Heretics: Welcome to the Asylum is a 1996 tabletop game supplement published by Wasteland Games for STOCS lite .
Heretics: Welcome to the Asylum is a supplement in which a sourcebook and campaign setting deals with metaphysical horror and psychological unease. The premise draws a stark line between the "Real," everyday world and the "Hidden," a dimension of darkness and hostility. Those exposed to trauma may inadvertently pierce the veil, becoming Heretics—individuals who see the Hidden and are compelled to battle its monstrous denizens who seek to infiltrate and destroy humanity by killing the Real. Players adopt roles as Heretics, whose fractured sanity grants them access to the Hidden realm. Their mental instability becomes a gameplay feature: slow-building, character-specific insanities gradually manifest, leading to ambiguous encounters—such as fighting unseen ghouls witnessed only in the Heretic's mind. The book advises referees not to overexplain early on, allowing mystery and madness to unfold organically. [1]
Paul Pettengale reviewed Heretics: Welcome to the Asylum for Arcane magazine, rating it a 6 out of 10 overall, and stated that "There's no doubt that this is a better sourcebook for STOCS-lite than the previous MAJI book [...] but it does require a lot of work on behalf of the ref. The author has managed to convey a lurid kind of horror, but a lot is still left up to the ref's imagination, especially in terms of how to write scenarios for the game and how to craft a campaign. A followup scenario supplement would help, and hopefully that's what we'll get with the release of The One True London later in the year." [1]