Now this is a discussion of madness as a plot device and an element to enhance your games. It IS NOT a discussion of mental health issues in gaming or in the real world and if you are struggling with those, i strongly encourage you to seek out help. There are people in this world who care about you and want to see you succeed. Get help, it’s the best advice i can give you. Now, onto the discussion at hand.
Plot Point ? Madness
Dungeons and Dragons has an alignment system at its core, representing a characters relationship with good, evil, order and chaos. With this framework, one of the easiest ways to note a character suffering from madness is that they typically start to act against their alignment. Other games that don’t have an alignment system don’t have this framework for you to build off, but i am sure you can find creative examples of madness in other sources that you can work from when you design. We’re going to take a look at a couple of specific ideas of madness and how you can tinker with them in your own game.
Compulsions are a form of Madness that force the character to perform some specific action or series of actions. They can range from relatively harmless, like a character who has to count all of the stones they find in a rock garden, to astonishingly dangerous, like a character who has to challenge every character he or she meets to a duel of honor. Compulsions aren’t voluntary, and the characters who deal with them are forced to deal with them and their consequences. Compulsions in most cases come across as quirky behavior, but they are very much a form of severe madness.
Rage is probably the most easily recognizable form of madness. It’s also one of the more dangerous forms. Not to be confused with the Barbarian ability of the same name, Rage in this context is an unrepressed, unadulterated anger that clouds the characters mind to the point where it dominates everything the character does. This doesn’t mean the character reverts to a more primitive, atavistic state. These characters remember how to fight, but they are driven by their rage and rarely consider the consequences. Rage is rarely a constant occurrence, but characters that deal with it are often constantly on the edge of losing control and giving in to their anger. When that happens, the Rage takes over and usually bloody violence follows.
Delusions are a form of Madness that confuse or trick the mind into thinking something else is happening. Whether it’s auditory or visual hallucinations, disturbed thought patterns, or a full break with reality, these characters are experiencing their own world that overlays with the real one. This can be as great as a character who is experiencing historical events in their daily life or as small as a character who sees all goblins as halflings. They can be as harmless or as dangerous as the scope and scale of their differences from reality.
This Plot Trap is a Plot Trap because Madness can be used in one of two ways that aren’t helpful. It can be played up for laughs, which devalues it as a plot element, or it can be used as an excuse for evil behavior. Evil exists in the world and it’s a different thing from madness. I choose to look at the difference between the two as, Evil exists as a conscious choice, but Madness isn’t a choice, it’s something that characters have to overcome as part of their adventuring experience. Madness has a lot of weight to it, but it’s really something that you should use sparingly. One character’s madness can drive an entire campaign arc if you frame it correctly.
The Difference: In Most cases, Madness is defined as a difference in the way a character perceives the world around them. Identifying what that difference is and how it shapes their perspective can clue you in on how that character is going to act/react in their scenes and encounters.
The Severity: Madness is a spectrum of varying intensity. Figuring out your own system of rating the severity and then identifying where this particular character’s madness falls on it is going to help you identify how deeply caught up in the madness this character is.
The Cure: Madness is usually a curable condition in fantasy gaming. Figuring out how a particular character’s madness can be cured (or at least managed) is a good idea because it’s an avenue for character growth and story development.
There are a couple of variations on this theme that all work roughly the same way. Let’s take a closer look.
In this instance, the Madness takes the form of two distinct personalities operating in the same brain. The two personalities are often unaware of each other and often work at cross purposes. More extreme manifestations of this have different physical expressions and in some cases, different abilities.
This version of the plot represents Madness that has a supernatural basis. Whether it’s an arcane spell, an ancient curse, or an affliction caused by a powerful monster, this type of Madness is often the cause of quests (to find a cure or defeat the cause of the Madness). These forms of Madness are often incredibly severe and vivid as a result of supernatural power behind them.
Madness has a lot of potential uses as a story device. You can use it to frame a guiding conflict, develop idiosyncrasies in your NPCs, or even create conflict between your players. Like all of our Plot Traps, it’s best used sparingly, but you can use it to devastating effect. Some of the effects of Madness can be quite comical, but the underlying concept is serious and should be treated as such. Take it out for a spin and see what plots and elements you can build using this concept.
I hope this gives all of you some insights and ideas on incorporating this style of a Plot Element into your game without it becoming a burden to your fun. If you’d like to see more of these, or have a question about a specific plot element that you’d like to know more about, drop me a line on twitter, which you should be able to see over there on the right side of the screen. Game On, Game Fans.
Almost. Like i said above, i’m going to give you a campaign seed for using a version of this plot trap in a hopefully not crazy way.
This campaign seed focuses on the fallen throne of Ereboth, the High House of the King. Ereboth has long ruled in peace and prosperity over the kingdom, but since the First day of Winter, the entire ruling line has suffered madness, nightmares and a host of other terrible things. There are two survivors of the line, and both are magically imprisoned for their own safety. Anyone who can cure this madness would be surely rewarded by a grateful monarch and have the thanks of an entire kingdom.
