The stress of dungeoneering

General questions, debates, and rants about RPGs

Moderator: Moderators

Post Reply
User avatar
silva
Duke
Posts: 2097
Joined: Tue Mar 26, 2013 12:11 am

The stress of dungeoneering

Post by silva »

Im playing Darkest Dungeon for PC right now and one really interesting thing is how it depicts the disturbingness of dungeoneering on the adventurers. The game has a track called "stress" that measures the mental/emotional impact caused by underground incursions into lairs filled with horror and supernatural abominations. After a couple incursions (or even just one if youre unlucky) its normal for a character to refuse to go back. And if you push it through, the consequences can be catastrophic, both for the character alone, and for the entire group.

What roleplaying games out there depict this kind of thing ? Is there any edition of D&D (or other dungeon delving game) where this kind of "emotional damage" is tracked ? If not, how to do it in a simple enough way to house-rule into existing games ?
User avatar
Leress
Prince
Posts: 2770
Joined: Fri Mar 07, 2008 7:54 pm

Post by Leress »

Koumei wrote:I'm just glad that Jill Stein stayed true to her homeopathic principles by trying to win with .2% of the vote. She just hasn't diluted it enough!
Koumei wrote:I am disappointed in Santorum: he should carry his dead election campaign to term!
Just a heads up... Your post is pregnant... When you miss that many periods it's just a given.
I want him to tongue-punch my box.
]
The divine in me says the divine in you should go fuck itself.
Seerow
Duke
Posts: 1103
Joined: Sun Apr 03, 2011 2:46 pm

Post by Seerow »

Pretty sure this was a thing in Torchbearer, but I haven't done anything with it since I first got it so I could be remembering wrong.
User avatar
ETortoise
Master
Posts: 202
Joined: Tue Jan 26, 2010 9:12 pm
Location: Brooklyn

Post by ETortoise »

Torchbearer is all about grinding you down during gungeon crawls. While there isn't a sanity track, conditions include angry and afraid along with physical conditions like exhausted and injured.
User avatar
Longes
Prince
Posts: 2867
Joined: Mon Nov 04, 2013 4:02 pm

Post by Longes »

ETortoise wrote:Torchbearer is all about grinding you down during gungeon crawls. While there isn't a sanity track, conditions include angry and afraid along with physical conditions like exhausted and injured.
Well, that's right up the Darkest Dungeons' alley. You went to the dark scary dungeon and got scared by the scary dark things? Now you have compulsive masturbation and gambling.
User avatar
Count Arioch the 28th
King
Posts: 6172
Joined: Fri Mar 07, 2008 7:54 pm

Post by Count Arioch the 28th »

I would pay money to see the dungeon that gives you compulsive masturbation...
In this moment, I am Ur-phoric. Not because of any phony god’s blessing. But because, I am enlightened by my int score.
User avatar
Longes
Prince
Posts: 2867
Joined: Mon Nov 04, 2013 4:02 pm

Post by Longes »

Count Arioch the 28th wrote:I would pay money to see the dungeon that gives you compulsive masturbation...
It's Call of Cthulhu insanity rules, so any dungeon has a chance to give you compulsive masturbation.
ishy
Duke
Posts: 2404
Joined: Fri Aug 05, 2011 2:59 pm

Post by ishy »

Longes wrote:
ETortoise wrote:Torchbearer is all about grinding you down during gungeon crawls. While there isn't a sanity track, conditions include angry and afraid along with physical conditions like exhausted and injured.
Well, that's right up the Darkest Dungeons' alley. You went to the dark scary dungeon and got scared by the scary dark things? Now you have compulsive masturbation and gambling.
I might have been playing darkest dungeon wrong then. In the early build I was playing, it seemed optimal to stress out new recruits as much as possible, so you could figure out which were the chumps and which were the heroes.
The terrible chumps get negative crap, while heroes don't care about stress.
Gary Gygax wrote:The player’s path to role-playing mastery begins with a thorough understanding of the rules of the game
Bigode wrote:I wouldn't normally make that blanket of a suggestion, but you seem to deserve it: scroll through the entire forum, read anything that looks interesting in term of design experience, then come back.
Negative Zero
NPC
Posts: 9
Joined: Wed May 30, 2012 9:39 pm

Post by Negative Zero »

So what do you do when the dice decide your character refuses to go back to the dungeon to advance the plot? Roll up a new character? Go play Smash Bros?

