Tension, Stress, Fear, And Fatigue

I've been wanting to do a mechanic for stress and tension in the game to add a bit more atmosphere to my games while having mechanical bonuses/penalties for such things. In making this, I'm looking at something that is easy to run and adjudicate and adds a bit of difficulty and nuance to adventuring. An extra complication to consider before setting off into the great wilds. Much of this is inspired by Darkest Dungeon, a really great game where stress and fear play a big part of adventuring. Some of the rules part and rules decision is inspired by Goblin Punch's sanity rules here as well as the rules in Torchbearer. A lot of this is also inspired by reading my brother's journals about fatigue and mental stress and how the two combine. Here we go!

Fatigue

Fatigue is when your character pushes themselves too hard mentally and physically and their body suffers from it. Forced marches, constant adventuring, dungeon delving, starving themselves, staying up for 24+ hours... these are all physically and mentally taxing on a person. Whenever someone overdoes it and fails their Constitution save, they become Fatigued. Fatigued means you gain a -2 to all d20 rolls made.

A character can still continue to go even when fatigued. Caffeine, adrenaline, and stim packs could be very useful for keeping you up. Every hour you spend doing something while Fatigued, make a Constitution check (DC 10 + 1 for every additional hour active). Failure means you are Exhausted. You take -4 to all d20 rolls and can only move up to half your speed. You also lose your Dexterity to your AC.

If the character still keeps going while Exhausted, then they make the same Constitution checks as before (DC 10 + 1 for every additional hour active). Failure means you are Disabled. You take a -6 to all d20 rolls. You can't make any physical action without making a Constitution check. People that attack you automatically hit. If your GM does coup de grace, then that can happen to you. You're just a human lump at this point, and every hour spent awake or active forces a Constitution check like normal. Failure means you die of exhaustion.

Getting rid of Fatigue generally requires a couple hours of rest. Getting rid of Exhaustion is a whole day affair of rest and relaxation. Getting rid of Disabled is a week minimum of bed rest and some medical attention. 

Tension

Adventuring is a dangerous and stressful career that can be cut short if you don't keep a level head. Any time you encounter something that can make you uneasy, cause some stress, or surprised/shock ed, you gain a point of Tension. This is like a tally mark. Things like seeing a dead body, or the lights going out on you, or hearing the sounds of a crazed monster in the woods at night can all add Tension. Then, the players that gained the Tension Point roll 1d20 + Wis, against a Target Number of 10 + the amount of Tension points. If you meet or beat the TN, your character is fine. If you roll below it. then you get Stressed. Most scenarios should really only give 1 or 2 Tension Points to each player, but some truly gruesome and horrific stuff could give 3 or more.

Stressed

When your character gets Stressed, they have a sort of minor breakdown. They might panic a bit, need to sit down, or vomit. That's up to the character. A Stressed character becomes Fatigued. Being Stressed doesn't go away until you take a couple hours to chill out and relax, generally away from the thing causing stress. Every time your character fails a Tension Roll, they get more Stressed. This becomes Exhaustion, then Disabled, then Death. Eliminating these stress levels can take much longer.

Being Stressed can also be a form of fear, depending on the situation. This works out like normal Stressed, only with some different reactions. Generally, reactions to being stressed out go under the four F's: Fight, Flight, Freeze, or Fawn.

• Fight: You engage the source of fear in combat, with disregard for the situation.
• Flight: You panic and flee away as fast as humanly possible, leaving behind anyone
• Freeze: You are paralyzed with fear and cannot move, hoping that the thing doesn't notice you
• Fawn: You beg, flatter, or try and reason with the source of fear, praying it will spare you.

A player can choose which action their character takes, or you can roll randomly. I prefer the former, but they have to commit. Sometimes one of the F's works out. Other times it lands you into trouble.

A GM can give a madness to players. This is optional and there are plenty of sites and books with examples, from manias to phobias. I'd suggest picking one that fits the situation, instead of rolling.

Reducing Tension

It's hard to reduce Tension while you are in the scenario causing it, but it is possible. If out adventuring in a dungeon or wilderness, taking a break to shoot the shit with your fellow PCs and NPCs can help drop it by 1 or 2. Finding a safe spot to rest also helps. In a more urban, social adventure, maybe taking an hour or two in the castle courtyard can help you find your center before tackling the corrupted vizier, dropping your Tension down 1 or 2 points. These also make great points for roleplaying with your compatriots, or other friendly NPCs that you know. Leaving the scenario that is causing Tension lets you reduce it all to 0.