The Steward offers a King’s ransom in treasure, titles and other rewards for any who can find a cure to this madness that plagues the royal lineage. Adventurers far and wide come questing, but the characters are approached by a servant of the Steward who brings a book with a secret history of the royal family and the founding of the kingdom. The book leads to an ancient fortress high in the mountains north of the capital.
Following up on the leads provided by the Steward’s servant, the characters discover the ancient House of Moon and Stars high in the mountains. This ancient fortress has been long abandoned, but it is full of strange lights, and mysterious creatures. The characters will have to push through these strange guardians and discover the secret in its depths.
The secret of the House of the Moon and Stars is revealed and the characters will have to take a journey to a far distant land to plead for the cure of this madness. The guardian of the cure is not likely to be swayed lightly and the characters will be put through the trial of their lives in order to save Ereboth from a reckoning.
And that’s our 30 minute campaign seed. See you guys next time.
Compulsions
Compulsions are a form of Madness that force the character to perform some specific action or series of actions. They can range from relatively harmless, like a character who has to count all of the stones they find in a rock garden, to astonishingly dangerous, like a character who has to challenge every character he or she meets to a duel of honor. Compulsions aren’t voluntary, and the characters who deal with them are forced to deal with them and their consequences. Compulsions in most cases come across as quirky behavior, but they are very much a form of severe madness.
Rage
Rage is probably the most easily recognizable form of madness. It’s also one of the more dangerous forms. Not to be confused with the Barbarian ability of the same name, Rage in this context is an unrepressed, unadulterated anger that clouds the characters mind to the point where it dominates everything the character does. This doesn’t mean the character reverts to a more primitive, atavistic state. These characters remember how to fight, but they are driven by their rage and rarely consider the consequences. Rage is rarely a constant occurrence, but characters that deal with it are often constantly on the edge of losing control and giving in to their anger. When that happens, the Rage takes over and usually bloody violence follows.
Delusions
Delusions are a form of Madness that confuse or trick the mind into thinking something else is happening. Whether it’s auditory or visual hallucinations, disturbed thought patterns, or a full break with reality, these characters are experiencing their own world that overlays with the real one. This can be as great as a character who is experiencing historical events in their daily life or as small as a character who sees all goblins as halflings. They can be as harmless or as dangerous as the scope and scale of their differences from reality.
Why is this a Plot Trap?
This Plot Trap is a Plot Trap because Madness can be used in one of two ways that aren’t helpful. It can be played up for laughs, which devalues it as a plot element, or it can be used as an excuse for evil behavior. Evil exists in the world and it’s a different thing from madness. I choose to look at the difference between the two as, Evil exists as a conscious choice, but Madness isn’t a choice, it’s something that characters have to overcome as part of their adventuring experience. Madness has a lot of weight to it, but it’s really something that you should use sparingly. One character’s madness can drive an entire campaign arc if you frame it correctly.
Key Elements of this plot device
The Severity: Madness is a spectrum of varying intensity. Figuring out your own system of rating the severity and then identifying where this particular character’s madness falls on it is going to help you identify how deeply caught up in the madness this character is.
The Cure: Madness is usually a curable condition in fantasy gaming. Figuring out how a particular character’s madness can be cured (or at least managed) is a good idea because it’s an avenue for character growth and story development.
Variations
There are a couple of variations on this theme that all work roughly the same way. Let’s take a closer look.
Split Personality
Supernatural Madness
Conclusions
I hope this gives all of you some insights and ideas on incorporating this style of a Plot Element into your game without it becoming a burden to your fun. If you’d like to see more of these, or have a question about a specific plot element that you’d like to know more about, drop me a line on twitter, which you should be able to see over there on the right side of the screen. Game On, Game Fans.
Almost. Like i said above, i’m going to give you a campaign seed for using a version of this plot trap in a hopefully not crazy way.
Campaign Seed: The Madness of Ereboth
This campaign seed focuses on the fallen throne of Ereboth, the High House of the King. Ereboth has long ruled in peace and prosperity over the kingdom, but since the First day of Winter, the entire ruling line has suffered madness, nightmares and a host of other terrible things. There are two survivors of the line, and both are magically imprisoned for their own safety. Anyone who can cure this madness would be surely rewarded by a grateful monarch and have the thanks of an entire kingdom.
Part 1: The Line of Kings
The Steward offers a King’s ransom in treasure, titles and other rewards for any who can find a cure to this madness that plagues the royal lineage. Adventurers far and wide come questing, but the characters are approached by a servant of the Steward who brings a book with a secret history of the royal family and the founding of the kingdom. The book leads to an ancient fortress high in the mountains north of the capital.
Part 2: The House of Kings
Following up on the leads provided by the Steward’s servant, the characters discover the ancient House of Moon and Stars high in the mountains. This ancient fortress has been long abandoned, but it is full of strange lights, and mysterious creatures. The characters will have to push through these strange guardians and discover the secret in its depths.
Part 3: The Light of the Moon
The secret of the House of the Moon and Stars is revealed and the characters will have to take a journey to a far distant land to plead for the cure of this madness. The guardian of the cure is not likely to be swayed lightly and the characters will be put through the trial of their lives in order to save Ereboth from a reckoning.
And that’s our 30 minute campaign seed. See you guys next time.
No comments:
Post a Comment