This added mechanic seems to draw from Boromir. He was the human who went crazy and tried to steal the ring from Frodo, and he is an interesting character to think about in terms of his literary appearance and how that might translate to an RPG. I always thought Boromir was an odd duck - if you look at the fellowship overall they are all good people. Gandalf is a wizard (really more like an angel) working to help save Middle-Earth, Aragorn is a future King, Legolas and Sam both stalwart friends, even Merry and Pippin are in over their heads, but continue to risk their lives to help their friends. Everybody is pretty fundamentally good. Then you have Boromir, who is a good guy at heart, but briefly becomes a bad guy, then goes good again. He strikes me because of something that I didn't like about the Lord of the Rings story: why is the One Ring so scary? There is a line somewhere in the books and movies about how the One Ring will give Sauron power or domination over men, but it is not your typical, flashy, world-ending source of doom. Heck, the Dwarves lost their rings and the Elves wear theirs - if it was so terrifying that the One Ring could "rule them all" then why were they treated so casually? I never really felt like the story conveyed how the One Ring was such a fearsome weapon.
And that ties into the characters. Frodo carries the Ring, and everybody else is warned away from it, but it really doesn't do much. I mean, you hear about how it's corrupting him, but aside from Elijah Wood looking vaguely sea-sick/ sleepy it doesn't really do anything frightening. Which is kind of why I think Boromir exists. While a lot of people come in contact with the ring, pretty much all of them stay away from it. Boromir is the only one who falls under it's spell and actually does something bad. Which he is then killed right after. So I always kind of felt he was thrown into the story to be the "cautionary tale," the example of what could happen if the Ring regained it's power.
This has a lot of implications for an RPG though because of that one little thing called "player agency." That's the idea that the player should be in charge of their character. Like all things RPG this is a concept that each player and table sees a little differently. Some players absolutely hate having control of their character taken away, others might specifically choose to play a game like Call of Cthulhu expecting their character to fall into madness and wanting to watch the ride. So adding a mechanic for the character acting "badly/ crazy" is a potential minefield.
Overall I think AiMe does okay with the concept, but it does create a fairly weak mechanic. So, there are 4 general ways you might accumulate "Shadow points"-
- Experiencing distressing events.
- Crossing or dwelling in an area tainted by manifestations of the Shadow.
- Committing despicable or dishonourable deeds, regardless of the end they sought to achieve.
- Taking possession of a cursed or tainted item or treasure.
So when you run into one of these circumstances you will usually make a DC 15 Wisdom save. So you've got an unmodified 30% chance of shrugging it off. If you fail the save then you gain 1 or more Shadow points. Which is where it gets kind of weird. First though, let's break down these circumstances.
Experiencing distressing events
There's a chart in the book that goes from witnessing an accident, to being betrayed by a friend, to being tortured. This makes sense, as bad things happen to the character their spirits/ outlook will be effected. I kind of don't like these sorts of tables, because I think that level needs to be taken into account. I fell like the older and more experienced you are the easier you should be able to handle tragic events (since no doubt you've seen and heard things over your life, possibly outside the adventure spotlight), not only have a bonus if you are "proficient" in Wis saves. This is also kind of tricky because these are not the sorts of things that will usually happen by random chance, I think a lot of these have to be written into an adventure to come up.
Crossing or dwelling in an area tainted by manifestations of the Shadow
I like this one. Mirkwood is a scary forest overrun by man-eating spiders, so I like how just walking through it could give you nightmares. To tie this mechanic into a place is a nice extra layer of world-building. Again, not something likely to pop up at random, usually you'll write an adventure to take players there (or give them the option at least). Kinda hard to imagine accidentally stumbling upon a horrifying forest of evil.
Committing despicable or dishonourable deeds, regardless of the end they sought to achieve
Now this one I really hate in every 'sanity' or 'morality' system I've seen it in, because basically it says "are your players a-holes?" Now, some tables like 'morally grey' stories and if that works for them then great. Personally I've lived though too many "Chaotic A-hole" characters back in the early D&D days and I choose not to play with those sorts of players anymore.
The thing is, this is either not something that is going to come up often if at all, and when it does it's likely to be more about out-of-game issues. My motto is 'never cross the streams, don't make things happen in-game because of things out-of-game.' I don't give awards for players showing up on time or buying snacks, that's all stuff that's a part of our personal relationships and not the characters. Likewise I think punishing a character with Shadow points because the player is acting like a poop emoji is a recipe for disaster. If the player's actions are at fault, then take that up directly with the player. Mixing things in and out of game have caused more problems than benefits in my experience. Of course, your mileage may vary.
Taking possession of a cursed or tainted item or treasure
Again, just how often is this going to come up? This also has a precedent in the lore, the evil seeing stones (palantirs) helped drive Saruman to the dark side and Denethor crazy. But just how many are your party likely to find? This is one that really needs to be set up by the GM, to creating a scary treasure and then giving the party a reason to keep it as it drives them to madness.