Adrenaline Rush

Tension isn't all bad. When the chips are down and you need a boost, you can activate your Tension and get an Adrenaline Rush. For a number of rounds equal to half of your Tension Points (round up, minimum 1 round), you gain advantage on all attack rolls and ability checks. In addition, you ignore all Fatigue effects for these rounds. At the end of your rush, however, you are immediately Stressed out and gain a level of Fatigue. If you were Disabled and did an adrenaline rush, then you die. You pushed your body too far.

Jaded

Adventurers that survive have seen it all and don't get as easily spooked as veterans as they did when they were novices. When players survive a tense scenario or adventure, they can become jaded. That same scenario won't give them any Tension Points. So a player that keeps a level head while getting attacked by zombies won't get Tension Points when encountering future zombies. The only way to affect a jaded individual is escalating the scenario. So a jaded character won't get tense when being attacked by zombies, but maybe seeing them slaughter an entire village trapped in a church might. Fighting ghouls may be fine, but seeing a ghoul drag off your good friend while he's screaming and begging for help will make you Tense. It's all about context, and I encourage GMs not to overly abuse it.

Design Notes

One thing people might notice is that I've created the Fatigue, Exhausted, and Disabled conditions and tied them to stress and fear. Why is that? Well, my brother was once a Marine and I remember reading and hearing him talk about the humps and the fear and tension of being out in Afghanistan. And one thing that stuck from him and other soldiers is how the fear and fatigue really go hand in hand out there. So that's why I united the Fear/Stress mechanic with Fatigue. It simplifies the mechanics and I can use the Fatigue model for other things, like a project I'm working on for clerics.

In addition, I was looking for something a bit less drastic and more down-to-earth with these mechanics. I didn't want random madness tables or sanity scores. Just something a bit more low key.

These rules have been used in one game and were okay, but not enough to test them out. I think they work fine, but I can't wait to put them through their paces more. Tell me what you think about them, and any changes to the ruleset.

Thoughtform Part 2: Basic Thoughtform Disease

It is a bit weird, giving concrete rules to things that are made of the abstract. But I am interesting in seeing where this exercise goes. So here goes nothing. For anyone that may have missed it, here is the original post I made about thoughtforms.

With this, I know that people play all types of D&D games, from LotFP and Beyond the Wall to 5e. Pathfinder, and ACKS. So, I want to try and make it as simple and modular as I can so that anyone with any kind of D&D game can enjoy this. 

Basic Thoughtforms

Logists, Atavisms, and Archetypes are the most basic types of thoughtforms and are treated as a special type of disease. The incubation time is one day after you encounter someone talking about the thoughtform they are infected with. The save is a Magic saving throw once per day until cured by means in the previous blog post about thoughtforms. Success means you do not suffer additional effects of the disease. Failure means that it advances a stage.

Once per day, before the character makes an infected saving throw, they can make a Wisdom roll. On a 15 or higher, they are able to take their mind off of the thoughtform for the moment and stave off having to make the infection roll for that day. You gain a -2 penalty per stage you are in to your Wisdom roll after Stage 1. If you see or are reminded of the object of your desire though, you must immediately make that infection check for the day.

Below are the general stages of a thoughtform infection.

Stage 1: The seeds of obsession take root in your mind. You begin to talk about the idea or image in your head more at random and sometimes nonsensical times. Whenever you roll a Charisma check to interact with someone, or a Reaction roll is made for an NPC, you take a minus -2 penalty for bringing up your obsession in an inopportune time.

Stage 2: You are constantly talking and thinking about the idea or image, to the point where it becomes distracting. Whenever you make any roll that doesn't involve your obsession, you must roll it twice and take the worst result. Damage dice are exempt from this.

Stage 3: The idea consumes your everyday thoughts. You cannot stop talking or thinking about it. You have to have this object. You have to worship it, at any cost. You become aggressive about your obsession and must collect or worship it absolutely. If taken away from the object or concept of your desire, you erupt in violence until reunited with it. You gain +4 to Strength. but everyone is considered an enemy to you. You lose the penalties from the previous two stages. You only get along with other infected, though depending on the personality, even those with the same thoughtform infection can get competitive and violent with each other. This is more of a roleplaying issue, so get crazy with it.

Stage 4: Your obsession is absolute. You do not eat, drink, or sleep and take appropriate penalties for doing so. You are simply fixated on your obsession and waste away until death. At this point, people can 'see' the thoughtform, its shimmering and transparent mycelia erupting out of the host's mind like antenna towards the object of obsession. Moving you requires a great deal of strength as the thoughtform is feeding off of the psychic link between you and your object of obsession. Anyone that tries to move you must roll a Strength roll against a Difficulty Class of 20. If moved out of sight from your obsession, you die in three rounds.

