Just looking at the Malygrisian Tech Heresy background package I noticed that under Insanity points it states that you are "Unhinged" and begin with 1d5 Insanity points. Now, "Unhinged" is capitalised (mid sentence) and is a specific level of insanity in the core rulebook... but it is 60+ insanity points. Does that mean the character starts with 60+1d5 insanity points, or they start with the effects of Unhinged (1 Severe disorder plus a -10 on trauma tests) but start at 1d5 Insanity points, or was it just a complete typo and they just start with 1d5 Insanity points?

My guess would be your second suggestion.

The book states that they "begin with 1d5 insanity points" which, taken literally, seems to refute the idea that the character would have the normal number of insanity points required for the "Unhinged" degree of madness. It certainly wouldn't seem fair for one of your players to begin a game in a position where their character could become terminally insane after acquiring less insanity points than it would take another character to gain their first disorder. The fact that the "Unhinged" mental state covers a range of 19 insanity points, with no indication where the character should begin, certainly suggests to me that it isn't intended for the Tech-Heretic to start with only 1d5 insanity points.

I think that the fact that the book states that the character is "Unhinged", especially as it is capitalised, strongly implies that they should start with the penalties of that degree of madness. While the simple statement "[you] are unhinged" would imply it is just flavour text, the presence of the capital letter is a pretty good suggestion that they meant for it to link with the degree of madness. While it does make sense that a character steeped in the heresies of Malygris would be somewhat deranged, it does seem odd that the writers didn't seek to hammer home exactly what this point means. As the statement is "You are Unhinged and begin play with 1d5 Insanity Points", it certainly could be interpreted as meaning the character has both all the requirements of the Unhinged degree of madness and an additional 1d5 insanity points.

I think this is an example of the game's design not quite matching up with what it represents. A Malygrisian Tech Heretic is going to start the game somewhat insane but for them to be a viable character in the long-term, you really can't have them start with the literal level of insanity their mental state would normally require. An Unhinged character is, at best, 40 Insanity Points from terminal insanity, while a normal acolyte begins the game that same distance from their first minor disorder. If you want the Malygrisian to have a similar life expectancy to the other characters in your group, then have him start with only the 1d5 Insanity Points but someone of his mental state really should be somewhere in the region of the 60+ points that being Unhinged would normally require. When other background packages cause characters to receive Insanity Points, the book simply states the number they start with but in this case there is clearly something beyond that. No other option has a piece of text akin to "You are Unhinged" and therefore I think we can only assume this is a key part of that package.

I think that what the description meant to convey was something like "You are Unhinged but begin with only 1d5 Insanity Points" but, as it stands, it is entirely up to you which of the penalties you suggested makes most sense.

Dude, use common sense. They obviously don't mean he is at the "Unhinged" stage of insantiy. It just a description to show that he has some starting insanity.

I'm with Quartermus here, it's just flavor text. You do not start with 60 IP or with the mental disabilities that it would bring you.

If you want an argument to how we can know this, consider all the other background. They give you similar bonuses but no where near that kind of penalty, so it would make no sense at all for that specific background to so much worse than everything else. Also, FFG doesn't seem to capitalize in plain text to indicate keywords very often (and they shouldn't, its a lousy way of writing rules), so all in all it's just adding some extra flavor or a plain typo.

I would think that by being "Unhinged" they would at least get the -10 for mental trauma tests for "Unhinged" people. Although it would be a bit too much to give them the severe disorder that is normally associated with that level of insanity.

Quartermus said:

The DH books are generally pretty vague when it comes to the rules. They are pretty bad with abstractions (which was about the one good thing with D&D 3rd ed) and rules text is often very vague and doesn't go into detail at all.

From a balance standpoint I don't think giving anything else beyond the 1d5 insanity is needed either. There is also the fact that the Mara Landing background uses the word "unhinged" in a manner which seems to indicate it's just an adjective and nothing else, even though it's capitalized.

borithan said:

Sure, and if it would have made any kind of sense from a balance standpoint then I would agree with you. But the background is not more powerfull than any other and there is no reason for it to get a heavier penalty than any other. Ad to this the fact that unhinged as a description of insanity encompasses two complete ranges and that just saying "unginged" doesn't actually give you any information about the amount of insanity the character should have. From both a balance and a rules standpoint it just seems more reasonable to assume that this is badly written fluff.

Though someone could always ask FFG.

I would say it certainly is not 60+1d5, as that would result in a poor techpriests version of fearless.