The Madness tradition taps into forces beyond mortal reckoning, reaching into dimensions and realities beyond those that are known and drawing forth energy to spawn horrors that bend and break the mind.
Spells from this tradition tax the minds of those who know them, and students find that the longer they look into the secrets of the tradition, the weaker their grip on reality becomes.
Most who pursue this dark art eventually lose their minds, and thus a great many of the fearless pioneers who assembled the spells and secrets of the tradition have been sealed away in vaults to keep them from harm and protect others from the unspeakable secrets they reveal. Yet no secret stays hidden forever.
Mind Fractures: Each time you learn a spell from the Madness tradition, you must make a Will challenge roll with a number of banes equal to the number of Madness spells you have learned so far. On a failure, you gain 1 Insanity.
Mitigating The Madness
The Madness tradition forces users to peer into dark places and grapple with mind-blasting truths. As a result, most students of Madness wrestle with their sanity, always struggling to cling to whatever shreds of it they have left until their minds finally buckle and break. Afterward, as users grow more and more accustomed to the horrors of their art, they learn to keep their wits about them even while gibbering, frothing, and clawing at their own bodies. Whenever you roll a d6 to end the effects of a particular form of madness, you add a bonus to the roll equal to the rank of the highest-rank Madness spell you have learned.
Unlight
Area A 10-yard-radius sphere centered on a point within your space
Duration 1 hour
An unnatural illumination, alternately pale yellow and gray- green, bleeds through the area for the duration. The area moves with you and remains centered on you. Only you, and up to ten creatures you designate within medium range, can perceive the light, which enables you to see areas of shadows and darkness inside the area as if those areas were lit. In addition, you and the chosen creatures can see invisible creatures and objects in it. Furthermore, effects in the area created by Illusion spells are revealed as such to you and the chosen creatures.
From time to time, extradimensional horrors appear inside the area. Whenever a creature in the area gets a 0 or lower on an attack roll or a challenge roll, you and each creature you chose that can see into the area catch a glimpse of some unnatural terror swimming through the air, forcing you and the affected chosen creatures to make Will challenge rolls, with a failure resulting in a gain of 1d3 Insanity.
Reveal Unspeakable Truth
Target One creature within short range
As you whisper some dark, unsettling truth, words of smoke spill from your mouth and float toward the target, where they dissipate. If the target can hear you, make an Intellect attack roll against the target’s Will. If the target has 3 or more Insanity, you make the attack roll with 1 boon. On a success, the target gains 1 Insanity.
If the total of your roll is 0 or lower, you instead gain 1 Insanity.
Serenity
Triggered When you gain Insanity, you can use a triggered action to cast this spell. You are not frightened from gaining the Insanity.
Aid From The Outer Gods
Duration 1 minute
You impose 1 bane on attack rolls made against you until the spell ends. In addition, whenever a creature you can see would attack you, you can use a triggered action to gain 1 Insanity and impose 2 additional banes on the attack roll.
Black Breath
Area A 3-yard-long cone originating from a point in your space
You exhale a cloud of fetid darkness that spreads through the area. The darkness causes creatures in its midst to experience terrifying hallucinations. Each creature in the area must get a success on a Will challenge roll or take 1d6 damage and gain 1d3 Insanity.
Dream Worm
Target One creature or one humanoid corpse within short range
Duration See the effect
You reach into another dimension to pluck forth a wriggling dream worm, and then you flick it at the target. The effect depends on whether you chose a living or a dead target.
Against a living target, make an Intellect attack roll against the target’s Agility. On a success, the target gains 1 Insanity and becomes charmed for a number of rounds equal to 1 + its Insanity total.
Against a dead target, the worm wriggles into the target’s body, causing it to become an animated corpse. The target remains an animated corpse until it is destroyed. Each hour, the target takes 1d6 damage from being devoured from the inside out.
Forbidden Knowledge
Duration 1 hour; see the effect
You open your mind to impossible vistas and abominations beyond mortal imagining. Gain 1d6 + 1 Insanity. If you do not go mad as a result of gaining Insanity in this way, you gain a number of insights equal to the Insanity you gained. The spell ends when you expend the last insight.
When you make an attack roll or a challenge roll, you can expend an insight to make the roll with 2 boons.
Alternatively, while you have at least one insight, you can use an action to expend an insight and ask the GM a question that can be answered “yes” or “no” about an object, person, place, or effect you can see. The GM must answer truthfully, saying “unknown” only if answering “yes” or “no” would not apply.
Dimensional Travel
By stepping into another dimension, you teleport to an open space within medium range. When you reach that space, make a Will challenge roll with 1 bane. On a failure, you gain 1 Insanity.
Triggered On your turn, you can use a triggered action to cast this spell.
Hoary Tentacle
Area A cube of space, 1 yard on a side, originating from a point within short range
Duration 1 minute
A Size 1 hideous pale tentacle reaches out from another dimension into the target and remains for the duration. Each creature that can see the tentacle must get a success on a Will challenge roll or gain 1 Insanity.
