Stress

 

 

This ruleset was written by Chris Reynolds and inspired by and based on a variety of existing materials and rules including (but not limited to) Van Ricten’s Guide to Ravenloft by Wizards of the Coast, Expanded Madness By Clockwork Dragon and Call of Cthullu by Chaosium, based on the works of HP Lovecraft.

It is presented under a Creative Commonsn (CC-NC-BY) license as a non-commercial, derivative work. Any reproduction outside of the terms of the Creative Commons license is strictly forbidden.

 

 

Stress

I

ntroduction

Stress is an optional ruleset that can influence the narrative and mechanics of a Dungeons & Dragons game. Historically, Dungeons & Dragons has not had a very good system for managing the psychological and mental health effects of monster encounters, or addressed it in a very reductive and ableist way. In cosmic horror-style storytelling, the narrative of struggling to deal with direct encounters with beings and entities that defy logic or our understanding of the world around us is a key component that is underserved by a simple “Madness” table. In the Call of Cthullu RPG by Chaosium, this is handled by a system of “sanity” checks. This mechanic works well to communicate the effects of encountering these sorts of beings, while simultaneously othering those who struggle with mental health issues.

The system described herein, therefore, is an attempt to build on top of the ideas of “stress” and “sanity” from other systems, while attempting to be inclusive and avoid othering and prejudice.

This ruleset is based on two key decisions:

1. The system must be d20-based, to align with the main die used for skill checks in D&D.
2. The mechanic must make sense narratively.

The decision to base the mechanic on a d20 comes from the general idea that all things in D&D are d20-based. Any new system of checks, therefore, should also be based on a d20. In Call of Cthullu, their system is a role-under, d100-based system. It makes sense, narratively, to say “lose a point of sanity” and for that to have a mechanical effect on the game (”sanity” rolls become more difficult because your score in that attribute is reduced). While a d100-based system could simply be applied on top of D&D (it’s not unusual for a d100 to be used for other things, after all), it would feel “shoehorned in”, and unnatural in comparison to the other mechanics in the Dungeons & Dragons core ruleset.

Likewise, the system needed to make sense in the same way that “losing sanity” applies both narratively and mechanically in Call of Cthullu. In this way, “gaining stress” is a representation of a character’s current mental state as well as the mechanical state represented by their current Stress points marked on their character sheet.

Gaining Stress

Stress is an depletable character resource similar to Hit Points, Hit Dice or Spell Slots. However, unlike those resources, which are reduced due to damage or use, Stress increases like Exhaustion.

A character’s stress level can increase when they are put in a particularly stressful situation or when encountering unthinkable, otherworldly horrors. When a character has little or no Stress points, there is no significant mechanical effect on their character. However, when a character’s Stress points reach a certain level, they may suffer from disadvantage on Skill or Ability checks, find it difficult to concentrate, perform intellectual actions (such as Investigation, Insight or Perception) or successfully navigate social interactions (for example, Deception or Persuasion checks).

Like Ability Scores, the range of Stress points goes from 0 - 30. However, just like Ability Scores, Stress scores above 20 are uncommon. An unburdened character begins a campaign at 0 Stress. During the course of play, a DM may determine that an encounter or scene would add a certain amount of Stress points. The specific amount is at the DMs discretion, but a table is provided to give an example scale.

Stressful Events

Event	# of Stress Points
More intense than normal stress associated with adventuring	1d4-1 (min 1)
Personal loss, such as seeing a friend/loved one die in a gruesome or horrific way	1d4
Uncovering mysteries that put your understanding of reality into question	2d4
Confronting an eldritch horror, unspeakable abomination or great old one	2d6

The amount of Stress points may also be dependent upon a Wisdom saving throw. For example, a character succeeding on a Wisdom saving throw would gain fewer Stress points than a character who failed their saving throw. This could be narratively described in terms of being more or less able to compartmentalize what they are experiencing, having personal connections to the encounter, previous negative experiences that are similar or by cutting away to a flashback triggered by the encounter.

