>>96321792
>researchers literally utilise spoons and cookies to gauge sanity depletion
Wait, what?
Could you elaborate on that?
>>96321596
>I can't think of a way to implement losing sanity in a way that makes thematic sense and is rules-light
I like the way Trail of Cthulhu handles it:
>Sanity is distinct from Stress (and HP)
>Stress is what builds up when you see messed up stuff, or when you are the target of violence. You can clear it by spending time cooling down
Although if you want to make it feel more tragic, you can make it like Delta Green, so that spending time with loved ones helps you regain stress but degrades your relationship with them over time.
>Sanity on the other hand is how much you know of the true reality of the universe and the mythos. As you start understanding how precarious and insignificant human life is, your ability to live and be understandable by others slips away. You can't regain it.
If you want a real-life example of what sanity loss, check out any serious journalist who starts investigating UFOs. Like Ross Coulthart. Starts with "hey there's something actually serious there" to "the history of the last 80 years needs to be completely rewritten, there is an ongoing cover up that's bigger than the Manhattan Project" to "REALITY AS WE KNOW IT IS A LIE, UFOs ARE NOT ALIENS THEY ARE INTERDIMENSIONAL ENTITIES RELATED TO OUR LATENT PSYCHIC ABILITIES"
Having these two makes a lot of sense if you run a Lovecraft-themed game, but you could get away with just a stress bar.
If you want to make it simple but realistic, I would put it this way:
>How much stress point you have at the beginning is random, really
>If you reach your stress limit, you permanently lose a a certain amount of maximum points.
>Having healthy relationships helps you recover the stress better. So although you don't choose your number of stress point, how you build your character can make you better at handling stress in the longer run