Welcome back to the weekly Tabletop Games thread! This thread is where we can talk about all kinds of RPGs, card games, board games, etc. Whether you gather around a physical table in the real world, or use a virtual space to play with friends who may live far away from you, this is where you can discuss your favorites, ask for and/or receive recommendations, recap your recent adventures, or even find some people to play games with!
Discussion Prompt: Getting back to Spooky Month themes, let’s talk Fear and Stress mechanics in TTRPGs. D&D 5e has the Frightened condition, and the Dungeon Master’s Guide also includes a brief section on “Fear and Horror” that boils down to saying “the DM can call for a WIS save against being Frightened whenever they feel like the circumstances warrant it, and if it’s especially bad you can use the Short-Term or Long-Term Madness effects.” The Van Richten’s Guide to Ravenloft supplement offers an alternative approach. The players each choose one or two “Seeds of Fear” when they’re creating their characters, and should a PC encounter their Seed of Fear and role-play their reactions appropriately, the DM should reward them with a point of Inspiration. Encountering your Seed of Fear (or any other circumstances determined by the DM) still calls for a WIS save against being Frightened, but players also have a Stress score that can build up over time. For each point of Stress, you apply a penalty to all your d20 rolls. Stress can only be reduced by spending a full day relaxing in a safe space, or by magic–the Lesser Restoration spell can reduced your Stress score by 1, while Greater Restoration can drop it down to zero. Calm Emotions also suppresses the effects of Stress while the spell is active. The way Stress points are accumulated still feels like it’s largely up to DM–I kind of wish there were more concrete mechanics for it to go along with the much more mechanically punishing effect.
What types of Fear/Stress systems have you used for your TTRPGs?
If you would like to suggest a prompt or contribute a write-up or discussion topic of your own, let me know in the comments!