How to model some characteristics with odd behaviors
 

I'm working on the Dark Heresy system, and I'm trying to figure out how to model the insanity and corruption points in the system - derived traits, resources, or something else. Here's what I need to cover (#1 and #2 I know how to do):

1)Buying some character options (skills, talents, etc.) can add both types of points.

2)Reaching certain levels of each can add derangements/mutations. I'll probably make these permanent adjustments for the Personal tab, since gaining them isn't guaranteed at the appropriate insanity/corruption levels, and a GM could always assign them due to events.

3)It's possible to gain points in both during adventures. I'd like this to be recorded through the journal.

4)It's possible to remove insanity (but not corruption) points by spending XP, although once you reach certain plateaus, you can't go below the plateau.

Looking through the journal tab, I can't figure out whether the script buttons that modify cash and experience could be used to modify the trtInPlay field of a derived trait, or if they only work on resources.

Can resources be set up to interact with experience and the advancement process?

I'm thinking I may have to make a unique compset for insanity, since both resources and derived traits lack the CanAdvance component.

You can add new resources and usage pools to track the acquisition of insanity and corruption points via the Journal. Just follow the same approach used for XP and cash within the Skeleton files. You'll define two usage pools for each new item to track, with one for using within journal entries and the other as an overall record of the total points accrued. Take a look in "control.1st" and you'll see the current definitions for XP and cash.

Once the usage pools are in place, you can integrate them into the Journal in the same way that XP and cash are handled. You can look at the 4e files to see how they've been modified to handle all the different coinage in that game system. The logic is identical for insanity and corruption.

You'll want to use a new resource for each set of points, too. The usage pools provide a means of tracking changes made by the user that are logged and remembered. In order to remove insanity via spending XP, that will need to be integrated into the advancement logic. That means the advancements will need to apply adjustments to the overall total, which cannot be handled via the usage pool. So you'll use a hybrid solution that works just like XP and cash. The resource gets its primary value from the usage pool, which can then be further adjusted by other dynamic factors during the evaluation cycle, such as advancements. The resource is then used to display the net number of points possessed by the character to the user.

If you cannot drop below a particular threshold once it's reached, that would need to be enforced via the advancement logic. The user would be forbidden from spending XP to lower insanity if there was not room to perform a buy-down.

Unless I'm missing something, it should be relatively straightforward to orchestrate all of this.