tldr: Changes to help make madness slightly easier to manage for new players and overall flesh out current sleep mechanics.
Problem: Currently madness is an inhibitor to the growth of Salem as it is hard to understand, runs counter to how new players want to play the game, and hard to deal with for new players.*
Secondly, pajamas don’t really make sense to slot.
Changes:
Two major mechanics Good Dreams/ Nightmares and + Slumbering items.
Good Dreams/ Nightmares: Good Dreams are rare chance events that remove a madness level and give a large boost of inspiration regardless of whether they slept with a Teddybear or not. Chance of this happening will be based on a player’s + Slumbering slotted items and whether or not the player leveled up their Sugar and Spice stat in the last 8 hours. This means new players will still have a Good Dreams about the same or more than older players with access to higher + Slumbering slotted gear. A player with a teddybear having a Good Dream will loss two madness levels.
Nightmares are similar but don’t add a madness level but instead cancel any insanity benefits the player would have received that night. Ie insanity will not be reset to its lowest level/ will not go down a level from sleeping with a teddybear. Chance of this happening will be related to the players current level of Perinnual knowledge, whether a crime has been committed in the last 8 hours and and can be reduced by + Slumbering items.
Why? Mostly because it feels thematically right - a Lovecraftian concept that it is dangerous to have knowledge of some things. Also to gives non-new players a reason to opt into the + Slumbering mechanic.
+ Slumbering: Essentially works like any other slot-able item but increases you chance to have a Good Dream and reduces chance to have a Nightmare. Can be slotted into any clothes, but kinda makes more sense for players to slot them into pajamas.
I also think they should synergize with pajamas current sleep inspiration gain bonus, perhaps each point of + Slumbering multiplies total sleep bonus by x %.
Items
Ideally a good mix of items easy for new players to get ahold of, but with some high-end options for mid and late game players. I only have a couple of ideas at this point.
Foraged
Lost Tooth: Found randomly when picking up a squirrel. If left in a players inventory when they sleep in a bed for 8 hours it will turn into 1 silver coin, or very rarely a Fairy Wand.
Fairy Wand: Modified to give Slumbering.
Passionflower: A new flower that can be dried in a drying rack and slotted.
Craftable
Fluffy Stuffing: Modified to give Slumbering.
Black Backing: Cleaned Cotton + Ink
Accurate Sheep Count: With a quill equipped, ink and paper in inventory clicking on a sheep will give an option to “Count”, replacing the paper with an Accurate Sheep Count
Etcetera
This is a bunch of ideas which seem fitting enough to include them in the post but may not actually be a good fit for the game/ mechanics.
New Exploration Event: Rip Van Wrinkle. Right clicking on him gives the option to “Pull Whisker” and gives 1 Van Winkle’s Whisker. A + Slumbering slot-able item. Having scissors in equipped give several more.
New Sleep Clothing : With there being some gain to maximizing both Sleep and Slumbering more sleep gear may be needed, specifically for slots where it doesn’t exist yet. For instance bathrobes for the Coat slot, Slippers for the Feet slot, and a Sleep Mask for the Face slot.
Drinks: Perhaps Sleeping under the influence of Camomile Tea, Chocolate Milk, or Hot Chocolate all increase chance of having a Good Dream.
Other Factors: Perhaps eating turkey before bed would increase chance of having a Good Dream, and/or sleeping while under the influence or coming down from Satan Salts increases the chance of having a Nightmare.
Sickness: Maybe being sick increases the chance of having a Nightmare, but if the player does have a Good Dream that player is cured.
New Mystery Furniture: Sweet Dreams Bed. Slightly higher chance of having a Good Dream.
Okay that’s about all I’ve got.
Edit*: Formatting.