M I T I G A T I N G P A N I C C A S C A D E

We've all been there and there's even an name for it : Panic Cascade. As a GM, you dread it, you can feel it in the air, and you're helpless. As every players starts rolling panic effects one after the other, triggering others to roll for panic effects, resulting in others panicking. Worse, the original PC that triggered the dominos effect is now rolling again.

As much as you try, nobody can make sense of the order in which the rolls are to be resolved. Panic does not feel like it's going to settle anytime soon. And suddenly, almost every PCs ends up catatonic.

The following House Rules tries to mitigate Panic Cascade. The first rule just slightly limits the Panic Increase to only once per skill roll. The second rule goes farther and limits the Panic Increase to only once per round. Similarly, the third rule, removes the automatic Panic Increase. Finally, you could replace the automatic Panic Increase when rolling lower with a Stress Level increase instead.

MITIGATING PANIC CASCADE

Improve MORE PANIC with one, or more, of the following:

• Your Panic Level can only increase once per single skill die roll.

• Your Panic Level can only increase once per round.

• If the new roll is lower than the previous effect, however, your Panic Level does not increase.

• If the new roll is lower than the previous effect, however, your Stress Level is increased by one.