Personal
Description: The character suffers from a panic attack, sudden imbalance, or a full-on psychotic break. Her pulse races, her mind cannot focus on what she wants. The world’s an unstable place, and she’s unable to keep her balance.
Effect: Someone suffering a psychotic break isn’t the sort of person to go down without a fight. Her stated intent might be irrational or just plain impossible, and she might have fewer ethical problems with using extreme violence to get what she wants. The character gains a +1 bonus to all combat rolls, but takes actions after everyone else (if two characters suffer from the Insane Tilt, both act after everyone else but compare Initiative as normal). A character suffering from this Tilt cannot spend Willpower in combat, and suffers a -3 penalty to all Social rolls.
Causing the Tilt: Faced with extraordinary circumstances, any character with an appropriate Condition may acquire the Insane Tilt. The Storyteller can call for a Resolve + Composure roll to resist a general anxiety that gnaws at the character’s mind; if the character fails, he gains the Tilt. If the character witnesses something truly horrific — a daughter watches her father walk to the end of the garden and shoot himself in the head, smiling all the while; a man stumbles into the wrong office at work and sees his coworkers feasting on the intern’s organs; a solder sees her unit gunned down by a sniper while she can do nothing — the Storyteller can rule that the Tilt is unavoidable.
A character can work to inspire another character’s madness in order to cause this Tilt. She could orchestrate events that she hopes will provoke a psychotic break, but that’s amateur hour. A professional swaps out her victim’s meds, giving stimulants just as his bipolar cycle ticks into mania, or dosing a paranoid schizophrenic with hallucinogenic drugs.
Some supernatural creatures possess mind-affecting pow- ers that can apply this Tilt, even to characters who do not have an appropriate Condition.
Ending the Tilt: The specific effects of this Tilt don’t normally last beyond the end of the scene. A character can try to force her mind to a state of balance, but it’s not easy. She must sit and focus on blocking out the craziness. She rolls Resolve + Composure as an instant action, contested by a dice pool of (10 - her Willpower). She can’t take any other actions that turn, and doesn’t apply Defense against any attacks.