Malaise

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© Daniel S. Wall, July 20, 2026.

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A Trace of Death Lingers by Joyce Maureira

Malaise is an inverse measure of a character’s will to live. The higher their Malaise, the less resilient a character will be. Those with truly high malaise will be quick to grow ill and slow to heal. They will also be remarkably susceptible to attacks from Undead. They will retain all their normal skills and abilities, but a character with a high malaise has one foot in the grave. Until she learns to love life again, a character with high Malaise may be very difficult to keep alive.

The idea here is to create a long-term problem with its own significance in role-play, one that is solvable, but not with a quick healing spell. It plagues characters who have come close to death, or experienced significant loss, been subjected to life-draining attacks, or engaged behavior contrary to their deepest convictions. Any one of these could leave a character with a weakened will to live. It does not undermine their skills and abilities, but it does leave them more fragile. Malaise provides an alternative to the loss of levels or attribute scores and the forcible alignment change of earlier editions of D&D while keeping a sense that these issues create problems not easily resolved within a single game session.

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Malaise at its Core

Squonk painted by Andy Sneed

Acquiring Malaise: Aside from rare instances of special attacks or magical effects imposing it, Malaise is usually acquired through close calls with death, the loss of loved ones, or by actions inconsistent with the established nature of a character. A character fresh off a near-death experience may find that death itself still has a little bit of a hold on them, just as they may long to join a dead spouse or some other loved one. Characters who have acted in a manner significantly inconsistent with their values and goals may find themselves questioning the value of their own life.

Malaise can also be the result of extraordinary attacks one might characterize as life-stealing, such as the bite of a vampire or the nightmares caused by a succubus. These too will weaken a character’s will to live.

Effects of Malaise: The Malaise score of a character is a penalty to any healing done to that character. It is also a vulnerability penalty, adding to the damage done by Undead to that character. A character with 1 point of malaise thus reduces the damage healed from a spell by 1 point and raises her damage from an Undead by 1 as well. A character with 6 points of malaise reduces healing spells by 6 and adds 6 points to any damage caused by Undead. Malaise can have other featurs as well, and at their own discretion, a GM may certain flesh add implications of their own.

Overcoming Malaise: A character must play a full game session with any Malaise earned before attempting to buy it off. After that, a character may buy off malaise at a cost built on a triangular sum at the end of any given game session. If 1 point of Malaise can be bought off at the cost of 1 point of x.p., then 2 may be bought off at a cost of 3 total (1+2=3), and 3 can be bought off at a cost of 6 (1+2+3=6). Thus, Malaise can be bought off slowly at a low cost or rapidly at a high cost. It is up to the player to decide which he prefers.

Certain special abilities or problems may enhance malaise, trigger tactical benefits on the basis of malaise, facilitate rapid overcoming of malaise, or drag out that process. These are rare abilities, and they are prone to high cost. In no case, will an ability ever enable a character to overcome Malaise without going through a full game session with any given Malaise penalty.

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Game-Specific Applications

D&D (1st through 3rd editions): How does one apply the concept to D&D? First we will look at the specific mechanics for acquiring Malaise, the specific effects of Malaise, and finally, the means of overcoming it.

Mechanics for acquiring Malaise: Malaise may be acquired in a variety of ways.

Death: Any character brought back from the dead automatically gets 10 points of Malaise.

Grief: The death of a loved one or dear friend, or a significant loss with serious consequences, may incur 1-3 points of Malaise at the discretion of the GM (or alternatively, the consensus of the players present).

Life-Draining Attacks: Any attack which might otherwise cause the permanent draining of a level or a point off a character’s attributes would instead result in 3 points of Malaise. (Alternatively, 1 point of Malaise could be added to the existing effect without taking that effect away.)

Moral Transgressions: Any time a character acts in such a manner as to contradict their alignment, they acquire 1-5 points of Malaise, depending on the severity of the transgression. This can replace the old first edition mechanic of simply changing the character’s alignment. How this decision is made varies. It could be the GM’s call or it could be a decision at the consensus of the players.

Near Death Experiences: A Character acquires 1 point of Malaise once she goes below 0 hit point status and 1 more for every 3 continuous rounds spent at 0 hit point status or below. (Note: if the character dies outright, just apply the death rule instead.)

Effects of Malaise: The numeric value of a character’s Malaise provides a variety of different problems for a given character.

Attacks by Undead: It is a bonus to the damage done by Undead to that character.

Death Magic: It is damage taken in the event of a successful save versus death magic. A failed save would of course make this irrelevant.

