D&D 5E Modeling Misery

[Guest 6801328]

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.

Well, if you're the sort that commits a lot of misdeeds, yeah. But if that's the case, TOR probably isn't the game for you.

Beyond that, yes Corruption is more likely to be a cause than trauma and hardships. But bear in mind that the sorts of places that have Corruption are also the places that have a lot of hardship and trauma, so to some extent "Corruption" is meant to be an abstraction of all that. In Tolkien's world the line between a magical aura and the non-magical (or what we would think of as "non-magical") awfulness of a place is not so distinct.

 

[Tales and Chronicles]

Giffyglyph Darker Dungeon as a nice mechanic for Stress gathered while adventuring. Giffyglyph's Darker Dungeons | Stress & Afflictions

It mimic the system of the video game Darkest Dungeon.

I'd modify it a bit like this:
You can gain a maximum of misery equal to 20+ your highest stat from Con/Wis/Cha
You gain Misery through certain act as described in Darker Dungeon. Some event might trigger a Misery Save, which are rolled like a Death Save, to avoid gaining Misery :

GAINING STRESS MISERY

Category	Misery	Description
Minor	+1	A small frustration, worry, or irritant: missing an attack, falling down, hearing a noise in the dark.
Moderate	+2 (1d4)	You've made a critical error or something is seriously at risk: being caught lying, learning that the villain has escaped, being outnumbered.
Major	+4 (1d6)	Something devastating to your character or their beliefs: breaking an oath, falling to 0 hp, finding a heap of fresh corpses.
Monstrous	+8 (1d6 + 4)	Something incomprehensible or world-shattering: meeting a god, being betrayed by your closest friend, watching a loved one die.

and some situations can remove Misery:

HEALING STRESS Misery

Category	Misery	Description
Minor	−1	A small success or bit of good news: disarming a trap, playing a song, relaxing with your friends.
Moderate	−2 (1d4)	A critical success or special achievement: eating a well-cooked meal, finding a hoard of treasure, repairing something important, calm emotion and lesser restoration spells.
Major	−4 (1d6)	You've beaten the odds and gained a major victory: defeating a dangerous enemy, saving an ally from death, completing a work of art.
Majestic	−8 (1d6 + 4)	You've achieved a long-term goal or done something thought near impossible: bringing a friend back from death, finishing a masterpiece, receiving praise from your deity.

When reaching 15/25/30 Misery points, you are Afflicted; roll a d100 to know which affliction you developed:
AFFLICTIONS

d100	Affliction	Modifier
01-06	Fearful	Disadvantage on WIS checks & saves
07-12	Lethargic	+1 exhaustion until removed
13-18	Masochistic	Disadvantage on CON checks & saves
19-24	Irrational	Disadvantage on INT checks & saves
25-30	Paranoid	Speed is halved
31-36	Narcissistic	Disadvantage on CHA checks & saves
37-42	Restless	Disadvantage on DEX checks & saves
43-48	Feeble	Disadvantage on STR checks & saves
49-54	Hopelessness	Disadvantage on attack rolls
55-60	Anxiety	Disadvantage on Stress checks
61-66	Hypochondria	Hit point maximum is halved
67-72	Mania	Disadvantage on ability checks
73-77	Powerful	+2 to all damage rolls
78-82	Focused	+2 to all attack rolls
83-87	Stalwart	+2 AC
88-91	Acute	Advantage on INT checks & saves
92-96	Perceptive	Advantage on WIS checks & saves
97-00	Courageous	Advantage on CHA checks & saves

A character who gains more than 3 affliction suffers from a breakdown. They fall to 0 hp but stable, and must retire until at least 1 affliction is cured.

When you take a long rest, you can take some time without any activity (no hunting, keeping watch etc) to refocus yourself and cure an affliction. Roll a d20 at the end of the rest. The Greater Restoration spell removes 1 affliction.

AFFLICTION REMOVAL

d20	Result
01	Critical Failure: You fail to cure your Affliction, gaining a new one in the process.
02-09	Failure: You fail to cure your Affliction.
10-19	Success: You cured your Affliction.
20	Critical Success: In a moment of clarity, you cleared yourself of all Afflictions and Stress.

When you reach your maximum Misery, you are Miserable.
While Miserable, you are vulnerable to all damage, has disadvantage on all roll, and are no longer considered an ally for the purpose of class features and spells. You are Miserable until your misery total is reduced under its maximum, you Relax during Downtime or until you die. Once the condition has ended, your minimum Misery increases by 5 permanent Misery that can be removed by nothing less than a Wish spell or divine intervention. If your minimum Misery would gain you an affliction, that affliction cannot be removed until your Misery minimum decreases under that threshold.

When Relaxing during Downtime, the character's Misery is reduced to its minimum.

 

[Weiley31]

While not quite what your asking for, Misery/Sorrow/Despair does/reflavored Psychic damage.

 

[aco175]

Would Ravenloft have something? I have not played this for many years so I'm not sure. At least something you can modify.