D&D 5E Modeling Misery

[dave2008]

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.

Doesn't AiME (or is it only TOR) have the shadow mechanic that kinda models "misery / despair"? I haven't played it, but I remember that being a thing (and something I didn't like so I could be misremembering)

EDIT: Just checked, it is in AiME: The shadow pg 180. There is even a new condition: Miserable. Seems like that would be right up your alley.

 

[Reynard]

Doesn't AiME (or is it only TOR) have the shadow mechanic that kinda models "misery / despair"? I haven't played it, but I remember that being a thing (and something I didn't like so I could be misremembering)

EDIT: Just checked, it is in AiME: The shadow pg 180. There is even a new condition: Miserable. Seems like that would be right up your alley.

Skimming through the Shadow section of AiME shows that it isn't a bad place to start. It's strongly focused on turning to wickedness, which is understandable given the source material, but I think it could be modified to track Misery. It might still need more granularity, but the idea of gaining Misery points for everything from poor living conditions to exposure to horror to watching friends suffer is not a bad start.

 

[jayoungr]

One thing to consider is how Misery would be removed. Can your bard sing a song to remove a level of Misery from everyone in the party? That happens in Tolkien all the time.

 

[ninjayeti]

Any time PCs endure physical hardship they need to make a Con check. If they fail they gain a "fatigue point." When they endure emotional trauma they need to make a Wis check and gain a "despair point" if they fail.

Fatigue points give a penalty to any Str, Dex and Con checks, despair points give a penalty to any Int, Wis, Cha checks (this could be a 1:1 penalty or -1 per 3 points, etc; whatever pace will work best for your game). If you really want to be harsh this can apply to saves, attack rolls, spell DC's, etc. Being hungry and exhausted means you aren't as quick or strong. Being overcome with despair means you aren't as charming or perceptive.

Characters lose fatigue through rest and recuperation. They lose despair through achieving goals and roleplaying. You can also periodically allow for skill checks to reduce these levels. For example, let the Ranger make a survival check to forage a good meal to reduce fatigue, or the Bard to make a perform check to reduce despair.

 

[billd91]

Levels of Exhaustion can be a useful tool for modeling misery. The Adventures in Middle Earth source books for 5e can also be really good inspiration - particularly on how misery and stress can affect journeys and other situations outside of just the encounter location. If you can find those, definitely look into them.

 

[dave2008]

..., but the idea of gaining Misery points for everything from poor living conditions to exposure to horror to watching friends suffer is not a bad start.

Yep, that is what I thought seemed to model what you were talking about. How granular are you thinking?

This is not something I would want to do in general (track misert), so my initial thought is to keep it simple in broad. But clearly you have different ideas.

 

[Guest 6801328]

I'm more familiar with TOR than with AiMe, but in TOR you gain Shadow not just for wicked deeds you do but also just for being in awful places or witnessing terrible things. (Although with a difference: usually the former is automatic; the latter lets you make a roll.)

You become "Miserable" if your Shadow score exceeds your Hope score. It's main effect is that if you roll an "Eye of Sauron" (1/12 chance) on any roll while Miserable, you suffer a bout of madness. Four of those and you're retired.

Hope is a very, very precious resource, hard to replenish. It can be spent to turn failures into successes, but you can only expect to restore about 1 point per session.

I have a blast playing D&D, but TOR is really a great system. As long as you're not into tactical combat and zero-to-hero roleplaying.

P.S. TOR also has "Weary", entirely separate from Miserable. If your Fatigue exceeds Encumbrance you are Weary. Its effect is that you ignore 1's, 2's, and 3's on your skill dice (d6's).

 

[Reynard]

I'm more familiar with TOR than with AiMe, but in TOR you gain Shadow not just for wicked deeds you do but also just for being in awful places or witnessing terrible things. (Although with a difference: usually the former is automatic; the latter lets you make a roll.)

You become "Miserable" if your Shadow score exceeds your Hope score. It's main effect is that if you roll an "Eye of Sauron" (1/12 chance) on any roll while Miserable, you suffer a bout of madness. Four of those and you're retired.

Hope is a very, very precious resource, hard to replenish. It can be spent to turn failures into successes, but you can only expect to restore about 1 point per session.

I have a blast playing D&D, but TOR is really a great system. As long as you're not into tactical combat and zero-to-hero roleplaying.

P.S. TOR also has "Weary", entirely separate from Miserable. If your Fatigue exceeds Encumbrance you are Weary. Its effect is that you ignore 1's, 2's, and 3's on your skill dice (d6's).

Again I just skimmed it, but it looked like Shadow in AiME is overwhelming more likely to come from corruption and misdeeds than trauma and hardships, just based on the difficulties of the saves and the number of points gained. In AiME whether or not you are Miserable is based on one's Wisdom score, which doesn't seem exactly right. But, like I said, it is a good start and an interesting model. I will have to pull out my TOR book and see how it works differently.

 

[Fenris-77]

Levels of Exhaustion can be a useful tool for modeling misery. The Adventures in Middle Earth source books for 5e can also be really good inspiration - particularly on how misery and stress can affect journeys and other situations outside of just the encounter location. If you can find those, definitely look into them.

Levels of exhaustion are a pretty big hit, although I agree with the general premise. If you had a fatigue track that encompassed physical and mental strain the consequence for filing the track could be a level of exhaustion. You want to have a solid handful of mechanics that interface with fatigue if you want it to feel right though. It could also be linked to hitpoints in various ways depending on how you wanted to handle refreshing the fatigue track. I might even go as far as to have a handful of conditions that could result from a full track, which leaves open the idea of miserable as a separate condition from exhausted. I would probably also go the BitD route of allowing PCs to take fatigue in exchange for added effect. Whatever the exact implementation I think you'd want the mechanic to feel pretty dynamic, with multiple ways to add, remove and use fatigue.

 

[Reynard]

Levels of exhaustion are a pretty big hit, although I agree with the general premise. If you had a fatigue track that encompassed physical and mental strain the consequence for filing the track could be a level of exhaustion. You want to have a solid handful of mechanics that interface with fatigue if you want it to feel right though. It could also be linked to hitpoints in various ways depending on how you wanted to handle refreshing the fatigue track. I might even go as far as to have a handful of conditions that could result from a full track, which leaves open the idea of miserable as a separate condition from exhausted. I would probably also go the BitD route of allowing PCs to take fatigue in exchange for added effect. Whatever the exact implementation I think you'd want the mechanic to feel pretty dynamic, with multiple ways to add, remove and use fatigue.

Pathfinder did a good job with its afflictions. That might be an interesting model.