Neurosis

Digressions of the Devouring Dead introduces Neurosis as an alternative to accumulating Madness points. Adventurers can trade away Madness in exchange for a permanent but predictable derangement.

Basic-tier note: At Basic levels (1–5), characters who would gain 1 Madness may instead choose to lose 2 Life from shock. This option is not available at Expert level or above.

Acquiring a Neurosis

At any time, a character can remove 3 Madness points to acquire a random neurosis from the Neurosis Table (roll d6). The Madness is gone; the neurosis is added permanently.

• Each neurosis can only be acquired once per character.
• A character can have a maximum of 3 neuroses at one time.
• If a 4th neurosis would be acquired, the character is removed from the game as if their Madness exceeded their level.
• Characters with lycanthropy or Touched by Chaos who acquire a 4th neurosis attack the party per those rules.

Curing a Neurosis

Neuroses can be cured between adventures at asylums or abbeys only:

• Cost: 250 gp + 1 XP check per neurosis.
• The character forfeits their next adventure (a replacement can fill their slot).
• If the XP check fails: the XP is wasted, and the character gains 1 more Madness point or loses 1 permanent Life point (player's choice).

Neurosis Table (d6)

| d6 | Neurosis | Effect | |---|---|---| | 1 | Phobia | −1 to all rolls (attacks, Defense, saves, spellcasting — not XP rolls) when in the presence of whatever caused the last Madness gain. May change the phobia's object each time a new Madness point is gained. | | 2 | Paranoia | Will never share, lend, or spend limited resources (spells, scrolls, charges, food, potions) for anyone but themselves. Madness score can never drop below 1. | | 3 | Fanaticism | Will never flee from combat. Will always attack the monster type that caused this neurosis. | | 4 | Puritan | Refuses to loot monsters unless attacked first; will never pick pockets or steal. Immediately leaves the party if any member casts necromantic/chaos spells, uses such items/scrolls, woos anyone, or engages in any hint of non-marital intimacy. | | 5 | Automutilation | Loses 2 Life immediately on acquisition. Each time the character would gain a Madness point in future, they instead lose 2 Life — even if this kills them. | | 6 | Obsession | Must always Search empty rooms/corridors. Must always interact with any object found. Must always attempt to speak with monsters before attacking. Must always re-attempt any action they're offered to retry (unless failure is certain). Always the first selected when a single character must be chosen. |

Class-specific rolls (override)

• Paladins, monks, clerics of Law/Light, witch hunters, shrews, censors may always choose Puritan instead of rolling.
• Atrocities, death lepers, mutants may choose Automutilation instead of rolling.
• Berserkers and orcs may choose Fanaticism.
• Necromancers may choose Obsession.
• Dwarves may choose Paranoia.
• Fire elves always pick Paranoia first.

Interaction with Other Mechanics

• Madness converted into neurosis points does not add to the Atrocity class's Attack roll.
• The Death Leper class may choose their neurosis (if any) instead of rolling.
• The Mutant class can use neurosis to bleed off excessive Madness caused by chaotic powers.