Dread
Madness in 5E needs a change. It takes the agency out of your players’ hands and relegates their characters to a bit of paper with a list of mechanics. Dread changes that, giving your players a way to roleplay their horror in meaningful ways.
Without dwelling on real-world mental illnesses, Dread is a 5E rule overhaul that makes horrifying encounters leave a lasting impact on your player characters' psyches. It gives your players the tools to roleplay how their trauma affects them as their madness progresses from something they might recover from to one that will haunt them forever.
“If I am mad, it is mercy! May the gods pity the man who in his callousness can remain sane to the hideous end.” - H.P Lovecraft
Narratively Driven
The problem with madness in Dungeons and Dragons 5e was that they were punishments for delving too deeply into the inner workings of something truly sinister. Many players see their characters as an extension of themselves and don’t want to feel punished for being inquisitive.
Dread takes madness away from mechanics and puts them back into the roleplay sphere. Your characters can feel dread from anything, such as going down in combat or opening a cursed book. They gain the first level, something minor that can be cured, but that has scarred their psyche. Then, whenever they find themselves in a similar situation, they can fall further into their madness, roleplaying their character’s descent as much, or as little, as they like.
Characterful Storytelling
DnD is, at its heart, a storytelling game with dice and miniatures. Everyone is gathered around the table to tell amazing tales of heroism and villainy, triumph and defeat. Dread adds to this storytelling by guiding your players through horrific consequences for their character’s decisions without punishing them mechanically.
I wrote Dread with the intention of helping DMs guide their players through horror roleplaying in a way everyone at the table was comfortable with. Horror sessions are advantageous, and Dread gives your players the tools to add to their character’s narrative without taking away their agency as players.
In short, Dread allows your players to meaningfully roleplay madness and fear in a way they want to, rather than relying on impacted dice rolls or temporary blindness.
Guidelines, Not Rules
Dread is a book of guidelines, a map on how to roleplay terror, fear, and madness in impactful, safe ways that add to storytelling beats. There are mechanical rules for each affliction that keep the agency in the hands of your players, but everything was written with the intention of being modular. Swap in new ideas, swap out others, add new afflictions as you like using the book as a template. There is no wrong way to use this book.