Madness

In typical medieval warfare people can be driven mad by the horrors they face and the carnage they inflict day after day, and sometimes the mere stress of being in these situations can be too much to bear. The following rules emphasise these facts.

## Stress

A creature exposed to uncomfortable situations, extreme mental exertion, soul-shivering horror, torture, or bearing witness to unspeakable acts or sights can potentially suffer Stress.

Some environmental effects can inflict Stress, such as surviving a particularly nasty battle or spending several days without food. Stress can also be generated by encountering certain powerful creatures/beings/people.

### Gaining Stress

Creatures gain Stress by doing/experiencing stressful things which range from seeing a friend get killed, staying awake for 24 hours straight, using certain costly abilities, etc. What events, creatures, and circumstances that would create Stress for a character are either detailed in the description of the aforementioned or is adjudicated by the GM.

The table below lists some examples of situations where a character might gain Stress.

Stress Table
 Watching a close friend die, getting mortally wounded. | 7+

### Removing Stress

Stress can be removed by several sources. Spending Stamina Die or preforming Affliction Relief during a short rest, taking a long rest, making a Drastic Decision when you would suffer Fallout (see later), and using certain abilities heal varying amounts of Stress as seen in their descriptions.

### Sanity

Sanity is a mixture of a creature's mental wellbeing, their self identity, and their determination to push past adversity and horror. A creature's Sanity is equal to their Intelligence score + their level or number of stamina die (whichever is higher).

A creature's Sanity is used to gauge how much Stress they can undertake before their psyche warps as a result of neglected Stress. A creature cannot gain Stress over their Sanity. Whenever they would do so the creature takes psychic damage equal to the amount of negated Stress instead.

### Resolve

A creature's Resolve is how much Stress they can withstand before their Sanity begins to crack and eventually break. A creature can gain an amount of Stress equal to their Resolve before Stress is counted against a character's Sanity, causing them to potentially suffer from the Fallout of unattended Stress.

A character's Resolve is equal to 1 + their Intelligence, Wisdom, or Charisma modifier (their choice at character creation). A character's Resolve increases by 1 at 3rd, 6th, and 9th level.

### Mental State

As a creature gains Stress, their Mental State determines the consequences of their dwindling mental faculties. Reference the table below whenever a character gains Stress to see if they suffer Fallout.

##### Composed

The character is clear headed and resolved in their actions. They are not at risk of **Fallout.**

##### Distressed

The character is experiencing mental and emotional strain or tension that could cause adverse effects if left to fester. Whenever a character first becomes *Distressed* they must make a DC 12 Intelligence saving throw or gain an **Affliction**. Should the character not gain an **Affliction,** they must make the saving throw against **Affliction** again whenever they gain Stress while *Distressed.*

##### Tormented

The character is currently suffering a great deal under the stress of their situation and it shows in their words and actions. If left in this state for too long there could be dire repercussions.

Whenever a character first becomes Tormented they must make a DC 10 Intelligence saving throw or gain an Affliction and a DC 13 Intelligence saving throw or gain a Trauma. If a character fails their saving throw against Affliction, then they gain advantage on their saving throw against Trauma. Should the character not gain a Trauma, they must make the saving throw against Trauma again whenever they gain Stress while Tormented.

##### On the Brink

The character is on the edge of full blown madness. Anything could push them over, reducing them to a blubbering inconsolable shell of their former self.

When a character starts their turn On the Brink they must make a Sanity Saving Throw, an d20 roll that adds their Intelligence, Wisdom, or Charisma modifier with a DC of 10. Succeeding this saving throw grants 1 success while failing grants 1 failure. Rolling a 20 on the d20 grants 2 successes while rolling a 1 grants 2 failures. Gaining any Stress while On the Brink grants 1 failure.

Should a character gain 3 successes, they are able to pull themselves back from the brink at a cost. They gain an Insanity and reduce their Stress by an amount equal to their Resolve.

However, should a character gain 3 failures, their mind gives out completely. Shattering under the immense weight of stress, the character is reduced to a state where they can no longer function as an adventurer/combatant and is forced to retire as a result of their anguish. Though in their final moments of clarity they gain a Ruin.

## Fallout

Fallout is the result of excess Stress going unattended, resulting in a character snapping in order to relieve the crushing weight of said Stress. The more Stress a character is under, the worse the Fallout.

There are 4 kinds of Fallout of increasing severity: Affliction, Trauma, Insanity, and finally Ruin. Below is a description of the 4 types of Fallout.

### Affliction

An Affliction is a short term but alarming negative change in a character's mental state.

What Affliction a character gains is determined by rolling on the Affliction Table. When rolling on the table, re-roll any result that would give a character an Affliction they are already suffering from. Afflictions are removed once a character's Stress is reduced to 0 and they complete a short or long rest.

#### Personal Affliction

At character creation a character must choose a Personal Affliction from the list of potential Afflictions (see the Afflictions Table).

#### Affliction Relief

During a short rest, a character with an Affliction can intentionally or unintentionally push their burdens upon others in an attempt to relieve their stress. When the player chooses to do so, the character initiates a roleplay scene with the character's Affliction being the focus. For example, they could become emotionally vulnerable as they open up to another about their worries or act out as they suppress their feelings. Players may refer to the table below for potential inspiration.

 Anxious
 Fearful
 Hopeless

Affliction     Roleplay Inspiration

Abusive

Anxious

Fearful

Hopeless     Share your hopelessness with another, whether they want to hear your woes or not.

Irrational     Deliberately misinterpret an important piece of information.

Dependant     Actively hinder your allies though your neediness.

Masochistic     Physically harm yourself or get someone else to.

