Ive been giving it some thought for morale and its use and proper effects on the gameplay.
For most people it seems to be something you can disregard, and perhaps it shouldnt be something we ignore except for studying/grinding.
I know that its vital for my early game, since I balance slow learning and bad temper and addiction and fast reading and other morale-sensative traits.
Some thoughts
-Lowered threshold for stat decreases. -50 is the minimal for crafting refusal, -100 for stat lose. These are hard to reach without torrential rain or withdrawal.
-Focus related roll modifiers. Low focus applies a penalty, high with a minor boon.
-More persistant modifiers. Make boons and maluses last longer. That awesome meal I ate at breakfast is still awesome at dinner. That means a lot to me personally, as irl I certainly feel better at 5pm if I ate a solid breakfast than if I skipped it or ate garbage.
-Modifiers for eating regular meals or variety. These don’t need to be huge -at first- but theyd flavor the game more. This helps with the grinding session. People will be less capable of 2 week grind sessions if they slowly accumulate maluses from eating pemmican only.
-lower or cap the penalties from filthy clothes, allow them to last after clothing removal. You ever feel itchy after taking off a dirty shirt you’ve sweated in all day? Imagine a gore covered shirt that you pulled off a dead guy who shat himself before dying.
-Bonuses for explosions or low chance successes.
-Bonuses for human contact, and postive contact. Positive, as in trading, talking in non-agonistic manner, generally working to rebuild society, etc.