STRESS | GAINING STRESS

 

 

Stress Checks

When a character’s Stress level is at 10 or above, some situations may call for them to make a Stress check. This represents the character’s ability to “keep their cool” during the kinds of stressful activities that heroes of the realm typically engage in. A Stress check may also be called prior to gaining Stress points as a result of uncovering otherworldly arcane knowledge or encountering a horrifying aberration. At the DM’s discretion, a Stress check may be used in place of a Wisdom saving throw, notably if the number of Stress points a character currently has would exceed the DC of the Wisdom save.

The DC of a Stress check is the character’s current stress level. Therefore, as a character’s Stress increases, so too does the difficulty to pass a Stress check.

A failed Stress check almost always results in consequences. Most frequently, those consequences would be the addition of more Stress points for the PC. However, in certain situations, failing a Stress check may result in the character behaving in a way that is against type, perhaps a lawful character behaving selfishly, or a character suddenly becoming convinced that another PC or NPC is conspiring against them.

Failing a stress check also results in accumulating more stress. The exact amount is, again, at the DMs discretion but failing a stress check by 5 or more will result in exponentially more stress gained (e.g. an additional die) and failing a stress check by 10 or more increases the die type (e.g. a d4 to a d6).

Dissociation

In extreme cases, with a high level of character stress, the character may become temporarily unplayable by the player. This is called Dissociation. When a character is in a dissociative state, they feel emotionally detached from reality and act automatically. When a character is in this state, the DM assumes control of the character’s actions until the PC is able to make a successful Stress check or falls unconscious.

Losing Stress

In extreme cases, with a high level of character stress, the character may become temporarily unplayable by the player. This is called Dissociation. When a character is in a dissociative state, they feel emotionally detached from reality and act automatically. When a character is in this state, the DM assumes control of the character’s actions until the PC is able to make a successful Stress check or falls unconscious.

Relieving Stress

Activity	# of Stress Points Reduced
Short Rest	1
Long Rest	3
A week of downtime (pursuing other activities)	5
A week of downtime (prioritizing relaxation)	20

Integrating Stress into Your Campaign

Characters should not be in a constant state of high Stress — even if it makes narrative sense. The situations wherein a character gains a significant amount of Stress should be comparatively rare, such as a particularly disturbing encounter or coming face-to-face with an otherworldly being. If these are frequent themes of your campaign, consider the types of encounters that you imagine would be more or less able to send the characters “over the edge” into Dissociation.

You may want to tailor your encounters with the assumption that one or more of the characters will become Dissociated; what sorts of narrative themes do you want to communicate and is this the best way of communicating them? Much like a DM shouldn’t begin an encounter with the assumption that it will end in a TPK, encounters should not be built with the assumption that all the characters will suffer from Dissociation. At all times, keep in mind that Dissociation is a tool that takes away player agency and therefore should not be over-used.

Pushing Yourself

A PC may willingly gain Stress by pushing themselves to greater feats. The mechanical effect of this depends on the amount of Stress the player is willing to sacrifice. Effects range from an additional bonus to skill checks, advantage on a check or an automatic success. See the table below for some suggestions.

Examples of Pushing Yourself

Bonus	# of Stress Points Gained
Bonus to attacks or ability checks	1 per bonus (e.g. 3 points for +3)
Automatic success on a failed roll	10
Stabilizing from death saves	20

After performing the action, after the danger is lifted, or at some other narrative break, the character who “pushed themselves” must make a Stress check against their adjusted Stress. If they fail the check, they suffer the consequences of the failed Stress check, including Dissociation.

STRESS | PUSHING YOURSELF

 

 

Effects of Stress

When a character fails a Stress Check, after determining how much stress was gained on the Gaining Stress table, roll on one of the following tables equal to their current stress level. Stress effects are cumulative, players should be encouraged to note down the effect of stress and those penalties will remain in place until their stress level lowers to the next lowest tier.

STRESS | EFFECTS OF STRESS

 

 

STRESS | EFFECTS OF STRESS