANITY SIDE EFFECTS STATUS TABLE"

1. Paranoia: Suddenly, your characters are convinced that their own shadows are plotting against them! Say goodbye to sneaky entrances and hello to awkward stealth attempts.

2. Phobia: Ever seen a battle-hardened warrior run from a harmless chicken? Get ready for irrational fears of everyday things like water or, dare we say it, hats!

3. Catatonia: Oh no, our hero is frozen in place! They won't move, respond, or even lift a finger until they snap out of it with a successful Wisdom save.

4. Manic Laughter: Laughter is contagious, especially when it strikes at the most inappropriate times. Watch as your characters burst into fits of giggles during intense negotiations or tense battles.

5. Dissociative Episode: New personality alert! Suddenly, your charming bard insists they're a barbaric warrior, complete with an accent that would make a pirate blush.

6. Echopraxia: Congratulations, you're a mirror! Characters find themselves imitating the quirkiest actions of their allies. Remember, it's flattery, even if it's not intentional.

7. Hypochondria: Do your characters suddenly have a cough, a limp, and three rare diseases all at once? Yep, they've caught a severe case of hypochondria. Get ready for endless checkups.

8. Compulsive Ritual: Tap the table three times, hop on one foot, and spin around. Congratulations, you've just found your character's new lucky routine! Keep it up, or who knows what might happen?

9. Fearful Whispers: Shh, do you hear that? Characters start listening to creepy voices only they can hear. It's like an otherworldly ASMR session, except it fills them with dread.

10. Emotional Overload: Watch your character go from Hulk-level rage to sobbing like a bard who just lost their lute. Emotions are on a rollercoaster, and they're riding it!

Final Question:

What I'm really trying to ask here is if this is any good, or if I should change it, or whatnot. If you have any questions for clarification, feel free to ask. I'm also working on an "information pamphlet" for insanity that I will post later!