| This is a fan created (non-conanal) houserule. |
Mental Fragility[]
Every character has the Fearfulness trait, although it's at level zero by default.
Whenever you fail a Fright Check, but do not suffer any lasting effects from it, you gain points in Fearfulness equal to the margin of failure. Fearfulness costs -2 points per level, so you end up with a fright check penalty equal to half the margin of failure.
Fearfulness gained this way can be recovered. Every day, at the same time that you roll to recover HP, make a Will roll; you lose points in Fearfulness equal to the margin of success. Failures do nothing.
Since you can only make the recovery roll once per day, you will need to stay well out of harm's way in order to avoid pushing your fright check penalty to the point where you're all but guaranteed lasting mental disability. This makes it an appropriate stand-in for Call of Cthulhu's SAN loss.