Stage 5: There is no save to reach this. You only reach this phase when the thoughtform has enough people infected and clustered together. You become catatonic as the thoughtform uses yours and other hosts' psyche to bloom into a tulpa. You are brain dead and can only be restored with a wish or miracle. If left alone, you'll simply die quietly. 

Healing the infection requires hypnosis, forced amnesia, magic ritual, or dream delving like in the previous post. I do want to do a blog about dream delving for another time, but I want to figure out what I want to do with it first. Curing everyone infected means the thoughtform no longer exists, though the people infected shall forever be changed by it.

More on Hypnosis and Mental Blocks

Hypnosis and making mental barriers is a good way to quarantine the thoughtform until cured. Hypnosis is just a Diplomacy (or equivalent) check against the target's Wisdom, though if they are willing, you don't have to roll. Making a mental block against the thoughtform is just a Wisdom roll made by the person hypnotizing you (or yourself for self-hypnosis). Whatever you roll is the strength of the mental block. You no longer take any penalties from the infection and are essentially back to normal. This takes one hour per stage advanced and must be uninterrupted (a change from the previous post). A good hypnotist can do multiple people at once, often using the object of obsession as a focal point for Stage 4 victims. Stage 3 victims generally need to be restrained and forced to be hypnotized.

Whenever you see the object of obsession again or talk about it in game, the GM rolls a d20. It it meets or is under the mental block's score, it doesn't trigger a relapse. If it goes over or rolls a 20, the person relapses. It's usually best to avoid the thing that will trigger a relapse. You start at the stage you were on last. Depending on the thoughtform, this can be very difficult.

Example Thoughtform

The Undying Sun

Saving Throw: Magic once per day

Wisdom Throw: DC 15 (-2 penalty per stage past Stage 1)

Idea: The sun is glorious!

This logist is all about the sun and its glory. People infected with this thoughtform start thinking about how beautiful and amazing the sun is, constantly expressing their joy for it. As the infection progresses, people go to greater lengths (or in this case, heights) to be closer to the sun, climbing trees and buildings to get closer and closer. When the thoughtform begins to bloom, most are locked tightly onto where they climb, with the thoughtforms's feelers extending towards the sun. At night, the people grow violent and agitated until they reach Stage 4, when many will die. The Undying Sun rarely blooms, but if it can gather 50 infected people together on the same day that they all hit Stage 4, it can bloom into a mighty tulpa reflecting its attachment to the sun. Given the importance of the sun, many infected will see the thoughtform as a god and gather other infected like a congregation. 

It was a tiring weekend of work so that's all I've got in me today. Next post I want to have the more complex thoughtforms statted out. I think I know how I want to do them. Till next time!

Amnesia and Working it into a Game

So between playing Bloodborne, reading the newest Call of Cthulhu and Lamentations of the Flame Princess rules, and hearing about the newest Pathfinder adventure path, I've been really getting my mind in running more psychological games. That is, games that really dwell on madness, horror, and the occult. All things I love reading about and they can be awesome to game in with the right group and the right mindset. In particular, I read that Strange Aeons, the next Pathfinder adventure path, was going to start with the players locked in an asylum and suffering from amnesia. I think that's a pretty interesting way to get a group together that can work with the right player buy-in, but I wonder, how would I do that.

There are some ways I thought about doing it that has their pros and cons. The first is more from the GM. The players slowly are revealed their different, disparate backgrounds as the game continues, and learn more about their characters. This style of interaction is more exploratory and focused on discovery. With this method, the PCs are defined more by what they do in this adventure rather than who they are(or were), which I feel is a really interesting way to run a character. Also, players can really jump right in from the beginning and get to the game. Of course, the drawbacks are aplenty. With no backgrounds, there aren't really any bonds between players' characters, and then really isn't anything keeping them together after the asylum breakout. What's worse is that you might give them a background that's underwhelming, mediocre, or something that the player simply doesn't like. Granted, that's true for pretty much anything you do as a GM, but with giving players their background, you are building something a bit more personal to them. In a way, you are dictating who their character is/was and some may not like that.

The second is more random based. I have the players write down on cards different events in a life that could or couldn't be theirs. Then, at the moment of revealing, you shuffle the deck and have that player draw, revealing something about their past. This has pros, as it is purely random and doesn't have the GM forcing a backstory onto the player. And with the random chance, everyone is surprised with the event. Some cons remain that the player may still really dislike the hand they've been dealt. It's always interesting how we are okay with randomly rolling for stats, but something as personal as character background is a no go. Also, now the GM has to try and fit that event change into the current game, which can be a bit hard if you don't know how to improvise. And the biggest problem I see is getting a set of cards for one person that may not really mesh together into a coherent backstory.

