A mood event is called a moodlet. In simple terms, your overall mood is directly related to the moodlets you have. Each moodlet has a modifier and sometimes a time; modifiers are the amount of mood that the event will add or remove, and it will do these for as long as its time has not expired, or the event hasn't ended. For instance, if a moodlet has a modifier of +1 for 3 minutes, you will have that slight boost to your mood for three minutes, but once this time has ended, you will not, or if you enter an ugly room, you will gain a bad moodlet until you leave the room.
Many actions and factors play into different moodlets, from something as simple as petting a corgi to something more complex like how filthy your surroundings are. As a rule of thumb, taking care of yourself and treating your body well will make you happier, while neglecting needs such as hunger and getting very hurt will make you sad.
Some traits also modify moods in some way. Jolly and Depressed will make you randomly happier or sadder with no prompting, and Apathetic will reduce all mood impacts by 20%.
There are nine different mood thresholds that allow you to see your general morale state as an icon on your HUD:
| Name | Threshold | Sanity Change / tick |
|---|---|---|
| Depressed | ⇐-20 | -0.4 |
| Very Sad | -20 to -15 | -0.25 |
| Sad | -15 to -10 | -0.15 |
| Down | -10 to -3 | -0.05 |
| Neutral | -3 to 2 | 0.1 |
| Content | 2 to 6 | 0.15 |
| Happy | 6 to 10 | 0.2 |
| Very Happy | 10 to 15 | 0.25 |
| Ecstatic | >=15 | 0.4 |
Mood has notable effects on your character:
| Icon | Sanity Points |
|---|---|
| Light Green | 100 to Overwhelming |
| Green | 80-100 |
| Blue | 60-80 |
| Yellow | 40-60 |
| Orange | 20-40 |
| Red | 0-20 |
| Black | Breakdown |
SC13 features an integrated “Sanity” system as part of your character development. The way Sanity works is that you start at full (100) just like a health bar, which can get depleted by more abstract means. Things such as:
Your sanity rises at a passive rate when there is nothing damaging it, as long as you are in a good mood. It recovers quicker when you consume food, drugs and alcohol. Other things will also restore sanity, such as oddities in your vicinity, holo-plants or church grounds. Working in clean areas devoid of blood and trash, avoiding pain and damage, and satisfying addictions can also help to prevent sanity loss. Vigilance is directly tied to Firearms and Military training so the Vigilance (VIG) stat is used to actively mitigate sanity damage. Having higher VIG will lessen any sanity damage you take considerably. The Marines have a high VIG stat, allowing them to witness and experience far more brutality and combat before they experience a “breakdown”, than a person with a moderate or lower stat value.
Once your sanity deteriorates enough, you might hear or witness some puzzling events or start experiencing some things that do not make sense. Eventually, if your sanity keeps being depleted to the point of 0, your character will suffer a lasting effect known as a “breakdown”. There are many ways a lack of sanity (insanity) can manifest itself but almost all of them are negative. Some examples include kleptomania, delirium, hallucinations both visual and audible, and manifestations of horrible intrusive thoughts and obsessions into reality. “Positive” breakdowns also exist, sometimes allowing you for a moment of respite in face of certain doom or a second wind to get yourself to safety. These are very rare however, and relying upon them is only a fool's wish. Note that having any kind of breakdown will put your Insight gain on a cooldown, and you will stop gaining it for a while.
| Icon | Insight Points |
|---|---|
| White | 0 to 20 |
| Green | 20-40 |
| Orange | 40-60 |
| Blue | 60-80 |
| Purple | 80-100 |
However, as the crew aboard know full well, what doesn't kill us makes us stronger. As we gain more experience aboard this sprawling spaceship, our competency levels surely must also naturally increase to have escaped untimely death up to this point. This is reflected in the form of Insight. Insight gain is passive over time and once it reaches the maximum level (100), you will gain an Insight point. Your insight gain will reset back to 0 and you will be made aware of the fact that you need to rest and rethink your life choices.
Your current amount of Insight is reflected in the current background color of your sanity icon. The Icon will be overlayed with the corresponding color as it increases.
When you gain an Insight point, the game will inform you that you now have desires, and will print a list of them. This list reflects something special your character wants to help them cope with the strenuous activities they have been recently engaged with, and symbolizes Rest and Meditation upon your life choices thus far. Acquiring and consuming one of the items on this list will fulfill your need for Rest. The desires include many recipes, or alcoholic drinks, as well as drugs and smoking desires. These are specific to every point of Insight gained; you will receive new desires every time you gain Insight.