Healing Magic: It is a penalty to any healing done on the character in question (to a minimum of 1 point healed).

Natural Healing: It is a penalty to any rolls made to assist a character in healing by means of natural medicine, and it is a chance (multiplied by 5) that the wound will not naturally heal according to the normal rules on any given day.

Mechanics for overcoming Malaise: To buy off Malaise, a character must first play a full game session with any Malaise they wish to eliminate. After this, they may buy off Malaise in the following manner. To buy off 1 point of Malaise at the end of a given session, a character must spend 10% of the difference between the experience needed for their current level and that needed for the next. To buy 2 points off at the end of a given session, a player must spend 30% of that difference. To buy off 3 at the end of a given session, they must spend 60%, and so on.

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Tunnels and Trolls (Deluxe Edition): How does one apply the concept to Tunnels and Trolls? First we will look at the specific mechanics for acquiring Malaise, the specific effects of Malaise, and finally, the means of overcoming it.

Mechanics for acquiring Malaise: Malaise may be acquired in a variety of ways.

Near Death Experiences: A Character acquires 1 point of Malaise once she goes below 0 hit point status and 1 more for every 3 continuous rounds spent at 0 hit point status or below. (Note: if the character dies outright, just apply the death rule instead.)

Death: Any character brought back from the dead automatically gets 10 points of Malaise.

Grief: The death of a loved one or dear friend, or a significant loss with serious consequences, may incur 1-3 points of Malaise at the discretion of the GM (or alternatively, the consensus of the players present).

Moral Transgressions: If the player running a character and the GM agree that the character has acted in a manner wildly inconsistent with their character and/or the best interest of their stated goals, they acquire 1-5 points of Malaise, depending on the severity of the transgression. This may not happen often, as a player is unlikely to agree to it, but it remains an option.

Effects of Malaise: The numeric value of a character’s Malaise provides a variety of different problems for a given character.

Attacks by Undead: It is a bonus to the damage done by Undead to that character.

Healing: It is a penalty to any healing done on the character in question (to a minimum of 1 point healed). Note that the in event that a character should have been healed to full Constitution, they end up with their Malaise in damage after all.

Mechanics for overcoming Malaise: To buy off Malaise, a character must first play a full game session with any Malaise they wish to eliminate. After this, they may buy off Malaise in the following manner. To buy off 1 point of Malaise at the end of a given session, a character must spend 10 adventure points. To buy 2 points off at the end of a given game session, a player must spend 30 adventure points. To buy off 3 at the end of a given game session, they must spend 60 adventure points, and so on.

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Worlds of Hurt (My Homebrew): How does one apply the concept to Worlds of Hurt? First we will look at the specific mechanics for acquiring Malaise, the specific effects of Malaise, and finally, the means of overcoming it.

Mechanics for acquiring Malaise: Malaise may be acquired in a variety of ways.

Death: Any character brought back from the dead automatically gets 10 points of Malaise.

Grief: Characters may take on Malaise for the loss of loved ones or for major set backs, as detailed in the rules for social relationships and other relevant portions of the game system.

Deep Wounds: A variety of special attacks cause Malaise as spelled out in the game rules.

Moral Transgressions: Characters may take Malaise for actions contrary to their moral values or memes as spelled out in the relevant sections of the game rules.

Near Death Experiences: A Character acquires 1 point of Malaise once they go down to 0 physical durability or below. They acquire 3 points of Malaise if they spend 1 full round in that status, and 5 points if they spend 2 rounds in that status.

Effects of Malaise: The numeric value of a character’s Malaise provides a variety of different problems for a given character.

Attacks by Undead: It is a bonus to the damage done by Undead to that character.

Healing Magic: It is a penalty to any healing done on the character in question (to a minimum of 1 point healed).

Natural Healing: It is a penalty to any rolls made to assist a character in healing by means of natural means.

Mechanics for overcoming Malaise: To buy off Malaise, a character must first play a full game session with any Malaise they wish to eliminate. After this, they may buy off Malaise in the following manner. To buy off 1 point of Malaise at the end of a given session, a character must spend 1 experience point. To buy off 2 at the end of a given session, they must spend 3. To buy off 3, they must spend 6, and so on.

Bounty Hunter

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How would you make a Bounty Hunter in First Edition D&D?

Well, my old players and I had a pretty simple approach. It woks like this.

Run the character as a Multiclassed Ranger-Assassin. This of course violates the rule that an assassin has to be evil and a Ranger has to be good, but that’s okay. A Bounty Hunter has his own mindset.

As to alignment, the Ninja can be true Neutral or Lawful Evil.