Okay, so something bad has happened and you've picked up a Shadow point or two. So now what, what does that mean? Here is where things get strange in my opinion.
So the game adds a new condition called "Miserable." It imposes disadvantage on attack rolls and you automatically fail any Charisma checks. Okay, you don't want to fight and you're very anti-social. The thing is, you only become Miserable when your Shadow point total exceeds your Wisdom score. That's score, not modifier. So it takes anywhere from 9 to 17 Shadow points to drive a 'typical' character to being miserable. Even on the low end (Wis 8 so 9 Shadow) that is a lot of bad stuff to happen and scary places to go through. In 4 full adventures I'm not sure my group has had the chance to earn that many Shadow points, and I'm playing by the pre-written adventures.
The real fun comes when a character is Miserable, they then have a chance to fall into madness...
Bouts Of Madness
When a Player-hero who is Miserable rolls equal or less than difference between their Shadow point total and their Wisdom while making an ability check, attack roll or saving throw, they experience a bout of madness.
For example, a Player-hero with Wisdom 10 and 15 Shadow points, suffers a bout of madness when they roll five or below while making an ability check, attack roll or saving throw. If they gain another point of Shadow then the bout is triggered on a roll of 1 – 6, and so on.
This really gets fun. First, you have to remember this, like write it on a sticky note or something, because it could trigger at any time. Second, exactly what should happen is really vague, the book has this for an example...
Rage – the character broods over real or imaginary wrongs until they react aggressively to a perceived threat or source of opposition.
Wretchedness – the hero descends in a deep state of depression. They cannot propose any task for the length of the crisis.
Desperation – the hero cannot find a trace of hope in his spirit, and thus cannot use inspiration until their heart is again lifted.
Lust – the character feels an irresistible desire for an object not belonging to them, and tries to secretly take it.
So how exactly is your 'bout of lust' supposed to kick in if you roll a 1 on a Survival check to follow tracks in the forest? You feel an uncontrollable desire for a nearby flower? The totally random nature of this is a problem, and the book even acknowledges that by saying that the GM can hold off on having the bout of madness kick in, but that's another problem because you don't want to separate the punishment from the mistake by too much, then it just feels like you're being mean arbitrarily instead of because of what the character/ player have done.
A kind of cool thing though is what happens after your bout of madness, because the effects stick with you...
When a bout of madness finally passes, the character regains control and sees their mind finally cleared of the tangle of fear and doubt he fell into before facing the crisis. In gaming terms, a player who suffered a bout of madness cancels all the Shadow points they have accumulated since their last bout of madness, and replaces them with a single ‘permanent’ Shadow point.
Permanent Shadow points may not be removed in any way – they are permanent corruption of the spirit and there is no magic that can undo them; however, they are considered as normal Shadow points for all other purposes.
Degeneration
In addition to ‘resetting’ their Shadow points, every time a Player-hero suffers a bout of madness they develop a new Shadow Weakness Flaw. Their Shadow Weakness determines the precise nature of their degeneration, as the various Shadow Weakness Flaws are taken from a list directly corresponding to their chosen Shadow Weakness.
A Shadow Weakness represents an individual’s main inner fault; their susceptibility to a certain kind of temptation or behavioural flaw. This vulnerability is exploited by the corrupting power of the Shadow, gradually twisting the Player-hero’s behaviour. Each list presents its four Shadow Weakness Flaws in order of increasing seriousness: the first time a Player-hero fails and is taken by madness they develop the first Shadow Weakness Flaw on the list, then the second, and so on.
A flawed adventurer has not lost the possibility of being a hero. Many of the characters described in the books display the influence of the Shadow to some measure. In most cases, they were able to keep their weaknesses in check, avoiding corruption’s direst consequences.
Degeneration Consequences
The first entry on each list serves as a ‘warning’ of sorts for a player: their character is beginning to slip into Shadow. A player can actually choose to use this to their advantage, by properly roleplaying their new Shadow Weakness Flaw, they can gain inspiration, just as they do when portraying their hero's characteristics derived from their background.
Reaching the second entry means a character has continued on their ever-darkening path. In addition to their new Flaw, any skill or feature that their Shadow Weakness Flaws would impair automatically loses advantage. For example, the Rohirrim love their horses as kin and may have advantage on Animal Handling checks. A Rohirrim with the Curse of Vengeance who becomes Brutal no longer treats horses as kindly as he once did and loses his advantage on Animal Handling checks. The third tier is a precarious one and reaching it signals that a character is likely destined for retirement, tragedy or villainy. In addition to their third Shadow Weakness Flaw, Player-heroes that have fallen to this point suffer disadvantage on all social ability checks, unless their Flaw would directly suggest otherwise.
For example, a Deceitful hero does not suffer disadvantage on Charisma (Deception) ability checks, a Cruel hero has no problem making Charisma (Intimidation) checks and so on.