When the tentacle appears and again at the end of each round, it tries to grab a randomly determined creature within 3 yards of it, or it attacks a creature it is already grabbing. On a grab attempt, a creature must get a success on an Agility challenge roll with 1 bane or take 1d6 damage and become grabbed. The tentacle can have only one creature grabbed at a time and maintains the grab for as long as it is able until the creature dies. If the tentacle has a creature grabbed, the creature takes 3d6 damage and the grabbed affliction lasts 1 more round. For the purpose of escaping the grab, the tentacle’s Strength is 15.
Bedeviling Colors
Requirement You must have at least 1 Insanity
Target Up to three creatures within short range
Duration 1 minute
Strange and impossible colors swirl around the targets, causing each creature to shed light in a 3-yard radius for the duration. The light moves with the targets. Each target must make a Will challenge roll with 2 banes. On a failure, the target gains 1d3 Insanity. While the target is frightened from gaining Insanity in this way, it takes 2d6 damage from the colors feeding on its essence whenever it gets a failure on an attack roll or a challenge roll.
Eye of the Outer God
Requirement You must have at least 1 Insanity
Duration 1 hour
A bloody eye opens in the center of your forehead and remains open for the duration. The eye lets you see into areas obscured by shadows or darkness as if those areas were lit. In addition, your attack rolls ignore banes imposed by cover or obscurement.
You can use an action, or a triggered action on your turn, to turn your gaze on one creature that can see you and is within medium range. The creature cannot avert its eyes. Make an Intellect attack roll against the creature’s Will. On a success, the creature takes 1d6 damage and gains 1d3 Insanity. On a failure, the eye shows you something you cannot comprehend, and you gain 1 Insanity instead.
Mind Shatter
Requirement You must have at least 1 Insanity
Target One creature within medium range
Make an Intellect attack roll against the target’s Will, with a number of boons equal to the target’s Insanity score. On a success, the target takes 2d6 damage and gains 2d6 Insanity.
Attack Roll 20+ The target takes 2d6 extra damage.
Dark Star
Requirement You must have at least 2 Insanity
Area A sphere with a 2-yard radius centered on a point within medium range
Duration 1d6 minutes; see the effect
A solid black sphere made from the solidified thoughts of an aborted god appears inside the area and remains for the duration. Any creature inside the area when the sphere appears must get a success on a Strength challenge roll with 1 bane or take 4d6 damage and teleport to an open space of the GM’s choice within short range of the area’s origin point.
In addition, when the sphere appears and at the end of each round until the spell ends, each creature within short range of it must get a success on a Strength challenge roll with 1 bane or be pulled 1 yard toward the area and become immobilized for 1 round. If a creature or an object enters the area, it takes 4d6 damage and teleports to an open space of the GM’s choice within short range of the area’s origin point.
At the end of each round, roll a d6. On a 6, the sphere’s radius increases by 1 yard, subjecting creatures inside the new, larger area to the above effects as if they had entered it. On a 1, the sphere’s radius drops by 1 yard. If the radius drops to 0, the spell ends immediately.
Worms From The Ninth Dimension
Requirement You must have at least 2 Insanity
Area A cube of space, 2 yards on a side, originating from a point within medium range
Duration 1 minute; see the effect
A knot of enormous eyeless, multicolored luminous worms fills the area and remains for the duration. Each creature that can see the worms when they appear must get a success on a Will challenge roll or gain 1d3 Insanity. When it is frightened from gaining Insanity in this way, a creature is also immobilized.
When the worms appear and at the end of each round thereafter until the spell ends, the area moves 1d6 yards in a direction you choose, and the worms lunge out to bite everything they can reach. Each creature within 3 yards of the area must get a success on an Agility challenge roll with 1 bane or take 3d6 damage.
At the end of each round, roll a d6. On a 6, the duration of the spell is extended by 1 minute. On a 1, the spell ends immediately.
Lay Bare The Cosmic Mysteries
Requirement You must have at least 2 Insanity
Duration 1 hour
Upon casting this spell, you must concentrate for 10 minutes. If you finish, you fling your mind into another dimension, leaving your body prone and unconscious for the duration. If your body dies while in this state, your mind becomes forever lost in the impossible vistas of the other dimension.
Upon entering the other dimension, you must get a success on a Will challenge roll with 3 banes or gain 3d6 Insanity. If you go mad, the spell ends, and your mind returns to your body, where it suffers the effects of madness. Otherwise, you can ask the GM a number of questions equal to your Power score. For each question, make an Intellect challenge roll. The GM must answer your question truthfully on a success, or can answer truthfully or not on a failure. If you ask a question for which there is not an answer, the question is wasted.
Mad Piping of the Outer Dark
Requirement You must have at least 2 Insanity
Area A 5-yard-radius sphere centered on a point within medium range
Weird piping noises fill the area with unsettling music. Each creature in the area that can hear the music must get a success on a Will challenge roll with 2 banes or gain 1d6 + 1 Insanity. When a creature becomes frightened from gaining Insanity in this way, the creature is dazed and dances in whatever direction you choose on each of its turns.