We didn’t really think of this as one character combining two different skill sets. We thought of it as one skill set that simply tracked through the rules system as two different classes.

That’s it.

Ninja (D&D, First Edition)

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How do you make a ninja in first edition D&D?

Well, as I recall, Dragon Magazine published something to that effect a time or two, but my own friends and I found it preferred our own version cobbled together from conventional classes out of the Player’s Handbook. We just had to tweak a few core rules, but the essential concept was simple.

Run the character as a Multiclassed Monk-Assassin. This of course ignores either the rule saying that Monks have to be human or the rule that only other races can be multi-classed. I guess, you could ignore both, but you have to ignore at least one of them to do this. My preference is to say Ninjas have to be human, but that this specific combination is allowed.

We didn’t really think of this as one character combining two different skill sets. We thought of it as one skill set that simply tracked through the rules system as two different classes.

As to alignment, the Ninja can be true Neutral or Lawful Evil.

Any weapons appropriate to ninjas are automatically allowed.

That’s it.

Critical Fumbles

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A house rule for first edition, D&D.

Daniel S. Wall

Whenever a character rolls a natural 1, her player rolls a die 20 and consults the table below to see what happened.

Note that the likelihood of a serious critical fumble is significantly affected by the nature of the attack. Someone firing a missile at a single target is less likely to fumble than someone fighting with a weapon in the midst of a general melee, and of course there are all sorts of shades in between. It is for this reason that some of the columns below contain several possibilities for ignoring the fumble result altogether while others have little or no such merciful options.

Definitions

Ally: Any character, monster, or construct actively helping the principal attacker. This does not include bystanders unless they are actively attacking the same opponent.

Attack (the): The attack which scored a critical fumble and landed you on this table to begin with.

Enemy: The target of the attack and/or anyone clearly allied with that target and/or fighting the principal attacker and her allies.

Attacker: The person launching the attack which scored a critical fumble.

Target: The individual attacked on the critical hit.

 

  Missile  
Armed Attacker Unarmed Attacker
Roll Isolated Target Crowded One-on-One Crowded One-on-One Crowded
1 A A A A A A
2 P C C C P C
3 P B P B P B
4 P C P C P C
5 D D D D D D
6 P C E E E E
7 P C P E P E
8 P C I F P F
9 H H G G G G
10 P P G G G G
11 I I I I I I
12 P P I I I I
13 P P J J J J
14 K K K K K K
15 P P K K K K
16 P P N L N L
17 M M N L N L
18 N N N N N N
19 P P N N N N
20 O O O O O O

 

A: Hit Self. Attacker rolls using strength and weapon bonuses only on the attack roll against the attacker’s own armor class without a dexterity bonus. If successful, then only strength and weapon bonuses apply to the damage. Any other technique or skill bonuses can be ignored.

B: Hit ally, Alternatively, give other enemy an attack of opportunity on the attacker.

C: Hit Wrong Target. This could be an ally or an enemy, or even a bystander. The GM will randomize the new target based on proximity to the original target or to the line of fire toward that target. The attack roll will be made using any applicable strength or weapon bonuses.

D: Lose Next Attack. This applies if the character remains in continuous melee combat up until her next attack is due or if she is firing missiles continuously until her next attack is due. If she moves on to do other things, the result becomes irrelevant, but she must waste at least 1 action to do so.

E: Leave Opening. Target gets a free attack on the attacker.

F: Get in the Way. Target gets a free attack on an ally.

G: Fall Down. (Nuff said!)

H: Slip: If the character is in a precarious condition, she falls down. If hiding, she loses hide-in-shadows and move-silently.

I: Drop weapon. Yep!

J: Drop Shield. Alternatively, drop weapon.

K: Drop Miscellaneous Item. Attacker drops an item of equipment. Alternatively, drop weapon.

L: Other Enemy Gets Free Attack. This is rolled against the attacker.

M: Snap Bowstring.

N: Break Weapon. The weapon breaks if it is non magical. Alternatively, if the weapon is magical, it is dropped.

O: Trivial Injury. Attacker takes 1 point of damage.

P: Nevermind.

Death Maven (Tunnels and Trolls)

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A General narrative about Death Mavens can be found here. What follows are stats for the game of Tunnels and Trolls.

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Str: 1.25, Con: 1.25, Dex: .75, Lk: 1, IQ: 1.1, Wiz: 1.5, SP: .75, Chr: 1.5

Height: 1.75, Weight : 1.25.

Language(s): Death Mavens speak Necrotic in addition to the local human tongue (or Common).

Death Mavens have the following special qualities.

1) Death Maven are averse to bright light.

