Intrusive Thoughts

Thoughts that you don’t like enter your head, such as thoughts of committing atrocities, doubts about your identity or relationships or value, and you can’t get rid of them. While everyone has such thoughts, you can’t easily get past them, and they happen a lot. You fear that you might act on those thoughts, or that, even though they’re not based on evidence, that they indicate something about you or your life. You have a −(IE) penalty on saving throws against being frightened. Because you’ve honed your critical thinking skills as coping strategies, you have a +(IE) bonus to saving throws against illusion magic.

Real-world Examples

Anxiety, Depression, Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder

Assistive Options

Because you are often ashamed of intrusive thoughts as they don’t reflect your character and values, it’s hard getting help from others. Realizing that these are “junk thoughts” that your brain produces, not urges, and don’t reflect on your character, can help you feel better about yourself when these thoughts come, but they don’t eliminate the thoughts or affect game mechanics. If you have a trusted friend that takes time to talk to you about it, or if you keep a journal where you list evidence for and against the truth of the thought with a statement that acknowledges the thought and demonstrates that it’s false, you can use your action to check it, and for either of these, the IE reduces by 1 for 2d4 – (IE) (minimum 0) hours.