D&D 5E Modeling Misery

[Reynard]

NOTE: Much of this is inspired by rereading The Lord of the Rings, in which things like hunger, exhaustion, fear and trauma have a real impact on even the most stalwart heroes of Tolkien's saga. Tolkien was a soldier in WW1 so he very likely suffered many of the hardships his characters experience and so is able to convey them in the work.

One thing that I wish D&D (and most RPGs to be fair) was better at was modeling misery. That is, how the weight of pain, fear, fatigue, hunger, despair and trauma can grind away at you. Overcoming this kind of misery is itself heroic, perhaps even more so than overcoming injury and fear of death, and so it seems like a thing that would add to the heroic storytelling inherent in play.

I have tried in the past to use the exhaustion mechanic to this purpose but exhaustion is extremely punishing and difficult to overcome. There's potential there, I think, but as written just a couple levels of exhaustion are a major hindrance and either begin a death spiral or put the brakes on the action as characters hole up and recover.

I am wondering if there is a way to build a Misery mechanic, something that tracks hardships and over time bears down on the PCs in a way similar to but less punishing (early on anyway) than exhaustion. Perhaps a more granular approach where you start with -2 to a smaller set of things, rather than disadvantage to a large set, or making healing and other recovery more difficult?

How would you go about modeling misery in 5E?

 

[jasper]

No potty breaks during the game. If you lose half your hit points during a game we take away half your dice. If you die we destroy half your dice. The snacks are limp celery, two day old pop corn and flat Pabst blue ribbon beer.

 

[Morrus]

Does Adventures in Middle Earth have something like that for its 5E travel rules? I can't remember!

 

[Nagol]

If I were to try, I'd probably use exhaustion as a later penalty. Start with making it require resources to achieve a "true" long rest -- say a good meal, decent amount of water to drink and wash, and a warm dry place to sleep. If you go more than 48 hours without a "true" long rest, your recovering hit dice are reduced by one every 24 hours until one is achieved. If your hit dice are reduced to half, you gain a level of exhaustion. Each successful "true" long rest removes a level exhaustion and restores a single hit die. Rest in very luxurious environment doubles recovery.

Adjust the timings to meet your idea of misery. Are we talking a short adventure being tracked or a years-long trench warfare campaign.

 

[Reynard]

Does Adventures in Middle Earth have something like that for its 5E travel rules? I can't remember!

I have been using a modified version of the rules for a while so I don't remember if the official rules focus on exhaustion levels and whether or not you are rested upon arrival, of if I made a greater focus on that.

 

[Horwath]

I would like something similar.

And I really do not like binary exaustion levels in 5e.

slow advancement would work much better.

You can tie your Misery to equal exaustion levels.

Level 1: -1 to attack rolls, ability checks, skill checks, all your DCs and - 5 move speed(to a minimum of 5ft),
Level 2: -2 to attack rolls, ability checks, skill checks, all your DCs and -10 move speed(to a minimum of 5ft),
Level 3: -3 to attack rolls, ability checks, skill checks, all your DCs and -15 move speed(to a minimum of 5ft),
Level 4: -4 to attack rolls, ability checks, skill checks, all your DCs and -20 move speed(to a minimum of 5ft),
Level 5: -5 to attack rolls, ability checks, skill checks, all your DCs and -25 move speed(to a minimum of 5ft),
Level 6: Dead.

Feat: endurance: +1 con, halve your effective exaustion levels(round down), that is you die at 12 exaustion levels.

 

[Reynard]

If I were to try, I'd probably use exhaustion as a later penalty. Start with making it require resources to achieve a "true" long rest -- say a good meal, decent amount of water to drink and wash, and a warm dry place to sleep. If you go more than 48 hours without a "true" long rest, your recovering hit dice are reduced by one every 24 hours until one is achieved. If your hit dice are reduced to half, you gain a level of exhaustion. Each successful "true" long rest removes a level exhaustion and restores a single hit die. Rest in very luxurious environment doubles recovery.

Adjust the timings to meet your idea of misery. Are we talking a short adventure being tracked or a years-long trench warfare campaign.

I wanted to make sure I used the term "misery" in order to cover a lot of different things. If the PCs are delving a megadungeon, for example, the long time underground, the poor light, the stale air, the bland rations, the constant tension and fear of calamity, as well as the usual combat and such, would all contribute to growing misery. The same is true of a longer passage through hostile terrain, or experiencing a siege in a city, and so on.

What I am interested in is how to model the negative effects of misery in a way that makes overcoming it heroic.

 

[Nagol]

I wanted to make sure I used the term "misery" in order to cover a lot of different things. If the PCs are delving a megadungeon, for example, the long time underground, the poor light, the stale air, the bland rations, the constant tension and fear of calamity, as well as the usual combat and such, would all contribute to growing misery. The same is true of a longer passage through hostile terrain, or experiencing a siege in a city, and so on.

What I am interested in is how to model the negative effects of misery in a way that makes overcoming it heroic.

I can see that. I'd be tempted to pick 2-4 items that are scarce in the current environment whose presence is important to counter misery and only grant a 'true' rest if they are present. Water in the desert, decent food under siege, etc. Alternatively, build a list of 6-10 and grant a 'true' rest if at least 4 are present.

In a far more granular system, I'd be tempted to split the list into material comfort and emotional comfort and insist at least one from each be present. Writing to/receiving a letter from home, holding a loved one, performing a ritual of dedication, accomplishing a major goal, etc.

Any such sub-system will suffer from the typical D&D problem that it generally will only have teeth at low levels.

 

[Guest 6801328]

The goal doesn't seem to be very D&D. D&D is a game where wading through gore, facing down aberrations and undead, and springing back to life with 1 HP are all just part of a day's work, with no consequences or penalties. It's cartoonish, but it's fun (for what it is).

If you're looking for an experience that models emotional strain, pick a different system. There are games that do this.

EDIT: Just want to clarify that I'm not dismissive of the goal. My favorite rpg is The One Ring, which does just what you're looking for. I just don't think it's compatible with the D&D philosophy.

 

[aco175]

I would most likely use this on NPCs and not the PCs. I would use more descriptive words on the soldiers and peasants coming off the battlefield and leave the players to take the toll on their characters. If I needed to penalize the PCs, I would just use the exhaustion mechanic. Something if the PCs are starving or lack water on a deserted island.