Your Bout of Madness episodes

[kullboys]

Hi all!

In the next session, a bout of madness is almost assured: the Beorning Slayer is already Miserable, and they are engaging Tyulqin in her lair.
I got few episodes of BoM in these years, so I'm wondering if someone can tell me about their past experience, so to draw inspiration

[Majestic]

In all the years of my game, we've only had two Bouts of Madness, and both with the same character.

The most fun one was during The Watch on the Heath from Tales from Wilderland. One of our Scholars had a BoM, and I decided not to spring it on him/them right away.

Earlier in the adventure, King Dáin had lent them a precious and ancient metal-bound book. Due to his Lure of Secrets weakness, one night after everyone had gone to sleep, I prompted him to try to get his hands on the book, which was being guarded extremely carefully by the Dwarven Slayer. He carefully crept around the campfire and tried to slip it out from under the pillow of the sleeping Dwarf.

And he failed miserably.

The Dwarf awoke and there was a tense and dramatic confrontation, as the Dwarf wanted to know why he was skulking around in the middle of the night and trying to get his grubby hands on a book that had been entrusted to him! The Elf Scholar, now a bit Haughty and Arrogant, didn't push his luck any further.

[Corvo]

Hi all!

In the next session, a bout of madness is almost assured: the Beorning Slayer is already Miserable, and they are engaging Tyulqin in her lair.
I got few episodes of BoM in these years, so I'm wondering if someone can tell me about their past experience, so to draw inspiration

Go figure... Even in my campaign the Beorning Slayer was already Miserable when he was going to confront Tyulqin in her lair.

When the fateful session came, he threw himself against the beast so to die an heroic death... And proceeded at wounding Tyulqin, surviving the combat unscathed and rolled no S rune the whole night

So I cannot help you with any real experience, but I was ready to have him flee the combat if the madness overcame him.

Why fleeing?
That character is extremely valorous, mindful of his duties and (justly) proud. And his brother in that same fight.
Fleeing the combat would have been a awful Bout of Madness for such a character, and I think that BoM should be awful: something the character should feel ashamed, angry or remorseful for the rest of his life. Boromir's fall is clearly my idea of BoM.

[Rich H]

When the fateful session came, he threw himself against the beast so to die an heroic death... And proceeded at wounding Tyulqin, surviving the combat unscathed and rolled no S rune the whole night

Which is awesome; "F*** you, Sauron, I won't do what you tell me! F*** you, I won't do what you tell me!" Rage Against the Tyulqin. Beorning rap at it's finest!

[shipwreck]

Man we've only hit one bout of madness and I did not take full advantage of it, I mostly just used it to steer the story. The poor, crazed elf attacked my Woodman's hound then was "drawn" to the cursed barrow by Black Tarn Hall (Lure of Secrets), leading the others in to fight off some Marsh-dwellers (but then discover our first treasure horde). So it did what I wanted it to do, but I should have made it much more bloody.

[Blubbo Baggins]

Encouragement to LMs whose player PC's have a Bout of Madness: (and an anecdote below)

Don't go easy on the PC! If the PC wants to take something from another PC and fails to do so stealthily, then it should at least go to one or two rounds of combat (once someone takes a wound or hits 0 End, then the PC would naturally "wake" from the Bout, whether they were on the injured or injurying end).

It should not only be a terrible experience for the PC, but the player should really feel like they have lost control of their character. It should be a defining moment in the story, and present an opportunity for future redemption.

If it's glossed over, then spending Hope/gaining Shadow lose their importance, and bouts of madness become mere moments of confusion.

TL;DR? OK here's the anecdote:

Years ago I played a Dwarf PC, and had a Bout of Madness which was triggered in the middle of a battle against Orcs. We were winning, and the Orcs ran off, so the LM triggered the BoM, and said my Dwarf was running after the Orcs...no way was he going to let them get away unscathed. So he's running by himself, followed by the rest of the party, and one of the other PCs catches up and puts his arm out to slow my Dwarf down and tell him to calm. Well, the LM declared that the Dwarf swung his axe at the PC. The PC had a Hound of Mirkwood, who ended up taking the hit (and being wounded per RAW). That got the Dwarf out of the Bout.

Things could have gone much worse (facing the Orcs alone in the forest could have meant death). But the Bout had real consequences, such that I can remember it even now, probably 5 years after the fact.

[Hamarr]

One bout of madness my loremaster incorporated the Helm of Peace from the Darkening of Mirkwood, my Lake Man while traveling North went into a dream of some sort where he saw himself take the Helm. He woke up with the Helm on his head and it stayed with him until he became King of the East Bight.