Whispers of Madness

Synonyms: Whispers of Madness, Eldritch Knowledge, Unholy Knowledge, Forbidden Knowledge

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Special: Prowess

Whispers of Madness is a Prowess, this special kind of Feat is an action that can only be done once per scenario.

To acquire it, you need to already have another Feat related to it, for example : Any two of : Knowledge (heresy) or Handicap (insane) or Handicap (lost faith)

Your Game Master may accept to waive such prerequisites if your background or in game actions justify it.

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Special: Hidden

Whispers of Madness is a Hidden Feat. It can only be given to you by the Game Master and you cannot talk about this Feat with other Players.

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Description

You read the wrong tome. The whispers began almost immediately, faint and incoherent at first, but with each passing moment, they grew louder, more insistent, filling your mind with a cacophony of madness. It's as if an unseen malevolent presence murmurs dark secrets in your ear. The book, now a cursed relic, is both your only refuge and your constant torment.

The terrible knowledge you absorbed from the forbidden text grants you unique insights and dark powers. However, this gift comes at a dire cost.

You may use this Prowess to do one of the following :

• Emulate the effect of Grand Scheme (It is all in the tome ! Everything was foretold ! EVERYTHING !)
• Permanently gain ⛧ Dark Faith and/or those three free feats : ( Insane (permanent), Knowledge (heresy) and Polyglot ) (can only be done once)
• Add 60 minutes to the current insanity timer
• Emulate the effect of any Dark Feats, in which case mark this Feat as Whispers of Madness (exhausted) and it cannot be used at the next scenario (mechanism similar to Faith).

List of Dark Feats :

• Necromancy
• Voice of the Abyss
• Witchcraft
• ⛧ Dark Faith

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Curse: Insanity Timer

At the start of each scenario, initiate a real-time 60-minute insanity timer. When the insanity timer rings, restart it, and then your character must open the cursed book and read it for 15 minutes of in-game time. Failure to do so results in the permanent loss of one Feat of your choice (except this one) and the whispers growing louder permanently. If your character loses all their Feats or only has this Feat left, they die or descend into permanent incoherent madness.

Miracle can add 180 minutes to the current insanity timer. Faith or Dark Faith adds 60 minutes.

If your character has Insane (permanent) or ⛧ Dark Faith, the insanity timer lasts for 90 minutes (120 min if the character has both) instead of 60.

For example, if your character has Insane (permanent) and just used Faith and Miracle to delay the insanity timer as much as possible, the current timer will last for 90+60+180 minutes, once it rings, it resumes to 90 minutes.