SANITY
All characters have a level of sanity, and given how hard this new world is to survive in, trying to retain that sanity is not always easy. This is referred to as your Sanity Points, or SP.
REGAINING SANITY
A full night of rest will regain all your sanity, unless you are informed otherwise by a Ref. There are other IC methods to regaining sanity, such as having a session with someone who has Counsellor abilities.
BREAKDOWN STATE
Breakdown State occurs when your character loses all of their sanity points. Every character reacts in a different way to breakdown, as determined by you. While in Breakdown, you should not move far from your spot, cannot use any of your skills, and cannot attack or defend yourself in any way. This can be roleplayed as being in a state of extreme shock, fear or panic, becoming completely despondent, phasing out, or any other way that feels appropriate. In special circumstances, a Ref might give you specific instructions regarding your breakdown.
INCREASING AND DECREASING SANITY
There are ways to increase your maximum number of Sanity Points, and this must be discovered in play.
Similarly, there are some methods that can be used to permanently decrease the amount of Sanity you have, such as suffering from Breakdown State too often! Trying to retain your sanity is a very important part of We Are Legends.
THE "ATLAS" SKILL
The ATLAS skill possessed by Counsellors is not a magical or super-powered skill. It represents the character's ability to manipulate the thoughts of others through their charisma and understanding of the human psyche. If a counsellor uses the ATLAS skill on you, they will show you a card to tell you that they have done so. Under the effect of ATLAS, you should roleplay the suggestion as if it were natural to you.
However, it is not a foolproof skill. If you feel that the roleplay to convince you was exceptionally weak (for example, someone saying "Just do as I say. Please? Come on..." for five minutes) or that it hugely objects with something essential to the core beliefs of your character (for example, you have taken an oath as a doctor to never kill another person, and the counsellor is trying to convince you to murder an innocent) then you can resist the effect by stating "You can't convince me on this". That said, please keep in mind that the player has spent a character skill on having this ability, and resisting it should be no easy task.
You can be under two ATLAS effects at once. If a later use of ATLAS directly opposes an earlier suggestion made to you (for example, on Friday you were given the ATLAS suggestion of "You should stay indoors" and on Saturday you were given the ATLAS suggestion of "You should be brave and go outside"), the newer suggestion will over-ride the old one.
If you are subjected to the CLEAR MIND call, all suggestions given to you using ATLAS are removed.
If left untreated, an ATLAS effect will last until the end of the event, unless you are told otherwise by a referee.
THE "COMPEL" SKILL
The COMPEL skill is similar to ATLAS in that it can manipulate the thoughts of others, but it is somewhat less powerful. It can only be used for very basic commands, and only lasts for ten minutes. You can be under multiple COMPEL calls, but if they become confusing, the target will start to ignore the oldest COMPEL calls in favour of newer ones.
If you are subjected to the CLEAR MIND call, all suggestions given to you using COMPEL are removed.
If you are subject to the COMPEL call in conversation and you are STUBBORN, you can resist the effect.
If you hear the SONIC COMPEL call and you have SELECTIVE HEARING, you can resist the effect.
If you resist a COMPEL/SONIC COMPEL effect, you are unaware of this unless you are told otherwise by a referee.
USING "ATLAS" AND "COMPEL"
ATLAS and COMPEL should only ever be used for fair IC action. It should never be used to put a player in OC danger, or make them OC uncomfortable. For example, asking a character to act in a flirtatious manner towards another character would be deemed an unacceptable use of the skill. Similarly, commanding them to run down a dangerous slope would also be unacceptable.
If the target of an ATLAS or COMPEL command feels that the command is against the spirit of the rules, speak to a ref.
CLEAR MIND
The "Clear Mind" call represents something happening which brings people to their senses. If you are under an ATLAS suggestion/s then they end if you are targeted by this call. Similarly, you may have received a Mental State card, which will state whether or not the effect can be broken by the Clear Mind call.
MENTAL STATE
Some characters will experience unpleasant or difficult scenarios that may leave them with temporary changes to their personalities or reactions. These will be detailed on a MENTAL STATE card provided to you by a Ref. They require a Counsellor to fully diagnose and treat.