Seeds of Fear
Aside from supernatural sources of dread and monsters who strike terror in their victims, fear is subjective and often quite personal. A battle-hardened warrior and a reclusive scholar might not deal with frightful circumstances in the same way. During character creation, a player can choose up to two Seeds of Fear to represent things their character finds truly frightening. The Seeds of Fear table offers some examples. These can change over time as characters grow, overcome old fears, and discover new uncertainties. Work with players to determine when their Seeds of Fear might change.
A character never has more than three Seeds of Fear; if you gain a new seed and already have three, choose which of your old fears is replaced by the new one.
Seeds of Fear
| d12 | Seed |
|---|---|
| 1 | "I can't stand dark places." |
| 2 | "I'm terrified of a particular kind of animal." |
| 3 | "Deep water will be the death of me." |
| 4 | "I can't stand heights." |
| 5 | "I hate being stuck in tight spaces." |
| 6 | "Being around crowds unnerves me, for I always feel judged." |
| 7 | "I hate feeling isolated or being alone." |
| 8 | "Storms and extreme weather rattle me." |
| 9 | "Being followed chills my blood." |
| 10 | "Sudden noises or appearances fray my nerves." |
| 11 | "I can't be comfortable around creatures larger than I am." |
| 12 | "Reflections always seem like they're looking straight through me." |
Using Seeds of Fear
When a character encounters one of their Seeds of Fear, and interacts with the situation in a way that reinforces the seed, such as screaming or stumbling back from a horrid even, consider giving the character inspiration for their fear-focused reaction. Once a character gains inspiration in this way, they shouldn't be able to do so again until they finish a long rest.
For example, imagine a character has the Seed of Fear. "I hate being stuck in tight spaces" and must squeeze through a narrow crack in a cave wall to continue an adventure. If the player portrays the character's response in a way that reinforces that fear, such as refusing and finding another way around, taking time and making noise to widen the crack, or portraying some other fearful response, these would be perfect opportunities to reward the player's consideration of a Seed of Fear by granting their character inspiration.
Fear
An overwhelming foe or horrid monster doesn't need magic or some supernatural ability to strike fear into the most stalwart adventurers. During any frightful encounter, you can call on a character to make a saving throw to resist being scared. The character must succeed on a DC 15 Wisdom saving throw or become frightened until the end of their next turn.
Any of the following circumstances might be reasons to have one or more characters make saving throws to resist being frightened.
- The character experiences one of their Seeds of Fear.
- An enemy is immune to the character's attacks or spells.
- An enemy demonstrates it can deal enough to reduce a character to 0 hit points in one blow.
- A creature is alien or monstrous in ways the character never could have imagined.
- An object undermines a character's understanding or reality.