I'm not entirely convinced that this is a mechanic that is in any way good for the game.
User avatar
silva
Duke
Posts: 2097
Joined: Tue Mar 26, 2013 12:11 am

Post by silva »

Negative Zero wrote:So what do you do when the dice decide your character refuses to go back to the dungeon to advance the plot?
Send him to the bar, brothel, church, etc. to engage in drinking, gambling, fucking, praying, brawling, etc and relieve the stress (according to his traits, some activities will be more efficient than others). This costs time and money though, so its advisable to only invest in those worth it and send the chimps back their mommies.
User avatar
Longes
Prince
Posts: 2867
Joined: Mon Nov 04, 2013 4:02 pm

Post by Longes »

ishy wrote:
Longes wrote:
ETortoise wrote:Torchbearer is all about grinding you down during gungeon crawls. While there isn't a sanity track, conditions include angry and afraid along with physical conditions like exhausted and injured.
Well, that's right up the Darkest Dungeons' alley. You went to the dark scary dungeon and got scared by the scary dark things? Now you have compulsive masturbation and gambling.
I might have been playing darkest dungeon wrong then. In the early build I was playing, it seemed optimal to stress out new recruits as much as possible, so you could figure out which were the chumps and which were the heroes.
The terrible chumps get negative crap, while heroes don't care about stress.
Wat. Adventurer "breaking" or "becoming heroic" is determined by a random die roll, as soon as they stress out. And the die roll is repeated every time you get max stress. Heroic state goes away after camping, or getting to town. Afliction persists untill you de-stress.
User avatar
silva
Duke
Posts: 2097
Joined: Tue Mar 26, 2013 12:11 am

Post by silva »

Watch out: characters get bad traits while de-stressing too. My occultist got syphilis in the brothel.

The plague doctor can cure diseases, but it's damn hard (33% chance while in the camp).
The traditional playstyle is, above all else, the style of playing all games the same way, supported by the ambiguity and lack of procedure in the traditional game text. - Eero Tuovinen
ishy
Duke
Posts: 2404
Joined: Fri Aug 05, 2011 2:59 pm

Post by ishy »

Longes wrote:Wat. Adventurer "breaking" or "becoming heroic" is determined by a random die roll, as soon as they stress out. And the die roll is repeated every time you get max stress. Heroic state goes away after camping, or getting to town. Afliction persists untill you de-stress.
Guess it changed since I last played it then.
Gary Gygax wrote:The player’s path to role-playing mastery begins with a thorough understanding of the rules of the game
Bigode wrote:I wouldn't normally make that blanket of a suggestion, but you seem to deserve it: scroll through the entire forum, read anything that looks interesting in term of design experience, then come back.
User avatar
JonSetanta
King
Posts: 5525
Joined: Fri Mar 07, 2008 7:54 pm
Location: interbutts

Post by JonSetanta »

D&D 3e has a built in fear condition track. You know, Shaken, Frightened, Panic...
Require Will saves on an ever-increasing DC (+1 per encounter) and it will be only a matter of time before someone breaks.
Zaranthan
Knight-Baron
Posts: 628
Joined: Tue May 29, 2012 3:08 pm

Post by Zaranthan »

Negative Zero wrote:So what do you do when the dice decide your character refuses to go back to the dungeon to advance the plot? Roll up a new character? Go play Smash Bros?

I'm not entirely convinced that this is a mechanic that is in any way good for the game.
For a game where you play a single character, no. Not unless you're playing horror. These sort of mechanics are for games where you control several characters and would otherwise be incentivized to ignore most of your stable in favor of leveling up one or two superheroes. You want to rotate between all your minions, because putting all your eggs in one basket is just asking for him to come down with combat paralysis.
name_here
Prince
Posts: 3346
Joined: Fri Mar 07, 2008 7:55 pm

Post by name_here »

In most of the games that implement this sort of thing, it also raises the question of when to keep pushing forward and when to head back, because the mechanics strongly discourage doing it piecemeal. From what I recall from watching it on Twitch, in Darkest Dungeon the map is swapped for an entirely new one when you head home and the good stuff is generally at the end of the map, plus there is a degree of investment in an expedition and you really want them to turn a profit.

But yes, this is another one of those mechanics that's fun when you have multiple characters and can keep going when some of them crack.
DSMatticus wrote:It's not just that everything you say is stupid, but that they are Gordian knots of stupid that leave me completely bewildered as to where to even begin. After hearing you speak Alexander the Great would stab you and triumphantly declare the puzzle solved.
Post Reply