D&D 5E Out of the Abyss - Madness! Insanity! What Works/Doesn't? What Was Hilarious/Tragic?

[DMCF]

Madness is a new stat and I think one of the harder things to deal with for new DMs (myself included). I'm posting what I'm experiencing in the hopes to hear from others.

What Works:
Players seem keen on this mechanic. I missed the first row when the prisoners were forced to watch the Drow skin alive three barbarian NPCs that made an escape attempt. They asked why I didn't make them roll when we ended the session. I told them I forgot and encouraged them to remind me. Won't happen again!

What Doesn't:
Unnecessary math. It slows down the game. This is a big module. From an encounters perspective I can't keep adding stats and tracking dice rolls. I want my players to experience the Underdark, not 10-key-excel-spreadsheets-dark.

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Myself and 2 other DMs have created madness cards. They are printed in a series of 3. Short, Long, Indefinite. There are two of each type to allow for some cross over. Some are made up, e.g, Megalomania, Bi-Polar Disorder, OCD (ritualistic spasm after dice roll), etc. They do not affect combat but may result in actions taken in, out of, leading up to, or getting out of combat.

If an individual fails the save he picks a card at random. The significance of the event determines the length. This is based on my personal choice so your mileage may vary. The madness card will only be read by the player. They may keep it to remind themselves up until it's expiration, then it goes back in the appropriate pile.

So far only one card has been drawn. A dwarf who regularly headbutts things managed to get the first card. I gave him a long term affect since he has headbutted many things. He pulled Amnesia, which his character's cousin in another campaign (PotA) had. He's excited to play on Wednesday.

 

[ad_hoc]

Before starting the campaign I would tell the players that madness is a central theme and ensure that I get their okay. Some may be uncomfortable with it entirely or with certain aspects.

When making up madness effects I would not use real illnesses. There is a reason that all the madness effects are descriptions of behaviour rather than labels. This is important for 2 reasons: 1, the player probably doesn't know how to properly roleplay a specific illness because they lack experience with that illness. The portrayal may also upset other players (and the player themselves) 2, it isn't fun. It wouldn't be fun to have your character afflicted with cancer either.

Also, be careful about punishing players for their characters having quirky or unique characteristics. Their character likes to headbutt stuff. Okay. If you don't like it don't punish them for it. Either talk to them before or after the game about how it is impacting the game or be okay with it.

 

[DMCF]

Very true on those points. For each madness we chose it was something quirky and fun. We give them a specific example such as the OCD card which gives examples for like "when you roll the dice snap 3 times or flap your arms etc..

For your last point it really comes down to knowing your players. This particular player thrives on this kind of thing. Despite the fact madness doesn't affect combat he sees these moves as his own investment in the world we are creating. His actions result in a twist in circumstance and he eagerly moves forward.

Granted I can't do this to all players. I have some shy ones. Do I want to give the 1.5' halfling rogue megalomania? Oh God do I! Knowing the player is it a wise choice? No. But if he draws it I can simply encourage madness by granting advantage on rolls for well played insanity.

Oh I forgot to mention that. Need to edit OP. Madness = Ops for inspiration. They like that a LOT!

 

[ad_hoc]

Very true on those points. For each madness we chose it was something quirky and fun. We give them a specific example such as the OCD card which gives examples for like "when you roll the dice snap 3 times or flap your arms etc..

You're having the players act out mental illnesses?

You realize you're essentially just getting together with your friends and mocking the ill right?

 

[Sunseeker]

You're having the players act out mental illnesses?

You realize you're essentially just getting together with your friends and mocking the ill right?

THIS.

I would advise against adding real mental problems to the game. The first time you do this while someone with one of these problems (you likely won't know they have said problem because people with those problems don't make a fuss of it) is going to result in nothing less than an atom bomb on the group.

 

[Ricochet]

Roleplaying mental illnesses isn't for everyone, sure, but I can see how it might be interesting to try with people who are comfortable doing so. Should be fairly quick to find out if the group wants to do it, by asking before agreeing to implement it.

 

[DMCF]

Holy Political Correctness Batman. Lets get off our high horses for a moment and realize this is a game that emulates many aspects of real life. To imply we are playing madness and insanity without any connection to real life is madness itself. Without analyzing every single thing in the DMG here are a few of the examples of the game RAW:

Long term affect 1-10 is Obsessive Compulsive Disorder
Indefinite 1-15 is Alcoholism
16-25 is Hoarding disorder (Yes it is a thing. http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/hoarding-disorder/basics/definition/con-20031337)

People play or roll low intelligence all the time and yes many do goofy things. Are they really making fun of people with down-syndrome? Was Tolkein when he wrote the scenes of ogres? I get the feeling that if WotC revealed how they established their criteria for madness it would invalidate these perspectives being cast from an ivory tower.

That said. The game yesterday with amnesia didn't go over so well. The player tried very hard. With so many players and so many things going on everyone kind of glossed over him. We had another new player who looked lost (no PHB) and I brought him in. This put our table at 9. There was a lot to explain and it slowed the pace we had established. I still handed out the inspiration point for the great effort. No one had to roll for insanity this time. We were 60 feet from the urn with the banshee when we had to end the session. Next time I suppose...

 

[77IM]

I participated in one Adventurer's League game using the madness rules (fortunately it was a playtest so indefinite madness would not afflict our regular characters).

My takeaway was that rolling for madness multiple times in rapid succession was not fun. It gave a feeling of just plain getting screwed over. My PC was a monk, with decent Wisdom, and still managed to fail three madness rolls in a single encounter -- going from sane to indefinitely wacky in a very short span! I'm worried that by the time any character gets out of the Underdark they will be too much of a basket case to get sent back down below on an important quest.

Also, because the people out in front were more likely to have to make checks, and because there are no real ways to reduce your madness level or hedge against madness, it gave a feeling of punishing participation. Like, it's better to be cautious and stay in the back to avoid madness. I'm not sure I would have felt this same way if I were starting a new character to play in a long-running campaign where I knew madness was a near-guarantee.

 

[GMforPowergamers]

Holy Political Correctness Batman. Lets get off our high horses for a moment and realize this is a game that emulates many aspects of real life. .

yea, you do know that political correctness can also be called BEING POLITE... two of my friends are brothers, there mother in real life is paranoid schizophrenic... you know what they HATE seeing, people making jokes about paranoids... you know what they wont do though, tell random people (not even all our friends) about the deeply held problem.

One of them walked out of a Vampire game because of how someone was playing paranoid, and the story teller to this day doesn't know why they kid left game mad...

 

[Daern]

I would probably say a character only needs to Save vs Madness once per encounter at most.
So far, there have only been a few times where I've asked for a roll. It should definitely be an RP enhancer rather than a character de-generator!