The third method is having a set of events, locations, people, and items introduced in each game. At some point, a player can attach themselves to one of those and describe what it means to their character and what background is revealed. This keeps the background creation with the player, allowing a more expressive style of interaction, rather than discovery. And the player will generally be happy with what they come up with. That player agency with the character you make is nice for them and still allows them to be creative, albeit in a different, more on the spot method. The problem can be if you aren't good at improvisation, or simply don't have the mental energy to make up something about your character that day. Also, it does seem to go against the idea of the players not knowing their backstory if they can still come up with it, but later. But, I think this idea might be good to revisit.

Ultimately, the points of disconnect seem to be a) who reveals the backstory, b) when is this revealed, and c) what is the goal of revelation. The who could be the GM, the player, or random chance. The when could be triggered by the GM, the player, random chance, or perhaps other players. The goal could be character discovery or player expression. Should there be a barrier to entry, like a "save to remember"? And finally, what is the in-game goal to discover your past? Would you try to right a wrong you did before losing your memory, or go back to your old life as it was, or even try and avoid who you were now that you know?

Wracking my brain while prepping at work, I think I have something I like. It's a bit of a combination between the second and third ideas. Because the only reward for this is player discovery or expression, there is really less of a concern of players rushing to unlock their backstory to 'win'.

Amnesia

When a player decides to make a character with amnesia, they essentially have no backstory. No name, no history, no nothing. The player can give them a name or have the GM or other players name them. Depending on how recent the amnesia is, they may not know their class abilities consciously, but will be able to do them reflexively. The GM should spend the first session or two giving chances for the PC to discover their abilities. So if they are a fighter, throw them into combat to showcase how they know how to fight. Or cast spells. Divine casters still feel an unusual attachment to their deity or philosophy that comes to them first, showcasing the real strength of their faith.

After the character creation, each player gets five chips. These chips are used to activate Mementos.

Mementos

Mementos are mental keepsakes and memories that trigger a memory of the PC's past. They come in five categories:

1. Living Being - This can be a creature that played a big part of your previous life, living or dead (or undead or construct), sapient, sentient, or not, etc. People, animals, the ghost of a forgotten loved one, your pet robot.
2. Location - This is a building or area that meant something dear to you in your past life. Your ancestral home, the school you went to, an old battlefield you fought in, etc.
3. Event - This is something that happens or happened that was important to you. A holiday celebration, or a date that is your birthday or anniversary, or something that has already happened, like The Great Elf Human War or The Dwarven Pogroms. 
4. Item - This is an object that holds great meaning to you, or at least looks like it. A holy symbol of a god you once served, the ring of a partner to be, or an old toy from your childhood. Seeing swords could remind you of your service in the militia.
5. Concept - An idea, knowledge, or sensations that help you remember what you knew or believed in. The smell of food your parents made for you, or seeing knowledge you once knew, or the feel of rain reminding you of an event that happened when it rained.

Whenever the GM mentions anything that falls into those categories, the players can throw a chip in to claim the memento and trigger a memory coming back to them. The player can either improvise what memory is attached to the memento, or they can roll on a table to see what they get and build from it. When the player gives up all five of their chips, their character remembers everything.

Knowledge, Skills, and Amnesia

If using a system that has skills like Knowledge, the character with amnesia doesn't have full access to them yet. They can be unlocked when a memento is claimed and background relating to that knowledge. If the player wants to use it before unlocking it, they can make a DC 10 Intelligence check to use the skill for that specific thing. Success means they can use it for that specific thing and can use it again for that for free. So, rolling Knowledge (Arcana) to see what you know about basilisks would require that Intelligence check first, then rolling the skill. Success on both mean you remember permanently what there is to know about basilisks.

Most other skills happen reflexively. Acrobatics can happen during combat or a situation that requires it. Perception is the same way. These don't require Intelligence checks. They just happen.

Limitations on Remembrance

The pacing should be left up to the GM and players, but generally you don't want to reveal more than one memory per two sessions per person, and generally keep it to one or two people per reveal. For something more long term, the players can only trigger a memory once per one or two levels. Alternatively, they can bank a portion of XP every session (say, 10%). When they reach a certain amount, they can cash in the XP to claim a memento (the XP would go back to them so they could level up). The amount needed to claim a memento would increase as more are unlocked. Look below for values

• First Memento: 250 XP
• Second Memento: 500 XP
• Third Memento: 1000 XP
• Fourth Memento: 2000 XP
• Fifth Memento: 4000 XP

You can still keep the limitation on one reveal per level or two.

I think tomorrow I'll work up a little table for rolling.