Note that the behaviour implied by the third tier Shadow Weakness Flaws is, in many cases, the sort of conduct that leads to Misdeeds; the Player-hero’s descent into darkness is thus hastened.
The fourth and final tier places a Player-hero on the cusp of becoming an NPC. In addition to their final Shadow Weakness Flaw, all Charisma checks suffer disadvantage, as do Wisdom (Insight) ability checks. Worse by far, whenever presented with a situation where their fourth Shadow Weakness Flaw is relevant, the Player-hero must make a DC 15 Wisdom saving throw to remain in control of themselves. Failure means they act as their fourth tier Shadow Weakness Flaw indicates. At this point, their friends may very well insist that they leave the company, and the Player-hero is forced into retirement.
Failure Aggravation
When a Player-hero fails at an ability check, a Shadow Weakness Flaw may dramatically worsen its already negative outcome.
If the consequences of a failed roll may be affected by a Shadow Weakness Flaw possessed by a Player-hero, the Loremaster can severely aggravate the outcome of the action, turning it into a truly catastrophic effort.
For example, a Brutal hero attempts to impress a crowd using Charisma (Intimidation). The player fails the roll, and the Loremaster determines that the adventurer actually drew his sword and harmed someone in his overzealous attempt to intimidate.
And an example of one "Shadow Weakness"...
Lure of Power
When a man is given a position of authority, either by rank, lineage or stature, he may end up mistaking his own wishes for those of the people he should be guiding or keeping safe. Power is the quintessential temptation, and provides the Shadow with an easy way to win the hearts of those who desire it.
Arrogant
An Arrogant hero doesn’t miss an opportunity to underline their own importance, often belittling their peers and companions.
Overconfident
Overconfidence denotes overweening pride, a sentiment that blinds a hero to their own limits and weaknesses. They will set out to do anything they set their mind upon, regardless of the consequences that might befall others.
Resentful
A Resentful adventurer is often bitter and angry with the people they ought to protect, as they feel that they risk their life for individuals that fail to recognise their actions on their behalf.
Tyrannical
A Tyrannical hero escalates their actions and desires to the level of a just cause. Their disregard for the lives of others is so profound that they will go to any length to achieve their ends, regardless of the cost or methods employed to accomplish them. Any dissenting opinion is considered to be utter betrayal.
I really like the example in there of a character's skills changing, that seems like a great way to mechanically reinforce the changes happening to the character, but I wish that each shadow weakness had a few such skills or skill uses listed instead of making the GM pull something out of thin air.
So overall this is an interesting concept, but I have not really gotten much use out of the system. Like I said before, my players have not had many chances to even gain Shadow points, and no one has let them build up. I added a rule that you can spend a point of Inspiration to remove a Shadow point, and everybody has to gotten rid of them by the time the adventure is over. I do like that unexpected side effect however. See, the first time I read over these rules I had a brain-hiccup and thought it said you were Miserable when you went over your Wis Modifier, not score. So I scared my players a lot about having Shadow points. But I also didn't want to drive my Wis 10 Barbarian crazy all the time, so I started handing out multiple Inspiration points. The 5e rules say you can only ever have 1 at a time, but I've been letting my players stockpile them if they want. The cool thing is that nobody has, they are constantly using them on bad rolls and to get rid of the occasional Shadow point. So I added another house rule, for some adventures I've given the players a choice - in the first adventure the players guided a merchant and his son thorough the scary spider-infested Mirkwood. The merchant offers them a reward in gold, which he can afford so it isn't a big deal, but I told the players that if they wanted to turn the reward down then I'd give them a trait called "Friend of the Light" that means they start each adventure with an extra Inspiration point. I found this "carrot" method to be more useful in putting the players in a 'heroic mind-set' than the "stick" of Shadow points from Misdeeds. And I like when they throw Inspiration points around, it cushions them from the whimsy of the dice, and it makes them a little bolder since they can give themselves a boost.
I like the idea of the Shadow system, but you really have to do some prep and structure the adventures to take advantage of it, and you need the players on board to really buy into it. As written I'm too fond of these rules, and I have not had much occasion to use them as I mentioned. I am not going to really try either, I'd have to house rule a more gradual system of increasing penalties and I just don't have the time to take the system apart and rebuild it to my liking. Also, since this game is a DnD 5e port of their own custom RPG they locked all of these new rules. I am talking about them here because I'm reviewing them, which is covered under fair use. But I couldn't write them into my own game. Even though this is released under the OGL, there is a provision in the OGL itself to declare something "Product Identity" which means it is not able to be freely copied. Most games, like Pathfinder, only do this for names and background details and artwork, things specific to their setting, but AiME also applies it to the mechanics. Which makes sense because these systems come from their original RPG, The One Ring, which is not OGL. So any kind of madness system I wanted to use would have to be designed from the ground up and not built on these rules.
Okay, next post is going to be about a system I wholeheartedly approve of- the Audience mechanics, which makes talking to people better than vanilla 5e.
You can find the rest of this series here
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