Terror takes a toll. The ramifications of frightful experiences might be an instant of instinct-triggering shock or a lasting, traumatic echo. This article presents a system, exploring reactions personalized to individual characters and offering incentive for players to embrace roleplaying moments of fear. Options exploring fear provide guidance to create frightening moments for a character outside of spells or monster abilities, while rules for stress model the lingering toll such events can take. None of these options are required to create an enjoyable horror roleplaying experience, but they provide ways to measure the effects of characters facing and overcoming their fears.
Aside from supernatural sources of dread and monsters who strike terror in their victims, fear is subjective and often quite personal. A battle-hardened warrior and a reclusive scholar might not deal with frightful circumstances in the same way. During character creation, a player can choose up to two Seeds of Fear to represent things their character finds truly frightening. The Seeds of Fear table offers some examples. These can change over time as characters grow, overcome old fears, and discover new uncertainties. Work with players to determine when their Seeds of Fear might change.
A character never has more than three Seeds of Fear; if they gain a new seed and already have three, choose which of the old fears is replaced by the new one.
Seeds of Fear
d12 - Seed
1 - "I can't stand dark places."
2 - "I'm terrified of a particular kind of animal."
3 - "Deep water will be the death of me."
4 - "I can't stand heights."
5 - "I hate being stuck in tight spaces."
6 - "Being around crowds unnerves me, for I always feel judged."
7 - "I hate feeling isolated or being alone."
8 - "Storms and extreme weather rattle me."
9 - "Being followed chills my blood."
10 - "Sudden noises or appearances fray my nerves."
11 - "I can't be comfortable around creatures larger than I am."
12 - "Reflections always seem like they're looking straight through me."
When a character encounters one of their Seeds of Fear, and interacts with the situation in a way that reinforces the seed, such as screaming or stumbling back from a horrid event, consider giving the character inspiration for their fear-focused reaction. Once a character gains inspiration in this way, they shouldn't be able to do so again until they finish a long rest.
For example, imagine that a character has the Seed of Fear "I hate being stuck in tight spaces" and must squeeze through a narrow crack in a cave wall to continue an adventure. If the player portrays the character's response in a way that reinforces that fear, such as refusing and finding another way around, taking time and making noise to widen the crack, or portraying some other fearful response, these would be perfect opportunities to reward the player's consideration of a Seed of Fear by granting their character inspiration.
An overwhelming foe or horrid monster doesn't need magic or some supernatural ability to strike fear into the most stalwart adventurers. During any frightful encounter, the DM can call on a character to make a saving throw to resist being scared. The character must succeed on a DC 15 Wisdom saving throw or become frightened until the end of their next turn.
Any of the following circumstances might be reasons to have one or more characters make saving throws to resist being frightened, though make sure to come up with original ideas as well:
The character experiences one of their Seeds of Fear.
An enemy is immune to the character's attacks or spells.
An enemy demonstrates it can deal enough damage to reduce a character to 0 hit points in one blow.
A creature is alien or monstrous in ways the character never could have imagined.
An object undermines a character's understanding of reality.
Charging headlong into terrifying situations is the stock in trade for adventurers. Among the Domains of Dread, though, periods of respite between harrowing experiences can be rare. Even the hardiest adventurers find themselves worn down over time, their performance suffering as they struggle to cope with the dread and despair.
Various circumstances might cause a character stress. Stress can be tracked numerically as a Stress Score, increasing in trying situations and decreasing with care. At the DM's discretion, a character's Stress Score might increase by 1 when one of the following situations occurs, though make sure to come up with original ideas as well:
A tense, dramatic moment, especially one involving one of a character's Seeds of Fear
Every 24 hours the character goes without finishing a long rest
Witnessing the death of a loved one
A nightmare or darkest fear made real
Shattering the character's fundamental understanding of reality
Witnessing a person transform into a horrid or unnatural creature
When a character makes an attack roll, an ability check, or a saving throw, they must apply their current Stress Score as a penalty to the roll.
A character who spends an entire day relaxing or in otherwise calm circumstances reduces their Stress Score by 1 when they finish their next long rest.
The Calm Emotions spell effect used to suppress the charmed and frightened conditions also suppresses the effects of one's Stress Score for the spell's duration.
A Lesser Restoration spell reduces the target's Stress Score by 1, and a Greater Restoration spell reduces a character's Stress Score to 0.
If these Fear and Stress rules are not to be used, the Stress Score should be perpetually covered by a #.