The Panic Rules - LunarNeil/Call-of-Cthulhu-Campaign GitHub Wiki
The Panic Rules introduce In-Game Consequences for player indecision during conflict resolution, helping to replicate the kinds of panic responses players have when playing survival horror videogames or watching suspenseful movies. The Panic Rules can also be applied to Dramatic Arbitration as well. These are optional tools for roleplaying dangerous moments and maintaining a high level of tension at the gaming table, but they are highly encouraged. The three core panic rules are:
The First Rule: Think Fast
Players suffer greater challenge ratings and reduced priority for taking too long in negotiation phase, and can even be denied an action entirely (due to Investigator panic) if they exceed a reasonable time limit as specified by the Moderator.
The Second Rule: No Second Chances
Players cannot change the Intent once they start stating it, nor undo any arbitrated action once the Moderator begins describing the result, but in both cases the player may interrupt for an intentional failure of the action to minimize negative consequences.
The Third Rule: Be Confident
Players can influence their Investigator's mental state through their roleplay, and Intents stated without player confidence or commitment will have that decreased level of commitment translated to the Investigator's actions.
While these may sound like punitive responses to normal player indecision during action planning, it benefits the game to force the players plan their decisions quickly, to punish "take-back" attempts, and to take role-playing cues from the players when judging Investigator mental states. It is precisely the lack of time and lack of safety which makes situations tense or terrifying. For an example of how this might work at your table, look at the following example:
Player 1: "Uh... I... I peer open, I mean, push open the door slightly and peer down the hall to see what's making those noises!"
Player 2: "Don't do it!"
Player 1: "I'm doing it!"
Moderator: "Okay. You press your trembling hand against the cold door, and it hangs on ancient, rusty hinges. Your breath hangs in the air as you try to nudge it open. The hallway is lit by dim blue moonlight, and through the small opening you squint to see a billous loathsome shap-
Player 1: "Nope!" (slams hands on table)
Player 2: "I told you!"
Moderator: "You slam the door shut with a bang! Down the hall, you think you hear a high pitched squealing..."
In this situation the Player yelled out "Nope!" to intentionally fail his action and his lack of composure means he did it with a loud bang. But if the player hadn't done this, the Moderator may have applied a point of Madness, which the player suspected. It turned this scene from a dull bit of exposition into an exciting moment that the Moderator exploits to add a bit of extra action. When the players lack the normal "time-out" safe spaces of narration and planning phase, they are more likely to feel stress, get tense, and make mistakes. Have fun with these, use all or none of them, or even write your own!