2) They are considered undead.

3) Any Undead other than a Death Maven does 2 points of damage on any spite roll in the presence of a Death Maven (i.e. whenever they are close enough to be part of the same encounter). This benefit does not stack up in the presence of two or more Death Mavens. It applies only once.

4) If a Death Maven chooses to mentor an ally during the course of a game session, she doubles the benefits gained by that ally at no extra cost of her own.

Standard Monster Rating: 50.

Tsidatsidi (Tunnels and Trolls)

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A General narrative about Tsidatsidi can be found here. What follows are stats for the game of Tunnels and Trolls.

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Str: .9, Con: .9, Dex: .9, Lk: 1, IQ: 1.5, Wiz: 1.5, SP: 1 Chr: .1.25

Height: .75, Weight: .75.

Language(s): Tsidatsidi speak Sylvan (or elven).

Special Qualities:

1) Tsidatsidi can speak with plants.

2) Tsidatsidi get a bonus of +2 to all rolls for creating visual artwork.

3) Tsidatsidi suffer 1 point of Con damage for every 24 hours without at least 4 hours outdoors when the sun is out. Note that fog, rain, and other natural phenomena that might block the sun are not a problem. Staying indoors or underground is.

4) The blood (in other words, sap) of a Tsidatsidi can serve as a natural salve. A Tsidatsidi can naturally generate 1 point of healing per level per game session by releasing a small amount of her blood and smearing it on a wound. It takes a full round to do 1 point. If anyone forces her, she takes a point of damage when this is done. If a Tsidatsidi is killed an her blood is harvested, it can be used to generate up to her Wiz in healing. Note that the healing power must be used immediately (within 1 minute per level of the Tsidatsidi) upon being separated from her body.

Standard Monster Rating: 20.

Inuli for (Tunnels and Trolls)

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A General narrative about Inuli can be found here. What follows are stats for the game of Tunnels and Trolls.

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Str: .75, Con: .75, Dex: .9, Lk: 1.5, IQ: 1.25, Wiz: 1.5, SP: 1 Chr: 2.

Height: 1.25, Weight: 1

Language(s): Inuli speak The Plain Tongue (or its closest equivalent), and they automatically learn 1 regional human language per level. This happens independent of any means of learning extra languages.

Special Qualities:

1) Whenever a character rolls a saving throw, an Inuli can elect to help them. The decision must be made before their saving throw, and it costs 1 point of Wiz. In doing so, the Inuli rolls a die 6 at the same time the other character does. If the result of that roll matches one of the other dice rolled by the player, the player may elect to use that result and discard their own dice, thus giving them doubles on the first roll. The rest of the roll is completed normally. Only one Inuli can do this on any given saving throw, and an Inuli can only do this once per round. If an Inuli is doing this for a character for the first time in that particular game game session, she may spend another point of Wiz to grant a +1 bonus to the roll in addition to the die 6. This decision must also be made before the roll.

2) If an Inuli stays in any given location for a season, all vegetation within that season will be 10% healthier (more lush, taller, etc.) This cannot be compounded with other dice.

3) Inuli never attack others and never roll for combat, but they can assist others in actions she knows will harm others.

4) Inuli do not believe in material wealth, and rarely carry coins. Special: The blue lock of hair of an Inuli may be worn as a Talisman of Health, granting the one carrying it a +3 on all saves against poison and disease.  This Talisman only functions if it is freely gifted by an Inuli, or by someone else to whom it was freely given. Once a lock of Inuli hair is taken by force, by purchase, or by chance, it becomes a worthless lock of blue hair.  Since the lock of hair never grows back once it is given in this manner, Inuli only give it away in exchange for acts of great selflessness or kindness.

Standard Monster Rating: 10.

Phiyé (Tunnels and Trolls)

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A General narrative about Phiyé can be found here. What follows are stats for the game of Tunnels and Trolls.

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Str: 1, Con: 1.25, Dex: 1.25, Lk: .75, IQ: .75, Wiz: 1.25, SP: 1, Chr: 1.

Height: .75, Weight : .75.

Language(s): Phiyé speak Netherspawn (or its closest equivalent).

Phiyé have the following special qualities.

1) A Phiyé can walk on vertical surfaces just as easily as they can the ground.

2) A Phiyé can take damage from other characters. To do so they must touch the injured party and spend 1 point of Wiz. They can then transfer up to 1 point of points of damage to any attribute per level to themselves.

3) A Phiyé gains a +2 bonus on any roll that is clearly made for the purpose of helping another sentient creature.

Standard Monster Rating: 25.