Panicked     Loose your nerve over a minor issue that wouldn't normally bother you.

Paranoid     Accuse a party member of working against the interests of the group.

Selfish     Hoard the best supplies for yourself at your allies expense.

After the scene ends the initiating character reduces their Stress by 1d4. The GM may decide, depending on the context and outcome of the scene, that more or less Stress is removed from the character and other participants.

Trauma

A Trauma is the long term repercussion of a character not processing Stress before their psyche cracks under the immense pressure.

The Trauma a character gains is determined by rolling on the Trauma Table.

The effects of Trauma are removed after a long rest, though the Trauma itself persists and has a chance of resurfacing whenever the character gains Stress over their Resolve. When this happens, the character must succeed a DC 10 Intelligence saving throw or have the Trauma resurface and begin bearing its effects again. This saving throw is made for each Trauma a character has but is not currently suffering from.

Individual Traumas must be removed through a therapeutic process that takes 6 +1d4 (which the GM rolls in secret) days worth of effort per Trauma with an appropriate professional. A character cannot benefit from a long rest during this time.

Insanity

An Insanity is a serious consequence of unattended Stress that has a major and near permanent impact on a characters everyday functioning.

The Insanity a character gets is determined by rolling on the Severity 1 Insanity Table.

If a character is already suffering from an insanity, then they roll on the next highest Severity table. If a character is suffering from a Severity 3 insanity, then they instead gain an insanity from the next highest Severity they are not currently suffering from. If a character has an Insanity of each Severity and would gain another, they instead succumb to Ruin as their mind splinters into madness.

Insanities can be removed through a therapeutic process that takes 12 +2d4 (which the GM rolls in secret) days worth of effort with an appropriate professional for the level of severity. A character cannot benefit from a long rest during this time.

Ruin

A Ruin is the final act a character preforms before the last fragments of their shattered sanity slip from their grasp, crushed by rigors of stress and the horrors of the world around them.

The Ruin a character gains is determined by rolling on the Ruin table.

After the effects of the Ruin end, a character is left in a helpless state. Mechanically speaking, they are effectively dead. There is no saving them now. In the case of player characters, the player must create a new character.

Fallout Tables

Refer to the Stress Fallout Tables on pages 106 to 112 when rolling on the the Affliction, Trauma, Insanity and Ruin roll tables.

   NPC Stress and Sanity

   Player characters are not the only ones who suffer the misery of Stress. Non-player characters controlled by the GM also have Sanity and can therefore fall into madness just as easily as player characters. However, since many NPC's rarely resurface after encountering player characters, the long term consequences of Stress scarcely apply to them.

   As a result, to simplify the bookkeeping surrounding Stress and Sanity for multiple NPC's, and to encourage player characters to use Stress as a weapon against their enemies, feel free to use a combination of the following optional rules instead:

       Fallout Vulnerability: Whenever an NPC first becomes Distressed or Tormented, they automatically fail their saving throws against Affliction and Trauma. Additionally, when a NPC is On the Brink they make only a single Sanity Saving Throw. Success grants an Insanity and failure a Ruin.

       Predictable Afflictions: Whenever an NPC would gain an Affliction they instantly gain their Personal Affliction (as seen on their statblock) instead of rolling.

       NPC Stress Levels: NPCs of the GM's choosing use the Stress Levels rule variant (see page 14) instead of the standard rules.

Drastic Decisions

When the world around you is too much to bear, when a sharp pain pulses through your head, when your thoughts are naught but static, and when the beating of your heart becomes deafening - you must make a decision: shoulder the consequences of your mounting stress or do everything in your power to rid your mind of it.

When a character would gain an Affliction or Trauma, they can choose to instead make a Drastic Decision. In doing so they negate the Affliction they would have gained or immediately suppress the Trauma they gained, as well as reducing their Stress by amount equal to their Resolve, at the cost of responding to their suffering in an immediate and extreme fashion.

A character chooses a Drastic Decision from the list of Drastic Decisions detailed below.

Flee like a Coward

You turn and run. You must take the Dash action and use your full movement to leave the current encounter or situation, and then must keep running. If you cannot leave your current location you instead move as far away as possible and then hide.

Regardless, you have either run so far away or hidden in such a way that your companions will have to come and find you in order to bring you back to a functioning state.

As a result of overexerting yourself while fleeing like a coward, you loose 1 Stamina Die or gain 1 Exhaustion (your choice).

Scream and Cry for Help

You scream at the top of your lungs crying for your mother, god, and/or companions to save you. At the beginning of each of your turns all allies that can hear you must make a DC 10 Wisdom Saving Throw or gain 1 Stress. You also gain the Frightened condition against any pressing threat to your survival, but can otherwise act normally.

After all the threats your vicinity have been dealt with, your allies can spend some time calming you from your hysterics to bring you back to a functioning state.

Soil Yourself

You shit or piss your pants or vomit all over yourself, or a combination thereof. You gain the Paralysed and Frightened conditions until the end of your next turn. Additionally, until you clean your gear, you have disadvantage on all socially orientated Skill Checks due to the smell and discomfort of your soiled equipment.

Become Useless

You curl up into a ball wait for it to be over. You drop whatever you are holding, go prone, and spend your turns doing nothing. Even if attacked you remain inert and unresponsive.

After all the threats your vicinity have been dealt with, your allies can spend some time comforting you, bringing you back to a functioning state.

Survive at All Costs

You must live. You do the most drastic thing that guarantees your immediate survival, and continue to do so until your continued existence is assured. This course of action cannot infringe upon other Drastic Decisions (like running away).

For example, if you are starving you will attempt to kill and eat an ally in desperation.