So you have gained Insight and you are ready to fulfill your desires. But to what end? Well the answer is simple: to develop your character, of course. Satisfying your desires after gaining an Insight point, will permanently boost your stats for the rest of the round. If you don't have an oddity on hand, random stats will be boosted by a small number of points (1-3). You can control which stats and how big of a boost you can get by fitting in our last piece of the puzzle: Oddities.
| Colour | Aspect | Strength |
|---|---|---|
| Blue | Weak | (1-3 points gain) |
| Green | Medium | (3-6 point gain) |
| Red | Strong | (6-10 point gain) |
| Gold | Overwhelming | (10-Infinity point gain) |
Oddities are items you find in the world that might seem bizarre or out of place. They are unique in the way they are named and appear. Use Shift-Click to examine the item if you are unsure. If you examine an oddity, you will see that it has Aspects corresponding to the 6 stats you possess (MEC, COG, BIO, ROB, TGH, VIG). You can see your stats by using the “Show Stats Values” verb in the IC tab. These aspects can also have a quality from Weak to Overwhelming in any stat, randomized at round start. Once you gain a point of Insight, and subsequently fulfill your desires, you will gain a permanent stat boost. This stat boost is directly related to the oddity which you are carrying with you at the time of rest.
Higher tier aspects will boost the stat much higher than a weak one. Also you will not boost stats that your oddity is lacking the aspect of. Keep this in mind when you are deciding what kind of character you would like to play, and which oddity is right for you. Since aspects and aspect strengths are randomized between oddities, you can always trade yours for something more suitable to your needs. If you have multiple oddities on your person when you fulfill your desires and rest, you will be asked to choose which one you would like to use to boost your stats. Feel free to keep multiple oddities and alternate between them for every Insight point, just keep in mind that they must be on your person for you to be able to choose them as your Insight inspiration.
Oddities have a 25% chance of having a perk attached to them. When inspecting an oddity, it will have orange text notifying you. When you gain Insight from an Oddity you can obtain the associated perk. There are many perks that can be chosen from, some very helpful, others not so much. Do you feel lucky?
They all take up inventory space, so consider trading away ones that you don't particularly want or need. Alternatively, stash them in your department or hideout for a passive sanity gain boost for anyone in the vicinity. Credits are always welcome, and most people without oddities will be willing to buy or trade for a desirable oddity.
You can increase the rate at which Insight is gained by making sure you are living an exciting life; any sanity fluctuation, both positive and negative, will increase the rate of Insight gain, but larger changes will develop Insight faster. This means that if you play it safe, and sit in your office all day you will not gain Insight points nearly as fast as someone who is out there in the trenches dirtying their hands.
If you are that someone who is getting down into the thick of things, and actively losing sanity going about your business: Make doubly sure you are actively recovering as well to maximize your gains (and minimize the damage to your own mental health).
Participating in lots of combat is a surefire way to gain Insight. The sight of blood and death, as well as pain and injuries you might incur will cause your sanity to deteriorate quite quickly. Make sure you are keeping yourself away from the edge, as having a mental breakdown during battle is a great way to get killed. Usually Civilians will incur the biggest damage to their sanity during a round, due to low starting stats and limited availability of cash to buy food and amenities, coupled with the hazardous work environment. Only the brave and foolhardy can truly gain insight into the inner workings of the ship, usually at the cost of their mental fabric being ripped apart and unwound over the endless hours spent working.
You don't have to do everything by yourself. The Cafeteria and Bar are open for all your food and alcohol needs and desires! A good Bartender or Chef will do anything in his power to keep his customers happy… as long as you have the credits!
Cafeteria is closed? You're probably left with little choice at this point. You are going to have to take responsibility for your own lunches. Grow your own ingredients in the public garden and use your department's microwave to make the food you want. You can find alcohol in food piles, and stashes. Drugs can be refined and found in the tunnels. Beware that this is bound to be quite more bothersome unless the Botanist sets up a grocery store, so taking advantage of the Cafeteria's services is almost always more favorable.
If you don't take the time to rest and consume at least one item on the list, you can actually waste the stat boost. This will only happen if you do not receive the message saying “You have rested well.” before gaining a new list of desires.