Baseless Emotion

Having multiple “disorders” can sometimes make it harder to cope with stressful situations. With OCD, anxiety, depression, and an immune disorder, sometimes it feels impossible to do normal things. But you just have to figure out a way to do it in your own way, get the tools you need, objects to focus on, an array of medications, and people you love that can help keep you grounded. That’s the real victory, living your own way the best you can.

-MicroBioDM

Display Emotion

function displaySymptom() { const symptoms = [ "Dread", "Guilt", "Hopelessness", "Irritability", "Loss of Interest", "Panic/Nervousness", "Restlessness", "Suspicion", "Worrying", "Worthlessness" ];

const randomSymptom = symptoms[Math.floor(Math.random() * symptoms.length)];

document.getElementById("symptom").innerHTML = randomSymptom; }

You feel 2d4 of these emotions without any necessary stimulus. In addition to the listed traits, any day that you experience these for more than four hours, you need to take a short rest or take one level of exhaustion due to the physical toll they take.

• Dread. You feel something looming, as if an unexpected event or entity will come to bring harm. Dread differs from worry in that it has an object, even if you don’t know what or who that object is. You have a −(IE) penalty to resist Charisma (Intimidation) checks and saving throws against the frightened condition.
• Guilt. You feel guilt, like you’ve done something wrong, even if you don’t know what it is, or excessive guilt over a minor offense. You have a −(IE) penalty on all Charisma (Persuasion) checks.
• Hopelessness. You have the overwhelming feeling that your circumstances will only get worse, either your immediate circumstances or your entire life or both (and which of those doesn’t matter). While experiencing this, you lose advantage on all ability checks.
• Loss of Interest. You don’t enjoy the activities that you used to and have trouble motivating yourself to do them. You have a −(IE) penalty on all proficiency bonuses (minimum 0 bonus).
• Panic/Nervousness. You have an overwhelming feeling of panic. All spell casting and ability checks require that you either succeed on a Constitution saving throw to maintain concentration or make the subsequent check with a −(IE) penalty, and tasks that normally require a Constitution saving throw are made with a −(IE) penalty.
• Restlessness. You feel agitated or panicked. Something is wrong, and maybe it’s related to a specific subject, or maybe not. Even if all evidence says things are fine, you have an unavoidable feeling to the contrary. This causes you to be hypervigilant, giving you a +(IE) bonus to all Wisdom (Perception) in contested Dexterity (Stealth) checks but a −(IE) penalty to notice harmless details.
• Suspicion. You worry about what people think of you and have trouble trusting people. You have a −(IE) penalty on all Wisdom (Insight) checks and a +(IE) bonus to resist being charmed.
• Worrying. You have an overwhelming fear of the future, both near and distant. You have a −(IE) penalty on saving throws against the frightened condition and a −(IE) penalty on Charisma (Persuasion) checks as your own doubt makes you less convincing to others.
• Worthlessness. You feel persistent self-doubt that your abilities or value as a person are inadequate. Trying to compare you to others only makes it worse. This makes you reluctant to take risks and causes you to second-guess your actions. This gives you a −(IE) penalty to initiative rolls.

Real-world Examples

Anxiety, Depression, Imposter Syndrome

Assistive Options

Several behavior changes can have a positive cumulative benefit. Upon keeping three of the following for seven days, the IE decreases by 1 as long as you maintain them: a set daily routine, set daily goals, exercise, eat a regular nutritious diet, get enough sleep on a regular schedule, and/or spend an hour each day doing something fun. If you change which you’re doing, at least three must stay the same, or you lose the benefit for seven days.